While the Atari Program-Text Editor Program is a powerful editing tool, it only works in 40 columns. For editing Pascal programs, working with an 80 column display is a much more user friendly experience.
There are a few "80 Column Editing" solutions available for the Atari 8-bit computers. Either through 80 column hardware or editors that create 80 columns through software.
For our development environment, along with the Altirra emulator, we are going to use Atari's AtariWriter 80 Word Processing program in conjunction with an Atari XEP80 Interface Module.
The Atari XEP80 Interface Module is a small box that attaches to Atari 8-bit home computers through the second joystick port. It provides an 80-column display, as well as a Centronics parallel interface for a printer. We will be using a virtual (emulated in software) XEP80 with the Altirra emulator.
Typically, when you use the XEP80 Interface Module, you need to load a driver first. We don't need to load a driver in our case because the editor we are going to use has the drive built in. If you want experiment with the XEP80, you can find the driver online. One place that you can find it is:
To configure Altirra to use a virtual XEP80, in Altirra, click System --> Configure System... In the Configure Emulation dialog box, under Peripherals, click Devices. Click Add... In the Add Device dialog box, scroll down to the Controller port devices section and click on XEP80, then click OK. Back on the Configure Emulation dialog box, click OK. Once you have added the virtual XEP80, click on View and turn on the Auto-switch XEP80 view.
Now that we have the XEP80 Interface Module configured in Altirra, we need an editor that is XEP80-aware. The editor that we will be using is the AtariWriter 80 Word Processing program.
You can find the AtariWriter 80 Word Processing program online. Once place that you can find it is the Atarimania website:
Download the AtariWriter 80 zip file and unzip it. There are multiple copies in the zip file archive. In my environment, I've been using "AtariWriter80_b_XE-working.ATR".
With the XEP80 Interface Module added and configured in Altirra, load the "AtariWriter80_b_XE-working.ATR" disk image in disk drive D1, then reboot the emulator. Altirra should load AtariWriter 80 and automatically switch to the XEP80 80-column view. If you don't see the AtariWriter80 screen, or have a blank, black screen, check the Altirra --> View --> XEP80 View / Auto-switch XEP80 View options.
Load the "HELLOW.PAS" disk image from the last section in to disk drive D2.
To see the disk directory of the disk image in disk drive D2, from the AtariWrite80 menu, enter "2".
You should see the HELLOW.PAS file in the disk directory listing. To load the file, either enter L for (L)oad File from the the disk directory display, or enter L for (L)oad File from the main menu. When prompted for the "FILE TO LOAD:", enter "D2:HELLOW.PAS". Once the file is loaded, AtariWriter 80 returns to the main menu. To edit/view the file, enter E for (E)dit File from the AtariWriter 80 main menu.
Once you are done editing/viewing your source file, press the ESC key to return to the the AtariWriter 80 menu screen.
DO NOT USE the AtariWriter 80 menu option (S)ave File to save your source file. If you do, the text file gets save with some additional AtariWriter 80 meta data which we do not want. Instead of using the (S)ave File option, use CTRL+S to save your file. This will save your source file in plain ASCII text, which is what the Atari Pascal Language System Compiler expects.
Once you have successfully saved your source file, load the APXPAS1.ATR disk image back into disk drive D1 and reboot the emulator. You can now Compile, Link, and Run the Pascal source file as before.
To create a new Atari Pascal source file, simply load the AtariWriter 80 program disk image in disk drive D1 as before, load a project disk image in disk drive D2, reboot the emulator and when the AtariWriter 80 main menu displays, enter C for (C)reate File and start typing. To save the new source file, press the ESC key to return to the main menu and press CONTROL-S to save the file.
For more information on the Atari XEP80 Interface Module, see:
- Atari XEP80 Interface Module Owner's Manual, Atari, 1987.
For more information on using the AtariWriter 80 Word Processing program, see:
- AtariWriter 80 Owner's Manual, Atari, 1988.
- AtariWriter 80 Quick Reference, Atari, 1988.
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