I am writing to announce to the OpenBIOS and FCode Development communities that Version 1.0.2 of the FCode Utility Suite is ready and will soon be available.
The most prominent change is that the Tokenizer's Message format has been expanded to show the current Output Position and, if applicable, the position relative to the end of the most recent PCI Header (to keep in sync with Offset numbers displayed by the DeTokenizer.)
The Symbol-Tracing feature has been changed and expanded: Its Messages are no longer Advisories, but a class of their own called Trace-Notes. When a Traced Symbol is created, the Trace-Note Message gives the new Symbol's assigned FCode Token (when applicable) in addition to the Data-Type and Scope of the definition.
A Trace-Note Message is now also issued when a Traced Symbol is invoked. Symbol-Tracing is not fooled by aliases, and a failed attempt to create or invoke a Traced Symbol will also cause a Trace-Note Message to be displayed.
These expansions are based on some questions asked by one of my colleagues while maintaining a very large and convoluted body of Legacy code -- questions like: "Where is such-and-so definition coming from?" "Which version of it is being used here?" "How can I find where exactly that is in the Binary?"
Another change is based on the recent exchange of letters with Rolf Schroedter concerning the use of the emit-fcode command. In the previous version, arguments to the emit-fcode command were limited to the range of user-defined FCodes, i.e., 0x800 to 0xFFF. The new version permits numbers in the entire range of valid FCodes, 0x010 to 0xFFF, which includes the sub-ranges that are reserved for Vendor-Specific FCodes.
There are a few other changes, which are noted in a document that accompanies the new release.
I sent the new release information to the OpenBIOS Webmaster a few days ago; it should be up on the site very soon.
Sincerely,