For QuestaSim, what's the difference between vsim.exe and vsimk.exe? [closed]

Question

For QuestaSim, what's the difference between vsim.exe and vsimk.exe under C:\questasim64_2020.4\win64\vsimk.exe?

for some reason, in order to invoke QuestaSim in batch mode from the Powershell prompt, some Windows computers require me to use vsimk.exe instead vsim.exe. Example:

PS> vsim.exe -c 
#hangs on some computers

versus:

PS> vsimk.exe -c 
#works on all computers

What's the difference?

Answer 1

vsimk.exe is the core simulation engine. vsim.exe is a wrapper that set up a lot of things and allows you to run more complex tcl commands an d the GUI.

You should only be using vsim.exe The problems you see might be caused by Windows crashes, or running multiple version on the same machine. The Windows registry needs to be cleaned up. Look for a ModelSim entry and delete that.