ruby-vpi 7.0.0

data/history.html

@@ -0,0 +1,809 @@
+<h1>Release history</h1>
+
+
+	<p>This is a record of important changes that have occurred with each release of <a href="http://ruby-vpi.rubyforge.org">Ruby-VPI</a>.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Version numbering system</h2>
+
+
+We <em>strictly</em> follow the RubyGems project&#8217;s <a href="http://www.rubygems.org/read/chapter/7">rational versioning policy</a> since release 6.3.0. To summarize<sup><a href="#fn1">1</a></sup> this &#8220;major.minor.build&#8221; numbering policy,
+	<ul>
+	<li>an increase in the <strong>major</strong> number indicates that <strong>functionally incompatible</strong> have occurred. Thus, what may have worked in the previous version may not work in the new one.</li>
+		<li>an increase in the <strong>minor</strong> number indicates that <strong>functionally compatible</strong> changes have occurred. Thus, what worked in the previous version will work in the new one.</li>
+		<li>an increase in the <strong>build</strong> number indicates that the <strong>underlying implementation</strong> has changed. The functionality has not changed and no features have been added. Thus, what worked in the previous version will work in the new one.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<p id="fn1"><sup>1</sup> C. Gross, &#8220;Explaining Open Source Version Numbers&#8221;, [Online document], 2005 Nov 28, [cited 2006 Aug 27], Available <span class="caps">HTTP</span>: <a href="http://ablog.apress.com/?p=738">http://ablog.apress.com/?p=738</a></p>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 7.0.0 (2006-08-29)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release distributes Ruby-VPI as a gem, improves portability of generated tests, and fixes a bug.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li><code>put_value()</code> now accomodates register value overflows when verifying the value it has written.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby-VPI is now distributed only as a <a href="http://www.rubygems.org">source gem</a>. You can decompress the gem without installing it onto your system by running the command <code>gem install -i output_directory ruby-vpi-7.0.0.gem</code>. In addition, you can still obtain the source code directly from the Subversion repository.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The test generator&#8217;s templates and the examples have been updated as follows:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Test runners no longer have to specify the path to Ruby-VPI installation directory. Instead, they simply <code>require 'ruby-vpi/runner'</code>. Thus, you can run your tests on any machine with Ruby-VPI without having to know where it is installed.</li>
+		<li>Ruby benches now invoke <code>RubyVPI.init_bench</code> instead of <code>require 'bench'; setup_bench</code> to become initialized.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>All Ruby libraries in the <code>lib/</code> directory have been moved into <code>lib/ruby-vpi/</code> to prevent load-path clashes with other gems. You should access these libraries by prefixing their path with &#8220;ruby-vpi&#8221;. For example, <code>require 'vpi_util'</code> should now be written as <code>require 'ruby-vpi/vpi_util'</code>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <code>src/</code> directory has been renamed to <code>ext/</code> to follow RubyGems convention.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The tools in <code>bin/</code> become available in your system&#8217;s <code>bin/</code> directory when the gem is installed.
+	<ul>
+	<li>Usage and help information has been added to the <code>header_to_ruby.rb</code> tool.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Incorrect spelling of <span class="caps">GPL</span> Cver (v should be uncapitalized) has been fixed.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Incorrect link to <span class="caps">GPL</span> Cver website has been fixed.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The user manual has been updated according to all of the above changes.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 6.3.0 (2006-08-27)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds support for the <span class="caps">GPL</span> Cver simulator, provides both binary and source packages, and explicitly defines the version numbering system.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <span class="caps">GPL</span> Cver simulator is now supported.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby-VPI now only needs to be built once.
+	<ul>
+	<li>You can run tests with different Verilog simulators without having to re-compile Ruby-VPI.</li>
+		<li>Release packages are now available in both source and binary form.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The RSpec based specifications for the counter example now use the <code>should_equal</code> instead of the <code>should_be</code> assertion, because the latter ensures strict equivalence. For instance, it will fail when a Fixnum is compared to a Bignum.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>We now follow the RubyGems project&#8217;s <a href="http://www.rubygems.org/read/chapter/7">rational versioning policy</a>. The version numbers of previous releases have been revised accordingly:
+	<table>
+		<tr>
+			<th>Release date </th>
+			<th>Original version number </th>
+			<th>New version number </th>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 1999-10-31 </td>
+			<td> 0.0   </td>
+			<td> 0.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-02-26 </td>
+			<td> 0.1   </td>
+			<td> 1.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-04-17 </td>
+			<td> 0.2   </td>
+			<td> 2.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-04-23 </td>
+			<td> 0.3   </td>
+			<td> 3.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-04-28 </td>
+			<td> 0.4   </td>
+			<td> 3.1.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-05-13 </td>
+			<td> 0.5   </td>
+			<td> 3.2.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-05-25 </td>
+			<td> 0.6   </td>
+			<td> 4.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-07-22 </td>
+			<td> 0.7   </td>
+			<td> 5.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-07-29 </td>
+			<td> 0.8   </td>
+			<td> 5.1.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-08-04 </td>
+			<td> 0.8.1 </td>
+			<td> 5.1.1 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-08-07 </td>
+			<td> 0.9   </td>
+			<td> 6.0.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-08-09 </td>
+			<td> 0.9.1 </td>
+			<td> 6.1.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+		<tr>
+			<td> 2006-08-26 </td>
+			<td> 0.9.2 </td>
+			<td> 6.2.0 </td>
+		</tr>
+	</table></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 6.2.0 (2006-08-26)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release beautifies generated tests, adds checks to find signal width bugs, and includes a new tool.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The test generator now uses <span class="caps">ERB</span> templates which ensures nice indentation of generated output.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The test generator now decouples Ruby-VPI paths from Verilog benches via the <span class="caps">RUBYLIB</span> environment variable.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>A tool which converts Verilog headers into Ruby has been added.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li><code>put_value()</code> now returns the value it puts. Therefore, it is easier to chain together a series of assignments: <code>foo.intVal = bar.intVal = baz.intVal = 10</code></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li><code>put_value()</code> now verifies that the value it puts was written correctly. This helps to find bugs regarding invalid assumptions about the number of bits supported by a signal.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The source code is now indented with two spaces instead of one tab character.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 6.1.0 (2006-08-09)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release simplifies generated tests and fixes a bug.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The test generator now produces simpler Ruby benches and specifications.
+	<ul>
+	<li>A template used by generated specifications has been added.</li>
+		<li>The counter example and tutorial have also been simplified accordingly.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Boolean <span class="caps">VPI</span> property values are now correctly converted into Ruby truth values.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 6.0.0 (2006-08-07)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds support and documentation for rapid prototyping of Verilog designs in Ruby.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Support for prototyping designs in Ruby, before they are implemented in Verilog, has been added.
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <em>same</em> specification can be used to verify both prototype <em>and</em> design! :-)</li>
+		<li>The tutorial in the user manual has been updated to discuss prototyping.
+	<ul>
+	<li>Prototypes have been added to the counter example.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The directory structure has been reorganized as follows:
+	<ul>
+	<li><code>ext</code> &rarr; <code>src</code></li>
+		<li><code>tools</code> &rarr; <code>bin</code></li>
+		<li><code>examples</code> &rarr; <code>samp</code></li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>All template files have been moved into the <code>tpl</code> directory.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The user manual has been revised for consistency.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 5.1.1 (2006-08-04)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release fixes unreadable syntax coloring in the user manual.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Source code comments in the user manual are now readable.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <code>README</code> and <code>HISTORY</code> files have been converted to <a href="http://www.textism.com/tools/textile/">textile</a> format.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Todd Nagengast and Matt Fischler for notifying me about unreadable text in the user manual.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 5.1.0 (2006-07-29)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds a tutorial to the user manual, and improves the tools and examples.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<h3>User manual</h3>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>A tutorial, based on the counter example, has been added to the user manual.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The user manual&#8217;s appearance has been dramatically improved with syntax coloring for source code, and <a href="http://tango.freedesktop.org">graphics for admonitions and navigation</a>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h3>Examples</h3>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>A specification, expressed in unit test format, has been added to the counter example.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <code>--name</code> and <code>-n</code> options, which lets you specify an identifier for a generated test, have been added to the <code>generate_test.rb</code> tool.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Running <code>rake clobber</code> in an example directory no longer destroys documentation in the Ruby-VPI directory.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The examples&#8217; Rakefiles now invoke all tests present in the directory via the <code>launcher_template.rake</code> template.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The Rake template for test runners (generated by <code>tools/generate_test.rb</code>) has moved from <code>examples/template.rake</code> to <code>examples/runner_template.rake</code>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h3><span class="caps">VPI</span> utility layer</h3>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The value of a handle&#8217;s boolean <span class="caps">VPI</span> property is treated as <code>false</code> if it is zero, because zero is <code>false</code> in the C language.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Phil Tomson for correcting the <span class="caps">URL</span> of the <span class="caps">RHDL</span> website, in the user manual.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 5.0.0 (2006-07-22)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release enhances the <span class="caps">VPI</span> utility layer and adds new content to the user manual.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li><span class="caps">SWIG</span> is no longer required for users because its output is included in the release package.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <span class="caps">VPI</span> utility layer provides access to <span class="caps">VPI</span> properties of handles in a <a href="http://ruby-vpi.rubyforge.org/doc/background.organization.html#organization.vpi">simpler, more powerful way</a>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>All <span class="caps">VPI</span> properties, except delay values, are now accessible from a handle.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <code>handle.value</code> and <code>handle.value=</code> methods have been removed.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The user manual has been revised and new content in the organization and usage sections has been added.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Mentor Modelsim 6.1d on x86_64 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Jan Decaluwe for correcting the description of MyHDL in the user manual.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 4.0.0 (2006-05-25)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds a comprehensive user manual, upgrades from make to <a href="http://rake.rubyforge.org">Rake</a>, and improves the test generation tool.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>A comprehensive user manual, written in DocBook-XML, has been added.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Rake has replaced the role of <strong>make</strong>. All makefiles have been converted accordingly.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The test generation tool now generates multiple files (runner, bench, design, spec) and makes backups of existing files. See its help information for details.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Support for RSpec 0.5.4 has been added.
+	<ul>
+	<li>The counter example now makes use of RSpec.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Mentor Modelsim 6.1d on x86_64 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Jose Renau for solving the problem of strange delays that occurred whenever a design was reset.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 3.2.0 (2006-05-13)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds a tool which generates test benches, and adds support for <a href="http://behaviour-driven.org">Behavior Driven Development</a> via the <a href="http://rspec.rubyforge.org">RSpec</a> library.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>A tool, which generates most of a Ruby-VPI test bench from a Verilog 2001 module declaration, has been added.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ability to use RSpec in a test bench has been added.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ability to specify arbitrary command-line arguments to Verilog simulators has been added in the examples&#8217; makefile template.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Mentor Modelsim 6.1d on x86_64 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Scott L Holmes for helping me <a href="http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.ruby.general/150087">use the RSpec library without its runner</a> program.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 3.1.0 (2006-04-28)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds simple ways of reading and writing values to <span class="caps">VPI</span> handles, adds documentation for the <span class="caps">VPI</span> utility layer, and fixes the pipelined <span class="caps">ALU</span> example.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Simple, consistent ways of reading and writing values to handles have been added to the <span class="caps">VPI</span> utility layer. These ways are described in the <code>SWIG::TYPE_p_unsigned_int</code> class&#8217; documentation.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The makefiles now use the <strong>rbconfig</strong> library to determine the default compiler and linker flags for Ruby.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>A race condition in the pipelined <span class="caps">ALU</span> example has been fixed. This example should now run successfully in all Verilog simulators.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The project wiki has been abandoned in favor of RDoc.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The project website is now generated by RDoc.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Mentor Modelsim 6.1d on x86_64 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 3.0.0 (2006-04-23)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release adds support for the <em>entire</em> <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/standardstoc.jsp?isnumber=33945"><span class="caps">IEEE</span> Std. 1364-2005</a> VPI interface, and updates the examples into unit tests.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The Ruby interface to <span class="caps">VPI</span> is now generated by <a href="http://www.swig.org"><span class="caps">SWIG</span></a>.
+	<ul>
+	<li>The main <code>VPI</code> module has been renamed to <code>Vpi</code>.</li>
+		<li>The <code>VPI::Handle</code> class has been removed.</li>
+		<li>The <code>VPI::stop</code>, <code>VPI::finish</code>, and <code>VPI::reset</code> methods have been removed.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <a href="http://www.boydtechinc.com/ptf/archive/ptf_2005/0737.html"><em>final ballot</em> version</a> of the <code>vpi_user.h</code> header file is now packaged along with and used by Ruby-VPI.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <span class="caps">VPI</span> module, its sub-classes, and its functionality have been replaced by the <span class="caps">VPI</span> utility layer (see <code>src/vpi_util.rb</code>).</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The examples now make use of the <strong>test/unit</strong> unit testing framework.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The makefiles for the examples have been simplified through the use of a common template.
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <strong>vsim</strong> target for Mentor Modelsim has been renamed to <strong>msim</strong>.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Mentor Modelsim 6.1d on x86_64 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to the <a href="http://www.swig.org/guilty.html"><span class="caps">SWIG</span> developers</a> for making this project <em>much</em> easier! ;-)</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 2.0.0 (2006-04-17)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This release fixes major bugs, adds support for Mentor Modelsim, and removes the <code>$ruby_task</code> callback.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <strong>cross-thread violation on rb_gc()</strong> error has been fixed.
+	<ul>
+	<li>The <strong>stack level too deep (SystemStackError)</strong> error has been fixed.</li>
+		<li>The <strong>test/unit</strong> library can be used in Ruby test bench.</li>
+		<li>Mentor Modelsim Verilog simulator works with Ruby-VPI.</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Removed <code>$ruby_task</code> callback and ability to dynamically register system tasks from Ruby because inter-process communication is complicated at present.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Added piplelined <span class="caps">ALU</span> example.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Modelsim 6.1d on x86_64 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4 and Synopsys <span class="caps">VCS</span>-MX X-2005.06-SP1 on <span class="caps">SPARC4</span> SunOS 5.10</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Nobu Nakada for explaining the <a href="http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.ruby.general/146653">cross-thread violation on rb_gc()</a> error.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 1.0.0 (2006-02-26)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+This release adds enough Verilog <span class="caps">VPI</span> functionality to make Ruby-VPI usable for simple test benches:
+	<ul>
+	<li>access Verilog objects through <span class="caps">VPI</span> handles</li>
+		<li>read and change <span class="caps">VPI</span> handle values</li>
+		<li>stop, finish, restart the simulation</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Implemented some Verilog <span class="caps">VPI</span> functionality:
+	<ul>
+	<li><code>VPI::handle_by_name(string, VPI::Handle)</code> &rarr; <code>VPI::Handle</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::handle_by_name(string)</code> &rarr; <code>VPI::Handle</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::Handle#put_value(integer)</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::Handle#value = integer</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::Handle#get_value</code> &rarr; <code>integer</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::Handle#value</code> &rarr; <code>integer</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::stop</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::finish</code></li>
+		<li><code>VPI::reset</code></li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Implemented some additional functionality:
+	<ul>
+	<li><code>VPI::register_task(string, &#38;proc)</code></li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Added ability to pass arbitrary command-line arguments to the Ruby interpreter (using <code>$ruby_init</code>). Now you can invoke any Ruby script you want, instead of <code>pli_init.rb</code>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Added ability to dynamically register system tasks from Ruby, using <code>VPI::register_task("task name")</code>, and call them from Verilog, using <code>$ruby_task("task name")</code>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Added <code>VPI::Handle</code> class which encapsulates a <code>vpiHandle</code> VPI object.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>This release was tested and developed using:
+	<ul>
+	<li>Ruby 1.8.2 and Icarus Verilog 0.8 on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+		<li>Ruby 1.8.4, Synopsys <span class="caps">VCS X</span>-2005.06, and Mentor Modelsim 6.1b on i686 <span class="caps">GNU</span>/Linux</li>
+	</ul></li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h2>Acknowledgment</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Jose Renau for helping me debug how Synopsys <span class="caps">VCS</span> works with Verilog <span class="caps">VPI</span>. The problem was that <span class="caps">VCS</span> required calltf signatures to be <code>void (*)(void)</code>, whereas the Verilog standard defines a calltf signature as <code>PLI_INT32 (*)(PLI_BYTE8*)</code>.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Thanks to Ross Bamford, Eric Hodel, and Yukihiro Matsumoto for <a href="http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/180662">helping me discover</a> why the <code>SystemStackError</code> was happening.</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<h1>Version 0.0.0 (1999-10-31)</h1>
+
+
+	<h2>Summary</h2>
+
+
+	<p>This is Kazuhiro <span class="caps">HIWADA</span>&#8217;s initial testing release of Ruby-VPI. See its <a href="http://www.ruby-talk.org/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-list/18193">original announcement</a> and <a href="http://easter.kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~hiwada/ruby/memo/src/ruby-vpi-test.tgz">source code</a>.</p>
+
+
+	<h2>Details</h2>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Added ability to relay control from Verilog test bench to Ruby (using <code>$ruby_callback</code>) and vice versa (using <code>PLI::relay_verilog</code>).</li>
+	</ul>
+
+
+	<ul>
+	<li>Tested and developed using Ruby 1.4 and Verilog-XL from Cadence systems, on a <span class="caps">SPARC</span> machine running Solaris 2.6.</li>
+	</ul>