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From: Merlyn@cisden.UUCP (Merlyn)
Newsgroups: net.micro.cbm
Subject: Re: cbm assembler
Message-ID: <285@cisden.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-Oct-85 11:23:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: cisden.285
Posted: Thu Oct 10 11:23:24 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 14-Oct-85 05:46:52 EDT
References: <2937@ncsu.UUCP> <700@ctcgrafx.UUCP>
Reply-To: phillips@trantor.UUCP (Tom Phillips)
Followup-To: net.micro.cbm
Distribution: net
Organization: ConTel Information Systems, Denver
Lines: 36
Keywords: Abacus, C64 assemblers
Summary: Abacus assembler/monitor package pretty good

< Accept this gift, O Great Line Eater! >

I broke down and bought Abacus' Assembler Monitor 64 package last week.  I
had sworn I would never buy another Abacus software product after Tiny
Forth, but the documentation looked great, and according to the people at my
friendly neighborhood software store it was outselling MAE and PAL by 5 to 1.

This does not look like the same company that produced Tiny Forth.  In fact,
it isn't.  This assemler was written by a German company, Data Becker GMBH.
It's pretty good.

You don't have to load in a separate editor.  You use the 64's Basic style
program editing, saving and loading tools.  You can do Basic processing
before, during, and after assembly if you wish.  You can send the object
code to memory, disk files, tape files, or through a machine language filter
of your own, or any combination.  The source listings can be saved, printed,
sent to the screen, or sent through a filter, or any combination.  You can
chain source files.  You can save and load symbol tables for overlays.
Addresses can be expressions of (almost) arbitrary complexity (you may have
to use a temporary assembler variable to hold intermediate results for very
complex expressions).  You can do conditional and looping assembly.  You can
have macros of as many arguments as you can get on the line.  You can
include floating-point constants in the program.

The monitor is pretty standard.  Its big advantage is that it can coexist
with the assembler.

Gripes: Abacus wants $10 for a backup disk.  That's steep for a $40 program.
The documentation talks about the slightly different syntax of some
instructios from the MOS standard, then says nothing more.  I haven't found
any differences yet, but I haven't tried real hard, either.

Recommended.

				Tommy Phillips
				trantor!phillips