hdl_string_format's Introduction

hdl_string_format

hdl_string_format is based on Easics' PCK_FIO and aims to provide C-like string formatting.

Usage

Please note that the original PCK_FIO manual can be found at Easics' site.

fprint

The fprint procedure writes a formatted string to a line:

variable L : line;
fprint(L, "It's %d now", fo(2016));

report L.all;

Should print

It's 2016 now

sformat

Very similar to fprint, only that it returns a string. The example above would look like

report sformat("It's %d now", fo(2016));

Format specifiers

The general format of a format specifier is:

%[-][n]c

The optional - sign specifies left justified output; default is right justified.

The optional number n specifies a field width. If it is not specified, fprint does something reasonable.

c is the conversion specifier. Currently the following conversion specifiers are supported:

r: Reasonable output

Prints the "most reasonable" representation e.g. hex for unsigned, signed and other bit-like vectors (not preferred for integers)
b: Bit-oriented output
d: Decimal output
s: string output (e.g. in combination with 'IMAGE for enum types)
q: "qualified" string output (shows internal representation from fo)
{}: Iteration operator, used as follows:
```
%n{<format-string>}
```
In this case, n is the iteration count and is mandatory. Iteration can be nested. Special characters

To print a double quote, use "" in the format string (VHDL convention). To print the special characters, \, and %, escape them with \. To prevent { and } from being interpreted as opening and closing brackets in iteration strings, escape them with \.