Express Assembler?

When I first got an Archimedes I bought an ARM assembler. I cannot remember the name of the product, though I think it was Express or something like that, nor the name of the guy who wrote it. It assembled to machine code, not AOF. It came with a comprehensive home-produced manual, and was pleasant to use, despite some idiosyncratic quirks. I used for it some years, but it dropped away into the abyss of time. Can anybody remember what it was called?

When I first got an Archimedes I bought an ARM assembler

When did you purchase the software, so we have a rough idea of when it came out?

I don’t remember any assemblers for the Arc, other than Acorn/Norcroft. There is extASM although I don’t think its the one you’re after.

I assume you’ve looked on the RISCOS Software Database?

I assume you’ve ….

Thanks, yes. The ASM assembler was the nearest thing to it. I got it in the mid 80s. I think it cost £15, and my impression was that the author lived in Yorkshire.

Did it have a weird syntax? If so, add “tla” to the mix.

I woke up at 4am last night, after spending days trying to remember “the name of that weird assembler”, and I’m pretty sure it is “tla”. Might not be it, but worth a look?

I rememeber tla. But what I am trying to recall was not that. I think tla stood for The Last Asembler . Hah!

I got it in the mid 80s

Must have been late 80’s, given the Archimedes launched mid ’87. I think I have some magazines from 88-89 so will have a look for any assemblers. I did look through my software collection the other day from that period, but no assemblers.

But what I am trying to recall was not that.

Possibly a shareware marketed item? £15 sounds sort of higher end shareware pricing.
Had you considered downloading the APDL catalogue files for a text search. The terms “assembler” and “compiler” produce a good number of hits. Quite a few have TLA names.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have done what you said but no joy. I do not think it was either of the !ASMs. It may have cost £10 not £15. I had an impression it was a spin off by somebody who had learned his craft in the age of BCPL – but that could apply to most of the people involved in Acorn in those days.

A trawl of Acorn User up to 1989 turned up only one assembler outside of Acorn’s offerings:

Archimedes Macro Assembler by Wingpass

Had you considered downloading the APDL catalogue files for a text search.

Having opened the catalogue file to check before posting I got distracted and read onward.
It appears that when I wrote a conversion program for Olivetti Word Processor files (converting to WordStar) I could have had an easier time converting that to run in GW Basic for use on the work PC’s if I’d looked in APDL and got hold of b208.
Of course those days the item wasn’t a download but a floppy through the post with a delivery cost.