Version 20150930

30 September 2015. Summary of changes for version 20150930:

This release is available at https://acpica.org/downloads

1) ACPICA kernel-resident subsystem:

Debugger: Implemented several changes and bug fixes to assist support for the in-kernel version of the AML debugger. Lv Zheng.
- Fix the "predefined" command for in-kernel debugger.
- Do not enter debug command loop for the help and version commands.
- Disallow "execute" command during execution/single-step of a method.

Interpreter: Updated runtime typechecking for all operators that have target operands. The operand is resolved and validated that it is legal. For example, the target cannot be a non-data object such as a Device, Mutex, ThermalZone, etc., as per the ACPI specification.

Debugger: Fixed the double-mutex user I/O handshake to work when local deadlock detection is enabled.

Debugger: limited display of method locals and arguments (LocalX and ArgX) to only those that have actually been initialized. This prevents lines of extraneous output.

Updated the definition of the NFIT table to correct the bit polarity of one flag: ACPI_NFIT_MEM_ARMED --> ACPI_NFIT_MEM_NOT_ARMED

Example Code and Data Size: These are the sizes for the OS-independent acpica.lib produced by the Microsoft Visual C++ 9.0 32-bit compiler. The debug version of the code includes the debug output trace mechanism and has a much larger code and data size.

Current Release:
Non-Debug Version: 101.7K Code, 27.9K Data, 129.6K Total
Debug Version: 199.3K Code, 81.4K Data, 280.7K Total
Previous Release:
Non-Debug Version: 101.3K Code, 27.7K Data, 129.0K Total
Debug Version: 198.6K Code, 80.9K Data, 279.5K Total

2) iASL Compiler/Disassembler and Tools:

iASL: Improved the compile-time typechecking for operands of many of the ASL operators:

-- Added an option to disable compiler operand/operator typechecking (-ot).

-- For the following operators, the TermArg operands are now validated when possible to be Integer data objects: BankField, OperationRegion, DataTableRegion, Buffer, and Package.

-- Store (Source, Target): Both the source and target operands are resolved and checked that the operands are both legal. For example, neither operand can be a non-data object such as a Device, Mutex, ThermalZone, etc. Note, as per the ACPI specification, the CopyObject operator can be used to store an object to any type of target object.

-- Store (Source, Target): If the source is a Package object, the target must be a Package object, LocalX, ArgX, or Debug. Likewise, if the target is a Package, the source must also be a Package.

-- Store (Source, Target): A warning is issued if the source and target resolve to the identical named object.

-- Store (Source, ): An error is generated for the target method invocation, as this construct is not supported by the AML interpreter.

-- For all ASL math and logic operators, the target operand must be a data object (Integer, String, Buffer, LocalX, ArgX, or Debug). This includes the function return value also.

-- External declarations are also included in the typechecking where possible. External objects defined using the UnknownObj keyword cannot be typechecked, however.

iASL and Disassembler: Added symbolic (ASL+) support for the ASL Index operator:
- Legacy code: Index(PKG1, 3)
- New ASL+ code: PKG1[3]
This completes the ACPI 6.0 ASL+ support as it was the only operator not supported.

iASL: Fixed the file suffix for the preprocessor output file (.i). Two spaces were inadvertently appended to the filename, causing file access and deletion problems on some systems.

ASL Test Suite (ASLTS): Updated the master makefile to generate all possible compiler output files when building the test suite -- thus exercising these features of the compiler. These files are automatically deleted when the test suite exits.