use a single 'external' argument instead of 'use_external' and 'impls'

vunit/builtins.py

@@ -69,12 +69,13 @@ def _add_files(self, pattern):
 
             self._vunit_lib.add_source_file(file_name)
 
-    def _add_data_types(self, use_external=None, impls=None):
+    def _add_data_types(self, external=None):
         """
         Add data types packages
 
-        :param use_external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
-        :param impls: optional list of lists containing alternative implementations for external models.
+        :param external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
+                         Optionally a list of paths containing alternative implementations for external
+                         models can be provided.
         """
         self._add_files(join(VHDL_PATH, "data_types", "src", "types", "*.vhd"))
         self._add_files(join(VHDL_PATH, "data_types", "src", "*.vhd"))
@@ -84,12 +85,13 @@ def _add_data_types(self, use_external=None, impls=None):
         use_ext = [False]
         files = [None]
 
-        if use_external is not None:
-            for ind, val in enumerate(use_external):
-                use_ext[ind] = val
-        if impls is not None:
-            for ind, val in enumerate(impls):
-                files[ind] = val
+        if external is not None:
+            for ind, val in enumerate(external):
+                if isinstance(val, bool):
+                    use_ext[ind] = val
+                else:
+                    use_ext[ind] = True
+                    files[ind] = val
 
         for val in use_ext:
             if val and simulator_check(lambda simclass: not simclass.supports_vhpi()):
@@ -209,14 +211,15 @@ def add_verilog_builtins(self):
         """
         self._vunit_lib.add_source_files(join(VERILOG_PATH, "vunit_pkg.sv"))
 
-    def add_vhdl_builtins(self, use_external=None, impls=None):
+    def add_vhdl_builtins(self, external=None):
         """
         Add vunit VHDL builtin libraries
 
-        :param use_external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
-        :param impls: optional list of lists containing alternative implementations for external models.
+        :param external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
+                         Optionally a list of paths containing alternative implementations for external
+                         models can be provided.
         """
-        self._add_data_types(use_external=use_external, impls=impls)
+        self._add_data_types(external=external)
         self._add_files(join(VHDL_PATH, "*.vhd"))
         for path in ("core", "logging", "string_ops", "check", "dictionary", "run", "path"):
             self._add_files(join(VHDL_PATH, path, "src", "*.vhd"))

vunit/ui.py

@@ -290,16 +290,17 @@ class VUnit(object):  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes, too-many-p
     """
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_argv(cls, argv=None, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, use_external=None, impls=None):
+    def from_argv(cls, argv=None, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, external=None):
         """
         Create VUnit instance from command line arguments.
 
         :param argv: Use explicit argv instead of actual command line argument
         :param compile_builtins: Do not compile builtins. Used for VUnit internal testing.
         :param vhdl_standard: The VHDL standard used to compile files into this library,
                               if None the VUNIT_VHDL_STANDARD environment variable is used
-        :param use_external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
-        :param impls: optional list of lists containing alternative implementations for external models
+        :param external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
+                         Optionally a list of paths containing alternative implementations for external
+                         models can be provided.
         :returns: A :class:`.VUnit` object instance
 
         :example:
@@ -315,12 +316,11 @@ def from_argv(cls, argv=None, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, use_ext
             args,
             compile_builtins=compile_builtins,
             vhdl_standard=vhdl_standard,
-            use_external=use_external,
-            impls=impls
+            external=external
         )
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_args(cls, args, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, use_external=None, impls=None):
+    def from_args(cls, args, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, external=None):
         """
         Create VUnit instance from args namespace.
         Intended for users who adds custom command line options.
@@ -331,20 +331,20 @@ def from_args(cls, args, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, use_external
         :param compile_builtins: Do not compile builtins. Used for VUnit internal testing.
         :param vhdl_standard: The VHDL standard used to compile files into this library,
                               if None the VUNIT_VHDL_STANDARD environment variable is used
-        :param use_external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
-        :param impls: optional list of lists containing alternative implementations for external models
+        :param external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
+                         Optionally a list of paths containing alternative implementations for external
+                         models can be provided.
         :returns: A :class:`.VUnit` object instance
 
         """
         return cls(
             args,
             compile_builtins=compile_builtins,
             vhdl_standard=vhdl_standard,
-            use_external=use_external,
-            impls=impls
+            external=external
         )
 
-    def __init__(self, args, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, use_external=None, impls=None):
+    def __init__(self, args, compile_builtins=True, vhdl_standard=None, external=None):
         self._args = args
         self._configure_logging(args.log_level)
         self._output_path = abspath(args.output_path)
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ def test_filter(name, attribute_names):
         self._builtins = Builtins(self, self._vhdl_standard, simulator_class)
         self._compile_builtins = compile_builtins
         if compile_builtins:
-            self.add_builtins(use_external=use_external, impls=impls)
+            self.add_builtins(external=external)
 
     def _create_database(self):
         """
@@ -1076,14 +1076,15 @@ def _run_test(self, test_cases, report):
                             no_color=self._args.no_color)
         runner.run(test_cases)
 
-    def add_builtins(self, use_external=None, impls=None):
+    def add_builtins(self, external=None):
         """
         Add vunit VHDL builtin libraries
 
-        :param use_external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
-        :param impls: optional list of lists containing alternative implementations for external models.
+        :param external: list of a single Boolean, to select whether to enable external models for string.
+                         Optionally a list of paths containing alternative implementations for external
+                         models can be provided.
         """
-        self._builtins.add_vhdl_builtins(use_external=use_external, impls=impls)
+        self._builtins.add_vhdl_builtins(external=external)
 
     def add_com(self):
         """