Fix specific breakpoint for ROM cartridge or unknown memory location writing
[clinton/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx.git] / docs / vj_HistoryNotes.txt
1 Release 4a (TBA)
2 ----------------
3 Git commit:
4 -
5 0) Fix specific breakpoint for ROM cartridge or unknown memory location writing
6
7 Release 4 (10th August 2019)
8 ----------------------------
9 Git commit: 9b25d85d1ea4a9476b83476bcec65e05464f68da
10 -
11 0) The zoom value setting has been fixed in the registry
12 1) Debugger mode now shares the same alpine rom path setting
13 2) Local variables window displays register name now
14 3) Switch to Zlib 1.2.11 static library 64bits for VS 2017
15 4) Switch to SDL 1.2.15 static library 64bits for VS 2017
16 5) Local variables window displays values from function's parameters
17 6) Fixed the typedef's name display in Local and Watch variables window
18 7) Breakpoint may now occur in case of a ROM cartridge writing
19 -- ROM cartridge writing detection follow the alpine "allow writes to cartridge rom"'s flag check
20 -- 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
21 8) Local variables window detects now if a variable is used or not by the code
22 9) The address provided in the debugger memory windows is now verified to prevent crash
23 -- Wrong address will be displayed in red
24 10) UI changes
25 -- Added new icons for the exit and status features
26 -- Modified icons for the SP (Stack) browser
27 -- Unified icons sizes depend on their usage (drop down menu and main menu)
28 -- Underline the active M68K line in the disassembly window
29 -- Allow the up/down navigation on the SP (Stack) browser
30 -- Restart function cleans-up the SP (Stack) browser and the heap allocator system
31 -- Fixed the up navigation on the memory window
32 11) Added some log information for the emulator initialisations
33 12) Breakpoint will happen in case of writing at unknown memory location
34 -- Alert box will display a message and then the code will stop
35 13) Added the DRAM size in the emulator status window
36 14) Debugger sources code clean-up
37 15) Added a call stack feature
38 16) Follow platform requirement to prevent source file reading issue
39 17) UI modifications
40 -- Modified icon for the memory window to make a distinction with the memory browser
41 -- The all watch, and Exception Vector Table windows, can be closed using keyboard
42 -- Renamed the debugger dedicated icons to make a distinction
43 -- Added the call stack window
44 18) Fixed a crash in the all watch window after loading a new binary without ELF/DWARF information
45 -- Previously used ELF/DWARF information was still accessible
46 19) Fixed slash/backslash issue, in the Alpine tab, to follow platform requirement
47 20) Heap allocation window uses the DRAM size limit option and detect if heap allocation shares space with SP (Stack)
48 21) Added a Jaguar model and BIOS configuration tab
49 22) Jaguar model and BIOS configuration integration
50 23) Added LEB128 decoding functions
51 -- It is used for the DWARF decoding information
52 24) Debugger support improvement
53 -- DWARF support for the enum type (partial), structure and subroutine type
54 -- Debugger can report variable's unsigned char value
55 25) UI modifications
56 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the heap allocation window
57 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the local variables window
58 -- Added better information display for the exception vectors table window, and added some missing vectors
59 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the call stack window
60 -- Added a status bar, better status report & information display for the all watches window
61 26) Added screenshot feature
62 -- Not accessible in debugger mode
63 -- Added screenshot editable path in the general tab, and a key binding
64 27) Minor misspellings fixes
65 28) DWARF source code directory path clean-up
66 29) Added a source code files list viewer
67 -- List comes from the DWARF information
68 30) Check potential variables missing/incomplete description found in the DWARF information
69 -- No crash involved but can help to reduce such as variables duplicate or the blank ones
70 31) Added a sorting filter in the all watches window
71 32) Improve source code file reading to avoid additional text/bytes reading
72 33) Help & content texts updates
73 34) Fixed a crash legacy issue when emulator launches in Alpine mode without a valid rom
74 35) Added the support for the used lines source's DWARF structure
75 -- Mostly used to handle missing subprogram's lines information, and missing CU's low/high PC
76 36) Added the Rx version's contact in the help text
77 37) Added search paths in case of missing DWARF directories information
78 -- Used to look for the file(s)
79 38) Setup CU's low/high PC in case of the DWARF structures doesn't have it
80 -- Used mostly to allow display the source assembled with vasm
81 39) Added function name support from ELF structure
82 40) Added the return address information in the call stack
83 41) Added multiple breakpoints feature, and their key bindings, for functions only
84 42) Added timer initialisation for the SDL setup
85 43) Added a cartridge view menu
86 -- Added a window to display my own directory and his files list
87 44) Debugger sources code clean-up
88 45) Fix a crash when emulator, in non-debugger mode, opens the breakpoint UIs at launch
89 46) Fix crash with potential missing DWARF structure tag's type name
90 47) Added ELF sections check so a potential unknown section will stop, or not stop, the decoding
91 48) Project has switched to QT 5.12.0 library 64bits for VS 2017
92 49) Added a Save Dump As... feature to save a memory zone to a file
93 50) The -d command line option, dedicated to the debugger, has been renamed to avoid duplication with the dsp one
94 -- -d has been renamed by -D because another -d was also used for the dsp command line option
95 51) Removed the sorting filter in the all watches window
96 52) Fix the support of the DRAM size limit option in the heap allocation window
97 53) Set cartridge view menu for debugger mode only
98 54) Prevent crash in case of call stack is out of range
99
100 Release 3 (13th November 2017)
101 ------------------------------
102 Git commit: b1b673a3b0d19e3c2c45b6590b773b11e45bced7
103 -
104 0) Fixed the windows respawning in the next emulator launch within --alpine or --debugger options
105 1) Added an Exception Vector Table window
106 2) Modified the About window to update the credits list in a more appropriate way
107 -- Updated the emulator application credits line
108 3) Added 'Rx' word to the emulator name
109 4) Fixed a crash when reading the DWARF information in the case of the DWARF2 format has not been used
110 5) Added ui, alpine and debugger groups in the settings
111 6) Added the possibility to erase settings
112 7) Added the --es-all, --es-ui, --es-alpine and --es-debugger options to erase specific settings
113 8) Added a key bindings tab and adapted the configuration dialog tabs
114 -- User can modify the key bindings where appropriate
115 -- Key bindings UI is displayed based on the option used (--debugger, -- alpine)
116 9) Fixed a crash, in Release mode, when the HW labels setting is turn on
117 10) Solved an interference between the HW labels setting and the one used by the debugger
118 -- The setting is now only the reference used
119 11) Fixed the SP (Stack) browser UI potential missing data
120 12) Create a directory for EEPROMs (based on the EEPROMs setting) if it doesn't already exist
121 13) Keep the scrollbar position in accordance of the M68K PC pointer
122 -- UI displays the source without the need to move down/up the scrollbar
123 14) Fixed a crash when DWARF information report a source line number exceeding the number of lines present in a source file
124 -- This may come from the linker vlink
125 15) Improved the .heap section detection to avoid a detection error
126 -- Depend vlink version, .heap section may have an Alloc flag
127 16) Fixed a crash when DWARF information does references to missing source code files
128 17) Added a local variables window
129 18) Project has switched to Visual Studio 2017 and QT 5.9.1 library
130
131 Release 2 (3rd September 2017)
132 ------------------------------
133 0) Added some error detections when reading the ELF executable file
134 1) Added all hardware labels (based on the document scans from the Version 2.4 - June 7, 1995)
135 2) "Step Over" code function for BSR/JSR functions
136 3) Added the .debug_ranges detection to avoid a detection error
137 4) DWARF support
138 -- TAG: Compilation Unit, Subprogram, Variables, Types
139 -- Line numbers, symbols, functions
140 5) Added an All Watch window for non-local variables
141 6) Added a heap allocator window based on my own memory allocation functions
142 7) Added additional 4 memory windows with address input based on hexa, decimal or symbol name
143 8) Windows refreshing executed only if windows is visible
144 9) Added a restart function
145 -- Restart only the 68000 program counter to his original set
146 10) Modified the icons color backgound for the "Step In" and "Step Over" functions
147 11) Updated the About window to update the credits list
148 12) 64 bits Release executable
149 13) Fixed (hacking) the display of the SP (Stack) browser
150 14) Set the emulator in Halt mode when launched in alpine debug mode without a loaded rom
151 -- Otherwise the 68000 program counter will have a 0 value and will execute the code at this address
152 15) Added some information in the --help/-h/-? option
153 16) --debugger option no longer force the log file
154 17) Added a --dram-max option to extend the DRAM size to 8MB
155 18) Added the "enter" key support when setting the BPM (Breapoint)
156 19) Save the windows positions, size and visibilities (show or hide) status
157 -- Such windows will automatically respawn in the next emulator launch
158
159 Release 1 (12th February 2017)
160 ------------------------------
161 0) BPM (Breapoint) now stop at the designated address and no longer stop after executing the code
162 1) Clean-up the tracing / no-tracing flags for better U.I understanding
163 2) Added SP (Stack) browser
164 3) User can change now the number of lines of disassembly displayed in the tracing window
165 4) User can turn on/off the op-codes associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
166 5) Added an emulator status window (GPU status, M68K debugger and tracking status)
167 6) Added a GPU disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
168 7) Added a DSP disassembly tracing window - Display the current PC pointer
169 8) Added possibility to change refresh rate of browsers when emulation is launched
170 9) Display partial hardware labels (Internal Memory and Graphics sub-system address space) in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
171 -- Display first the hardware labels (based from the Jag V8 dev. PDF) and then the ones possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
172 10) Minor U.I cosmetic changes
173 11) User can turn on/off the hardware labels associated in the disassembly lines displayed in the M68K tracing window
174 -- It doesn't apply to the hardware labels possibly found in the ELF debug symbol
175
176 Release 0 (5th January 2017)
177 ----------------------------
178 0) New option --debugger
179 1) ELF format support
180 2) ELF debug symbol support
181 3) "Step Into" code function
182 4) Menus layout dedicated to the debugger
183 5) Added a dedicated main window for tracing (M68K)
184 6) Added a Debugger tab in the config tab
185 7) Visual Studio 2015 project support
186 8) libelf-0.8.13 library support
187 9) 64 bits debug executable only
188
189
190 Known issues
191 ============
192 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
193 2) The BPM (Breapoint) remains stuck on his address when user wants to continue the code execution
194 -- Need to trace over the BPM or unset the BPM
195 -- The issue can be prevented if the code doesn't set IRQ, otherwise the IRQ will need to be traced to get back control
196 3) DWARF 2 support
197 -- With GCC: the code must be compiled with the -gdwarf-2 option
198 4) The Local and Watch variables window may display not available type information or empty information
199 -- Such missing information may be included in future release
200 -- The 'const' type may not be reported correctly in the DWARF information
201 5) The 2MB mirroring is no longer applied in case of --dram-max option usage
202 6) Stack must reflect the --dram-max option usage otherwise the stack may be corrupted
203 -- The application needs to set the SP (Stack) in accordance
204 7) The Exception Vector Table window displays only 65 vectors
205 -- Missing vectors may be added in future release
206 8) User needs to manualy check if the Atari Jaguar executable match his source code files
207 -- Otherwise, source code and assembly may not match or leads to instabilities
208 9) The emulator needs to be restarted in case of the following actions occur
209 -- Key bindings changes
210 -- BIOS selection changes and without new executable load
211 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
212 11) Emulator will crash in case of wrong address value provided in the memory browser
213 12) The RAM access log is limited to the 2MB
214 13) In various occasions, global variables may be duplicated or without name in the DWARF information
215 -- It may come from the Vlink linker and/or GCC 7.1.0 or 8.2.0 compilation with -gdwarf-2 option
216 14) Source code disply only assembled code from vasm with option -dwarf
217 15) After a new breakpoint set, the breakpoint list window is not refreshed
218 -- User must perform an operation, such code tracing, to see the breakpoints list update
219 16) Some ASCII characters may be not displayed correctly
220 -- It depend how the text is displayed, this is related to the QT/HTML encoding done when reading DWARF file
221 17) Potential legacy crash when leaving emulator in pause mode for a long period of time
222
223 Cosmetic / UX issues
224 ====================
225 1) The SP (Stack) icon color backgound doesn't look similar with the other ones
226 2) The SP (Stack) browser size always open at a forced size no matter if the size has been changed
227 3) Not every features have associated key bindings
228
229 Legacy issues/hints
230 ===================
231 1) Emulator seems to have easter egg(s)
232 -- The option --yarrr displays a single message and end the application
233 -- Pressing F8, while in the main window, will create an extra message in the log file
234 2) The --alpine option force the log file but it can be override if --no-log option is set after the --alpine option
235
236 Project information
237 ===================
238 1) Code based on the Shamus Hammons source code available via Gethub by the 12th September 2017 (2.1.3 Final)
239 2) Visual Studio 2015/2017 project support for 64 bits
240 3) libelf 0.8.13 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
241 4) libdwarf 1.41 library 64bits for VS 2015, cygwin64 and Msys2/MinGW64
242 5) QT 5.5.1 library 64bits for VS 2015
243 6) QT 5.12.0 library 64bits for VS 2017
244 7) Zlib 1.2.8 library 64bits for VS 2015
245 8) Zlib 1.2.11 library 64bits for VS 2017
246 9) SDL 1.2.15 library 64bits for VS 2015/2017
247 10) The original make files have been modified to follow the requirements and modifications
248 11) The 'Rx' word has been added to the emulator name to make distinction with the official version
249 12) The project is set at https://github.com/djipi/Virtual-Jaguar-Rx
250 13) GPLv3 file document has been renamed as LICENSE, to fit better the GitHub requirements
251 -- Text / License terms are the same
252
253
254 Download statistics
255 -------------------
256 jaguar64eu : 15 downloads for the Release 0 on the 12th Feb, 2017
257 jaguar64eu : 18 downloads for the Release 1 on the 21st May, 2017
258 No downloads statistics available for the Release 2
259 No downloads statistics available for the Release 3