This ATR file contans all of the code in Machine Language For Beginners, ready-to-run for Atari BASIC: MLB.ATR. All of the code is tested.

Contents of the disk image:

SA.BAS
Program C-3 Simple Assembler

DASM.BAS
Program D-2 Atari Disassembler

HEXDEC.BAS
Program 2-2 Atari Hex-Decimal Converter

BINQUIZ.BAS
Program 2-3 Binary Quiz

BINTABLE.BAS
Program 2-4 Binary Table (0-255). This program will not perform as expected with Atari BASIC, as Atari BASIC lacks bitwise operators.

All of the following load on page 6 ($0600). The .ASM files are Atari Assembler/Editor compatible source files and the .OBJ files are binary object files.

To run any of these programs boot from Atari BASIC, load the .OBJ file from DOS with "L", then exit to BASIC. Run with:

X=USR(1536)

CH3.ASM & CH3.OBJ
(No program number given in book.) From "Using The Monitors" section of Chapter 3. Example program that prints "PRESS ANY KEY" to top left of screen.

CH7.ASM & CH7.OBJ
Program 7-2, OS A & B version.

CH7XL.ASM & CH7XL.OBJ
Program 7-2, XL version.

Program 7-2 prints text on the screen to current cursor position using EOUTCH OS routine.

We changed the message to something more interesting and also added a section at the end that shows a very easy way to use this OS routine to print a character at a time for short messages. With this second method you don't have to bother setting up a loop structure or storage space for your text. To print each character you only need to use two lines of code. Some inverse and graphics characters are included to show how easy it is to use. The only bad part about this routine is that OS A & B machines and XL machines have it in a different place, so we have included both versions on the disk image.

Special Note: To display screen control characters (clear, delete, etc.) print an escape character first as in BASIC. Otherwise they will perform their normal functions. The only character that you definitely can NOT USE with this routine is the "bell" character (Ctrl+2). If you print it with the EOUTCH routine, it will never stop beeping and will cause the machine to lock up most of the time.

CH7CIO.ASM & CH7CIO.OBJ
Program 7-2, CIO version.

This is a version of program 7-2 using CIO routines. This program works on all 8-bit Atari computers and is the Atari-recommended, "official", way to output characters to the screen.

All characters work with the CIO routines including the bell (Ctrl+2). The nicest thing about this method is that both single characters and entire strings or buffers can be output very easily. Examples of both string and single character output are given.

With a little extra setup this method can also be used to output characters to any device you wish. For more information on using the CIO routines see these Insight: Atari columns: Insight Atari by Bill Wilkinson (Compute! Issue 56 - January 1985), INSIGHT Atari by Bill Wilkinson (Compute! Issue 58 - March 1985); See "Oops" for corrections to all devices listing.

CH8.ASM & CH8.OBJ
Program 8-2 Atari substring search routine. See text for how to call up this one.