***************** Astrum+ *****************


[Introduction]
Astrum+ is a full screen editor and assembler for the 48K Sinclair ZX Spectrum. 
It was designed to be used with a mass storage - either a Microdrive or Opus 
Discovery Disk Interface.

[Contents]
Readme.txt           This document
Astrum+.opd          Opus Discovery disk image containing Astrum+
Astrum+.mdr          Interface 1 Microdrive image containing Astrum+
Astrum+ Manual.doc   Astrum+ Manual in Microsoft Word format

[Copyright]
Astrum+ program code and associated documentation are copyright Robert Chafer, 
1986-2003. You are free to use and copy Astrum+ and the manual contained in 
this archive.

[Opus Discovery Version]
To use the Opus discovery version you will need an emulator capable of emulating 
the Opus hardware. At present the only one known to the author is RealSpectrum,
available here: http://www.ramsoft.bbk.org/ you will also require Opus ROM. Once 
you have the emulator running and it recognises the disk image the 'run' is 
usually all that is required.

[Interface One Version]
The Interface one version is the platform that Astrum+ was designed to use to store 
the source files and write its assembled machine code. The Interface One version uses 
Microdrives to store the program and data. Several emulators can emulate the 
Interface One, a personal favourite for the PC is Spectaculator, the latest version 
of which can be downloaded here: http://www.spectaculator.com

I would like to personally thank Andrea Vavassori for his help recovering data from
microdrive cartridges. Without Andrea the Interface One version of Astrum+ distributed
with this readme file could well have been lost forever. 


[Why is is called Astrum+?] 
In 1984 I bought a Microdrive and wanted to write an assembler that would use
the 'then' mass storage of a whooping 90KB of space. Knowing nothing about the
Interface One, I decided to disassemble the shadow ROM so I could use the code.
This took a little while :) I wrote to Sinclair Research asking for permission 
to publish my book. They declined stating that such a book would prevent them 
from making changes to the shadow ROM as developers would use unpublished entry
points. While this sounds a reasonable point-of-view, a book 'Spectrum Shadow 
ROM Disassembly' was published a few months later with expressed thanks to 
Sinclair Research. Did I feel cheated? Of course I did. I still have my 
original disassembly and letter from Sinclair Research if there is any interest.
I set about writing Astrum (Assembler for Spectrum) and completed it in 1985.
Although it was what I envisioned, I had learned so much writing it that I then
rewrote it creating Astrum+ for the Interface One. The Opus version was released
a couple of years later.

[Questions]
Robert Chafer: rob@silverfrost.com 
http://www.silverfrost.com  -- Home to Solar Kingdom


