Greetings ChipVault users:
  I've been using ChipVault almost daily for 5 years now.  I'm happy to say 
  that I've made a few tweaks here and there, but basically the tool has been
  stable and has not needed any major overhaul or improvements. And yes, 
  ChipVault is still completely open-source, completely free. 

I have a new ChipVault 2006.07 release, with some features worth mentioning:
 (1) Verilog Support is much improved.

 (2) RTL_Analyzer ( press <a> key ) quickly counts up the number of 
     flip-flops in a VHDL or Verilog module. Given the number of flops, it
     then estimates things like total Gate Estimate, Power Estimate and die
     Area Estimate for the module. This function is very handy for early 
     design estimates. It can also be extracted from the cv.pl code and run 
     standalone ( just grep on "sub rtl_analyzer" and extract it ).

 (3) Linux Keyboard and (limited) Mouse support for:
    <ins> Check In/Out a mainline file (also <tab> still works for this ). 
    <del> Delete the CheckedOut File.
    <end> Run UNIX Diff on CheckOut file against mainline.
    <mouse> Expand/Contract Hierarchy, Change Cursor Position in hierarchy

 (4) Added "ShowMe" tool under "RTL Tools" for pop-up boilerplates of example 
     VHDL/Verilog for FSMs, Case Switches, RAM Inferrances, etc.

 (5) Split-Screen is improved ( though still a bit klunky, just keep 
     pressing <s> and <S> keys till you get what you want. )


Typical Usage: My typical use scenario has been to open up two ChipVault 
 instances side-by-side in tall Xterm ( say 80x72 ) windows.  I use 
 split-screen mode for viewing ports of the modules as I navigate my 
 hierarchy, and I launch Vi to edit the RTL after checking a file out. 
 Running 2 instances of ChipVault side-by-side is great as you can have 
 Parent and Child modules up at the same time.  See the screen-shot page 
 on the web-site for an example of this, and also the PortView and RTL 
 Analyzer view with split-screen mode on. The trick to get split-screen 
 going is to have a tall window and press <s> and <S> keys until you get 
 something you like.

 I've been happy with ChipVault over the years. I hope you have been too. 
 I'd love to hear feedback from any of you still using ChipVault ( and if
 you're not, I'd appreciate hearing why you stopped using ChipVault ).  

 Lastly, I hate spam, I'm sending you this Email because you asked to be
 on my Email list ( or you're a member of the press ). If you don't want 
 to receive an email once every 5 years from me, please let me know. 
 Otherwise, I'll continue keeping you in the loop whenever there is a 
 ChipVault release worth talking about.

  Best Regards, 
    Kevin Hubbard,  Author of ChipVault 
    Issaquah, Washington - USA
    July 08, 2006

ChipVault : The open-source tool for managing RTL in your ASIC and FPGA designs.