Shareware Grab Bag/Shareware Grab Bag.iso/007/a86v310a.arc/01INTRO.DOC

Text File | 1987-09-27 | 15KB | 320 lines

CHAPTER 1   INTRODUCTION AND LEGAL TERMS                  1-1


Introduction

A86 is the finest assembler available, at any cost under any
terms, for the 86-family of microprocessors (IBM-PC, compatibles,
and not-so-compatibles).  In contrast to software firms who
attempt to restrict the distribution of their products via
protection-schemes, I encourage free distribution, and trust that
those who use my products will pay for them.

Please keep in mind the fundamental good spirit of free-
distribution software as you endure the following barrage of
legalities.  Then evaluate the outstanding value that the A86
package offers you.  I assure you that you will not be
disappointed.


Legal Terms and Conditions

This package is provided to you under the following conditions:

1. You may copy this entire package, and give it to anyone who
   accepts these terms.  The copies you distribute must be
   complete and unmodified.  You do not have to be registered to
   distribute this package.

2. You may execute the programs in this package, in order to
   evaluate them.  If you decide that any of this package is of
   use to you, you must become a registered user by sending $50
   US ($52 if you are outside North America) to:

      Eric Isaacson
      416 E. University Street
      Bloomington, IN 47401

   For your convenience, I now accept Visa and MasterCard, by
   telephone.  My number is [phone].

   For the convenience of users in Great Britain, I have
   authorized the firm Shareware Marketing to collect
   registrations for me.  (But the printed version of the manual
   is not yet available from them; if you want it, you should
   order directly from me.)  We'll try to keep the prices about
   the same whether you register through me or through them; it's
   your choice.  Their address is 87 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent
   TN9 1RX; telephone [phone].  They'll send me a list of
   registered users at the end of every month, and I'll send an
   acknowledgement to each user when I get the list.  So if you
   haven't heard from me by the third week of the month following
   your registration with them, please let me know.

   Your registration includes a single update diskette (5.25
   inch, double density), that also includes the A86LIB tool
   available to registered users only.  You may order further
   updates for $10 US, or $12 US if you are overseas.  Once you
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   register for this package, you are registered for all future
   versions.  As long as I'm in business, you can get the latest
   version for just the update fee.

   I have a combination offer for the A86 and D86 packages.
   Instead of $50 + $50 = $100, I charge $80 ($82 overseas) for
   both.

   I also offer a printed version of this manual, covering both
   A86 and D86.  The manual is printed on sheets 8.5 inches high
   and 7 inches wide, with a plastic ring-style binding so the
   book can lay flat.  If you order with your registration the
   manual is an extra $10 to the U.S., $18 to England and Europe,
   $22 to further points.  If you've already registered and now
   want the manual, add $10 for the update disk that the manual
   is bundled with.  There is a limit of one manual per computer
   registered (except you may reorder when there is a substantial
   revision to the manual).

   Indiana residents need to add sales tax.  At the current rate
   of 5%, the prices for Indiana residents are $52.50 for one
   product, $63 one product with manual, $84 both products,
   $94.50 both products with manual, $21 manual if already
   registered.

   Educational institutions and training facilities MUST be
   registered in order to use A86 in courses.  Contact me for
   special terms.

   Companies and government agencies MUST be registered in order
   to use A86 for their work.  Again, contact me for special
   terms.

3. You may not sell this package to anyone.  If you distribute
   this package on a diskette, any fees you collect must be
   specified as materials/handling, and may not exceed $10 for
   the diskette.

4. You are completely responsible for determining the fitness or
   usability of this package.  I will not be liable for any
   damages, of any kind, arising from any failure of any programs
   in this package to perform as expected.

5. You must be a registered user to sell or distribute any
   programs that you have written or modified using this
   assembler.  If you do sell or distribute such programs, you
   must insure that your registered name (company or individual)
   will always be distributed with the program, so that I can
   verify your registration.  Any individual or company found to
   be violating these terms will be liable for triple
   registration fees for every machine they own capable of
   running my assembler (plus any legal and court costs).
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6. A86 takes advantage of situations in which more than one set
   of opcodes can be generated for the same instruction.  (For
   example, MOV AX,BX can be generated using either an 89 or 8B
   opcode, by reversing fields in the following ModRM byte.  Both
   forms are absolutely identical in functionality.)  A86 adopts
   an unusual mix of choices in such situations.  This creates a
   code-generation "footprint" that occupies no space in your
   program file, but will enable me to tell, and to demonstrate
   in a court of law, if a non-trivial object file has been
   produced by A86.  The specification for this "footprint" is
   sufficiently obscure and complicated that it would be
   impossible to duplicate by accident.  I claim exclusive rights
   to the particular "footprint" I have chosen, and prohibit
   anyone from duplicating it.  This has at least two specific
   implications:

   a. Any assembler that duplicates the "footprint" is mine.  If
      it is not identified as mine and issued under these terms,
      then those who sell or distribute the assembler will be
      subject to prosecution.

   b. Any program marked with the "footprint" has been produced
      by my assembler.  It is subject to condition 5 above.


Overview of A86

A86 accepts assembly-language source files, and transforms them
directly into either: (1) .COM files executable under MS-DOS,
starting at offset 0100 within a code segment; (2) .OBJ files
suitable for feeding to a linker; or (3) object files starting at
offset 0, suitable for copying to ROMs.  A86 is a full-featured,
professional-quality program. I designed A86 to be as closely
compatible to the standard Intel/IBM assembly language as
possible, given that I insisted upon making design and language
enhancements necessary to make A86 the world's finest assembler.
Some of A86's most notable features are:

* A86 is blazingly fast.  Don't believe the advertisements of
  that other, big company.  THIS is the fastest MSDOS macro
  assembler, bar none.  In the best conditions (large program,
  8MHz AT,  RAM drive) A86 assembles at a rate of over a thousand
  lines per second.  That's per second.  NOT per minute, per
  second.

* A86 is simple to use.  You can feed it a program containing
  just machine instructions, without the red-tape (NAME, ASSUME,
  SEGMENT PARA PUBLIC, PROC, ENDP, END, PUBLIC, EXTRN, etc. etc.)
  necessary with other assemblers.  The output of A86 can be a
  .COM file, ready to execute immediately.  You don't have to go
  through a linker.  Or, if you want to go through a linker, A86
  will produce a correct .OBJ file even if no red-tape directives
  are given-- the default settings are compatible with most high-
  level languages.  (If you have programs written for that other
  assembler containing the red-tape directives, you may leave
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  them in: A86 knows about them, and is programmed to act upon
  them when assembling .OBJ files, and ignore them if assembling
  .COM files.)

* In spite of its simplicity, A86 encourages modular programming,
  even in its .COM mode, with separately-developed source files.
  This is because A86 assembles multiple source files in its
  invocation line; and because A86 assembles source files faster
  than other people's linkers can link their object files.  You
  get all the advantages of relocation/linkage systems (building
  up libraries of reliable program modules that you can piece
  together), without the disadvantages (excessive, time-and-
  source-code-wasting, confusing red tape).

* A86 has ample capacity for really large programming projects.
  Its symbol-table capacity is approximately 1500 10-letter
  symbols, plus room for 8K-bytes of compressed macro-definition
  text.  (10 letters is an average symbol length; A86 recognizes
  up to 127 letters in a symbol.) Plus, A86's generic local-label
  facility effectively doubles your symbol table capacity.

* A86 has language extension features that, once you start using,
  you'll never want to do without.  These include multiple
  operands to PUSH and POP; conditional returns; MOV from one
  segment register to another; assembly-time assertion checking;
  based structures; and IF (flag) (statement).

* A86's macro-processor is the best, achieving an optimal balance
  between ease of use and raw power.  Its looping and text
  concatenation abilities let you define sophisticated macros,
  whose calls look just like the machine instructions that
  surround them; without the clumsy invocation-syntax required by
  other macro-processors of A86's power.

* A86 provides clear, English error messages, given right at the
  point in the source code where A86 detected the error.  The
  messages are actually inserted into your source file, where you
  can read them and correct your code at the same time.  You can
  remove the messages yourself, or A86 will remove them for you
  when it reassembles the file.  (Fear not: your original source
  is preserved in x.OLD if you want it.  Or you can disable this
  feature and send error messages to a .ERR file.)

* A86 provides a full complement of assembly-time expression
  arithmetic operators, compatible with Intel/IBM assemblers.
  A86 also provides 4-function floating-point arithmetic in
  assembly-time expressions used for floating-point
  initializations (an A86-exclusive feature).

* A86 assembles the floating-point instruction set of the
  8087/287, and the extended instruction set of the 186/286/NEC
  series.  This now includes the NEC-unique instructions, which I
  had been unaware of until somebody pointed them out to me.
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* A86 has a built-in source-file library feature.  Any undefined
  symbols in your program are automatically searched for in a
  special library file A86.LIB, and the associated source files
  are automatically assembled.  This makes access to library
  routines as effortless as it is in the "C" programming
  language.  A sample A86.LIB file is included in this package
  for your evaluation, but you'll have to register to obtain the
  tool A86LIB, with which you can create your own library files.

* A86 works with an associated symbolic debugger, D86, to make
  the finest development environment available for the PC.  See
  the D86 package, available now, for the details of its
  wonderful features.


Who IS That Guy?

For those of you who wish to know what credentials I have for
producing programs that meet the above claims, let me tell you
who I am.  I am an independent software consultant.  I have
worked with Intel microprocessors since the early days of the
8080.  As an employee of Intel, I was a part of the two-man team
that implemented the first ASM86 assembler.  I am one of the
world's leading authorities on the entire 86-family of
microcomputers, having completed numerous major projects
involving the 8086, and 80186, and the 80286.  I just completed a
book "The 80386/387 Architecture", by Morse, Isaacson, and
Albert, published by Wiley and Sons.  Look for it in your
bookstore.

A86 and D86 themselves are mature, solid programs.  They have
been in existence for over 3 years, running first under my own,
proprietary operating system; then later under the Xenix
operating system on Altos computers, used by myself and my
clients.

Although I have been unknown to the world of the IBM-PC until
A86, I intend to change all that in the next couple of years.
Peter Norton, watch out.


Support Your Local Bulletin Board

Bob Breedlove, a BBS Sysop in California, sent me a suggestion
with his registration: that I do something to support Sysops,
since they are distributing my software for me.  Good point, Bob.
Let me try this experiment (but I reserve the legal right to
cancel this offer at any time, without notice): if anybody who
registers wishes to support the BBS from which they obtained my
program, they should tell me the name and phone number of the BBS
when they register.  They should also leave a message to the
Sysop that they have done so, so the Sysop can contact me with
his/her address.  If I receive 5 registrations naming a
particular BBS, I'll award a free registration to the Sysop-- the
Sysop can designate who the registration is for; or (if the Sysop
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has already paid for a registration) he/she can elect to receive
a cash refund.  For each subsequent 5 registrations, I'll send
the Sysop a cash rebate equal to one half the registration fee.
Sorry, no bonuses for less than 5 registrations; I don't want to
be swamped with paperwork.


How to Get in Touch With Me

For earlier versions of A86, I didn't give out my telephone
number, because I was afraid that all my time would be chewed
up giving telephone support.  But then I attended a convention of
shareware programmers, in which the Big Boys (Wallace, Button,
Magee, etc.) unanimously agreed that a product needs telephone
support to be successful.  So I'll field questions from
REGISTERED users (and you can register on the spot, with a credit
card).  And, of course, I'll take bug reports from anybody.

So now your choices for contacting me are:

1. Phone me by voice at [phone].  Have your credit card
  ready if you haven't registered yet.  If you get an answering
  machine, give your card number, expiration date, name as it
  appears on the card, address, city, state, zip, phone number
  with area code, which product or products your are registering
  for, and the amount.

2. Write to me.

3. Leave me bulletin-board mail, on the Bloomington PC-Link
  Central bulletin board, at [phone]; or Indiana On-Line,
  at [phone].  I'll reply on the same board.

PLEASE contact me if you find bugs in my programs; I'll fix them!
It's very frustrating to hear about people telling each other
about bugs, and not telling me.  I still await your bug list,
Greg Wettstein.