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V4P Cheat-Sheet

Configuration (Libraries, Excludes, Settings)

Master Configuration
Glob Patterns
Configuration Files (config.v4p)

License
Activity Bar
Coding
Meta Comments
Code Navigation
Commands
Recommended Visual Studio Code Settings

V4P supports a separate set of preferences for each root-/workspace-folder. The configuration file can either be INI-based (recommended) or JSON-based. The file must be named config.v4p or .config.v4p and be located

directly in your root-/workspace-folders (this one has priority)
in the .vscode subdirectory of any root-/workspace folder

Per Root-Folder configs are useful as you sometimes will have projects that combine various sub-projects with possibly different coding styles, library assignments and settings.

INI-based config files

JSON-based config files

In order to better handle various global settings, V4P also support an optional Master Config. This is an ordinary config file which can be located in any of the following locations, and must be named config.v4p or .config.v4p:

At the location specified by the environment variable V4P_MASTER_CONFIG
In your Home folder (/home/<user> or C:\Users\<user>)
In the folder pointed to by environment variable HOME

If present, a Master Config can define default library mappings for common folders (eg, simulation libraries like OSVVM), exclude patterns, and common settings. A local config file, if present, always has precedence if there are any conflicting settings.

You can find a detailed description of »Glob-Patterns on Wikipedia. However, I am supporting the list enhancement (curly braces, see examples).

Remarks

As the MasterConfig is not part of any specific project/workspace/root-folder, the glob-patterns therein should be 'absolute' (i.e., start with **/)
Root-folder specific Glob-patterns are always relative to that specific root-folder
Glob-Patterns are case-sensitive (also in Windows)

The following table shows a couple of glob-patterns with exemplary matches and mismatches for the given patterns. Notice that in these example we assume that the patterns are defined in a config.v4p of some root-folder <r>

Glob	Matches	Mismatch
*/src/?.vhd	<r>/a/src/b.vhd<r>/abc/src/1.vhd	<r>/a/src/.vhd <r>/a/src/file.vhd <r>/a/b/src/a.vhd
/src or /src/.	<r>/src/a.vhd <r>/a/b/c/a.vhd	<r>/src/a/a.vhd
/src/	<r>/a/b/src/c/d <r>/src/a.vhd <r>/src/d/e.vhd	<r>/dst/a.vhd
*.vhd?	<r>/file.vhdl <r>/file.vhdA	<r>/file.vhd <r>/file.VHDL
*.{vhd,vhdl}	<r>/file.vhdl <r>/file.vhd	<r>/file.VHDL
file[A-G].vhd	<r>/fileA.vhd <r>/fileD.vhd	<r>/fileH.vhd <r>/filea.vhd <r>/file.vhd
file{[A-G],[1-3]}.vhd	<r>/fileA.vhd <r>/file2.vhd	<r>/fileH.vhd <r>/fileA1.vhd
a/{b,[cd],e//f}/.vhd	<r>/a/b/c.vhd <r>/a/d/c.vhd <r>/a/e/e1/f/c.vhd	<r>/a/cd/c.vhd <r>/a/e/f/c.vhd

Section Description

libraries

Assign libraries to design files: You can specify a comma-separated list of libraries for each design file or sets of files. Files are specified as »Glob-Pattern as shown in the example above. The Glob-patterns are case sensitive (also in Windows).

Usually there is only one library per file, but multiple libraries might be useful for files that are shared by various projects and therefore belong to potentially different libraries.

The libraries section does not add files to the project! It rather defines library assignments for existing files. Use symlinks to add external files (or add the entire folders to the workspace).

excludes Exclude design files from parsing: In addition to Visual Studio Code's exclude list, you can provide a separate list of excludes for each root-folder. The files are specified as »Glob-Pattern and will not be parsed or analyzed by V4P if they are assigned with true. The Glob-patterns are case sensitive (also in Windows).

settings

Define specific preferences for the corresponding root-folder.

Undefined settings are assumed as @inherit. It is therefore not necessary to explicitly declare entries as inherited.

There are two special assignments that can always be used:

@default: Uses the value from V4P's default settings. The list below shows the default value for each setting.
@inherit: Uses the value from the Master Config (if present), otherwise V4P's default.

V4p.Settings.Basics.TopLevelEntities

V4p.Settings.Basics.LogSeverity

V4p.Settings.Basics.LicenseFile

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Vhdl.AutoAlignSnippets

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Vhdl.StandardLibraryStyle

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Vhdl.KeywordStyle

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Vhdl.EndIdentifiers.<*>

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Newlines.<*>

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Indentation.UseTabs

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Indentation.TabWidth

V4p.Settings.Formatting.Indentation.<*>

V4p.Settings.Completion.ShowKeywords

V4p.Settings.Completion.ShowUncommon

V4p.Settings.Completion.ShowEnums

V4p.Settings.Completion.ShowVendorSymbols

V4p.Settings.Completion.ShowVendorSnippets

V4p.Settings.HoverInfo.ShowLibraries

V4p.Settings.HoverInfo.ShowLocation

V4p.Settings.HoverInfo.ResolveStdTypes

V4p.Settings.HoverInfo.ResolveTypes

V4p.Settings.HoverInfo.ShowAllOverloads

V4p.Settings.ParameterHelp.Instances

V4p.Settings.StutterMode.Enabled

V4p.Settings.StutterMode.HorizontalLineWidth

V4p.Settings.ErrorChecker.MissingAssociations.IgnoreInstanceOutputs

V4p.Settings.ErrorChecker.MissingAssociations.IgnoreInstanceInputsWithDefaultValues

V4p.Settings.ErrorChecker.SymbolUnused.IgnoreLoopVariables

V4p.Settings.ErrorChecker.SymbolUnused.AttributesReadValue

V4P comes with a pre-installed, 30-day trial license (full feature set, no restrictions, commercial use). After the trial period, you have to purchase a license on my website. The file must be named license.v4p or .license.v4p, and must be located in any of the following locations:

At the location specified by the environment variable V4P_LICENSE_FILE
In your Home folder (/home/<user> or C:\Users\<user>)
In the folder pointed to by environment variable HOME
In any of your Root Folders
In any of your config.v4p files (even in the Master Config), point to the location of the license file: V4p.Settings.Basics.LicenseFile=<path>

The activity bar provides access to several very useful features and information panels.

HDL Panel

Commands: Easy access to all commands. Notice that they are also accessible through the Command Palette ctrl+shift+p.
Library Hierarchy: Hierarchical view of all libraries with their respective packages, entities, architectures, etc.
Design Hierarchy: Hierarchical view of your entire design workspace. You can define multiple top-level entities
Search Results for 'Find all Sources'

Explorer Panel

Document Outline: Provides a concise hierarchical overview for the current document, such as entities, blocks, instances, signals, processes, subroutines, etc.

Feature	Description	Default Shortcut
Renaming	Allows semantically correct renaming of signals, variables, functions, entities, etc.	`F2`
Find All References	Finds all references of a given identifier in the entire project. The results are shown in a separate side panel view.	`Shift+Alt+F12`
Find All Sources	Finds all sources/drivers of the signal/variable below the cursor.	`Right-click Menu`
Go To References	Finds all references of a given identifier in the entire project.	`Shift+F12`
Syntax Highlighting	Code highlighting according to VHDL 2008 syntax: Keywords, symbols, strings, identifiers, etc.
Semantic Highlighting	Code highlighting according to semantic analysis: Types, signals, ports, constants, etc. editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled must be enabled in Visual Studio Code.
Type-time Syntax Checking	On-the-fly syntax checking and highlighting. Output in Visual Studio Code's Problems Panel.
Type-time Semantic Checking	Performs error/warning checks during design entry. Supported checks: Symbol not defined Signal vs. Variable assignment operator Symbol already defined End-Label does not match Missing association in instances Symbol cannot be target of assignment Symbol is never written Symbol is never read You can enable/disable warnings per file or per symbol using MetaComments. See the MetaComments section for details. You can configure V4P's error-checking behavior in various ways. See V4p.Settings.ErrorChecker in the Configuration Files section.
Stutter Mode	If enabled (V4p.Settings.StutterMode.Enabled), stutter mode as known from EMACS can be used. editor.formatOnType must be enabled in Visual Studio Code. The following shortcuts are supported: '' (two single quotes) → " (double quote) ;; → : ;;; → := .. → => ,, → <= [ → ( [[ → [ ] → ) ]] → ] --- → ----------- (horizontal line according to V4p.Settings.StutterMode.HorizontalLineWidth
Parameter Help	Brings up a tooltip with parameter help for (possibly overloaded) functions/procedures/components/instances. Highlights the current parameter and provides type information.	`Ctrl+Shift+Space`
Smart Indentation	Automatically sets the indent of new code lines according to formatting rules. See also Section Preferences.
Code Completion/Autocomplete	Context sensitive code completion (for defined signals, types, entites, etc.), according to code completion rules. See also Section Preferences.	`Ctrl+Space`
Block Selection Keyboard	Very handy block/column-selection mode of Visual Studio Code.	`Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Cursors`
Block Selection Mouse	Use the middle mouse button for block-selection mode with the mouse.	`Middle Mouse Button`
Increase Indent	Increases the indent of the currently selected code lines.	`Tab`
Decrease Indent	Decreases the indent of the currently selected code lines.	`Shift+Tab`
Hover Info / Quickinfo	Show Hover Info for symbol at cursor. Usually you just hover the mouse over an item.	`Ctrl+K+Ctrl+I`
Expression Evaluator	For constants and generics, V4P displays the actual value of the symbol as part of the hover info, whereever possible.	`Ctrl+K+Ctrl+I`
Number Conversion	Converts numbers to different bases. Just hover the mouse over a number.	`Ctrl+K+Ctrl+I`
Comment Lines	Comments the current/selected lines (line commenting).	`Ctrl+K+Ctrl+C`
Uncomment Lines	Uncomments the current/selected lines (line commenting).	`Ctrl+K+Ctrl+U`
Toggle Line Comment	Toggle line comment for the current/selected lines.	`Ctrl+/`
Toggle Block Comment	Toggle block comment for the current selected.	`Shift+Alt+A`
Copy Line Down	Copys the current line / current selection and inserts it below	`Shift+Alt+Down`
Copy Line Up	Copys the current line / current selection and inserts it above	`Shift+Alt+Up`
Code Snippets	Snippets are part of code completion. All snippets start with a short prefix, followed by '-'. For some snippets, an identifier after the minus further defines the snippet (eg, for instances). Snippets respect your formatting settings, see also Section Preferences. editor.suggest.showSnippets must be enabled in Visual Studio Code. The following snippets are defined: if-: if cond then ... end if; ife-: if cond then ... else ... end if; sl-: std_logic slv-: std_logic_vector slvr-: std_logic_vector( range ) sul-: std_ulogic sulv-: std_ulogic_vector sulvr-: std_ulogic_vector( range ) o-: (others => '0') oo-: (others => '...') s-: signed sr-: signed( range ) ts-: to_signed(...) u-: unsigned ur-: unsigned( range ) tu-: to_unsigned(...) arch-: Architecture template entarch-: Entity with architecture template ent-: Entity template comp-: Component template const-: Template for a constant definition func-: Function template proc-: Procedure template sig-: Signal declaration template var-: Variable declaration template sha-: Shared Variable declaration template rec-: Record type declaration template prot-: Protected type declaration template protbdy-: Protected type body definition template pkg-: Package head declaration template pkgfull-: Package head and body template p-: Process template genif-: Generate IF template genfor-: Generate FOR template gencase-: Generate CASE template Specific Snippets i-name: Create an instance of the given entity/component. The instance is created with all generic maps and port maps according to the module's definition. cs-name: Create a case statement for the given signal/variable (of enumeration type). The case statement is created with all enumeration values.	`*-`
Code Snippets (Forward)	When in snippet insertion mode, use this shortcut to move to the next field (and probably show the suggestions list).	`Tab`
Code Snippets (Backward)	When in snippet insertion mode, use this shortcut to move to the previous field (and commit the current value for previous, and probably show the suggestions list).	`Shift+Tab`
Code Snippets (Leave)	When in snippet insertion mode, use this shortcut to leave snippet mode.	`Shift+Escape`
Code Snippets (Leave)	When in snippet insertion mode, use this shortcut to leave snippet mode.	`Escape`

General Description
Meta-Comments can be used to (temporarily) disable warnings/errors. This is achieved by putting a meta comment inside your source code. See below for syntax and examples.

Disable warnings for specific symbols or for the entire file
You can use the warning-code or the warning-name interchangeably
Meta-Comments for ignore are valid in the line they are declared only. It is a handy shortcut to disable warnings for specific symbols. Usually, this is the one you want
Meta-Comments for enable|disable are valid starting with the line they are defined in until the end of file (or until a new comment for the respective feature is found)
Meta-Comments are limited to the file they are declared in
Meta-Comments are generally evaluated at the location of declaration of a symbol only, if not stated otherwise

Syntax
Meta-Comments are only available for line comments (ie, starting with --) and have the following syntax:
-- v4p (enable|disable|ignore) warning-list [symbol-list]

The warning-list is a comma-separated list of warnings to enable/disable. You can either use the warnings code or name, as defined by the table below
The symbol-list is an optional comma-separated list of symbol names for which the rule shall be applied. If it is empty, all symbols are effected. It does not support wildcards

List of Errors/Warnings

Code	Name	Description
w-301	missing-association	Waring that indicates that there are signals defined in an entity/component which do not have an association in the given instance.
w-302	never-written	Warning that indicates that a symbol was declared but no value has ever been assigned to it.
w-303	never-read	Warning that indicates that a symbol was declared but its value has never been written.
e-202	not-found	Error that indicates that a symbol has not been declared. This meta-comment must be used at the location where the error occurs

Examples

1: architecture rtl of ent is 2: -- v4p disable never-written,never-read s2,s3 /* also matches "s2" of "proc1()" */ 3: signal s1, s2, s3: integer; 4: signal s4, s5, s6: integer; -- v4p disable never-written/* disable for all syms starting here (including s4, s5, s6) */ 5: signal s7, s8 : integer; -- v4p ignore w-302 /* ignore warning w-302 for symbols IN THIS LINE ONLY */ 6: procedure proc1(s2, s5: out integer) is 7: begin 8: end procedure; 9: -- v4p enable w-302,never-read /* reenable warnings for all syms starting here */ 10: component comp is 11: port ( 12: clk, rst: in std_logic; 13: -- v4p disable missing-association dbg /* generally disable for "dbg" of all instances of component */ 14: d1, dbg: out std_logic 15: ); 16: end component; 17: begin 18: -- v4p disable missing-association comp_inst /* do not check entire instance comp_inst */ 19: -- v4p disable missing-association comp_inst.d1 /* just do not check "d1" of this specific instance comp_inst*/ 20: comp_inst: comp 21: port map (clk, rst); 22: -- v4p disable not-found unknown /* ignore the fact that "unknown" is not found in the scope */ 23: unknown_inst: unknown 24: port map (clk, rst); 25: end architecture;

Feature	Description	Default Shortcut
Find All References	Finds all references of a given identifier in the entire project, shows the results in 'References' Activity Bar.	`Shift+Alt+F12`
Find All Sources	Finds all sources/drivers of the signal/variable below the cursor. The results are shown in a separate side panel view.	`Right-click Menu`
Go To References	Finds all references of a given identifier in the entire project, shows the results in an inline window with code preview.	`Shift+F12`
Navigate Forward	Move forward to an already visited location.	`Alt+Right`
Navigate Backward	Move backward to a previously visited location.	`Alt+Left`
Code Folding	Collapse certain code blocks for better overview and navigation efficiency (processes, function, entities, classes, methods, records, instances, ...). editor.folding must be enabled in Visual Studio Code.
Goto Definition	Jumps to the definition of the current item (if different from its declaration, eg. package body or function implementation).	`F12`
Goto Declaration	Jumps to the declaration of the current item (if different from its definition, eg. package head or function declaration in package head).
Goto Type Definition	Jumps to the type of the current item, eg. the type of the signal/variable/constant. For components, jumps to the respective entity declaration
Libraries View	Located in the HDL Panel of the activiy bar. Shows hierarchical view of all libraries and packages / entities / symbols therein.	`Manual refresh`
Design Hierarchy View	Located in the HDL Panel of the activiy bar. Shows hierarchical view of the entire workspace. You can use V4p.Settings.Basics.TopLevelEntities to define one or multiple top-level entities.	`Manual refresh`
Document Outline	Provides a hierarchical outline for the current document, e.g. subroutines, instances, signals, processes, etc.

Name	Description
`v4p.version`	Displays the current version and build date
`v4p.license`	Displays information about all found licenses
`v4p.license.renew`	Opens the website to renew your current license
`v4p.license.mac`	Opens the website to update your MAC addresses
`v4p.reload`	Reloads the workspace, especially reloads the config.v4p files. Does not reparse the .vhd files
`v4p.logfile`	Opens the logfile in Visual Studio Code
`v4p.thirdparty`	Displays licensing and copyright information about Third Party software used in V4P
`v4p.settings`	Displays detailed information about V4P's configuration (libraries, excludes, settings)
`v4p.masterconfig`	Opens (or creates) MasterConfig, by default in home-directory
`v4p.version`	Displays the current version and build date
`v4p.eula`	Show End User License Agreement
`v4p.fileinfo`	Show detailed information about all files in the workspace, including code statistics
`v4p.cheatsheet`	Opens the CheatSheet of V4P in the browser
`v4p.stats`	Shows code statistics (lines of code, comments, empty lines) in a table for all files
`v4p.demo`	Opens a demo project in Visual Studio Code

Shortcut	Value	Remarks
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.formatOnType`	`Enable`	Required for VHDL/V4P specific (smart) indentation
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.folding`	`Enable`	Required for VHDL/V4P specific code folding
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.foldingStrategy`	`Auto`	Required for VHDL/V4P specific code folding
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.suggest.showSnippets`	`Enable`	Required, enables VHDL/V4P specific snippets
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled`	`True, ConfiguredByTheme`	Required, needed for semantic token highlighting. The color theme must support semantic highlighting!
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.showFoldingControls`	`Always`	Optional, disallow the folding controls to disappear
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.minimap.enabled`	`Enable`	Optional, shows the mini-map next to the scrollbar. Very useful.
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.minimap.showSlider`	`Always`	Optional, disallow the minimap slider to disappear
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.minimap.size`	`Fit`	Optional, fit the minimap to show the preview of the entire file
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.snippetSuggestions`	`top, bottom or inline`	Optional, define the snippets' position inside the code-completion list
`[ctrl]+[,] editor.wordBasedSuggestions`	`Disable`	Recommended, avoid code-completion suggestions from Visual Studio Code. Only show V4P's code-completion suggestions.