docs/vj_ReleaseNotes.txt

   1 Release 4 (TBD)
   2 ---------------
   3 0) The zoom value setting has been fixed in the registry
   4 1) Debugger mode now shares the same alpine rom path setting
   5 2) Local variables window displays register name now
   6 3) Switch to Zlib 1.2.11 library 64bits for VS 2017
   7 4) Switch to SDL 1.2.15 static library 64bits for VS 2017
   8 5) Local variables window displays values from function's parameters
   9 6) Fixed the typedef's name display in Local and Watch variables window
  10 7) ROM cartridge writing detection follow the alpine "allow writes to cartridge rom"'s flag check
  11 -- Breakpoint can now occur in the case of a ROM cartridge writing
  12 -- 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
  13 8) Local variables window detects now if a variable is used or not by the code
  14 9) The address provided in the memory window is now verified to prevent crash
  15 -- Wrong provided address will be displayed in red
  16
  17 Release 3 (13th November 2017)
  18 ------------------------------
  19 0) Fixed the windows respawning in the next emulator launch within --alpine or --debugger options
  20 1) Added an Exception Vector Table window
  21 2) Modified the About window to update the credits list in a more appropriate way
  22 -- Updated the emulator application credits line
  23 3) Added 'Rx' word to the emulator name
  24 4) Fixed a crash when reading the DWARF information in the case of the DWARF2 format has not been used
  25 5) Added ui, alpine and debugger groups in the settings
  26 6) Added the possibility to erase settings
  27 7) Added the --es-all, --es-ui, --es-alpine and --es-debugger options to erase specific settings
  28 8) Added a keybindings tab and adapted the configuration dialog tabs
  29 -- User can modify the keybindings where appropriate
  30 -- Keybindings UI is displayed based on the option used (--debugger, -- alpine)
  31 9) Fixed a crash, in Release mode, when the HW labels setting is turn on
  32 10) Solved an interference between the HW labels setting and the one used by the debugger
  33 -- The setting is now only the reference used
  34 11) Fixed the SP (Stack) window UI potential missing data
  35 12) Create a directory for EEPROMs (based on the EEPROMs setting) if it doesn't already exist
  36 13) Keep the scrollbar position in accordance of the M68K PC pointer
  37 -- UI displays the source without the need to move down/up the scrollbar
  38 14) Fixed a crash when DWARF information report a source line number exceeding the number of lines present in a source file
  39 -- This may come from the linker vlink
  40 15) Improved the .heap section detection to avoid a detection error
  41 -- Depend vlink version, .heap section may have an Alloc flag
  42 16) Fixed a crash when DWARF information does references to missing source code files
  43 17) Added a local variables window
  44 18) Project has switched to Visual Studio 2017 and QT 5.9.1 library
  45
  46 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
  47 ------------------------------
  48 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
  49 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
  50 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
  51 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
  52 4) DWARF support
  53 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
  54 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
  55 5) Added an All Watch window for non-local variables
  56 6) Added a heap allocator window based on my own memory allocation functions
  57 7) Added additional 4 memory windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
  58 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
  59 9) Added a restart function
  60 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
  61 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
  62 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
  63 12) 64 bits Release executable
  64 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) memory browser
  65 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
  66 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
  67 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
  68 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
  69 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
  70 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
  71 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
  72 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
  73
  74 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
  75 ------------------------------
  76 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
  77 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
  78 2) Added SP (Stack) memory browser
  79 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
  80 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  81 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger and tracking status)
  82 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
  83 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
  84 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browser windows when emulation is launched
  85 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory and Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  86 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
  87 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
  88 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
  89 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
  90
  91 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
  92 ----------------------------
  93 0) New option --debugger
  94 1) ELF format support
  95 2) ELF debug symbol support
  96 3) "Step Into" code function
  97 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
  98 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
  99 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
 100 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
 101 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
 102 9) 64 bits debug executable only
 103
 104
 105 Known issues
 106 ============
 107 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
 108 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
 109 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
 110 -- The issue can be prevented if the code doesn't set IRQ, otherwise the IRQ will need to be traced to get back control
 111 3) To support DWARF 2 with GCC, the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
 112 4) The Local and Watch variables list may display not available (N/A) type information
 113 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
 114 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
 115 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
 116 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
 117 7) The Exception Vector Table broswer window displays only 65 vectors
 118 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
 119 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
 120 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
 121 9) The emulator needs to be restarted in case of keybindings changes
 122 10) In the case of a ROM cartridge writing, and an occuring breakpoint, the PC pointer will point at the next instruction and not at the instruction causing the breakpoint
 123 11) Emulator will crash in case of wrong value provided in the memory browser window
 124
 125 Cosmetic / UX issues
 126 ====================
 127 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
 128 2) The emulator status option has no icon
 129 3) The SP (Stack) window size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
 130 4) Not every features have associated keybindings
 131
 132 Legacy issues/hints
 133 ===================
 134 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
 135 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
 136 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
 137 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
 138
 139 Project information
 140 ===================
 141 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
 142 2) Visual Studio 2015/2017 project support for 64 bits
 143 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
 144 4) libdwarf 1.41 library 64bits for VS 2015, cygwin64 and Msys2/MinGW64
 145 5) QT 5.5.1 library 64bits for VS 2015
 146 6) QT 5.9.1 library 64bits for VS 2017
 147 7) Zlib 1.2.8 library 64bits for VS 2015
 148 7) Zlib 1.2.11 library 64bits for VS 2017
 149 8) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
 150 9) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
 151 10) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
 152 11) The project source is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
 153 12) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
 154 -- Text / License terms are the same
 155
 156
 157 Download statistics
 158 -------------------
 159 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
 160 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
 161 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2
 162 No downloads statistics available for the Release 3