Watch Window

Description

What is a watch window? How do I use it?

Solution

During the simulation, you can highlight multiple signals from the bottom window of Structures tab, right click and choose Add to Watch. The Watch window is a debugging tool designed to display values of selected objects (signals, variables, nets, registers, etc.) in the simulated model.

The window is divided into several columns:

• Event

  The column has no title and is displayed as the leftmost. If an event has occurred on a signal in the current simulation cycle, it is symbolized by a red exclamation mark (!).

• Name

  The identifier of the object.

• Value

  The current value of the object. For files, the column shows the open kind information (read_mode, write_mode, append_mode) and the file name with the full path.

• Type

  For VHDL, the type of the object. For Verilog, reg or the type of the net.

• Last Value

  The previous value of the object, that is, the value of the object before the last event. This column is used only for signals (including ports).

• Last Event Time

  The time of the last event. This column is used only for signals (including ports).