[A83] Re: how to create multipage apps with tasm?


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[A83] Re: how to create multipage apps with tasm?




> I have no idea how to do it in TASM, but you'll need to tell the linker
how
> to overlay the files.

Sorry, but the TASM has no linker, at least nothing from the outside that
can be used as/like a linker. Someone could off coarse write a
'Ti85-styled' assemble program which does the necessary steps:

First of all use is one .asm-file per page, and don't include an .org
statement anywhere, the assemble program will do that for you when
appropriate. The first page is assembled last, all other pages are
assembled with the map-file switch on (on the first page you don't have to
bcall() internaly). The assemble program then generates a header +
bcall-data-area, put that at the beginning of your first-page .asm-file
assemble stuff, 'link' and call the signer.

You might want to make the assemble program so *smart* that it will try to
fit multiple .bin-files into one page, so you can actually use it as some
sort of a linker. Although that would make it very difficult to know which
adress you should be passed to the bcall(). To fix that you might need to
revert to good ol' Ti85 style by adding @ or & to all your internal calls.
But you will need that anyways to get relocation of your .bin-files to
work.

> If you're using Windows, I'd really *really* recommend using ZDS for
> multipage development. If you're using Unix...well, I don't know anything
> about that either! :)

The *funny*  thing is that Notepad (or Textpad, etc.) plus TASM runs on a
i386 with 4mb, while ZDS takes much much more... Or you use MS-Edit plus
TASM on an i8068 with 640k :-) [Not to mention MSX Z80-assemblers]

Don't know about signing app, though.

You could also try Z80ASM, the assembler/linker used in the z88dk. There
are a couple of minor differences to TASM (no macros, that can get
irritating).

	Henk Poley <><