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.. _syntaxreference:
================
Syntax Reference
================
Module file
-----------
This is a file with the ``.p8`` suffix, containing *directives* and *code blocks*, described below.
The file is a text file, saved in UTF-8 encoding, which can also contain:
Lines, whitespace, indentation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line endings are significant because *only one* declaration, statement or other instruction can occur on every line.
Other whitespace and line indentation is arbitrary and ignored by the compiler.
You can use tabs or spaces as you wish.
Source code comments
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Everything on a line after a semicolon ``;`` is a comment and is ignored.
If the whole line is just a comment, it will be copied into the resulting assembly source code.
This makes it easier to understand and relate the generated code.
Everything surrounded with ``/*`` and ``*/``, this can span multiple lines, is a block-comment and is ignored.
This block comment is experimental for now: it may change or even be removed again in a future compiler version.
Examples::
counter = 42 ; set the initial value to 42
; next is the code that...
/* this
is
all
ignored */
.. _directives:
Directives
-----------
.. data:: %address <address>
Level: module.
Global setting, set the program's start memory address. It's usually fixed at ``$0801`` because the
default launcher type is a CBM-BASIC program. But you have to specify this address yourself when
you don't use a CBM-BASIC launcher.
.. data:: %align <interval>
Level: not at module scope.
Tells the assembler to continue assembling on the given alignment interval. For example, ``%align $100``
will insert an assembler command to align on the next page boundary.
Note that this has no impact on variables following this directive! Prog8 reallocates all variables
using different rules. If you want to align a specific variable (array or string), you should use
one of the alignment tags for variable declarations instead.
Valid intervals are from 2 to 65536.
**Warning:** if you use this directive in between normal statements, it will disrupt the output
of the machine code instructions by making gaps between them, this will probably crash the program!
.. data:: %asm {{ ... }}
Level: not at module scope.
Declares that a piece of *assembly code* is inside the curly braces.
This code will be copied as-is into the generated output assembly source file.
Note that the start and end markers are both *double curly braces* to minimize the chance
that the assembly code itself contains either of those. If it does contain a ``}}``,
it will confuse the parser.
If you use the correct scoping rules you can access symbols from the prog8 program from inside
the assembly code. Sometimes you'll have to declare a variable in prog8 with `@shared` if it
is only used in such assembly code.
.. note::
64tass syntax is required for the assembly code. As such, mnemonics need to be written in lowercase.
.. caution::
Avoid using single-letter symbols in included assembly code, as they could be confused with CPU registers.
Also, note that all prog8 symbols are prefixed in assembly code, see :ref:`symbol-prefixing`.
.. data:: %asmbinary "<filename>" [, <offset>[, <length>]]
Level: not at module scope.
This directive can only be used inside a block.
The assembler itself will include the file as binary bytes at this point, prog8 will not process this at all.
This means that the filename must be spelled exactly as it appears on your computer's file system.
Note that this filename may differ in case compared to when you chose to load the file from disk from within the
program code itself (for example on the C64 and X16 there's the PETSCII encoding difference).
The file is located relative to the current working directory!
The optional offset and length can be used to select a particular piece of the file.
To reference the contents of the included binary data, you can put a label in your prog8 code
just before the %asmbinary. To find out where the included binary data ends, add another label directly after it.
An example program for this can be found below at the description of %asminclude.
.. data:: %asminclude "<filename>"
Level: not at module scope.
This directive can only be used inside a block.
The assembler will include the file as raw assembly source text at this point,
prog8 will not process this at all. Symbols defined in the included assembly can not be referenced
from prog8 code. However they can be referenced from other assembly code if properly prefixed.
You can of course use a label in your prog8 code just before the %asminclude directive, and reference
that particular label to get to (the start of) the included assembly.
Be careful: you risk symbol redefinitions or duplications if you include a piece of
assembly into a prog8 block that already defines symbols itself.
The compiler first looks for the file relative to the same directory as the module containing this statement is in,
if the file can't be found there it is searched relative to the current directory.
.. caution::
Avoid using single-letter symbols in included assembly code, as they could be confused with CPU registers.
Also, note that all prog8 symbols are prefixed in assembly code, see :ref:`symbol-prefixing`.
Here is a small example program to show how to use labels to reference the included contents from prog8 code::
%import textio
%zeropage basicsafe
main {
sub start() {
txt.print("first three bytes of included asm:\n")
uword included_addr = &included_asm
txt.print_ub(@(included_addr))
txt.spc()
txt.print_ub(@(included_addr+1))
txt.spc()
txt.print_ub(@(included_addr+2))
txt.print("\nfirst three bytes of included binary:\n")
included_addr = &included_bin
txt.print_ub(@(included_addr))
txt.spc()
txt.print_ub(@(included_addr+1))
txt.spc()
txt.print_ub(@(included_addr+2))
txt.nl()
return
included_asm:
%asminclude "inc.asm"
included_bin:
%asmbinary "inc.bin"
end_of_included_bin:
}
}
.. data:: %breakpoint
Level: not at module scope.
Defines a debugging breakpoint at this location. See :ref:`debugging`
.. data:: %encoding <encodingname>
Overrides, in the module file it occurs in,
the default text encoding to use for strings and characters that have no explicit encoding prefix.
You can use one of the recognised encoding names, see :ref:`encodings`.
.. data:: %import <name>
Level: module.
This reads and compiles the named module source file as part of your current program.
Symbols from the imported module become available in your code,
without a module or filename prefix.
You can import modules one at a time, and importing a module more than once has no effect.
.. data:: %launcher <type>
Level: module.
Global setting, selects the program launcher stub to use.
Only relevant when using the ``prg`` output type. Defaults to ``basic``.
- type ``basic`` : add a tiny C64 BASIC program, with a SYS statement calling into the machine code
- type ``none`` : no launcher logic is added at all
.. data:: %memtop <address>
Level: module.
Global setting, changes the program's top memory address. This is usually specified internally by the compiler target,
but with this you can change it to another value. This can be useful for example to 'reserve' a piece
of memory at the end of program space where other data such as external library files can be loaded into.
This memtop value is used for a check instruction for the assembler to see if the resulting program size
exceeds the given memtop address. This value is exclusive, so $a000 means that $a000 is the first address
that program can no longer use. Everything up to and including $9fff is still usable.
.. data:: %option <option> [, <option> ...]
Level: module, block.
Sets special compiler options.
- ``enable_floats`` (module level) tells the compiler
to deal with floating point numbers (by using various subroutines from the Kernal).
Otherwise, floating point support is not enabled. Normally you don't have to use this yourself as
importing the ``floats`` library is required anyway and that will enable it for you automatically.
- ``no_sysinit`` (module level) which cause the resulting program to *not* include
the system re-initialization logic of clearing the screen, resetting I/O config, setting memory bank configuration etc.
You'll have to take care of that yourself. The program will just start running from whatever state the machine is in when the
program was launched.
- ``force_output`` (in a block) will force the block to be outputted in the final program.
Can be useful to make sure some data is generated that would otherwise be discarded because the compiler thinks it's not referenced (such as sprite data)
- ``merge`` (in a block) will merge this block's contents into an already existing block with the same name.
Can be used to add or override subroutines to an existing library block, for instance.
Overriding (monkeypatching) happens only if the signature of the subroutine exactly matches the original subroutine, including the exact names and types of the parameters.
Where blocks with this option are merged into is intricate: it looks for the first other block with the same name that does not have %option merge,
if that can't be found, select the first occurrence regardless. If no other blocks are found, no merge is done. Blocks in libraries are considered first to merge into.
- ``splitarrays`` (block or module) makes all word-arrays in this scope lsb/msb split arrays (as if they all have the @split tag). See Arrays.
- ``no_symbol_prefixing`` (block or module) makes the compiler *not* use symbol-prefixing when translating prog8 code into assembly.
Only use this if you know what you're doing because it could result in invalid assembly code being generated.
This option can be useful when writing library modules that you don't want to be exposing prefixed assembly symbols.
- ``ignore_unused`` (block or module) suppress warnings about unused variables and subroutines. Instead, these will be silently stripped.
This option is useful in library modules that contain many more routines beside the ones that you actually use.
- ``verafxmuls`` (block, cx16 target only) uses Vera FX hardware word multiplication on the CommanderX16 for all word multiplications in this block. Warning: this may interfere with IRQs and other Vera operations, so use this only when you know what you're doing. It's safer to explicitly use ``verafx.muls()``.
.. data:: %output <type>
Level: module.
Global setting, selects program output type. Default is ``prg``.
- type ``raw`` : no header at all, just the raw machine code data
- type ``prg`` : C64 program (with load address header)
.. data:: %zeropage <style>
Level: module.
Global setting, select zeropage handling style. Defaults to ``kernalsafe``.
- style ``kernalsafe`` -- use the part of the ZP that is 'free' or only used by BASIC routines,
and don't change anything else. This allows full use of Kernal ROM routines (but not BASIC routines),
including default IRQs during normal system operation.
It's not possible to return cleanly to BASIC when the program exits. The only choice is
to perform a system reset. (A ``system_reset`` subroutine is available in the syslib to help you do this)
- style ``floatsafe`` -- like the previous one but also reserves the addresses that
are required to perform floating point operations (from the BASIC Kernal). No clean exit is possible.
- style ``basicsafe`` -- the most restricted mode; only use the handful 'free' addresses in the ZP, and don't
touch change anything else. This allows full use of BASIC and Kernal ROM routines including default IRQs
during normal system operation.
When the program exits, it simply returns to the BASIC ready prompt.
- style ``full`` -- claim the whole ZP for variables for the program, overwriting everything,
except for a few addresses that are used by the system's IRQ handler.
Even though that default IRQ handler is still active, it is impossible to use most BASIC and Kernal ROM routines.
This includes many floating point operations and several utility routines that do I/O, such as ``print``.
This option makes programs smaller and faster because even more variables can
be stored in the ZP (which allows for more efficient assembly code).
It's not possible to return cleanly to BASIC when the program exits. The only choice is
to perform a system reset. (A ``system_reset`` subroutine is available in the syslib to help you do this)
- style ``dontuse`` -- don't use *any* location in the zeropage.
.. note::
``kernalsafe`` and ``full`` on the C64 leave enough room in the zeropage to reallocate the
16 virtual registers cx16.r0...cx16.r15 from the Commander X16 into the zeropage as well
(but not on the same locations). They are relocated automatically by the compiler.
The other options need those locations for other things so those virtual registers have
to be put into memory elsewhere (outside of the zeropage). Trying to use them as zeropage
variables or pointers etc. will be a lot slower in those cases!
On the Commander X16 the registers are always in zeropage. On other targets, for now, they
are always outside of the zeropage.
.. data:: %zpallowed <fromaddress>,<toaddress>
Level: module.
Global setting, can occur multiple times. It allows you to designate a part of the zeropage that
the compiler is allowed to use (if other options don't prevent usage).
.. data:: %zpreserved <fromaddress>,<toaddress>
Level: module.
Global setting, can occur multiple times. It allows you to reserve or 'block' a part of the zeropage so
that it will not be used by the compiler.
Identifiers
-----------
Naming things in Prog8 is done via valid *identifiers*. They start with a letter,
and after that, a combination of letters, numbers, or underscores.
Note that any Unicode Letter symbol is accepted as a letter!
Examples of valid identifiers::
a
A
monkey
COUNTER
Better_Name_2
something_strange__
knäckebröd
приблизительно
π
**Scoped names**
Sometimes called "qualified names" or "dotted names", a scoped name is a sequence of identifiers separated by a dot.
They are used to reference symbols in other scopes. Note that unlike many other programming languages,
scoped names always need to be fully scoped (because they always start in the global scope). Also see :ref:`blocks`::
main.start ; the entrypoint subroutine
main.start.variable ; a variable in the entrypoint subroutine
**Aliases**
The ``alias`` statement makes it easier to refer to symbols from other places, and they can save
you from having to type the fully scoped name everytime you need to access that symbol.
Aliases can be created in any scope except at the module level.
An alias is created with ``alias <name> = <target>`` and then you can use ``<name>`` as if it were ``<target>``.
It is possible to alias variables, labels and subroutines, but not whole blocks.
The name has to be an unscoped identifier name, the target can be any symbol.
Code blocks
-----------
A named block of actual program code. It defines a *scope* (also known as 'namespace') and
can only contain *directives*, *variable declarations*, *subroutines* or *inline assembly*::
<blockname> [<address>] {
<directives>
<variables>
<subroutines>
<inline asm>
}
The <blockname> must be a valid identifier.
The <address> is optional. If specified it must be a valid memory address such as ``$c000``.
It's used to tell the compiler to put the block at a certain position in memory.
Also read :ref:`blocks`. Here is an example of a code block, to be loaded at ``$c000``::
main $c000 {
; this is code inside the block...
}
Labels
------
To label a position in your code where you can jump to from another place, you use a label::
nice_place:
; code ...
It's just an identifier followed by a colon ``:``. It's allowed to put the next statement on
the same line, after the label.
Variables and value literals
----------------------------
The data that the code works on is stored in variables. Variable names have to be valid identifiers.
Values in the source code are written using *value literals*. In the table of the supported
data types below you can see how they should be written.
Variable declarations
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Variables should be declared with their exact type and size so the compiler can allocate storage
for them. You can give them an initial value as well. That value can be a simple literal value,
or an expression. If you don't provide an initial value yourself, zero will be used.
The syntax for variable declarations is::
<datatype> [ @tag ] <variable name> [ = <initial value> ]
Here are the tags you can add to a variable:
========== ======
Tag Effect
========== ======
@zp prioritize the variable for putting it into Zero page. No guarantees; if ZP is full the variable will be placed in another memory location.
@requirezp force the variable into Zero page. If ZP is full, compilation will fail.
@nozp force the variable to normal system ram, never place it into zeropage.
@shared means the variable is shared with some assembly code and that it cannot be optimized away if not used elsewhere.
@split (only valid on (u)word arrays) Makes the array to be placed in memory as 2 separate byte arrays; one with the LSBs one with the MSBs of the word values. Usually improves performance and code size.
@alignword aligns string or array variable on an even memory address
@align64 aligns string or array variable on a 64 byte address interval (example: for C64 sprite data)
@alignpage aligns string or array variable on a 256 byte address interval (example: to avoid page boundaries)
@dirty the variable won't be initialized by Prog8 which means that its value is undefined. You'll have to set it yourself before using the variable. Used to reduce overhead in certain scenarios. 🦶🔫 Footgun warning.
========== ======
For boolean and numeric variables, you can actually declare them in one go by listing the names in a comma separated list.
Type tags, and the optional initialization value, are applied equally to all variables in such a list.
Various examples::
word thing = 0
byte counter = len([1, 2, 3]) * 20
byte age = 2018 - 1974
float wallet = 55.25
ubyte x,y,z ; declare three ubyte variables x y and z
str name = "my name is Alice"
uword address = &counter
bool flag = true
byte[] values = [11, 22, 33, 44, 55]
byte[5] values ; array of 5 bytes, initially set to zero
byte[5] values = [255]*5 ; initialize with five 255 bytes
word @zp zpword = 9999 ; prioritize this when selecting vars for zeropage storage
uword @requirezp zpaddr = $3000 ; we require this variable in zeropage
word @shared asmvar ; variable is used in assembly code but not elsewhere
byte @nozp memvar ; variable that is never in zeropage
Data types
^^^^^^^^^^
Prog8 supports the following data types:
=============== ======================= ================= =========================================
type identifier type storage size example var declaration and literal value
=============== ======================= ================= =========================================
``byte`` signed byte 1 byte = 8 bits ``byte myvar = -22``
``ubyte`` unsigned byte 1 byte = 8 bits ``ubyte myvar = $8f``, ``ubyte c = 'a'``
``bool`` boolean 1 byte = 8 bits ``bool myvar = true`` or ``bool myvar == false``
``word`` signed word 2 bytes = 16 bits ``word myvar = -12345``
``uword`` unsigned word 2 bytes = 16 bits ``uword myvar = $8fee``
``long`` signed 32 bits integer n/a ``const long LARGE = $12345678``
(only for consts)
``float`` floating-point 5 bytes = 40 bits ``float myvar = 1.2345``
stored in 5-byte cbm MFLPT format
``byte[x]`` signed byte array x bytes ``byte[4] myvar``
``ubyte[x]`` unsigned byte array x bytes ``ubyte[4] myvar``
``word[x]`` signed word array 2*x bytes ``word[4] myvar``
``uword[x]`` unsigned word array 2*x bytes ``uword[4] myvar``
``float[x]`` floating-point array 5*x bytes ``float[4] myvar``. The 5 bytes per float is on CBM targets.
``bool[x]`` boolean array x bytes ``bool[4] myvar`` note: consider using bit flags in a byte or word instead to save space
``byte[]`` signed byte array depends on value ``byte[] myvar = [1, 2, 3, 4]``
``ubyte[]`` unsigned byte array depends on value ``ubyte[] myvar = [1, 2, 3, 4]``
``word[]`` signed word array depends on value ``word[] myvar = [1, 2, 3, 4]``
``uword[]`` unsigned word array depends on value ``uword[] myvar = [1, 2, 3, 4]``
``float[]`` floating-point array depends on value ``float[] myvar = [1.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.4]``
``bool[]`` boolean array depends on value ``bool[] myvar = [true, false, true]`` note: consider using bit flags in a byte or word instead to save space
``str[]`` array with string ptrs 2*x bytes + strs ``str[] names = ["ally", "pete"]``
``str`` string (PETSCII) varies ``str myvar = "hello."``
implicitly terminated by a 0-byte
=============== ======================= ================= =========================================
**arrays:**
Arrays can be initialized with a range expression or an array literal value.
You can write out such an initializer value over several lines if you want to improve readability.
When an initialization value is given, you are allowed to omit the array size in the declaration,
because it can be inferred from the initialization value.
You can use '*' to repeat array fragments to build up a larger array.
**numbers:** unless prefixed for hex or binary as described below, all numbers are decimal numbers. There is no octal notation.
**hexadecimal numbers:** you can use a dollar prefix to write hexadecimal numbers: ``$20ac``
**binary numbers:** you can use a percent prefix to write binary numbers: ``%10010011``
Note that ``%`` is also the remainder operator so be careful: if you want to take the remainder
of something with an operand starting with 1 or 0, you'll have to add a space in between.
Otherwise the parser thinks you've typed an invalid binary number.
**digit grouping:** for any number you can use underscores to group the digits to make the
number more readable. Any underscores in the number are ignored by the compiler.
For instance ``%1001_0001`` is a valid binary number and ``3_000_000.99`` is a valid floating point number.
**character values:** you can use a single character in quotes like this ``'a'`` for the PETSCII byte value of that character.
**``byte`` versus ``word`` values:**
- When an integer value ranges from 0..255 the compiler sees it as a ``ubyte``. For -128..127 it's a ``byte``.
- When an integer value ranges from 256..65535 the compiler sees it as a ``uword``. For -32768..32767 it's a ``word``.
- When a hex number has 3 or 4 digits, for example ``$0004``, it is seen as a ``word`` otherwise as a ``byte``.
- When a binary number has 9 to 16 digits, for example ``%1100110011``, it is seen as a ``word`` otherwise as a ``byte``.
- If the number fits in a byte but you really require it as a word value, you'll have to explicitly cast it: ``60 as uword``
or you can use the full word hexadecimal notation ``$003c``.
Data type conversion
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Many type conversions are possible by just writing ``as <type>`` at the end of an expression,
for example ``word ww = bytevalue as word`` will convert the byte value to a signed word.
Memory mapped variables
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The ``&`` (address-of operator) used in front of a data type keyword, indicates that no storage
should be allocated by the compiler. Instead, the (mandatory) value assigned to the variable
should be the *memory address* where the value is located::
&byte BORDERCOLOR = $d020
&ubyte[5*40] top5screenrows = $0400 ; works for array as well
.. _pointervars:
Direct access to memory locations ('peek' and 'poke')
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Instead of defining a memory mapped name for a specific memory location, you can also
directly access the memory. Enclose a numeric expression or literal with ``@(...)`` to do that::
color = @($d020) ; set the variable 'color' to the current c64 screen border color ("peek(53280)")
@($d020) = 0 ; set the c64 screen border to black ("poke 53280,0")
@(vic+$20) = 6 ; a dynamic expression to 'calculate' the address
The array indexing notation on a uword 'pointer variable' is syntactic sugar for such a direct memory access expression,
and the index value can be larger than a byte in this case::
pointervar[999] = 0 ; equivalent to @(pointervar+999) = 0
Constants
^^^^^^^^^
All variables can be assigned new values unless you use the ``const`` keyword.
The initial value must be known at compile time (it must be a compile time constant expression).
Only the simple numeric types (byte, word, float) can be defined as a constant::
const byte max_age = 99
Reserved names
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The following names are reserved, they have a special meaning::
true false ; boolean values 1 and 0
.. _range-expression:
Range expression
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A special value is the *range expression* which represents a range of integer numbers or characters,
from the starting value to (and including) the ending value::
<start> to <end> [ step <step> ]
<start> downto <end> [ step <step> ]
You an provide a step value if you need something else than the default increment which is one (or,
in case of downto, a decrement of one). Unlike the start and end values, the step value must be a constant.
Because a step of minus one is so common you can just use
the downto variant to avoid having to specify the step as well::
0 to 7 ; range of values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
20 downto 10 step -3 ; range of values 20, 17, 14, 11
aa = 5
xx = 10
aa to xx ; range of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
for i in 0 to 127 {
; i loops 0, 1, 2, ... 127
}
Range expressions are most often used in for loops, but can be also be used to create array initialization values::
byte[] array = 100 to 199 ; initialize array with [100, 101, ..., 198, 199]
Array indexing
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Strings and arrays are a sequence of values. You can access the individual values by indexing.
Negative index means counted from the end of the array rather than the beginning, where -1 means
the last element in the array, -2 the second-to-last, etc. (Python uses this same scheme.
Note that this syntax is only valid for arrays, not for strings! Python does allow the latter, but prog8 does not right now.)
Use brackets to index into an array: ``arrayvar[x]`` ::
array[2] ; the third byte in the array (index is 0-based)
string[4] ; the fifth character (=byte) in the string
array[-2] ; the second-to-last element
Note: you can also use array indexing on a 'pointer variable', which is basically an uword variable
containing a memory address. Currently this is equivalent to directly referencing the bytes in
memory at the given index (and allows index values of word size). See :ref:`pointervars`
.. _encodings:
String
^^^^^^
A string literal can occur with or without an encoding prefix (encoding followed by ':' followed by the string itself).
String length is limited to 255 characters.
You can use '+' and '*' to concatenate or repeat string fragments to build up a larger string literal.
When this is omitted, the string is stored in the machine's default character encoding (which is PETSCII on the CBM machines).
You can choose to store the string in other encodings such as ``sc`` (screencodes) or ``iso`` (iso-8859-15).
Here are examples of the various encodings:
- ``"hello"`` a string translated into the default character encoding (PETSCII on the CBM machines)
- ``petscii:"hello"`` string in CBM PETSCII encoding
- ``sc:"my name is Alice"`` string in CBM screencode encoding
- ``iso:"Ich heiße François"`` string in iso-8859-15 encoding (Latin)
- ``iso5:"Хозяин и Работник"`` string in iso-8859-5 encoding (Cyrillic)
- ``iso16:"zażółć gęślą jaźń"`` string in iso-8859-16 encoding (Eastern Europe)
- ``atascii:"I am Atari!"`` string in "atascii" encoding (Atari 8-bit)
- ``cp437:"≈ IBM Pc ≈ ♂♀♪☺¶"`` string in "cp437" encoding (IBM PC codepage 437)
- ``kata:"ｱﾉ ﾆﾎﾝｼﾞﾝ ﾜ ｶﾞｲｺｸｼﾞﾝ｡ # が # ガ"`` string in "kata" encoding (Katakana)
There are several escape sequences available to put special characters into your string value:
- ``\\`` - the backslash itself, has to be escaped because it is the escape symbol by itself
- ``\n`` - newline character (move cursor down and to beginning of next line)
- ``\r`` - carriage return character (more or less the same as newline if printing to the screen)
- ``\"`` - quote character (otherwise it would terminate the string)
- ``\'`` - apostrophe character (has to be escaped in character literals, is okay inside a string)
- ``\uHHHH`` - a unicode codepoint \u0000 - \uffff (16-bit hexadecimal)
- ``\xHH`` - 8-bit hex value that will be copied verbatim *without encoding*
- String literals can contain many symbols directly if they have a PETSCII equivalent, such as "♠♥♣♦π▚●○╳".
Characters like ^, _, \\, {, } and | (that have no direct PETSCII counterpart) are still accepted and converted to the closest PETSCII equivalents. (Make sure you save the source file in UTF-8 encoding if you use this.)
Operators
---------
arithmetic: ``+`` ``-`` ``*`` ``/`` ``%``
``+``, ``-``, ``*``, ``/`` are the familiar arithmetic operations.
``/`` is division (will result in integer division when using on integer operands, and a floating point division when at least one of the operands is a float)
``%`` is the remainder operator: ``25 % 7`` is 4. Be careful: without a space after the %, it will be parsed as a binary number.
So ``25 %10`` will be parsed as the number 25 followed by the binary number 2, which is a syntax error.
Note that remainder is only supported on integer operands (not floats).
bitwise arithmetic: ``&`` ``|`` ``^`` ``~`` ``<<`` ``>>``
``&`` is bitwise and, ``|`` is bitwise or, ``^`` is bitwise xor, ``~`` is bitwise invert (this one is an unary operator)
``<<`` is bitwise left shift and ``>>`` is bitwise right shift (both will not change the datatype of the value)
assignment: ``=``
Sets the target on the LHS (left hand side) of the operator to the value of the expression on the RHS (right hand side).
Note that an assignment sometimes is not possible or supported.
It's possible to chain assignments like ``x = y = z = 42`` as a shorthand for the three assignments with the same value.
augmented assignment: ``+=`` ``-=`` ``*=`` ``/=`` ``&=`` ``|=`` ``^=`` ``<<=`` ``>>=``
This is syntactic sugar; ``aa += xx`` is equivalent to ``aa = aa + xx``
postfix increment and decrement: ``++`` ``--``
Syntactic sugar: ``aa++`` is equivalent to ``aa += 1``, and ``aa--`` is equivalent to ``aa -= 1``.
Because these operations are so common, and often used in other languages, we have these short forms.
*Notes:* unlike some other languages, they are *not* expressions in prog8, but statements. You cannot
increment or decrement something inside an expression like, for example, ``x = value[aa++]`` is invalid.
Also because of this, there is no *prefix* increment and decrement.
comparison: ``==`` ``!=`` ``<`` ``>`` ``<=`` ``>=``
Equality, Inequality, Less-than, Greater-than, Less-or-Equal-than, Greater-or-Equal-than comparisons.
The result is a boolean, true or false.
logical: ``not`` ``and`` ``or`` ``xor``
These operators are the usual logical operations that are part of a logical expression to reason
about truths (boolean values). The result of such an expression is a boolean, true or false.
Prog8 applies short-circuit aka McCarthy evaluation for ``and`` and ``or``.
range creation: ``to``, ``downto``
Creates a range of values from the LHS value to the RHS value, inclusive.
These are mainly used in for loops to set the loop range.
See :ref:`range-expression` for details.
containment check: ``in``
Tests if a value is present in a list of values, which can be a string, or an array, or a range expression.
The result is a simple boolean true or false.
Consider using this instead of chaining multiple value tests with ``or``, because the
containment check is more efficient.
Checking N in a range from x to y, is identical to x<=N and N<=y; the actual range of values is never created.
Examples::
ubyte cc
if cc in [' ', '@', 0] {
txt.print("cc is one of the values")
}
if cc in 10 to 20 {
txt.print("10 <= cc and cc <=20")
}
str email_address = "name@test.com"
if '@' in email_address {
txt.print("email address seems ok")
}
address of: ``&``
This is a prefix operator that can be applied to a string or array variable or literal value.
It results in the memory address (UWORD) of that string or array in memory: ``uword a = &stringvar``
Sometimes the compiler silently inserts this operator to make it easier for instance
to pass strings or arrays as subroutine call arguments.
This operator can also be used as a prefix to a variable's data type keyword to indicate that
it is a memory mapped variable (for instance: ``&ubyte screencolor = $d021``)
ternary:
Prog8 doesn't have a ternary operator to choose one of two values (``x? y : z`` in many other languages)
instead it provides this feature in the form of an *if expression*. See below under "Conditional Execution".
precedence grouping in expressions, or subroutine parameter list: ``(`` *expression* ``)``
Parentheses are used to group parts of an expression to change the order of evaluation.
(the subexpression inside the parentheses will be evaluated first):
``(4 + 8) * 2`` is 24 instead of 20.
Parentheses are also used in a subroutine call, they follow the name of the subroutine and contain
the list of arguments to pass to the subroutine: ``big_function(1, 99)``
Subroutine / function calls
---------------------------
You call a subroutine like this::
[ void / result = ] subroutinename_or_address ( [argument...] )
; example:
resultvariable = subroutine(arg1, arg2, arg3)
void noresultvaluesub(arg)
Arguments are separated by commas. The argument list can also be empty if the subroutine
takes no parameters. If the subroutine returns a value, usually you assign it to a variable.
If you're not interested in the return value, prefix the function call with the ``void`` keyword.
Otherwise the compiler will warn you about discarding the result of the call.
.. _multiassign:
Multiple return values
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Normal subroutines can only return zero or one return values.
However, the special ``asmsub`` routines (implemented in assembly code) or ``extsub`` routines
(referencing an external routine in ROM or elsewhere in RAM) can return more than one return value.
For example a status in the carry bit and a number in A, or a 16-bit value in A/Y registers and some more values in R0 and R1.
In all of these cases, you have to "multi assign" all return values of the subroutine call to something.
You simply write the assignment targets as a comma separated list,
where the element's order corresponds to the order of the return values declared in the subroutine's signature.
So for instance::
bool flag
ubyte bytevar
uword wordvar
wordvar, flag, bytevar = multisub() ; call and assign the three result values
asmsub multisub() -> uword @AY, bool @Pc, ubyte @X { ... }
.. sidebar:: Using just one of the values
Sometimes it is easier to just have a single return value in the subroutine's signagure (even though it
actually may return multiple values): this avoids having to put ``void`` for all other values.
It also allows it to be called in expressions such as if-statements again.
Examples of these second 'convenience' definition are library routines such as ``cbm.STOP2`` and ``cbm.GETIN2``,
that only return a single value where the "official" versions ``STOP`` and ``GETIN`` always return multiple values.
**Skipping values:** Instead of using ``void`` to ignore the result of a subroutine call altogether,
you can also use it as a placeholder name in a multi-assignment. This skips assignment of the return value in that place.
One of the cases where this is useful, is with boolean values returned in status flags such as the carry flag.
Storing that flag as a boolean in a variable first, and then possibly adding an ``if flag...`` statement afterwards, is a lot less
efficient than just keeping the flag as-is and using a conditional branch such as ``if_cs`` to do something with it.
So in the case above that could be::
wordvar, void, bytevar = multisub()
if_cs
something()
Notice that a call to a subroutine that returns multiple values cannot be used inside an expression,
because expression terms always need to be a single value. You'll have to use a separate multi-assignment
first and then use the result of that in the expression. However, also read the sidebar about a possible alternative.
Subroutine definitions
----------------------
The syntax is::
sub <identifier> ( [parameters] ) [ -> returntype ] {
... statements ...
}
; example:
sub triple_something (word amount) -> word {
return X * 3
}
The parameters is a (possibly empty) comma separated list of "<datatype> <parametername>" pairs specifying the input parameters.
The return type has to be specified if the subroutine returns a value.
External subroutines
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
External subroutines are usually defined by compiler library files, with the following syntax::
extsub $FFD5 = LOAD(ubyte verify @ A, uword address @ XY) clobbers()
-> bool @Pc, ubyte @ A, ubyte @ X, ubyte @ Y
This defines the ``LOAD`` subroutine at memory address $FFD5, taking arguments in all three registers A, X and Y,
and returning stuff in several registers as well. The ``clobbers`` clause is used to signify to the compiler
what CPU registers are clobbered by the call instead of being unchanged or returning a meaningful result value.
Note that the address ($ffd5 in the example above) can actually be an expression as long as it is a compile time constant. This can
make it easier to define jump tables for example, like this::
const uword APIBASE = $8000
extsub APIBASE+0 = firstroutine()
extsub APIBASE+10 = secondroutine()
extsub APIBASE+20 = thirdroutine()
**Banks:** it is possible to declare a non-standard ROM or RAM bank that the routine is living in, with ``@bank`` like this:
``extsub @bank 10 $C09F = audio_init()`` to define a routine at $C09F in bank 10. You can also specify a variable for the bank.
See :ref:`banking` for more information.
User-written subroutines in the program source code itself, implemented purely in assembly and which have an assembly calling convention (i.e.
the parameters are strictly passed via cpu registers), are defined with ``asmsub`` like this::
asmsub clear_screenchars (ubyte char @ A) clobbers(Y) {
%asm {{
ldy #0
_loop sta cbm.Screen,y
sta cbm.Screen+$0100,y
sta cbm.Screen+$0200,y
sta cbm.Screen+$02e8,y
iny
bne _loop
rts
}}
}
the statement body of such a subroutine should consist of just an inline assembly block.
The ``@ <register>`` part is required for rom and assembly-subroutines, as it specifies for the compiler
what cpu registers should take the routine's arguments. You can use the regular set of registers
(A, X, Y), special 16-bit register pairs to take word values (AX, AY and XY) and even a processor status
flag such as Carry (Pc).
It is not possible to use floating point arguments or return values in an asmsub.
.. note::
Asmsubs can also be tagged as ``inline asmsub`` to make trivial pieces of assembly inserted
directly instead of a call to them. Note that it is literal copy-paste of code that is done,
so make sure the assembly is actually written to behave like such - which probably means you
don't want a ``rts`` or ``jmp`` or ``bra`` in it!
.. note::
The 'virtual' 16-bit registers from the Commander X16 can also be specified as ``R0`` .. ``R15`` .
This means you don't have to set them up manually before calling a subroutine that takes
one or more parameters in those 'registers'. You can just list the arguments directly.
*This also works on the Commodore 64!* (however they are not as efficient there because they're not in zeropage)
In prog8 and assembly code these 'registers' are directly accessible too via
``cx16.r0`` .. ``cx16.r15`` (these are memory mapped uword values),
``cx16.r0s`` .. ``cx16.r15s`` (these are memory mapped word values),
and ``L`` / ``H`` variants are also available to directly access the low and high bytes of these.
You can use them directly but their name isn't very descriptive, so it may be useful to define
an alias for them when using them regularly.
Expressions
-----------
Expressions calculate a value and can be used almost everywhere a value is expected.
They consist of values, variables, operators, function calls, type casts, direct memory reads,
and can be combined into other expressions.
Long expressions can be split over multiple lines by inserting a line break before or after an operator::
num_hours * 3600
+ num_minutes * 60
+ num_seconds
Loops
-----
for loop
^^^^^^^^
The loop variable must be a byte or word variable, and it must be defined separately first.
The expression that you loop over can be anything that supports iteration (such as ranges like ``0 to 100``,
array variables and strings) *except* floating-point arrays (because a floating-point loop variable is not supported).
Remember that a step value in a range must be a constant value.
You can use a single statement, or a statement block like in the example below::
for <loopvar> in <expression> [ step <amount> ] {
; do something...
break ; break out of the loop
continue ; immediately next iteration
}
For example, this is a for loop using a byte variable ``i``, defined before, to loop over a certain range of numbers::
ubyte i
...
for i in 20 to 155 {
; do something
}
To loop over a decreasing or descending range, use the ``downto`` keyword::
ubyte i
...
for i in 155 downto 20 { ; 155, 154, 153, ..., 20
; do something
}
Similarly, a descending range may be specified by using ``to`` in combination with a ``step`` that is ``< 0``::
ubyte i
...
for i in 155 to 20 step -1 { ; 155, 154, 153, ..., 20
; do something
}
The following example is a loop over the values of the array ``fibonacci_numbers``::
uword[] fibonacci_numbers = [0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181]
uword number
for number in fibonacci_numbers {
; do something with number...
break ; break out of the loop early
}
See :ref:`range-expression` for all of the details.
while loop
^^^^^^^^^^
As long as the condition is true (1), repeat the given statement(s).
You can use a single statement, or a statement block like in the example below::
while <condition> {
; do something...
break ; break out of the loop
continue ; immediately next iteration
}
do-until loop
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Until the given condition is true (1), repeat the given statement(s).
You can use a single statement, or a statement block like in the example below::
do {
; do something...
break ; break out of the loop
continue ; immediately next iteration
} until <condition>
repeat loop
^^^^^^^^^^^
When you're only interested in repeating something a given number of times.
It's a short hand for a for loop without an explicit loop variable::
repeat 15 {
; do something...
break ; you can break out of the loop
continue ; immediately next iteration
}
If you omit the iteration count, it simply loops forever.
You can still ``break`` out of such a loop if you want though.
unroll loop
^^^^^^^^^^^
Like a repeat loop, but trades memory for speed by not generating the code
for the counter. Instead it duplicates the code inside the loop on the spot for
the given number of iterations. This means that only a constant number of iterations can be specified.
Also, only simple statements such as assignments and function calls can be inside the loop::
unroll 80 {
cx16.VERA_DATA0 = 255
}
A `break` or `continue` statement cannot occur in an unroll loop, as there is no actual loop to break out of.
Conditional Execution and Jumps
-------------------------------
Unconditional jump: goto
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To jump to another part of the program, you use a ``goto`` statement with an address or the name
of a label or subroutine. Referencing labels or subroutines outside of their defined scope requires
using qualified "dotted names"::
goto $c000 ; address
goto name ; label or subroutine
goto main.mysub.name ; qualified dotted name; see, "Blocks, Scopes, and accessing Symbols"
uword address = $4000
goto address ; jump via address variable
Notice that this is a valid way to end a subroutine (you can either ``return`` from it, or jump
to another piece of code that eventually returns).
If you jump to an address variable (uword), it is doing an 'indirect' jump: the jump will be done
to the address that's currently in the variable.
if statement
^^^^^^^^^^^^
With the 'if' / 'else' statement you can execute code depending on the value of a condition::
if <expression> <statements> [else <statements> ]
If <statements> is just a single statement, for instance just a ``goto`` or a single assignment,
it's possible to just write the statement without any curly braces.
However if <statements> is a block of multiple statements, you'll have to enclose it in curly braces::
if <expression> {
<statements>
} else if <expression> {
<statements>
} else {
<statements>
}
**Special status register branch form:**
There is a special form of the if-statement that immediately translates into one of the 6502's branching instructions.
It is almost the same as the regular if-statement but it lacks a conditional expression part, because the if-statement
itself defines on what status register bit it should branch on::
if_XX <statements> [else <statements> ]
where <statements> can be just a single statement or a block again::
if_XX {
<statements>
} else {
<alternative statements>
}
The XX corresponds to one of the processor's branching instructions, so the possibilities are:
``if_cs``, ``if_cc``, ``if_eq``, ``if_ne``, ``if_pl``, ``if_mi``, ``if_vs`` and ``if_vc``.
It can also be one of the four aliases that are easier to read: ``if_z``, ``if_nz``, ``if_pos`` and ``if_neg``.
.. caution::
These special ``if_XX`` branching statements are only useful in certain specific situations where you are *certain*
that the status register (still) contains the correct status bits.
This is not always the case after a function call or other operations!
If in doubt, check the generated assembly code!
if expression
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Similar to the if statement, but this time selects one of two possible values as the outcome of the expression,
depending on the condition. You write it as ``if <condition> <value1> else <value2>`` and it can be
used anywhere an expression is used to assign or pass a value.
The first value will be used if the condition is true, otherwise the second value is used.
Sometimes it may be more legible if you surround the condition expression with parentheses so it is better
separated visually from the first value following it.
You must always provide two alternatives to choose from, and they can only be values (expressions).
when statement ('jump table')
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The structure of a when statement is like this::
when <expression> {
<value(s)> -> <statement(s)>
<value(s)> -> <statement(s)>
...
[ else -> <statement(s)> ]
}
The when-*value* can be any expression but the choice values have to evaluate to
compile-time constant integers (bytes or words).
The else part is optional.
Choices can result in a single statement or a block of multiple statements in which
case you have to use { } to enclose them::
when value {
4 -> txt.print("four")
5 -> txt.print("five")
10,20,30 -> {
txt.print("ten or twenty or thirty")
}
else -> txt.print("don't know")
}
Deferred code ("cleanups")
--------------------------
The ``defer`` keyword can be used to schedule a statement (or block of statements) to be executed
just before exiting of the current subroutine. That can be via a return statement or a jump to somewhere else,
or just the normal ending of the subroutine. This is often useful to "not forget" to clean up stuff,
and if the subroutine has multiple ways or places where it can exit, it saves you from repeating
the cleanup code at every exit spot. Multiple defers can be scheduled in a single subroutine (up to a maximum of 8).
They are handled in reversed order. Return values are evaluated before any deferred code is executed.
You write defers like so::
defer diskio.f_close()
; or multiple statements:
defer {
diskio.f_close()
memory.deallocate()
}
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