Clearing up the design directory

[Altera_Forum]

Hello 

 I am working on a design using the schematic editor of QuartusII. The design has gone through a number of changes. Components created with the megaWizzard have been added and later deleted. Unless I delete the files created by the megaWizzard as I delete the component from the schematic the design directory becomes littered with files that are no longer used in the design.  Is there an easy automatic way of removing (or listing) files that are not used in the current design?  Thanks in advance Ian.

[Altera_Forum]

Sorry, I don't have the answer for you, but I do share your pain. What I do may go a bit beyond what you're asking for. I committed only the essential files to my source control system (GIT) and frequently use the clean-up option (git-clean) which removes anything unknown to it. 

 Other than the design files (including the ones created with the MegaWizard), I keep only the .cdf, .qpf, .qsf, and .qdf from the main directory and delete everything else (including db/ and dse/ directories).  The .cdf is used for programming (usually trivial to reconstruct so really not that essential), .qsf is the main Quartus project file of nearly trivial contents, .qsf is the key file with all kinds of settings including pin assignments. I must admit I don't know exactly what .qdf is used for or if it's essential.  Good luck, Tommy

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Sorry, I don't have the answer for you, but I do share your pain. What I do may go a bit beyond what you're asking for. I committed only the essential files to my source control system (GIT) and frequently use the clean-up option (git-clean) which removes anything unknown to it.  Other than the design files (including the ones created with the MegaWizard), I keep only the .cdf, .qpf, .qsf, and .qdf from the main directory and delete everything else (including db/ and dse/ directories).  The .cdf is used for programming (usually trivial to reconstruct so really not that essential), .qsf is the main Quartus project file of nearly trivial contents, .qsf is the key file with all kinds of settings including pin assignments. I must admit I don't know exactly what .qdf is used for or if it's essential.  Good luck, Tommy  --- Quote End ---    Hi Tommy,  Thanks for the tips. I am not using any source control / management tools here at the moment. Looks like I will just have to keep on top of it manually for the time being.  I received a couple of other suggestions that I will try when time allows.  Regards Ian.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I... delete everything else (including db/ and dse/ directories).  --- Quote End ---    It is usually OK to delete the db directory. A couple of situations where you should not delete it:  (1) You are using smart compilation mode and want Quartus to skip a step (usually Analysis & Synthesis) when it is not needed.  (2) You are using incremental compilation. The top-down flow stores the incremental compilation files in the db directory. The bottom-up flow stores files there after you import from a .qxp file.     --- Quote Start ---  .qsf is the main Quartus project file of nearly trivial contents...  --- Quote End ---    I think you mean the .qpf file. It lists the names of the revisions. Each revision name in the .qpf file matches the name of a .qsf file. Revisions let you have multiple .qsf files (and the associated report files after you compile with them) with different combinations of settings. You can work with revisions using "Project --> Revisions".     --- Quote Start ---  I must admit I don't know exactly what .qdf is used for or if it's essential.  --- Quote End ---    A .qdf file is a Quartus defaults file. See the header comments in your .qsf file for some information about .qdf files. A .qdf file has the default values of all settings that are not stated explicitly in the .qsf file. If you don't have a .qdf file in your Quartus project directory, Quartus uses the .qdf file included in the Quartus installation.

[Altera_Forum]

Brad & All, 

 Thanks for info.  I just spent an hour or so going through the "source files read" report and using windows explorer to delete the redundant files. This seems to be the only way of clearing up.  Archiving and restoring the project looked promising but appears to archive all of the files in the directory so doesn't really help.  I'm surprised that there is no automated method of clearing up.  Regards Ian.