0215b3b13838d67b547810593e9c0c53a4e95b82
[clinton/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx.git] / docs / vj_HistoryNotes.txt
1 Release 5 (TBA)
2 ---------------
3 0) Added a date creation stamp in the application command line information
4 - This date already appears in the Release 4 executable but was not referenced in his history note
5 1) Added a specific breakpoint for the M68K illegal instruction exception
6 -- Alert box will display a message and then the code will stop
7 2) Added a specific breakpoint for the M68K address error exception
8 -- Alert box will display a message and then the code will stop
9 3) Added a HW registers browser window and set a tab for the Blitter
10 4) Added detection for the unsigned/signed short type
11 -- Will allow the return of a short type variable's value
12 5) Added a specific breakpoint for the M68K Unimplemented instruction, and Exception not referenced exceptions
13 6) Fix potential emulator freeze after an exception has occured
14 7) Fix a random crash when reading the source lines information
15 8) Added ELF & DWARF .debug* types
16 9) Added ELF section types check and new error messages
17 10) Modified the call stack layout window and added source filename from the called source line
18 11) Added a source tab in the main window for step into tracing
19 12) Added the step over for source level tracing
20 13) Set text conversion to Qt/HTML format for the M68K tracing window
21 14) Added a source code file date check when reading DWARF information
22 -- Will avoid source code mismatching with the ELF executable
23 15) Project has switched to libdwarf 20200825 library 64bits for VS 2017
24 16) Remove Visual Studio 2015 support
25
26 Release 4a (15th August 2019)
27 -----------------------------
28 Git commit: f04df4f185ed4f3cfc805d0f61b3c019a108ae2c
29 -
30 0) Fix specific breakpoint for ROM cartridge or unknown memory location writing
31
32 Release 4 (10th August 2019)
33 ----------------------------
34 Git commit: 9b25d85d1ea4a9476b83476bcec65e05464f68da
35 -
36 0) The zoom value setting has been fixed in the registry
37 1) Debugger mode now shares the same alpine rom path setting
38 2) Local variables window displays register name now
39 3) Switch to Zlib 1.2.11 static library 64bits for VS 2017
40 4) Switch to SDL 1.2.15 static library 64bits for VS 2017
41 5) Local variables window displays values from function's parameters
42 6) Fixed the typedef's name display in Local and Watch variables window
43 7) Breakpoint may now occur in case of a ROM cartridge writing
44 -- ROM cartridge writing detection follow the alpine "allow writes to cartridge rom"'s flag check
45 -- Alert box will display a message with possibility to pass or not the breakpoint only if this is related to a 8 or 16 bits ROM access
46 8) Local variables window detects now if a variable is used or not by the code
47 9) The address provided in the debugger memory windows is now verified to prevent crash
48 -- Wrong address will be displayed in red
49 10) UI changes
50 -- Added new icons for the exit and status features
51 -- Modified icons for the SP (Stack) browser
52 -- Unified icons sizes depend on their usage (drop down menu and main menu)
53 -- Underline the active M68K line in the disassembly window
54 -- Allow the up/down navigation on the SP (Stack) browser
55 -- Restart function cleans-up the SP (Stack) browser and the heap allocator system
56 -- Fixed the up navigation on the memory window
57 11) Added some log information for the emulator initialisations
58 12) Breakpoint will happen in case of writing at unknown memory location
59 -- Alert box will display a message and then the code will stop
60 13) Added the DRAM size in the emulator status window
61 14) Debugger sources code clean-up
62 15) Added a call stack feature
63 16) Follow platform requirement to prevent source file reading issue
64 17) UI modifications
65 -- Modified icon for the memory window to make a distinction with the memory browser
66 -- The all watch, and Exception Vector Table windows, can be closed using keyboard
67 -- Renamed the debugger dedicated icons to make a distinction
68 -- Added the call stack window
69 18) Fixed a crash in the all watch window after loading a new binary without ELF/DWARF information
70 -- Previously used ELF/DWARF information was still accessible
71 19) Fixed slash/backslash issue, in the Alpine tab, to follow platform requirement
72 20) Heap allocation window uses the DRAM size limit option and detect if heap allocation shares space with SP (Stack)
73 21) Added a Jaguar model and BIOS configuration tab
74 22) Jaguar model and BIOS configuration integration
75 23) Added LEB128 decoding functions
76 -- It is used for the DWARF decoding information
77 24) Debugger support improvement
78 -- DWARF support for the enum type (partial), structure and subroutine type
79 -- Debugger can report variable's unsigned char value
80 25) UI modifications
81 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the heap allocation window
82 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the local variables window
83 -- Added better information display for the exception vectors table window, and added some missing vectors
84 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the call stack window
85 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the all watches window
86 26) Added screenshot feature
87 -- Not accessible in debugger mode
88 -- Added screenshot editable path in the general tab, and a key binding
89 27) Minor misspellings fixes
90 28) DWARF source code directory path clean-up
91 29) Added a source code files list viewer
92 -- List comes from the DWARF information
93 30) Check potential variables missing/incomplete description found in the DWARF information
94 -- No crash involved but can help to reduce such as variables duplicate or the blank ones
95 31) Added a sorting filter in the all watches window
96 32) Improve source code file reading to avoid additional text/bytes reading
97 33) Help & content texts updates
98 34) Fixed a crash legacy issue when emulator launches in Alpine mode without a valid rom
99 35) Added the support for the used lines source's DWARF structure
100 -- Mostly used to handle missing subprogram's lines information, and missing CU's low/high PC
101 36) Added the Rx version's contact in the help text
102 37) Added search paths in case of missing DWARF directories information
103 -- Used to look for the file(s)
104 38) Setup CU's low/high PC in case of the DWARF structures doesn't have it
105 -- Used mostly to allow display the source assembled with vasm
106 39) Added function name support from ELF structure
107 40) Added the return address information in the call stack
108 41) Added multiple breakpoints feature, and their key bindings, for functions only
109 42) Added timer initialisation for the SDL setup
110 43) Added a cartridge view menu
111 -- Added a window to display my own directory and his files list
112 44) Debugger sources code clean-up
113 45) Fix a crash when emulator, in non-debugger mode, opens the breakpoint UIs at launch
114 46) Fix crash with potential missing DWARF structure tag's type name
115 47) Added ELF sections check so a potential unknown section will stop, or not stop, the decoding
116 48) Project has switched to Qt 5.12.0 library 64bits for VS 2017
117 49) Added a Save Dump As... feature to save a memory zone to a file
118 50) The -d command line option, dedicated to the debugger, has been renamed to avoid duplication with the dsp one
119 -- -d has been renamed by -D because another -d was also used for the dsp command line option
120 51) Removed the sorting filter in the all watches window
121 52) Fix the support of the DRAM size limit option in the heap allocation window
122 53) Set cartridge view menu for debugger mode only
123 54) Prevent crash in case of call stack is out of range
124
125 Release 3 (13th November 2017)
126 ------------------------------
127 Git commit: b1b673a3b0d19e3c2c45b6590b773b11e45bced7
128 -
129 0) Fixed the windows respawning in the next emulator launch within --alpine or --debugger options
130 1) Added an Exception Vector Table window
131 2) Modified the About window to update the credits list in a more appropriate way
132 -- Updated the emulator application credits line
133 3) Added 'Rx' word to the emulator name
134 4) Fixed a crash when reading the DWARF information in the case of the DWARF2 format has not been used
135 5) Added ui, alpine and debugger groups in the settings
136 6) Added the possibility to erase settings
137 7) Added the --es-all, --es-ui, --es-alpine and --es-debugger options to erase specific settings
138 8) Added a key bindings tab and adapted the configuration dialog tabs
139 -- User can modify the key bindings where appropriate
140 -- Key bindings UI is displayed based on the option used (--debugger, -- alpine)
141 9) Fixed a crash, in Release mode, when the HW labels setting is turn on
142 10) Solved an interference between the HW labels setting and the one used by the debugger
143 -- The setting is now only the reference used
144 11) Fixed the SP (Stack) browser UI potential missing data
145 12) Create a directory for EEPROMs (based on the EEPROMs setting) if it doesn't already exist
146 13) Keep the scrollbar position in accordance of the M68K PC pointer
147 -- UI displays the source without the need to move down/up the scrollbar
148 14) Fixed a crash when DWARF information report a source line number exceeding the number of lines present in a source file
149 -- This may come from the linker vlink
150 15) Improved the .heap section detection to avoid a detection error
151 -- Depend vlink version, .heap section may have an Alloc flag
152 16) Fixed a crash when DWARF information does references to missing source code files
153 17) Added a local variables window
154 18) Project has switched to Visual Studio 2017 and Qt 5.9.1 library
155
156 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
157 ------------------------------
158 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
159 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
160 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
161 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
162 4) DWARF support
163 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
164 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
165 5) Added an All Watch window for non-local variables
166 6) Added a heap allocator window based on my own memory allocation functions
167 7) Added additional 4 memory windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
168 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
169 9) Added a restart function
170 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
171 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
172 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
173 12) 64 bits Release executable
174 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) browser
175 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
176 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
177 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
178 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
179 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
180 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
181 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
182 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
183
184 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
185 ------------------------------
186 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
187 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
188 2) Added SP (Stack) browser
189 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
190 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
191 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger and tracking status)
192 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
193 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
194 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browsers when emulation is launched
195 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory and Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
196 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
197 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
198 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
199 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
200
201 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
202 ----------------------------
203 0) New option --debugger
204 1) ELF format support
205 2) ELF debug symbol support
206 3) "Step Into" code function
207 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
208 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
209 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
210 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
211 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
212 9) 64 bits debug executable only
213
214
215 Known issues
216 ============
217 1) Video output is not displayed due to my OpenGL / Qt5 5.5.1 integration with VS 2015 but solved when using the Qt 5.9.1 package for VS 2017
218 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
219 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
220 -- The issue can be prevented if the code doesn't set IRQ, otherwise the IRQ will need to be traced to get back control
221 3) DWARF 2 support
222 -- With GCC: the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
223 4) The Local and Watch variables window may display not available type information or empty information
224 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
225 -- The 'const' type may not be reported correctly in the DWARF information
226 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
227 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
228 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
229 7) The Exception Vector Table window displays only 65 vectors
230 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
231 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
232 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
233 9) The emulator needs to be restarted in case of the following actions occur
234 -- Key bindings changes
235 -- BIOS selection changes and without new executable load
236 10) In the case of a ROM cartridge writing, and with occuring breakpoint, the PC pointer will point at the next instruction and not at the instruction causing the breakpoint
237 11) Emulator will crash in case of wrong address value provided in the memory browser
238 12) The RAM access log is limited to the 2MB
239 13) In various occasions, global variables may be duplicated or without name in the DWARF information
240 -- It may come from the Vlink linker and/or GCC 7.1.0 or 8.2.0 compilation with -gdwarf-2 option
241 14) Source code disply only assembled code from vasm with option -dwarf
242 15) After a new breakpoint set, the breakpoint list window is not refreshed
243 -- User must perform an operation, such code tracing, to see the breakpoints list update
244 16) Some ASCII characters may be not displayed correctly
245 -- Probably depend how the text is displayed, this is related to the Qt/HTML encoding done when reading DWARF file
246 17) Potential legacy crash when leaving emulator in pause mode for a long period of time
247 -- Need much investigation
248
249 Cosmetic / UX issues
250 ====================
251 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
252 2) The SP (Stack) browser size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
253 3) Not every features have associated key bindings
254
255 Legacy issues/hints
256 ===================
257 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
258 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
259 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
260 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
261
262 Project information
263 ===================
264 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
265 2) Visual Studio 2017 project support for 64 bits
266 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2017
267 4) libdwarf 20200825 library 64bits for VS 2017
268 5) Qt 5.12.0 library 64bits for VS 2017
269 6) Zlib 1.2.11 library 64bits for VS 2017
270 7) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2017
271 8) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
272 9) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
273 10) The project is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
274 11) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
275 -- Text / License terms are the same
276 14) The x86 configuration has been removed in the VS 2017 project
277
278
279 Download statistics
280 -------------------
281 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
282 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
283 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2
284 No downloads statistics available for the Release 3