The recommended way to install WUDSN IDE, is the WUDSN IDE Installer. It is currently available for Window 64-bit, version for mac OS X and Linux are planned.
If you use another operating system or want to use the an older version of WUDSN or want to install assemblers, compilers and emulators more selectively, read the descriptions of the installation steps below. In case something is not correct or not working, please contact me.
- Installing Eclipse
- Installing WUDSN IDE
- Installing assemblers and compilers like ATASM, MADS, XASM...
- Installing Altirra, Atari800 and other emulators
- Creating and compiling an example project
- Further information on assembler programming
Installing Eclipse » top
- Download Eclipse from https://www.eclipse.org/downloads.
- If you don't know which version to take, use Eclipse 4.12 Platform Runtime Binary (81 MB) for WUDSN IDE
1.7.1 and newer. Eclipse 4.3.2 Platform Runtime Binary (61 MB) for WUDSN IDE
1.7.0 and older.
This is a minimum size installation that does not include the Java Development Toolkit (JDT). WUDSN IDE has no dependency on the JDT but of course on the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Make sure you also have the 64-bit version of the JRE installed if you want to use the 64-bit version of Eclipse. - Unzip the downloaded archive file and store the contained folder "eclipse" where you want Eclipse to be located on your local hard drive.
- Start the Eclipse executable from that folder.
- Upon the first start, you are prompted to specify the folder where the workspace shall be located.
- Normally a start link a created to this end. You can use the parameter "-nl" to specify the locale if you want. Use "en_US" for English or "de_DE" for German. Example: "C:\Program Files\Eclipse\4.12\eclipse\eclipse.exe" -Xmx512M -nl en_US"
- It is recommended to create the workspace folder in your home directory.
- After you have read the welcome page and got familiar with the Eclipse UI, just switch to the Resource perspective.
- Open the view "Problems" via the menu "Window/Show View/Problems" and then click the entry "Configure
Contents..." from its view menu.
- Select the configuration "All Errors", the radio button "On selected element and its children" and the
checkboxes "Error", "Warning" and "Info".
- Now Eclipse itself is ready and you can proceed with step Installing WUDSN IDE.
Installing WUDSN IDE » top
- Start Eclipse
- Select the entry "Install New Software..." from the menu "Help".
- Enter "https://www.wudsn.com/update/stable" in the "Work with" field and press ENTER.
- Select the latest version of the feature "WUDSN IDE" for in and press the button "Next".
You don't need to install the "General Eclipse Enhancements" feature as it is already included in the "WUDSN IDE" feature". - Review the installation details and press the button "Next".
- Read the license agreement, choose the option "I accept..." and press the button "Finish".
- In case you get a security warning that the content is unsigned, confirm the warning by pressing the button "OK".
- When you are prompted to restart Eclipse now, press the button "Yes".
- As always with updates, it may happen that the update fails for whatever reason or the installed version turns
out to have severe issues. For example, the required Java version might not be available on your machine. In
this case, you can uninstall it via the link "What is already installed" in the "Install New Software..." dialog
and restart the IDE. Then you can reinstall the latest version from "https://www.wudsn.com/update/stable" or previously
released versions from the locations listed on the Releases page.
Installing assemblers and compilers like ATASM, MADS, XASM... » top
- Start Eclipse
- Select the entry "Preferences" from the menu "Window" (in Windows and Linux) or the menu "Eclipse" (in Mac OS X)
- Open the preferences page "Languages/Assembler/Atari 8-bit Assemblers" or the respective page for your platform.
- Select the tab for the assembler or compiler of your choice. The following assemblers and compilers are or will be supported:
Language Tool Default Target Platform Assembler ACME C64 Assembler ASM6 NES Assembler ATASM Atari 8-bit Assembler DASM Atari 2600 Assembler KickAss C64 Assembler MADS Atari 8-bit Assembler XASM Atari 8-bit Assembler TASS C64 (in preparation) Pascal MadPascal Atari 8-bit - There are 3 ways to download the assemblers / compilers:
- Option 1: Download the complete assemblers / compilers / emulators package for WUDSN IDE including the Windows, Linux and macOS X versions where available. This is the simplest way to get all of them for many operating systems. The archive contains a readme file with the date of the last update and the included program versions.
- Option 2: Download single assemblers / compilers from https://github.com/peterdell/wudsn-ide-tools. Use this option if you prefer to only download what you actually need.
- Option 3: Click the "Download" link to open the home page of the assembler / compiler. Use this option, if you need the most recent version of the assembler / compiler.
- Follow the instruction on the download site to install the assembler / compiler to the folder of your choice.
- In the section "Browse..." button for the field "Path to Compiler" to locate the executable.
- If no explicit assembler / compiler parameters are specified, the default parameters are used.
- If explicit assembler / compiler parameters are specified, the default parameters are ignored.
- The variable "${sourceFilePath}" is replaced by the absolute path to the source file.
The variable "${outputFilePath}" is replaced by the absolute path to the output file.
For more variables see section "Preferences for assembling and compiling" on the "Features" page. - Choose if you want to use the source folder or the temporary folder as the output folder.
- Choose the file extension for the output file, for example, ".xex" or ".bin"
- Press the button "OK".
- Using the button "Restore Defaults" all values are reset, except for the paths to the assembler / compilers.
- Using the button "Default" in the "File Associations" preferences you can set the default editor for a file
extension, for example, "MADS" for "*.asm".
Installing Altirra, Atari800 and other emulators » top
- Start Eclipse.
- Select the entry "Preferences" from the menu "Window" (for Windows and Linux) or "Eclipse" (for Mac OS X).
- Open the preferences page "Languages/Assembler/Atari 8-bit Assemblers" and select to tab for your assembler.
- The field "Default Application to open Output File" is defaulted to "Operating System Default Application".
- If you have the emulator registered as the default application for the extension of the output file, for example, "Altirra", "Atari800" or "Atari800MacX" for ".xex", you don't need to configure anything in addition and can skip the steps below.
- If your operating system, like for example Linux, does not support default applications or if you need a special output file extension and special parameters to open the output file in the emulator you can choose the emulator in the field "Application to open Output File" and configure the command line on the corresponding tab.
- You can also use the "User Defined Application" to open the output file with an arbitrary application like a script, linker, or whatever.
- If you have not yet downloaded the corresponding emulator, you can use the download link on the tab of the emulator and follow the instructions on the download site to install the emulator.
- Use the "Browse..." button for the field "Path to Application" to locate the executable. If required you can
specify your own command-line based on the default command line displayed.
Note: Under Mac OS-X, you must specify the path to the actual executable inside the ".app" folder. To see this path you have to select "Show Package Contents" in the context menu of the ".app" folder. For the "Stella" emulator installed in the "/Applications/Stella.app" folder this means "/Applications/Stella.app/Contents/MacOS/Stella". - If no explicit command line is specified, the default command line is used.
- If an explicit command line is specified, the default command line is ignored.
- The variable "${runnerExecutablePath}" is replaced by the path to the application executable.
The variable "${outputFilePath}" is replaced by the absolute path to the output file.
For more variables see section "Preferences for assembling and compiling" on the "Features" page. - Press the button "OK".
- In case you also need the Atari ROM files, you can find them in the file PCXF380.ZIP which is available at http://www.emulators.com.
Creating and compiling an example project » top
- Start Eclipse.
- Select the entry "New/Project" from the menu "File".
- Select the wizard "General/Project" and press the button "Next".
- Enter the project name "Atari800" and press the button "Finish".
- The new project will appear in the "Project Explorer".
- Select the newly created project and open its context menu.
- Select the entry "New/File", enter the file name "Example.asm" and press the button "Finish".
- The new empty file will now be opened in the MADS editor.
- Copy the following source text and paste it into the file:
; WUDSN IDE Atari Rainbow Example - MADS syntax
org $4000 ;Start of code
start lda #0 ;Disable screen DMA
sta 559
loop lda $d40b ;Load VCOUNT
clc
adc 20 ;Add counter
sta $d40a
sta $d01a ;Change background color
jmp loop
run start ;Define run address - Select the entry "Compile and run" from the menu "Assembler" or press "SHIFT-CTRL-0".
- Enjoy your famous first rainbow effect.
- In case of problems, open the view "Problems" and the output of the view "Console" for details and post a
message with the screenshots in the English AtariAge forum if you get stuck:
Further information on assembler programming » top
- The source includes containing the equates for hardware registers and operating system for Atari 8-bit and Atari VCS in MADS format.
- Atari Graphics & Arcade Game Design, DeRe Atari, and Mapping the Atari at AtariArchives.org
- AtariAge forum for Atari 5200 / 8-bit Programming