2 @c Copyright (C) 1991-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @setfilename internals.info
5 @top Assembler Internals
9 This chapter describes the internals of the assembler. It is incomplete, but
12 This chapter is not updated regularly, and it may be out of date.
15 * Data types:: Data types
16 * GAS processing:: What GAS does when it runs
17 * Porting GAS:: Porting GAS
18 * Relaxation:: Relaxation
19 * Broken words:: Broken words
20 * Internal functions:: Internal functions
21 * Test suite:: Test suite
26 @cindex internals, data types
28 This section describes some fundamental GAS data types.
31 * Symbols:: The symbolS structure
32 * Expressions:: The expressionS structure
33 * Fixups:: The fixS structure
34 * Frags:: The fragS structure
39 @cindex internals, symbols
40 @cindex symbols, internal
41 @cindex symbolS structure
43 The definition for the symbol structure, @code{symbolS}, is located in
46 The fields of this structure may not be referred to directly.
47 Instead, you must use one of the accessor functions defined in @file{symbol.h}.
49 Symbol structures contain the following fields:
53 This is an @code{expressionS} that describes the value of the symbol. It might
54 refer to one or more other symbols; if so, its true value may not be known
55 until @code{resolve_symbol_value} is called with @var{finalize_syms} non-zero
56 in @code{write_object_file}.
58 The expression is often simply a constant. Before @code{resolve_symbol_value}
59 is called with @var{finalize_syms} set, the value is the offset from the frag
60 (@pxref{Frags}). Afterward, the frag address has been added in.
63 This field is non-zero if the symbol's value has been completely resolved. It
64 is used during the final pass over the symbol table.
67 This field is used to detect loops while resolving the symbol's value.
69 @item sy_used_in_reloc
70 This field is non-zero if the symbol is used by a relocation entry. If a local
71 symbol is used in a relocation entry, it must be possible to redirect those
72 relocations to other symbols, or this symbol cannot be removed from the final
77 These pointers to other @code{symbolS} structures describe a doubly
78 linked list. These fields should be accessed with
79 the @code{symbol_next} and @code{symbol_previous} macros.
82 This points to the frag (@pxref{Frags}) that this symbol is attached to.
85 Whether the symbol is used as an operand or in an expression. Note: Not all of
86 the backends keep this information accurate; backends which use this bit are
87 responsible for setting it when a symbol is used in backend routines.
90 Whether the symbol is an MRI common symbol created by the @code{COMMON}
91 pseudo-op when assembling in MRI mode.
94 Whether the symbol can be re-defined.
97 Whether the symbol's value must only be evaluated upon use.
100 Whether the symbol is a @code{weakref} alias to another symbol.
103 Whether the symbol is or was referenced by one or more @code{weakref} aliases,
104 and has not had any direct references.
107 This points to the BFD @code{asymbol} that
108 will be used in writing the object file.
111 This format-specific data is of type @code{OBJ_SYMFIELD_TYPE}. If no macro by
112 that name is defined in @file{obj-format.h}, this field is not defined.
115 This processor-specific data is of type @code{TC_SYMFIELD_TYPE}. If no macro
116 by that name is defined in @file{targ-cpu.h}, this field is not defined.
120 Here is a description of the accessor functions. These should be used rather
121 than referring to the fields of @code{symbolS} directly.
126 Set the symbol's value.
130 Get the symbol's value. This will cause @code{resolve_symbol_value} to be
134 @cindex S_SET_SEGMENT
135 Set the section of the symbol.
138 @cindex S_GET_SEGMENT
139 Get the symbol's section.
143 Get the name of the symbol.
147 Set the name of the symbol.
150 @cindex S_IS_EXTERNAL
151 Return non-zero if the symbol is externally visible.
155 Return non-zero if the symbol is weak, or if it is a @code{weakref} alias or
156 symbol that has not been strongly referenced.
159 @cindex S_IS_WEAKREFR
160 Return non-zero if the symbol is a @code{weakref} alias.
163 @cindex S_IS_WEAKREFD
164 Return non-zero if the symbol was aliased by a @code{weakref} alias and has not
165 had any strong references.
168 @cindex S_IS_VOLATILE
169 Return non-zero if the symbol may be re-defined. Such symbols get created by
170 the @code{=} operator, @code{equ}, or @code{set}.
172 @item S_IS_FORWARD_REF
173 @cindex S_IS_FORWARD_REF
174 Return non-zero if the symbol is a forward reference, that is its value must
175 only be determined upon use.
179 Return non-zero if this is a common symbol. Common symbols are sometimes
180 represented as undefined symbols with a value, in which case this function will
185 Return non-zero if this symbol is defined. This function is not reliable when
186 called on a common symbol.
190 Return non-zero if this is a debugging symbol.
194 Return non-zero if this is a local assembler symbol which should not be
195 included in the final symbol table. Note that this is not the opposite of
196 @code{S_IS_EXTERNAL}. The @samp{-L} assembler option affects the return value
200 @cindex S_SET_EXTERNAL
201 Mark the symbol as externally visible.
203 @item S_CLEAR_EXTERNAL
204 @cindex S_CLEAR_EXTERNAL
205 Mark the symbol as not externally visible.
209 Mark the symbol as weak.
212 @cindex S_SET_WEAKREFR
213 Mark the symbol as the referrer in a @code{weakref} directive. The symbol it
214 aliases must have been set to the value expression before this point. If the
215 alias has already been used, the symbol is marked as used too.
217 @item S_CLEAR_WEAKREFR
218 @cindex S_CLEAR_WEAKREFR
219 Clear the @code{weakref} alias status of a symbol. This is implicitly called
220 whenever a symbol is defined or set to a new expression.
223 @cindex S_SET_WEAKREFD
224 Mark the symbol as the referred symbol in a @code{weakref} directive.
225 Implicitly marks the symbol as weak, but see below. It should only be called
226 if the referenced symbol has just been added to the symbol table.
229 @cindex S_SET_WEAKREFD
230 Clear the @code{weakref} aliased status of a symbol. This is implicitly called
231 whenever the symbol is looked up, as part of a direct reference or a
232 definition, but not as part of a @code{weakref} directive.
235 @cindex S_SET_VOLATILE
236 Indicate that the symbol may be re-defined.
238 @item S_CLEAR_VOLATILE
239 @cindex S_CLEAR_VOLATILE
240 Indicate that the symbol may no longer be re-defined.
242 @item S_SET_FORWARD_REF
243 @cindex S_SET_FORWARD_REF
244 Indicate that the symbol is a forward reference, that is its value must only
245 be determined upon use.
253 Get the @code{type}, @code{desc}, and @code{other} fields of the symbol. These
254 are only defined for object file formats for which they make sense (primarily
263 Set the @code{type}, @code{desc}, and @code{other} fields of the symbol. These
264 are only defined for object file formats for which they make sense (primarily
269 Get the size of a symbol. This is only defined for object file formats for
270 which it makes sense (primarily ELF).
274 Set the size of a symbol. This is only defined for object file formats for
275 which it makes sense (primarily ELF).
277 @item symbol_get_value_expression
278 @cindex symbol_get_value_expression
279 Get a pointer to an @code{expressionS} structure which represents the value of
280 the symbol as an expression.
282 @item symbol_set_value_expression
283 @cindex symbol_set_value_expression
284 Set the value of a symbol to an expression.
286 @item symbol_set_frag
287 @cindex symbol_set_frag
288 Set the frag where a symbol is defined.
290 @item symbol_get_frag
291 @cindex symbol_get_frag
292 Get the frag where a symbol is defined.
294 @item symbol_mark_used
295 @cindex symbol_mark_used
296 Mark a symbol as having been used in an expression.
298 @item symbol_clear_used
299 @cindex symbol_clear_used
300 Clear the mark indicating that a symbol was used in an expression.
303 @cindex symbol_used_p
304 Return whether a symbol was used in an expression.
306 @item symbol_mark_used_in_reloc
307 @cindex symbol_mark_used_in_reloc
308 Mark a symbol as having been used by a relocation.
310 @item symbol_clear_used_in_reloc
311 @cindex symbol_clear_used_in_reloc
312 Clear the mark indicating that a symbol was used in a relocation.
314 @item symbol_used_in_reloc_p
315 @cindex symbol_used_in_reloc_p
316 Return whether a symbol was used in a relocation.
318 @item symbol_mark_mri_common
319 @cindex symbol_mark_mri_common
320 Mark a symbol as an MRI common symbol.
322 @item symbol_clear_mri_common
323 @cindex symbol_clear_mri_common
324 Clear the mark indicating that a symbol is an MRI common symbol.
326 @item symbol_mri_common_p
327 @cindex symbol_mri_common_p
328 Return whether a symbol is an MRI common symbol.
330 @item symbol_mark_written
331 @cindex symbol_mark_written
332 Mark a symbol as having been written.
334 @item symbol_clear_written
335 @cindex symbol_clear_written
336 Clear the mark indicating that a symbol was written.
338 @item symbol_written_p
339 @cindex symbol_written_p
340 Return whether a symbol was written.
342 @item symbol_mark_resolved
343 @cindex symbol_mark_resolved
344 Mark a symbol as having been resolved.
346 @item symbol_resolved_p
347 @cindex symbol_resolved_p
348 Return whether a symbol has been resolved.
350 @item symbol_section_p
351 @cindex symbol_section_p
352 Return whether a symbol is a section symbol.
354 @item symbol_equated_p
355 @cindex symbol_equated_p
356 Return whether a symbol is equated to another symbol.
358 @item symbol_constant_p
359 @cindex symbol_constant_p
360 Return whether a symbol has a constant value, including being an offset within
363 @item symbol_get_bfdsym
364 @cindex symbol_get_bfdsym
365 Return the BFD symbol associated with a symbol.
367 @item symbol_set_bfdsym
368 @cindex symbol_set_bfdsym
369 Set the BFD symbol associated with a symbol.
372 @cindex symbol_get_obj
373 Return a pointer to the @code{OBJ_SYMFIELD_TYPE} field of a symbol.
376 @cindex symbol_set_obj
377 Set the @code{OBJ_SYMFIELD_TYPE} field of a symbol.
380 @cindex symbol_get_tc
381 Return a pointer to the @code{TC_SYMFIELD_TYPE} field of a symbol.
384 @cindex symbol_set_tc
385 Set the @code{TC_SYMFIELD_TYPE} field of a symbol.
389 GAS attempts to store local
390 symbols--symbols which will not be written to the output file--using a
391 different structure, @code{struct local_symbol}. This structure can only
392 represent symbols whose value is an offset within a frag.
394 Code outside of the symbol handler will always deal with @code{symbolS}
395 structures and use the accessor functions. The accessor functions correctly
396 deal with local symbols. @code{struct local_symbol} is much smaller than
397 @code{symbolS} (which also automatically creates a bfd @code{asymbol}
398 structure), so this saves space when assembling large files.
401 @subsection Expressions
402 @cindex internals, expressions
403 @cindex expressions, internal
404 @cindex expressionS structure
406 Expressions are stored in an @code{expressionS} structure. The structure is
407 defined in @file{expr.h}.
410 The macro @code{expression} will create an @code{expressionS} structure based
411 on the text found at the global variable @code{input_line_pointer}.
413 @cindex make_expr_symbol
414 @cindex expr_symbol_where
415 A single @code{expressionS} structure can represent a single operation.
416 Complex expressions are formed by creating @dfn{expression symbols} and
417 combining them in @code{expressionS} structures. An expression symbol is
418 created by calling @code{make_expr_symbol}. An expression symbol should
419 naturally never appear in a symbol table, and the implementation of
420 @code{S_IS_LOCAL} (@pxref{Symbols}) reflects that. The function
421 @code{expr_symbol_where} returns non-zero if a symbol is an expression symbol,
422 and also returns the file and line for the expression which caused it to be
425 The @code{expressionS} structure has two symbol fields, a number field, an
426 operator field, and a field indicating whether the number is unsigned.
428 The operator field is of type @code{operatorT}, and describes how to interpret
429 the other fields; see the definition in @file{expr.h} for the possibilities.
431 An @code{operatorT} value of @code{O_big} indicates either a floating point
432 number, stored in the global variable @code{generic_floating_point_number}, or
433 an integer too large to store in an @code{offsetT} type, stored in the global
434 array @code{generic_bignum}. This rather inflexible approach makes it
435 impossible to use floating point numbers or large expressions in complex
440 @cindex internals, fixups
442 @cindex fixS structure
444 A @dfn{fixup} is basically anything which can not be resolved in the first
445 pass. Sometimes a fixup can be resolved by the end of the assembly; if not,
446 the fixup becomes a relocation entry in the object file.
450 A fixup is created by a call to @code{fix_new} or @code{fix_new_exp}. Both
451 take a frag (@pxref{Frags}), a position within the frag, a size, an indication
452 of whether the fixup is PC relative, and a type.
453 The type is nominally a @code{bfd_reloc_code_real_type}, but several
454 targets use other type codes to represent fixups that can not be described as
457 The @code{fixS} structure has a number of fields, several of which are obsolete
458 or are only used by a particular target. The important fields are:
462 The frag (@pxref{Frags}) this fixup is in.
465 The location within the frag where the fixup occurs.
468 The symbol this fixup is against. Typically, the value of this symbol is added
469 into the object contents. This may be NULL.
472 The value of this symbol is subtracted from the object contents. This is
476 A number which is added into the fixup.
479 Some CPU backends use this field to convey information between
480 @code{md_apply_fix} and @code{tc_gen_reloc}. The machine independent code does
484 The next fixup in the section.
487 The type of the fixup.
490 The size of the fixup. This is mostly used for error checking.
493 Whether the fixup is PC relative.
496 Non-zero if the fixup has been applied, and no relocation entry needs to be
501 The file and line where the fixup was created.
504 This has the type @code{TC_FIX_TYPE}, and is only defined if the target defines
510 @cindex internals, frags
512 @cindex fragS structure.
514 The @code{fragS} structure is defined in @file{as.h}. Each frag represents a
515 portion of the final object file. As GAS reads the source file, it creates
516 frags to hold the data that it reads. At the end of the assembly the frags and
517 fixups are processed to produce the final contents.
521 The address of the frag. This is not set until the assembler rescans the list
522 of all frags after the entire input file is parsed. The function
523 @code{relax_segment} fills in this field.
526 Pointer to the next frag in this (sub)section.
529 Fixed number of characters we know we're going to emit to the output file. May
533 Variable number of characters we may output, after the initial @code{fr_fix}
534 characters. May be zero.
537 The interpretation of this field is controlled by @code{fr_type}. Generally,
538 if @code{fr_var} is non-zero, this is a repeat count: the @code{fr_var}
539 characters are output @code{fr_offset} times.
542 Holds line number info when an assembler listing was requested.
545 Relaxation state. This field indicates the interpretation of @code{fr_offset},
546 @code{fr_symbol} and the variable-length tail of the frag, as well as the
547 treatment it gets in various phases of processing. It does not affect the
548 initial @code{fr_fix} characters; they are always supposed to be output
549 verbatim (fixups aside). See below for specific values this field can have.
552 Relaxation substate. If the macro @code{md_relax_frag} isn't defined, this is
553 assumed to be an index into @code{TC_GENERIC_RELAX_TABLE} for the generic
554 relaxation code to process (@pxref{Relaxation}). If @code{md_relax_frag} is
555 defined, this field is available for any use by the CPU-specific code.
558 This normally indicates the symbol to use when relaxing the frag according to
562 Points to the lowest-addressed byte of the opcode, for use in relaxation.
565 Target specific fragment data of type TC_FRAG_TYPE.
566 Only present if @code{TC_FRAG_TYPE} is defined.
570 The file and line where this frag was last modified.
573 Declared as a one-character array, this last field grows arbitrarily large to
574 hold the actual contents of the frag.
577 These are the possible relaxation states, provided in the enumeration type
578 @code{relax_stateT}, and the interpretations they represent for the other
584 The start of the following frag should be aligned on some boundary. In this
585 frag, @code{fr_offset} is the logarithm (base 2) of the alignment in bytes.
586 (For example, if alignment on an 8-byte boundary were desired, @code{fr_offset}
587 would have a value of 3.) The variable characters indicate the fill pattern to
588 be used. The @code{fr_subtype} field holds the maximum number of bytes to skip
589 when doing this alignment. If more bytes are needed, the alignment is not
590 done. An @code{fr_subtype} value of 0 means no maximum, which is the normal
591 case. Target backends can use @code{rs_align_code} to handle certain types of
592 alignment differently.
595 This indicates that ``broken word'' processing should be done (@pxref{Broken
596 words}). If broken word processing is not necessary on the target machine,
597 this enumerator value will not be defined.
600 This state is used to implement exception frame optimizations. The
601 @code{fr_symbol} is an expression symbol for the subtraction which may be
602 relaxed. The @code{fr_opcode} field holds the frag for the preceding command
603 byte. The @code{fr_offset} field holds the offset within that frag. The
604 @code{fr_subtype} field is used during relaxation to hold the current size of
608 The variable characters are to be repeated @code{fr_offset} times. If
609 @code{fr_offset} is 0, this frag has a length of @code{fr_fix}. Most frags
613 This state is used to implement the DWARF ``little endian base 128''
614 variable length number format. The @code{fr_symbol} is always an expression
615 symbol, as constant expressions are emitted directly. The @code{fr_offset}
616 field is used during relaxation to hold the previous size of the number so
617 that we can determine if the fragment changed size.
619 @item rs_machine_dependent
620 Displacement relaxation is to be done on this frag. The target is indicated by
621 @code{fr_symbol} and @code{fr_offset}, and @code{fr_subtype} indicates the
622 particular machine-specific addressing mode desired. @xref{Relaxation}.
625 The start of the following frag should be pushed back to some specific offset
626 within the section. (Some assemblers use the value as an absolute address; GAS
627 does not handle final absolute addresses, but rather requires that the linker
628 set them.) The offset is given by @code{fr_symbol} and @code{fr_offset}; one
629 character from the variable-length tail is used as the fill character.
632 @cindex frchainS structure
633 A chain of frags is built up for each subsection. The data structure
634 describing a chain is called a @code{frchainS}, and contains the following
639 Points to the first frag in the chain. May be NULL if there are no frags in
642 Points to the last frag in the chain, or NULL if there are none.
644 Next in the list of @code{frchainS} structures.
646 Indicates the section this frag chain belongs to.
648 Subsection (subsegment) number of this frag chain.
649 @item fix_root, fix_tail
650 Point to first and last @code{fixS} structures associated with this subsection.
652 Not currently used. Intended to be used for frag allocation for this
653 subsection. This should reduce frag generation caused by switching sections.
655 The current frag for this subsegment.
658 A @code{frchainS} corresponds to a subsection; each section has a list of
659 @code{frchainS} records associated with it. In most cases, only one subsection
660 of each section is used, so the list will only be one element long, but any
661 processing of frag chains should be prepared to deal with multiple chains per
664 After the input files have been completely processed, and no more frags are to
665 be generated, the frag chains are joined into one per section for further
666 processing. After this point, it is safe to operate on one chain per section.
668 The assembler always has a current frag, named @code{frag_now}. More space is
669 allocated for the current frag using the @code{frag_more} function; this
670 returns a pointer to the amount of requested space. The function
671 @code{frag_room} says by how much the current frag can be extended.
672 Relaxing is done using variant frags allocated by @code{frag_var}
673 or @code{frag_variant} (@pxref{Relaxation}).
676 @section What GAS does when it runs
677 @cindex internals, overview
679 This is a quick look at what an assembler run looks like.
683 The assembler initializes itself by calling various init routines.
686 For each source file, the @code{read_a_source_file} function reads in the file
687 and parses it. The global variable @code{input_line_pointer} points to the
688 current text; it is guaranteed to be correct up to the end of the line, but not
692 For each line, the assembler passes labels to the @code{colon} function, and
693 isolates the first word. If it looks like a pseudo-op, the word is looked up
694 in the pseudo-op hash table @code{po_hash} and dispatched to a pseudo-op
695 routine. Otherwise, the target dependent @code{md_assemble} routine is called
696 to parse the instruction.
699 When pseudo-ops or instructions output data, they add it to a frag, calling
700 @code{frag_more} to get space to store it in.
703 Pseudo-ops and instructions can also output fixups created by @code{fix_new} or
707 For certain targets, instructions can create variant frags which are used to
708 store relaxation information (@pxref{Relaxation}).
711 When the input file is finished, the @code{write_object_file} routine is
712 called. It assigns addresses to all the frags (@code{relax_segment}), resolves
713 all the fixups (@code{fixup_segment}), resolves all the symbol values (using
714 @code{resolve_symbol_value}), and finally writes out the file.
721 Each GAS target specifies two main things: the CPU file and the object format
722 file. Two main switches in the @file{configure.ac} file handle this. The
723 first switches on CPU type to set the shell variable @code{cpu_type}. The
724 second switches on the entire target to set the shell variable @code{fmt}.
726 The configure script uses the value of @code{cpu_type} to select two files in
727 the @file{config} directory: @file{tc-@var{CPU}.c} and @file{tc-@var{CPU}.h}.
728 The configuration process will create a file named @file{targ-cpu.h} in the
729 build directory which includes @file{tc-@var{CPU}.h}.
731 The configure script also uses the value of @code{fmt} to select two files:
732 @file{obj-@var{fmt}.c} and @file{obj-@var{fmt}.h}. The configuration process
733 will create a file named @file{obj-format.h} in the build directory which
734 includes @file{obj-@var{fmt}.h}.
736 You can also set the emulation in the configure script by setting the @code{em}
737 variable. Normally the default value of @samp{generic} is fine. The
738 configuration process will create a file named @file{targ-env.h} in the build
739 directory which includes @file{te-@var{em}.h}.
741 There is a special case for COFF. For historical reason, the GNU COFF
742 assembler doesn't follow the documented behavior on certain debug symbols for
743 the compatibility with other COFF assemblers. A port can define
744 @code{STRICTCOFF} in the configure script to make the GNU COFF assembler
745 to follow the documented behavior.
747 Porting GAS to a new CPU requires writing the @file{tc-@var{CPU}} files.
748 Porting GAS to a new object file format requires writing the
749 @file{obj-@var{fmt}} files. There is sometimes some interaction between these
750 two files, but it is normally minimal.
752 The best approach is, of course, to copy existing files. The documentation
753 below assumes that you are looking at existing files to see usage details.
755 These interfaces have grown over time, and have never been carefully thought
756 out or designed. Nothing about the interfaces described here is cast in stone.
757 It is possible that they will change from one version of the assembler to the
758 next. Also, new macros are added all the time as they are needed.
761 * CPU backend:: Writing a CPU backend
762 * Object format backend:: Writing an object format backend
763 * Emulations:: Writing emulation files
767 @subsection Writing a CPU backend
769 @cindex @file{tc-@var{CPU}}
771 The CPU backend files are the heart of the assembler. They are the only parts
772 of the assembler which actually know anything about the instruction set of the
775 You must define a reasonably small list of macros and functions in the CPU
776 backend files. You may define a large number of additional macros in the CPU
777 backend files, not all of which are documented here. You must, of course,
778 define macros in the @file{.h} file, which is included by every assembler
779 source file. You may define the functions as macros in the @file{.h} file, or
780 as functions in the @file{.c} file.
785 By convention, you should define this macro in the @file{.h} file. For
786 example, @file{tc-m68k.h} defines @code{TC_M68K}. You might have to use this
787 if it is necessary to add CPU specific code to the object format file.
790 This macro is the BFD target name to use when creating the output file. This
791 will normally depend upon the @code{OBJ_@var{FMT}} macro.
794 This macro is the BFD architecture to pass to @code{bfd_set_arch_mach}.
797 This macro is the BFD machine number to pass to @code{bfd_set_arch_mach}. If
798 it is not defined, GAS will use 0.
800 @item TARGET_BYTES_BIG_ENDIAN
801 You should define this macro to be non-zero if the target is big endian, and
802 zero if the target is little endian.
806 @itemx md_longopts_size
807 @itemx md_parse_option
809 @itemx md_after_parse_args
812 @cindex md_longopts_size
813 @cindex md_parse_option
814 @cindex md_show_usage
815 @cindex md_after_parse_args
816 GAS uses these variables and functions during option processing.
817 @code{md_shortopts} is a @code{const char []} which GAS adds to the machine
818 independent string passed to @code{getopt}. @code{md_longopts} is a
819 @code{struct option []} which GAS adds to the machine independent long options
820 passed to @code{getopt}; you may use @code{OPTION_MD_BASE}, defined in
821 @file{as.h}, as the start of a set of long option indices, if necessary.
822 @code{md_longopts_size} is a @code{size_t} holding the size @code{md_longopts}.
824 GAS will call @code{md_parse_option} whenever @code{getopt} returns an
825 unrecognized code, presumably indicating a special code value which appears in
826 @code{md_longopts}. This function should return non-zero if it handled the
827 option and zero otherwise. There is no need to print a message about an option
828 not being recognized. This will be handled by the generic code.
830 GAS will call @code{md_show_usage} when a usage message is printed; it should
831 print a description of the machine specific options. @code{md_after_pase_args},
832 if defined, is called after all options are processed, to let the backend
833 override settings done by the generic option parsing.
837 GAS will call this function at the start of the assembly, after the command
838 line arguments have been parsed and all the machine independent initializations
843 If you define this macro, GAS will call it at the end of each input file.
847 GAS will call this function for each input line which does not contain a
848 pseudo-op. The argument is a null terminated string. The function should
849 assemble the string as an instruction with operands. Normally
850 @code{md_assemble} will do this by calling @code{frag_more} and writing out
851 some bytes (@pxref{Frags}). @code{md_assemble} will call @code{fix_new} to
852 create fixups as needed (@pxref{Fixups}). Targets which need to do special
853 purpose relaxation will call @code{frag_var}.
855 @item md_pseudo_table
856 @cindex md_pseudo_table
857 This is a const array of type @code{pseudo_typeS}. It is a mapping from
858 pseudo-op names to functions. You should use this table to implement
859 pseudo-ops which are specific to the CPU.
861 @item tc_conditional_pseudoop
862 @cindex tc_conditional_pseudoop
863 If this macro is defined, GAS will call it with a @code{pseudo_typeS} argument.
864 It should return non-zero if the pseudo-op is a conditional which controls
865 whether code is assembled, such as @samp{.if}. GAS knows about the normal
866 conditional pseudo-ops, and you should normally not have to define this macro.
869 @cindex comment_chars
870 This is a null terminated @code{const char} array of characters which start a
873 @item tc_comment_chars
874 @cindex tc_comment_chars
875 If this macro is defined, GAS will use it instead of @code{comment_chars}.
876 This has the advantage that this macro does not have to refer to a constant
879 @item tc_symbol_chars
880 @cindex tc_symbol_chars
881 If this macro is defined, it is a pointer to a null terminated list of
882 characters which may appear in an operand. GAS already assumes that all
883 alphanumeric characters, and @samp{$}, @samp{.}, and @samp{_} may appear in an
884 operand (see @samp{symbol_chars} in @file{app.c}). This macro may be defined
885 to treat additional characters as appearing in an operand. This affects the
886 way in which GAS removes whitespace before passing the string to
889 @item line_comment_chars
890 @cindex line_comment_chars
891 This is a null terminated @code{const char} array of characters which start a
892 comment when they appear at the start of a line.
894 @item line_separator_chars
895 @cindex line_separator_chars
896 This is a null terminated @code{const char} array of characters which separate
897 lines (null and newline are such characters by default, and need not be
898 listed in this array). Note that line_separator_chars do not separate lines
899 if found in a comment, such as after a character in line_comment_chars or
902 @item tc_line_separator_chars
903 @cindex tc_line_separator_chars
904 If this macro is defined, GAS will use it instead of
905 @code{line_separator_chars}. This has the advantage that this macro does not
906 have to refer to a constant array.
911 This is a null terminated @code{const char} array of characters which may be
912 used as the exponent character in a floating point number. This is normally
917 This is a null terminated @code{const char} array of characters which may be
918 used to indicate a floating point constant. A zero followed by one of these
919 characters is assumed to be followed by a floating point number; thus they
920 operate the way that @code{0x} is used to indicate a hexadecimal constant.
921 Usually this includes @samp{r} and @samp{f}.
925 You may define this macro to the lexical type of the @kbd{@@} character. The
928 Lexical types are a combination of @code{LEX_NAME} and @code{LEX_BEGIN_NAME},
929 both defined in @file{read.h}. @code{LEX_NAME} indicates that the character
930 may appear in a name. @code{LEX_BEGIN_NAME} indicates that the character may
931 appear at the beginning of a name.
935 You may define this macro to the lexical type of the brace characters @kbd{@{},
936 @kbd{@}}, @kbd{[}, and @kbd{]}. The default value is zero.
940 You may define this macro to the lexical type of the @kbd{%} character. The
941 default value is zero.
945 You may define this macro to the lexical type of the @kbd{?} character. The
946 default value it zero.
950 You may define this macro to the lexical type of the @kbd{$} character. The
951 default value is @code{LEX_NAME | LEX_BEGIN_NAME}.
953 @item NUMBERS_WITH_SUFFIX
954 @cindex NUMBERS_WITH_SUFFIX
955 When this macro is defined to be non-zero, the parser allows the radix of a
956 constant to be indicated with a suffix. Valid suffixes are binary (B),
957 octal (Q), and hexadecimal (H). Case is not significant.
959 @item SINGLE_QUOTE_STRINGS
960 @cindex SINGLE_QUOTE_STRINGS
961 If you define this macro, GAS will treat single quotes as string delimiters.
962 Normally only double quotes are accepted as string delimiters.
964 @item NO_STRING_ESCAPES
965 @cindex NO_STRING_ESCAPES
966 If you define this macro, GAS will not permit escape sequences in a string.
968 @item ONLY_STANDARD_ESCAPES
969 @cindex ONLY_STANDARD_ESCAPES
970 If you define this macro, GAS will warn about the use of nonstandard escape
971 sequences in a string.
973 @item md_start_line_hook
974 @cindex md_start_line_hook
975 If you define this macro, GAS will call it at the start of each line.
977 @item LABELS_WITHOUT_COLONS
978 @cindex LABELS_WITHOUT_COLONS
979 If you define this macro, GAS will assume that any text at the start of a line
980 is a label, even if it does not have a colon.
983 @itemx TC_START_LABEL_WITHOUT_COLON
984 @cindex TC_START_LABEL
985 You may define this macro to control what GAS considers to be a label. The
986 default definition is to accept any name followed by a colon character.
988 @item TC_START_LABEL_WITHOUT_COLON
989 @cindex TC_START_LABEL_WITHOUT_COLON
990 Same as TC_START_LABEL, but should be used instead of TC_START_LABEL when
991 LABELS_WITHOUT_COLONS is defined.
994 @cindex TC_FAKE_LABEL
995 You may define this macro to control what GAS considers to be a fake
996 label. The default fake label is FAKE_LABEL_NAME.
999 @cindex NO_PSEUDO_DOT
1000 If you define this macro, GAS will not require pseudo-ops to start with a
1003 @item TC_EQUAL_IN_INSN
1004 @cindex TC_EQUAL_IN_INSN
1005 If you define this macro, it should return nonzero if the instruction is
1006 permitted to contain an @kbd{=} character. GAS will call it with two
1007 arguments, the character before the @kbd{=} character, and the value of
1008 the string preceding the equal sign. GAS uses this macro to decide if a
1009 @kbd{=} is an assignment or an instruction.
1011 @item TC_EOL_IN_INSN
1012 @cindex TC_EOL_IN_INSN
1013 If you define this macro, it should return nonzero if the current input line
1014 pointer should be treated as the end of a line.
1016 @item TC_CASE_SENSITIVE
1017 @cindex TC_CASE_SENSITIVE
1018 Define this macro if instruction mnemonics and pseudos are case sensitive.
1019 The default is to have it undefined giving case insensitive names.
1022 @cindex md_parse_name
1023 If this macro is defined, GAS will call it for any symbol found in an
1024 expression. You can define this to handle special symbols in a special way.
1025 If a symbol always has a certain value, you should normally enter it in the
1026 symbol table, perhaps using @code{reg_section}.
1028 @item md_undefined_symbol
1029 @cindex md_undefined_symbol
1030 GAS will call this function when a symbol table lookup fails, before it
1031 creates a new symbol. Typically this would be used to supply symbols whose
1032 name or value changes dynamically, possibly in a context sensitive way.
1033 Predefined symbols with fixed values, such as register names or condition
1034 codes, are typically entered directly into the symbol table when @code{md_begin}
1035 is called. One argument is passed, a @code{char *} for the symbol.
1037 @item md_resolve_symbol
1038 @cindex md_resolve_symbol
1039 If this macro is defined, GAS will call it upon resolving machine-dependent
1040 symbols (that is, for any symbol with operation O_md1..O_md32 inclusively).
1041 If this functions returns zero, then the symbol could not be resolved.
1045 GAS will call this function with one argument, an @code{expressionS}
1046 pointer, for any expression that can not be recognized. When the function
1047 is called, @code{input_line_pointer} will point to the start of the
1050 @item md_optimize_expr
1051 @cindex md_optimize_expr
1052 GAS will call this function before trying to carry out certain operations,
1053 like the adding of two constants. The function is passed the left-hand
1054 operand, an @code{expressionS} pointer, the operator, an @code{operatorT}
1055 value, and the right-hand operand, again an @code{expressionS} pointer. For
1056 unary expressions NULL is passed as first argument.
1058 @item md_register_arithmetic
1059 @cindex md_register_arithmetic
1060 If this macro is defined and evaluates to zero then GAS will not fold
1061 expressions that add or subtract a constant to/from a register to give
1062 another register. For example GAS's default behaviour is to fold the
1063 expression "r8 + 1" into "r9", which is probably not the result
1064 intended by the programmer. The default is to allow such folding,
1065 since this maintains backwards compatibility with earlier releases of
1068 @item tc_unrecognized_line
1069 @cindex tc_unrecognized_line
1070 If you define this macro, GAS will call it when it finds a line that it can not
1075 You may define this macro to handle an alignment directive. GAS will call it
1076 when the directive is seen in the input file. For example, the i386 backend
1077 uses this to generate efficient nop instructions of varying lengths, depending
1078 upon the number of bytes that the alignment will skip.
1081 @cindex HANDLE_ALIGN
1082 You may define this macro to do special handling for an alignment directive.
1083 GAS will call it at the end of the assembly.
1085 @item TC_IMPLICIT_LCOMM_ALIGNMENT (@var{size}, @var{p2var})
1086 @cindex TC_IMPLICIT_LCOMM_ALIGNMENT
1087 An @code{.lcomm} directive with no explicit alignment parameter will use this
1088 macro to set @var{p2var} to the alignment that a request for @var{size} bytes
1089 will have. The alignment is expressed as a power of two. If no alignment
1090 should take place, the macro definition should do nothing. Some targets define
1091 a @code{.bss} directive that is also affected by this macro. The default
1092 definition will set @var{p2var} to the truncated power of two of sizes up to
1095 @item md_flush_pending_output
1096 @cindex md_flush_pending_output
1097 If you define this macro, GAS will call it each time it skips any space because of a
1098 space filling or alignment or data allocation pseudo-op.
1100 @item TC_PARSE_CONS_EXPRESSION
1101 @cindex TC_PARSE_CONS_EXPRESSION
1102 You may define this macro to parse an expression used in a data allocation
1103 pseudo-op such as @code{.word}. You can use this to recognize relocation
1104 directives that may appear in such directives.
1106 @item REPEAT_CONS_EXPRESSION
1107 @cindex REPEAT_CONS_EXPRESSION
1108 If you define this macro, GAS will recognize repeat counts in data allocation
1109 pseudo-ops, as used on the MIPS.
1112 @cindex md_cons_align
1113 You may define this macro to do any special alignment before a data allocation
1116 @item TC_CONS_FIX_NEW
1117 @cindex TC_CONS_FIX_NEW
1118 You may define this macro to generate a fixup for a data allocation pseudo-op.
1120 @item TC_ADDRESS_BYTES
1121 @cindex TC_ADDRESS_BYTES
1122 Define this macro to specify the number of bytes used to store an address.
1123 Used to implement @code{dc.a}. If not defined by the target, a default will
1124 be supplied. Targets are assumed to have a reloc for this size.
1126 @item TC_INIT_FIX_DATA (@var{fixp})
1127 @cindex TC_INIT_FIX_DATA
1128 A C statement to initialize the target specific fields of fixup @var{fixp}.
1129 These fields are defined with the @code{TC_FIX_TYPE} macro.
1131 @item TC_FIX_DATA_PRINT (@var{stream}, @var{fixp})
1132 @cindex TC_FIX_DATA_PRINT
1133 A C statement to output target specific debugging information for
1134 fixup @var{fixp} to @var{stream}. This macro is called by @code{print_fixup}.
1136 @item TC_FRAG_INIT (@var{fragp}, @var{max_bytes})
1137 @cindex TC_FRAG_INIT
1138 A C statement to initialize the target specific fields of frag @var{fragp}
1139 with maximum number of bytes @var{max_bytes}. These fields are defined
1140 with the @code{TC_FRAG_TYPE} macro.
1142 @item md_number_to_chars
1143 @cindex md_number_to_chars
1144 This should just call either @code{number_to_chars_bigendian} or
1145 @code{number_to_chars_littleendian}, whichever is appropriate. On targets like
1146 the MIPS which support options to change the endianness, which function to call
1147 is a runtime decision. On other targets, @code{md_number_to_chars} can be a
1150 @item md_atof (@var{type},@var{litP},@var{sizeP})
1152 This function is called to convert an ASCII string into a floating point value
1153 in format used by the CPU. It takes three arguments. The first is @var{type}
1154 which is a byte describing the type of floating point number to be created. It
1155 is one of the characters defined in the @code{FLT_CHARS} macro. Possible
1156 values are @var{'f'} or @var{'s'} for single precision, @var{'d'} or @var{'r'}
1157 for double precision and @var{'x'} or @var{'p'} for extended precision. Either
1158 lower or upper case versions of these letters can be used. Note: some targets
1159 do not support all of these types, and some targets may also support other
1160 types not mentioned here.
1162 The second parameter is @var{litP} which is a pointer to a byte array where the
1163 converted value should be stored. The value is converted into LITTLENUMs and
1164 is stored in the target's endian-ness order. (@var{LITTLENUM} is defined in
1165 gas/bignum.h). Single precision values occupy 2 littlenums. Double precision
1166 values occupy 4 littlenums and extended precision values occupy either 5 or 6
1167 littlenums, depending upon the target.
1169 The third argument is @var{sizeP}, which is a pointer to a integer that should
1170 be filled in with the number of chars emitted into the byte array.
1172 The function should return NULL upon success or an error string upon failure.
1174 @item TC_LARGEST_EXPONENT_IS_NORMAL
1175 @cindex TC_LARGEST_EXPONENT_IS_NORMAL (@var{precision})
1176 This macro is used only by @file{atof-ieee.c}. It should evaluate to true
1177 if floats of the given precision use the largest exponent for normal numbers
1178 instead of NaNs and infinities. @var{precision} is @samp{F_PRECISION} for
1179 single precision, @samp{D_PRECISION} for double precision, or
1180 @samp{X_PRECISION} for extended double precision.
1182 The macro has a default definition which returns 0 for all cases.
1184 @item WORKING_DOT_WORD
1185 @itemx md_short_jump_size
1186 @itemx md_long_jump_size
1187 @itemx md_create_short_jump
1188 @itemx md_create_long_jump
1189 @itemx TC_CHECK_ADJUSTED_BROKEN_DOT_WORD
1190 @cindex WORKING_DOT_WORD
1191 @cindex md_short_jump_size
1192 @cindex md_long_jump_size
1193 @cindex md_create_short_jump
1194 @cindex md_create_long_jump
1195 @cindex TC_CHECK_ADJUSTED_BROKEN_DOT_WORD
1196 If @code{WORKING_DOT_WORD} is defined, GAS will not do broken word processing
1197 (@pxref{Broken words}). Otherwise, you should set @code{md_short_jump_size} to
1198 the size of a short jump (a jump that is just long enough to jump around a
1199 number of long jumps) and @code{md_long_jump_size} to the size of a long jump
1200 (a jump that can go anywhere in the function). You should define
1201 @code{md_create_short_jump} to create a short jump around a number of long
1202 jumps, and define @code{md_create_long_jump} to create a long jump.
1203 If defined, the macro TC_CHECK_ADJUSTED_BROKEN_DOT_WORD will be called for each
1204 adjusted word just before the word is output. The macro takes two arguments,
1205 an @code{addressT} with the adjusted word and a pointer to the current
1206 @code{struct broken_word}.
1208 @item md_estimate_size_before_relax
1209 @cindex md_estimate_size_before_relax
1210 This function returns an estimate of the size of a @code{rs_machine_dependent}
1211 frag before any relaxing is done. It may also create any necessary
1215 @cindex md_relax_frag
1216 This macro may be defined to relax a frag. GAS will call this with the
1217 segment, the frag, and the change in size of all previous frags;
1218 @code{md_relax_frag} should return the change in size of the frag.
1221 @item TC_GENERIC_RELAX_TABLE
1222 @cindex TC_GENERIC_RELAX_TABLE
1223 If you do not define @code{md_relax_frag}, you may define
1224 @code{TC_GENERIC_RELAX_TABLE} as a table of @code{relax_typeS} structures. The
1225 machine independent code knows how to use such a table to relax PC relative
1226 references. See @file{tc-m68k.c} for an example. @xref{Relaxation}.
1228 @item md_generic_table_relax_frag
1229 @cindex md_generic_table_relax_frag
1230 If defined, it is a C statement that is invoked, instead of
1231 the default implementation, to scan @code{TC_GENERIC_RELAX_TABLE}.
1233 @item md_prepare_relax_scan
1234 @cindex md_prepare_relax_scan
1235 If defined, it is a C statement that is invoked prior to scanning
1238 @item LINKER_RELAXING_SHRINKS_ONLY
1239 @cindex LINKER_RELAXING_SHRINKS_ONLY
1240 If you define this macro, and the global variable @samp{linkrelax} is set
1241 (because of a command-line option, or unconditionally in @code{md_begin}), a
1242 @samp{.align} directive will cause extra space to be allocated. The linker can
1243 then discard this space when relaxing the section.
1245 @item TC_LINKRELAX_FIXUP (@var{segT})
1246 @cindex TC_LINKRELAX_FIXUP
1247 If defined, this macro allows control over whether fixups for a
1248 given section will be processed when the @var{linkrelax} variable is
1249 set. The macro is given the N_TYPE bits for the section in its
1250 @var{segT} argument. If the macro evaluates to a non-zero value
1251 then the fixups will be converted into relocs, otherwise they will
1252 be passed to @var{md_apply_fix} as normal.
1254 @item md_convert_frag
1255 @cindex md_convert_frag
1256 GAS will call this for each rs_machine_dependent fragment.
1257 The instruction is completed using the data from the relaxation pass.
1258 It may also create any necessary relocations.
1261 @item TC_FINALIZE_SYMS_BEFORE_SIZE_SEG
1262 @cindex TC_FINALIZE_SYMS_BEFORE_SIZE_SEG
1263 Specifies the value to be assigned to @code{finalize_syms} before the function
1264 @code{size_segs} is called. Since @code{size_segs} calls @code{cvt_frag_to_fill}
1265 which can call @code{md_convert_frag}, this constant governs whether the symbols
1266 accessed in @code{md_convert_frag} will be fully resolved. In particular it
1267 governs whether local symbols will have been resolved, and had their frag
1268 information removed. Depending upon the processing performed by
1269 @code{md_convert_frag} the frag information may or may not be necessary, as may
1270 the resolved values of the symbols. The default value is 1.
1272 @item TC_VALIDATE_FIX (@var{fixP}, @var{seg}, @var{skip})
1273 @cindex TC_VALIDATE_FIX
1274 This macro is evaluated for each fixup (when @var{linkrelax} is not set).
1275 It may be used to change the fixup in @code{struct fix *@var{fixP}} before
1276 the generic code sees it, or to fully process the fixup. In the latter case,
1277 a @code{goto @var{skip}} will bypass the generic code.
1279 @item md_apply_fix (@var{fixP}, @var{valP}, @var{seg})
1280 @cindex md_apply_fix
1281 GAS will call this for each fixup that passes the @code{TC_VALIDATE_FIX} test
1282 when @var{linkrelax} is not set. It should store the correct value in the
1283 object file. @code{struct fix *@var{fixP}} is the fixup @code{md_apply_fix}
1284 is operating on. @code{valueT *@var{valP}} is the value to store into the
1285 object files, or at least is the generic code's best guess. Specifically,
1286 *@var{valP} is the value of the fixup symbol, perhaps modified by
1287 @code{MD_APPLY_SYM_VALUE}, plus @code{@var{fixP}->fx_offset} (symbol addend),
1288 less @code{MD_PCREL_FROM_SECTION} for pc-relative fixups.
1289 @code{segT @var{seg}} is the section the fix is in.
1290 @code{fixup_segment} performs a generic overflow check on *@var{valP} after
1291 @code{md_apply_fix} returns. If the overflow check is relevant for the target
1292 machine, then @code{md_apply_fix} should modify *@var{valP}, typically to the
1293 value stored in the object file.
1295 @item TC_FORCE_RELOCATION (@var{fix})
1296 @cindex TC_FORCE_RELOCATION
1297 If this macro returns non-zero, it guarantees that a relocation will be emitted
1298 even when the value can be resolved locally, as @code{fixup_segment} tries to
1299 reduce the number of relocations emitted. For example, a fixup expression
1300 against an absolute symbol will normally not require a reloc. If undefined,
1301 a default of @w{@code{(S_FORCE_RELOC ((@var{fix})->fx_addsy))}} is used.
1303 @item TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_ABS (@var{fix})
1304 @cindex TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_ABS
1305 Like @code{TC_FORCE_RELOCATION}, but used only for fixup expressions against an
1306 absolute symbol. If undefined, @code{TC_FORCE_RELOCATION} will be used.
1308 @item TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_LOCAL (@var{fix})
1309 @cindex TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_LOCAL
1310 Like @code{TC_FORCE_RELOCATION}, but used only for fixup expressions against a
1311 symbol in the current section. If undefined, fixups that are not
1312 @code{fx_pcrel} or for which @code{TC_FORCE_RELOCATION}
1313 returns non-zero, will emit relocs.
1315 @item TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_SAME (@var{fix}, @var{seg})
1316 @cindex TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_SAME
1317 This macro controls resolution of fixup expressions involving the
1318 difference of two symbols in the same section. If this macro returns zero,
1319 the subtrahend will be resolved and @code{fx_subsy} set to @code{NULL} for
1320 @code{md_apply_fix}. If undefined, the default of
1321 @w{@code{! SEG_NORMAL (@var{seg})}} will be used.
1323 @item TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_ABS (@var{fix}, @var{seg})
1324 @cindex TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_ABS
1325 Like @code{TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_SAME}, but used when the subtrahend is an
1326 absolute symbol. If the macro is undefined a default of @code{0} is used.
1328 @item TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_LOCAL (@var{fix}, @var{seg})
1329 @cindex TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_LOCAL
1330 Like @code{TC_FORCE_RELOCATION_SUB_ABS}, but the subtrahend is a symbol in the
1331 same section as the fixup.
1333 @item TC_VALIDATE_FIX_SUB (@var{fix}, @var{seg})
1334 @cindex TC_VALIDATE_FIX_SUB
1335 This macro is evaluated for any fixup with a @code{fx_subsy} that
1336 @code{fixup_segment} cannot reduce to a number. If the macro returns
1337 @code{false} an error will be reported.
1339 @item TC_GLOBAL_REGISTER_SYMBOL_OK
1340 @cindex TC_GLOBAL_REGISTER_SYMBOL_OK
1341 Define this macro if global register symbols are supported. The default
1342 is to disallow global register symbols.
1344 @item MD_APPLY_SYM_VALUE (@var{fix})
1345 @cindex MD_APPLY_SYM_VALUE
1346 This macro controls whether the symbol value becomes part of the value passed
1347 to @code{md_apply_fix}. If the macro is undefined, or returns non-zero, the
1348 symbol value will be included. For ELF, a suitable definition might simply be
1349 @code{0}, because ELF relocations don't include the symbol value in the addend.
1351 @item S_FORCE_RELOC (@var{sym}, @var{strict})
1352 @cindex S_FORCE_RELOC
1353 This function returns true for symbols
1354 that should not be reduced to section symbols or eliminated from expressions,
1355 because they may be overridden by the linker. ie. for symbols that are
1356 undefined or common, and when @var{strict} is set, weak, or global (for ELF
1357 assemblers that support ELF shared library linking semantics).
1359 @item EXTERN_FORCE_RELOC
1360 @cindex EXTERN_FORCE_RELOC
1361 This macro controls whether @code{S_FORCE_RELOC} returns true for global
1362 symbols. If undefined, the default is @code{true} for ELF assemblers, and
1363 @code{false} for non-ELF.
1366 @cindex tc_gen_reloc
1367 GAS will call this to generate a reloc. GAS will pass
1368 the resulting reloc to @code{bfd_install_relocation}. This currently works
1369 poorly, as @code{bfd_install_relocation} often does the wrong thing, and
1370 instances of @code{tc_gen_reloc} have been written to work around the problems,
1371 which in turns makes it difficult to fix @code{bfd_install_relocation}.
1373 @item RELOC_EXPANSION_POSSIBLE
1374 @cindex RELOC_EXPANSION_POSSIBLE
1375 If you define this macro, it means that @code{tc_gen_reloc} may return multiple
1376 relocation entries for a single fixup. In this case, the return value of
1377 @code{tc_gen_reloc} is a pointer to a null terminated array.
1379 @item MAX_RELOC_EXPANSION
1380 @cindex MAX_RELOC_EXPANSION
1381 You must define this if @code{RELOC_EXPANSION_POSSIBLE} is defined; it
1382 indicates the largest number of relocs which @code{tc_gen_reloc} may return for
1385 @item tc_fix_adjustable
1386 @cindex tc_fix_adjustable
1387 You may define this macro to indicate whether a fixup against a locally defined
1388 symbol should be adjusted to be against the section symbol. It should return a
1389 non-zero value if the adjustment is acceptable.
1391 @item MD_PCREL_FROM_SECTION (@var{fixp}, @var{section})
1392 @cindex MD_PCREL_FROM_SECTION
1393 If you define this macro, it should return the position from which the PC
1394 relative adjustment for a PC relative fixup should be made. On many
1395 processors, the base of a PC relative instruction is the next instruction,
1396 so this macro would return the length of an instruction, plus the address of
1397 the PC relative fixup. The latter can be calculated as
1398 @var{fixp}->fx_where + @var{fixp}->fx_frag->fr_address .
1401 @cindex md_pcrel_from
1402 This is the default value of @code{MD_PCREL_FROM_SECTION}. The difference is
1403 that @code{md_pcrel_from} does not take a section argument.
1406 @cindex tc_frob_label
1407 If you define this macro, GAS will call it each time a label is defined.
1409 @item tc_new_dot_label
1410 @cindex tc_new_dot_label
1411 If you define this macro, GAS will call it each time a fake label is created
1412 off the special dot symbol.
1414 @item md_section_align
1415 @cindex md_section_align
1416 GAS will call this function for each section at the end of the assembly, to
1417 permit the CPU backend to adjust the alignment of a section. The function
1418 must take two arguments, a @code{segT} for the section and a @code{valueT}
1419 for the size of the section, and return a @code{valueT} for the rounded
1422 @item md_macro_start
1423 @cindex md_macro_start
1424 If defined, GAS will call this macro when it starts to include a macro
1425 expansion. @code{macro_nest} indicates the current macro nesting level, which
1426 includes the one being expanded.
1429 @cindex md_macro_info
1430 If defined, GAS will call this macro after the macro expansion has been
1431 included in the input and after parsing the macro arguments. The single
1432 argument is a pointer to the macro processing's internal representation of the
1433 macro (macro_entry *), which includes expansion of the formal arguments.
1436 @cindex md_macro_end
1437 Complement to md_macro_start. If defined, it is called when finished
1438 processing an inserted macro expansion, just before decrementing macro_nest.
1440 @item DOUBLEBAR_PARALLEL
1441 @cindex DOUBLEBAR_PARALLEL
1442 Affects the preprocessor so that lines containing '||' don't have their
1443 whitespace stripped following the double bar. This is useful for targets that
1444 implement parallel instructions.
1446 @item KEEP_WHITE_AROUND_COLON
1447 @cindex KEEP_WHITE_AROUND_COLON
1448 Normally, whitespace is compressed and removed when, in the presence of the
1449 colon, the adjoining tokens can be distinguished. This option affects the
1450 preprocessor so that whitespace around colons is preserved. This is useful
1451 when colons might be removed from the input after preprocessing but before
1452 assembling, so that adjoining tokens can still be distinguished if there is
1453 whitespace, or concatenated if there is not.
1455 @item tc_frob_section
1456 @cindex tc_frob_section
1457 If you define this macro, GAS will call it for each
1458 section at the end of the assembly.
1460 @item tc_frob_file_before_adjust
1461 @cindex tc_frob_file_before_adjust
1462 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after the symbol values are
1463 resolved, but before the fixups have been changed from local symbols to section
1466 @item tc_frob_symbol
1467 @cindex tc_frob_symbol
1468 If you define this macro, GAS will call it for each symbol. You can indicate
1469 that the symbol should not be included in the object file by defining this
1470 macro to set its second argument to a non-zero value.
1473 @cindex tc_frob_file
1474 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after the symbol table has been
1475 completed, but before the relocations have been generated.
1477 @item tc_frob_file_after_relocs
1478 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after the relocs have been
1481 @item tc_cfi_reloc_for_encoding
1482 @cindex tc_cfi_reloc_for_encoding
1483 This macro is used to indicate whether a cfi encoding requires a relocation.
1484 It should return the required relocation type. Defining this macro implies
1485 that Compact EH is supported.
1487 @item md_post_relax_hook
1488 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after relaxing and sizing the
1491 @item LISTING_HEADER
1492 A string to use on the header line of a listing. The default value is simply
1493 @code{"GAS LISTING"}.
1495 @item LISTING_WORD_SIZE
1496 The number of bytes to put into a word in a listing. This affects the way the
1497 bytes are clumped together in the listing. For example, a value of 2 might
1498 print @samp{1234 5678} where a value of 1 would print @samp{12 34 56 78}. The
1501 @item LISTING_LHS_WIDTH
1502 The number of words of data to print on the first line of a listing for a
1503 particular source line, where each word is @code{LISTING_WORD_SIZE} bytes. The
1506 @item LISTING_LHS_WIDTH_SECOND
1507 Like @code{LISTING_LHS_WIDTH}, but applying to the second and subsequent line
1508 of the data printed for a particular source line. The default value is 1.
1510 @item LISTING_LHS_CONT_LINES
1511 The maximum number of continuation lines to print in a listing for a particular
1512 source line. The default value is 4.
1514 @item LISTING_RHS_WIDTH
1515 The maximum number of characters to print from one line of the input file. The
1516 default value is 100.
1518 @item TC_COFF_SECTION_DEFAULT_ATTRIBUTES
1519 @cindex TC_COFF_SECTION_DEFAULT_ATTRIBUTES
1520 The COFF @code{.section} directive will use the value of this macro to set
1521 a new section's attributes when a directive has no valid flags or when the
1522 flag is @code{w}. The default value of the macro is @code{SEC_LOAD | SEC_DATA}.
1524 @item DWARF2_FORMAT (@var{sec})
1525 @cindex DWARF2_FORMAT
1526 If you define this, it should return one of @code{dwarf2_format_32bit},
1527 @code{dwarf2_format_64bit}, or @code{dwarf2_format_64bit_irix} to indicate
1528 the size of internal DWARF section offsets and the format of the DWARF initial
1529 length fields. When @code{dwarf2_format_32bit} is returned, the initial
1530 length field will be 4 bytes long and section offsets are 32 bits in size.
1531 For @code{dwarf2_format_64bit} and @code{dwarf2_format_64bit_irix}, section
1532 offsets are 64 bits in size, but the initial length field differs. An 8 byte
1533 initial length is indicated by @code{dwarf2_format_64bit_irix} and
1534 @code{dwarf2_format_64bit} indicates a 12 byte initial length field in
1535 which the first four bytes are 0xffffffff and the next 8 bytes are
1536 the section's length.
1538 If you don't define this, @code{dwarf2_format_32bit} will be used as
1541 This define only affects debug
1542 sections generated by the assembler. DWARF 2 sections generated by
1543 other tools will be unaffected by this setting.
1545 @item DWARF2_ADDR_SIZE (@var{bfd})
1546 @cindex DWARF2_ADDR_SIZE
1547 It should return the size of an address, as it should be represented in
1548 debugging info. If you don't define this macro, the default definition uses
1549 the number of bits per address, as defined in @var{bfd}, divided by 8.
1551 @item MD_DEBUG_FORMAT_SELECTOR
1552 @cindex MD_DEBUG_FORMAT_SELECTOR
1553 If defined this macro is the name of a function to be called when the
1554 @samp{--gen-debug} switch is detected on the assembler's command line. The
1555 prototype for the function looks like this:
1558 enum debug_info_type MD_DEBUG_FORMAT_SELECTOR (int * use_gnu_extensions)
1561 The function should return the debug format that is preferred by the CPU
1562 backend. This format will be used when generating assembler specific debug
1565 @item md_emit_single_noop_insn
1566 @itemx md_single_noop_insn
1567 These macro facilitate the @var{.nop} directive. If defined the
1568 @var{md_emit_single_noop_insn} macro provides code to insert a single no-op
1569 instruction into the output stream. If this involves calling @var{md_assemble}
1570 with a fixed string then the alternative macro @var{md_single_noop_insn} can be
1571 defined, specifying the string to pass. If neither of these macros are defined
1572 then the @var{.nop} directive will call @var{md_assemble} with the string
1575 @item md_allow_local_subtract (@var{left}, @var{right}, @var{section})
1576 If defined, GAS will call this macro when evaluating an expression which is the
1577 difference of two symbols defined in the same section. It takes three
1578 arguments: @code{expressioS * @var{left}} which is the symbolic expression on
1579 the left hand side of the subtraction operation, @code{expressionS *
1580 @var{right}} which is the symbolic expression on the right hand side of the
1581 subtraction, and @code{segT @var{section}} which is the section containing the two
1582 symbols. The macro should return a non-zero value if the expression should be
1583 evaluated. Targets which implement link time relaxation which may change the
1584 position of the two symbols relative to each other should ensure that this
1585 macro returns zero in situations where this can occur.
1587 @item md_allow_eh_opt
1588 If defined, GAS will check this macro before performing any optimizations on
1589 the DWARF call frame debug information that is emitted. Targets which
1590 implement link time relaxation may need to define this macro and set it to zero
1591 if it is possible to change the size of a function's prologue.
1593 @item TARGET_MULTIPLE_EH_FRAME_SECTIONS
1594 If defined, GAS will create multiple .eh_frame.* sections according to
1595 the name of owner's function sections.
1598 @node Object format backend
1599 @subsection Writing an object format backend
1600 @cindex object format backend
1601 @cindex @file{obj-@var{fmt}}
1603 As with the CPU backend, the object format backend must define a few things,
1604 and may define some other things. The interface to the object format backend
1605 is generally simpler; most of the support for an object file format consists of
1606 defining a number of pseudo-ops.
1608 The object format @file{.h} file must include @file{targ-cpu.h}.
1611 @item OBJ_@var{format}
1612 @cindex OBJ_@var{format}
1613 By convention, you should define this macro in the @file{.h} file. For
1614 example, @file{obj-elf.h} defines @code{OBJ_ELF}. You might have to use this
1615 if it is necessary to add object file format specific code to the CPU file.
1618 If you define this macro, GAS will call it at the start of the assembly, after
1619 the command-line arguments have been parsed and all the machine independent
1620 initializations have been completed.
1623 @cindex obj_app_file
1624 If you define this macro, GAS will invoke it when it sees a @code{.file}
1625 pseudo-op or a @samp{#} line as used by the C preprocessor.
1627 @item OBJ_COPY_SYMBOL_ATTRIBUTES
1628 @cindex OBJ_COPY_SYMBOL_ATTRIBUTES
1629 You should define this macro to copy object format specific information from
1630 one symbol to another. GAS will call it when one symbol is equated to
1633 @item obj_sec_sym_ok_for_reloc
1634 @cindex obj_sec_sym_ok_for_reloc
1635 You may define this macro to indicate that it is OK to use a section symbol in
1636 a relocation entry. If it is not, GAS will define a new symbol at the start
1639 @item EMIT_SECTION_SYMBOLS
1640 @cindex EMIT_SECTION_SYMBOLS
1641 You should define this macro with a zero value if you do not want to include
1642 section symbols in the output symbol table. The default value for this macro
1645 @item obj_adjust_symtab
1646 @cindex obj_adjust_symtab
1647 If you define this macro, GAS will invoke it just before setting the symbol
1648 table of the output BFD. For example, the COFF support uses this macro to
1649 generate a @code{.file} symbol if none was generated previously.
1651 @item SEPARATE_STAB_SECTIONS
1652 @cindex SEPARATE_STAB_SECTIONS
1653 You may define this macro to a nonzero value to indicate that stabs should be
1654 placed in separate sections, as in ELF.
1656 @item INIT_STAB_SECTION
1657 @cindex INIT_STAB_SECTION
1658 You may define this macro to initialize the stabs section in the output file.
1660 @item OBJ_PROCESS_STAB
1661 @cindex OBJ_PROCESS_STAB
1662 You may define this macro to do specific processing on a stabs entry.
1664 @item obj_frob_section
1665 @cindex obj_frob_section
1666 If you define this macro, GAS will call it for each section at the end of the
1669 @item obj_frob_file_before_adjust
1670 @cindex obj_frob_file_before_adjust
1671 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after the symbol values are
1672 resolved, but before the fixups have been changed from local symbols to section
1675 @item obj_frob_symbol
1676 @cindex obj_frob_symbol
1677 If you define this macro, GAS will call it for each symbol. You can indicate
1678 that the symbol should not be included in the object file by defining this
1679 macro to set its second argument to a non-zero value.
1681 @item obj_set_weak_hook
1682 @cindex obj_set_weak_hook
1683 If you define this macro, @code{S_SET_WEAK} will call it before modifying the
1686 @item obj_clear_weak_hook
1687 @cindex obj_clear_weak_hook
1688 If you define this macro, @code{S_CLEAR_WEAKREFD} will call it after cleaning
1689 the @code{weakrefd} flag, but before modifying any other flags.
1692 @cindex obj_frob_file
1693 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after the symbol table has been
1694 completed, but before the relocations have been generated.
1696 @item obj_frob_file_after_relocs
1697 If you define this macro, GAS will call it after the relocs have been
1700 @item SET_SECTION_RELOCS (@var{sec}, @var{relocs}, @var{n})
1701 @cindex SET_SECTION_RELOCS
1702 If you define this, it will be called after the relocations have been set for
1703 the section @var{sec}. The list of relocations is in @var{relocs}, and the
1704 number of relocations is in @var{n}.
1708 @subsection Writing emulation files
1710 Normally you do not have to write an emulation file. You can just use
1711 @file{te-generic.h}.
1713 If you do write your own emulation file, it must include @file{obj-format.h}.
1715 An emulation file will often define @code{TE_@var{EM}}; this may then be used
1716 in other files to change the output.
1722 @dfn{Relaxation} is a generic term used when the size of some instruction or
1723 data depends upon the value of some symbol or other data.
1725 GAS knows to relax a particular type of PC relative relocation using a table.
1726 You can also define arbitrarily complex forms of relaxation yourself.
1729 * Relaxing with a table:: Relaxing with a table
1730 * General relaxing:: General relaxing
1733 @node Relaxing with a table
1734 @subsection Relaxing with a table
1736 If you do not define @code{md_relax_frag}, and you do define
1737 @code{TC_GENERIC_RELAX_TABLE}, GAS will relax @code{rs_machine_dependent} frags
1738 based on the frag subtype and the displacement to some specified target
1739 address. The basic idea is that several machines have different addressing
1740 modes for instructions that can specify different ranges of values, with
1741 successive modes able to access wider ranges, including the entirety of the
1742 previous range. Smaller ranges are assumed to be more desirable (perhaps the
1743 instruction requires one word instead of two or three); if this is not the
1744 case, don't describe the smaller-range, inferior mode.
1746 The @code{fr_subtype} field of a frag is an index into a CPU-specific
1747 relaxation table. That table entry indicates the range of values that can be
1748 stored, the number of bytes that will have to be added to the frag to
1749 accommodate the addressing mode, and the index of the next entry to examine if
1750 the value to be stored is outside the range accessible by the current
1751 addressing mode. The @code{fr_symbol} field of the frag indicates what symbol
1752 is to be accessed; the @code{fr_offset} field is added in.
1754 If the @code{TC_PCREL_ADJUST} macro is defined, which currently should only happen
1755 for the NS32k family, the @code{TC_PCREL_ADJUST} macro is called on the frag to
1756 compute an adjustment to be made to the displacement.
1758 The value fitted by the relaxation code is always assumed to be a displacement
1759 from the current frag. (More specifically, from @code{fr_fix} bytes into the
1762 This seems kinda silly. What about fitting small absolute values? I suppose
1763 @code{md_assemble} is supposed to take care of that, but if the operand is a
1764 difference between symbols, it might not be able to, if the difference was not
1768 The end of the relaxation sequence is indicated by a ``next'' value of 0. This
1769 means that the first entry in the table can't be used.
1771 For some configurations, the linker can do relaxing within a section of an
1772 object file. If call instructions of various sizes exist, the linker can
1773 determine which should be used in each instance, when a symbol's value is
1774 resolved. In order for the linker to avoid wasting space and having to insert
1775 no-op instructions, it must be able to expand or shrink the section contents
1776 while still preserving intra-section references and meeting alignment
1779 For the H8/300, I think the linker expands calls that can't reach, and doesn't
1780 worry about alignment issues; the cpu probably never needs any significant
1781 alignment beyond the instruction size.
1783 The relaxation table type contains these fields:
1786 @item long rlx_forward
1787 Forward reach, must be non-negative.
1788 @item long rlx_backward
1789 Backward reach, must be zero or negative.
1791 Length in bytes of this addressing mode.
1793 Index of the next-longer relax state, or zero if there is no next relax state.
1796 The relaxation is done in @code{relax_segment} in @file{write.c}. The
1797 difference in the length fields between the original mode and the one finally
1798 chosen by the relaxing code is taken as the size by which the current frag will
1799 be increased in size. For example, if the initial relaxing mode has a length
1800 of 2 bytes, and because of the size of the displacement, it gets upgraded to a
1801 mode with a size of 6 bytes, it is assumed that the frag will grow by 4 bytes.
1802 (The initial two bytes should have been part of the fixed portion of the frag,
1803 since it is already known that they will be output.) This growth must be
1804 effected by @code{md_convert_frag}; it should increase the @code{fr_fix} field
1805 by the appropriate size, and fill in the appropriate bytes of the frag.
1806 (Enough space for the maximum growth should have been allocated in the call to
1807 frag_var as the second argument.)
1809 If relocation records are needed, they should be emitted by
1810 @code{md_estimate_size_before_relax}. This function should examine the target
1811 symbol of the supplied frag and correct the @code{fr_subtype} of the frag if
1812 needed. When this function is called, if the symbol has not yet been defined,
1813 it will not become defined later; however, its value may still change if the
1814 section it is in gets relaxed.
1816 Usually, if the symbol is in the same section as the frag (given by the
1817 @var{sec} argument), the narrowest likely relaxation mode is stored in
1818 @code{fr_subtype}, and that's that.
1820 If the symbol is undefined, or in a different section (and therefore movable
1821 to an arbitrarily large distance), the largest available relaxation mode is
1822 specified, @code{fix_new} is called to produce the relocation record,
1823 @code{fr_fix} is increased to include the relocated field (remember, this
1824 storage was allocated when @code{frag_var} was called), and @code{frag_wane} is
1825 called to convert the frag to an @code{rs_fill} frag with no variant part.
1826 Sometimes changing addressing modes may also require rewriting the instruction.
1827 It can be accessed via @code{fr_opcode} or @code{fr_fix}.
1829 If you generate frags separately for the basic insn opcode and any relaxable
1830 operands, do not call @code{fix_new} thinking you can emit fixups for the
1831 opcode field from the relaxable frag. It is not guaranteed to be the same frag.
1832 If you need to emit fixups for the opcode field from inspection of the
1833 relaxable frag, then you need to generate a common frag for both the basic
1834 opcode and relaxable fields, or you need to provide the frag for the opcode to
1835 pass to @code{fix_new}. The latter can be done by passing a pointer to the
1836 opcode in the call to @code{frag_var} or @code{frag_variant}, and accessing
1837 it via @code{fr_opcode}. See the @file{tc-vax.c} and @file{tc-m68k.c} for
1838 examples. It is also possible for @code{TC_FRAG_TYPE} to include a pointer to
1839 the opcode and defining @code{TC_FRAG_INIT} to set the pointer.
1841 Sometimes @code{fr_var} is increased instead, and @code{frag_wane} is not
1842 called. I'm not sure, but I think this is to keep @code{fr_fix} referring to
1843 an earlier byte, and @code{fr_subtype} set to @code{rs_machine_dependent} so
1844 that @code{md_convert_frag} will get called.
1846 @node General relaxing
1847 @subsection General relaxing
1849 If using a simple table is not suitable, you may implement arbitrarily complex
1850 relaxation semantics yourself. For example, the MIPS backend uses this to emit
1851 different instruction sequences depending upon the size of the symbol being
1854 When you assemble an instruction that may need relaxation, you should allocate
1855 a frag using @code{frag_var} or @code{frag_variant} with a type of
1856 @code{rs_machine_dependent}. You should store some sort of information in the
1857 @code{fr_subtype} field so that you can figure out what to do with the frag
1860 When GAS reaches the end of the input file, it will look through the frags and
1861 work out their final sizes.
1863 GAS will first call @code{md_estimate_size_before_relax} on each
1864 @code{rs_machine_dependent} frag. This function must return an estimated size
1867 GAS will then loop over the frags, calling @code{md_relax_frag} on each
1868 @code{rs_machine_dependent} frag. This function should return the change in
1869 size of the frag. GAS will keep looping over the frags until none of the frags
1873 @section Broken words
1874 @cindex internals, broken words
1875 @cindex broken words
1877 Some compilers, including GCC, will sometimes emit switch tables specifying
1878 16-bit @code{.word} displacements to branch targets, and branch instructions
1879 that load entries from that table to compute the target address. If this is
1880 done on a 32-bit machine, there is a chance (at least with really large
1881 functions) that the displacement will not fit in 16 bits. The assembler
1882 handles this using a concept called @dfn{broken words}. This idea is well
1883 named, since there is an implied promise that the 16-bit field will in fact
1884 hold the specified displacement.
1886 If broken word processing is enabled, and a situation like this is encountered,
1887 the assembler will insert a jump instruction into the instruction stream, close
1888 enough to be reached with the 16-bit displacement. This jump instruction will
1889 transfer to the real desired target address. Thus, as long as the @code{.word}
1890 value really is used as a displacement to compute an address to jump to, the
1891 net effect will be correct (minus a very small efficiency cost). If
1892 @code{.word} directives with label differences for values are used for other
1893 purposes, however, things may not work properly. For targets which use broken
1894 words, the @samp{-K} option will warn when a broken word is discovered.
1896 The broken word code is turned off by the @code{WORKING_DOT_WORD} macro. It
1897 isn't needed if @code{.word} emits a value large enough to contain an address
1898 (or, more correctly, any possible difference between two addresses).
1900 @node Internal functions
1901 @section Internal functions
1903 This section describes basic internal functions used by GAS.
1906 * Warning and error messages:: Warning and error messages
1909 @node Warning and error messages
1910 @subsection Warning and error messages
1912 @deftypefun @{@} int had_warnings (void)
1913 @deftypefunx @{@} int had_errors (void)
1914 Returns non-zero if any warnings or errors, respectively, have been printed
1915 during this invocation.
1918 @deftypefun @{@} void as_tsktsk (const char *@var{format}, ...)
1919 @deftypefunx @{@} void as_warn (const char *@var{format}, ...)
1920 @deftypefunx @{@} void as_bad (const char *@var{format}, ...)
1921 @deftypefunx @{@} void as_fatal (const char *@var{format}, ...)
1922 These functions display messages about something amiss with the input file, or
1923 internal problems in the assembler itself. The current file name and line
1924 number are printed, followed by the supplied message, formatted using
1925 @code{vfprintf}, and a final newline.
1927 An error indicated by @code{as_bad} will result in a non-zero exit status when
1928 the assembler has finished. Calling @code{as_fatal} will result in immediate
1929 termination of the assembler process.
1932 @deftypefun @{@} void as_warn_where (char *@var{file}, unsigned int @var{line}, const char *@var{format}, ...)
1933 @deftypefunx @{@} void as_bad_where (char *@var{file}, unsigned int @var{line}, const char *@var{format}, ...)
1934 These variants permit specification of the file name and line number, and are
1935 used when problems are detected when reprocessing information saved away when
1936 processing some earlier part of the file. For example, fixups are processed
1937 after all input has been read, but messages about fixups should refer to the
1938 original filename and line number that they are applicable to.
1945 The test suite is kind of lame for most processors. Often it only checks to
1946 see if a couple of files can be assembled without the assembler reporting any
1947 errors. For more complete testing, write a test which either examines the
1948 assembler listing, or runs @code{objdump} and examines its output. For the
1949 latter, the TCL procedure @code{run_dump_test} may come in handy. It takes the
1950 base name of a file, and looks for @file{@var{file}.d}. This file should
1951 contain as its initial lines a set of variable settings in @samp{#} comments,
1955 #@var{varname}: @var{value}
1958 The @var{varname} may be @code{objdump}, @code{nm}, or @code{as}, in which case
1959 it specifies the options to be passed to the specified programs. Exactly one
1960 of @code{objdump} or @code{nm} must be specified, as that also specifies which
1961 program to run after the assembler has finished. If @var{varname} is
1962 @code{source}, it specifies the name of the source file; otherwise,
1963 @file{@var{file}.s} is used. If @var{varname} is @code{name}, it specifies the
1964 name of the test to be used in the @code{pass} or @code{fail} messages.
1966 The non-commented parts of the file are interpreted as regular expressions, one
1967 per line. Blank lines in the @code{objdump} or @code{nm} output are skipped,
1968 as are blank lines in the @code{.d} file; the other lines are tested to see if
1969 the regular expression matches the program output. If it does not, the test
1972 Note that this means the tests must be modified if the @code{objdump} output