This is Info file as.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input file ./as.texinfo. START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * As: (as). The GNU assembler. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY This file documents the GNU Assembler "as". Copyright (C) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 1996 Free Software Foundation, Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions. File: as.info, Node: Top, Next: Overview, Prev: (DIR), Up: (DIR) Using as ******** This file is a user guide to the GNU assembler `as'. * Menu: * Overview:: Overview * Invoking:: Command-Line Options * Syntax:: Syntax * Sections:: Sections and Relocation * Symbols:: Symbols * Expressions:: Expressions * Pseudo Ops:: Assembler Directives * Machine Dependencies:: Machine Dependent Features * Acknowledgements:: Who Did What * Index:: Index File: as.info, Node: Overview, Next: Invoking, Prev: Top, Up: Top Overview ******** Here is a brief summary of how to invoke `as'. For details, *note Comand-Line Options: Invoking.. as [ -a[dhlns][=file] ] [ -D ] [ --defsym SYM=VAL ] [ -f ] [ --help ] [ -I DIR ] [ -J ] [ -K ] [ -L ] [ -o OBJFILE ] [ -R ] [ --statistics ] [ -v ] [ -version ] [ --version ] [ -W ] [ -w ] [ -x ] [ -Z ] [ -Av6 | -Av7 | -Av8 | -Asparclite | -Av9 | -Av9a ] [ -xarch=v8plus | -xarch=v8plusa ] [ -bump ] [ -ACA | -ACA_A | -ACB | -ACC | -AKA | -AKB | -AKC | -AMC ] [ -b ] [ -no-relax ] [ -l ] [ -m68000 | -m68010 | -m68020 | ... ] [ -nocpp ] [ -EL ] [ -EB ] [ -G NUM ] [ -mcpu=CPU ] [ -mips1 ] [ -mips2 ] [ -mips3 ] [ -m4650 ] [ -no-m4650 ] [ --trap ] [ --break ] [ --emulation=NAME ] [ -- | FILES ... ] `-a[dhlns]' Turn on listings, in any of a variety of ways: `-ad' omit debugging directives `-ah' include high-level source `-al' include assembly `-an' omit forms processing `-as' include symbols `=file' set the name of the listing file You may combine these options; for example, use `-aln' for assembly listing without forms processing. The `=file' option, if used, must be the last one. By itself, `-a' defaults to `-ahls'--that is, all listings turned on. Ignored. This option is accepted for script compatibility with calls to other assemblers. `--defsym SYM=VALUE' Define the symbol SYM to be VALUE before assembling the input file. vALUE must be an integer constant. As in C, a leading `0x' indicates a hexadecimal value, and a leading `0' indicates an octal value. "fast"--skip whitespace and comment preprocessing (assume source is compiler output). `--help' Print a summary of the command line options and exit. `-I DIR' Add directory DIR to the search list for `.include' directives. Don't warn about signed overflow. Issue warnings when difference tables altered for long displacements. Keep (in the symbol table) local symbols, starting with `L'. `-o OBJFILE' Name the object-file output from `as' OBJFILE. Fold the data section into the text section. `--statistics' Print the maximum space (in bytes) and total time (in seconds) used by assembly. `-version' Print the `as' version. `--version' Print the `as' version and exit. Suppress warning messages. Ignored. Ignored. Generate an object file even after errors. `-- | FILES ...' Standard input, or source files to assemble. The following options are available when as is configured for the Intel 80960 processor. `-ACA | -ACA_A | -ACB | -ACC | -AKA | -AKB | -AKC | -AMC' Specify which variant of the 960 architecture is the target. Add code to collect statistics about branches taken. `-no-relax' Do not alter compare-and-branch instructions for long displacements; error if necessary. The following options are available when as is configured for the Motorola 68000 series. Shorten references to undefined symbols, to one word instead of two. `-m68000 | -m68008 | -m68010 | -m68020 | -m68030 | -m68040' `| -m68302 | -m68331 | -m68332 | -m68333 | -m68340 | -mcpu32' Specify what processor in the 68000 family is the target. The default is normally the 68020, but this can be changed at configuration time. `-m68881 | -m68882 | -mno-68881 | -mno-68882' The target machine does (or does not) have a floating-point coprocessor. The default is to assume a coprocessor for 68020, 68030, and cpu32. Although the basic 68000 is not compatible with the 68881, a combination of the two can be specified, since it's possible to do emulation of the coprocessor instructions with the main processor. `-m68851 | -mno-68851' The target machine does (or does not) have a memory-management unit coprocessor. The default is to assume an MMU for 68020 and up. The following options are available when `as' is configured for the SPARC architecture: `-Av6 | -Av7 | -Av8 | -Asparclite | -Av9 | -Av9a' Explicitly select a variant of the SPARC architecture. `-xarch=v8plus | -xarch=v8plusa' For compatibility with the Solaris v9 assembler. These options are equivalent to -Av9 and -Av9a, respectively. `-bump' Warn when the assembler switches to another architecture. The following options are available when as is configured for a MIPS processor. `-G NUM' This option sets the largest size of an object that can be referenced implicitly with the `gp' register. It is only accepted for targets that use ECOFF format, such as a DECstation running Ultrix. The default value is 8. `-EB' Generate "big endian" format output. `-EL' Generate "little endian" format output. `-mips1' `-mips2' `-mips3' Generate code for a particular MIPS Instruction Set Architecture level. `-mips1' corresponds to the R2000 and R3000 processors, `-mips2' to the R6000 processor, and `-mips3' to the R4000 processor. `-m4650' `-no-m4650' Generate code for the MIPS R4650 chip. This tells the assembler to accept the `mad' and `madu' instruction, and to not schedule `nop' instructions around accesses to the `HI' and `LO' registers. `-no-m4650' turns off this option. `-mcpu=CPU' Generate code for a particular MIPS cpu. This has little effect on the assembler, but it is passed by `gcc'. `--emulation=NAME' This option causes `as' to emulated `as' configured for some other target, in all respects, including output format (choosing between ELF and ECOFF only), handling of pseudo-opcodes which may generate debugging information or store symbol table information, and default endianness. The available configuration names are: `mipsecoff', `mipself', `mipslecoff', `mipsbecoff', `mipslelf', `mipsbelf'. The first two do not alter the default endianness from that of the primary target for which the assembler was configured; the others change the default to little- or big-endian as indicated by the `b' or `l' in the name. Using `-EB' or `-EL' will override the endianness selection in any case. This option is currently supported only when the primary target `as' is configured for is a MIPS ELF or ECOFF target. Furthermore, the primary target or others specified with `--enable-targets=...' at configuration time must include support for the other format, if both are to be available. For example, the Irix 5 configuration includes support for both. Eventually, this option will support more configurations, with more fine-grained control over the assembler's behavior, and will be supported for more processors. `-nocpp' `as' ignores this option. It is accepted for compatibility with the native tools. `--trap' `--no-trap' `--break' `--no-break' Control how to deal with multiplication overflow and division by zero. `--trap' or `--no-break' (which are synonyms) take a trap exception (and only work for Instruction Set Architecture level 2 and higher); `--break' or `--no-trap' (also synonyms, and the default) take a break exception. * Menu: * Manual:: Structure of this Manual * GNU Assembler:: as, the GNU Assembler * Object Formats:: Object File Formats * Command Line:: Command Line * Input Files:: Input Files * Object:: Output (Object) File * Errors:: Error and Warning Messages File: as.info, Node: Manual, Next: GNU Assembler, Up: Overview Structure of this Manual ======================== This manual is intended to describe what you need to know to use GNU `as'. We cover the syntax expected in source files, including notation for symbols, constants, and expressions; the directives that `as' understands; and of course how to invoke `as'. This manual also describes some of the machine-dependent features of various flavors of the assembler. On the other hand, this manual is *not* intended as an introduction to programming in assembly language--let alone programming in general! In a similar vein, we make no attempt to introduce the machine architecture; we do *not* describe the instruction set, standard mnemonics, registers or addressing modes that are standard to a particular architecture. You may want to consult the manufacturer's machine architecture manual for this information. File: as.info, Node: GNU Assembler, Next: Object Formats, Prev: Manual, Up: Overview as, the GNU Assembler ===================== GNU `as' is really a family of assemblers. If you use (or have used) the GNU assembler on one architecture, you should find a fairly similar environment when you use it on another architecture. Each version has much in common with the others, including object file formats, most assembler directives (often called "pseudo-ops") and assembler syntax. `as' is primarily intended to assemble the output of the GNU C compiler `gcc' for use by the linker `ld'. Nevertheless, we've tried to make `as' assemble correctly everything that other assemblers for the same machine would assemble. Any exceptions are documented explicitly (*note Machine Dependencies::.). This doesn't mean `as' always uses the same syntax as another assembler for the same architecture; for example, we know of several incompatible versions of 680x0 assembly language syntax. Unlike older assemblers, `as' is designed to assemble a source program in one pass of the source file. This has a subtle impact on the `.org' directive (*note `.org': Org.). File: as.info, Node: Object Formats, Next: Command Line, Prev: GNU Assembler, Up: Overview Object File Formats =================== The GNU assembler can be configured to produce several alternative object file formats. For the most part, this does not affect how you write assembly language programs; but directives for debugging symbols are typically different in different file formats. *Note Symbol Attributes: Symbol Attributes. File: as.info, Node: Command Line, Next: Input Files, Prev: Object Formats, Up: Overview Command Line ============ After the program name `as', the command line may contain options and file names. Options may appear in any order, and may be before, after, or between file names. The order of file names is significant. `--' (two hyphens) by itself names the standard input file explicitly, as one of the files for `as' to assemble. Except for `--' any command line argument that begins with a hyphen (`-') is an option. Each option changes the behavior of `as'. No option changes the way another option works. An option is a `-' followed by one or more letters; the case of the letter is important. All options are optional. Some options expect exactly one file name to follow them. The file name may either immediately follow the option's letter (compatible with older assemblers) or it may be the next command argument (GNU standard). These two command lines are equivalent: as -o my-object-file.o mumble.s as -omy-object-file.o mumble.s File: as.info, Node: Input Files, Next: Object, Prev: Command Line, Up: Overview Input Files =========== We use the phrase "source program", abbreviated "source", to describe the program input to one run of `as'. The program may be in one or more files; how the source is partitioned into files doesn't change the meaning of the source. The source program is a concatenation of the text in all the files, in the order specified. Each time you run `as' it assembles exactly one source program. The source program is made up of one or more files. (The standard input is also a file.) You give `as' a command line that has zero or more input file names. The input files are read (from left file name to right). A command line argument (in any position) that has no special meaning is taken to be an input file name. If you give `as' no file names it attempts to read one input file from the `as' standard input, which is normally your terminal. You may have to type ctl-D to tell `as' there is no more program to assemble. Use `--' if you need to explicitly name the standard input file in your command line. If the source is empty, `as' produces a small, empty object file. Filenames and Line-numbers -------------------------- There are two ways of locating a line in the input file (or files) and either may be used in reporting error messages. One way refers to a line number in a physical file; the other refers to a line number in a "logical" file. *Note Error and Warning Messages: Errors. "Physical files" are those files named in the command line given to `as'. "Logical files" are simply names declared explicitly by assembler directives; they bear no relation to physical files. Logical file names help error messages reflect the original source file, when `as' source is itself synthesized from other files. *Note `.app-file': App-File. File: as.info, Node: Object, Next: Errors, Prev: Input Files, Up: Overview Output (Object) File ==================== Every time you run `as' it produces an output file, which is your assembly language program translated into numbers. This file is the object file. Its default name is `a.out', or `b.out' when `as' is configured for the Intel 80960. You can give it another name by using the `-o' option. Conventionally, object file names end with `.o'. The default name is used for historical reasons: older assemblers were capable of assembling self-contained programs directly into a runnable program. (For some formats, this isn't currently possible, but it can be done for the `a.out' format.) The object file is meant for input to the linker `ld'. It contains assembled program code, information to help `ld' integrate the assembled program into a runnable file, and (optionally) symbolic information for the debugger. File: as.info, Node: Errors, Prev: Object, Up: Overview Error and Warning Messages ========================== `as' may write warnings and error messages to the standard error file (usually your terminal). This should not happen when a compiler runs `as' automatically. Warnings report an assumption made so that `as' could keep assembling a flawed program; errors report a grave problem that stops the assembly. Warning messages have the format file_name:NNN:Warning Message Text (where NNN is a line number). If a logical file name has been given (*note `.app-file': App-File.) it is used for the filename, otherwise the name of the current input file is used. If a logical line number was given (*note `.line': Line.) then it is used to calculate the number printed, otherwise the actual line in the current source file is printed. The message text is intended to be self explanatory (in the grand Unix tradition). Error messages have the format file_name:NNN:FATAL:Error Message Text The file name and line number are derived as for warning messages. The actual message text may be rather less explanatory because many of them aren't supposed to happen. File: as.info, Node: Invoking, Next: Syntax, Prev: Overview, Up: Top Command-Line Options ******************** This chapter describes command-line options available in *all* versions of the GNU assembler; *note Machine Dependencies::., for options specific to particular machine architectures. If you are invoking `as' via the GNU C compiler (version 2), you can use the `-Wa' option to pass arguments through to the assembler. The assembler arguments must be separated from each other (and the `-Wa') by commas. For example: gcc -c -g -O -Wa,-alh,-L file.c emits a listing to standard output with high-level and assembly source. Usually you do not need to use this `-Wa' mechanism, since many compiler command-line options are automatically passed to the assembler by the compiler. (You can call the GNU compiler driver with the `-v' option to see precisely what options it passes to each compilation pass, including the assembler.) * Menu: * a:: -a[dhlns] enable listings * D:: -D for compatibility * f:: -f to work faster * I:: -I for .include search path * K:: -K for difference tables * L:: -L to retain local labels * M:: -M or -mri to assemble in MRI compatibility mode * o:: -o to name the object file * R:: -R to join data and text sections * statistics:: -statistics to see statistics about assembly * v:: -v to announce version * W:: -W to suppress warnings * Z:: -Z to make object file even after errors File: as.info, Node: a, Next: D, Up: Invoking Enable Listings: `-a[dhlns]' ============================ These options enable listing output from the assembler. By itself, `-a' requests high-level, assembly, and symbols listing. You can use other letters to select specific options for the list: `-ah' requests a high-level language listing, `-al' requests an output-program assembly listing, and `-as' requests a symbol table listing. High-level listings require that a compiler debugging option like `-g' be used, and that assembly listings (`-al') be requested also. Use the `-ad' option to omit debugging directives from the listing. Once you have specified one of these options, you can further control listing output and its appearance using the directives `.list', `.nolist', `.psize', `.eject', `.title', and `.sbttl'. The `-an' option turns off all forms processing. If you do not request listing output with one of the `-a' options, the listing-control directives have no effect. The letters after `-a' may be combined into one option, *e.g.*, `-aln'. File: as.info, Node: D, Next: f, Prev: a, Up: Invoking This option has no effect whatsoever, but it is accepted to make it more likely that scripts written for other assemblers also work with `as'. File: as.info, Node: f, Next: I, Prev: D, Up: Invoking Work Faster: `-f' ================= `-f' should only be used when assembling programs written by a (trusted) compiler. `-f' stops the assembler from doing whitespace and comment preprocessing on the input file(s) before assembling them. *Note Preprocessing: Preprocessing. *Warning:* if you use `-f' when the files actually need to be preprocessed (if they contain comments, for example), `as' does not work correctly. File: as.info, Node: I, Next: K, Prev: f, Up: Invoking `.include' search path: `-I' PATH ================================= Use this option to add a PATH to the list of directories `as' searches for files specified in `.include' directives (*note `.include': Include.). You may use `-I' as many times as necessary to include a variety of paths. The current working directory is always searched first; after that, `as' searches any `-I' directories in the same order as they were specified (left to right) on the command line. File: as.info, Node: K, Next: L, Prev: I, Up: Invoking Difference Tables: `-K' ======================= `as' sometimes alters the code emitted for directives of the form `.word SYM1-SYM2'; *note `.word': Word.. You can use the `-K' option if you want a warning issued when this is done. File: as.info, Node: L, Next: M, Prev: K, Up: Invoking Include Local Labels: `-L' ========================== Labels beginning with `L' (upper case only) are called "local labels". *Note Symbol Names::. Normally you do not see such labels when debugging, because they are intended for the use of programs (like compilers) that compose assembler programs, not for your notice. Normally both `as' and `ld' discard such labels, so you do not normally debug with them. This option tells `as' to retain those `L...' symbols in the object file. Usually if you do this you also tell the linker `ld' to preserve symbols whose names begin with `L'. By default, a local label is any label beginning with `L', but each target is allowed to redefine the local label prefix. On the HPPA local labels begin with `L$'. File: as.info, Node: M, Next: o, Prev: L, Up: Invoking Assemble in MRI Compatibility Mode: `-M' ======================================== The `-M' or `--mri' option selects MRI compatibility mode. This changes the syntax and pseudo-op handling of `as' to make it compatible with the `ASM68K' or the `ASM960' (depending upon the configured target) assembler from Microtec Research. The exact nature of the MRI syntax will not be documented here; see the MRI manuals for more information. The purpose of this option is to permit assembling existing MRI assembler code using `as'. The MRI compatibility is not complete. Certain operations of the MRI assembler depend upon its object file format, and can not be supported using other object file formats. Supporting these would require enhancing each object file format individually. These are: * global symbols in common section The m68k MRI assembler supports common sections which are merged by the linker. Other object file formats do not support this. `as' handles common sections by treating them as a single common symbol. It permits local symbols to be defined within a common section, but it can not support global symbols, since it has no way to describe them. * complex relocations The MRI assemblers support relocations against a negated section address, and relocations which combine the start addresses of two or more sections. These are not support by other object file formats. * `END' pseudo-op specifying start address The MRI `END' pseudo-op permits the specification of a start address. This is not supported by other object file formats. The start address may instead be specified using the `-e' option to the linker, or in a linker script. * `IDNT', `.ident' and `NAME' pseudo-ops The MRI `IDNT', `.ident' and `NAME' pseudo-ops assign a module name to the output file. This is not supported by other object file formats. * `ORG' pseudo-op The m68k MRI `ORG' pseudo-op begins an absolute section at a given address. This differs from the usual `as' `.org' pseudo-op, which changes the location within the current section. Absolute sections are not supported by other object file formats. The address of a section may be assigned within a linker script. There are some other features of the MRI assembler which are not supported by `as', typically either because they are difficult or because they seem of little consequence. Some of these may be supported in future releases. * EBCDIC strings EBCDIC strings are not supported. * packed binary coded decimal Packed binary coded decimal is not supported. This means that the `DC.P' and `DCB.P' pseudo-ops are not supported. * `FEQU' pseudo-op The m68k `FEQU' pseudo-op is not supported. * `NOOBJ' pseudo-op The m68k `NOOBJ' pseudo-op is not supported. * `OPT' branch control options The m68k `OPT' branch control options--`B', `BRS', `BRB', `BRL', and `BRW'--are ignored. `as' automatically relaxes all branches, whether forward or backward, to an appropriate size, so these options serve no purpose. * `OPT' list control options The following m68k `OPT' list control options are ignored: `C', `CEX', `CL', `CRE', `E', `G', `I', `M', `MEX', `MC', `MD', `X'. * other `OPT' options The following m68k `OPT' options are ignored: `NEST', `O', `OLD', `OP', `P', `PCO', `PCR', `PCS', `R'. * `OPT' `D' option is default The m68k `OPT' `D' option is the default, unlike the MRI assembler. `OPT NOD' may be used to turn it off. * `XREF' pseudo-op. The m68k `XREF' pseudo-op is ignored. * `.debug' pseudo-op The i960 `.debug' pseudo-op is not supported. * `.extended' pseudo-op The i960 `.extended' pseudo-op is not supported. * `.list' pseudo-op. The various options of the i960 `.list' pseudo-op are not supported. * `.optimize' pseudo-op The i960 `.optimize' pseudo-op is not supported. * `.output' pseudo-op The i960 `.output' pseudo-op is not supported. * `.setreal' pseudo-op The i960 `.setreal' pseudo-op is not supported. File: as.info, Node: o, Next: R, Prev: M, Up: Invoking Name the Object File: `-o' ========================== There is always one object file output when you run `as'. By default it has the name `a.out' (or `b.out', for Intel 960 targets only). You use this option (which takes exactly one filename) to give the object file a different name. Whatever the object file is called, `as' overwrites any existing file of the same name. File: as.info, Node: R, Next: statistics, Prev: o, Up: Invoking Join Data and Text Sections: `-R' ================================= `-R' tells `as' to write the object file as if all data-section data lives in the text section. This is only done at the very last moment: your binary data are the same, but data section parts are relocated differently. The data section part of your object file is zero bytes long because all its bytes are appended to the text section. (*Note Sections and Relocation: Sections.) When you specify `-R' it would be possible to generate shorter address displacements (because we do not have to cross between text and data section). We refrain from doing this simply for compatibility with older versions of `as'. In future, `-R' may work this way. When `as' is configured for COFF output, this option is only useful if you use sections named `.text' and `.data'. `-R' is not supported for any of the HPPA targets. Using `-R' generates a warning from `as'. File: as.info, Node: statistics, Next: v, Prev: R, Up: Invoking Display Assembly Statistics: `--statistics' =========================================== Use `--statistics' to display two statistics about the resources used by `as': the maximum amount of space allocated during the assembly (in bytes), and the total execution time taken for the assembly (in CPU seconds). File: as.info, Node: v, Next: W, Prev: statistics, Up: Invoking Announce Version: `-v' ====================== You can find out what version of as is running by including the option `-v' (which you can also spell as `-version') on the command line. File: as.info, Node: W, Next: Z, Prev: v, Up: Invoking Suppress Warnings: `-W' ======================= `as' should never give a warning or error message when assembling compiler output. But programs written by people often cause `as' to give a warning that a particular assumption was made. All such warnings are directed to the standard error file. If you use this option, no warnings are issued. This option only affects the warning messages: it does not change any particular of how `as' assembles your file. Errors, which stop the assembly, are still reported. File: as.info, Node: Z, Prev: W, Up: Invoking Generate Object File in Spite of Errors: `-Z' ============================================= After an error message, `as' normally produces no output. If for some reason you are interested in object file output even after `as' gives an error message on your program, use the `-Z' option. If there are any errors, `as' continues anyways, and writes an object file after a final warning message of the form `N errors, M warnings, generating bad object file.' File: as.info, Node: Syntax, Next: Sections, Prev: Invoking, Up: Top Syntax ****** This chapter describes the machine-independent syntax allowed in a source file. `as' syntax is similar to what many other assemblers use; it is inspired by the BSD 4.2 assembler, except that `as' does not assemble Vax bit-fields. * Menu: * Preprocessing:: Preprocessing * Whitespace:: Whitespace * Comments:: Comments * Symbol Intro:: Symbols * Statements:: Statements * Constants:: Constants File: as.info, Node: Preprocessing, Next: Whitespace, Up: Syntax Preprocessing ============= The `as' internal preprocessor: * adjusts and removes extra whitespace. It leaves one space or tab before the keywords on a line, and turns any other whitespace on the line into a single space. * removes all comments, replacing them with a single space, or an appropriate number of newlines. * converts character constants into the appropriate numeric values. It does not do macro processing, include file handling, or anything else you may get from your C compiler's preprocessor. You can do include file processing with the `.include' directive (*note `.include': Include.). You can use the GNU C compiler driver to get other "CPP" style preprocessing, by giving the input file a `.S' suffix. *Note Options Controlling the Kind of Output: (gcc.info)Overall Options. Excess whitespace, comments, and character constants cannot be used in the portions of the input text that are not preprocessed. If the first line of an input file is `#NO_APP' or if you use the `-f' option, whitespace and comments are not removed from the input file. Within an input file, you can ask for whitespace and comment removal in specific portions of the by putting a line that says `#APP' before the text that may contain whitespace or comments, and putting a line that says `#NO_APP' after this text. This feature is mainly intend to support `asm' statements in compilers whose output is otherwise free of comments and whitespace. File: as.info, Node: Whitespace, Next: Comments, Prev: Preprocessing, Up: Syntax Whitespace ========== "Whitespace" is one or more blanks or tabs, in any order. Whitespace is used to separate symbols, and to make programs neater for people to read. Unless within character constants (*note Character Constants: Characters.), any whitespace means the same as exactly one space. File: as.info, Node: Comments, Next: Symbol Intro, Prev: Whitespace, Up: Syntax Comments ======== There are two ways of rendering comments to `as'. In both cases the comment is equivalent to one space. Anything from `/*' through the next `*/' is a comment. This means you may not nest these comments. /* The only way to include a newline ('\n') in a comment is to use this sort of comment. */ /* This sort of comment does not nest. */ Anything from the "line comment" character to the next newline is considered a comment and is ignored. The line comment character is `;' for the AMD 29K family; `;' for the H8/300 family; `!' for the H8/500 family; `;' for the HPPA; `#' on the i960; `!' for the Hitachi SH; `!' on the SPARC; `|' on the 680x0; `#' on the Vax; `!' for the Z8000; see *Note Machine Dependencies::. On some machines there are two different line comment characters. One character only begins a comment if it is the first non-whitespace character on a line, while the other always begins a comment. To be compatible with past assemblers, lines that begin with `#' have a special interpretation. Following the `#' should be an absolute expression (*note Expressions::.): the logical line number of the *next* line. Then a string (*note Strings: Strings.) is allowed: if present it is a new logical file name. The rest of the line, if any, should be whitespace. If the first non-whitespace characters on the line are not numeric, the line is ignored. (Just like a comment.) # This is an ordinary comment. # 42-6 "new_file_name" # New logical file name # This is logical line # 36. This feature is deprecated, and may disappear from future versions of `as'. File: as.info, Node: Symbol Intro, Next: Statements, Prev: Comments, Up: Syntax Symbols ======= A "symbol" is one or more characters chosen from the set of all letters (both upper and lower case), digits and the three characters `_.$'. On most machines, you can also use `$' in symbol names; exceptions are noted in *Note Machine Dependencies::. No symbol may begin with a digit. Case is significant. There is no length limit: all characters are significant. Symbols are delimited by characters not in that set, or by the beginning of a file (since the source program must end with a newline, the end of a file is not a possible symbol delimiter). *Note Symbols::. File: as.info, Node: Statements, Next: Constants, Prev: Symbol Intro, Up: Syntax Statements ========== A "statement" ends at a newline character (`\n') or line separator character. (The line separator is usually `;', unless this conflicts with the comment character; *note Machine Dependencies::..) The newline or separator character is considered part of the preceding statement. Newlines and separators within character constants are an exception: they do not end statements. It is an error to end any statement with end-of-file: the last character of any input file should be a newline. You may write a statement on more than one line if you put a backslash (`\') immediately in front of any newlines within the statement. When `as' reads a backslashed newline both characters are ignored. You can even put backslashed newlines in the middle of symbol names without changing the meaning of your source program. An empty statement is allowed, and may include whitespace. It is ignored. A statement begins with zero or more labels, optionally followed by a key symbol which determines what kind of statement it is. The key symbol determines the syntax of the rest of the statement. If the symbol begins with a dot `.' then the statement is an assembler directive: typically valid for any computer. If the symbol begins with a letter the statement is an assembly language "instruction": it assembles into a machine language instruction. Different versions of `as' for different computers recognize different instructions. In fact, the same symbol may represent a different instruction in a different computer's assembly language. A label is a symbol immediately followed by a colon (`:'). Whitespace before a label or after a colon is permitted, but you may not have whitespace between a label's symbol and its colon. *Note Labels::. For HPPA targets, labels need not be immediately followed by a colon, but the definition of a label must begin in column zero. This also implies that only one label may be defined on each line. label: .directive followed by something another_label: # This is an empty statement. instruction operand_1, operand_2, ... File: as.info, Node: Constants, Prev: Statements, Up: Syntax Constants ========= A constant is a number, written so that its value is known by inspection, without knowing any context. Like this: .byte 74, 0112, 092, 0x4A, 0X4a, 'J, '\J # All the same value. .ascii "Ring the bell\7" # A string constant. .octa 0x123456789abcdef0123456789ABCDEF0 # A bignum. .float 0f-314159265358979323846264338327\ 95028841971.693993751E-40 # - pi, a flonum. * Menu: * Characters:: Character Constants * Numbers:: Number Constants File: as.info, Node: Characters, Next: Numbers, Up: Constants Character Constants ------------------- There are two kinds of character constants. A "character" stands for one character in one byte and its value may be used in numeric expressions. String constants (properly called string *literals*) are potentially many bytes and their values may not be used in arithmetic expressions. * Menu: * Strings:: Strings * Chars:: Characters File: as.info, Node: Strings, Next: Chars, Up: Characters Strings ....... A "string" is written between double-quotes. It may contain double-quotes or null characters. The way to get special characters into a string is to "escape" these characters: precede them with a backslash `\' character. For example `\\' represents one backslash: the first `\' is an escape which tells `as' to interpret the second character literally as a backslash (which prevents `as' from recognizing the second `\' as an escape character). The complete list of escapes follows. Mnemonic for backspace; for ASCII this is octal code 010. Mnemonic for FormFeed; for ASCII this is octal code 014. Mnemonic for newline; for ASCII this is octal code 012. Mnemonic for carriage-Return; for ASCII this is octal code 015. Mnemonic for horizontal Tab; for ASCII this is octal code 011. `\ DIGIT DIGIT DIGIT' An octal character code. The numeric code is 3 octal digits. For compatibility with other Unix systems, 8 and 9 are accepted as digits: for example, `\008' has the value 010, and `\009' the value 011. `\`x' HEX-DIGITS...' A hex character code. All trailing hex digits are combined. Either upper or lower case `x' works. Represents one `\' character. Represents one `"' character. Needed in strings to represent this character, because an unescaped `"' would end the string. `\ ANYTHING-ELSE' Any other character when escaped by `\' gives a warning, but assembles as if the `\' was not present. The idea is that if you used an escape sequence you clearly didn't want the literal interpretation of the following character. However `as' has no other interpretation, so `as' knows it is giving you the wrong code and warns you of the fact. Which characters are escapable, and what those escapes represent, varies widely among assemblers. The current set is what we think the BSD 4.2 assembler recognizes, and is a subset of what most C compilers recognize. If you are in doubt, do not use an escape sequence. File: as.info, Node: Chars, Prev: Strings, Up: Characters Characters .......... A single character may be written as a single quote immediately followed by that character. The same escapes apply to characters as to strings. So if you want to write the character backslash, you must write `'\\' where the first `\' escapes the second `\'. As you can see, the quote is an acute accent, not a grave accent. A newline immediately following an acute accent is taken as a literal character and does not count as the end of a statement. The value of a character constant in a numeric expression is the machine's byte-wide code for that character. `as' assumes your character code is ASCII: `'A' means 65, `'B' means 66, and so on. File: as.info, Node: Numbers, Prev: Characters, Up: Constants Number Constants ---------------- `as' distinguishes three kinds of numbers according to how they are stored in the target machine. *Integers* are numbers that would fit into an `int' in the C language. *Bignums* are integers, but they are stored in more than 32 bits. *Flonums* are floating point numbers, described below. * Menu: * Integers:: Integers * Bignums:: Bignums * Flonums:: Flonums File: as.info, Node: Integers, Next: Bignums, Up: Numbers Integers ........ A binary integer is `0b' or `0B' followed by zero or more of the binary digits `01'. An octal integer is `0' followed by zero or more of the octal digits (`01234567'). A decimal integer starts with a non-zero digit followed by zero or more digits (`0123456789'). A hexadecimal integer is `0x' or `0X' followed by one or more hexadecimal digits chosen from `0123456789abcdefABCDEF'. Integers have the usual values. To denote a negative integer, use the prefix operator `-' discussed under expressions (*note Prefix Operators: Prefix Ops.). File: as.info, Node: Bignums, Next: Flonums, Prev: Integers, Up: Numbers Bignums ....... A "bignum" has the same syntax and semantics as an integer except that the number (or its negative) takes more than 32 bits to represent in binary. The distinction is made because in some places integers are permitted while bignums are not. File: as.info, Node: Flonums, Prev: Bignums, Up: Numbers Flonums ....... A "flonum" represents a floating point number. The translation is indirect: a decimal floating point number from the text is converted by `as' to a generic binary floating point number of more than sufficient precision. This generic floating point number is converted to a particular computer's floating point format (or formats) by a portion of `as' specialized to that computer. A flonum is written by writing (in order) * The digit `0'. (`0' is optional on the HPPA.) * A letter, to tell `as' the rest of the number is a flonum. `e' is recommended. Case is not important. On the H8/300, H8/500, Hitachi SH, and AMD 29K architectures, the letter must be one of the letters `DFPRSX' (in upper or lower case). On the Intel 960 architecture, the letter must be one of the letters `DFT' (in upper or lower case). On the HPPA architecture, the letter must be `E' (upper case only). * An optional sign: either `+' or `-'. * An optional "integer part": zero or more decimal digits. * An optional "fractional part": `.' followed by zero or more decimal digits. * An optional exponent, consisting of: * An `E' or `e'. * Optional sign: either `+' or `-'. * One or more decimal digits. At least one of the integer part or the fractional part must be present. The floating point number has the usual base-10 value. `as' does all processing using integers. Flonums are computed independently of any floating point hardware in the computer running `as'. File: as.info, Node: Sections, Next: Symbols, Prev: Syntax, Up: Top Sections and Relocation *********************** * Menu: * Secs Background:: Background * Ld Sections:: ld Sections * As Sections:: as Internal Sections * Sub-Sections:: Sub-Sections * bss:: bss Section File: as.info, Node: Secs Background, Next: Ld Sections, Up: Sections Background ========== Roughly, a section is a range of addresses, with no gaps; all data "in" those addresses is treated the same for some particular purpose. For example there may be a "read only" section. The linker `ld' reads many object files (partial programs) and combines their contents to form a runnable program. When `as' emits an object file, the partial program is assumed to start at address 0. `ld' assigns the final addresses for the partial program, so that different partial programs do not overlap. This is actually an oversimplification, but it suffices to explain how `as' uses sections. `ld' moves blocks of bytes of your program to their run-time addresses. These blocks slide to their run-time addresses as rigid units; their length does not change and neither does the order of bytes within them. Such a rigid unit is called a *section*. Assigning run-time addresses to sections is called "relocation". It includes the task of adjusting mentions of object-file addresses so they refer to the proper run-time addresses. For the H8/300 and H8/500, and for the Hitachi SH, `as' pads sections if needed to ensure they end on a word (sixteen bit) boundary. An object file written by `as' has at least three sections, any of which may be empty. These are named "text", "data" and "bss" sections. When it generates COFF output, `as' can also generate whatever other named sections you specify using the `.section' directive (*note `.section': Section.). If you do not use any directives that place output in the `.text' or `.data' sections, these sections still exist, but are empty. When `as' generates SOM or ELF output for the HPPA, `as' can also generate whatever other named sections you specify using the `.space' and `.subspace' directives. See `HP9000 Series 800 Assembly Language Reference Manual' (HP 92432-90001) for details on the `.space' and `.subspace' assembler directives. Additionally, `as' uses different names for the standard text, data, and bss sections when generating SOM output. Program text is placed into the `$CODE$' section, data into `$DATA$', and BSS into `$BSS$'. Within the object file, the text section starts at address `0', the data section follows, and the bss section follows the data section. When generating either SOM or ELF output files on the HPPA, the text section starts at address `0', the data section at address `0x4000000', and the bss section follows the data section. To let `ld' know which data changes when the sections are relocated, and how to change that data, `as' also writes to the object file details of the relocation needed. To perform relocation `ld' must know, each time an address in the object file is mentioned: * Where in the object file is the beginning of this reference to an address? * How long (in bytes) is this reference? * Which section does the address refer to? What is the numeric value of (ADDRESS) - (START-ADDRESS OF SECTION)? * Is the reference to an address "Program-Counter relative"? In fact, every address `as' ever uses is expressed as (SECTION) + (OFFSET INTO SECTION) Further, most expressions `as' computes have this section-relative nature. (For some object formats, such as SOM for the HPPA, some expressions are symbol-relative instead.) In this manual we use the notation {SECNAME N} to mean "offset N into section SECNAME." Apart from text, data and bss sections you need to know about the "absolute" section. When `ld' mixes partial programs, addresses in the absolute section remain unchanged. For example, address `{absolute 0}' is "relocated" to run-time address 0 by `ld'. Although the linker never arranges two partial programs' data sections with overlapping addresses after linking, *by definition* their absolute sections must overlap. Address `{absolute 239}' in one part of a program is always the same address when the program is running as address `{absolute 239}' in any other part of the program. The idea of sections is extended to the "undefined" section. Any address whose section is unknown at assembly time is by definition rendered {undefined U}--where U is filled in later. Since numbers are always defined, the only way to generate an undefined address is to mention an undefined symbol. A reference to a named common block would be such a symbol: its value is unknown at assembly time so it has section *undefined*. By analogy the word *section* is used to describe groups of sections in the linked program. `ld' puts all partial programs' text sections in contiguous addresses in the linked program. It is customary to refer to the *text section* of a program, meaning all the addresses of all partial programs' text sections. Likewise for data and bss sections. Some sections are manipulated by `ld'; others are invented for use of `as' and have no meaning except during assembly.