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Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816

Date 2015-04-23 00:26 -0500
Subject Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816
From Hugh Hood <hughhood@earthlink.net>
Newsgroups comp.sys.apple2
Message-ID <D15DEC98.1102D%hughhood@earthlink.net> (permalink)
References <1m32fyd.1fvz0qjgjwgsmN%spectrumdaddy@nospam.com>

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Fellas,

If you've ever used the Sourceror from Glen Bredon's Merlin 8/16 to
disassemble 6502/65816 object files in the hope of generating usable (or at
least understandable) assembler source code, and have found the Sourceror
lacking in features and non-intuitive to use, take a good look at Ewen
Wannop's latest creation -- 'BrkDown' - the Desktop Interface Disassembler.

While I've always been a fan of lean and swift command line interface
programs, there are times when a well-designed Desktop/GUI program can be
the superior tool for the task. Disassembly of unfamiliar object code, I
think, is one of those times.

In a sense, BrkDown is a word processor for object code. It gives windowed
access to an entire object file and allows the user visually to select
(either via mouse or keyboard) sections of the object code and to apply
assembly language 'meaning' to those selections by the use of several
functions, including:

1. Define As Data (Byte/Word/Long Word/Hex Bytes/Binary/DS reserve)
2. Define Strings (pString/cString/wString)
3. Define As Code (Emulated/Native/re-ORG)

Throw in the ability to pre-specify custom labels for certain addresses,
insert comments, insert directives and build generic labels. By that time
you're ready to generate some fairly robust source code (in either Merlin or
ORCA/M format). 

Obviously, BrkDown isn't generating the author's original source code
comments, but I understand Ewen is working on that. <grin>


Anyway, to illustrate (I hope), I've included below a few 'before' and
'after' shots from BrkDown:


BEFORE - Raw Disassembly from an AppleWorks TimeOut Application that has
been instructed to load at $2100.

****************************************************************
*
* Disassembled by BrkDown on  4/22/15 10:46:37 PM
*
* Project: TO.ADD52
*
****************************************************************

0000 002100: 4C 78 21    JMP $2178
0003 002103: 0B          DC  I1'$0B'
0004 002104: 02          DC  I1'$02'
0005 002105: E1 26       SBC ($26,x)
0007 002107: 44          DC  I1'$44'
0008 002108: 10 00       BPL $210A    ; {+00}
000A 00210A: 00          BRK
000B 00210B: 00          BRK
000C 00210C: 0C 41 64    TSB $6441
000F 00210F: 64 20       STZ $20
0011 002111: 46 69       LSR $69
0013 002113: 6C 65 20    JMP ($2065)
0016 002116: 35 2E       AND $2E,x
0018 002118: 32 00       AND ($00)


AFTER - Disassembly modified by:
(i) Hex Bytes defined from $2103-2107.
(ii) Single Bytes defined from $2108-210B.
(iii) pString defined from $210C-$2118.
(iv) DS reserve(s) defined from $2119-215E.

****************************************************************
*
* Disassembled by BrkDown on  4/22/15 10:46:37 PM
*
* Project: TO.ADD52
*
****************************************************************

0000 002100: 4C 78 21    JMP $2178
0003 002103: 0B 02 E1 26 DC  H'0B02E12644'
0008 002108: 10          DC  I1'$10'
0009 002109: 00          DC  I1'$00'
000A 00210A: 00          DC  I1'$00'
000B 00210B: 00          DC  I1'$00'
000C 00210C: 0C 41 64 64 STR 'Add File 5.2'
0019 002119:             DS  4
001D 00211D:             DS  65
005E 00215E:             DS  2



BEFORE - Raw Disassembly from later in the same TimeOut Application.
(note: BrkDown is using the pre-defined custom labels I supplied)

0078 002178: 20 4B 11    JSR MvRightRtn
007B 00217B: 00          BRK
007C 00217C: 7E 87 21    ROR $2187,x
007F 00217F: 54          DC  I1'$54'
0080 002180: 00          BRK
0081 002181: 20 00 11    JSR ClearDA
0084 002184: 4C 00 7E    JMP $7E00
0087 002187: 20 8A 11    JSR WriteCom
008A 00218A: 48          PHA
008B 00218B: 7E A9 00    ROR $00A9,x
008E 00218E: 8D 85 0D    STA $0D85



AFTER - Disassembly modified by:
(i) 2-Byte 'Words' defined from $217B-2180 and $7E03-7E04.
(ii) re-ORG beginning at $2187 (now $7E00).
(iii) 6502 Code defined from $7E05-7E06.

0078 002178: 20 4B 11    JSR MvRightRtn
007B 00217B: 00 7E       DC  I2'$7E00'
007D 00217D: 87 21       DC  I2'$2187'
007F 00217F: 54 00       DC  I2'$0054'
0081 002181: 20 00 11    JSR ClearDA
0084 002184: 4C 00 7E    JMP $7E00
0087 * Load address changed:
0087 007E00:             org $7E00
0087 007E00: 20 8A 11    JSR WriteCom
008A 007E03: 48 7E       DC  I2'$7E48'
008C 007E05: A9 00       LDA #$00
008E 007E07: 8D 85 0D    STA $0D85



This post is obviously too long, and I've really only scratched the surface
here. 

If you've ever thought about disassembling a program to see what made it
tick, and have found the existing command line disassemblers a bit
intimidating, give BrkDown a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Nice job, Ewen!





Hugh Hood




in article 1m32fyd.1fvz0qjgjwgsmN%spectrumdaddy@nospam.com, Ewen at
spectrumdaddy@nospam.com wrote on 4/18/15 2:39 AM:

> Announcing a new Disassembler for the IIgs.
> 
> As my tribute to OZ Kfest, I am announcing my latest projectŠ
> 
> BrkDown is a desktop WYSIWYG disassembler for the IIgs, and disassembles
> to source code from both the 8 data forks, and 16 bit multi-segmented
> data and resource forks, of an application or binary file. The output is
> optionally in either ORCA/M or Merlin 16 compatible format.
> 
> Powerful Functions allow manipulating of the resulting source, so it can
> be worked up into valid source code that can be later reassembled.
> 
> Many other tools are provided to make working with source files as
> painless as possible.
> 
> Please download and read the BrkDown PDF Manual for more information on
> how BrkDown works, and how to use it.
> 
> Both the PDF manual, and the application archive, as well as all my
> other software, can be downloaded from my web site:
> 
> http://www.speccie.co.uk
> 
> Ewen Wannop

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Thread

New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 spectrumdaddy@nospam.com (Ewen) - 2015-04-18 08:39 +0100
  Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Antoine Vignau <antoine.vignau@laposte.net> - 2015-04-18 08:05 -0700
  Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Hugh Hood <hughhood@earthlink.net> - 2015-04-23 00:26 -0500
    Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 spectrumdaddy@nospam.com (Ewen) - 2015-04-23 08:15 +0100
  Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 nexus6gsxos <nexus6gs@gmail.com> - 2015-04-23 13:15 -0700
    Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Antoine Vignau <antoine.vignau@laposte.net> - 2015-04-23 13:23 -0700
      Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 spectrumdaddy@nospam.com (Ewen) - 2015-04-24 07:59 +0100
  Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 xorxif <-@-.-> - 2015-04-26 20:22 -0700
    Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Steve Nickolas <usotsuki@buric.co> - 2015-04-27 05:59 +0200
    Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 spectrumdaddy@nospam.com (Ewen) - 2015-04-27 07:25 +0100
      Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Antoine Vignau <antoine.vignau@laposte.net> - 2015-04-27 12:13 -0700
      Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Hugh Hood <hughhood@earthlink.net> - 2015-04-28 23:01 -0500
        Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Payton Byrd <plbyrd@gmail.com> - 2015-04-28 21:58 -0700
        Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 D Finnigan <dog_cow@macgui.com> - 2015-04-29 19:40 +0000
          Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com> - 2015-04-29 18:52 -0500
            Re: New disassembler for 6502 & 65816 mdj <mdj.mdj@gmail.com> - 2015-04-29 19:12 -0700

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