Multiple .build Files

You can have multiple build files inside the .dvt directory and tell DVT which one to use for compilation by using the DVT: Set Current Build Configuration… command or by clicking on the status bar item that shows the current build name.

Use cases

Depending on your current focus (browsing the design, writing testbench code, debugging) you only want to load in DVT the relevant code	rtl.build contains all directives needed to compile the design testbench.build contains all the directives needed to compile the verification environment default.build includes both the rtl.build and testbench.build
Quickly switch between synthesizable and non-synthesizable version of the design hierarchy	default.build contains all directives needed to compile all the code synth.build contains +dvt_preprocess_translate_pragmas+synthesis and a -f directive to include default.build
You switch often between several versions of the same code base. The paths to the few different files are controlled by the $VERSION environment variable.	compile.f contains directives needed to compile all the code version1.build contains +dvt_setenv+VERSION=1 and a -f directive to include compile.f version2.build contains +dvt_setenv+VERSION=2 and a -f directive to include compile.f …
You want to change the active build before launching DVT, as designers compile just the RTL by rtl.build, while others all.build.	Change the build name in .dvt/build.config.xml before launching DVT, for example by a wrapper script run_dvt.sh -rtl.