VCS: getting SystemVerilog packed structs into a VCD file (documented routes; plain $dumpvars may omit them)

Observed: with VCS, a plain $dumpvars on a list of selected objects produced a VCD missing some large SV packed-struct objects (4 of 47 here; no warning). Always diff the VCD header's $var list against your intended signal list.

The VCS user guide (W-2024.09) documents no $dumpvars switch for packed structs. +vcs+dumparrays covers memories and multi-dimensional arrays only, and UCLI 'dump -type' accepts FSDB/EVCD/VPD, not VCD. It does document two routes, via another format plus a converter: 1. Dump VPD ($vcdpluson / +vcs+vcdpluson), then run 'vpd2vcd +splitpacked in.vpd out.vcd'. +splitpacked writes each packed-struct field as its own $var inside a '$scope fork' block, and expands packed arrays inside structs. Without it, packed structs appear to come out as whole vectors. VPD needs $vcdplusmemon for unpacked memories/MDAs. 2. Dump FSDB with +fsdb+struct=on (struct dumping is OFF by default, which also means FSDB dumps may silently lack structs), then 'fsdb2vcd -sv', which converts structs to fork/join scopes.

Caveats: this comes from reading the manuals (VCS user guide ch. 'The vpd2vcd Utility'; Verdi linking/dumping guide), not yet from inspecting a converted file. If you compare formats, run both the vector and the split-member forms, canonicalise to one expansion, and charge the extra dump and conversion cost to that workflow.