Ayala, Kenneth J.2014-03-042014-03-041995http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/657What's New V3.72 and V3.71 fix a few bugs. V3.70 adds numerous major features to A86. Let's cover the INCOMPATIBILITIES first, so you will know where to tweak your existing code: * Error messages in A86 now have a slightly different format (on their own line with a pointer to the error location). If you have any source code lying around with old-format error messages, get rid of the messages before reassembling with this new version -- this version cannot handle them. * I have changed the L switch to the G (code Generation) switch to prepare for L becoming a Listing-control switch. I have also changed the X switch to +G16, to prepare for X becoming the XRF control switch. If you have any batch files or A86 environment-flag settings with +L or +X in them, change them to +G for this new version. * The DATA SEGMENT now has a default ORG value of END; that is, it starts at the end of your program, unless you have an ORG otherwise. V3.20--V3.22 of A86 outlawed ORGless DATA segments, in anticipation of this feature. Versions before that had a default ORG of 0 -- if you have source code written for a pre-V3.20 version of A86, make sure you put ORG 0 at the start of the first DATA SEGMENT if it was ORG-less. Other new features include an INCLUDE directive (Chapter 9), a listing facility (Chapters 3 and 13), END operand value (Chapter 9), pulling XREF and EXMAC functions into the assembler (Chapter 13), operand to EVEN (Chapter 9), the removal of the limit on the length of a source file, the removal of most restrictions on forward-references within expressions, the ability to ORG in the DATA segment and structures to a forward-reference value, the REF and DEF operators (Chapter 9), the K numeric base (Chapter 10), numeric operands to STOSx and MOVSx (Chapter 5), and macros in an A86LIB library (Chapter 13). How to Get Everything The packages consist of many files, packed tightly into a few files with the ZIP extension. I have provided the batch files INSTALLA.BAT and INSTALLB.BAT, that create a subdirectory called A86 on your C drive, and unpack everything except AFIX to that subdirectory. You can just type either A:INSTALLA or B:INSTALLB (depending on whether the diskette is in drive A or B) to the DOS prompt. AFIX is a conversion toolkit for certain old PC-Magazine source files. The command A:PCUNZIP A:AFIX*.ZIP will unpack AFIX from diskette drive A to the current drive and directory.  CD Content with book # E8434 - E8443. This diskette contains new releases for the A86 assembler and D86 debugger. Everything except the files REG_ONLY.ZIP and A386BETA.ZIP (if you have them) can be copied and distributed. Please upload the other ZIP files to bulletin boards, and give them to user groups, computer departments in schools, and anyone else you think might be interested in an assembler or a debugger package for the IBM-PC. REG_ONLY.ZIP is the file containing materials available only to registered users. A386BETA.ZIP is a file, available only on the A86+D86 registered disk, containing preliminary test versions of A386 and D386. If you see one or both of these files on your registered disk, they are for your use only. You may NOT distribute them. Please support my products by honoring this restriction. You need to read the manuals to use these programs -- they're just too complex to be self-explanatory. Chapter 2 of each manual takes you through a trial demonstration.en-USCD/DVD - EECD/DVD - SoETCD/DVD