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2*3fc4c324SrossPackage Overview for TestFloat Release 2a
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4*3fc4c324SrossJohn R. Hauser
5*3fc4c324Sross1998 December 16
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8*3fc4c324SrossTestFloat is a program for testing that a floating-point implementation
9*3fc4c324Srossconforms to the IEC/IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic.
10*3fc4c324SrossTestFloat is distributed in the form of C source code.  The TestFloat
11*3fc4c324Srosspackage actually provides two related programs:
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13*3fc4c324Sross-- The `testfloat' program tests a system's floating-point for conformance
14*3fc4c324Sross   to the IEC/IEEE Standard.  This program uses the SoftFloat software
15*3fc4c324Sross   floating-point implementation as a basis for comparison.
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17*3fc4c324Sross-- The `testsoftfloat' program tests SoftFloat itself for conformance to
18*3fc4c324Sross   the IEC/IEEE Standard.  These tests are performed by comparing against a
19*3fc4c324Sross   separate, slower software floating-point that is included in the TestFloat
20*3fc4c324Sross   package.
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22*3fc4c324SrossTestFloat depends on SoftFloat, but SoftFloat is not included in the
23*3fc4c324SrossTestFloat package.  SoftFloat can be obtained through the Web page `http://
24*3fc4c324SrossHTTP.CS.Berkeley.EDU/~jhauser/arithmetic/SoftFloat.html'.
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26*3fc4c324SrossTestFloat is documented in three text files:
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28*3fc4c324Sross   testfloat.txt          Documentation for using the TestFloat programs
29*3fc4c324Sross                              (both `testfloat' and `testsoftfloat').
30*3fc4c324Sross   testfloat-source.txt   Documentation for porting and compiling TestFloat.
31*3fc4c324Sross   testfloat-history.txt  History of major changes to TestFloat.
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33*3fc4c324SrossThe following file is also provided:
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35*3fc4c324Sross   systemBugs.txt         Information about processor bugs found using
36*3fc4c324Sross                              TestFloat.
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38*3fc4c324SrossOther files in the package comprise the source code for TestFloat.
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40*3fc4c324SrossPlease be aware that some work is involved in porting this software to other
41*3fc4c324Srosstargets.  It is not just a matter of getting `make' to complete without
42*3fc4c324Srosserror messages.  I would have written the code that way if I could, but
43*3fc4c324Srossthere are fundamental differences between systems that I can't make go away.
44*3fc4c324SrossYou should not attempt to compile the TestFloat sources without first
45*3fc4c324Srossreading `testfloat-source.txt'.
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47*3fc4c324SrossAt the time of this writing, the most up-to-date information about
48*3fc4c324SrossTestFloat and the latest release can be found at the Web page `http://
49*3fc4c324SrossHTTP.CS.Berkeley.EDU/~jhauser/arithmetic/TestFloat.html'.
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