diff --git a/documentation/Makefile b/documentation/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8384360
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+# Makefile for Sphinx documentation
+#
+
+# You can set these variables from the command line.
+SPHINXOPTS    =
+SPHINXBUILD   = sphinx-build
+PAPER         =
+
+# Internal variables.
+PAPEROPT_a4     = -D latex_paper_size=a4
+PAPEROPT_letter = -D latex_paper_size=letter
+ALLSPHINXOPTS   = -d _build/doctrees $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
+
+.PHONY: help clean html dirhtml pickle json htmlhelp qthelp latex changes linkcheck doctest
+
+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 "  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 "  latex     to make LaTeX files, you can set PAPER=a4 or PAPER=letter"
+	@echo "  changes   to make an overview of all changed/added/deprecated items"
+	@echo "  linkcheck to check all external links for integrity"
+	@echo "  doctest   to run all doctests embedded in the documentation (if enabled)"
+
+clean:
+	-rm -rf _build/*
+
+html:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b html $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/html
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in _build/html."
+
+dirhtml:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b dirhtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/dirhtml
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in _build/dirhtml."
+
+pickle:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pickle $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/pickle
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the pickle files."
+
+json:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b json $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/json
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the JSON files."
+
+htmlhelp:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b htmlhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/htmlhelp
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can run HTML Help Workshop with the" \
+	      ".hhp project file in _build/htmlhelp."
+
+qthelp:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b qthelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/qthelp
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can run "qcollectiongenerator" with the" \
+	      ".qhcp project file in _build/qthelp, like this:"
+	@echo "# qcollectiongenerator _build/qthelp/pySerial.qhcp"
+	@echo "To view the help file:"
+	@echo "# assistant -collectionFile _build/qthelp/pySerial.qhc"
+
+latex:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/latex
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; the LaTeX files are in _build/latex."
+	@echo "Run \`make all-pdf' or \`make all-ps' in that directory to" \
+	      "run these through (pdf)latex."
+
+changes:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b changes $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/changes
+	@echo
+	@echo "The overview file is in _build/changes."
+
+linkcheck:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b linkcheck $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/linkcheck
+	@echo
+	@echo "Link check complete; look for any errors in the above output " \
+	      "or in _build/linkcheck/output.txt."
+
+doctest:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b doctest $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/doctest
+	@echo "Testing of doctests in the sources finished, look at the " \
+	      "results in _build/doctest/output.txt."
diff --git a/documentation/conf.py b/documentation/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ff412c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# pySerial documentation build configuration file, created by
+# sphinx-quickstart on Tue Jul 21 00:27:45 2009.
+#
+# This file is execfile()d with the current directory set to its containing dir.
+#
+# Note that not all possible configuration values are present in this
+# autogenerated file.
+#
+# All configuration values have a default; values that are commented out
+# serve to show the default.
+
+import sys, os
+
+# If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
+# add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
+# documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
+#sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('.'))
+
+# -- General configuration -----------------------------------------------------
+
+# Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be extensions
+# coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom ones.
+extensions = []
+
+# Add any paths that contain templates here, relative to this directory.
+templates_path = ['_templates']
+
+# The suffix of source filenames.
+source_suffix = '.rst'
+
+# The encoding of source files.
+#source_encoding = 'utf-8'
+
+# The master toctree document.
+master_doc = 'index'
+
+# General information about the project.
+project = u'pySerial'
+copyright = u'2009, Chris Liechti'
+
+# The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
+# |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
+# built documents.
+#
+# The short X.Y version.
+version = '2.4'
+# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
+release = '2.4'
+
+# The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
+# for a list of supported languages.
+#language = None
+
+# There are two options for replacing |today|: either, you set today to some
+# non-false value, then it is used:
+#today = ''
+# Else, today_fmt is used as the format for a strftime call.
+#today_fmt = '%B %d, %Y'
+
+# List of documents that shouldn't be included in the build.
+#unused_docs = []
+
+# List of directories, relative to source directory, that shouldn't be searched
+# for source files.
+exclude_trees = ['_build']
+
+# The reST default role (used for this markup: `text`) to use for all documents.
+#default_role = None
+
+# If true, '()' will be appended to :func: etc. cross-reference text.
+#add_function_parentheses = True
+
+# If true, the current module name will be prepended to all description
+# unit titles (such as .. function::).
+#add_module_names = True
+
+# If true, sectionauthor and moduleauthor directives will be shown in the
+# output. They are ignored by default.
+#show_authors = False
+
+# The name of the Pygments (syntax highlighting) style to use.
+pygments_style = 'sphinx'
+
+# A list of ignored prefixes for module index sorting.
+#modindex_common_prefix = []
+
+
+# -- Options for HTML output ---------------------------------------------------
+
+# The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  Major themes that come with
+# Sphinx are currently 'default' and 'sphinxdoc'.
+html_theme = 'default'
+
+# Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
+# further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
+# documentation.
+#html_theme_options = {}
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom themes here, relative to this directory.
+#html_theme_path = []
+
+# The name for this set of Sphinx documents.  If None, it defaults to
+# "<project> v<release> documentation".
+#html_title = None
+
+# A shorter title for the navigation bar.  Default is the same as html_title.
+#html_short_title = None
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top
+# of the sidebar.
+#html_logo = None
+
+# The name of an image file (within the static path) to use as favicon of the
+# docs.  This file should be a Windows icon file (.ico) being 16x16 or 32x32
+# pixels large.
+#html_favicon = None
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
+# relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
+# so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
+html_static_path = ['_static']
+
+# If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
+# using the given strftime format.
+#html_last_updated_fmt = '%b %d, %Y'
+
+# If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
+# typographically correct entities.
+#html_use_smartypants = True
+
+# Custom sidebar templates, maps document names to template names.
+#html_sidebars = {}
+
+# Additional templates that should be rendered to pages, maps page names to
+# template names.
+#html_additional_pages = {}
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#html_use_modindex = True
+
+# If false, no index is generated.
+#html_use_index = True
+
+# If true, the index is split into individual pages for each letter.
+#html_split_index = False
+
+# If true, links to the reST sources are added to the pages.
+#html_show_sourcelink = True
+
+# If true, an OpenSearch description file will be output, and all pages will
+# contain a <link> tag referring to it.  The value of this option must be the
+# base URL from which the finished HTML is served.
+#html_use_opensearch = ''
+
+# If nonempty, this is the file name suffix for HTML files (e.g. ".xhtml").
+#html_file_suffix = ''
+
+# Output file base name for HTML help builder.
+htmlhelp_basename = 'pySerialdoc'
+
+
+# -- Options for LaTeX output --------------------------------------------------
+
+# The paper size ('letter' or 'a4').
+#latex_paper_size = 'letter'
+
+# The font size ('10pt', '11pt' or '12pt').
+#latex_font_size = '10pt'
+
+# Grouping the document tree into LaTeX files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title, author, documentclass [howto/manual]).
+latex_documents = [
+  ('index', 'pySerial.tex', u'pySerial Documentation',
+   u'Chris Liechti', 'manual'),
+]
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
+# the title page.
+#latex_logo = None
+
+# For "manual" documents, if this is true, then toplevel headings are parts,
+# not chapters.
+#latex_use_parts = False
+
+# Additional stuff for the LaTeX preamble.
+#latex_preamble = ''
+
+# Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
+#latex_appendices = []
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#latex_use_modindex = True
diff --git a/documentation/index.rst b/documentation/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65a4c04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+.. pySerial documentation master file, created by
+   sphinx-quickstart on Tue Jul 21 00:27:45 2009.
+   You can adapt this file completely to your liking, but it should at least
+   contain the root `toctree` directive.
+
+Welcome to pySerial's documentation!
+====================================
+
+Contents:
+
+.. toctree::
+    :maxdepth: 2
+
+    pyserial
+    manual
+    shortintro
+    .. ~ examples
+    pyserial_api
+    pyparallel
+    appendix
+
+Indices and tables
+==================
+
+* :ref:`genindex`
+* :ref:`modindex`
+* :ref:`search`
+
diff --git a/documentation/pyparallel.rst b/documentation/pyparallel.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3560bce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/pyparallel.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+============
+ pyParallel
+============
+
+.. note:: This module is in development (since years ;-)
+
+Overview
+========
+This module encapsulates the access for the parallel port. It provides backends
+for Python running on Windows and Linux. Other platforms are possible too but
+not yet integrated.
+
+This module is still under development. But it may be useful for developers.
+
+  (C) 2001-2003 Chris Liechti <cliechti@gmx.net>
+
+Here is the `project page on SourceForge`_ and here is the `SVN repository`_.
+
+.. _`project page on SourceForge`: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyserial/
+.. _`SVN repository`: http://sourceforge.net/svn/?group_id=46487
+
+
+Features
+--------
+* same class based interface on all supported platforms
+* port numbering starts at zero, no need to know the port name in the user program
+* port string (device name) can be specified if access through numbering is inappropriate
+
+Requirements
+------------
+* Python 2.2 or newer
+* "Java Communications" (JavaComm) extension for Java/Jython
+
+Installation
+------------
+Extract files from the archive, open a shell/console in that directory and let
+Distutils do the rest: ``python setup.py install``
+
+The files get installed in the "Lib/site-packages" directory in newer Python versions.
+
+The windows version needs a compiled extension and the giveio.sys driver for
+Windows NT/2k/XP. The extension module can be compiled with distutils with
+either MSVC or GCC/mingw32.
+
+It is released under a free software license, see LICENSE.txt for more details.
+
+
+Short introduction
+==================
+::
+
+    >>> import parallel
+    >>> p = parallel.Parallel()     # open LPT1
+    >>> p.setData(0x55)
+
+Examples
+--------
+Please look in the SVN Repository. There is an example directory where you can
+find a simple terminal and more.
+http://pyserial.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/pyserial/trunk/pyparallel/examples/
+
+References
+----------
+* Python: http://www.python.org/|http://www.python.org
+* Jython: http://www.jython.org/|http://www.jython.org
+* Java@IBM http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/ (JavaComm links are on the download page for the respective platform jdk)
+* Java@SUN http://java.sun.com/products/
diff --git a/documentation/pyserial_api.rst b/documentation/pyserial_api.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c5ea1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/pyserial_api.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+==============
+ pySerial API
+==============
+
+.. module:: serial
+
+Classes
+=======
+
+.. class:: Serial
+
+    .. method:: __init__(port=None, baudrate=9600, bytesize=EIGHTBITS, parity=PARITY_NONE, stopbits=STOPBITS_ONE, timeout=None, xonxoff=0, rtscts=0, interCharTimeout=None)
+
+        :param port:
+
+            Device name or port number number or None.
+
+            Number: number of device, numbering starts at zero
+            Device name: depending on operating system. e.g. ``/dev/ttyUSB0``
+            on GNU/Linux or ``COM3`` on Windows.
+
+        :param baudrate:
+            Baud rate such as 9600 or 115200 etc.
+
+        :param bytesize:
+            Number of data bits. Possible values: FIVEBITS, SIXBITS, SEVENBITS, EIGHTBITS
+
+        :param parity:
+            Enable parity checking. Possible values: PARITY_NONE PARITY_EVEN PARITY_ODD PARITY_MARK PARITY_SPACE
+
+        :param stopbits:
+            Number of stop bits. Possible values: STOPBITS_ONE STOPBITS_ONE_POINT_FIVE STOPBITS_TWO
+
+        :param timeout:
+            Set a read timeout value.
+
+        :param xonxoff:
+
+            Enable software flow control.
+
+        :param rtscts:
+
+            Enable hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control.
+
+        :param interCharTimeout:
+
+            Inter-character timeout, None to disable.
+
+    The port is immediately opened on object creation, when a port is given. It
+    is not opened when port is None.
+
+    Possible values for :param:`timeout`::
+
+            timeout=None    # wait forever
+            timeout=0       # non-blocking mode (return immediately on read)
+            timeout=x       # set timeout to x seconds (float allowed)
+
+
+    .. method:: open()
+
+        Open port.
+
+    .. method:: close()
+
+        Close port immediately.
+
+    .. method:: setBaudrate(baudrate)
+
+        Change baud rate on an open port.
+
+    .. method:: inWaiting()
+
+        Return the number of chars in the receive buffer.
+
+    .. method:: read(size=1)
+
+        Read size bytes from the serial port. If a timeout is set it may return
+        less characters as requested. With no timeout it will block until the
+        requested number of bytes is read.
+
+    .. method:: write(s)
+
+        Write the string :param:`s` to the port.
+
+    .. method:: flush(self):
+
+        Flush of file like objects. In this case, wait until all data is
+        written.
+
+    .. method:: flushInput()
+
+        Flush input buffer, discarding all it's contents.
+
+    .. method:: flushOutput()
+
+        Clear output buffer, aborting the current output and
+        discarding all that is in the buffer.
+
+    .. method:: sendBreak(duration=0.25)
+
+        Send break condition. Timed, returns to idle state after given
+        duration.
+
+    .. method:: setBreak(level=True)
+
+        Set break: Controls TXD. When active, no transmitting is possible.
+
+    .. method:: setRTS(level=True)
+
+        Set RTS line to specified logic level.
+
+    .. method:: setDTR(level=True)
+
+        Set DTR line to specified logic level.
+
+    .. method:: getCTS()
+
+        Return the state of the CTS line.
+
+    .. method:: getDSR()
+
+        Return the state of the DSR line.
+
+    .. method:: getRI()
+
+        Return the state of the RI line.
+
+    .. method:: getCD()
+
+        Return the state of the CD line
+
+    Read-only attributes:
+
+    .. attribute:: portstr
+
+        Device name (Read Only). This is always the device name even if the
+        port was opened by a numeber.
+
+    .. attribute:: BAUDRATES
+
+        A list of valid baud rates. The list may be incomplete such that higher
+        baud rates may be supported by the device and that values in between the
+        standard baud rates are supported. (Read Only).
+
+    .. attribute:: BYTESIZES
+
+        A list of valid byte sizes for the device (Read Only).
+
+    .. attribute:: PARITIES
+
+        A list of valid parities for the device (Read Only).
+
+    .. attribute:: STOPBITS
+
+        A list of valid stop bit widths for the device (Read Only).
+
+
+    New values can be assigned to the following attributes, the port will be reconfigured, even if it's opened at that time:
+
+    .. attribute:: port
+
+        Port name/number as set by the user.
+
+    .. attribute:: baudrate
+
+        Current baud rate setting.
+
+    .. attribute:: bytesize
+
+        Byte size in bits.
+
+    .. attribute:: parity
+
+        Parity setting.
+
+    .. attribute:: stopbits
+
+        Stop bit with.
+
+    .. attribute:: timeout
+
+        Timeout setting (seconds).
+
+    .. attribute:: xonxoff
+
+        If Xon/Xoff flow control is enabled.
+
+    .. attribute:: rtscts
+
+        If hardware flow control is enabled.
+
+    Platform specific methods.
+
+    .. warning:: Programs using the following methods are not portable to other platforms!
+
+    .. method:: nonblocking()
+
+        :platform: Unix
+        Configure the device for nonblocking operations. This can be useful if
+        the port is used with ``select``.
+
+    .. method:: fileno()
+
+        :platform: Unix
+        Return file descriptor number.
+
+
+    .. method:: setXON(level=True)
+
+        :platform: Windows
+        Set software flow control state.
+
+
+Exceptions
+==========
+
+.. exception:: SerialException
+
+    Base class for serial port exceptions.
+
+.. exception:: SerialTimeoutException
+
+    Exception that is raised on write timeouts.
+
+
+Constants
+=========
+
+parity
+------
+.. data:: PARITY_NONE
+.. data:: PARITY_EVEN
+.. data:: PARITY_ODD
+.. data:: PARITY_MARK
+.. data:: PARITY_SPACE
+
+stopbits
+--------
+.. data:: STOPBITS_ONE
+.. data:: STOPBITS_ONE_POINT_FIVE
+.. data:: STOPBITS_TWO
+
+bytesize
+--------
+.. data:: FIVEBITS
+.. data:: SIXBITS
+.. data:: SEVENBITS
+.. data:: EIGHTBITS