PAPP(1)PAPP(1)NAME
PAPP - Portable Assembly Preprocessor
SYNOPSISpapp [source file]
DESCRIPTION
The papp command preprocesses assembly language code, much like cpp
does for C and C++.
Papp parses assembly language programs line-by-line, processing macro
definitions, macro references, and includes. Output is sent to the
standard output.
Papp can be used with any assembler, but was specifically designed to
enhance the programming experience with the SPIM MIPS simulator, and
follows a syntax taken from MIPS assembly language documentation.
Macro definitions take the following general form:
.macro name($arg1[,$arg2...])
Macro text
.end_macro
Argument names must begin with a $, and should use standard variable
naming conventions that do not conflict with any tokens in the assembly
language being preprocessed. References to arguments within the macro
text are replaced by the text from the macro invocation.
MIPS assembly language (MAL) example:
.macro push($x)
sw $x, ($sp)
addi $sp, $sp, -4
.end_macro
.macro swap($r1,$r2,$temp)
move $temp, $r1
move $r1, $r2
move $r2, $temp
.end_macro
Macros are invoked using parentheses surrounding the argument:
lw $t0, x
push($t0)
swap($a0, $a1, $t1)
Files can be included using the .include directive. This is especially
useful for storing commonly used predefined constants and macros in a
separate file for inclusion in other programs. For example, if the
macro examples above are stored in a file called mymacros.mal, then the
following could be used to import them to another program (in the same
directory):
.include("mymacros.mal")
SEE ALSOcpp(1), as(1), spim(1), ape(1)AUTHOR
Jason W. Bacon
Acadix Consulting, LLC
PAPP(1)
