Ez2use: A Simple BlueHDL Tutorial

A Simple BlueHDL Tutorial

The BlueHDL simulator is extremely easy to use, once you know what you are doing. But like any complex software, it's helpful to have a few pointers first. The following mini tutorial shows you how to compile and simulate a simple counter design with just a few button clicks.

Start the BlueHDL simulator.
Windows: double click on the BlueHDL icon.
Linux/Unix: run the bws script or the bwstud executable in $BLUEPC/bin to start the Student Version (run bwp1 to start the Pro 1 Version).
In the Compile Browser Window, change directories to the Test directory by double clicking on the "Test" entry in the leftmost pane.
In the Compile Browser Window, compile the slcount.vhd file by double clicking on the "slcount.vhd" entry in the middle pane. You should see a message in the Console Window saying: "Compilation successful".
Click on the Waves Window icon in the Windows Status Bar to deiconify the Waves Window.
In the Waves Window, simulate the counter by clicking on the Run Simulation Button. You should see a message in the Console Window saying: "Simulating tb_counter(test)". Then you should see waves appear in the Waves Window.
Click the Run Simlation Button again to simulate more data. Note that this simulation runs faster than the first simulation because there is no need for the simulator to elaborate this time.
In the Waves Window: Zoom out to full view by clicking on the Fit Button. Zoom in by drawing a Zoom Box: move the Mouse Pointer from upper left to lower right while holding down Right Mouse Button.
Exit the simulator: In any Window other than the Console Window, in the Menu Bar select File -> Exit.

When you are ready to learn more about BlueHDL, try out the tutorials in the User's Manual (bluepc/html/blueuser.htm). The above example slcount.vhd file contained both the design and the test bench. Usually you will have two separate files: a design file and a test bench file. You will compile the design file first, then the test bench, then simulate the top object of the test bench.