Kernel Release Notes History

## 1 Kernel Release Notes History

### 1.1 Kernel 2.10

#### 1.1.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- Added documentation of configuration parameter `net_setuptime`.
  Own Id: OTP-5117 Aux Id: seq8908

#### 1.1.2 Improvements and New Features

- The `disk_log` module has been slightly changed for the purpose of reducing the risk of memory problems due to corrupt files. The `chunk` commands have been optimized by increasing the chunk size from 8 kilobytes to 64 kilobytes.
  Own Id: OTP-4530 Aux Id: seq7646
- The code server used `prim_file` for its file operations. This made it impossible to load code from a boot server. Now the code server uses `erl_prim_loader` for these operations instead.
  Own Id: OTP-4819 Aux Id: OTP-4802, OTP-4846
- New functions - `rpc:call/5` and `rpc:block_call/5`. They have a timeout argument! See the documentation for details.
  Own Id: OTP-4849 Aux Id: seq8250
- A new environment parameter `browser_cmd` has been introduced which defines how to display help text (HTML files).
  Own Id: OTP-4852
- The system configuration file `sys.config` can now contain names of other configuration files as well as application configuration data.
  Thus, it is now possible to have several configuration files in connection with release handling. See `config(4)` and OTP Design Principles for more information.
  Own Id: OTP-4867 Aux Id: OTP-1968
- It is now possible to compile files with `erlc` without getting a lot of (for compilation) unneccessary code loaded and executed (like distribution, inet config, etc). `erlc` now also calls `erl` with `-boot start_clean` (so that SASL is not started even if `start_sasl` is default boot script).
  Own Id: OTP-4878
- Disk logs can now be opened or closed in parallel. In particular, if some log is being repaired, other logs can still be opened or closed.
  Own Id: OTP-4913
- Native lookup (system calls) is now default resolver method on all platforms. Also the user inet configuration method has changed so that a Kernel variable, `inetrc`, should now be used to specify the name of the user inet config file (if it exists). This is all documented in the ERTS User's Guide.
  *** POTENTIAL INCOMPATIBILITY ***
  Own Id: OTP-4983
- Previously missing documentation of `erlang:system_info/1` and `erlang:system_flag/2` have been added.
  Own Id: OTP-5038 Aux Id: seq8708

### 1.2 Kernel 2.9.6.8

#### 1.2.1 Improvements and New Features

- The code server now caches `.app` files as well as `.beam` files. Application controller calls the function `code:where_is_file/1` to locate the cached `.app` file so that `file:consult/1` may be used instead of `file:path_consult/2` to read the file. This is much more efficient.
  Own Id: OTP-5097 Aux Id: seq8956

### 1.3 Kernel 2.9.6.7

#### 1.3.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- Improved setup of connection between nodes to avoid that some nodes get lower priority (and thus times out) when many nodes are connected simultaneously.
  Own Id: OTP-5116 Aux Id: seq8908
- There is now a packet size limit option for `gen_tcp` sockets. See the manual for `inet:setopts/2`.
  The ASN.1 BER packet decoding for `gen_tcp` sockets can now decode indefinite length packets.
  Own Id: OTP-5128

### 1.4 Kernel 2.9.6.6

#### 1.4.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- A helper for `global` would terminate if it received unknown types of messages, causing `global` to terminate too. Changed so that the helper process logs and ignore strange messages.
  Own Id: OTP-5078 Aux Id: seq_8839

#### 1.4.2 Improvements and New Features

- The ability to set system wide options for TCP sockets is added through the Kernel application variables `inet_default_listen_options` and `inet_default_connect_options`, see the `inet` manual page for details.
  Own Id: OTP-5080

### 1.5 Kernel 2.9.6.5

#### 1.5.1 Improvements and New Features

- Fixed error that made code server crash if invalid directories were added to the path.
  Own Id: OTP-5070 Aux Id: OTP-5060, EABln14115

### 1.6 Kernel 2.9.6.4

#### 1.6.1 Improvements and New Features

- Speed improvements in `code:add_path(s)[az]/1` when the cache is activated.
  Own Id: OTP-5060 Aux Id: seq8315, EABln14115

### 1.7 Kernel 2.9.6.2

#### 1.7.1 Improvements and New Features

- Remote spawn on a nonreachable node now gives warning instead of error in the error_log.
  Own Id: OTP-5030 Aux Id: seq8663]

### 1.8 Kernel 2.9.6.1

#### 1.8.1 Improvements and New Features

- An error that made the code server ignore version numbers on `lib` directories has been corrected.
  Own Id: OTP-5020

### 1.9 Kernel 2.9.5

#### 1.9.1 Improvements and New Features

- A possibility to make distribution messages be queued up during running of Erlang code, so that larger packages is sent over the network is added.
  Own Id: OTP-4916
- When code loading failed it was impossible to know exactly what caused it, only `{undef,[{M,F,A}|...]}` would be reported. Now the primitive loader lets the `error_logger` print an error report if a file operation fails. All file errors except `enoent` and `enotdir` are reported this way.
  Own Id: OTP-4925 Aux Id: OTP-4952

### 1.10 Kernel 2.9.4

#### 1.10.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- Bugs have been fixed in the `disk_log` module: if `reopen` failed to rename a file, a message could erroneously be sent to the client; if requests were queued while a log was blocked, no replies were sent to the blocked processes should the log be closed.
  Own Id: OTP-4880 Aux Id: seq7902
- In rare cases, the `global` name registration could hang during simultaneous startup of several nodes, due to a cyclic deadlock in the `global:loop_the_locker` processes.
  Own Id: OTP-4902 Aux Id: seq8275

#### 1.10.2 Improvements and New Features

- The Kernel variable `net_setuptime` can now be defined in fractions of seconds (using a floating point number).
  Own Id: OTP-4915

### 1.11 Kernel 2.9.3

#### 1.11.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- The driver for dynamically linked in drivers has been fixed to delete loaded drivers when its Erlang server dies. The Erlang server has also been updated to improve the start-on-demand behaviour.
  Own Id: OTP-4876 Aux Id: OTP-4855 seq8272

#### 1.11.2 Improvements and New Features

- Starting Erlang with the `+Bi` flag (to ignore ^C), now also disables the quit ('q') option in the JCL menu.
  Own Id: OTP-4897
- A STDLIB application variable, `shell_esc`, has been introduced that controls the behaviour of ^G. If `shell_esc` is set to `abort`, ^G restarts the shell. If set to `jcl`, ^G invokes the JCL menu. The latter is default.
  Own Id: OTP-4898 Aux Id: OTP-4897

### 1.12 Kernel 2.9.2

#### 1.12.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- The boot server had become broken. Now it works again.
  Own Id: OTP-4846 Aux Id: OTP-4802, OTP-4819
- When loading a dynamically linked in driver through `erl_ddll`, the server `ddll_server` that held the port for the driver handling shared libraries got the group leader of the invoking application. Later, when the application was terminated, it killed all processes in its group, also the `ddll_server`, so the driver still had some shared libraries loaded. Finally, when the `ddll_server` was restarted it assumed that all shared libraries its driver knew of was statically linked, so the dynamically linked in drivers that was loaded when `ddll_server` was killed could neither be loaded nor unloaded. This bug has now been fixed by setting the group leader of `ddll_server` to something harmless and more eternal, and by unloading all remaining dynamically linked in drivers when `ddll_server` starts. A race condition when starting `ddll_server` has also been fixed.
  Own Id: OTP-4855 Aux Id: OTP-4876 seq8272

### 1.13 Kernel 2.9.1

#### 1.13.1 Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- When the emulator was started with command line arguments `-run` or `-s` and the started code did an uncatched `erlang:throw/1`, the emulator ignored the throw which is rather strange. Now the init process exits with `nocatch` as expected.
  Own Id: OTP-4788 Aux Id: seq8129
- The code server could hang if invoked early in the startup. For example if the emulator was started with `"-s file eval Filename"` and `Filename` contained a call to `code:add_patha/1` the code server accidentally tried to execute code in an unloaded module from inside the code that loaded a module - hence hangup. This bug has now been fixed.
  Note! Starting Erlang through code loading from a remote Erlang boot server will not work after this patch. It will be fixed in a later patch. Rumours has it that remote boot server code loading did not work before this patch either. It is not a commonly used feature.
  *** POTENTIAL INCOMPATIBILITY ***
  Own Id: OTP-4802 Aux Id: seq8314

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