Upgraded Porting Tools Ease Transition to PowerPC
18th April 1996 -- MicroAPL Ltd today announced the availability of two upgrades to its tools for porting 680x0 and 80x86 software to the PowerPC.
The new versions of PortAsm/68K and PortAsm/86 implement significant enhancements to MicroAPL's CISC-to-RISC translation technology, which allows 680x0 and x86 assembly language to be ported to run native under the PowerPC architecture. PortAsm is an optimizing source-level translation tool, converting 680x0 or x86 assembly-language source to efficient PowerPC assembler source and automatically adapting the code to fit into the new runtime architecture of the PowerPC system. Included in the upgrades are extra features to assist porting of embedded applications, support for all of the main PowerPC runtime architectures (AIX, MacOS, EABI, Solaris, OS/2, and Windows NT are all supported in the new releases), improved support for ELF debugging, an increased range of supported target assemblers, and a set of new optimizations which produce smaller, faster translated code without compromising PortAsm's reliability. Amongst the many well-known applications ported to the PowerPC architecture using PortAsm are Word Perfect for Macintosh, MicroFrontier's ColorIt!, and HyperCard, a product of Apple Computer, Inc.
Also enhanced is a companion product, Mimic/68K. This is an instruction emulator program which allows 68000 object code to run unchanged on a PowerPC. It can be used standalone or as part of a hybrid native/emulated environment, and can very easily be interfaced with code translated using PortAsm. Primarily aimed at the existing base of embedded 68000 software, where memory constraints are often tight, it can be configured to run in only 100KB.
MicroAPL Chairman Richard Nabavi commented: "The PowerPC architecture offers an excellent technology base for the future. As it expands into new areas, particularly for embedded applications, we are finding an increasing demand from companies wanting to port legacy 680x0 and 80x86 code to the new environment. With PortAsm and Mimic/68K in our portfolio, we are able to offer solutions to a wide range of porting problems which would otherwise be intractable."
MicroAPL Ltd was founded in 1979, and is based in London, England. It specializes in translation tools for moving existing software to the new generation of RISC processors, as well as providing consultancy services in application development and cross-platform porting. Demonstration software and further information on PortAsm and other MicroAPL products and services can be found on the MicroAPL Web site: http://www.microapl.com
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