NDK 3.2 Releases R2, R3 and R4 — What Each Update Added

The NDK 3.2 (Native Developer Kit for AmigaOS 3.2) was not a one-shot release. After the initial Release 1 (R1) on 13.04.2021 — the tree already ingested in AmigaOS 3.2 — What Changed for Developers — Hyperion shipped three updates: R2 (31.05.2021), R3 (22.06.2021), and R4 (06.02.2022). R4 is the most consequential: it is where the documentation caught up with the OS.

Release timeline and dates

Release Date Scope
R1 2021-04-13 Initial release (baseline for this wiki)
R2 2021-05-31 Tools integrated; missing relnotes filled in
R3 2021-06-22 inline/ dir, vbcc proto headers, macros.h/stubs.h, updated amiga_lib/exec/alib docs
R4 2022-02-06 Expanded autodocs, two new developer docs, trackfile source, vbcc support, LVO headers

R4 — the big documentation expansion

The headline of R4, in the AmigaOS Team's own words: the updated autodocs "for the first time in 35 years contain documentation on bugs and features never covered in detail before in the RKM text or in the AutoDocs."

Expanded library autodocs (8 libraries): amiga_lib, audio, commodities, dos, exec, graphics, locale, wb.

Updated ReAction autodocs (11 classes): bitmap_ic, chooser_gc, fuelgauge_gc, getcolor_gc, led_ic, listbrowser_gc, listview_gc, picture_dtc, sketchboard_gc, speedbar_gc, texteditor_gc.

Removed autodocs (too thin to justify): aiff_dtc, deficons, gif_dtc.

R4 — new developer documentation

R4 adds a DeveloperDocumentation/ drawer absent from R1. It contains two substantial articles by Olaf Barthel:

  • InterfaceHeaderFiles (2022-01-28) — the history and mechanics of how Amiga C compilers bridge to register-based OS calls: stub code in amiga.lib, library vector offsets (LVOs), the Lattice #pragma libcall/#pragma syscall and Aztec #pragma amicall evolution, and the modern clib//proto//pragmas//pragma//inline/ header organization. See Interface Header Files.
  • MemoryPools/ (2022-01-23, with memory_pool_insights.h) — how exec's CreatePool/AllocPooled puddle-and-threshold scheme works, how to choose a puddle size, and a show_memory_pool_insights() helper that inspects pool internals. See exec Memory Pools.

R4 — trackfile.device and DAControl source

R4 adds DAControl+trackfile/ — the full SAS/C 6 source for trackfile.device (a device driver that presents ADF floppy-disk images as virtual floppies) and the DAControl CLI command that inserts/ejects them. This exists so the OS 3.2 installer can swap "virtual floppies" from CD-ROM, hard disk or any medium under script control. It is also a rare fully-documented example of a device driver emulating trackdisk.device. See trackfile.device.

R4 — toolchain and header improvements

  • vbcc full support — inline header files (previously neglected); thanks to Frank Wille.
  • Include_I/lvo/ — a new assembly directory with library vector offsets for every OS library/device with a public API (still recommended to link amiga.lib/small.lib instead).
  • Include_H/pragma/ — interface headers for Aztec C, Maxon C and StormC.
  • Include_H/tools/ — TextEdit plugin include files.
  • Rebuilt libs — amiga.lib, small.lib, debug.lib, ddebug.lib.
  • Reworked SFD files — fixed blank-space-in-register-list bug that tripped the sfdc conversion script and dropped functions. Added an FD/ directory generated from the updated SFDs.
  • Almost every Include_H C header updated/revised or rebuilt from SFDs, with new documentation on macros, data structures and constants.
  • CatComp updated to version 40.7.
  • Roadshow SDK — full vbcc support.

R3 — inline headers and vbcc proto files

R3 was a smaller, mostly toolchain release:

  • Updated gadgets/radiobutton.h.
  • Added Include_H/inline/ directory.
  • Updated amiga_lib.doc, exec.doc, alib_lib.doc.
  • Added macros.h and stubs.h from fd2pragma.
  • Added vbcc-specific header files and proto/#?.h files that use them.

R2 — tools and relnotes fill

  • Integrated Autodoc, BumpRev, CatComp and Localize into the Tools directory.
  • Added missing entries to Shell and Layers Release Notes.

How the releases relate to this wiki

The R1 tree (ADCD3.2/NDK3.2/) drove the original 3.2 ingest: the cross-cutting delta article, and the per-subsystem articles on ReAction, mmu.library and Roadshow. R4's expanded autodocs and two developer-doc articles are the genuinely new knowledge in the later releases; the toolchain/header improvements are of most interest to anyone building 3.2 software with a modern (especially vbcc) toolchain.

See Also

Sources: Hyperion Entertainment / AmigaOS Team, NDK 3.2 ReadMe-NDK.txt (R3 and R4 changelogs), 2021-2022. Raw: raw/architecture/ndk-3.2-r3-r4-changes.md Updated: 2026-08-04