TRACE Command
Traces circuit activity and indicates possible event causality.
| Command | TRACE |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | TR |
| Category | Debugging & Analysis |
Function
The TRACE command is used to trace circuit activity and indicate possible event causality.
Usage
The TRACE command is described in the Section Tracing Circuit Activity in History Files. By default, signals are not traced.
The TRACE command can be restricted to a specified interval of tests, for patterns, or time, for waveforms, with the PRANGE keyword option:
TRACE PRANGE=<prange spec>Selecting Signals To Trace
The LIST keyword option selects signals to be traced, thereby enabling trace reports. The command form:
TRACE LIST=<signals>selects individual signals for tracing, while the command form:
TRACE LIST:specifies that all signals be traced.
The NO command prefix is used to disable signal event tracing. The command:
NO TRACE LIST=<signals>selectively disables event tracing for the specified signals, while:
NO TRACE LIST:disables all event tracing.
Causality Information
The EXPAND keyword option specifies that causality information be additionally reported for each traced event. The command:
TRACE EXPAND:globally enables causality information in subsequent trace reports, while the command:
NO TRACE EXPAND:disables causality information. By default, trace output does not contain causality.
Filtering Early Events
The BEGIN keyword option inhibits trace output from the beginning of a test to the specified time. When used with pattern stimuli, this allows "slow" sections of the logic to be located quickly. The command:
TRACE LIST: BEGIN=<time>causes events occurring earlier the specified time within each test to be filtered from the trace output. The command:
NO TRACE BEGIN:disables the BEGIN keyword option.
Directing Trace Output
By default, TRACE messages are displayed at the terminal. This output is controlled with the TERM keyword. The command:
NO TRACE TERM:disables trace output to the terminal, while the command:
TRACE TERM:re-enables trace output to the terminal.
Additionally, the FILE keyword option can be used to independently direct trace output to a file. The command form:
TRACE FILE:designates the file with default file name and default extension trc. The command form:
TRACE FILE=<file name>explicitly names this file. The NO prefix can be used to disable trace output to a file:
NO TRACE FILE: