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