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ca65
A Macro Crossassembler for the 6502/65C02/65816 CPUs
(C) Copyright 1998-1999 Ullrich von Bassewitz
(uz@musoftware.de)
Contents
--------
1. Overview
2. Usage
3. Input format
4. Expressions
5. Symbols and labels
6. Control commands
7. Macros
8. Macro packages
9. Bugs/Feedback
10. Copyright
1. Overview
-----------
ca65 is a replacement for the ra65 assembler that was part of the cc65 C
compiler developed by John R. Dunning. I had some problems with ra65 and
the copyright does not permit some things which I wanted to be possible,
so I decided to write a completely new assembler/linker/archiver suite for
the cc65 compiler. ca65 is part of this suite.
Some parts of the assembler (code generation and some routines for symbol
table handling) are taken from an older crossassembler named a816 written
by me a long time ago.
Here's a list of the design criteria, that were important for the
development:
* The assembler must support macros. Macros are not essential, but they
make some things easier, especially when you use the assembler in the
backend of a compiler.
* The assembler must support the newer 65C02 and 65816 CPUs. I have been
thinking about a 65816 backend for the C compiler, and even my old
a816 assembler had support for these CPUs, so this wasn't really a
problem.
* The assembler must produce relocatable code. This necessary for the
compiler support, and it is more convenient.
* Conditional assembly must be supported. This is a must for bigger
projects written in assembler (like Elite128).
* The assembler must support segments, and it must support more than
three segments (this is the count, most other assemblers support).
Having more than one code segments helps developing code for systems
with a divided ROM area (like the C64).
* The linker must be able to resolve arbitrary expressions. Years ago I
spent half a day to convince Borlands Turbo Assembler to let me use
the size of a structure I had created. So I decided that this is a
must. The linker should be able to get things like
.import S1, S2
.export Special
Special = 2*S1 + S2/7
right.
* True lexical nesting for symbols. This is very convenient for larger
assembly projects.
* "Cheap" local symbols without lexical nesting for those quick, late
night hacks.
* I liked the idea of "options" as Anre Fachats .o65 format has it, so I
introduced the concept into the object file format use by the new cc65
binutils.
* The assembler will be a one pass assembler. There was no real need for
this decision, but I've written several multipass assemblers, and it
started to get boring. A one pass assembler needs much more elaborated
data structures, and because of that it's much more fun:-)
There is one drawback with this point: It is nearly impossible to
generate a listing when reading the source file only once without
storing the source file in memory. Consequently, the assembler is not
able to produce a listing. This could be added by reading the source
file a second time if a listing was requested, but I didn't see an
urgent need for a listing, so this was not a disadvantage for me.
* Non-GPLed code that may be used in any project without restrictions or
fear of "GPL infecting" other code.
2. Usage
--------
The assembler accepts the following options:
-g Generate debug info
-i Ignore case of symbols
-l Create a listing if assembly was ok
-o name Name the output file
-s Enable smart mode
-v Increase verbosity
-D name[=value] Define a symbol
-U Mark unresolved symbols as import
-V Print the assembler version
-W n Set warning level n
--cpu type Set cpu type
--pagelength n Set the page length for the listing
--smart Enable smart mode
When the -g option (or the equivalent control command .DEBUGINFO) is used,
the assembler will add a section to the object file that contains all
symbols (including local ones) together with the symbol values and source
file positions. The linker will put these additional symbols into the
VICE label file, so even local symbols can be seen in the VICE monitor.
The option -i makes the assembler case insensitive on identifiers and
labels. This option will override the default, but may itself be overriden
by the .CASE control command (see section 6).
The default output name is the name of the input file with the extension
replaced by ".o". If you don't like that, you may give another name with
the -o option. The output file will be placed in the same directory as the
source file, or, if -o is given, the full path in this name is used.
In smart mode (enabled by -s or the .SMART pseudo instruction) the
assembler will track usage of the REP and SEP instructions in 65816 mode
and update the operand sizes accordingly. If the operand of such an
instruction cannot be evaluated by the assembler (for example, because the
operand is an imported symbol), a warning is issued. Beware: Since the
assembler cannot trace the execution flow this may lead to false results
in some cases. If in doubt, use the .ixx and .axx instructions to tell the
assembler about the current settings. Smart mode is off by default.
-v does increase the assembler verbosity and is usually only needed for
debugging purposes. You may use this option more than one time for even
more verbose output.
-D allows you to predefine symbols on the command line. Without a value,
the symbol is defined with the value zero. When giving a value, you may
use the '$' prefix for hexadecimal symbols. Please note that for some
operating systems, '$' has a special meaning, so you may have to quote
the expression.
-U marks symbols that are not defined in the sources as imported symbols.
This should be used with care since it delays error messages about typos
and such until the linker is run. The compiler uses the equivalent of
this switch (.AUTOIMPORT, see control command section below) to enable
auto imported symbols for the runtime library. However, the compiler is
supposed to generate code that runs through the assembler without
problems, something which is not always true for assembler programmers.
-V prints the version number of the assembler. If you send any suggestions
or bugfixes, please include your version number.
-Wn sets the warning level for the assembler. Using -W2 the assembler will
even warn about such things like unused imported symbols. The default
warning level is 1, and it would probably be silly to set it to something
lower.
--cpu sets the default for the CPU type. The option takes a parameter,
which may be one of
6502, 65C02, 65816 and sunplus
(the latter is not available in the freeware version).
--pagelength sets the length of a listing page in lines. See the
.PAGELENGTH directive for more information.
--smart is identical to -s - see there.
3. Input format
---------------
The assembler accepts the standard 6502/65816 assembler syntax. One line
may contain a label (which is identified by a colon), and, in addition to
the label, an assembler mnemonic, a macro, or a control command (see
section 6 for supported control commands). Alternatively, the line may
contain a symbol definition using the '=' token. Everything after a
semicolon is handled as a comment (that is, it is ignored).
Here are some examples for valid input lines:
Label: ; A label and a comment
lda #$20 ; A 6502 instruction plus comment
L1: ldx #$20 ; Same with label
L2: .byte "Hello world" ; Label plus control command
mymac $20 ; Macro expansion
MySym = 3*L1 ; Symbol definition
MaSym = Label ; Another symbol
The assembler accepts all valid 6502 mnemonics when in 6502 mode (the
default). The assembler accepts all valid 65SC02 mnemonics when in 65SC02
mode (after a .PC02 command is found). The assembler accepts all valid
65816 mnemonics with a few exceptions after a .P816 command is found.
These exceptions are listed below.
In 65816 mode several aliases are accepted in addition to the official
mnemonics:
BGE is an alias for BCS
BLT is an alias for BCC
CPA is an alias for CMP
DEA is an alias for DEC A
INA is an alias for INC A
SWA is an alias for XBA
TAD is an alias for TCD
TAS is an alias for TCS
TDA is an alias for TDC
TSA is an alias for TSC
Evaluation of banked expressions in 65816 mode differs slightly from the
official syntax:
Instead of accepting a 24 bit address (something that is difficult for
the assembler to determine and would have required one more special
.import command), the bank and the absolute address in that bank are
separated by a dot:
jsl 3.$1234 ; Call subroutine at $1234 in bank 3
For literal values, the assembler accepts the widely used number formats:
A preceeding '$' denotes a hex value, a preceeding '%' denotes a binary
value, and a bare number is interpeted as a decimal. There are currently
no octal values and no floats.
4. Expressions
--------------
All expressions are evaluated with (at least) 32 bit precision. An
expression may contain constant values and any combination of internal and
external symbols. Expressions that cannot be evaluated at assembly time
are stored inside the object file for evaluation by the linker.
Expressions referencing imported symbols must always be evaluated by the
linker.
Sometimes, the assembler must know about the size of the value that is the
result of an expression. This is usually the case, if a decision has to be
made, to generate a zero page or an absolute memory references. In this
case, the assembler has to make some assumptions about the result of an
expression:
* If the result of an expression is constant, the actual value is
checked to see if it's a byte sized expression or not.
* If the expression is explicitly casted to a byte sized expression by
one of the '>'/'<' operators, it is a byte expression.
* If this is not the case, and the expression contains a symbol,
explicitly declared as zero page symbol (by one of the .importzp or
.exportzp instructions), then the whole expression is assumed to be
byte sized.
* If the expression contains symbols that are not defined, and these
symbols are local symbols, the enclosing scopes are searched for a
symbol with the same name. If one exists and this symbol is defined,
it's attributes are used to determine the result size.
* In all other cases the expression is assumed to be word sized.
Note: If the assembler is not able to evaluate the expression at assembly
time, the linker will evaluate it and check for range errors as soon as
the result is known.
Boolean expressions:
In the context of a boolean expression, any non zero value is evaluated as
true, any other value to false. The result of a boolean expression is 1 if
it's true, and zero if it's false. There are boolean operators with extrem
low precedence with version 2.x (where x > 0). The .AND and .OR operators
are shortcut operators. That is, if the result of the expression is
already known, after evaluating the left hand side, the right hand side is
not evaluated.
Available operators sorted by precedence:
Op Description Precedence
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* Builtin pseudo variable (r/o) 1
.BLANK Builtin function 1
.CONCAT Builtin function 1
.CONST Builtin function 1
.CPU Builtin pseudo variable (r/o) 1
.DEFINED Builtin function 1
.MATCH Builtin function 1
.XMATCH Builtin function 1
.PARAMCOUNT Builtin pseudo variable (r/o) 1
.REFERENCED Builtin function 1
.STRING Builtin function 1
:: Global namespace override 1
+ Unary plus 1
- Unary minus 1
~ Unary bitwise not 1
.BITNOT Unary bitwise not 1
< Low byte operator 1
> High byte operator 1
* Multiplication 2
/ Division 2
.MOD Modulo operation 2
& Bitwise and 2
.BITAND Bitwise and 2
^ Bitwise xor 2
.BITXOR Bitwise xor 2
<< Shift left operator 2
.SHL Shift left operator 2
>> Shift right operator 2
.SHR Shift right operator 2
+ Binary plus 3
- Binary minus 3
| Binary or 3
.BITOR Binary or 3
= Compare operation (equal) 4
<> Compare operation (not equal) 4
< Compare operation (less) 4
> Compare operation (greater) 4
<= Compare operation (less or equal) 4
>= Compare operation (greater or equal) 4
&& Boolean and 5
.AND Boolean and 5
.XOR Boolean xor 5
|| Boolean or 6
.OR Boolean or 6
! Boolean not 7
.NOT Boolean not 7
To force a specific order of evaluation, braces may be used as usual.
Some of the pseudo variables mentioned above need some more explanation:
* This symbol is replaced by the value of the program
counter at start of the current instruction. Note, that
'*' yields a rvalue, that means, you cannot assign to it.
Use .ORG to set the program counter in sections with
absolute code.
5. Symbols and labels
---------------------
The assembler allows you to use symbols instead of naked values to make
the source more readable. There are a lot of different ways to define and
use symbols and labels, giving a lot of flexibility.
- Numeric constants
Numeric constants are defined using the equal sign. After doing
two = 2
may use the symbol "two" in every place where a number is expected,
and it is evaluated to the value 2 in this context. An example would be
four = two * two
- Standard labels
A label is defined by writing the name of the label at the start of
the line (before any instruction mnemonic, macro or pseudo
directive), followed by a colon. This will declare a symbol with the
given name and the value of the current program counter.
- Local labels and symbols
Using the .PROC directive, it is possible to create regions of code
where the names of labels and symbols are local to this region. They
are not know outside and cannot be accessed from there. Such regions
may be nested like PROCEDUREs in Pascal.
See the description of the .PROC directive for more information.
- Cheap local labels
Cheap local labels are defined like standard labels, but the name of
the label must begin with a special symbol (usually '@', but this can
be changed by the .LOCALCHAR directive).
Cheap local labels are visible only between two no cheap labels. As
soon as a standard symbol is encountered (this may also be a local
symbol if inside a region defined with the .PROC directive), the
cheap local symbol goes out of scope.
You may use cheap local labels as an easy way to reuse common label
names like "Loop". Here is an example:
Clear: lda #$00 ; Global label
ldy #$20
@Loop: sta Mem,y ; Local label
dey
bne @Loop ; Ok
rts
Sub: ... ; New global label
bne @Loop ; ERROR: Unknown identifier!
- Unnamed labels
If you really want to write messy code, there are also unnamed
labels. These labels do not have a name (you guessed that already,
didn't you?). A colon is used to mark the absence of the name.
Unnamed labels may be accessed by using the colon plus several minus
or plus characters as a label designator. Using the '-' characters
will create a back reference (use the n'th label backwards), using
'+' will create a forward reference (use the n'th label in forward
direction. An example will help to understand this:
: lda (ptr1),y ; #1
cmp (ptr2),y
bne :+ ; -> #2
tax
beq :+++ ; -> #4
iny
bne :- ; -> #1
inc ptr1+1
inc ptr2+1
bne :- ; -> #1
: bcs :+ ; #2 -> #3
ldx #$FF
rts
: ldx #$01 ; #3
: rts ; #4
As you can see from the example, unnamed labels will make even short
sections of code hard to understand, because you have to count labels
to find branch targets (this is the reason why I for my part do
prefer the "cheap" local labels). Nevertheless, unnamed labels are
convenient in some situations, so it's your decision.
- Using macros to define labels and constants
While there are drawbacks with this approach, it may be handy in some
situations. Using .DEFINE, it is possible to define symbols or
constants that may be used elsewhere. Since the macro facility works
on a very low level, there is no scoping. On the other side, you may
also define string constants this way (this is not possible with the
other symbol types).
Example:
.DEFINE two 2
.DEFINE version "SOS V2.3"
four = two * two ; Ok
.byte version ; Ok
.PROC ; Start local scope
two = 3 ; Will give "2 = 3" - invalid!
.ENDPROC
If .DEBUGINFO is enabled (or -g is given on the command line), global,
local and cheap local labels are written to the object file and will be
available in the symbol file via the linker. Unnamed labels are not
written to the object file, because they don't have a name which would
allow to access them.
6. Control commands
-------------------
Here's a list of all control commands and a description, what they do:
.A16
Valid only in 65816 mode. Switch the accumulator to 16 bit.
Note: This command will not emit any code, it will tell the assembler to
create 16 bit operands for immediate accumulator adressing mode.
See also: .SMART
.A8
Valid only in 65816 mode. Switch the accumulator to 8 bit.
Note: This command will not emit any code, it will tell the assembler to
create 8 bit operands for immediate accu adressing mode.
See also: .SMART
.ADDR
Define word sized data. In 6502 mode, this is an alias for .WORD and
may be used for better readability if the data words are address values.
In 65816 mode, the address is forced to be 16 bit wide to fit into the
current segment. See also .FARADDR. The command must be followed by a
sequence of (not necessarily constant) expressions.
Example:
.addr $0D00, $AF13, _Clear
.ALIGN
Align data to a given boundary. The command expects a constant integer
argument that must be a power of two, plus an optional second argument
in byte range. If there is a second argument, it is used as fill value,
otherwise the value defined in the linker configuration file is used
(the default for this value is zero).
Since alignment depends on the base address of the module, you must
give the same (or a greater) alignment for the segment when linking.
The linker will give you a warning, if you don't do that.
Example:
.align 256
.ASCIIZ
Define a string with a trailing zero.
Example:
Msg: .asciiz "Hello world"
This will put the string "Hello world" followed by a binary zero into
the current segment. There may be more strings separated by commas, but
the binary zero is only appended once (after the last one).
.AUTOIMPORT
Is followd by a plus or a minus character. When switched on (using a
+), undefined symbols are automatically marked as import instead of
giving errors. When switched off (which is the default so this does not
make much sense), this does not happen and an error message is
displayed. The state of the autoimport flag is evaluated when the
complete source was translated, before outputing actual code, so it is
*not* possible to switch this feature on or off for separate sections of
code. The last setting is used for all symbols.
You should probably not use this switch because it delays error
messages about undefined symbols until the link stage. The cc65
compiler (which is supposed to produce correct assembler code in all
circumstances, something which is not true for most assembler
programmers) will insert this command to avoid importing each and every
routine from the runtime library.
Example:
.autoimport + ; Switch on auto import
.BLANK
Builtin function. The function evaluates its argument in braces and
yields "false" if the argument is non blank (there is an argument), and
"true" if there is no argument. As an example, the .IFBLANK statement
may be replaced by
.if .blank(arg)
.BSS
Switch to the BSS segment. The name of the BSS segment is always "BSS",
so this is a shortcut for
.segment "BSS"
See also the .SEGMENT command.
.BYTE
Define byte sized data. Must be followed by a sequence of (byte ranged)
expressions or strings.
Example:
.byte "Hello world", $0D, $00
.CASE
Switch on or off case sensitivity on identifiers. The default is off
(that is, identifiers are case sensitive), but may be changed by the
-i switch on the command line.
The command must be followed by a '+' or '-' character to switch the
option on or off respectively.
Example:
.case - ; Identifiers are not case sensitive
.CODE
Switch to the CODE segment. The name of the CODE segment is always
"CODE", so this is a shortcut for
.segment "CODE"
See also the .SEGMENT command.
.CONCAT
Builtin function. The function allows to concatenate a list of string
constants separated by commas. The result is a string constant that
is the concatentation of all arguments. This function is most useful
in macros and when used together with the .STRING builtin function.
The function may be used in any case where a string constant is
expected.
Example:
.include .concat ("myheader", ".", "inc)
This is the same as the command
.include "myheader.inc"
.CONST
Builtin function. The function evaluates its argument in braces and
yields "true" if the argument is a constant expression (that is, an
expression that yields a constant value at assembly time) and "false"
otherwise. As an example, the .IFCONST statement may be replaced by
.if .const(a + 3)
.CPU
Reading this pseudo variable will give a constant integer value that
tells which instruction set is currently enabled. Possible values are:
0 --> 6502
1 --> 65SC02
2 --> 65SC816
3 --> SunPlus SPC
It may be used to replace the .IFPxx pseudo instructions or to construct
even more complex expressions.
Example:
.if (.cpu = 0) .or (.cpu = 1)
txa
pha
tya
pha
.else
phx
phy
.endif
.DATA
Switch to the DATA segment. The name of the DATA segment is always
"DATA", so this is a shortcut for
.segment "DATA"
See also the .SEGMENT command.
.DBYT
Define word sized data with the hi and lo bytes swapped (use .WORD to
create word sized data in native 65XX format). Must be followed by a
sequence of (word ranged) expressions.
Example:
.dbyt $1234, $4512
This will emit the bytes
$12 $34 $45 $12
into the current segment in that order.
.DEBUGINFO
Switch on or off debug info generation. The default is off (that is,
the object file will not contain debug infos), but may be changed by the
-g switch on the command line.
The command must be followed by a '+' or '-' character to switch the
option on or off respectively.
Example:
.debuginfo + ; Generate debug info
.DEFINE
Start a define style macro definition. The command is followed by an
identifier (the macro name) and optionally by a list of formal arguments
in braces.
See separate section about macros.
.DEF
.DEFINED
Builtin function. The function expects an identifier as argument in
braces. The argument is evaluated, and the function yields "true" if the
identifier is a symbol that is already defined somewhere in the source
file up to the current position. Otherwise the function yields false. As
an example, the .IFDEF statement may be replaced by
.if .defined(a)
.DWORD
Define dword sized data (4 bytes) Must be followed by a sequence of
expressions.
Example:
.dword $12344512, $12FA489
.ELSE
Conditional assembly: Reverse the current condition.
.ELSEIF
Conditional assembly: Reverse current condition and test a new one.
.END
Forced end of assembly. Assembly stops at this point, even if the command
is read from an include file.
.ENDIF
Conditional assembly: Close a .IF... or .ELSE branch.
.ENDMAC
.ENDMACRO
End of macro definition (see separate section).
.ENDPROC
End of local lexical level (see .PROC).
.ERROR
Force an assembly error. The assembler will output an error message
preceeded by "User error" and will *not* produce an object file.
This command may be used to check for initial conditions that must be
set before assembling a source file.
Example:
.if foo = 1
...
.elseif bar = 1
...
.else
.error "Must define foo or bar!"
.endif
.EXITMAC
.EXITMACRO
Abort a macro expansion immidiately. This command is often useful in
recursive macros. See separate chapter about macros.
.EXPORT
Make symbols accessible from other modules. Must be followed by a comma
separated list of symbols to export.
Example:
.export foo, bar
.EXPORTZP
Make symbols accessible from other modules. Must be followed by a comma
separated list of symbols to export. The exported symbols are explicitly
marked as zero page symols.
Example:
.exportzp foo, bar
.FARADDR
Define far (24 bit) address data. The command must be followed by a
sequence of (not necessarily constant) expressions.
Example:
.faraddr DrawCircle, DrawRectangle, DrawHexagon
.FEATURE
This directive may be used to enable one or more compatibility features
of the assembler. While the use of .FEATURE should be avoided when
possible, it may be useful when porting sources written for other
assemblers. There is no way to switch a feature off, once you have
enabled it, so using
.FEATURE xxx
will enable the feature until end of assembly is reached.
The following features are available:
dollar_is_pc
The dollar sign may be used as an alias for the star (`*'), which
gives the value of the current PC in expressions.
Note: Assignment to the pseudo variable is not allowed.
labels_without_colons
Allow labels without a trailing colon. These labels are only accepted,
if they start at the beginning of a line (no leading white space).
loose_string_term
Accept single quotes as well as double quotes as terminators for string
constants.
at_in_identifiers
Accept the at character (`@') as a valid character in identifiers. The
at character is not allowed to start an identifier, even with this
feature enabled.
dollar_in_identifiers
Accept the dollar sign (`$') as a valid character in identifiers. The
at character is not allowed to start an identifier, even with this
feature enabled.
.FILEOPT
.FOPT
Insert an option string into the object file. There are two forms of
this command, one specifies the option by a keyword, the second
specifies it as a number. Since usage of the second one needs knowledge
of the internal encoding, its use is not recommended and I will only
describe the first form here.
The command is followed by one of the keywords
author
comment
compiler
a comma and a string. The option is written into the object file
together with the string value. This is currently unidirectional and
there is no way to actually use these options once they are in the
object file.
Examples:
.fileopt comment, "Code stolen from my brother"
.fileopt compiler, "BASIC 2.0"
.fopt author, "J. R. User"
.GLOBAL
Declare symbols as global. Must be followed by a comma separated list
of symbols to declare. Symbols from the list, that are defined somewhere
in the source, are exported, all others are imported. An additional
explicit .IMPORT or .EXPORT command for the same symbol is allowed.
Example:
.global foo, bar
.GLOBALZP
Declare symbols as global. Must be followed by a comma separated list
of symbols to declare. Symbols from the list, that are defined
somewhere in the source, are exported, all others are imported. An
additional explicit .IMPORT or .EXPORT command for the same symbol is
explicitly allowed. The symbols in the list are explicitly marked as
zero page symols.
Example:
.globalzp foo, bar
.I16
Valid only in 65816 mode. Switch the index registers to 16 bit.
Note: This command will not emit any code, it will tell the assembler to
create 16 bit operands for immediate operands.
See also:
.SMART
.I8
Valid only in 65816 mode. Switch the index registers to 8 bit.
Note: This command will not emit any code, it will tell the assembler to
create 8 bit operands for immediate operands.
See also:
.SMART
.IF
Conditional assembly: Evalute an expression and switch assembler output
on or off depending on the expression. The expression must be a constant
expression, that is, all operands must be defined.
A expression value of zero evaluates to FALSE, any other value evaluates
to TRUE.
.IFBLANK
Conditional assembly: Check if there are any remaining tokens in this
line, and evaluate to FALSE if this is the case, and to TRUE otherwise.
If the condition is not true, further lines are not assembled until
an .ELSE, .ELSEIF or .ENDIF directive.
This command is often used to check if a macro parameter was given.
Since an empty macro parameter will evaluate to nothing, the condition
will evaluate to FALSE if an empty parameter was given.
Example:
.macro arg1, arg2
.ifblank arg2
lda #arg1
.else
lda #arg2
.endif
.endmacro
See also:
.BLANK
.IFCONST
Conditional assembly: Evaluate an expression and switch assembler output
on or off depending on the constness of the expression.
A const expression evaluates to to TRUE, a non const expression (one
containing an imported or currently undefined symbol) evaluates to
FALSE.
See also:
.CONST
.IFDEF
Conditional assembly: Check if a symbol is defined. Must be followed by
a symbol name. The condition is true if the the given symbol is already
defined, and false otherwise.
See also:
.DEFINED
.IFNBLANK
Conditional assembly: Check if there are any remaining tokens in this
line, and evaluate to TRUE if this is the case, and to FALSE otherwise.
If the condition is not true, further lines are not assembled until
an .ELSE, .ELSEIF or .ENDIF directive.
This command is often used to check if a macro parameter was given.
Since an empty macro parameter will evaluate to nothing, the condition
will evaluate to FALSE if an empty parameter was given.
Example:
.macro arg1, arg2
lda #arg1
.ifnblank arg2
lda #arg2
.endif
.endmacro
See also:
.BLANK
.IFNDEF
Conditional assembly: Check if a symbol is defined. Must be followed by
a symbol name. The condition is true if the the given symbol is not
defined, and false otherwise.
See also:
.DEFINED
.IFNREF
Conditional assembly: Check if a symbol is referenced. Must be followed
by a symbol name. The condition is true if if the the given symbol was
not referenced before, and false otherwise.
See also:
.REFERENCED
.IFP02
Conditional assembly: Check if the assembler is currently in 6502 mode
(see .P02 command).
.IFP816
Conditional assembly: Check if the assembler is currently in 65816 mode
(see .P816 command).
.IFPC02
Conditional assembly: Check if the assembler is currently in 65C02 mode
(see .PC02 command).
.IFREF
Conditional assembly: Check if a symbol is referenced. Must be followed
by a symbol name. The condition is true if if the the given symbol was
referenced before, and false otherwise.
This command may be used to build subroutine libraries in include files
(you may use separate object modules for this purpose too).
Example:
.ifdef ToHex ; If someone used this subroutine
ToHex: tay ; Define subroutine
lda HexTab,y
rts
.endif
See also:
.REFERENCED
.IMPORT
Import a symbol from another module. The command is followed by a comma
separated list of symbols to import.
Example:
.import foo, bar
.IMPORTZP
Import a symbol from another module. The command is followed by a comma
separated list of symbols to import. The symbols are explicitly imported
as zero page symbols (that is, symbols with values in byte range).
Example:
.includezp foo, bar
.INCBIN
Include a file as binary data. The command expects a string argument
that is the name of a file to include literally in the current segment.
Example:
.incbin "sprites.dat"
.INCLUDE
Include another file. Include files may be nested up to a depth of 16.
Example:
.include "subs.inc"
.LINECONT
Switch on or off line continuations using the backslash character
before a newline. The option is off by default.
Note: Line continuations do not work in a comment. A backslash at the
end of a comment is treated as part of the comment and does not trigger
line continuation.
The command must be followed by a '+' or '-' character to switch the
option on or off respectively.
Example:
.linecont + ; Allow line continuations
lda \
#$20 ; This is legal now
.LIST
Enable output to the listing. The command must be followed by a boolean
switch ("on", "off", "+" or "-") and will enable or disable listing
output.
The option has no effect if the listing is not enabled by the command line
switch -l. If -l is used, an internal counter is set to 1. Lines are output
to the listing file, if the counter is greater than zero, and suppressed if
the counter is zero. Each use of .LIST will increment or decrement the
counter.
Example:
.list on ; Enable listing output
.LISTBYTES
Set, how many bytes are shown in the listing for one source line. The
default is 12, so the listing will show only the first 12 bytes for any
source line that generates more than 12 bytes of code or data.
The directive needs an argument, which is either "unlimited", or an
integer constant in the range 4..255.
Examples:
.listbytes unlimited ; List all bytes
.listbytes 12 ; List the first 12 bytes
.incbin "data.bin" ; Include large binary file
.LOCAL
This command may only be used inside a macro definition. It declares a
list of identifiers as local to the macro expansion.
A problem when using macros are labels: Since they don't change their
name, you get a "duplicate symbol" error if the macro is expanded the
second time. Labels declared with .LOCAL have their name mapped to an
internal unique name (___ABCD__) with each macro invocation.
Some other assemblers start a new lexical block inside a macro
expansion. This has some drawbacks however, since that will not allow
*any* symbol to be visible outside a macro, a feature that is sometimes
useful. The .LOCAL command is in my eyes a better way to address the
problem.
You get an error when using .LOCAL outside a macro.
.LOCALCHAR
Defines the character that start "cheap" local labels. You may use one
of '@' and '?' as start character. The default is '@'.
Cheap local labels are labels that are visible only between two non
cheap labels. This way you can reuse identifiers like "loop" without
using explicit lexical nesting.
Example:
.localchar '?'
Clear: lda #$00 ; Global label
?Loop: sta Mem,y ; Local label
dey
bne ?Loop ; Ok
rts
Sub: ... ; New global label
bne ?Loop ; ERROR: Unknown identifier!
.MACPACK
Insert a predefined macro package. The command is followed by an
identifier specifying the macro package to insert. Available macro
packages are:
generic Defines generic macros like add and sub.
longbranch Defines conditional long jump macros.
Including a macro package twice, or including a macro package that
redefines already existing macros will lead to an error.
Example:
.macpack longbranch ; Include macro package
cmp #$20 ; Set condition codes
jne Label ; Jump long on condition
See separate section about macros packages.
.MAC
.MACRO
Start a classic macro definition. The command is followed by an identifier
(the macro name) and optionally by a comma separated list of identifiers
that are macro parameters.
See separate section about macros.
.MATCH
Builtin function. Matches two token lists against each other. This is
most useful within macros, since macros are not stored as strings, but
as lists of tokens.
The syntax is
.MATCH(<token list #1>, <token list #2>)
Both token list may contain arbitrary tokens with the exception of the
terminator token (comma resp. right parenthesis) and
* end-of-line
* end-of-file
Often a macro parameter is used for any of the token lists.
Please note that the function does only compare tokens, not token
attributes. So any number is equal to any other number, regardless of
the actual value. The same is true for strings.
Example:
Assume the macro ASR , that will shift right the accumulator by one,
while honoring the sign bit. The builtin processor instructions will
allow an optional "A" for accu addressing for instructions like ROL
and ROR. We will use the .MATCH function to check for this and print
and error for invalid calls.
.macro asr arg
.if (.not .blank(arg)) .and (.not .match (arg, a))
.error "Syntax error"
.endif
cmp #$80 ; Bit 7 into carry
lsr a ; Shit carry into bit 7
.endmacro
The macro will only accept no arguments, or one argument that must
be the reserved keyword "A".
.ORG
Start a section of absolute code. The command is followed by a constant
expression that gives the new PC counter location for which the code is
assembled. Use .RELOC to switch back to relocatable code.
You may not switch segments while inside a section of absolute code.
Example:
.org $7FF ; Emit code starting at $7FF
.OUT
Output a string to the console without producing an error. This command
is similiar to .ERROR, however, it does not force an assembler error
that prevents the creation of an object file.
Example:
.out "This code was written by the codebuster(tm)"
.P02
Enable the 6502 instruction set, disable 65C02 and 65816 instructions.
This is the default if not overridden by the --cpu command line option.
.P816
Enable the 65816 instruction set. This is a superset of the 65C02 and
6502 instruction sets.
.PAGELEN
.PAGELENGTH
Set the page length for the listing. Must be followed by an integer
constant. The value may be "unlimited", or in the range 32 to 127. The
statement has no effect if no listing is generated. The default value
is -1 but may be overridden by the --pagelength command line option.
Beware: Since the listing is generated after assembly is complete, you
cannot use multiple line lengths with one source. Instead, the value
set with the last .PAGELENGTH is used.
Examples:
.pagelength 66 ; Use 66 lines per listing page
.pagelength unlimited ; Unlimited page length
.PARAMCOUNT
This builtin pseudo variable is only available in macros. It is replaced
by the actual number of parameters that were given in the macro
invocation.
Example:
.macro foo arg1, arg2, arg3
.if .paramcount <> 3
.error "Too few parameters for macro foo"
.endif
...
.endmacro
.PC02
Enable the 65C02 instructions set. This instruction set includes all
6502 instructions.
.PROC
Start a nested lexical level. All new symbols from now on are in the
local lexical level and are not accessible from outside. Symbols defined
outside this local level may be accessed as long as their names are not
used for new symbols inside the level. Symbols names in other lexical
levels do not clash, so you may use the same names for identifiers. The
lexical level ends when the .ENDPROC command is read. Lexical levels may
be nested up to a depth of 16.
The command may be followed by an identifier, in this case the
identifier is declared in the outer level as a label having the value of
the program counter at the start of the lexical level.
Note: Macro names are always in the global level and in a separate name
space. There is no special reason for this, it's just that I've never
had any need for local macro definitions.
Example:
.proc Clear ; Define Clear subroutine, start new level
lda #$00
L1: sta Mem,y ; L1 is local and does not cause a
; duplicate symbol error if used in other
; places
dey
bne L1 ; Reference local symbol
rts
.endproc ; Leave lexical level
.REF
.REFERENCED
Builtin function. The function expects an identifier as argument in
braces. The argument is evaluated, and the function yields "true" if the
identifier is a symbol that has already been referenced somewhere in the
source file up to the current position. Otherwise the function yields
false. As an example, the .IFREF statement may be replaced by
.if .referenced(a)
.RELOC
Switch back to relocatable mode. See the .ORG command.
.RES
Reserve storage. The command is followed by one or two constant
expressions. The first one is mandatory and defines, how many bytes of
storage should be defined. The second, optional expression must by a
constant byte value that will be used as value of the data. If there
is no fill value given, the linker will use the value defined in the
linker configuration file (default: zero).
Example:
; Reserve 12 bytes of memory with value $AA
.res 12, $AA
.RODATA
Switch to the RODATA segment. The name of the RODATA segment is always
"RODATA", so this is a shortcut for
.segment "RODATA"
The RODATA segment is a segment that is used by the compiler for
readonly data like string constants. See also the .SEGMENT command.
.SEGMENT
Switch to another segment. Code and data is always emitted into a
segment, that is, a named section of data. The default segment is
"CODE". There may be up to 254 different segments per object file
(and up to 65534 per executable). There are shortcut commands for
the most common segments ("CODE", "DATA" and "BSS").
The command is followed by a string containing the segment name (there
are some constraints for the name - as a rule of thumb use only those
segment names that would also be valid identifiers). There may also be
an optional attribute separated by a comma. Valid attributes are
zeropage
and absolute
When specifying a segment for the first time, "absolute" is the
default. For all other uses, the attribute specified the first time
is the default.
"absolute" means that this is a segment with absolute addressing. That
is, the segment will reside somewhere in core memory outside the zero
page. "zeropage" means the opposite: The segment will be placed in the
zero page and direct (short) addressing is possible for data in this
segment.
Beware: Only labels in a segment with the zeropage attribute are marked
as reachable by short addressing. The `*' (PC counter) operator will
work as in other segments and will create absolute variable values.
Example:
.segment "ROM2" ; Switch to ROM2 segment
.segment "ZP2", zeropage ; New direct segment
.segment "ZP2" ; Ok, will use last attribute
.segment "ZP2", absolute ; Error, redecl mismatch
.SMART
Switch on or off smart mode. The command must be followed by a '+' or
'-' character to switch the option on or off respectively. The default
is off (that is, the assembler doesn't try to be smart), but this
default may be changed by the -s switch on the command line.
In smart mode the assembler will track usage of the REP and SEP
instructions in 65816 mode and update the operand sizes accordingly. If
the operand of such an instruction cannot be evaluated by the assembler
(for example, because the operand is an imported symbol), a warning is
issued. Beware: Since the assembler cannot trace the execution flow this
may lead to false results in some cases. If in doubt, use the .ixx and
.axx instructions to tell the assembler about the current settings.
Example:
.smart ; Be smart
.smart - ; Stop being smart
.STRING
Builtin function. The function accepts an argument in braces and
converts this argument into a string constant. The argument may be an
identifier, or a constant numeric value.
Since you can use a string in the first place, the use of the function
may not be obvious. However, it is useful in macros, or more complex
setups.
Example:
; Emulate other assemblers:
.macro section name
.segment .string(name)
.endmacro
.WORD
Define word sized data. Must be followed by a sequence of (word ranged,
but not necessarily constant) expressions.
Example:
.word $0D00, $AF13, _Clear
.ZEROPAGE
Switch to the ZEROPAGE segment and mark it as direct (zeropage) segment.
The name of the ZEROPAGE segment is always "ZEROPAGE", so this is a
shortcut for
.segment "ZEROPAGE", zeropage
Because of the "zeropage" attribute, labels declared in this segment are
addressed using direct addressing mode if possible. You MUST instruct
the linker to place this segment somewhere in the address range 0..$FF
otherwise you will get errors.
7. Macros
---------
Macros may be thought of as "parametrized super instructions". Macros are
sequences of tokens that have a name. If that name is used in the source
file, the macro is "expanded", that is, it is replaced by the tokens that
were specified when the macro was defined.
In it's simplest form, a macro does not have parameters. Here's an
example:
.macro asr ; Arithmetic shift right
cmp #$80 ; Put bit 7 into carry
ror ; Rotate right with carry
.endmacro
The macro above consists of two real instructions, that are inserted into
the code, whenever the macro is expanded. Macro expansion is simply done
by using the name, like this:
lda $2010
asr
sta $2010
When using macro parameters, macros can be even more useful:
.macro inc16 addr
clc
lda addr
adc #$01
sta addr
lda addr+1
adc #$00
sta addr+1
.endmacro
When calling the macro, you may give a parameter, and each occurence of
the name "addr" in the macro definition will be replaced by the given
parameter. So
inc16 $1000
will be expanded to
clc
lda $1000
adc #$01
sta $1000
lda $1000+1
adc #$00
sta $1000+1
A macro may have more than one parameter, in this case, the parameters
are separated by commas. You are free to give less parameters than the
macro actually takes in the definition. You may also leave intermediate
parameters empty. Empty parameters are replaced by empty space (that is,
they are removed when the macro is exanded). If you have a look at our
macro definition above, you will see, that replacing the "addr" parameter
by nothing will lead to wrong code in most lines. To help you, writing
macros with a variable parameter list, there are some control commands:
.IFBLANK tests the rest of the line and returns true, if there are any
tokens on the remainder of the line. Since empty parameters are replaced
by nothing, this may be used to test if a given parameter is empty.
.IFNBLANK tests the opposite.
Look at this example:
.macro ldaxy a, x, y
.ifnblank a
lda #a
.endif
.ifnblank x
ldx #x
.endif
.ifnblank y
ldy #y
.endif
.endmacro
This macro may be called as follows:
ldaxy 1, 2, 3 ; Load all three registers
ldaxy 1, , 3 ; Load only a and y
ldaxy , , 3 ; Load y only
There's another helper command for determining, which macro parameters are
valid: .PARAMCOUNT. This command is replaced by the parameter count given,
*including* intermediate empty macro parameters:
ldaxy 1 ; .PARAMCOUNT = 1
ldaxy 1,,3 ; .PARAMCOUNT = 3
ldaxy 1,2 ; .PARAMCOUNT = 2
ldaxy 1, ; .PARAMCOUNT = 2
ldaxy 1,2,3 ; .PARAMCOUNT = 3
Macros may be used recursively:
.macro push r1, r2, r3
lda r1
pha
.if .paramcount > 1
push r2, r3
.endif
.endmacro
There's also a special macro to help writing recursive macros: .EXITMACRO.
This command will stop macro expansion immidiately:
.macro push r1, r2, r3, r4, r5, r6, r7
.ifblank r1
; First parameter is empty
.exitmacro
.else
lda r1
pha
.endif
push r2, r3, r4, r5, r6, r7
.endmacro
When expanding this macro, the expansion will push all given parameters
until an empty one is encountered. The macro may be called like this:
push $20, $21, $32 ; Push 3 ZP locations
push $21 ; Push one ZP location
Now, with recursive macros, .IFBLANK and .PARAMCOUNT, what else do you need?
Have a look at the inc16 macro above. Here is it again:
.macro inc16 addr
clc
lda addr
adc #$01
sta addr
lda addr+1
adc #$00
sta addr+1
.endmacro
If you have a closer look at the code, you will notice, that it could be
written more efficiently, like this:
.macro inc16 addr
clc
lda addr
adc #$01
sta addr
bcc Skip
inc addr+1
Skip:
.endmacro
But imagine what happens, if you use this macro twice? Since the label
"Skip" has the same name both times, you get a "duplicate symbol" error.
Without a way to circumvent this problem, macros are not as useful, as
they could be. One solution is, to start a new lexical block inside the
macro:
.macro inc16 addr
.proc
clc
lda addr
adc #$01
sta addr
bcc Skip
inc addr+1
Skip:
.endproc
.endmacro
Now the label is local to the block and not visible outside. However,
sometimes you want a label inside the macro to be visible outside. To make
that possible, there's a new command that's only usable inside a macro
definition: .LOCAL. .LOCAL declares one or more symbols as local to the
macro expansion. The names of local variables are replaced by a unique
name in each separate macro expansion. So we could also solve the problem
above by using .LOCAL:
.macro inc16 addr
.local Skip ; Make Skip a local symbol
clc
lda addr
adc #$01
sta addr
bcc Skip
inc addr+1
Skip: ; Not visible outside
.endmacro
Starting with version 2.5 of the assembler, there is a second macro type
available: C style macros using the .DEFINE directive. These macros are
similar to the classic macro type speified above, but behaviour is
sometimes different:
* Macros defined with .DEFINE may not span more than a line. You may
use line continuation (.LINECONT) to spread the definition over more
than one line for increased readability, but the macro itself does
not contain an end-of-line token.
* Macros defined with .DEFINE share the name space with classic macros,
but they are detected and replaced at the scanner level. While classic
macros may be used in every place, where a mnemonic or other directive
is allowed, .DEFINE style macros are allowed anywhere in a line. So
they are more versatile in some situations.
* .DEFINE style macros may take parameters. While classic macros may
have empty parameters, this is not true for .DEFINE style macros. For
this macro type, the number of actual parameters must match exactly
the number of formal parameters.
To make this possible, formal parameters are enclosed in braces when
defining the macro. If there are no parameters, the empty braces may
be omitted.
* Since .DEFINE style macros may not contain end-of-line tokens, there
are things that cannot be done. They may not contain several processor
instructions for example. So, while some things may be done with both
macro types, each type has special usages. The types complement each
other.
Let's look at a few examples to make the advantages and disadvantages
clear.
To emulate assemblers that use "EQU" instead of "=" you may use the
following .DEFINE:
.define EQU =
foo EQU $1234 ; This is accepted now
You may use the directive to define string constants use elsewhere:
; Define the version number
.define VERSION "12.3a"
; ... and use it
.asciiz VERSION
Macros with parameters may also be useful:
.define DEBUG(message) .out message
DEBUG "Assembling include file #3"
Note that, while formal parameters have to be placed in braces, this is
not true for the actual parameters. Beware: Since the assembler cannot
detect the end of one parameter, only the first token is used. If you
don't like that, use classic macros instead:
.macro message
.out message
.endmacro
(This is an example where a problem can be solved with both macro types).
8. Macro packages
-----------------
Using the .macpack directive, predefined macro packages may be included
with just one command. Available macro packages are:
- generic
This macro package defines macros that are useful in almost any
program. Currently, two macros are defined:
.macro add Arg
clc
adc Arg
.endmacro
.macro sub Arg
sec
sbc Arg
.endmacro
- longbranch
This macro package defines long conditional jumps. They are named like
the short counterpart but with the 'b' replaced by a 'j'. Here is a
sample definition for the "jeq" macro, the other macros are built using
the same scheme:
.macro jeq Target
.if .def(Target) .and ((*+2)-(Target) <= 127)
beq Target
.else
bne *+5
jmp Target
.endif
.endmacro
All macros expand to a short branch, if the label is already defined
(back jump) and is reachable with a short jump. Otherwise the macro
expands to a conditional branch with the branch condition inverted,
followed by an absolute jump to the actual branch target.
The package defines the following macros:
jeq, jne, jmi, jpl, jcs, jcc, jvs, jvc
9. Bugs/Feedback
----------------
If you have problems using the assembler, if you find any bugs, or if
you're doing something interesting with the assembler, I would be glad to
hear from you. Feel free to contact me by email (uz@musoftware.de).
10. Copyright
-------------
ca65 (and all cc65 binutils) are (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.
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