Setting up a IIGS simulator

[whartung]

I want to set up a Apple IIGS simulator (not write one, use one).

Specifically, what I'm interested in is, ideally, looking at how C and Pascal were compiled on the 16b '816. I have no interest in compiling for the 6502, but for the 65816 with its banks and new addressing modes.

What I want to do is compile simple test cases, and see what machine code they generate. How they interact with the segment loaders, banking. How they structure their stack frames.

In the past, most compilers had an option to generate assembly code with the source code as comments.

As I understand it, there's an MPW C and Pascal, there's TML Pascal that became Complete Pascal, and theres an ORCA Pascal.

Do any of those system do what I want? Generate assembly code that I can view (I'm not interested in disassembling code)?

I don't know anything about the IIGS, so I'm curious what software base I need to start this. I don't know the different versions of DOS, ProDOS, etc.

I guess if I can get an MPW environment set up, that would be the ideal foundation.

Is that what I should be looking for? Any other suggestions?

If I had a fantasy, I wouldn't be doing any of this, and I'd just have someone friendly I could send code snippets to that could send back the assembly, and not have to set all this up at all.

But I don't know anyone that could do that.

Anyway, pointers appreciated.

 

[bladamson]

You want the Orca tools. Unfortunately though, most of them are still commercial software and you have to buy them, but one buy gets you all of the IIgs software that Byteworks ever made. All the languages and everything. I think the linker and the C compiler and the libs are on github now, but the pascal compiler is still closed source (and the C compiler is written in Orca/Pascal iirc). You can buy it all through juiced.js, though. https://juiced.gs/vendor/byteworks/

The APW suite is just an earlier version of what became Orca. Same guy wrote both.

Orca seems pretty good, although I haven't delved into it a whole lot yet. Supports all the IIgs toolbox stuff. There's also some kind of bridge software called Goldengate that somehow enables Orca to cross compile to the IIgs while you develop on a more modern machine, but I haven't tried to get it working yet. Too many projects, too little time.

I don't know anything about TML Pascal.

The only other '816 C compiler I know of is the one distributed by WDC, if I recall correctly. It is gnarly and doesn't have any IIgs support libs, but I think it's what the Super Nintendo guys use.

 

[njroadfan]

From Apple you have the MPW cross compiler and the native APW tools. Most of the APW stuff is licensed from The Byte Works anyway. ORCA/C has a nicer dev. environment. I have ORCA/C setup in a GSport VM, used it to compile the native aclock port for GNO/ME, which was quite the adventure into itself.