Project has switched to libdwarf 20191104 library 64bits for VS 2017
[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) Project has switched to libdwarf 20191104 library 64bits for VS 2017
18
19 Release 4a (15th August 2019)
20 -----------------------------
21 Git commit: f04df4f185ed4f3cfc805d0f61b3c019a108ae2c
22 -
23 0) Fix specific breakpoint for ROM cartridge or unknown memory location writing
24
25 Release 4 (10th August 2019)
26 ----------------------------
27 Git commit: 9b25d85d1ea4a9476b83476bcec65e05464f68da
28 -
29 0) The zoom value setting has been fixed in the registry
30 1) Debugger mode now shares the same alpine rom path setting
31 2) Local variables window displays register name now
32 3) Switch to Zlib 1.2.11 static library 64bits for VS 2017
33 4) Switch to SDL 1.2.15 static library 64bits for VS 2017
34 5) Local variables window displays values from function's parameters
35 6) Fixed the typedef's name display in Local and Watch variables window
36 7) Breakpoint may now occur in case of a ROM cartridge writing
37 -- ROM cartridge writing detection follow the alpine "allow writes to cartridge rom"'s flag check
38 -- 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
39 8) Local variables window detects now if a variable is used or not by the code
40 9) The address provided in the debugger memory windows is now verified to prevent crash
41 -- Wrong address will be displayed in red
42 10) UI changes
43 -- Added new icons for the exit and status features
44 -- Modified icons for the SP (Stack) browser
45 -- Unified icons sizes depend on their usage (drop down menu and main menu)
46 -- Underline the active M68K line in the disassembly window
47 -- Allow the up/down navigation on the SP (Stack) browser
48 -- Restart function cleans-up the SP (Stack) browser and the heap allocator system
49 -- Fixed the up navigation on the memory window
50 11) Added some log information for the emulator initialisations
51 12) Breakpoint will happen in case of writing at unknown memory location
52 -- Alert box will display a message and then the code will stop
53 13) Added the DRAM size in the emulator status window
54 14) Debugger sources code clean-up
55 15) Added a call stack feature
56 16) Follow platform requirement to prevent source file reading issue
57 17) UI modifications
58 -- Modified icon for the memory window to make a distinction with the memory browser
59 -- The all watch, and Exception Vector Table windows, can be closed using keyboard
60 -- Renamed the debugger dedicated icons to make a distinction
61 -- Added the call stack window
62 18) Fixed a crash in the all watch window after loading a new binary without ELF/DWARF information
63 -- Previously used ELF/DWARF information was still accessible
64 19) Fixed slash/backslash issue, in the Alpine tab, to follow platform requirement
65 20) Heap allocation window uses the DRAM size limit option and detect if heap allocation shares space with SP (Stack)
66 21) Added a Jaguar model and BIOS configuration tab
67 22) Jaguar model and BIOS configuration integration
68 23) Added LEB128 decoding functions
69 -- It is used for the DWARF decoding information
70 24) Debugger support improvement
71 -- DWARF support for the enum type (partial), structure and subroutine type
72 -- Debugger can report variable's unsigned char value
73 25) UI modifications
74 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the heap allocation window
75 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the local variables window
76 -- Added better information display for the exception vectors table window, and added some missing vectors
77 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the call stack window
78 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the all watches window
79 26) Added screenshot feature
80 -- Not accessible in debugger mode
81 -- Added screenshot editable path in the general tab, and a key binding
82 27) Minor misspellings fixes
83 28) DWARF source code directory path clean-up
84 29) Added a source code files list viewer
85 -- List comes from the DWARF information
86 30) Check potential variables missing/incomplete description found in the DWARF information
87 -- No crash involved but can help to reduce such as variables duplicate or the blank ones
88 31) Added a sorting filter in the all watches window
89 32) Improve source code file reading to avoid additional text/bytes reading
90 33) Help & content texts updates
91 34) Fixed a crash legacy issue when emulator launches in Alpine mode without a valid rom
92 35) Added the support for the used lines source's DWARF structure
93 -- Mostly used to handle missing subprogram's lines information, and missing CU's low/high PC
94 36) Added the Rx version's contact in the help text
95 37) Added search paths in case of missing DWARF directories information
96 -- Used to look for the file(s)
97 38) Setup CU's low/high PC in case of the DWARF structures doesn't have it
98 -- Used mostly to allow display the source assembled with vasm
99 39) Added function name support from ELF structure
100 40) Added the return address information in the call stack
101 41) Added multiple breakpoints feature, and their key bindings, for functions only
102 42) Added timer initialisation for the SDL setup
103 43) Added a cartridge view menu
104 -- Added a window to display my own directory and his files list
105 44) Debugger sources code clean-up
106 45) Fix a crash when emulator, in non-debugger mode, opens the breakpoint UIs at launch
107 46) Fix crash with potential missing DWARF structure tag's type name
108 47) Added ELF sections check so a potential unknown section will stop, or not stop, the decoding
109 48) Project has switched to QT 5.12.0 library 64bits for VS 2017
110 49) Added a Save Dump As... feature to save a memory zone to a file
111 50) The -d command line option, dedicated to the debugger, has been renamed to avoid duplication with the dsp one
112 -- -d has been renamed by -D because another -d was also used for the dsp command line option
113 51) Removed the sorting filter in the all watches window
114 52) Fix the support of the DRAM size limit option in the heap allocation window
115 53) Set cartridge view menu for debugger mode only
116 54) Prevent crash in case of call stack is out of range
117
118 Release 3 (13th November 2017)
119 ------------------------------
120 Git commit: b1b673a3b0d19e3c2c45b6590b773b11e45bced7
121 -
122 0) Fixed the windows respawning in the next emulator launch within --alpine or --debugger options
123 1) Added an Exception Vector Table window
124 2) Modified the About window to update the credits list in a more appropriate way
125 -- Updated the emulator application credits line
126 3) Added 'Rx' word to the emulator name
127 4) Fixed a crash when reading the DWARF information in the case of the DWARF2 format has not been used
128 5) Added ui, alpine and debugger groups in the settings
129 6) Added the possibility to erase settings
130 7) Added the --es-all, --es-ui, --es-alpine and --es-debugger options to erase specific settings
131 8) Added a key bindings tab and adapted the configuration dialog tabs
132 -- User can modify the key bindings where appropriate
133 -- Key bindings UI is displayed based on the option used (--debugger, -- alpine)
134 9) Fixed a crash, in Release mode, when the HW labels setting is turn on
135 10) Solved an interference between the HW labels setting and the one used by the debugger
136 -- The setting is now only the reference used
137 11) Fixed the SP (Stack) browser UI potential missing data
138 12) Create a directory for EEPROMs (based on the EEPROMs setting) if it doesn't already exist
139 13) Keep the scrollbar position in accordance of the M68K PC pointer
140 -- UI displays the source without the need to move down/up the scrollbar
141 14) Fixed a crash when DWARF information report a source line number exceeding the number of lines present in a source file
142 -- This may come from the linker vlink
143 15) Improved the .heap section detection to avoid a detection error
144 -- Depend vlink version, .heap section may have an Alloc flag
145 16) Fixed a crash when DWARF information does references to missing source code files
146 17) Added a local variables window
147 18) Project has switched to Visual Studio 2017 and QT 5.9.1 library
148
149 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
150 ------------------------------
151 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
152 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
153 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
154 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
155 4) DWARF support
156 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
157 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
158 5) Added an All Watch window for non-local variables
159 6) Added a heap allocator window based on my own memory allocation functions
160 7) Added additional 4 memory windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
161 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
162 9) Added a restart function
163 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
164 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
165 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
166 12) 64 bits Release executable
167 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) browser
168 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
169 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
170 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
171 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
172 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
173 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
174 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
175 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
176
177 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
178 ------------------------------
179 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
180 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
181 2) Added SP (Stack) browser
182 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
183 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
184 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger and tracking status)
185 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
186 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
187 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browsers when emulation is launched
188 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory and Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
189 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
190 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
191 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
192 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
193
194 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
195 ----------------------------
196 0) New option --debugger
197 1) ELF format support
198 2) ELF debug symbol support
199 3) "Step Into" code function
200 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
201 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
202 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
203 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
204 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
205 9) 64 bits debug executable only
206
207
208 Known issues
209 ============
210 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
211 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
212 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
213 -- The issue can be prevented if the code doesn't set IRQ, otherwise the IRQ will need to be traced to get back control
214 3) DWARF 2 support
215 -- With GCC: the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
216 4) The Local and Watch variables window may display not available type information or empty information
217 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
218 -- The 'const' type may not be reported correctly in the DWARF information
219 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
220 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
221 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
222 7) The Exception Vector Table window displays only 65 vectors
223 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
224 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
225 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
226 9) The emulator needs to be restarted in case of the following actions occur
227 -- Key bindings changes
228 -- BIOS selection changes and without new executable load
229 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
230 11) Emulator will crash in case of wrong address value provided in the memory browser
231 12) The RAM access log is limited to the 2MB
232 13) In various occasions, global variables may be duplicated or without name in the DWARF information
233 -- It may come from the Vlink linker and/or GCC 7.1.0 or 8.2.0 compilation with -gdwarf-2 option
234 14) Source code disply only assembled code from vasm with option -dwarf
235 15) After a new breakpoint set, the breakpoint list window is not refreshed
236 -- User must perform an operation, such code tracing, to see the breakpoints list update
237 16) Some ASCII characters may be not displayed correctly
238 -- It depend how the text is displayed, this is related to the QT/HTML encoding done when reading DWARF file
239 17) Potential legacy crash when leaving emulator in pause mode for a long period of time
240
241 Cosmetic / UX issues
242 ====================
243 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
244 2) The SP (Stack) browser size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
245 3) Not every features have associated key bindings
246
247 Legacy issues/hints
248 ===================
249 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
250 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
251 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
252 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
253
254 Project information
255 ===================
256 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
257 2) Visual Studio 2015/2017 project support for 64 bits
258 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
259 4) libdwarf 20191104 library 64bits for VS 2017
260 5) QT 5.5.1 library 64bits for VS 2015
261 6) QT 5.12.0 library 64bits for VS 2017
262 7) Zlib 1.2.8 library 64bits for VS 2015
263 8) Zlib 1.2.11 library 64bits for VS 2017
264 9) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
265 10) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
266 11) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
267 12) The project is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
268 13) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
269 -- Text / License terms are the same
270 14) The x86 configuration has been removed in the VS 2017 project
271
272
273 Download statistics
274 -------------------
275 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
276 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
277 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2
278 No downloads statistics available for the Release 3