-----Original Message-----
Sent: 10 December 2017 22:31
Subject: RE: [hercules-390] New to Hercules
Post by 'Dave Wade' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]Does this avoid the need for a Hercules config?
Do you have to understand how to handle interrupts?
How do you assemble the code without an OS in which to run an assembler?
[...]
Post by 'Dave Wade' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]..but it does it help learn 370 assembler from scratch. I think not...
https://github.com/s390guy/SATK
It comes with a nice assembler that runs on your personal computer (PC)
called ASMA ("A Small Mainframe Assembler") that uses python to assemble
ASMA source code into IBM mainframe machine code. It can create list
directed IPL files, object text decks or binary image files, which can be used
directly by Hercules to IPL or load and start your program.
The list directed IPL files can be IPLed by Hercules via the "ipl <filename>" or
"iplc <filename>" commands.
The object code text decks and binary image files are loaded into guest
storage by Hercules via the "loadtext <filename>" and "loadcore <filename>"
commands respectively. Once loaded they can then be started via either the
"start" or "restart" commands depending on how you designed your
program.
The ASMA assembler is close to IBM's assembler but has special
commands/statements designed specifically for writing stand-alone IPLable
mainframe programs. Hence the name: "SATK" (Stand-Alone Took Kit).
ASMA also comes with an extensive set of helper macros too that handle
initializing the Channel I/O Subsystem and starting I/Os and waiting for their
completion, allowing you to concentrate on the non-I/O related part of your
program (which is usually what you're most interested in).
MANY of Hercules's quality control "runtest" tests were created using it. See
for example the "tape.asm", "tape.core", "tape.list", "tape.pdf" and
"tape.tst" files in the 'tests' subdirectory of the Hercules source code
distribution. It and many other of Hercules's "runtest" integrity tests were
built using SATK/ASMA.
Harold Grovesteen (who I'm sure will eventually respond) can provide you
with much more detail since he is after all the author (and currently one of
the Hercules development team's head honchos).
It's great! :)
--
"Fish" (David B. Trout)
Software Development Laboratories
http://www.softdevlabs.com
I had forgotten about that, its sounds great, but the original complaint was that loading an OS and generating a config file was complex.
So whilst SATK exists IMHO itâs a tad more complex than writing an OS program using QSAM macros..