major overhaul of documentation

Author: timsherwood

docs/Makefile

@@ -1,177 +1,20 @@
-# Makefile for Sphinx documentation
+# Minimal makefile for Sphinx documentation
 #
 
-# You can set these variables from the command line.
-SPHINXOPTS    =
-SPHINXBUILD   = sphinx-build
-PAPER         =
+# You can set these variables from the command line, and also
+# from the environment for the first two.
+SPHINXOPTS    ?=
+SPHINXBUILD   ?= sphinx-build
+SOURCEDIR     = .
 BUILDDIR      = _build
 
-# User-friendly check for sphinx-build
-ifeq ($(shell which $(SPHINXBUILD) >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?), 1)
-$(error The '$(SPHINXBUILD)' command was not found. Make sure you have Sphinx installed, then set the SPHINXBUILD environment variable to point to the full path of the '$(SPHINXBUILD)' executable. Alternatively you can add the directory with the executable to your PATH. If you don't have Sphinx installed, grab it from http://sphinx-doc.org/)
-endif
-
-# Internal variables.
-PAPEROPT_a4     = -D latex_paper_size=a4
-PAPEROPT_letter = -D latex_paper_size=letter
-ALLSPHINXOPTS   = -d $(BUILDDIR)/doctrees $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
-# the i18n builder cannot share the environment and doctrees with the others
-I18NSPHINXOPTS  = $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
-
-.PHONY: help clean html dirhtml singlehtml pickle json htmlhelp qthelp devhelp epub latex latexpdf text man changes linkcheck doctest gettext
-
+# Put it first so that "make" without argument is like "make help".
 help:
-	@echo "Please use \`make <target>' where <target> is one of"
-	@echo "  html       to make standalone HTML files"
-	@echo "  dirhtml    to make HTML files named index.html in directories"
-	@echo "  singlehtml to make a single large HTML file"
-	@echo "  pickle     to make pickle files"
-	@echo "  json       to make JSON files"
-	@echo "  htmlhelp   to make HTML files and a HTML help project"
-	@echo "  qthelp     to make HTML files and a qthelp project"
-	@echo "  devhelp    to make HTML files and a Devhelp project"
-	@echo "  epub       to make an epub"
-	@echo "  latex      to make LaTeX files, you can set PAPER=a4 or PAPER=letter"
-	@echo "  latexpdf   to make LaTeX files and run them through pdflatex"
-	@echo "  latexpdfja to make LaTeX files and run them through platex/dvipdfmx"
-	@echo "  text       to make text files"
-	@echo "  man        to make manual pages"
-	@echo "  texinfo    to make Texinfo files"
-	@echo "  info       to make Texinfo files and run them through makeinfo"
-	@echo "  gettext    to make PO message catalogs"
-	@echo "  changes    to make an overview of all changed/added/deprecated items"
-	@echo "  xml        to make Docutils-native XML files"
-	@echo "  pseudoxml  to make pseudoxml-XML files for display purposes"
-	@echo "  linkcheck  to check all external links for integrity"
-	@echo "  doctest    to run all doctests embedded in the documentation (if enabled)"
-
-clean:
-	rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)/*
-
-html:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b html $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/html
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/html."
-
-dirhtml:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b dirhtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/dirhtml
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/dirhtml."
-
-singlehtml:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b singlehtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/singlehtml
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The HTML page is in $(BUILDDIR)/singlehtml."
-
-pickle:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pickle $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/pickle
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the pickle files."
-
-json:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b json $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/json
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the JSON files."
-
-htmlhelp:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b htmlhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/htmlhelp
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished; now you can run HTML Help Workshop with the" \
-	      ".hhp project file in $(BUILDDIR)/htmlhelp."
-
-qthelp:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b qthelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished; now you can run "qcollectiongenerator" with the" \
-	      ".qhcp project file in $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp, like this:"
-	@echo "# qcollectiongenerator $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp/PyRTL.qhcp"
-	@echo "To view the help file:"
-	@echo "# assistant -collectionFile $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp/PyRTL.qhc"
-
-devhelp:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b devhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/devhelp
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished."
-	@echo "To view the help file:"
-	@echo "# mkdir -p $$HOME/.local/share/devhelp/PyRTL"
-	@echo "# ln -s $(BUILDDIR)/devhelp $$HOME/.local/share/devhelp/PyRTL"
-	@echo "# devhelp"
-
-epub:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b epub $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/epub
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The epub file is in $(BUILDDIR)/epub."
-
-latex:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/latex
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished; the LaTeX files are in $(BUILDDIR)/latex."
-	@echo "Run \`make' in that directory to run these through (pdf)latex" \
-	      "(use \`make latexpdf' here to do that automatically)."
-
-latexpdf:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/latex
-	@echo "Running LaTeX files through pdflatex..."
-	$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/latex all-pdf
-	@echo "pdflatex finished; the PDF files are in $(BUILDDIR)/latex."
-
-latexpdfja:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/latex
-	@echo "Running LaTeX files through platex and dvipdfmx..."
-	$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/latex all-pdf-ja
-	@echo "pdflatex finished; the PDF files are in $(BUILDDIR)/latex."
-
-text:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b text $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/text
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The text files are in $(BUILDDIR)/text."
-
-man:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b man $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/man
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The manual pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/man."
-
-texinfo:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The Texinfo files are in $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo."
-	@echo "Run \`make' in that directory to run these through makeinfo" \
-	      "(use \`make info' here to do that automatically)."
-
-info:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo
-	@echo "Running Texinfo files through makeinfo..."
-	make -C $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo info
-	@echo "makeinfo finished; the Info files are in $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo."
-
-gettext:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b gettext $(I18NSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/locale
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The message catalogs are in $(BUILDDIR)/locale."
-
-changes:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b changes $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/changes
-	@echo
-	@echo "The overview file is in $(BUILDDIR)/changes."
-
-linkcheck:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b linkcheck $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/linkcheck
-	@echo
-	@echo "Link check complete; look for any errors in the above output " \
-	      "or in $(BUILDDIR)/linkcheck/output.txt."
-
-doctest:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b doctest $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/doctest
-	@echo "Testing of doctests in the sources finished, look at the " \
-	      "results in $(BUILDDIR)/doctest/output.txt."
+	@$(SPHINXBUILD) -M help "$(SOURCEDIR)" "$(BUILDDIR)" $(SPHINXOPTS) $(O)
 
-xml:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b xml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/xml
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The XML files are in $(BUILDDIR)/xml."
+.PHONY: help Makefile
 
-pseudoxml:
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pseudoxml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/pseudoxml
-	@echo
-	@echo "Build finished. The pseudo-XML files are in $(BUILDDIR)/pseudoxml."
+# Catch-all target: route all unknown targets to Sphinx using the new
+# "make mode" option.  $(O) is meant as a shortcut for $(SPHINXOPTS).
+%: Makefile
+	@$(SPHINXBUILD) -M $@ "$(SOURCEDIR)" "$(BUILDDIR)" $(SPHINXOPTS) $(O)

docs/advanced.rst

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Passes
    :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__,__module__
 
 Conditional Blocks
-================
+==================
 
 .. automodule:: pyrtl.conditional
    :members:

docs/basic.rst

@@ -1,11 +1,18 @@
-Basic Logic, Wires, and Memories
-================================
+Basic Logic and Wires
+=====================
 
 Wires define the relationship between logic blocks in PyRTL. They are treated like normal wires in traditional RTL systems except the :class:`.Register` wire.
 Logic is then created when wires are combined with one another using the provided operators.  For example, if `a` and `b` are both of type `WireVector`,
 the `a + b` will make an adder, plug `a` and `b` into the inputs of that adder, and return a new `WireVector` which is the output of that adder. 
 Wires provide the basic input and output interfaces to the generated :class:`.Block` which stores the description of the hardware as you build it.
 
+The classes ``Input``, ``Output``, ``Const``, and ``Register`` are all derived from WireVector, but
+extend it with (or restrict it from) with certain functionality.  The `Input` and `Output`
+classes are for those values that will be external to the entire system once complete (e.g.
+driving a signal off-chip, rather than the interface to some particular sub-block of the 
+design).  The `Const` class is useful for specifying hard-wired values, while `Register` is
+how sequential elements are created (the all have an implict clock).
+
 WireVector
 ----------
 
@@ -15,47 +22,58 @@ WireVector
     :special-members: __init__, __add__, __sub__, __mul__, __getitem___, __len__
 
 
-Input, Output, Const, and Register
-----------------------------------
-
-The classes `Input`, `Output`, `Const`, and `Register` are all derived from WireVector, but
-extend it with (or restrict it from) with certain functionality.  The `Input` and `Output`
-classes are for those values that will be external to the entire system once complete (e.g.
-driving a signal off-chip, rather than the interface to some particular sub-block of the 
-design).  The `Const` class is useful for specifying hard-wired values, while `Register` is
-how sequential elements are created (the all have an implict clock).
+Input Pins
+----------
 
 .. autoclass:: pyrtl.wire.Input
     :members:
     :show-inheritance:
     :special-members: __init__
 
+Output Pins
+-----------
+
 .. autoclass:: pyrtl.wire.Output
     :members:
     :show-inheritance:
     :special-members: __init__
 
+Constants
+---------
+
 .. autoclass:: pyrtl.wire.Const
     :members:
     :show-inheritance:
     :special-members: __init__
 
+Registers and Memories
+======================
+
+Registers
+---------
+
+The class ``Register`` is derived from ``WireVector``, and so can be used just like any other 
+`WireVector`.  A read from the register is the value that is available in the current clock
+period, and the value for the follow cycle can be set by assinging to property ``next`` with
+the ``<<=`` operator.  Registers all, by default, reset to 0, and all reside in the same clock
+domain.
+
 .. autoclass:: pyrtl.wire.Register
     :members:
     :show-inheritance:
     :special-members: __init__
 
 
-MemBlock
+Memories
 --------
 
 .. autoclass:: pyrtl.memory.MemBlock
     :members:
     :show-inheritance:
     :special-members: __init__
 
-RomBlock
---------
+ROMs
+----
 
 .. autoclass:: pyrtl.memory.RomBlock
     :members: