Assembling Z80 source using TASM or similar

[jejump]

Greetings Sharp Community!

I'm scratching the surface of assembly language programming as it pertains to my real hardware MZ-700 and the various emulators I've tried. I've done some Z80 programming in the past, but it's all been for non-specific platforms like single board computer stuff. Anyway, I'm familiar enough with the language and processor architecture, and now learning how to specifically apply it to the 700. Up until recently, I've used a DOS command line assembler called TASM for any "greater-than-hello-world" programming I've done for a Z80. Does anyone know how to port .BIN or .OBJ files generated by TASM on a PC to something that the MZ-700 can work with? Using the assemblers that were written to be executed within the 700 system is proving to be more of a challenge than I want right now because my Windows PC with a US keyboard layout doesn't 100% translate properly to the MZ system. My @ symbol is a double quote " and underscore _ is an equals sign = just to name a couple of misses. There are lots! I'd like to be able to write code in Notepad or some other text editor and assemble with TASM, then somehow convert that file output to .MZF, I suppose. I think I'm asking for something analogous to what MASM's linker does linking .OBJ to .EXE for an x86 system, if that helps.

Thanks,
John

[hlide]

I use this one. I translated all the messages into English for more commodity. It can handle sharpascii, display codes in DB and build an MZT file (same as MZF, just rename it).

z80as_012_hlide_en.zip

(135.95 KiB) Downloaded 1675 times

[hlide]

And I'm using Visual Studio Code with several extensions:
- https://github.com/theNestruo/z80-asm-meter-vscode
- https://github.com/maziac/z80-instruction-set
- https://github.com/mborik/z80-macroasm-vscode

[jejump]

Excellent!! Thanks for the reply. I knew there had to be a better way to get code written than using the legacy way of doing it. I'll definitely look into this!

Jj

[jejump]

Hlide,

Thank you so very much for that command line assembler with Sharp file output!! That has made Sharp programming life much, much easier. True, you must change the file extension of the output file (for my Sharp machine, at least) , and if it should help anyone to know this, create yourself a batch file containing the script below and programming life gets even easier. I named mine MZF.BAT. Just replace 'Hello' with whatever you've named your .asm file. I'm running Windows 7 32-bit:

del Hello.mzf
Z80AS Hello.asm -m Hello.MZT
ren Hello.mzt Hello.mzf
pause

Now just double-click the .BAT file name in the file browser and instant MZF file! That is, if the assembly went well.

Jj

[hlide]

This is a example how I build my Space Rally game:

Code: Select all

@del ..\SPACERALLY.mzf

@echo --- [ Assembling game.a80... ]
z80as.exe -x -m "SPACE RALLY" game.a80
@if %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 goto :failure

@echo.
@echo --- [ Copying game as SPACERALLY.mzf ]
copy /y game.mzt ..\SPACERALLY.mzf
@if %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 goto :failure

@goto :eof

:failure
@exit /b 1
@goto :eof

-m "SPACE RALLY" allows to output "Loading SPACE RALLY" after L then [CR].
-x outputs an .als file which combines hexa codes and source lines to help to debug and check address coherency, and so on.

This build.bat is called in /src from another build.bat which deals with several aspects of building.

[jejump]

Awesome information, right there!

Thanks again for everything! I'm armed with enough information to keep me busy for a minute.

[jejump]

 
 
Playing around with Z80AS and learning the ropes of the monitor routines. I expanded on this example:
 
 

$001B.JPG (48.5 KiB) Viewed 29144 times

Code: Select all

        ORG    $1200


	LD   	A, $16 		; force clear screen
	CALL 	$0012 	; print clear screen
	LD	DE, MSG1		; Show Greeting and exit instructions
	CALL	$0015
	CALL	$0009		; Next line
	LD	DE, MSG1+35	; Clearance line (= <SPACE>+<CR>)
	CALL	$0015
	CALL	$0009		; Next line
START:
        CALL    $001B		; Check Keyboard, trap PC
	PUSH	AF		; Save result
	CP	$64			; SHIFT+BREAK? (On Emulator, SHIFT+ESC)
	JP	Z, EXIT		; Yes? Exit to Monitor.
	POP	AF			; No?
        CALL    NZ, $03C3	; print Key hex value
        JP      Z, START
WAIT:
	CALL	$001B		; Wait for finger to leave key
	JP	NZ, WAIT
        JP      START		; and do it all again.	
EXIT:
	POP	AF			; Level up the stack
	LD   	A, $16 		; force clear screen
	CALL 	$0012 		; print clear screen
	JP	$00AD		; Exit to Monitor

MSG1:	DB			"     PRESS KEYS. SHIFT+BREAK = EXIT ", $0D
	
        END

Let me know if you see any caveats of my usage of these routines. This isn't a terribly useful program. Just playing around. Although, I suppose it could be a good utility to display a key's hex value. One other thing... Should I always ORG my code at $1200? I saw an example in another assembler that placed the beginning at $8000, but this was for an assembler working within the MZ hardware (or an emulator) and that might have been why that was the case.

John

EDIT: For better clarification... Should I always ORG my Monitor Launched executable code at $1200? Also, I'm unclear on the syntax of the DUP statement. Can you show me how that's used? Everything I tried wouldn't assemble.

Jj

[hlide]

1) Using monitor routines is just a matter of choice. I tend to get rid of them as I prefer to have a full control on hardware.
2) ORG can be anything, even $0000 or $F000 if you plan to rewrite some ROM contents. You are free to put your code somewhere between $1200-$CFFF if in DRAM.
3) I believe there is no DUP :

DB <expression> [, <expression> ...]
DB "<string>"
DB "<string>" + <immediate value>
Embeds the byte string specified by <expression>. If <character string> is specified, the ASCII code string is embedded.
If + <immediate value> is specified after <character string>, the specified immediate value is added to the last byte of <character string>.

DW <expression> [, <expression> ...]
Embeds the word string specified by <expression>.

DS <Equation 1> [, <Equation 2>]
Embeds 0s in the number of bytes specified in <Expression 1>. If <Expression 2> is specified, fill it with that value.

[jejump]

 
 

Well, I still have haven't done anything more interesting than writing a keyboard examination routine. It has had some improvements. I did just minutes ago, run the keyboard program on the real MZ-700. Up until then, it was only an emulator running on Win 7. For the most part, running it on the '700 works like it does on the emulator. However, there's one peculiarity... I can't get any results from pressing any of the function keys. I can't get results from F1 to F4 on the emulator either but F6 to F9 do work for me there. I'm guessing F1 to F4 not working on either platform is probably due to the particular monitor call I'm using for key input, but wanted to get answers from those with experience, so here's what I've assembled with Z80AS:

Code: Select all

        ORG    $1200


	CALL	INITIALIZE_DISPLAY
MAIN:
	CALL	DISPLAY_COUNTERS
        CALL    $001B
	PUSH	AF
	CP	$64			; SHIFT+BREAK (On PC, SHIFT+ESC or SHIFT+END)
	JP	Z, EXIT			; Exit to Monitor
	CP	$15			; SHIFT+DEL = $15 = CLS
	CALL	Z, CLEAR_SCREEN_15	; CLS and Show Code for SHIFT+DEL
	CALL	Z, RESET_COUNTERS
	LD	DE, MSG2		; <SPACE> + $0D
	CALL	Z, $0015
	POP	AF
        CALL    NZ, PRINT_CODE
	JP	NZ, WAIT
        JP      MAIN

WAIT:
	CALL	$001B
	JP	NZ, WAIT
	LD	DE, CHAR_COUNT
	LD	A, (DE)
	INC	A
	CP	8
	LD	(DE), A
	CALL	Z, NEW_LINE
        JP      MAIN


EXIT:
	CALL	CLEAR_SCREEN
	POP	AF			; Restore $64 to A
	CALL	$03C3			; Print the $64 for user
	JP	$00AD			; Exit to Monitor

PRINT_CODE:
	PUSH	AF
	CALL	$03C3
	LD	DE, MSG2		; <SPACE> + $0D
	CALL	$0015 
	POP	AF
	RET

DISPLAY_COUNTERS:
	LD	HL, $D070 ;$D3C0
	LD	DE, CHAR_COUNT
	LD	A, (DE)
	ADD	A, $20
	LD	B, A
	SUB	$2A
	JR	C, NUMERAL_COL
	LD	A, (DE)
	SUB	10
	ADD	A, $01
	LD	B, A
NUMERAL_COL:
	LD	A, B
	LD	(HL), A
	LD	HL, $D071  ;$D3C3
	LD	DE, LINE_COUNT
	LD	A, (DE)
	ADD	A, $20
	LD	B, A
	SUB	$2A
	JR	C, NUMERAL_ROW
	LD	A, (DE)
	SUB	10
	ADD	A, $01
	LD	B, A
NUMERAL_ROW:
	LD	A, B
	LD	(HL), A
	RET

CLEAR_SCREEN_15:
	PUSH	AF
	CALL	CLEAR_SCREEN
	LD	DE, MSG1
	CALL	$0015
	CALL	$0009
	LD	DE, MSG2		; <SPACE> + $0D
	CALL	$0015
	CALL	$0009
	POP	AF
	RET

CLEAR_SCREEN:
	LD   	A, $16 			;force clear screen
	CALL 	$0012 			;print clear screen
	RET

NEW_LINE:
	PUSH	AF
	LD	A, 0
	LD	DE, CHAR_COUNT
	LD	(DE), A
	LD	DE, LINE_COUNT
	LD	A, (DE)
	CP	15
	CALL	Z, NEW_PAGE
	CALL	NZ, INC_LINE
	CALL	NZ, $0009
	LD	DE, MSG2		; <SPACE> + $0D
	CALL	$0015
	POP	AF
	RET
NEW_PAGE:
	PUSH	AF
NEW_PAGE_LP:
	LD	HL, $D070
	LD	A, '.'
	LD	(HL), A
	LD	HL, $D071
	LD	(HL), A
	CALL	$001B
	JP	Z, NEW_PAGE_LP		; Hold here until a key is pressed
	CALL	RESET_COUNTERS
	CALL	CLEAR_SCREEN_15
	POP	AF
	RET

INC_LINE:
	LD	DE, LINE_COUNT
	LD	A, (DE)
	INC	A
	LD	(DE), A
	RET


INITIALIZE_DISPLAY:
	CALL	CLEAR_SCREEN
	LD	DE, MSG1
	CALL	$0015
	CALL	$0009
	LD	DE, MSG2		; <SPACE> + $0D
	CALL	$0015
	CALL	$0009
	PUSH	AF
	LD	A, 0
	LD	DE, CHAR_COUNT
	LD	(DE), A
	LD	DE, LINE_COUNT
	LD	(DE), A
	LD	DE, MSG2		; <SPACE> + $0D
	CALL	$0015
	POP	AF
	RET

RESET_COUNTERS:
	PUSH	AF
	LD	A, 0
	LD	DE, CHAR_COUNT
	LD	(DE), A
	LD	DE, LINE_COUNT
	LD	(DE), A
	POP	AF
	RET

MSG1:		DB		"  SHIFT+DEL = CLS, SHIFT+BREAK = EXIT"
MSG2:		DB		" ", $0D
CHAR_COUNT:	DB		00h
LINE_COUNT:	DB		00h	

        END

My apologies for not being more generous with code comments. I didn't think I'd push this thing that far along.
 

I do have other finicky/flaky keys that I suppose are not 100% due to the age and wear of the computer. I can get those to work by a little wiggling on the key itself. This trick doesn't seem to work for the function keys though. That's why I'm guessing it's the particular monitor call. Most keys do work surprisingly well for their age. Sadly, the space bar is one of the flaky ones.

Thanks,
John