Assemble Menu
Assembling Files
Assembly Options
Display Last Error
List Options
Preferences
Output Options
Auto Load
The Assemble menu consists of four groups of commands which
control object file and loading options, listing and symbol table
options, assembly options, and assembler invocation.
Command key shortcuts on the right of the menu augment most of the
more frequently used functions such as toggling listing and symbol
table generation, as well as selecting the file to assemble.
The bottom group of Assemble menu commands begins with the
Assemble File command, which causes Crossbow to prompt for a
file to assemble using the standard Macintosh file selection dialog
box with optional filtering to display only files with Macintosh file
type 'TEXT' or certain file name characteristics (see Assembly
Options below). Following Assemble File is a dynamic list
of the open windows which contain source files suitable for assembly
using the same optional file name filtering. The command keys
associated with the menu list allow single keystroke assembly of any
open window.
Choose Repeat Last Assembly from the Assemble menu to
assemble whatever file or window was last assembled.
The Crossbow assembler has several options which are specified by choosing Assembly Options from the Assemble menu. Options can be changed for the current Crossbow session only by selecting the appropriate items and clicking OK, or the options can be semi-permanently recorded in the preferences file by clicking Save Settings. Clicking Cancel restores the settings to the values held when the dialog box opened.
The Processor pop up menu selects the default microprocessor instruction set to use for assembly. You can override this default in your source files with the "Proc" directive. For example, the 68HC11 opcode "LDY" would generate an assembly error if "6801/6803" were selected.
The Source Filter check-boxes limit the filenames displayed
in the Assemble menu list, and file prompt dialog to files
having extensions from the set of checked boxes. If no boxes are
checked, all text files are available for assembly.
Auto Save Open Windows when checked, causes Crossbow to
automatically save all open edit windows prior to starting an
assembly. This guarantees that changes to a source file will not be
lost should a non-recoverable error occur during a memory intensive
assembly. The auto save option does not prompt for confirmation.
Any changes in any open file will become permanent after starting an
assembly!
Create "Include List" File when checked causes Crossbow to
create or modify a ".Inc" file listing all of the include files used
for the assembly. The filename of the newly created file begins with
the name of the principle source file followed by the extension
".Inc" ("Test.Asm" generates "Test.Inc"). The include list file is an
editable text file containing the complete pathnames of each file
which is used primarily for multiple file searching (see
Search Menu for more
details).
Startup Window lets you specify Crossbow's startup behavior.
New opens a new untitled window at startup, Ask opens
Crossbow with the Macintosh file selection dialog, and None
has Crossbow open with no edit windows. See the
Terminal Menu for similar
options for the Terminal Window.
The Memory Usage: radio buttons deal with the internal
workings of the Crossbow assembler. The Normal button is the
ideal setting for almost every Macintosh configuration. The
Special 1 and Special 2 buttons exist as last resort
measures for unusual programs which generate "Out of Memory" errors.
There are no real guidelines to using these buttons other than to
leave Normal set. Contact Pii if you think your programs may
require use of the other options.
If Crossbow finds an error during assembly, it displays the
offending file in the front-most window with the insertion point at
the error location and an alert box describing the problem. Hitting
the return key or clicking the mouse on the OK button dismisses the
alert. The Display Last Error...
selection redisplays the most recent error message.
The listing files created by the Crossbow assembler are controlled by the List Options... selection from the Assemble menu. Options can be changed temporarily by selecting the appropriate items and clicking OK, or can be made permanent by clicking Save Settings.
The Listing: radio buttons select the destination for the
listing file produced by the Crossbow assembler. New File
creates a file on disk with the same name as the principle source
file, but with the extension ".List". New Window creates a new
untitled window containing the listing on completion of the assembly.
No Listing inhibits generation of the list file which
significantly speeds up assembly. The Create Listing menu
selection overrides the options selected in this dialog.
The Symbol Table: radio buttons work in a similar fashion to
the Listing: controls, but govern generation of the symbol
table. The Symbol Table menu selection allows an abbreviated
override to the options selected in this dialog.
Insert Line Numbers puts a five digit line number in the first column of each line of the listing.
List All Declared Data, when NOT checked, limits the hexadecimal display of data from data directives to a single line.
List False Conditionals causes the assembler to include sections of code not assembled in the listing file, when checked.
List Macro Expansions, when NOT checked, causes the assembler to limit the listing of macros to just the invocation and "endm" directive.
Cross Reference Symbols causes the symbol table to contain additional information relating symbols to their defined and referenced locations in the list file.
Omit Leading '_' Symbols omits from the symbol table all symbols the begin with an underscore
The object file formats and destinations are controlled by the Output Options selection from the Assembly menu. Options can be changed temporarily by selecting the appropriate items and clicking OK, or can be made permanent by clicking Save Settings.
The Output To popup menu selects the format for the object file created by the Crossbow assembler. The various file formats are described in detail in the appendix.
Intel .Hex generates object text files using Intel Hex format and having the same name as the primary source file but with the extension ".Hex".
Motorola .S19 generates object text files using Motorola S1-S9 records and having the same name as the primary source file but with the extension ".S19".
Motorola .S28 same as above with S2-S8 records for 24 bit addressing.
Motorola .S37 same as above with S3-S7 records for 32 bit addressing.
PIC .MPO generates code for PIC microcontroller in an older format used before the release of the ProMaster programmer.
PIC ProMaster .OBJ generates code for PIC microcontrollers in the format used by the ProMaster programmer.
Binary ".Bin" generates absolute binary image padded where necessary with the fill byte specified below.
"No Object File" is useful for performing fast syntax checks.
The Fill Byte radio buttons control both the padding
character used by binary object files and padding used to compensate
for inefficiencies created by small gaps in the hex file formats
cause by the align directive.
Split Files (H/L) when selected causes two files to be created
with extensions "_H.Hex" and "_L.Hex" containing the
object code for the high and low bytes appropriate for loading code
for 16-bit processors into eight bit development tools. When not
selected a single file is created.
This option when checked causes the assembler to automatically
download the output of the assembly to a target development
system.
Previous Next Contents