A binary file (with the extension .vwf) that describes simulation input vectors and simulation output vectors as graphical waveforms. Although the Waveform Editor will maintain backwards compatibility with Table Files (.tbl) and Vector Files (.vec) from MAX+PLUS^® II, the Vector Waveform File is the primary waveform file for the Quartus^® II software. (You can save MAX+PLUS II Table Files (.tbl) as Quartus II Vector Table Output Files (.tbl), and MAX+PLUS II Vector Files as Quartus II VWFs.)

You can both view and edit a VWF in the Waveform Editor. You can use Waveform Editor directly to enter new nodes, delete old nodes, change their order with respect to each other, or groups, set the radix, rename nodes, and change their input, output, or bidirectional type. You can see these edits when you open a VWF that has simulation results in the Simulation Waveforms Section of the Report Window.

You can open VWFs or create new VWFs for simulation. Because VWFs serve as both an input and output file of the Simulator, they contain both input and output vectors. During simulation, the VWF is an input file only. The Simulator requires a VWF to provide the input vectors that drive simulation. For a VWF-based simulation, the input vectors are exact copies of the input vectors in the VWF.

If a VWF is used for creating stimulus for the Simulator, it specifies the following:

• The input logic levels (that is, vectors) that drive the input pins and determine the internal logic levels throughout the project

• The nodes to be observed, the start and stop times for applying vectors, the intervals at which vectors are applied

• The nodes to be grouped during simulation

• The radix used to interpret logic levels

During simulation, 9-level project inputs without vectors are automatically assigned uninitialized (U) logic levels. The VWF can also include the names of any combination of output nodes to be simulated, including buried output nodes. Expected output levels are optional in a VWF used for simulation. The VWF determines the order of nodes, groups, and group radixes that are stored in the automatically generated VWF.

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