Release Notes

• Version 1.8.6 - April 29, 2005 (download tkgate-1.8.6.tgz)
  • Fixed bug causing potential self-transitions on register outputs.
  • Fixed bug in searching for auxilary files used by the simulator.
  • Updates to German and Italian locales.
  • Added support for Polish (still needs updates).

• Version 1.8.5 - September 7, 2004 (download tkgate-1.8.5.tgz)
  • Drag-and-drop module creation (drag from module list and drop on canvas).
  • Fixed bugs with shift devices.
  • Fixed bug causing tkgate to crash when printing designs having instances of undefined modules.
  • Added support for Czech.

• Version 1.8.4 - June 14 , 2004 (download tkgate-1.8.4.tgz)
  • Added memory of probes between invocations of the simulator.
  • Improved command-line printing capabilities.
  • Fixed a bug that resulted in a compilation error when compiling under a gcc version less than 3.0.
  • Fixed a bug that caused spurious warnings when printing a circuit directly from the command line.
  • Fixed another problem with EPSF output.
  • Fixed a bug with the critical path analysis of an empty circuit.
  • Fixed coding problem with Japanese messages file.
  • Fixed bug causing potential simulator core dump in critical path computation.

• Version 1.8.3 - March 18 , 2004 (download tkgate-1.8.3.tgz)
  • Modules now printed in "hierarchical" order.
  • Updated German support and reorganized localization files.
  • Configure script now looks for MAC OS X directories.
  • Configure script is now more cygwin friendly.
  • Empty comments are no longer invisible.
  • Fixed a bug causing a core dump when creating or editing a comment after editing the ports on another circuit element.

• Version 1.8.2 - February 12 , 2004 (download tkgate-1.8.2.tgz)
  • Fixed bug when loading library from command line.
  • Fixed bug when printing selected modules.
  • Fixed bug with '-V' circuit verify command.
  • Fixed bug in Edit menu with Algn Vert. and Algn Horz. being swapped.
  • Fixed bug with cut/paste of concat elements at 90/270 degree orientations.
  • Fixed bug with undo of wire taps.
  • Fixed bug with simulator error reporting.

• Version 1.8.1 - January 19, 2004 (download tkgate-1.8.1.tgz)
  • Fixed bug occurring when clocks are used to drive adders.
  • Fixed bug with printing of partial scope traces.
  • Fixed bug in undo from edit module interface screen.
  • Added toolbar on scope window.
  • Added a "crosshair" feature to scopes.
  • Added a right-click selection capability on scopes for selecting print range.
  • Added capability to suppress sorting of traces on scope.

  Patches:

  • tkgate181.patch1 fixes the following bugs:
    • Input wires on basic gates (AND/OR/XOR) and concat elements are scrunched together after deleting a port through the gate properties dialog box.
    • The net name of wires added through the gate properties dialog box are automatically marked as having visible names.
    • Names of multi-bit LEDs are displayed in print outs even if they are marked as having hidden names.

• Version 1.8 - January 7, 2004 - (download tkgate-1.8.tgz)
  • Fixed several bugs in the undo/redo code.
  • Updated toolbar icons and changed the behavior of the toolbar to be context sensitve.
  • Fixed compatability problems with tcl/tk 8.4.
  • Fixed printing problem with wire merge elements.
  • Fixed problem with very long clock cycle times.
  • Fixed problem with EPSF output.

• Version 1.7-a1 - February 14, 2002 - (download tkgate-1.7-a1.tgz)
  • Added initial undo/redo capability.
  NOTE: This version of tkgate was never officially released.

• Version 1.6i - February 5, 2002 - (download tkgate-1.6i+patch1-3.tgz for patched version or download tkgate-1.6i.tgz and manually apply patches )
  • Added extender bars on multi-input (more than 2) AND, OR and XOR gates to avoid "crunching" of wires for gates with many inputs. This feature is off by default when loading save files for earlier versions of tkgate unless explicitly enabled.
  • Fixed problem with using some right mouse button popup commands when zoomed.
  • Increased delay between a mouse press and hold on a signal and the pop-up showing the signal value while in simulation mode. The previous short delay interfered with detection of a double click on some systems and thus made it difficult to set probes. It now also possible to customize this delay through the simulator page on options dialogue box.
  • Disabled bug allowing net options to be modified while in simulator mode.
  • Added alternate probe set/remove command using 'P' keyboard shortcut or menu.
  • Initial support for "hierarchy graph" for Postscript output added. This support is currently limited to graphs that fit on a single page.
  • Fixed several bugs that could sometimes cause a core dump and/or save file corruption when manipulating "wire tap" elements.
  • Fixed bug that sometimes resulted in a failure to determine the direction of concat (wire merge) elements.
  • Fixed a bug that caused calloc() to be called with nmemb=0.
  • Marked various popups as transient so they would not get buried under the main window.
  • Changed port add/editing so that an "*unnamed*" signal will be assigned a standard generated name.
  • Fixed bugs with port on editing through properties dialog box on modules.
  • Fixed problem with panic save feature. The panic save feature causes tkgate to attempt to save the current circuit in PANIC.v if a core dump is detected.
  • Produces less confusing messages when running under an unsupported locale.

  Patches:

  • tkgate-1.6i.patch1 - Fixes a problem with the error reporting code which prevented error messages from being displayed properly when a circuit with errors was simulated.
  • tkgate-1.6i.patch2 - Improved French support including updated menus and a French tutorial couresy of Jacques JANVILLE (swdev@janville.org).
  • tkgate-1.6i.patch3 - Fixes some simulation problems with flip-flop elements.

• Version 1.6h - June 11, 2001 - (download tkgate-1.6h.tgz)
  • Fixed printing problems with dips, muxes and registers.
  • Fixed Japanese in menus and tutorials.
  • Added bit selection feature for register codes to gmac.
  • Made '\r' a valid whitespace character.
  • Fixed bug that allowed creation of meaningless inverters on wire taps.
  • Fixed core dump bug with "replicating" wire taps.
  • Fixed serious problem with cut/paste causing internal data structures and save file data to become corrupt. The problem occured when gates attached to the same net were included in the cut, but one or more of the joints/taps on the net were not included in the cut causing a partitioning of the net.
  • Added a data structure integrity check feature.

• Version 1.6g - February 6, 2001 - (download tkgate-1.6g.tgz)
  • Added zoom in/out feature.
  • Fixed core dump caused by start-up time errors on some platforms.
  • Fixed core dump caused by loading out-dated tkgate file while flashing critical path option is enabled.
  • Improved commenting of macrocode in "menagerie" example.
  • Minor change to scrollbar semantics

• Version 1.6f - November 30, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.6f.tgz)
  • Fixed incorrect installation of Japanese tutorials.
  • Japanese Translation of tutorials partially completed.
  • Added support for Spanish.
  • Fixed problem with dialog windows being lowered when opening a subordinate load/save file box.
  • Fixed problem with setting label on frames.

• Version 1.6e - November 16, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.6e.tgz)
  • Fixed problem with memories with less than 8-bit data lines.
  • Fixed possible direction problem with wire merge.

• Version 1.6d - October 20, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.6d.tgz)
  • Fixed carry-out on 32-bit adders
  • Postscript generator now uses latin1 encoding to enable correct printing of accented characters.
  • Dip switch "value" boxes are now closed when exiting the simulation.
  • Fixed Japanese configure problem.

• Version 1.6c - October 16, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.6c.tgz)
  • Improved multi-lingual support.
  • Added French support.

• Version 1.6b - October 4, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.6b.tgz)
  • Fixed possible core dump problem when deleting gates.
  • Fixed configuration script problems.

• Version 1.6 - September 27, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.6.tgz)
  • Experimental support for critical path analysis
  • Highlighting of selected net
  • Smooth scrolling in edit window
  • Added a "D flip-flop" element.
  • -P and -p switches allow printing without starting the GUI.
  • Fixed problem with non-functional output inverters on several gate types including registers, rams, roms and ttys.
  • Fixed hang problem with simulator when root module not at top of module stack.
  • Fixes problem with adding outputs to decoders.
  • Fixes extraneous "unknown version" messages when loading old save files.
  • Fixes problem with externally generated "destroy" events on scope windows.
  
  Patches:
  • tkgate-1.6.patch1
    Fixes problems with the configuration script on some systems by reverting to the configuration method used in version 1.5c and earlier. The configure script distributed with 1.6 was intended to be able to automatically determine which version of tcl/tk to use, but the tests do not seem to work on all systems. Use this patch only if you were unable to configure tkgate with the original configure script.
  • If you are able to configure without the patch above, there may still be a problem in installing the "menagerie cpu" example. To fix this, edit the file "Imakefile" in the top directory and look for the line:

    EXAMPLE4=TKGATE_EXAMPLE4
    

    add the line:

    EXAMPLE5=TKGATE_EXAMPLE5
    

    after it and then re-configure/compile/install to get the menagerie cpu example. This change is only necessary if you did not apply the patch above.

• Version 1.5c - September 8, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.5c.tgz)
  • Fixes an intermittent core dump problem in editor when manipulating wires.
  • Fixes problem with inverters in postscript output.
  • Fixes problem with configuration file in detecting existance of bison.
  Patches:
  • tkgate-1.5c.patch1
    • Fixes problem with adding outputs to decoders.
    • Fixes extraneous "unknown version" messages when loading old save files.

• Version 1.5b - June 27, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.5b.tgz)
  • Fixed core dump problem in simulator (same fix as patch1)
  • Fixed possible core dump in editor when exiting simulator (same fix as patch2)
  Patches:
  • tkgate-1.5b.patch1
    • Fixes same problems fixed by 1.5c

• Version 1.5 - June 26, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.5.tgz)
  • Support for multiple gate 'technologies' and per-gate delay specification added.
  • Imported library modules now marked as read-only to prevent accidental editing. An explicit "Claim" command was added to convert imported library modules to user modules.
  • Numerous bug fixes (display problems, "Edit Interface" problems, empty net name problems, intermittent simulator crash problem)
  Patches:
  • tkgate-1.5.patch1
    • Fixes additional intermittent simulator core dump problem.
  • tkgate-1.5.patch2
    • Fixes possible core dump of editor when exiting simulation.

• Version 1.4c - June 12, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.4c.tgz)
  • Fixed Postscript output and bit tap problems (Applied patch tkgate-1.4b.patch1)
  • Added Postscript output of Japanese (works for printers with Japanese fonts only).
  • Made ports on modules easier to select.
  • Fixed problem with changing port type in external port dialog box.

• Version 1.4b - June 7, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.4b.tgz)
  • Fixed the library module problem (applied tkgate-1.4.patch1)
  • Fixed problems with Japanese input
  • Created a seperate directory for Japanese tutorials. Selection of the tutorial directory depends on the selected interface language. Currently only a small portion of the tutorials have been translated.
  Patches:
  • tkgate-1.4b.patch1
    • Fixes problems with module wire direction arrows in Postscript output.
    • Fixes problem with creating bit taps off buses.
• Version 1.4 - June 2, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.4.tgz)
  • Added LED devices (single bit, bar graph, 7-segment)
  • Added context sensitive popup menus (bound to right mouse button)
  • Added "add wire segment" feature to attach new wire segments in the middle of existing wires.
  • Bug fixes (anchored module problem, switch state problem, cancel in create block/comment problem. Y2K problem, wire size mismatch problem)
  Patches:
  • tkgate-1.4.patch1 - Fixes problem with library modules
• Version 1.3b - May 4, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.3b.tgz)
  • Fixed minor problem with compiling in some versions of Linux
  • Improved commenting in the Menagerie CPU example.
  • Fixed bug in editing comments (comment not saved when closing dialog box by hitting return in hyperlink entry box).
• Version 1.3 - April 20, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.3.tgz)
  • Microcode/macrocode compiler (gmac) now generates a human readable symbol map.
  • Better delay model.
  • Multi-lignual features added (English and Japanese).
  • Hyperlink comments.
  • Improved tutorial (using hyperlinks).
  • Added 'zoom' command to simulator script to set zoom factor on scope.

• Version 1.2b - April 13, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.2b.tgz)
  • Fixed problems with Solaris (SunOS 5.7)

• Version 1.2 - April 13, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.2.tgz)
  • Hit test for gates now works better for long thin gates such as registers.
  • Problem with deleting ports on primitive gates fixed.
  • Horizontal/Vertical alignment feature added (see "Edit" menu).
  • Fixed crash bug when pressing "pause" on second run of simulator.
  • Changed semantics of running/standing quadrapedal AND gate to be more useful.
  • Fixed configuration problem with Solaris.
  • Compilation directory used as backup TkGate home directory.
• Version 1.1 - March 31, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.1.tgz)
  • Color interface implemented.
  • Smooth scrolling in scope implemented.
  • Fixed bugs under Solaris (SunOS 5.5)
  • Fixed verious other bugs.

• Version 1.0 - March 22, 2000 - (download tkgate-1.0.tgz)
  • Fixed bugs.

• Version 0.9 - May 28, 1999 - (download tkgate-0.9.tgz)
  • Initial public release.