Additions and updates

TotalView 2026.3 release adds the following new product features and updates:

Native Python Debugging

TotalView 2026.3 introduces native Python debugging support in TotalView. Previous TotalView releases supported Python debugging primarily in mixed-language applications involving Python with C or C++. This release adds support for debugging Python programs directly.

With native Python debugging in TotalView, you can:

  • Launch Python programs under TotalView control

  • Debug both single-process and parallel Python programs

  • Set and save breakpoints in Python source code

  • Control execution using step and continue operations

  • Inspect Python variables and data structures

  • Evaluate Python expressions in Data View, Local Data View, and CLI workflows

This release supports Python 3.11, 3.12, and 3.13 for native Python debugging.

For more information, see Native Python debugging.

New licenses and licenses issued during maintenance renewal typically include Python debugging entitlement. Some existing customers might need a one-time license update. For TotalView for HPC, this update can include an additional license_python.src file for the RLM license server. See Installing a Reprise (RLM) License Server and RLM license renewal. For TotalView Developer for HPC and TotalView Student, Perforce might issue a replacement license file.

To request an updated license with Python debugging enabled, contact the Perforce Licensing Team at license@perforce.com.

Support for NVIDIA DGX Spark systems

TotalView now supports debugging on NVIDIA DGX Spark systems. These systems use a newer ARM debug architecture. Hardware watchpoints are supported, but behavior may differ from other platforms due to differences in the underlying system architecture.

Support for GCC 16.1

TotalView now supports building, analyzing, and debugging applications compiled with GCC 16.1. This support has been validated across supported platforms and toolchain configurations.

Upgrade to Tcl 9.0.4

TotalView now includes Tcl 9.0.4 (upgraded from Tcl 8.6.14). This upgrade addresses critical and medium security vulnerabilities in the previous versions. Tcl 9.0.4 introduces mandatory threading, which enhances performance and robustness across TotalView's scripting engine.

Affected scripting compatibility

If you have custom .tvd scripts, those scripts may require updates when running with Tcl 9.0.4. Tcl 9 introduced stricter behavior in several areas:

  • Namespace resolution: Namespace-qualified variable references (for example, $TV::Private::foo or TV::Private::foo without a leading ::) no longer fall back to the global namespace when evaluated from a different namespace context. Add a leading :: to any reference that must resolve to the global namespace.
  • Glob behavior: Changes to glob pattern matching may affect scripts that rely on previous matching behavior.
  • Array index parsing: Stricter parsing of array index expressions may cause scripts with previously-tolerated syntax to fail.
  • UTF-8 and string encoding: Tcl 9 enforces stricter UTF-8 and encoding handling for strings. Scripts that pass or manipulate binary or non-UTF-8 data may need to be updated.

The following command-line options in tvscript and memscript may be affected by the namespace resolution change:

  • -event_action
  • -maxruntime
  • -create_actionpoint
  • -display_specifiers

For a comprehensive guide to updating Tcl scripts for Tcl 9, see Migrating scripts to Tcl 9 on the Tcl website.

ReplayEngine support for Linux-arm64

ReplayEngine for reverse debugging is now supported on Linux-arm64 operating systems.

Bug fixes, security updates, and performance improvements

Numerous bug fixes, security updates, and performance improvements have been addressed, including updates to open-source third-party software packages used by TotalView.