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Version 0.2.6

  • Fixed a memory leak bug.
  • Increased stack size.
  • Fixed multi-dimensional array allocation bug, reported by K. Eide.

Version 0.2.5

  • Fixed linker bug: it was dumping a ZipException for non-existing zip/jar entries. Reported by E. Harshbarger.

  • Fixed tvmc/tvmp bug: Scripts were using -classpath instead of -bootclasspath. The effect was that java.util.Random couldn't be used with Java 2. Reported by J. Knudsen. The new scripts work only with a Java 2 compiler, but tvmc1 and tvmp1 are provided for JDK 1.1.

Version 0.2.4

  • Fixed another bug that has to do with negative numbers. In this case, BIPUSH didn't work properly in the RCX because char is unsigned by default. The bug was reported by E. Harshbarger.

Version 0.2.3

  • Fixed bug reported by S. Hilmer: Fields of types byte and short could not hold negative values.

Version 0.2.2

  • Added auto power off. The RCX is switched off after 8 minutes in download mode.

  • Worked around a bug in the latest CygWin version; tvm_firmdl3.c was not working. Now it works, but only in slow mode.

  • Scripts only worked with CygWin B20. Added check for $OSTYPE = "cygwin".

Version 0.2.1

  • Added a little check in tvmfirmdl to see if old-tvmfirmdl exists. It reminds users to run make.
  • Now shipping Kekoa Proudfoot's firmdl3.c, slightly modified (tools/tvm_firmdl3.c). This is a faster and apparently more reliable firmware downloader. Changed the default speed to slow, because it seems to be more reliable. Use tvmfirmdl --fast for fast downloads.
  • Removed some dead code that we had in case support for longs and floats was added. But now there's leJOS, of course. Footprint is similar to that of 0.1.1.
  • The firmware responds to packets. This appears to make program downloading more reliable. Of course, this also means old firmware is imcompatible with this version.

Version 0.2.0

  • Time and Timer classes added. Time allows access to the system_time, and sleep() functionality. Timer is similar to javax.swing.Timer. Contributed by Ryan VanderBijl.
  • Added system time abilities. System time is the number of milliseconds since the RCX was reset. Contributed by Ryan VanderBijl.
  • Added TextLCD class for displaying text to the LCD. Contributed by Ryan VanderBijl, who borrowed code from legOS. Original work by Markus L. Noga.
  • Added a HelloWorld example program, by Ryan VanderBijl. This one prints "hello world" on the LCD. The old hello example was removed.
  • Added a LineFollow example program, by Ryan VanderBijl
  • Fixed apparent Thread.start() bug: the native method implementation was not unwinding the stack as it should've.
  • Added Thread.yield().
  • Added serial2rcx example, contributed by Schiedermeier Reinhard.
  • Fixed export's in shell scripts; they were only valid for bash. Ryan pointed this out, BTW.
  • Changed magic number to 0x1CAF: Old binaries will not be compatible with new firmware, and vice versa. The firmware makes sure the magic number is right only starting with this version.
  • The linker now makes sure there's a static main method in the entry class.
  • Added java.lang.Math (not really useful methods there), java.util.Random, and java.util.BitMap.
  • The firmware can now rerun programs. If a program is downloaded, the firmware does not execute it immediately anymore. You have to press Run. When the program finishes, the firmware goes back to program-download mode, but you can rerun the program. NOTE that reruning a program does not reinitialize memory. All static state is preserved, in addition to the main thread, which is reused. In effect, all of TinyVM's memory is persistent across runs, until the next download occurs. This means that the RCX will eventually run out of memory if objects are allocated in non-initializers. Additionally, it makes the implementation of daemon threads unfeasible, and implies that Thread.start() may be called again on a dead thread. This may also affect the way you write programs for TinyVM.
  • If your program runs out of memory, it will be deleted. You have to download it again, as explained above.
  • If you turn your RCX off while a program is running, it may actually not shut down. You'll hear upward tones instead. This can happen if there's a deadlock in your program (or maybe even if there's an infinite loop inside a try-catch-throwable block, although I couldn't come up with a example). The reasons for this are the new rerun semantics previously described. A program cannot be interrupted and restarted at main() without potentially breaking the runtime. All threads must be allowed to finish normally, releasing monitors, etc. (So the persistence thing previously described is, in essense, a limitation turned into a feature).
  • As a workaround for the previous problem, you can press Prgm-On/Off to delete a program from memory.
  • The serial/sensor bug mentioned in release notes for 0.1.4 should be correctly fixed now.
  • Fixed apparent exception bug, found while revising the code: if an uncaught exception occurs in one thread, a different thread could die as a result. This hasn't been reported, possibly because most uncaught exceptions result in program death anyway.
  • Fixed array deallocation bug: it was not deallocating all of the stack frame array.
  • throw_exception now checks if currentThread is null. With rerun, it's now possible for init_thread to throw OutOfMemoryError before any context exists.
  • Simplified allocation routine.
  • Added a bunch of Thread.yield() calls in the sensor listener loop. In a program that registers one listener with each sensor, the performance seems to improve by roughly 50%, i.e. the performance of the fourth thread. However, sensor events are not delivered as often. Comments?
  • Added Thread.isAlive(). This also has to do with the new rerun semantics. Call it before starting a thread.
  • Footprint report: Firmware download count is 1080; Test13 can create 4060 instances of java.lang.Object. Expect an improvement, as the code is due for an optimization.

Version 0.1.6:

  • Added Motor.flt() to float motors.

  • Inserted a small delay after program exit, before entering download mode, so that Motor.stop() has the expected effect.

Version 0.1.5:

  • Using O_BINARY in open() calls, for CygWin compatibility.

  • Modified scripts to be more compatible with CygWin.

Version 0.1.4:

  • Fixed serial bug reported by Tim Rinkens. (Sensors were shut down and couldn't get reactivated as soon as the static initializer of Serial was executed. They are still deactivated when Serial is first used, but they can be reactivated now. I don't know how to do better than that at present).

  • Added the view example.

  • Fixed shutdown_timer bug. (On power shutdown, shutdown_timer should've been called; this means that motors could still keep going after the power was shut down).

Version 0.1.3:

  • Found that the hello example did not compile in the last version. Fixed it.

  • Decided to make the firmware show battery power whenever it enters program-download mode.

  • Fixed virtual method linker bug. (The linker was unable to find certain virtual methods in classfiles compiled with JDK1.2.x).

  • Apparently fixed On/Off bug. (The LCD is not cleared by shutdown_buttons in some RCXs).

  • Got rid of TINYVM_HOME.

  • TINYVMPATH is no longer necessary. CLASSPATH is used.

  • More appropriate message for linker failure when instanceof or checkcast of array classes is encountered.

  • Multi-dimensional array allocation was broken. Fixed it.

  • Fixed checkcast bug. (It was not allowing casts of null).

  • Footprint report: Test13 creates 4238 objects. Firmware download count: ~1020

Version 0.1.2:

  • Fixed serial comm bug. (If you tried to download a program to the RCX while another program was running, the transferred data could clobber program memory. TinyVM is now shutting down serial communications right after a program is downloaded).

  • Added a couple dummy classes to satisfy the jikes compiler. Users simply have to set JAVAC to "jikes". (Jikes is a really fast Java compiler by IBM).

  • Changed implementation of Sensor.readSensorValue. Reading values from sensors should be more efficient now. (I might have to adjust the rotator example a bit).

  • Publicized the SensorListener interface and Sensor.addListener. It probably still needs to be optimized for performance.

  • Added examples to some classes in the API documentation.

  • Removed "queued" parameter from most methods in Sound. It really didn't make sense to have it in some APIs. Hopefully that won't be much of a problem for anyone.

  • Removed previously deprecated APIs from ROM. Again, sorry if this affects you.

  • Fixed MONITORENTER bug. (It was not throwing NPE on null monitors - it was crashing instead).

  • TinyVM's linker is now also a loader: The -d option will download the program to the RCX.

  • TinyVM's firmware is now listening for the standard "Delete Firmware" opcode (0x65/0x6d). Consequently, Prgm-Run On/Off is no longer useful, so it has been removed.

  • tvmfirmdl doesn't need an argument now.

  • Added the Serial API and a corresponding example.

  • Footprint report: Test13 creates 4262 objects. The firmware download count is about 1000.

Version 0.1.1:

  • Fixed PUTSTATIC bug. (Setting a static field in uninitialized class could produce subsequent erroneous behavior).

  • Fixed exceptions bug. (Very critical bug: exceptions were not pushed on the stack before they were caught).

  • Changed RCX API so that its style conforms a bit more with other Java APIs. Namely, deprecated routines in ROM, and split them up into LCD and Sound, which have more convenient APIs. Removed some ROM routines, which hopefully haven't been used too much yet. Class Native now contains native APIs. ROM contains certain unclassified APIs.

  • Added buttons API.

  • Improved the usability of the firmware a bit. Basically, you can now press the On/Off button to turn off the RCX and kill running programs.

  • To continue on exception "traces" you have to press On/Off instead of View.

  • TinyVM has been ported to JDK1.2. This required a couple of fixes under jtools.

  • Footprint: Test13 can create 4338 empty objects (17352 bytes of allocation space).