Open and add signals

The viewer accepts VCD, FST, GHW and .dws state files. Open a VCD in Explorer, or choose Reopen Editor With… → Digital IDE Waveform. Check the data-source path. Select a module in the right sidebar and double-click signals to add tracks. Values correspond to the cursor time.

Use zoom, fit, cursor positioning and transition navigation. Name search locates displayed tracks; Value search finds values; the right search filters available signals. Click the active right-sidebar tab to collapse or expand the entire sidebar.

Formats and analog display

Right-click a track and choose Format → Base for Binary, Octal, Hex, Unsigned or Signed. Floating formats reinterpret bit patterns and require matching widths. Text formats such as ASCII/enums have different applicability.

Select a track and switch between digital, step, line and scatter modes; adjust its height from the context menu. Octal text does not prevent valid numeric analog rendering. Unknown states, width mismatches and nonfinite values cannot be plotted as ordinary finite amplitudes.

Groups, ordering and derived tracks

Ctrl-click to select multiple tracks and create a group from the context menu. Collapse/expand with its triangle and drag names to reorder. Delete removes displayed tracks only; add them again from the signal list.

The context menu also exposes math channels and virtual buses. Select source signals, an operation (binary, unary, scalar or expression), and an output type. Bind expression variables to actual signals. UART decoding is configured in the interactive simulation sidebar with matching baud rate, data bits, parity and stop bits; see Simulation. Derived tracks do not change source samples.

Marks and ROI

Click the waveform to position the cursor, then add a Mark. Drag the triangle flag on the timeline to move that Mark. Cursor movement alone does not move marks. Use previous/next mark navigation.

Select ROI start/end marks. Δ shows elapsed time; Fre/Per toggles reciprocal frequency/period. An arbitrary interval is not necessarily a signal period.

Save and restore

Save state writes .dws, preserving tracks, formats, groups, marks, viewport, and the waveform comparison source, target and difference regions while referencing the source waveform. Reopen .dws to restore the view and comparison highlights. Keep the original VCD accessible; different snapshots can reference the same source.

Copy WaveDrom

Select tracks and ROI endpoints, then click the ROI copy icon. A selected virtual BUS is exported as one computed waveform with its BUS name and current display format; an ordinary group only organizes tracks and is not emitted as a WaveDrom signal. Paste the resulting WaveDrom JSON into a compatible tool. The button copies to the clipboard rather than exporting a file; data labels follow the current display format without artificial zero padding.

Use transition times as endpoints when possible. Exact timing ratios can exceed the slot limit; shorten the interval or adjust endpoints instead of forcing a huge grid.

Virtual buses concatenate members in top-to-bottom order: the first member occupies the most significant bits. Dragging in/out, reordering or deleting members updates width, waveform and cursor values. A one-member bus equals that member; an empty bus shows no stale value. Nested groups are flattened in display order. Computation uses the source bits independently of child display radix and preserves X/Z and bit slices.

Right-click a virtual-bus header to change its format, color or height, rename it, or select it for comparison. Format, color, height and name are persisted in the .dws session; the width suffix is retained after rename. A virtual bus can be compared with a normal signal or another virtual channel.