When a test fails on the example or customer design, the test programmer debugs the offending test case. Typically, the test programmer inspects the wave file for the simulation and cross-reference this to the messages displayed on the standard output. Because this approach can be very time consuming, the Root Port Model offers an output logging mechanism to assist the tester with debugging failing test cases to speed the process.
The Root Port Model creates three output files (tx.dat, rx.dat, and error.dat) during each simulation run. The log files, rx.dat and tx.dat, each contain a detailed record of every TLP that was received and transmitted, respectively, by the Root Port Model.
The log file error.dat is used with the expectation tasks. Test programs that use the expectation tasks generate a general error message to standard output. Detailed information about the specific comparison failures that have occurred due to the expectation error is located within error.dat.