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 17) Added a Local browser window for local variables
  28 18) Project has switched to Visual Studio 2017 and QT 5.9.1 library
  29
  30 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
  31 ------------------------------
  32 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
  33 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
  34 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
  35 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
  36 4) DWARF support
  37 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
  38 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
  39 5) Added an All Watch browser window for non-local variables
  40 6) Added a heap allocator browser window based on my own memory allocation functions
  41 7) Added additional 4 memory browser windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
  42 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
  43 9) Added a restart function
  44 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
  45 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
  46 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
  47 12) 64 bits Release executable
  48 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) memory browser
  49 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
  50 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
  51 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
  52 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
  53 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
  54 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
  55 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
  56 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
  57
  58 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
  59 ------------------------------
  60 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
  61 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
  62 2) Added SP (Stack) memory browser
  63 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
  64 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  65 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger & tracking status)
  66 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
  67 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
  68 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browser windows when emulation is launched
  69 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory & Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  70 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
  71 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
  72 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  73 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
  74
  75 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
  76 ----------------------------
  77 0) New option --debugger
  78 1) ELF format support
  79 2) ELF debug symbol support
  80 3) "Step Into" code function
  81 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
  82 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
  83 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
  84 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
  85 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
  86 9) 64 bits debug executable only
  87
  88
  89 Known issues
  90 ============
  91 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
  92 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
  93 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
  94 3) To handle DWARF 2 issues with GCC, the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
  95 4) The Local & Watch variables list may display not available (N/A) type information
  96 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
  97 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
  98 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
  99 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
 100 7) The Exception Vector Table broswer window displays only 65 vectors
 101 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
 102 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
 103 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
 104 9) Application needs to be restarted in case of keybindings changes
 105
 106 Cosmetic / UX issues
 107 ====================
 108 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
 109 2) The emulator status option has no icon
 110 3) The SP (Stack) window size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
 111 4) Not every features have associated keybindings
 112
 113 Legacy issues/hints
 114 ===================
 115 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
 116 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
 117 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
 118 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
 119
 120 Project information
 121 ===================
 122 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
 123 2) Visual Studio 2015/2017 project support for 64 bits
 124 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
 125 4) libdwarf 1.41 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017, cygwin64 & Msys2/MinGW64
 126 5) QT 5.5.1 library 64bits for VS 2015
 127 6) QT 5.9.1 library 64bits for VS 2017
 128 7) Zlib 1.2.8 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
 129 8) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2015
 130 9) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
 131 10) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
 132 11) The project source is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
 133 12) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
 134 -- Text / License terms are the same
 135
 136
 137 Download statistics
 138 -------------------
 139 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
 140 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
 141 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2