In Project Mode, the project infrastructure manages all source files. The Vivado IDE handles RTL design sources, IP, simulation sources, and constraint sources independently. Vivado uses source sets to allow multiple versions of simulation or design constraint sets, letting you experiment with different configurations in a single design project. The same approach applies to simulation sets, enabling module-level simulations for different parts of your design.
When adding sources, you can reference files from remote locations or copy sources locally into the project directory. Vivado can read from any network-accessible location. Vivado tracks file time and date stamps to detect updates. If source files are modified, the Vivado IDE changes the project status to indicate whether synthesis or implementation runs are out of date. Vivado processes sources with read-only permissions accordingly.
You can scan RTL files for include files or global source files located in the same source directory. Use to add all source file types within a directory or subdirectory. The Vivado IDE searches matching file extensions from its list of supported source types. After you add sources, the tool derives compilation order and logic hierarchy, showing the results in the Sources window. This helps you identify malformed RTL or missing modules. The Messages window displays compilation messages, and you can cross-probe from messages to source files. You can enable or disable specific sources to control configuration.