cc65/doc/cl65.txt

				   cl65

		     Compile and link utility for cc65

		 (C) Copyright 1999 Ullrich von Bassewitz
			    (uz@musoftware.de)



Contents
--------

  1. Overview

  2. Basic Usage

  3. More usage

  4. Examples

  5. Bugs/Feedback

  6. Copyright



1. Overview
-----------

cl65 is a frontend for cc65, ca65 and ld65. While you may not use the full
power of the tools when calling them through cl65, most features are
available, and the use of cl65 is much simpler.



2. Usage
--------

The cl65 compile and link utility may be used to compile, assemble and
link files. While the separate tools do just one step, cl65 knows how to
build object files from C files (by calling the compiler, then the
assembler) and other things.

	Usage: cl65 [options] file
	Options:
		-A              Strict ANSI mode
		-C name         Use linker config file
		-D sym[=defn]   Define a preprocessor symbol
		-I path         Set an include directory path
		-Ln name        Create a VICE label file
		-O              Optimize code
		-Oi             Optimize code, inline functions
		-Or             Optimize code, honour the register keyword
		-Os             Optimize code, inline known C funtions
		-S              Compile but don't assemble and link
		-V              Print the version number
		-W              Suppress warnings
		-c              Compiler and assemble but don't link
		-d              Debug mode
		-g              Add debug info
		-h              Help (this text)
		-m name         Create a map file
		-o name         Name the output file
		-t system       Set the target system
		-v              Verbose mode
		-vm             Verbose map file

Most of the options have the same meaning than the corresponding compiler,
assembler or linker option. If an option is available for more than one
of the tools, it is set for all tools, where it is available. One example
for this is -v: The compiler, the assembler and the linker are all called
with the -v switch.

There are a few remaining options that control the behaviour of cl65:

The -S option forces cl65 to stop after the assembly step. This means that
C files are translated into assembler files, but nothing more is done.
Assembler files, object files and libraries given on the command line are
ignored.

The -c options forces cl65 to stop after the assembly step. This means
that C and assembler files given on the command line are translated into
object files, but there is no link step, and object files and libraries
given on the command line are ignored.

The -o option is used for the target name in the final step. This causes
problems, if the linker will not be called, and there are several input
files on the command line. In this case, the name given with -o will be
used for all of them, which makes the option pretty useless. You shouldn't
use -o when more than one output file is created.

The default for the -t option is different from the compiler and linker in
the case that the option is missing: While the compiler and linker will
use the "none" system settings by default, cl65 will use the C64 as a
target system by default. This was choosen since most people seem to use
cc65 to develop for the C64.



3. More usage
-------------

Since cl65 was created to simplify the use of the cc65 development
package, it tries to be smart about several things.

  - If you don't give a target system on the command line, cl65
    defaults to the C64.

  - When linking, cl65 will supply the names of the startup file and
    library for the target system to the linker, so you don't have to do
    that.

  - If the final step is the linker, and the name of the output file was
    not explicitly given, cl65 will use the name of the first input file
    without the extension, provided that the name of this file has an
    extension. So you don't need to name the executable name in most
    cases, just give the name of your "main" file as first input file.



4. Examples
-----------

The morse trainer software, which consists of one C file (morse.c) and one
assembler file (irq.s) will need the following separate steps to compile
into an executable named morse:

	cc65 -g -Oi -t c64 morse.c
	ca65 -g morse.s
	ca65 -g irq.s
	ld65 -t c64 -o morse c64.o morse.o irq.o c64.lib

When using cl65, this is simplified to

	cl65 -g -Oi morse.c irq.s


As a general rule, you may use cl65 instead of cc65 at most times,
especially in makefiles to build object files directly from C files. Use

	.c.o:
		cl65 -g -Oi $<

to do this.



5. Bugs/Feedback
----------------

If you have problems using the utility, if you find any bugs, or if you're
doing something interesting with it, I would be glad to hear from you.
Feel free to contact me by email (uz@musoftware.de).



6. Copyright
------------

cl65 is (C) Copyright 1998 Ullrich von Bassewitz. For usage of the
binaries and/or sources the following conditions do apply:

This software is provided 'as-is', without any expressed or implied
warranty.  In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
arising from the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
freely, subject to the following restrictions:

1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
   claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
   in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
   appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not
   be misrepresented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source
   distribution.