docs/vj_ReleaseNotes.txt

   1 Release 3 (WiP)
   2 ---------------
   3 0) Fixed the windows respawning in the next emulator launch within --alpine or --debugger options
   4 1) Added an Exception Vector Table browser window
   5 2) Modified the About window to update the credits list in a more appropriate way
   6 -- Updated the emulator application credits line
   7 3) Added 'Rx' word to the emulator name
   8 4) Fixed a crash when reading the DWARF information in the case of the DWARF2 format has not been used
   9 5) Added ui, alpine & debugger groups in the settings
  10 6) Added the possibility to erase settings
  11 7) Added the --es-all, --es-ui, --es-alpine & --es-debugger options to erase specific settings
  12 8) Added a keybindings tab and adapted the configuration dialog tabs
  13 -- User can modify the keybindings where appropriate
  14 -- Keybindings UI is displayed based on the option used (--debugger, -- alpine)
  15 9) Fixed a crash, in Release mode, when the HW labels setting is turn on
  16 10) Solved an interference between the HW labels setting and the one used by the debugger
  17 -- The setting is now only the reference used
  18 11) Fixed the SP (Stack) window UI potential missing data
  19 12) Create a directory for EEPROMs (based on the EEPROMs setting) if it doesn't already exist
  20 13) Keep the scrollbar position in accordance of the M68K PC pointer
  21 -- UI displays the source without the need to move down/up the scrollbar
  22 14) Fixed a crash when DWARF information report a source line number exceeding the number of lines present in a source file
  23 -- This may come from the linker vlink
  24 15) Improved the .heap section detection to avoid a detection error
  25 -- Depend vlink version, .heap section may have an Alloc flag
  26 16) Fixed a crash when DWARF information does references to missing source code files
  27
  28 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
  29 ------------------------------
  30 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
  31 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
  32 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
  33 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
  34 4) DWARF support
  35 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
  36 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
  37 5) Added an All Watch browser window for non-local variables
  38 6) Added a heap allocator browser window based on my own memory allocation functions
  39 7) Added additional 4 memory browser windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
  40 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
  41 9) Added a restart function
  42 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
  43 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
  44 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
  45 12) 64 bits Release executable
  46 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) memory browser
  47 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
  48 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
  49 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
  50 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
  51 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
  52 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
  53 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
  54 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
  55
  56 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
  57 ------------------------------
  58 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
  59 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
  60 2) Added SP (Stack) memory browser
  61 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
  62 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  63 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger & tracking status)
  64 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
  65 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
  66 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browser windows when emulation is launched
  67 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory & Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  68 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
  69 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
  70 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  71 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
  72
  73 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
  74 ----------------------------
  75 0) New option --debugger
  76 1) ELF format support
  77 2) ELF debug symbol support
  78 3) "Step Into" code function
  79 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
  80 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
  81 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
  82 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
  83 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
  84 9) 64 bits debug executable only
  85
  86
  87 Known issues
  88 ============
  89 1) Video output is not displayed due to my OpenGL / QT5 integration with VS 2015
  90 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
  91 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
  92 3) To handle DWARF 2 issues with GCC, the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
  93 4) The Watch variables list may display not available (N/A) type information
  94 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
  95 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
  96 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
  97 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
  98 7) The Exception Vector Table broswer window displays only 65 vectors
  99 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
 100 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
 101 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
 102 9) Application needs to be restarted in case of keybindings changes
 103
 104 Cosmetic / UX issues
 105 ====================
 106 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
 107 2) The emulator status option has no icon
 108 3) The SP (Stack) window size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
 109 4) Not every features have associated keybindings
 110
 111 Legacy issues/hints
 112 ===================
 113 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
 114 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
 115 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
 116 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
 117
 118 Project information
 119 ===================
 120 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
 121 2) Visual Studio 2015 project support for 64 bits
 122 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2015
 123 4) libdwarf 1.41 library 64bits for VS 2015, cygwin64 & Msys2/MinGW64
 124 5) QT 5.5.1 library 64bits for VS 2015
 125 6) Zlib 1.2.8 library 64bits for VS 2015
 126 7) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2015
 127 8) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
 128 9) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
 129 10) The project source is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
 130 11) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
 131 -- Text / License terms are the same
 132
 133
 134 Download statistics
 135 -------------------
 136 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
 137 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
 138 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2