[SOLVED] possible to declare an array of ports?

[ptjw]

hello all,

i am currently practicing writing codes in VHDL for a spartan 3E FPGA. there are 4 LEDs that can be interfaced as ports and i have initialized them as so:

entity test is
    port ( 
	   clock : in  STD_LOGIC;
           push_A : in  STD_LOGIC;
           push_B : in  STD_LOGIC;
           push_C : in  STD_LOGIC;
           push_D : in  STD_LOGIC;
           led_1 : out  STD_LOGIC:= '0';
           led_2 : out  STD_LOGIC:= '0';
           led_3 : out  STD_LOGIC:= '0';
           led_4 : out  STD_LOGIC:= '0');
end test;

i have assigned each led its own variable but is it possible to assign them to an array instead?

eg: led[1] = '1'; <-- turns on led no.1
led[2] = '1'; <-- turns on led no.2 etc etc..

currently the only way i can do it is if i assign them to STD_LOGIC_VECTOR:

leds : out STD_LOGIC VECTOR (1 to 4) := "0000";

but i find it problematic to have to manipulate bits by shifting, AND, OR etc. i know it is possible to declare variable arrays, but i haven't been able to figure it out for declaring arrays in ports and have not found any help anywhere :-?

 

[alexan_e]

you can manipulate any bit of the above vector using
out(4) or out(3) or out(2) or out(1)
you can also change a smaller range like out(1 to 2) or out(2 to 4) etc

Alex

 

[TrickyDicky]

Are you trying to manipulate the out port? that is not allowed. Try using an internal intermediate signal signal for manipulation.

leds : out std_logic_vector(1 to 4);

...
signal leds_temp : std_logic_vector(1 to 4);

leds <= leds_temp;

process(clock)
begin
  if rising_edge(clock) then
    leds_temp <= inputs & leds_temp(1 to 3); --shift register
  end if;
end process;

 

[ptjw]

awesome, all very helpful replies...i managed to do what i was trying to achieve! thanks to all!