Updated to version 1.14.0

[michaelselby-signaloid]

This pull request includes several improvements and clarifications across the benchmarking automation tool, its documentation, and CI configuration. The most significant changes are the simplification and clarification of Intel PIN support (making it optional and controlled by a new flag), updates to the README for better user guidance, and enhancements to the GitHub workflow and dependencies.

Intel PIN integration and documentation improvements:

• Intel PIN is now optional and controlled by a --measure-dynamic-instructions flag instead of a --path-to-pin argument. The tool only uses PIN if this flag is set and PIN_ROOT is configured; otherwise, PIN is never invoked. Documentation, argument parsing, and code references have been updated to reflect this change. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

• The README and help text now clarify that Intel PIN is off by default, and describe exactly when and how it is used, including error handling and reporting of missing instruction counts. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Documentation and usability enhancements:

• The README includes improved installation instructions, clarifies optional dependencies (such as Google Sheets integration), and provides more detailed usage examples for plotting and sampling from Ux Data. [1] [2] [3]

• The section on benchmarking with UxHw and Intel PIN has been rewritten for clarity, and the Pin tool is now described as optional. [1] [2]

Continuous Integration and dependency management:

• The GitHub Actions workflow now checks that all submodules are up to date before proceeding, helping to prevent issues from outdated dependencies.

• The Python version requirement in pyproject.toml is now explicitly capped at <4 for better compatibility with future Python releases.

Codebase and submodule updates:

• The assets submodule has been updated to a new commit.

• Internal code improvements include importing importlib.util for runtime dependency checks, and defining a tuple of required modules for the optional Google Sheets integration. [1] [2]

Other changes:

• The public bug issue template was removed, possibly to be replaced or refactored separately.

resolved