Covered(1)			 Code Analysis			    Covered(1)



NAME
       Covered - Verilog Code Coverage Analyzer

SYNTAX
       covered [<options>] score [<options>]
       covered	   [<options>]	   merge    [<options>]	   <existing_database>
       <database_to_merge>
       covered [<options>] report [<options>] <database_file>

DESCRIPTION
       Covered is a Verilog code coverage analysis tool that can be useful for
       determining  how	 well  a  diagnostic test suite is covering the design
       under test. Covered reads in the Verilog design files and a VCD or  LXT
       formatted  dumpfile from a diagnostic run and generates a database file
       called a Coverage Description Database (CDD) file, using the score com-
       mand.   This  file  can	be  merged  with other CDD files from the same
       design to create accummulated coverage, using the merge command.	  Once
       a  CDD  file  is	 created, the user can use Covered to generate various
       human-readable coverage reports in an ASCII format or use Covered’s GUI
       to  interactively  look	at coverage results, using the report command.
       Additionally, as part of Covered’s score command, race condition possi-
       bilities	 are  found  in	 the  design  files and can be either ignored,
       flagged as warnings or flagged as errors.  By  specifying  race	condi-
       tions  as errors, Covered can also be used as a race condition checker.

GLOBAL OPTIONS
       These options are placed immediately after the keyword covered  in  the
       command-line.   They can be used for any command (with the exception of
       -v and -h) and have the same effect in each case.

       -D     Debug.  Display information helpful for debugging tool problems.
	      Note:   This  option is now only available when covered is built
	      with the --enable-debug configuration option.

       -h     Help.  Display this usage information.

       -Q     Quiet mode.  Causes all output to be suppressed.

       -v     Version.	Display current Covered version.

COMMANDS
       score  Parses Verilog files and VCD/LXT dumpfiles  to  create  database
	      file used for merging and reporting.

       merge  Merges two database files into one.

       report Generates	 human-readable coverage reports from database file or
	      starts the coverage report GUI.

SCORE COMMAND
       The following options are valid for the score command:

       -D define_name
	      Defines the specified name to 1.

       -D define_name=value
	      Defines the specified name to the specified value.

       -e block_name
	      Name of module, task, function or named begin/end block  to  not
	      score.   Causes  all  subblocks  in  the Verilog tree under this
	      block to also not be scored.

       -ea    Excludes all always blocks from being considered for coverage.

       -ec    Excludes all continuous assignments from	being  considered  for
	      coverage.

       -ei    Excludes	all initial blocks from being considered for coverage.

       -F module_name=(in_expr,)out_expr
	      Indicates to the parser where to find the FSM located in	module
	      module_name  which  has an input state expression called in_expr
	      and output state expression called out_expr.  If in_expr is  not
	      specified,  out_expr  is used as both the input and output state
	      expression.

       -f filename
	      Name of file containing additional arguments to parse.

       -h     Displays this help information.

       -I directory
	      Directory to find included Verilog files.

       -i instance_name
	      Verilog hierarchical reference to the module that is at the  top
	      of the tree to be scored.	 This option is necessary if module to
	      verify coverage is not the top-level module in the  design.   If
	      not specified, -t value is used.

       -lxt filename
	      Name  of LXT/LXT2 dumpfile to score design with.	If this or the
	      -vcd option is not used, Covered will only create an initial CDD
	      file from the design and will not attempt to score the design.

       -o database
	      Name of database to write coverage information to.  If not spec-
	      ified, the output database filename will be "cov.cdd".

       -p filename
	      Overrides default filename used to store intermediate preproces-
	      sor output.

       -P parameter_scope=value
	      Performs a defparam on the specified parameter with value.

       -r(S|W|E)
	      Specifies	 action	 to  take  when	 race condition checking finds
	      problems in design (-rS = Silent, -rW = Warning, -rE = Error).

       -S     Outputs simulation statistics after  simulation  has  completed.
	      This  information is currently only useful for the developers of
	      Covered.

       -t top-level module
	      Specifies the module name of the top-most module	that  will  be
	      measured.	  Note	that  this  module  does  not  need  to be the
	      top-most module in the simulator.	 This field  is	 required  for
	      all calls to the score command.

       -ts number
	      When  scoring occurs, this option allows the user to see how far
	      the simulator has progressed by outputting the current  timestep
	      to  standard  output.  The  value	 of  number specifies how many
	      timesteps are allowed to be simulated before outputting the cur-
	      rent timestep (results in less calls to output stream).

       -T min|typ|max
	      Specifies	 which	value to use when encountering a delay expres-
	      sion in the form:	 min:typ:max.  If this option  is  not	speci-
	      fied, ’typ’ select is used by default.

       -v filename
	      Name of specific Verilog file to score.

       -vcd filename
	      Name  of VCD dumpfile to score design with.  If this or the -lxt
	      option is not used, Covered will only create an initial CDD file
	      from the design and will not attempt to score the design.

       -y directory
	      Directory to find unspecified Verilog files.

       +libext+.extension(+.extension)*+
	      Extensions of Verilog files to allow in scoring.

MERGE COMMAND
       The following options are valid for the merge command:

       -h     Displays this help information.

       -o filename
	      File  to output new database to.	If this argument is not speci-
	      fied, the existing_database is used as the output database name.

REPORT COMMAND
       The following options are valid with the report command:

       -c     If  -v  is specified, displays covered line, toggle and combina-
	      tional cases.  Default is to display uncovered information.

       -d (s|d|v)
	      Level of detail to provide in coverage report information	 (s  =
	      summary, d = detailed, v = verbose).  Default is summary.

       -h     Displays this help information.

       -i     Provides coverage information for instances instead of module.

       -m [l][t][c][f][r]
	      Type(s) of metrics to report.  Default is ltcf.

       -o filename
	      File  to output report information to.  Default is standard out-
	      put.

       -v     Deprecated.  Replaced by ’-d d’ or ’-d v’.

       -view  Starts the GUI interface for interactive coverage reporting.

       -w (number)
	      Specifies the maximum line width (in  characters)	 that  can  be
	      used to output Verilog information.  If this option is not spec-
	      ified, all Verilog code in the report will retain the same  for-
	      matting  as was specified in the original Verilog code.  If this
	      option is specified, Verilog code will be formatted  to  use  as
	      much  of	the  current  line as possible, wrapping text when the
	      line reaches the maximum line width.  The default	 maximum  line
	      width  is	 115  characters  (this	 value is used if no number is
	      specified with the -w option).  If a number  is  specified  with
	      the -w option, this value is used for the maximum line width.

AUTHORS
       Trevor Williams <trevorw@charter.net>

       Arpan Sen <arpan_sen@yahoo.com>

SEE ALSO
       For  more  information  on  how	to use the Covered code coverage tool,
       please consult  the  on-line  User’s  Guide  at	http://covered.source-
       forge.net/user/index.html.



Trevor Williams		       covered-20060218			    Covered(1)