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From: djbpitt@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David J Birnbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer,alt.msdos.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Looking for Disassembler   (***SUMMARY***)
Message-ID: <66441@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
Date: 2 Dec 90 01:19:32 GMT
References: <1990Dec2.003617.1294@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
Reply-To: djbpitt@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David J Birnbaum)
Organization: University of Pittsburgh, CIS
Lines: 30

In article <1990Dec2.003617.1294@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes:

>Two weeks ago I requested info on disassemblers...
(summaries and praise for Sourcer deleted)

An absolute winner is MD86 by C. C. Software, 1907 Alvarado Avenue,
Walnut Creek, CA 94596.  I used the shareware version (registration
fee of $17.50), which outperformed asmgen by a wide margin.  The
most useful feature of MD86 is that it is interactive; you can
set label names and specify data types and the disassembly will
change to reflect your editing.  There is a non-shareware version
with additional features, which I decided I didn't need.  Support
is good; a letter to the company mentioning a couple of bugs brought
an immediate reply from the author, along with the latest version
(which corrected the few bugs I had noticed).

>The best shareware assembler perhaps the best assembler is Isaacson's
>A86 and D86 (disassembler) packages available on BBS's.  The latest version 
>I've seen locally is 3.15...

I have 3.22.  D86 is not a disassembler, it is a symbolic debugger.  It
can be pressed into use as a sort of disassembler, for those who like
to bang in nails with pliers.  A86 and D86 are highly recommended; also
shareware, with a registration of $50 each or $90 for the pair.  Support
is also excellent; I called one Sunday evening *before* I had even
registered and had all my questions answered by the author.  There is
also a support BBS.  (For amusement, compare this to Microsoft support.)

--David