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