dasm error

[frankbsad]

Hi I'm new to all this but it looks very interesting and fun, but I seem to have hit a snag before I've even begun. I've downloaded dasm-2.20.11 and tried it on 3 different computers but i always get this:

 

DASM 2.20.11

Copyright © 1988-2008 by various authors (see file AUTHORS).

License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later (see file COPYING).

DASM is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Usage: dasm sourcefile [options]

-f# output format 1-3 (default 1)

-oname output file name (else a.out)

-lname list file name (else none generated)

-Lname list file, containing all passes

-sname symbol dump file name (else none generated)

-v# verboseness 0-4 (default 0)

-d debug mode (for developers)

-Dsymbol define symbol, set to 0

-Dsymbol=expression define symbol, set to expression

-Msymbol=expression define symbol using EQM (same as -D)

-Idir search directory for INCLUDE and INCBIN

-p# maximum number of passes

-P# maximum number of passes, with fewer checks

-T# symbol table sorting (default 0 = alphabetical, 1 = address/value)

-E# error format (default 0 = MS, 1 = Dillon, 2 = GNU)

Report bugs to dasm-dillon-discuss@lists.sf.net please!

Fatal assembly error: Check command-line format.

 

Am I missing something?

[frankbsad]

I'm using Windows 7

[SeaGtGruff]

My guess is that you're trying to run it without including any parameters. It's intended to be run from a command line, so you can't just double-click it and start it up-- you have to include command-line parameters to specify the file to be assembled, the output file, and other options as desired. For example,

 

dasm mygame.asm -f3 -omygame.bin

 

would assemble the source code in mygame.asm and output the resulting binary (ROM image) file as mygame.bin, using the "raw" format.

 

I recommend downloading a free IDE (programmer's text editor) such as Crimson Editor, and setting up one of the "user tools" to invoke dasm to assemble your code. Crimson Editor is the free IDE that I use, but other people have other favorites. There should be a page somewhere on AtariAge that lists some of the IDEs and other programming tools that people here have recommended.

 

Edit: Here it is... http://www.atariage.com/2600/programming/index.html

Edited February 29, 2012 by SeaGtGruff

[frankbsad]

Thank you!

[Rybags]

With many decent editors you can set up hotkeys that call a predefined utility to save the pain of typing.

 

I use EditPlus with AtAsm and just use Ctrl-1 and Ctrl-2 for the 2 main assembly types I use. It also captures the output and puts into the bottom part of the window.