27 April 2018. Summary of changes for version 20180427:
1) ACPICA kernel-resident subsystem:
Debugger: Added support for Package objects in the "Test Objects"
command. This command walks the entire namespace and evaluates all named
data objects (Integers, Strings, Buffers, and now Packages).
Improved error messages for the namespace root node. Originally, the root
was referred to by the confusing string "\___". This has been replaced by
"Namespace Root" for clarification.
Fixed a potential infinite loop in the AcpiRsDumpByteList function. Colin
Ian King <colin.king@canonical.com>.
2) iASL Compiler/Disassembler and Tools:
iASL: Implemented support to detect and flag illegal forward references.
For compatibility with other ACPI implementations, these references are
now illegal at the root level of the DSDT or SSDTs. Forward references
have always been illegal within control methods. This change should not
affect existing ASL/AML code because of the fact that these references
have always been illegal in the other ACPI implementation.
iASL: Added error messages for the case where a table OEM ID and OEM
TABLE ID strings are longer than the ACPI-defined length. Previously,
these strings were simply silently truncated.
iASL: Enhanced the -tc option (which creates an AML hex file in C,
suitable for import into a firmware project):
1) Create a unique name for the table, to simplify use of multiple
SSDTs.
2) Add a protection #ifdef in the file, similar to a .h header file.
With assistance from Sami Mujawar, sami.mujawar@arm.com and Evan Lloyd,
evan.lloyd@arm.com
AcpiExec: Added a new option, -df, to disable the local fault handler.
This is useful during debugging, where it may be desired to drop into a
debugger on a fault.
carriage return to read_request() in foreground mode.
In the C daemon, a NULL check is performed on bozo_read_request in main.c
before moving on to bozo_process_request & bozo_clean_request. Here,
process_request & clean_request just return instead.
Changes to code
zic now accepts subsecond precision in expressions like
00:19:32.13, which is approximately the legal time of the
Netherlands from 1835 to 1937. However, because it is
questionable whether the few recorded uses of non-integer offsets
had subsecond precision in practice, there are no plans for tzdata
to use this feature. (Thanks to Steve Allen for pointing out
the limitations of historical data in this area.)
The code is a bit more portable to MS-Windows. Installers can
compile with -DRESERVE_STD_EXT_IDS on MS-Windows platforms that
reserve identifiers like 'localtime'. (Thanks to Manuela
Friedrich).
Changes to documentation and commentary
theory.html now outlines tzdb's extensions to POSIX's model for
civil time, and has a section "POSIX features no longer needed"
that lists POSIX API components that are now vestigial.
(From suggestions by Steve Summit.) It also better distinguishes
time zones from tz regions. (From a suggestion by Guy Harris.)
Commentary is now more consistent about using the phrase "daylight
saving time", to match the C name tm_isdst. Daylight saving time
need not occur in summer, and need not have a positive offset from
standard time.
Commentary about historical transitions in Uruguay has been expanded
with links to many relevant legal documents.
(Thanks to Tim Parenti.)
Commentary now uses some non-ASCII characters with Unicode value
less than U+0100, as they can be useful and should work even with
older editors such as XEmacs.
