xref: /netbsd/lib/libc/softfloat/README.txt (revision 4472dbe5)
1*4472dbe5Sbjh21$NetBSD: README.txt,v 1.1 2000/06/06 08:15:02 bjh21 Exp $
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3*4472dbe5Sbjh21Package Overview for SoftFloat Release 2a
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5*4472dbe5Sbjh21John R. Hauser
6*4472dbe5Sbjh211998 December 13
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9*4472dbe5Sbjh21SoftFloat is a software implementation of floating-point that conforms to
10*4472dbe5Sbjh21the IEC/IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic.  SoftFloat is
11*4472dbe5Sbjh21distributed in the form of C source code.  Compiling the SoftFloat sources
12*4472dbe5Sbjh21generates two things:
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14*4472dbe5Sbjh21-- A SoftFloat object file (typically `softfloat.o') containing the complete
15*4472dbe5Sbjh21   set of IEC/IEEE floating-point routines.
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17*4472dbe5Sbjh21-- A `timesoftfloat' program for evaluating the speed of the SoftFloat
18*4472dbe5Sbjh21   routines.  (The SoftFloat module is linked into this program.)
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20*4472dbe5Sbjh21The SoftFloat package is documented in four text files:
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22*4472dbe5Sbjh21   softfloat.txt          Documentation for using the SoftFloat functions.
23*4472dbe5Sbjh21   softfloat-source.txt   Documentation for compiling SoftFloat.
24*4472dbe5Sbjh21   softfloat-history.txt  History of major changes to SoftFloat.
25*4472dbe5Sbjh21   timesoftfloat.txt      Documentation for using `timesoftfloat'.
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27*4472dbe5Sbjh21Other files in the package comprise the source code for SoftFloat.
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29*4472dbe5Sbjh21Please be aware that some work is involved in porting this software to other
30*4472dbe5Sbjh21targets.  It is not just a matter of getting `make' to complete without
31*4472dbe5Sbjh21error messages.  I would have written the code that way if I could, but
32*4472dbe5Sbjh21there are fundamental differences between systems that I can't make go away.
33*4472dbe5Sbjh21You should not attempt to compile SoftFloat without first reading both
34*4472dbe5Sbjh21`softfloat.txt' and `softfloat-source.txt'.
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36*4472dbe5Sbjh21At the time of this writing, the most up-to-date information about
37*4472dbe5Sbjh21SoftFloat and the latest release can be found at the Web page `http://
38*4472dbe5Sbjh21HTTP.CS.Berkeley.EDU/~jhauser/arithmetic/SoftFloat.html'.
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