Brings VHDLTest up to date with the current TemplateDotNetTool template patterns. All tests pass across .NET 8, 9, and 10.

Description

Configuration

• .editorconfig — LF line endings globally; naming/brace/namespace severity raised to warning; added csharp_nullable_reference_types = enable
• .markdownlint-cli2.jsonc — Added MD024: { siblings_only: true } to allow duplicate headings in different document sections; fixed node_modules ignore glob
• .cspell.json — ignorePaths aligned to template; fixed *spdx.json → *.spdx.json
• .github/dependabot.yml — NuGet group renamed dotnet-dependencies → nuget-dependencies

GitHub Templates & Workflows

• ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml — Added 📚 Documentation link; renamed discussions entry
• ISSUE_TEMPLATE/question.yml — Added missing question/help template
• pull_request_template.md — Added self-validation step; fixed YAML lint command to yamllint .
• workflows/build.yaml — Aligned step names/order; added --pdf-variant pdf/a-3u to all Weasyprint steps; fixed SonarMark to use $SONAR_TOKEN with shell: bash; added macos-latest to build, test-ghdl, and test-nvc matrices; used llvm backend for GHDL on macOS and mcode on Windows/Linux; installed NVC via brew install nvc on macOS (in both build and test-nvc jobs) alongside nickg/setup-nvc-ci@v1 for Linux/Windows; updated OS_SHORT sed command to the simpler s/-latest// pattern in all three jobs

Source Files

• Converted all 41 C# source and test files from CRLF → LF
• Applied dotnet format to add missing braces (csharp_prefer_braces now enforced as warning)

Bug Fixes

• GhdlSimulator.cs — Added explicit ghdl -e elaboration step before ghdl -r in Test() to fix GHDL llvm backend on macOS. The llvm backend requires explicit elaboration to produce a binary executable before running; the mcode backend (Linux/Windows) is unaffected as -e is harmless with in-memory elaboration. Variable renamed from elabResults to elaborateResults to satisfy spell checker.
• ActiveHdlSimulator.cs — Standardized the output directory name to VHDLTest.out/ActiveHDL across all references in both Compile() and Test(). The directory was previously created as VHDLTest.out/ActiveHdl (PascalCase) while all script content and -do command arguments used VHDLTest.out/ActiveHDL (all-caps), causing failures on case-sensitive filesystems (Linux/macOS). A private const string LibDirPath is now used as the single source of truth for the directory name.
• RunProgram.cs — Fixed a potential deadlock: both stdout and stderr are now drained concurrently via ReadToEndAsync() tasks started before WaitForExit(), preventing either pipe's buffer from filling and blocking the child process.
• Runner.cs (test helper) — Same deadlock fix applied: async reads of both streams are started before WaitForExit(). Stderr output is now also captured and included in the returned output string instead of being silently discarded.
• VivadoSimulator.cs — Fixed stale copy-paste comment: "Run the ModelSim compiler" corrected to "Run the Vivado compiler".

Validation Diagnostics

• Validation.cs — When a self-validation test fails, the output now includes the simulator exit code and the full captured simulator log (each line indented), making CI failures easier to diagnose

Documentation

• AGENTS.md — Added Agent Selection Guide, Project Structure, CI/CD, Markdown Link Style, and Agent Report Files sections; added macos@TestName source filter; updated CI/CD section to reflect Windows/Linux/macOS build support and GHDL/NVC on Windows/Linux/macOS
• requirements.yaml — Added macos@TestName source filter comment; added VHDLTest-Plt-MacOS platform requirement linked to macos@VHDLTest_TestPasses / macos@VHDLTest_TestFails

Type of Change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• Documentation update
• Code quality improvement

Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submitting this pull request, ensure you have completed the following:

Build and Test

• Code builds successfully: dotnet build --configuration Release
• All unit tests pass: dotnet test --configuration Release
• Self-validation tests pass:
  dotnet run --project src/DEMAConsulting.VHDLTest --configuration Release --framework net10.0
--no-build -- --validate
• Code produces zero warnings

Code Quality

• Code formatting is correct: dotnet format --verify-no-changes
• New code has appropriate XML documentation comments
• Static analyzer warnings have been addressed

Quality Checks

Please run the following checks before submitting:

• Spell checker passes: cspell "**/*.{md,cs}"
• Markdown linter passes: markdownlint "**/*.md"
• YAML linter passes: yamllint .

Testing

• Added unit tests for new functionality
• Updated existing tests if behavior changed
• All tests follow the AAA (Arrange, Act, Assert) pattern
• Test coverage is maintained or improved

Documentation

• Updated README.md (if applicable)
• Updated ARCHITECTURE.md (if applicable)
• Added code examples for new features (if applicable)
• Updated requirements.yaml (if applicable)

Additional Notes

macOS is added to all three CI job matrices (build, test-ghdl, test-nvc). NVC is installed via brew install nvc on macOS in both the build (unit tests) and test-nvc jobs. GHDL uses the llvm backend on macOS (the mcode backend is not supported on macOS) and mcode on Windows/Linux.

The MD024 markdownlint rule is configured with siblings_only: true to permit duplicate heading text that appears under different parent sections in docs/guide/guide.md (e.g., "Purpose" and "CI/CD Integration" each appear in multiple top-level sections).

The GHDL llvm backend (macOS) requires an explicit elaboration step (ghdl -e) before run (ghdl -r) to produce the binary executable. Without it, ghdl -r fails with "file does not exist / Please elaborate your design". Adding -e before -r fixes macOS and is harmless for the mcode backend on Linux/Windows, where elaboration is in-memory and -r still performs its own elaboration+simulation.

The Active-HDL output directory name inconsistency (VHDLTest.out/ActiveHdl vs VHDLTest.out/ActiveHDL) would cause compile.do and test.do script references to point at a non-existent path on case-sensitive filesystems. A private const string LibDirPath now serves as the single source of truth, and all references consistently use VHDLTest.out/ActiveHDL.

The synchronous ReadToEnd() + ReadToEnd() pattern in RunProgram.Run and the test helper Runner.Run could deadlock if the child process wrote enough output to fill one pipe's buffer while the parent was blocked reading the other. Both are now fixed by starting ReadToEndAsync() tasks for both streams before calling WaitForExit(), which drains both pipes concurrently.

When a self-validation test fails, the exit code and full captured simulator log are now written to the output (indented under the failure headline). This makes it straightforward to diagnose failures in CI.

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