This is as.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.3 from as.texinfo.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* As: (as).                     The GNU assembler.
* Gas: (as).                    The GNU assembler.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   This file documents the GNU Assembler "as".

   Copyright (C) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001, 2002
Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License".


File: as.info,  Node: VAX-branch,  Next: VAX-operands,  Prev: VAX-opcodes,  Up: Vax-Dependent

VAX Branch Improvement
----------------------

   Certain pseudo opcodes are permitted.  They are for branch
instructions.  They expand to the shortest branch instruction that
reaches the target.  Generally these mnemonics are made by substituting
`j' for `b' at the start of a DEC mnemonic.  This feature is included
both for compatibility and to help compilers.  If you do not need this
feature, avoid these opcodes.  Here are the mnemonics, and the code
they can expand into.

`jbsb'
     `Jsb' is already an instruction mnemonic, so we chose `jbsb'.
    (byte displacement)
          `bsbb ...'

    (word displacement)
          `bsbw ...'

    (long displacement)
          `jsb ...'

`jbr'
`jr'
     Unconditional branch.
    (byte displacement)
          `brb ...'

    (word displacement)
          `brw ...'

    (long displacement)
          `jmp ...'

`jCOND'
     COND may be any one of the conditional branches `neq', `nequ',
     `eql', `eqlu', `gtr', `geq', `lss', `gtru', `lequ', `vc', `vs',
     `gequ', `cc', `lssu', `cs'.  COND may also be one of the bit tests
     `bs', `bc', `bss', `bcs', `bsc', `bcc', `bssi', `bcci', `lbs',
     `lbc'.  NOTCOND is the opposite condition to COND.
    (byte displacement)
          `bCOND ...'

    (word displacement)
          `bNOTCOND foo ; brw ... ; foo:'

    (long displacement)
          `bNOTCOND foo ; jmp ... ; foo:'

`jacbX'
     X may be one of `b d f g h l w'.
    (word displacement)
          `OPCODE ...'

    (long displacement)
               OPCODE ..., foo ;
               brb bar ;
               foo: jmp ... ;
               bar:

`jaobYYY'
     YYY may be one of `lss leq'.

`jsobZZZ'
     ZZZ may be one of `geq gtr'.
    (byte displacement)
          `OPCODE ...'

    (word displacement)
               OPCODE ..., foo ;
               brb bar ;
               foo: brw DESTINATION ;
               bar:

    (long displacement)
               OPCODE ..., foo ;
               brb bar ;
               foo: jmp DESTINATION ;
               bar:

`aobleq'
`aoblss'
`sobgeq'
`sobgtr'

    (byte displacement)
          `OPCODE ...'

    (word displacement)
               OPCODE ..., foo ;
               brb bar ;
               foo: brw DESTINATION ;
               bar:

    (long displacement)
               OPCODE ..., foo ;
               brb bar ;
               foo: jmp DESTINATION ;
               bar:


File: as.info,  Node: VAX-operands,  Next: VAX-no,  Prev: VAX-branch,  Up: Vax-Dependent

VAX Operands
------------

   The immediate character is `$' for Unix compatibility, not `#' as
DEC writes it.

   The indirect character is `*' for Unix compatibility, not `@' as DEC
writes it.

   The displacement sizing character is ``' (an accent grave) for Unix
compatibility, not `^' as DEC writes it.  The letter preceding ``' may
have either case.  `G' is not understood, but all other letters (`b i l
s w') are understood.

   Register names understood are `r0 r1 r2 ... r15 ap fp sp pc'.  Upper
and lower case letters are equivalent.

   For instance
     tstb *w`$4(r5)

   Any expression is permitted in an operand.  Operands are comma
separated.


File: as.info,  Node: VAX-no,  Prev: VAX-operands,  Up: Vax-Dependent

Not Supported on VAX
--------------------

   Vax bit fields can not be assembled with `as'.  Someone can add the
required code if they really need it.


File: as.info,  Node: V850-Dependent,  Next: Xtensa-Dependent,  Prev: TIC54X-Dependent,  Up: Machine Dependencies

v850 Dependent Features
=======================

* Menu:

* V850 Options::              Options
* V850 Syntax::               Syntax
* V850 Floating Point::       Floating Point
* V850 Directives::           V850 Machine Directives
* V850 Opcodes::              Opcodes


File: as.info,  Node: V850 Options,  Next: V850 Syntax,  Up: V850-Dependent

Options
-------

   `as' supports the following additional command-line options for the
V850 processor family:

`-wsigned_overflow'
     Causes warnings to be produced when signed immediate values
     overflow the space available for then within their opcodes.  By
     default this option is disabled as it is possible to receive
     spurious warnings due to using exact bit patterns as immediate
     constants.

`-wunsigned_overflow'
     Causes warnings to be produced when unsigned immediate values
     overflow the space available for then within their opcodes.  By
     default this option is disabled as it is possible to receive
     spurious warnings due to using exact bit patterns as immediate
     constants.

`-mv850'
     Specifies that the assembled code should be marked as being
     targeted at the V850 processor.  This allows the linker to detect
     attempts to link such code with code assembled for other
     processors.

`-mv850e'
     Specifies that the assembled code should be marked as being
     targeted at the V850E processor.  This allows the linker to detect
     attempts to link such code with code assembled for other
     processors.

`-mv850any'
     Specifies that the assembled code should be marked as being
     targeted at the V850 processor but support instructions that are
     specific to the extended variants of the process.  This allows the
     production of binaries that contain target specific code, but
     which are also intended to be used in a generic fashion.  For
     example libgcc.a contains generic routines used by the code
     produced by GCC for all versions of the v850 architecture,
     together with support routines only used by the V850E architecture.

`-mrelax'
     Enables relaxation.  This allows the .longcall and .longjump pseudo
     ops to be used in the assembler source code.  These ops label
     sections of code which are either a long function call or a long
     branch.  The assembler will then flag these sections of code and
     the linker will attempt to relax them.


File: as.info,  Node: V850 Syntax,  Next: V850 Floating Point,  Prev: V850 Options,  Up: V850-Dependent

Syntax
------

* Menu:

* V850-Chars::                Special Characters
* V850-Regs::                 Register Names


File: as.info,  Node: V850-Chars,  Next: V850-Regs,  Up: V850 Syntax

Special Characters
..................

   `#' is the line comment character.


File: as.info,  Node: V850-Regs,  Prev: V850-Chars,  Up: V850 Syntax

Register Names
..............

   `as' supports the following names for registers:
`general register 0'
     r0, zero

`general register 1'
     r1

`general register 2'
     r2, hp

`general register 3'
     r3, sp

`general register 4'
     r4, gp

`general register 5'
     r5, tp

`general register 6'
     r6

`general register 7'
     r7

`general register 8'
     r8

`general register 9'
     r9

`general register 10'
     r10

`general register 11'
     r11

`general register 12'
     r12

`general register 13'
     r13

`general register 14'
     r14

`general register 15'
     r15

`general register 16'
     r16

`general register 17'
     r17

`general register 18'
     r18

`general register 19'
     r19

`general register 20'
     r20

`general register 21'
     r21

`general register 22'
     r22

`general register 23'
     r23

`general register 24'
     r24

`general register 25'
     r25

`general register 26'
     r26

`general register 27'
     r27

`general register 28'
     r28

`general register 29'
     r29

`general register 30'
     r30, ep

`general register 31'
     r31, lp

`system register 0'
     eipc

`system register 1'
     eipsw

`system register 2'
     fepc

`system register 3'
     fepsw

`system register 4'
     ecr

`system register 5'
     psw

`system register 16'
     ctpc

`system register 17'
     ctpsw

`system register 18'
     dbpc

`system register 19'
     dbpsw

`system register 20'
     ctbp


File: as.info,  Node: V850 Floating Point,  Next: V850 Directives,  Prev: V850 Syntax,  Up: V850-Dependent

Floating Point
--------------

   The V850 family uses IEEE floating-point numbers.


File: as.info,  Node: V850 Directives,  Next: V850 Opcodes,  Prev: V850 Floating Point,  Up: V850-Dependent

V850 Machine Directives
-----------------------

`.offset <EXPRESSION>'
     Moves the offset into the current section to the specified amount.

`.section "name", <type>'
     This is an extension to the standard .section directive.  It sets
     the current section to be <type> and creates an alias for this
     section called "name".

`.v850'
     Specifies that the assembled code should be marked as being
     targeted at the V850 processor.  This allows the linker to detect
     attempts to link such code with code assembled for other
     processors.

`.v850e'
     Specifies that the assembled code should be marked as being
     targeted at the V850E processor.  This allows the linker to detect
     attempts to link such code with code assembled for other
     processors.


File: as.info,  Node: V850 Opcodes,  Prev: V850 Directives,  Up: V850-Dependent

Opcodes
-------

   `as' implements all the standard V850 opcodes.

   `as' also implements the following pseudo ops:

`hi0()'
     Computes the higher 16 bits of the given expression and stores it
     into the immediate operand field of the given instruction.  For
     example:

     `mulhi hi0(here - there), r5, r6'

     computes the difference between the address of labels 'here' and
     'there', takes the upper 16 bits of this difference, shifts it
     down 16 bits and then mutliplies it by the lower 16 bits in
     register 5, putting the result into register 6.

`lo()'
     Computes the lower 16 bits of the given expression and stores it
     into the immediate operand field of the given instruction.  For
     example:

     `addi lo(here - there), r5, r6'

     computes the difference between the address of labels 'here' and
     'there', takes the lower 16 bits of this difference and adds it to
     register 5, putting the result into register 6.

`hi()'
     Computes the higher 16 bits of the given expression and then adds
     the value of the most significant bit of the lower 16 bits of the
     expression and stores the result into the immediate operand field
     of the given instruction.  For example the following code can be
     used to compute the address of the label 'here' and store it into
     register 6:

     `movhi hi(here), r0, r6'     `movea lo(here), r6, r6'

     The reason for this special behaviour is that movea performs a sign
     extension on its immediate operand.  So for example if the address
     of 'here' was 0xFFFFFFFF then without the special behaviour of the
     hi() pseudo-op the movhi instruction would put 0xFFFF0000 into r6,
     then the movea instruction would takes its immediate operand,
     0xFFFF, sign extend it to 32 bits, 0xFFFFFFFF, and then add it
     into r6 giving 0xFFFEFFFF which is wrong (the fifth nibble is E).
     With the hi() pseudo op adding in the top bit of the lo() pseudo
     op, the movhi instruction actually stores 0 into r6 (0xFFFF + 1 =
     0x0000), so that the movea instruction stores 0xFFFFFFFF into r6 -
     the right value.

`hilo()'
     Computes the 32 bit value of the given expression and stores it
     into the immediate operand field of the given instruction (which
     must be a mov instruction).  For example:

     `mov hilo(here), r6'

     computes the absolute address of label 'here' and puts the result
     into register 6.

`sdaoff()'
     Computes the offset of the named variable from the start of the
     Small Data Area (whoes address is held in register 4, the GP
     register) and stores the result as a 16 bit signed value in the
     immediate operand field of the given instruction.  For example:

     `ld.w sdaoff(_a_variable)[gp],r6'

     loads the contents of the location pointed to by the label
     '_a_variable' into register 6, provided that the label is located
     somewhere within +/- 32K of the address held in the GP register.
     [Note the linker assumes that the GP register contains a fixed
     address set to the address of the label called '__gp'.  This can
     either be set up automatically by the linker, or specifically set
     by using the `--defsym __gp=<value>' command line option].

`tdaoff()'
     Computes the offset of the named variable from the start of the
     Tiny Data Area (whoes address is held in register 30, the EP
     register) and stores the result as a 4,5, 7 or 8 bit unsigned
     value in the immediate operand field of the given instruction.
     For example:

     `sld.w tdaoff(_a_variable)[ep],r6'

     loads the contents of the location pointed to by the label
     '_a_variable' into register 6, provided that the label is located
     somewhere within +256 bytes of the address held in the EP
     register.  [Note the linker assumes that the EP register contains
     a fixed address set to the address of the label called '__ep'.
     This can either be set up automatically by the linker, or
     specifically set by using the `--defsym __ep=<value>' command line
     option].

`zdaoff()'
     Computes the offset of the named variable from address 0 and
     stores the result as a 16 bit signed value in the immediate
     operand field of the given instruction.  For example:

     `movea zdaoff(_a_variable),zero,r6'

     puts the address of the label '_a_variable' into register 6,
     assuming that the label is somewhere within the first 32K of
     memory.  (Strictly speaking it also possible to access the last
     32K of memory as well, as the offsets are signed).

`ctoff()'
     Computes the offset of the named variable from the start of the
     Call Table Area (whoes address is helg in system register 20, the
     CTBP register) and stores the result a 6 or 16 bit unsigned value
     in the immediate field of then given instruction or piece of data.
     For example:

     `callt ctoff(table_func1)'

     will put the call the function whoes address is held in the call
     table at the location labeled 'table_func1'.

`.longcall `name''
     Indicates that the following sequence of instructions is a long
     call to function `name'.  The linker will attempt to shorten this
     call sequence if `name' is within a 22bit offset of the call.  Only
     valid if the `-mrelax' command line switch has been enabled.

`.longjump `name''
     Indicates that the following sequence of instructions is a long
     jump to label `name'.  The linker will attempt to shorten this code
     sequence if `name' is within a 22bit offset of the jump.  Only
     valid if the `-mrelax' command line switch has been enabled.

   For information on the V850 instruction set, see `V850 Family
32-/16-Bit single-Chip Microcontroller Architecture Manual' from NEC.
Ltd.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa-Dependent,  Next: Z8000-Dependent,  Prev: V850-Dependent,  Up: Machine Dependencies

Xtensa Dependent Features
=========================

   This chapter covers features of the GNU assembler that are specific
to the Xtensa architecture.  For details about the Xtensa instruction
set, please consult the `Xtensa Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
Reference Manual'.

* Menu:

* Xtensa Options::              Command-line Options.
* Xtensa Syntax::               Assembler Syntax for Xtensa Processors.
* Xtensa Optimizations::        Assembler Optimizations.
* Xtensa Relaxation::           Other Automatic Transformations.
* Xtensa Directives::           Directives for Xtensa Processors.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Options,  Next: Xtensa Syntax,  Up: Xtensa-Dependent

Command Line Options
--------------------

   The Xtensa version of the GNU assembler supports these special
options:

`--density | --no-density'
     Enable or disable use of the Xtensa code density option (16-bit
     instructions).  *Note Using Density Instructions: Density
     Instructions.  If the processor is configured with the density
     option, this is enabled by default; otherwise, it is always
     disabled.

`--relax | --no-relax'
     Enable or disable relaxation of instructions with immediate
     operands that are outside the legal range for the instructions.
     *Note Xtensa Relaxation: Xtensa Relaxation.  The default is
     `--relax' and this default should almost always be used.  If
     relaxation is disabled with `--no-relax', instruction operands
     that are out of range will cause errors.  Note: In the current
     implementation, these options also control whether assembler
     optimizations are performed, making these options equivalent to
     `--generics' and `--no-generics'.

`--generics | --no-generics'
     Enable or disable all assembler transformations of Xtensa
     instructions, including both relaxation and optimization.  The
     default is `--generics'; `--no-generics' should only be used in
     the rare cases when the instructions must be exactly as specified
     in the assembly source.  As with `--no-relax', using
     `--no-generics' causes out of range instruction operands to be
     errors.

`--text-section-literals | --no-text-section-literals'
     Control the treatment of literal pools.  The default is
     `--no-text-section-literals', which places literals in a separate
     section in the output file.  This allows the literal pool to be
     placed in a data RAM/ROM, and it also allows the linker to combine
     literal pools from separate object files to remove redundant
     literals and improve code size.  With `--text-section-literals',
     the literals are interspersed in the text section in order to keep
     them as close as possible to their references.  This may be
     necessary for large assembly files.

`--target-align | --no-target-align'
     Enable or disable automatic alignment to reduce branch penalties
     at some expense in code size.  *Note Automatic Instruction
     Alignment: Xtensa Automatic Alignment.  This optimization is
     enabled by default.  Note that the assembler will always align
     instructions like `LOOP' that have fixed alignment requirements.

`--longcalls | --no-longcalls'
     Enable or disable transformation of call instructions to allow
     calls across a greater range of addresses.  *Note Function Call
     Relaxation: Xtensa Call Relaxation.  This option should be used
     when call targets can potentially be out of range, but it degrades
     both code size and performance.  The default is `--no-longcalls'.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Syntax,  Next: Xtensa Optimizations,  Prev: Xtensa Options,  Up: Xtensa-Dependent

Assembler Syntax
----------------

   Block comments are delimited by `/*' and `*/'.  End of line comments
may be introduced with either `#' or `//'.

   Instructions consist of a leading opcode or macro name followed by
whitespace and an optional comma-separated list of operands:

     OPCODE [OPERAND,...]

   Instructions must be separated by a newline or semicolon.

* Menu:

* Xtensa Opcodes::              Opcode Naming Conventions.
* Xtensa Registers::            Register Naming.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Opcodes,  Next: Xtensa Registers,  Up: Xtensa Syntax

Opcode Names
............

   See the `Xtensa Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Reference Manual'
for a complete list of opcodes and descriptions of their semantics.

   The Xtensa assembler distinguishes between "generic" and "specific"
opcodes.  Specific opcodes correspond directly to Xtensa machine
instructions.  Prefixing an opcode with an underscore character (`_')
identifies it as a specific opcode.  Opcodes without a leading
underscore are generic, which means the assembler is required to
preserve their semantics but may not translate them directly to the
specific opcodes with the same names.  Instead, the assembler may
optimize a generic opcode and select a better instruction to use in its
place (*note Xtensa Optimizations: Xtensa Optimizations.), or the
assembler may relax the instruction to handle operands that are out of
range for the corresponding specific opcode (*note Xtensa Relaxation:
Xtensa Relaxation.).

   Only use specific opcodes when it is essential to select the exact
machine instructions produced by the assembler.  Using specific opcodes
unnecessarily only makes the code less efficient, by disabling
assembler optimization, and less flexible, by disabling relaxation.

   Note that this special handling of underscore prefixes only applies
to Xtensa opcodes, not to either built-in macros or user-defined macros.
When an underscore prefix is used with a macro (e.g., `_NOP'), it
refers to a different macro.  The assembler generally provides built-in
macros both with and without the underscore prefix, where the underscore
versions behave as if the underscore carries through to the instructions
in the macros.  For example, `_NOP' expands to `_OR a1,a1,a1'.

   The underscore prefix only applies to individual instructions, not to
series of instructions.  For example, if a series of instructions have
underscore prefixes, the assembler will not transform the individual
instructions, but it may insert other instructions between them (e.g.,
to align a `LOOP' instruction).  To prevent the assembler from
modifying a series of instructions as a whole, use the `no-generics'
directive.  *Note generics: Generics Directive.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Registers,  Prev: Xtensa Opcodes,  Up: Xtensa Syntax

Register Names
..............

   An initial `$' character is optional in all register names.  General
purpose registers are named `a0'...`a15'.  Additional registers may be
added by processor configuration options.  In particular, the MAC16
option adds a MR register bank.  Its registers are named `m0'...`m3'.

   As a special feature, `sp' is also supported as a synonym for `a1'.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Optimizations,  Next: Xtensa Relaxation,  Prev: Xtensa Syntax,  Up: Xtensa-Dependent

Xtensa Optimizations
--------------------

   The optimizations currently supported by `as' are generation of
density instructions where appropriate and automatic branch target
alignment.

* Menu:

* Density Instructions::        Using Density Instructions.
* Xtensa Automatic Alignment::  Automatic Instruction Alignment.


File: as.info,  Node: Density Instructions,  Next: Xtensa Automatic Alignment,  Up: Xtensa Optimizations

Using Density Instructions
..........................

   The Xtensa instruction set has a code density option that provides
16-bit versions of some of the most commonly used opcodes.  Use of these
opcodes can significantly reduce code size.  When possible, the
assembler automatically translates generic instructions from the core
Xtensa instruction set into equivalent instructions from the Xtensa code
density option.  This translation can be disabled by using specific
opcodes (*note Opcode Names: Xtensa Opcodes.), by using the
`--no-density' command-line option (*note Command Line Options: Xtensa
Options.), or by using the `no-density' directive (*note density:
Density Directive.).

   It is a good idea _not_ to use the density instuctions directly.
The assembler will automatically select dense instructions where
possible.  If you later need to avoid using the code density option, you
can disable it in the assembler without having to modify the code.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Automatic Alignment,  Prev: Density Instructions,  Up: Xtensa Optimizations

Automatic Instruction Alignment
...............................

   The Xtensa assembler will automatically align certain instructions,
both to optimize performance and to satisfy architectural requirements.

   When the `--target-align' command-line option is enabled (*note
Command Line Options: Xtensa Options.), the assembler attempts to widen
density instructions preceding a branch target so that the target
instruction does not cross a 4-byte boundary.  Similarly, the assembler
also attempts to align each instruction following a call instruction.
If there are not enough preceding safe density instructions to align a
target, no widening will be performed.  This alignment has the
potential to reduce branch penalties at some expense in code size.  The
assembler will not attempt to align labels with the prefixes `.Ln' and
`.LM', since these labels are used for debugging information and are
not typically branch targets.

   The `LOOP' family of instructions must be aligned on either a 1 or 2
mod 4 byte boundary.  The assembler knows about this restriction and
inserts the minimal number of 2 or 3 byte no-op instructions to satisfy
it.  When no-op instructions are added, any label immediately preceding
the original loop will be moved in order to refer to the loop
instruction, not the newly generated no-op instruction.

   Similarly, the `ENTRY' instruction must be aligned on a 0 mod 4 byte
boundary.  The assembler satisfies this requirement by inserting zero
bytes when required.  In addition, labels immediately preceding the
`ENTRY' instruction will be moved to the newly aligned instruction
location.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Relaxation,  Next: Xtensa Directives,  Prev: Xtensa Optimizations,  Up: Xtensa-Dependent

Xtensa Relaxation
-----------------

   When an instruction operand is outside the range allowed for that
particular instruction field, `as' can transform the code to use a
functionally-equivalent instruction or sequence of instructions.  This
process is known as "relaxation".  This is typically done for branch
instructions because the distance of the branch targets is not known
until assembly-time.  The Xtensa assembler offers branch relaxation and
also extends this concept to function calls, `MOVI' instructions and
other instructions with immediate fields.

* Menu:

* Xtensa Branch Relaxation::        Relaxation of Branches.
* Xtensa Call Relaxation::          Relaxation of Function Calls.
* Xtensa Immediate Relaxation::     Relaxation of other Immediate Fields.


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Branch Relaxation,  Next: Xtensa Call Relaxation,  Up: Xtensa Relaxation

Conditional Branch Relaxation
.............................

   When the target of a branch is too far away from the branch itself,
i.e., when the offset from the branch to the target is too large to fit
in the immediate field of the branch instruction, it may be necessary to
replace the branch with a branch around a jump.  For example,

         beqz    a2, L

   may result in:

         bnez.n  a2, M
         j L
     M:

   (The `BNEZ.N' instruction would be used in this example only if the
density option is available.  Otherwise, `BNEZ' would be used.)


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Call Relaxation,  Next: Xtensa Immediate Relaxation,  Prev: Xtensa Branch Relaxation,  Up: Xtensa Relaxation

Function Call Relaxation
........................

   Function calls may require relaxation because the Xtensa immediate
call instructions (`CALL0', `CALL4', `CALL8' and `CALL12') provide a
PC-relative offset of only 512 Kbytes in either direction.  For larger
programs, it may be necessary to use indirect calls (`CALLX0',
`CALLX4', `CALLX8' and `CALLX12') where the target address is specified
in a register.  The Xtensa assembler can automatically relax immediate
call instructions into indirect call instructions.  This relaxation is
done by loading the address of the called function into the callee's
return address register and then using a `CALLX' instruction.  So, for
example:

         call8 func

   might be relaxed to:

         .literal .L1, func
         l32r    a8, .L1
         callx8  a8

   Because the addresses of targets of function calls are not generally
known until link-time, the assembler must assume the worst and relax all
the calls to functions in other source files, not just those that really
will be out of range.  The linker can recognize calls that were
unnecessarily relaxed, but it can only partially remove the overhead
introduced by the assembler.

   Call relaxation has a negative effect on both code size and
performance, so this relaxation is disabled by default.  If a program
is too large and some of the calls are out of range, function call
relaxation can be enabled using the `--longcalls' command-line option
or the `longcalls' directive (*note longcalls: Longcalls Directive.).


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Immediate Relaxation,  Prev: Xtensa Call Relaxation,  Up: Xtensa Relaxation

Other Immediate Field Relaxation
................................

   The `MOVI' machine instruction can only materialize values in the
range from -2048 to 2047.  Values outside this range are best
materalized with `L32R' instructions.  Thus:

         movi a0, 100000

   is assembled into the following machine code:

         .literal .L1, 100000
         l32r a0, .L1

   The `L8UI' machine instruction can only be used with immediate
offsets in the range from 0 to 255. The `L16SI' and `L16UI' machine
instructions can only be used with offsets from 0 to 510.  The `L32I'
machine instruction can only be used with offsets from 0 to 1020.  A
load offset outside these ranges can be materalized with an `L32R'
instruction if the destination register of the load is different than
the source address register.  For example:

         l32i a1, a0, 2040

   is translated to:

         .literal .L1, 2040
         l32r a1, .L1
         addi a1, a0, a1
         l32i a1, a1, 0

If the load destination and source address register are the same, an
out-of-range offset causes an error.

   The Xtensa `ADDI' instruction only allows immediate operands in the
range from -128 to 127.  There are a number of alternate instruction
sequences for the generic `ADDI' operation.  First, if the immediate is
0, the `ADDI' will be turned into a `MOV.N' instruction (or the
equivalent `OR' instruction if the code density option is not
available).  If the `ADDI' immediate is outside of the range -128 to
127, but inside the range -32896 to 32639, an `ADDMI' instruction or
`ADDMI'/`ADDI' sequence will be used.  Finally, if the immediate is
outside of this range and a free register is available, an `L32R'/`ADD'
sequence will be used with a literal allocated from the literal pool.

   For example:

         addi    a5, a6, 0
         addi    a5, a6, 512
         addi    a5, a6, 513
         addi    a5, a6, 50000

   is assembled into the following:

         .literal .L1, 50000
         mov.n   a5, a6
         addmi   a5, a6, 0x200
         addmi   a5, a6, 0x200
         addi    a5, a5, 1
         l32r    a5, .L1
         add     a5, a6, a5


File: as.info,  Node: Xtensa Directives,  Prev: Xtensa Relaxation,  Up: Xtensa-Dependent

Directives
----------

   The Xtensa assember supports a region-based directive syntax:

         .begin DIRECTIVE [OPTIONS]
         ...
         .end DIRECTIVE

   All the Xtensa-specific directives that apply to a region of code use
this syntax.

   The directive applies to code between the `.begin' and the `.end'.
The state of the option after the `.end' reverts to what it was before
the `.begin'.  A nested `.begin'/`.end' region can further change the
state of the directive without having to be aware of its outer state.
For example, consider:

         .begin no-density
     L:  add a0, a1, a2
         .begin density
     M:  add a0, a1, a2
         .end density
     N:  add a0, a1, a2
         .end no-density

   The generic `ADD' opcodes at `L' and `N' in the outer `no-density'
region both result in `ADD' machine instructions, but the assembler
selects an `ADD.N' instruction for the generic `ADD' at `M' in the
inner `density' region.

   The advantage of this style is that it works well inside macros
which can preserve the context of their callers.

   When command-line options and assembler directives are used at the
same time and conflict, the one that overrides a default behavior takes
precedence over one that is the same as the default.  For example, if
the code density option is available, the default is to select density
instructions whenever possible.  So, if the above is assembled with the
`--no-density' flag, which overrides the default, all the generic `ADD'
instructions result in `ADD' machine instructions.  If assembled with
the `--density' flag, which is already the default, the `no-density'
directive takes precedence and only one of the generic `ADD'
instructions is optimized to be a `ADD.N' machine instruction.  An
underscore prefix identifying a specific opcode always takes precedence
over directives and command-line flags.

   The following directives are available:

* Menu:

* Density Directive::          Disable Use of Density Instructions.
* Relax Directive::            Disable Assembler Relaxation.
* Longcalls Directive::        Use Indirect Calls for Greater Range.
* Generics Directive::         Disable All Assembler Transformations.
* Literal Directive::          Intermix Literals with Instructions.
* Literal Position Directive:: Specify Inline Literal Pool Locations.
* Literal Prefix Directive::   Specify Literal Section Name Prefix.
* Freeregs Directive::         List Registers Available for Assembler Use.
* Frame Directive::            Describe a stack frame.


File: as.info,  Node: Density Directive,  Next: Relax Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

density
.......

   The `density' and `no-density' directives enable or disable
optimization of generic instructions into density instructions within
the region.  *Note Using Density Instructions: Density Instructions.

         .begin [no-]density
         .end [no-]density

   This optimization is enabled by default unless the Xtensa
configuration does not support the code density option or the
`--no-density' command-line option was specified.


File: as.info,  Node: Relax Directive,  Next: Longcalls Directive,  Prev: Density Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

relax
.....

   The `relax' directive enables or disables relaxation within the
region.  *Note Xtensa Relaxation: Xtensa Relaxation.  Note: In the
current implementation, these directives also control whether assembler
optimizations are performed, making them equivalent to the `generics'
and `no-generics' directives.

         .begin [no-]relax
         .end [no-]relax

   Relaxation is enabled by default unless the `--no-relax'
command-line option was specified.


File: as.info,  Node: Longcalls Directive,  Next: Generics Directive,  Prev: Relax Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

longcalls
.........

   The `longcalls' directive enables or disables function call
relaxation.  *Note Function Call Relaxation: Xtensa Call Relaxation.

         .begin [no-]longcalls
         .end [no-]longcalls

   Call relaxation is disabled by default unless the `--longcalls'
command-line option is specified.


File: as.info,  Node: Generics Directive,  Next: Literal Directive,  Prev: Longcalls Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

generics
........

   This directive enables or disables all assembler transformation,
including relaxation (*note Xtensa Relaxation: Xtensa Relaxation.) and
optimization (*note Xtensa Optimizations: Xtensa Optimizations.).

         .begin [no-]generics
         .end [no-]generics

   Disabling generics is roughly equivalent to adding an underscore
prefix to every opcode within the region, so that every opcode is
treated as a specific opcode.  *Note Opcode Names: Xtensa Opcodes.  In
the current implementation of `as', built-in macros are also disabled
within a `no-generics' region.


File: as.info,  Node: Literal Directive,  Next: Literal Position Directive,  Prev: Generics Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

literal
.......

   The `.literal' directive is used to define literal pool data, i.e.,
read-only 32-bit data accessed via `L32R' instructions.

         .literal LABEL, VALUE[, VALUE...]

   This directive is similar to the standard `.word' directive, except
that the actual location of the literal data is determined by the
assembler and linker, not by the position of the `.literal' directive.
Using this directive gives the assembler freedom to locate the literal
data in the most appropriate place and possibly to combine identical
literals.  For example, the code:

         entry sp, 40
         .literal .L1, sym
         l32r    a4, .L1

   can be used to load a pointer to the symbol `sym' into register
`a4'.  The value of `sym' will not be placed between the `ENTRY' and
`L32R' instructions; instead, the assembler puts the data in a literal
pool.

   By default literal pools are placed in a separate section; however,
when using the `--text-section-literals' option (*note Command Line
Options: Xtensa Options.), the literal pools are placed in the current
section.  These text section literal pools are created automatically
before `ENTRY' instructions and manually after `.literal_position'
directives (*note literal_position: Literal Position Directive.).  If
there are no preceding `ENTRY' instructions or `.literal_position'
directives, the assembler will print a warning and place the literal
pool at the beginning of the current section.  In such cases, explicit
`.literal_position' directives should be used to place the literal
pools.


File: as.info,  Node: Literal Position Directive,  Next: Literal Prefix Directive,  Prev: Literal Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

literal_position
................

   When using `--text-section-literals' to place literals inline in the
section being assembled, the `.literal_position' directive can be used
to mark a potential location for a literal pool.

         .literal_position

   The `.literal_position' directive is ignored when the
`--text-section-literals' option is not used.

   The assembler will automatically place text section literal pools
before `ENTRY' instructions, so the `.literal_position' directive is
only needed to specify some other location for a literal pool.  You may
need to add an explicit jump instruction to skip over an inline literal
pool.

   For example, an interrupt vector does not begin with an `ENTRY'
instruction so the assembler will be unable to automatically find a good
place to put a literal pool.  Moreover, the code for the interrupt
vector must be at a specific starting address, so the literal pool
cannot come before the start of the code.  The literal pool for the
vector must be explicitly positioned in the middle of the vector (before
any uses of the literals, of course).  The `.literal_position'
directive can be used to do this.  In the following code, the literal
for `M' will automatically be aligned correctly and is placed after the
unconditional jump.

         .global M
     code_start:
         j continue
         .literal_position
         .align 4
     continue:
         movi    a4, M


File: as.info,  Node: Literal Prefix Directive,  Next: Freeregs Directive,  Prev: Literal Position Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

literal_prefix
..............

   The `literal_prefix' directive allows you to specify different
sections to hold literals from different portions of an assembly file.
With this directive, a single assembly file can be used to generate code
into multiple sections, including literals generated by the assembler.

         .begin literal_prefix [NAME]
         .end literal_prefix

   For the code inside the delimited region, the assembler puts
literals in the section `NAME.literal'. If this section does not yet
exist, the assembler creates it.  The NAME parameter is optional. If
NAME is not specified, the literal prefix is set to the "default" for
the file.  This default is usually `.literal' but can be changed with
the `--rename-section' command-line argument.


File: as.info,  Node: Freeregs Directive,  Next: Frame Directive,  Prev: Literal Prefix Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

freeregs
........

   This directive tells the assembler that the given registers are
unused in the region.

         .begin freeregs RI[,RI...]
         .end freeregs

   This allows the assembler to use these registers for relaxations or
optimizations.  (They are actually only for relaxations at present, but
the possibility of optimizations exists in the future.)

   Nested `freeregs' directives can be used to add additional registers
to the list of those available to the assembler.  For example:

         .begin freeregs a3, a4
         .begin freeregs a5

   has the effect of declaring `a3', `a4', and `a5' all free.


File: as.info,  Node: Frame Directive,  Prev: Freeregs Directive,  Up: Xtensa Directives

frame
.....

   This directive tells the assembler to emit information to allow the
debugger to locate a function's stack frame.  The syntax is:

         .frame REG, SIZE

   where REG is the register used to hold the frame pointer (usually
the same as the stack pointer) and SIZE is the size in bytes of the
stack frame.  The `.frame' directive is typically placed immediately
after the `ENTRY' instruction for a function.

   In almost all circumstances, this information just duplicates the
information given in the function's `ENTRY' instruction; however, there
are two cases where this is not true:

  1. The size of the stack frame is too big to fit in the immediate
     field of the `ENTRY' instruction.

  2. The frame pointer is different than the stack pointer, as with
     functions that call `alloca'.


File: as.info,  Node: Reporting Bugs,  Next: Acknowledgements,  Prev: Machine Dependencies,  Up: Top

Reporting Bugs
**************

   Your bug reports play an essential role in making `as' reliable.

   Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem,
or it may not.  But in any case the principal function of a bug report
is to help the entire community by making the next version of `as' work
better.  Bug reports are your contribution to the maintenance of `as'.

   In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
information that enables us to fix the bug.

* Menu:

* Bug Criteria::                Have you found a bug?
* Bug Reporting::               How to report bugs


File: as.info,  Node: Bug Criteria,  Next: Bug Reporting,  Up: Reporting Bugs

Have You Found a Bug?
=====================

   If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some
guidelines:

   * If the assembler gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that
     is a `as' bug.  Reliable assemblers never crash.

   * If `as' produces an error message for valid input, that is a bug.

   * If `as' does not produce an error message for invalid input, that
     is a bug.  However, you should note that your idea of "invalid
     input" might be our idea of "an extension" or "support for
     traditional practice".

   * If you are an experienced user of assemblers, your suggestions for
     improvement of `as' are welcome in any case.


File: as.info,  Node: Bug Reporting,  Prev: Bug Criteria,  Up: Reporting Bugs

How to Report Bugs
==================

   A number of companies and individuals offer support for GNU
products.  If you obtained `as' from a support organization, we
recommend you contact that organization first.

   You can find contact information for many support companies and
individuals in the file `etc/SERVICE' in the GNU Emacs distribution.

   In any event, we also recommend that you send bug reports for `as'
to `bug-binutils@gnu.org'.

   The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
*report all the facts*.  If you are not sure whether to state a fact or
leave it out, state it!

   Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
problem and assume that some details do not matter.  Thus, you might
assume that the name of a symbol you use in an example does not matter.
Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure.  Perhaps the bug
is a stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location
where that name is stored in memory; perhaps, if the name were
different, the contents of that location would fool the assembler into
doing the right thing despite the bug.  Play it safe and give a
specific, complete example.  That is the easiest thing for you to do,
and the most helpful.

   Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix
the bug if it is new to us.  Therefore, always write your bug reports
on the assumption that the bug has not been reported previously.

   Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, "Does this ring a
bell?"  This cannot help us fix a bug, so it is basically useless.  We
respond by asking for enough details to enable us to investigate.  You
might as well expedite matters by sending them to begin with.

   To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:

   * The version of `as'.  `as' announces it if you start it with the
     `--version' argument.

     Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in
     looking for the bug in the current version of `as'.

   * Any patches you may have applied to the `as' source.

   * The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name
     and version number.

   * What compiler (and its version) was used to compile `as'--e.g.
     "`gcc-2.7'".

   * The command arguments you gave the assembler to assemble your
     example and observe the bug.  To guarantee you will not omit
     something important, list them all.  A copy of the Makefile (or
     the output from make) is sufficient.

     If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess
     wrong and then we might not encounter the bug.

   * A complete input file that will reproduce the bug.  If the bug is
     observed when the assembler is invoked via a compiler, send the
     assembler source, not the high level language source.  Most
     compilers will produce the assembler source when run with the `-S'
     option.  If you are using `gcc', use the options `-v
     --save-temps'; this will save the assembler source in a file with
     an extension of `.s', and also show you exactly how `as' is being
     run.

   * A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
     incorrect.  For example, "It gets a fatal signal."

     Of course, if the bug is that `as' gets a fatal signal, then we
     will certainly notice it.  But if the bug is incorrect output, we
     might not notice unless it is glaringly wrong.  You might as well
     not give us a chance to make a mistake.

     Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should
     still say so explicitly.  Suppose something strange is going on,
     such as, your copy of `as' is out of synch, or you have
     encountered a bug in the C library on your system.  (This has
     happened!)  Your copy might crash and ours would not.  If you told
     us to expect a crash, then when ours fails to crash, we would know
     that the bug was not happening for us.  If you had not told us to
     expect a crash, then we would not be able to draw any conclusion
     from our observations.

   * If you wish to suggest changes to the `as' source, send us context
     diffs, as generated by `diff' with the `-u', `-c', or `-p' option.
     Always send diffs from the old file to the new file.  If you even
     discuss something in the `as' source, refer to it by context, not
     by line number.

     The line numbers in our development sources will not match those
     in your sources.  Your line numbers would convey no useful
     information to us.

   Here are some things that are not necessary:

   * A description of the envelope of the bug.

     Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
     which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
     changes will not affect it.

     This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way
     we will find the bug is by running a single example under the
     debugger with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of
     examples.  We recommend that you save your time for something else.

     Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report _instead_
     of the original one, that is a convenience for us.  Errors in the
     output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
     less time, and so on.

     However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do
     this, report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you
     used.

   * A patch for the bug.

     A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one.  But do not
     omit the necessary information, such as the test case, on the
     assumption that a patch is all we need.  We might see problems
     with your patch and decide to fix the problem another way, or we
     might not understand it at all.

     Sometimes with a program as complicated as `as' it is very hard to
     construct an example that will make the program follow a certain
     path through the code.  If you do not send us the example, we will
     not be able to construct one, so we will not be able to verify
     that the bug is fixed.

     And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why
     your patch should be an improvement, we will not install it.  A
     test case will help us to understand.

   * A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.

     Such guesses are usually wrong.  Even we cannot guess right about
     such things without first using the debugger to find the facts.