I bought the ISPLever product which comes with both synplify and Leonardo, in used to use Leonardo most of the time as a prefered the layout of it. However when i got errors in my code i would use both as the majority of the time they would word the cause of the error differently.
We now have a full license for Leonardo whcih does alot more than synplify, so i use Leonardo all the time.
Regards, Matt
I'm using the downloadable version of ispLever for a verilog project on a Lattice Mach 4 CPLD chip. The software has both Synplify and Leonardo Spectrum available for synthesis. I can build the code (so far, anyway) with either tool. Is there any reason why I should choose one over the other?
-- David
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go past." Douglas Adams
Well, the full-up version of Leonardo lets you set Verilog parameters from the GUI or from a TCL script, whereas Synplify does not. This makes parameterized designs impossible in Synplify, so that tool's disqualified until that very important feature is added. (Ummmm, haven't parameters been a part of the language since the beginning???)
Leonardo does not (and will never) support Verilog 2001 whereas Synplify does. If this matters to you, then your choice is obvious.
Mentor Graphics is replacing Leonardo with their new Precision Synthesis tool, which does have V-2001 support, but it's not clear if a "lite" version will be offered via the FPGA vendors.
-a
Yes, and you have been able to set them (along with VHDL generics) in Synplify since version 7.3.
Regards, Allan.
Judging from the answers, I guess there isn't much of a difference for a small user using the free versions of the tools.
Thanks anyway.
David
I know that Synplify has supported VHDL generics for ages -- it did when I bought a license in 2000 (whatever version that was).
So, I guess I'll have to bug the FPGA vendor (QuickLogic) and find out when I can expect them to ship the Lite version of 7.3.x, since the current version is 7.2.1 (almost a year old, too).
I'd use Leondardo Level 3 for the design, but for the life of me I cannot get the design to meet timing with it, whereas the Synplify Lite seems to have no problem.
Ah!
So I sent a quick note to QuickLogic asking them when they were going to release a 7.3.x version of Synplify Lite, and I got a note back right away saying, "You can ftp it from [ftp site address]." So I did and it works.
So, I take back what I said! It also lets one set `defines from the GUI, too.
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