Volume 1 -- Issue 2            November, 1980

Our second issue is 33% larger than the first!  And not only so, but also there is useful information on the back page!  I found a source for 6x9 white envelopes, so your address can be external to the newsletter, and so your copy will arrive in better condition.  In less than a month since the newsletter was first announced, we already have over 45 paid subscribers.  They are sprinkled all over the map, including one in Japan!


In This Issue...

A Bug in S-C Assembler II Version 4.0 . . . . . . . . . 1
Variable Cross Reference for Applesoft Programs . . . . 2
Bags, Boxes, et cetera  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Assembly Source on Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A Use for the USR Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
A Simulated Numeric Key-Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15


A Bug in S-C Assembler II Disk Version 4.0

One real bug has turned up, and a few of you have had the bad luck to discover it the hard way.  The assembler is free-format, in that opcodes and directives may start in any column after the blank which terminates the label field.  However, the ".IN" directive will malfunction unless there are at least six spaces.  If you tab over before typing ".IN" there will be no problem.  However, if you type your line like "1230  .IN FILE1", with only two spaces between the line number and the period, you are in for a long wait.  The processor goes into a loop printing D's.  If you have the MONC mode on, you will see "LOADDDDDDDDD....." with D's forever appearing on your screen.  Remember to TAB OVER, and it will not malfunction.

One fancied bug has been reported, and I would like to explain it.  A user pointed out that you cannont shorten the SAVE command to three letters if you wish to save the source program on a disk file.  Why?  Because "SAVE" or "SAV" with no file name is not a DOS command.  It is an assembler command to save the source program on cassette tape!  On the other hand, SAVE with a filename is not an assembler command.  It is a DOS command, and the assembler never sees it.  The same goes for "LOAD", "LOA", and LOAD with a filename.
