Extensions

Now for the good stuff:

• Labels can be any length that will fit onto one source line (currently 127 characters maximum). Since labels are stored on the heap, the number of labels that can be processed is limited only by available memory.

  (TIGCC)

  The maximum has been increased from 127 to 256 (for Win32, starting from 2.71.F3a, for GNU/Linux, starting from 2.71.F3c, for all other platforms, starting from 2.71.F3s).

• The first character of a label can be '@' if the next character is not numeric (this avoids confusion with octal constants). This provides compatibility with the Lattice C compiler.
• Since section data and user macro definitions are stored in the symbol table (see above), they too are limited only by available memory (actually, there is a hard-coded limit of 32,767 sections, but I doubt anyone will run into that one).
• The only values a label cannot take are the register names - A68k can distinguish between the same name used as a label, instruction name or directive, macro name, or section name.
• Section and user macro names appear in the symbol table dump, and will also be cross-referenced. Their names can be the same as any label (see above); they will be listed separately.
• INCLUDEs and macro calls can be nested indefinitely, limited only by available memory. The message "Secondary heap overflow - assembly terminated" will be displayed if memory is exhausted. You can increase the size of this heap using the '-w' switch (see below). Recursive macros are supported; recursive INCLUDEs will, of course, result in a loop that will be broken only when the heap overflows.
• The EVEN directive forces alignment on a word (2-byte) boundary. It does the same thing as CNOP 0,2 (this one is left over from the original code).
• Backward references to labels within the current CODE section will be converted to PC-relative addressing with displacement if this mode is legal for the instruction. This feature is disabled by the '-n' switch.
• If a MOVEM instruction only specifies one register, it is converted to the corresponding MOVE instruction. Instructions such as MOVEM D0-D0,label will not be converted, however. This feature is disabled by the '-n' switch.

  (TIGCC)

  Starting from v.2.71.F3c, this feature can now also be disabled by using the '-rm' switch.

• ADD, SUB, and MOVE instructions will be converted to ADDQ, SUBQ, and MOVEQ respectively if possible. Instructions coded explicitly (e.g. ADDA or ADDI) will not be converted. This feature is disabled by the '-n' switch.
• ADD, CMP, SUB, and MOVE to an address register are converted to ADDA, CMPA, SUBA, and MOVEA respectively, unless (for ADD, SUB, or MOVE) they have already been converted to quick form.
• ADD, AND, CMP, EOR, OR, and SUB of an immediate value are converted to ADDI, ANDI, CMPI, EORI, ORI, and SUBI respectively (unless the address register or quick conversion above has already been done).
• 
  

  (TIGCC)

  Starting from v.2.71.F3c, ADDA and SUBA (or ADD and SUB to an address register) will now be converted to LEA if possible. This feature can be disabled using the '-n' switch (disables all optimizations) or the '-ra' switch (disables just this single optimization).

• 
  

  (TIGCC)

  Starting from v.2.71.F3c, LEA n(an),an will now be converted to ADDQ or SUBQ if possible. This feature can be disabled using the '-n' switch (disables all optimizations) or the '-rl' switch (disables just this single optimization).

• If both operands of a CMP instruction are postincrement mode, the instruction is converted to CMPM.
• Operands of the form '0(An)' will be treated as '(An)' except for the MOVEP instruction, which always requires a displacement. This feature is disabled by the '-n' switch.
• The SECTION directive allows a third parameter. This can be specified as either CHIP or FAST (upper or lower case). If this parameter is present, the hunk will be written with the MEMF_CHIP or MEMF_FAST bit set. This allows you to produce "pre-ATOMized" object modules.
• The synonyms DATA and BSS are accepted for SECTION directives starting data or BSS hunks. The CHIP and FAST options (see above) can also be used, e.g. BSS name,CHIP.
• The following synonyms have been implemented for compatibility with the Aztec assembler:
  
  
  • CSEG is treated the same as CODE or SECTION name,CODE.
  • DSEG is treated the same as DATA or SECTION name,DATA.
  • PUBLIC is treated as either XDEF or XREF, depending on whether or not the symbol in question has been defined in the current source module. A single PUBLIC directive can name a mixture of internally- and externally-defined symbols.
• The ability to produce Motorola S-records is retained from the original code. The '-s' switch causes the assembler to produce S-format instead of AmigaDOS format. Relocatable code cannot be produced in this format.
• Error messages consist of three parts. The position of the offending line is given as a line number within the current module. If the line is within a macro expansion or INCLUDE file, the position of the macro call or INCLUDE statement in the outer module is given as well. This process is repeated until the outermost source module is reached. Next, the offending source line itself is listed. Finally, the errors for that line are displayed. A flag '^' is placed under the column where the error was detected.
• Named local labels are supported. These work the same as the local labels supported by the Metacomco assembler (nnn$) but are formed in the same manner as normal labels, except that they must be preceded by a backslash ('\').
• The following synonyms have been implemented for compatibility with the Assempro assembler:
  
  
  • ENDIF is treated the same as ENDC.
  • '=' is treated the same as EQU.
  • '|' is treated the same as '!' (logical OR).
• Quotation marks (") can be used as string delimiters as well as apostrophes ('). Any given string must begin and end with the same delimiter. This allows such statements as the following:

       MOVEQ   "'",D0
       DC.B    "This is Charlie's assembler."
  

  Note that you can still define an apostrophe within a string delimited by apostrophes if you double it, e.g.

       MOVEQ   '''',D0
       DC.B    'This is Charlie''s assembler.'
  

• If any errors are found in the assembly, the object code file will be scratched, unless you include the '-k' (keep) flag on the command line.
• The symbols .A68K, .a68k, .a68K, and .A68k are automatically defined as SET symbols having absolute values of 1. This enables a source program to determine whether it is being assembled by this assembler, and is effectively insensitive as to whether or not it is checked in upper case.
• A zeroth positional macro parameter '\0' is supported. It is replaced by the length of the macro call (B, W, or L, defaulting to W). For instance, given the macro:

  moov MACRO
       move.\0 \1,\2
       ENDM
  

  the macro call

       moov.l  d0,d1
  

  would be expanded as

       move.l  d0,d1
  

• If an INCLUDE file doesn't generate any code and no listing file is required (including suppression of the listing using NOLIST), it won't be read again in pass 2. The statement numbers will be bumped to keep in proper alignment. This can really speed up assemblies that INCLUDE lots of EQUates.
• The ORG directive is supported. It works like RORG, except that it takes the actual address to be jumped to, rather than an offset from the start of the current section. The given address must be in the current section. As far as A68k is concerned, the only real difference between ORG and RORG is that the ORG value must be relocatable, while the RORG value must be absolute.
• Branch (Bcc, including BRA and BSR) instructions will be converted to short form if possible. Shortening a branch may bring other branches within range of shortening - this can set up a ripple effect, and A68k may not catch all branches that could theoretically be optimized. Any branches which A68k misses (there shouldn't be too many under normal circumstances) can be displayed by specifying the '-f' switch (see below). Branch optimization is disabled by the '-n' switch.
• The INCBIN directive allows the contents of any file to be included in A68k's object code output. Its format is the same as the INCLUDE directive, but the file can contain any data at all, printable or not. Rather than being processed as source code by the assembler, the entire contents of the file is copied directly to the current position in the object code output file with no reformatting whatsoever. The effect is the same as if DC statements whose constants represent the file's contents were inserted in place of the INCBIN directive.
• The opcode TTL is accepted as a synonym for TITLE.
• A command-line option '-g' causes A68k to treat any undefined symbol as XREF.
• The register list in a MOVEM instruction can be an immediate operand which specifies the actual mask bits.
• 
  

  (TIGCC)

  The following synonyms are also supported: Starting from 2.71.F3a: BLO = BCS BHS = BCC DBLO = DBCS DBHS = DBCC ROLX = ROXL RORX = ROXR Starting from 2.71.F3c: SLO = SCS SHS = SCC