LinuxWhat is the SVF file format?
A .svf file is a plain-text JTAG boundary scan vector file used in electronics manufacturing and device programming. SVF - Serial Vector Format - was defined by ASSET InterTech in 1994 and describes exactly which bit patterns to clock into a device's JTAG Test Access Port (TAP) and what responses to expect, making the test completely independent of any specific hardware programmer.
The file contains a sequence of semicolon-terminated statements that drive the JTAG TAP state machine. Key statement types include:
SIR- scan the instruction registerSDR- scan the data registerRUNTEST- hold a TAP state for a defined clock count or timeFREQUENCY- set the TCK clock rateSTATE- force a specific TAP state
SVF is plain ASCII, human-readable, and case-insensitive. Comments begin with ! or //. There are no magic bytes and no internal versioning - the single published revision (Rev E, 1994, reissued 1999) remains the current specification.
Common uses include FPGA and CPLD programming, boundary scan testing on assembled PCBs, and device identification. Xilinx defined XSVF as a binary-compressed variant for embedded SVF playback, but SVF itself remains the preferred interchange format in lab and production test environments. Tools such as OpenOCD, Xilinx Vivado, and Intel Quartus Prime consume .svf files directly.
Note: the correct full name is "Serial Vector Format" - not "Simple Vector Format" as sometimes mislabeled.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWSVF files are plain ASCII text and cannot execute code on a PC. They only do something if fed to a JTAG hardware interface. An SVF executed against the wrong target device could potentially corrupt firmware or damage flash memory - always verify the correct target device before executing an SVF.
Format details
in a nutshell- Synopsys SVF (Synopsys Verilog or Synthesis result format) - Some Synopsys EDA tools historically used .svf for synthesis vector or constraint files unrelated to JTAG; context determines which is meant.
- AutoCAD Simple Vector Format (viewer) - Autodesk used .svf as a streaming vector format for cloud-based CAD viewing (Forge Viewer / Autodesk Platform Services); these are binary CAD viewer files unrelated to JTAG.
Programs that open SVF files
Windows4 apps
Xilinx Vivado Design Suite
Freemium Hardware Manager → Open Target → Program and Debug → execute SVF via Tcl: open_hw_target; execute_hw_svf file.svf
Intel Quartus Prime
Freemium Programmer tool supports SVF execution via JTAG; load SVF and click Start.
OpenOCD
Open-source svf <file.svf> command in OpenOCD Tcl console; plays the SVF against connected JTAG hardware. 
macOS1 app
OpenOCD
Open-source Install via Homebrew (brew install open-ocd); use svf command in OpenOCD console. Technical details
deep spec| Encoding | Plain ASCII text, 7-bit, case-insensitive |
| Statement terminator | Each statement ends with a semicolon; statements may span multiple lines |
| Comment syntax | Lines or inline comments beginning with ! or // |
| Key scan statements | SIR (instruction register), SDR (data register), RUNTEST, STATE, FREQUENCY, ENDIR, ENDDR |
| Data representation | TDI/TDO/MASK values as parenthesized hex bit vectors |
| TAP control | Drives IEEE 1149.1 JTAG TAP state machine; state transitions specified via STATE, ENDIR, ENDDR |
| Typical file size | 1 KB - 10 MB depending on device complexity and vector count |
| Compression | None (plain text) |
| Versioning | No internal versioning; single published revision (Rev E, 1994/1999) |
| Primary use cases | PCB boundary scan testing, FPGA/CPLD programming, device identification |
| Binary variant | XSVF (Xilinx binary compressed SVF) for memory-constrained embedded playback |
| Hardware independence | Describes TAP bit patterns abstractly; no reference to any specific programmer hardware |
| Specification author | ASSET InterTech Inc. (1994); widely adopted across EDA tool vendors |
| Associated OS | Windows, Linux, macOS (cross-platform text format) |
| Released | 1994 (SVF specification Revision E, ASSET InterTech) |
| Latest version | SVF Revision E (final public specification, 1999 reissue) |
| Open standard | Yes · royalty-free |
| Specification | www.jtagtest.com |
SVF conversions
Community Q&A
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