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 static 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) Breakpoint may now occur in case of a ROM cartridge writing
  11 -- ROM cartridge writing detection follow the alpine "allow writes to cartridge rom"'s flag check
  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 address will be displayed in red
  16 10) UI cosmetic changes
  17 -- Added new icons for the exit and status features
  18 -- Modified icons for the SP (Stack) browser
  19 -- Unified icons sizes depend on their usage (drop down menu and main menu)
  20 -- Underline the active M68K line in the disassembly window
  21 -- Allow the up/down navigation on the SP (Stack) browser
  22 -- Restart function cleans-up the SP (Stack) browser and the heap allocator system
  23 11) Fixed the up navigation on the memory window
  24 12) Added some log information for the emulator initialisations
  25 13) Breakpoint will happen in case of writing at unknown memory location
  26 -- Alert box will display a message and then code will stop
  27 14) Added the DRAM size in the emulator status window
  28 15) Debugger sources code clean-up
  29 16) Added a call stack feature
  30 17) Prevent source file reading issue on no-Windows system
  31 18) UI modifications
  32 -- Modified icon for the memory window to make a distinction with the memory browser
  33 -- The all watch, and Exception Vector Table windows, can be closed using keyboard
  34 -- Renamed the debugger dedicated icons to make a distinction
  35 -- Added the call stack window
  36 19) Fixed a crash in the all watch window after loading a new binary without ELF/DWARF information
  37 -- Previously used ELF/DWARF information was still accessible
  38
  39 Release 3 (13th November 2017)
  40 ------------------------------
  41 Git commit: b1b673a3b0d19e3c2c45b6590b773b11e45bced7
  42 -
  43 0) Fixed the windows respawning in the next emulator launch within --alpine or --debugger options
  44 1) Added an Exception Vector Table window
  45 2) Modified the About window to update the credits list in a more appropriate way
  46 -- Updated the emulator application credits line
  47 3) Added 'Rx' word to the emulator name
  48 4) Fixed a crash when reading the DWARF information in the case of the DWARF2 format has not been used
  49 5) Added ui, alpine and debugger groups in the settings
  50 6) Added the possibility to erase settings
  51 7) Added the --es-all, --es-ui, --es-alpine and --es-debugger options to erase specific settings
  52 8) Added a keybindings tab and adapted the configuration dialog tabs
  53 -- User can modify the keybindings where appropriate
  54 -- Keybindings UI is displayed based on the option used (--debugger, -- alpine)
  55 9) Fixed a crash, in Release mode, when the HW labels setting is turn on
  56 10) Solved an interference between the HW labels setting and the one used by the debugger
  57 -- The setting is now only the reference used
  58 11) Fixed the SP (Stack) browser UI potential missing data
  59 12) Create a directory for EEPROMs (based on the EEPROMs setting) if it doesn't already exist
  60 13) Keep the scrollbar position in accordance of the M68K PC pointer
  61 -- UI displays the source without the need to move down/up the scrollbar
  62 14) Fixed a crash when DWARF information report a source line number exceeding the number of lines present in a source file
  63 -- This may come from the linker vlink
  64 15) Improved the .heap section detection to avoid a detection error
  65 -- Depend vlink version, .heap section may have an Alloc flag
  66 16) Fixed a crash when DWARF information does references to missing source code files
  67 17) Added a local variables window
  68 18) Project has switched to Visual Studio 2017 and QT 5.9.1 library
  69
  70 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
  71 ------------------------------
  72 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
  73 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
  74 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
  75 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
  76 4) DWARF support
  77 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
  78 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
  79 5) Added an All Watch window for non-local variables
  80 6) Added a heap allocator window based on my own memory allocation functions
  81 7) Added additional 4 memory windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
  82 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
  83 9) Added a restart function
  84 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
  85 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
  86 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
  87 12) 64 bits Release executable
  88 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) browser
  89 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
  90 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
  91 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
  92 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
  93 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
  94 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
  95 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
  96 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
  97
  98 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
  99 ------------------------------
 100 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
 101 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
 102 2) Added SP (Stack) browser
 103 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
 104 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
 105 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger and tracking status)
 106 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
 107 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
 108 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browsers when emulation is launched
 109 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory and Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
 110 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
 111 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
 112 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
 113 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
 114
 115 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
 116 ----------------------------
 117 0) New option --debugger
 118 1) ELF format support
 119 2) ELF debug symbol support
 120 3) "Step Into" code function
 121 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
 122 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
 123 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
 124 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
 125 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
 126 9) 64 bits debug executable only
 127
 128
 129 Known issues
 130 ============
 131 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
 132 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
 133 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
 134 -- The issue can be prevented if the code doesn't set IRQ, otherwise the IRQ will need to be traced to get back control
 135 3) To support DWARF 2 with GCC, the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
 136 4) The Local and Watch variables window  may display not available (N/A) type information
 137 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
 138 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
 139 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
 140 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
 141 7) The Exception Vector Table window displays only 65 vectors
 142 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
 143 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
 144 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
 145 9) The emulator needs to be restarted in case of keybindings changes
 146 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
 147 11) Emulator will crash in case of wrong address value provided in the memory browser
 148 12) The RAM access log is limited to the 2MB
 149
 150 Cosmetic / UX issues
 151 ====================
 152 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
 153 2) The SP (Stack) browser size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
 154 3) Not every features have associated keybindings
 155
 156 Legacy issues/hints
 157 ===================
 158 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
 159 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
 160 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
 161 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
 162
 163 Project information
 164 ===================
 165 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
 166 2) Visual Studio 2015/2017 project support for 64 bits
 167 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
 168 4) libdwarf 1.41 library 64bits for VS 2015, cygwin64 and Msys2/MinGW64
 169 5) QT 5.5.1 library 64bits for VS 2015
 170 6) QT 5.9.1 library 64bits for VS 2017
 171 7) Zlib 1.2.8 library 64bits for VS 2015
 172 7) Zlib 1.2.11 library 64bits for VS 2017
 173 8) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
 174 9) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
 175 10) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
 176 11) The project source is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
 177 12) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
 178 -- Text / License terms are the same
 179
 180
 181 Download statistics
 182 -------------------
 183 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
 184 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
 185 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2
 186 No downloads statistics available for the Release 3