Instructions are translated into object codes (machine language) as a result of assembling, but directives are not converted into object codes in principle.
Directives contain the following functions mainly:
- | To facilitate description of source programs |
- | To initialize memory and reserve memory areas |
- | To provide the information required for assemblers and linkers to perform their intended processing |
The following table shows the types of directives.
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Link directives
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.SECTION, .GLB, .RVECTOR
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Assembler directives
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.EQU, .END, .INCLUDE
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Address directives
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.ORG, .OFFSET, .ENDIAN, .BLKB, .BLKW, .BLKL, .BLKD, .BYTE, .WORD, .LWORD, .FLOAT, .DOUBLE, .ALIGN
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Macro directives
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.MACRO, .EXITM, .LOCAL, .ENDM, .MREPEAT, .ENDR, ..MACPARA, ..MACREP, .LEN, .INSTR, .SUBSTR
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Specific compiler directives
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._LINE_TOP, ._LINE_END, .SWSECTION, .SWMOV, .SWITCH, .INSTALIGN
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The following sections explain the details of each directive.