Atari Assembler Editor

The "Atari Assembler Editor" cartridge was a program used to edit, compile and debug assembly language programs for the Atari 8-bit computers.

Details

The program was a two-pass 6502 assembler, in an 8KB cartridge. It was the first commercially available assembler for the Atari 8-bit computers.

Edit

Upon bootup, the cartridge started up in EDIT mode. The programmer would enter assembly source into the editor using the full-screen features on the Atari. All source had to be prefixed with a line number, or it would be interpreted as a command. Due to limited cartridge space, errors were reported with error codes.

Finally, the code was assembled by typing in the ASM command.

Debug

The Atari Assembler Editor featured a debugger. This mode was entered by typing in the command BUG at the prompt. The debugger allowed the viewing and changing of registers and memory locations, perform a trace, single-step and disassembly.

The programmer went back to the EDIT mode by typing X at the command prompt.

Limitations

Disadvantages of "Atari Assembler Editor" were speed, bugs, lack of macros and awkward conditional assembly features. Unfortunately, the program used the Atari's floating point routines for arithmetic calculations, greatly impacting performance. The debugger was really a monitor, limited in power and flexibility. Nonetheless, it was the only available Atari assembler for many programmers.

Aftermath

Although superseded by "Atari Macro Assembler (AMAC)", the "Atari Assembler Editor" continued to be used by programmers. Plus, Optimized Systems Software purchased the original rights from Shepardson Microsystems. OSS then came out with improved versions, one of which was "EASMD".

Programmer

*Programmer was Kathleen O'Brien of Shepardson Microsystems, Inc.

References

* "Atari Home Computer System - Technical Reference Notes". Atari, Inc. C016555 REV A.
* Andrews, Mark (1984). "Atari Roots: A Guide to Atari Assembly Language". DATAMOST, Inc. ISBN 0-88190-171-7. [http://www.atariarchives.org/roots/]
* Chasin, Mark (1984). "Assembly Language Programming for the Atari Computers". Byte Books, McGraw-Hill Paperbacks. ISBN 0-07-010679-7. [http://www.atariarchives.org/alp/]
* Chadwick, Ian (1985). "Mapping the Atari Revised Edition". COMPUTE! Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-87455-004-1. [http://www.atariarchives.org/mapping/]
* Leventhal, Lance A. (1986). "6502 Assembly Language Programming 2nd Edition". Osborne/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-881216-X.
* Leventhal, Lance A. (1982). "6502 Assembly Language Subroutines". Osborne/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-931988-59-4.
* Mansfield, Richard (1983). "Machine Language for Beginners". COMPUTE! Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-942386-11-6. [http://www.atariarchives.org/mlb/]
* Mansfield, Richard (1984). "The Second Book of Machine Language". COMPUTE! Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-942386-53-1. [http://www.atariarchives.org/2bml/]
* Zaks, Rodnay (1983). "Programming the 6502 (Fourth Edition)". Sybex, Inc. ISBN 0-89588-135-7.
* Zaks, Rodnay (1982). "Advanced 6502 Programming". Sybex, Inc. ISBN 0-89588-089-X.

External links

* [http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=2411 AtariAge - Atari 800/XL/XE] Atari Assembler Editor CXL4003
* [http://www.strotmann.de/twiki/bin/view/Infothek/AtAssemblerEditor TWiki, Infothek] Atari Assembler Editor Documentation (PDF format)
* [http://www.atarimagazines.com/hi-res/v1n1/advanceduser.php Hi-Res Vol. 1, No. 1 - November 1983] Advanced User Forum by Russ Wetmore (Assemblers Reviewed)