DevpacST V2 PDF

HiSoft DevpacST
Assembler/Editor/Debugger
System Requirements:
Atari ST Computer with a mouse an d a disk drive
Copyright © HiSoft 1988

DevpacST Version 2 April 1988
Printing History:
1st Edition August 1986 (ISBN 0 948517 04 2)
Reprinted April 1987 & October 1987
2nd Edition April 1988 (ISBN 0 948517 11 5)
Set using an Apple Macintosh™ with Microsoft Word™ & Aldus Pagemaker™
ISBN 0 948517 11 5
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording,
without the written permission of the copyright holder. Such written permission
must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval
system of any nature.
It Is an infringement of the copyright pertaining to DcvpacST and its associated

documentation to copy. by any means whatsoever, any part of DevpacST for any
reason other than for the purposes of making a security back-up copy of the object
code as detailed within this manual.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 - Introduction 1
Always make a back-up 1
Registration Card 1
The README File 1
The Development Cycle 2
DevpacST Disk Contents 3
How to Use this Manual 4
DevpacST Version 1 Users 4
Beginners 4
Experienced Users 5
A Very Quick Tutorial 5
CHAPTER 2 - Screen Editor 9
Introduction 9
The Editor 9
A Few Words about Dialog Boxes 11
Entering text and Moving the cursor 11
Cursor keys 12
Tab key 13
Backspace key 14
Delete key 14
Goto a particular line 14
Go to top of file 14
Go to end of file 14
Quitting GenST 15
Deleting text 15
Delete line 15
Delete to end of line 15
UnDelete Line 15
Delete all the text 15
HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page i

Disk Operations 16
GEM File Selector 16
Saving Text 17
Save 18
Loading Text 18
Inserting Text 18
Searching and Replacing Text 19
Block Commands 19
Marking a block 20
Saving a block 20
Copying a block 20
Deleting a block 20
Copy block to block buffer 21
Pasting a block 21
Printing a block 21
Miscellaneous Commands 22
About GenST2 22
Help Screen 22
Preferences 22
Tabs 22
Text Buffer Size 22
Numeric Pad 23
Backups 23
Auto Indenting 23
Cursor 23
Load MonST 24
Saving Preferences 24
Assembling & Running Programs 24
Assembly 24
Running Programs 25
Please Note 26
Debug 26
MonST 26
Run with GEM 27
Jump to Error 27
Run Other... 27
Window Usage & Desk Accessories 28
The GEM Editor Window 28
Desk Accessories 28
Automatic Double Clicking 28
Saved! Desk Accessory Users 29

Page Table of Contents HiSoft DevpacST
CHAPTER 3 - Macro Assembler 31
Introduction 31
Invoking the Assembler 31
From the Editor 31
Stand-Alone Assembler 32
Command Une Format 33
Output Filename 34
Assembly Process 34
Assembly to Memory 34
Binary file types 35
Types of code 36
Assembler Statement Format 37
Label field 37
Mnemonic Field 38
Operand Field 38
Comment Field 38
Examples of valid lines 39
Expressions 39
Operators 39
Numbers 40
Character Constants 40
Allowed Type Combinations 41
Addressing Modes 42
Special Addressing Modes 42
Local Labels 43
Symbols and Periods 43
Instruction Set 44
Word Alignment 44
Instruction Set Extensions 44
Assembler Directives 46
Assembly Control 46
END 46
INCLUDE 46
INCBIN 47
OPT 47
EVEN 50
CNOP 51
DC 51
DS 51
DCB 52
FAIL 52
OUTPUT 52
_G2 52
Repeat Loops 52
REPT 53
ENDR 53
HISoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page iii

Listing Control 53
LIST 53
NOLIST 53
PLEN 54
LLEN 54
TTL 54
SUBTTL 54
SPC 54
PAGE 54
LISTCHAR 55
FORMAT 55
Label Directives 55
EQU 55
- 55
EQUR 55
SET 56
REG 56
RS 56
RSRESET 57
RSSET 57
5_R7S
Conditional Assembly 57
FEQ 58
FNE 58
FGT 58
FGE 58
FLT 58
FLE 58
FD 59
FC 59
FNC 59
ELSEIF 59
ENDC 59
IIF 59
Macro Operations 60
MACRO 60
ENDM 60
MEXIT 60
NARG 60
Macro Parameters 61
Macro Examples 62
Output File Formats 66
Executable Files 66
GST Linkable Files 66
DRI Linkable Files 67
Choosing the Right File Format 67
Output File Directives 67
Modules & Sections 68
MODULE 68
SECTION 69

Page iv Table of Contents HiSoft DevpacST
Imports & Exports 69
XDEF 70
XREF 70
Using Imports in Expressions 71
COMMENT 72
ORG 72
OFFSET 73
LK 73
DRI Debug Option 73
Writing GST Libraries 73
Simple File Format Examples 74
Directive Summary 76
CHAPTER 4 - Symbolic Debugger 79

Introduction 79
68000 Exceptions 80
Memory Layout 81
Invoking MonST 83
From the Desktop 83
From the Editor 83
Symbolic Debugging 84
MonST Dialog and Alert Boxes 84
Initial Display 85
Front Panel Display 85
Simple Window Handling 87
Command Input 87
MonST Overview 88
MonST Reference 90
Numeric Expressions 90
Window Types 91
Register Window Display 91
Disassembly Window Display 92
Memory Window Display 93
Source-code Window Display 93
Window Commands 93
Cursor Keys 96
Screen Switching 96
Breaking into Programs 98
HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page y

Breakpoints 98
Simple Breakpoints 98
Stop Breakpoints 99
Count Breakpoints 99
Permanent Breakpoints 99
Conditional Breakpoints 99
History 101
Quitting MonST 102
Loading & Saving 102
Executing Programs 104
Searching Memory 106
Searching Source-Code Windows 107
Miscellaneous 107
Screen Switching 107
Follow Traps 108
NOTRACE Program 108
Relative Offsets 109
Symbols Option 109
Printer Output 111
Disk Output 111
Auto-Resident MonST 111
Command Summary 113
Debugging Stratagem 114
Hints & Tips 114
MonST Command Line 115
Bug Hunting 115
AUTO-folder programs 116
Desk Accessories 116
Exception Analysis 117
Bus Error 117
Address Error 117
Illegal Instruction 118
Privilege Violation 118

Page vi Table of Contents HiSoft DevpacST
CHAPTER 5 - Linker 119
Introduction 119
Invoking the Linker 119
Command Une 120
Example Command Lines 121
LinkST Running 121
Control Files 122
INPUT 122
OUTPUT 122
LIBRARY 122
SECTION 123
DEBUG 123
XDEBUG 123
DATA 123
BSS 123
Automatic Double-Clicking 124
LinkST Warnings 124

LinkST Errors 125
Appendix A - GEMDOS Error Codes 127
Appendix B - GenST Error Messages 129
Errors 129
Warnings 133
Appendix C - ST Memory Map 135
Processor Dump Area 135

Base Page Layout 136
Hardware Memory Map 137
HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page vii

Appendix D - Calling the Operating System 139
GEMDOS - Disk and Screen I/O 139
Program Startup and Termination 140
GEMDOS Summary 141
BIOS - Basic I/O System 154
XBIOS - Extended BIOS 155
GEM Libraries 156
GEM AES Library 156
Application Library 157
Event Library 158
Menu Library 158
Object Library 159
Form Library 159
Graphics Library 160
Scrap Library 160
File Selector Library 161
Window Library 161
Resource Library 161
Shell Library 162
Debugging AES Calls 162
GEM VDI Library 163
Control Functions 164
Output Functions 164
Attribute Functions 165
Raster Operations 166
Input Functions 167
Inquire Functions 167
AES & VDI Program Skeleton 168
Desk Accessories 169
Linking with AES & VDI Libraries 170
Menu Compiler 170
Old GenST AES & VDI Libraries 171
VT52 Screen Codes 172

Page viii Table of Contents HiSoft DevpacST
Appendix E
Converting from other Assemblers 173
Atari MADMAC 173
GST-ASM 174
MCC Assembler 174
K-Seka 174
Fast ASM 174
Appendix F - Bibliography 175

68000 Programming 175

ST Technical Manuals 175
Appendix G - Technical Support 179
Upgrades 180
Suggestions 180
DevpacST Developer Version 180
Appendix H - Revision History 181

Product History 181
Development Technique 181
Summary of Version 2 Improvements 181
HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page ix

CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Always make a back-up
Before using DevpacST you should make a back-up copy of the
distribution disk and put the original away in a safe place. It is not
copy-protected to allow easy back-up and to avoid inconvenience.
This disk may be backed-up using the Desktop or any back-up
utility. The disk is single-sided but may be used in double-sided
drives.
Before hiding away your master disk make a note in the box below
of the serial number written on it. You will need to quote this if you
require technical support.
Serial No:
Registration Card
Enclosed with this manual is a registration card which you should
fill in and return to us after reading the licence statement. Without
it you will not be entitled to technical support or upgrades. Be sure
to fill in all the details especially the serial number and version
number. Also supplied is a 68000 Pocket Guide which details the
entire 68000 instruction set.
The README File

As with all HiSoft products DevpacST is continually being improved
and the latest details that cannot be included in this manual may
be found in the README . s file on the disk. This file should be read at
this point, by double-clicking on its icon from the Desktop and
then clicking on the Show button. You can direct it to a printer by
clicking on the Print button.
HiSoft DevpacST Introduction Page 1

The Development Cycle
The purpose of DevpacST is to allow you to enter assembly
language programs, assemble them to machine-code and debug
them if (or should that be 'when') they don't work. Depending on
your application, you may also be using a linker to join together
separate modules, possibly with the output from a high level
language compiler. Of course the faster the development cycle, the
faster you can get your programs up and running and DevpacST
was designed to be as fast and powerful as possible. The usual
development cycle is best illustrated by a diagram.
Of course the faster the cycle, the faster you can get your
programs up and running and DevpacST was designed to be as
fast and powerful as possible. The Link stage is optional, as is the
Compile stage.
Page 2 Introduction HiSoft DevpacST

DevpacST Disk Contents
The supplied single-sided 3.5" disk contains these files:
Programs
GENST2 . PRG GEM screen editor and assembler
MONST2 . PRG the GEM program debugger
MONST2 . TOS the TOS program debugger
GENST2 . TTP stand-alone version of assembler
AMONST2 . PRG auto-resident debugger
CHECKST.PRG diagnostic program
LINKST . TTP GST format linker
NOTRACE . PRG trace exception dis-abler
MENU2ASM.TTP menu compiler
Text Files
README . S latest details about DevpacST

DEMO . s very simple TOS program used in tutorial
GEMTEST . S simple GEM demo program
DESKACC . S example desk accessory
GEMMACRO . S macros for AES/VDI interface
AESLIB.S AES library source
VDILIB. S VDI library source
NOTRACE.S source to NOTRACE .PRG
MENUTEST . S example GEM program using menu
MENUTEST .MDF sample menu definition file
MAKEGEM. S creates GEMLIB
GEMLIB .LNK control file for GEMLIB
Binary Files
GEMLIB. BIN AES & VDI library
Folders
OLDGEM updated GEM examples from GenST 1

How to Use this Manual
This manual makes no attempt to teach 68000 assembly language
programming or to detail the instruction set. For the former, the
bibliography lists suitable books, while for the latter the supplied
Pocket Guide is very useful. The Appendices give an overview of the
technical aspects of the Atari ST but they are not intended as a
complete technical description of the machine.
This manual is set out in five chapters, this introduction, a chapter
on the screen editor, a chapter on the macro assembler, a chapter
on the debugger, then a chapter on the linker. In addition there are
eight Appendices which detail various additional information. We
suggest you use the manual in a way that depends on what type of
user you are:
DevpacST Version 1 Users

Turn to Appendix H and read the section describing the new
features, then read the Reference section of Chapter 4 if you
intend using MonST, as it has changed considerably. The other
section you may need to read is that on File Formats in Chapter 3 if
you are interested in generating linkable code.
Beginners
If you are a newcomer to assembly language then we recommend
that you read one of the books in the Bibliography alongside this
manual.
At the end of this chapter there is a simple tutorial which you

should follow to familiarise yourself with the use of the main parts
of the program suite.
Chapter 2 details the editor and is well worth reading, though

much of Chapter 3, detailing the assembler, is liable to mean
nothing until you become more experienced. The Overview section
of Chapter 4, the debugger, is strongly recommended, though
Chapter 5 and the Appendices can be left for a while. Looking at
the supplied source code may be helpful, but the GEM programs
may be hard going as they were not written with the beginner in
mind.

Experienced Users
If you are experienced in the use of 68000 assembly language but

have not used DevpacST before then here is a very quick way of
assembling a source file:
Load GENST2 . PRG, Press Alt-L and select your file which will load
into the editor. Press Alt-A and select the options which you
require - if generating executable code then click on the Memory
button for additional speed. Pressing Return will start the
assembler, which may be paused by pressing ctrl-s, Ctrl -Q
resumes. Any assembly errors will be remember and on return to
the editor you will be placed on the first one. Subsequent errors
may be found by pressing Alt-J.
To run your successfully-assembled program (if assembled to

memory) press Alt-X. If assembled to disk press Alt-O then select
the program.
As a quick introduction to the debugger the following tutorial is

recommended. If you have any problems please read the relevant
section of the manual before contacting us for technical support.
A Very Quick Tutorial

This is a quick tutorial intended to let you see how quick and easy
it is to edit, assemble and debug programs with DevpacST.
In this tutorial we are going to assemble and run a simple program,

which contains two errors, and debug it. The program itself is
intended to print a message and wait for a key to be pressed before
quitting.
To start with load GENST2.PRG from your backup copy (you have
made a backup, haven't you?) which must also contain the files
MONST2 . PRG and DEMO . S, at minimum, by double-clicking on its
icon. After a short delay the screen will show an empty window; to
load the file you should move the mouse over the File menu and
click on Load. The standard GEM file selector will then appear and
the file we want is called DEMO. s. You may either double-click on the
name or type it in and press Return to load the file.
When the file has loaded the window will show the top lines of the
file. If you want to have a quick look at the program you may click
on the scroll bar or use the cursor keys.

With most shorter programs it is best to have a trial assembly that
doesn't produce a listing or binary file to check the syntax of the
source and show up typing errors and so on. Move the mouse to
the Program menu and click on Assemble.
A dialog box will appear, which should be left alone except the
button near the bottom, labelled None, should be clicked on. Click
on the Assemble button or press Return and the assembly will
begin.
The assembler will report an error, instruction not recognised,
and pressing any key will return you to the editor. The cursor will
be placed on the incorrect line and the error message displayed in
the status line.
The program line should be changed from MOV. W to MOVE . w, so do

this, then click on Assemble from the Program menu again. This
time click on the Memory button, this means the program will be
assembled into memory, instead of onto disk. This is very much
faster and allows you to try things out immediately, which is
exactly what we want. Clicking on the Assemble button will again
assemble it, and after you press a key to return to the editor it's
ready to run.
The assembly worked this time, so click on Run from the Program
menu, and what happens? Not a lot it would seem, except that a
couple of bombs appeared briefly on the screen - oh, there's a bug.
The tool for finding bugs is a debugger, so click on Debug from the
Program menu. The debugger is described more fully later on, but
for now we just want to run the program from the debugger to
'catch' the bombs and find out what causes them, so press Ctrl-R.
After a brief delay the message Bus Error will appear in the bottom
window, with the disassembly window showing the current
instruction
MOVE.W 1,-(A7)
This will cause a bus error because location 1 is in protected

memory which cannot be accessed in user mode - there should a
hash sign before the 1 to put the immediate value of 1 on the stack.
To return to the editor press Ct rl-C, so we can fix this bug in the
source code.

Press Alt-T, to go to the top of the file, then click on Find from the
Search menu. We are going to find the errant instruction so enter
move.w
then press Return to start the search. The first occurrence has a
hash sign, so press Alt-N to find the next, which is the line
move.w c conin,-(a7)
Ahah! - this is the one, so add a hash to change it to
move.w #c conin,-(a7)
then assemble it again. If you click on Run from the Program menu
you should see the message, and pressing any key will return you
to the editor.
However, did you notice how messy the screen was - the desktop
pattern looked very untidy and you possibly got mouse
'droppings' left on the screen. This was because DEMO is a TOS
program running with a GEM screen - to change this, click on Run
with GEM from the Program menu - the check mark next to it
should disappear. If you select Run again you can see the display is
a lot neater, isn't it? If you run a GEM program you must ensure
the check mark is there beforehand, otherwise nasty things can
happen.
Although the program now works we shall use MonST, the
debugger, to trace through the program, step by step. To do this
click on Debug from the Program menu, and the debugger will
appear with the message Breakpoint, showing your program.
There are various windows, the top one displaying the machine
registers. the second a disassembly of the program, the third
some other memory, and the bottom window displaying various
messages.
If you look at window 2. the disassembly window, you will see the
current instruction, which in our case is
MOVE.L #string,-(A7)
As the debug option was specified in the source code any symbols
will appear in the debugger.

Let's check the area around string. Press Alt-3 and you should
see window 3's title inverted. Next press Alt-A and a dialog box will
appear, asking Window start address? - to this enter
string
(it must be in lower-case) and press Return. This will re-display
window 3 at that address, showing the message in both hex and
ASCII.
To execute this MOVE instruction press Ctrl-z. This will execute the
instruction then the screen will be updated to reflect the new
values of the program counter and register A7. If you press Ct rl -z
again the MOVE .W instruction will be executed. If you look at the hex
display next to A7 you should see a word of 9, which is what you
would expect after that instruction.
The next instruction is TRAP #1, to call GEMDOS to print a string,

but hang on - would we notice a string printed in the middle of the
MonST display? Never fear, MonST has its own screen to avoid
interference with your program's, to see this press the v key,
which will show a blank screen, ready for your program. Pressing
any other key will return you to MonST.
To execute this call press Ctrl-Z, which will have printed the
string. To prove it press v again, then any key to return to MonST.
Press Ctrl -z twice more until you reach the next Trap. This one
waits for a key press so hit Ct r l - z and the program display will
automatically appear, waiting for a key. When you're ready, press
the q key. You will return to MonST and if you look at the register
window the low 8 bits of register DO should be $71, the ASCII code
for q, and next to that it will be shown as q (unless in low-
resolution).
The final Trap quits the program, so to let it run its course press
Ctrl-R, you will then return to the editor as the program has
finished.
Note the way we have used the courier font to indicate text or
values that appear on screen or input to be typed from the
keyboard. Also, Ctrl -x means hold the ct rl key down on the
keyboard and press x, while Return indicates that you should
press the Return key on the keyboard. These conventions will be
used throughout the manual.
CHAPTER 2
Screen Editor
Introduction
To enter and assemble your programs you need an editor of some
sort and an assembler. GenST combines both of these functions
together in one integrated program, giving a GEM-driven full-
screen editor and a fast, full-specification assembler. It also allows
you to run your assembled programs directly from memory
without having to quit the program or do a disk access and to
access the debugger at the press of a key. The fact that all these
features are combined in one program means that correcting
errors and making changes is as fast as possible without the need
for slow disk accesses and other programs.
This chapter details the use of the editor and how to assemble
programs - it does not detail the assembler or the debugger
themselves, they are covered in the following chapters.
To run GenST, double click on the GENST2 . PRG icon from the
Desktop. When it has loaded a menu bar will appear and an empty
window will open, ready for you to enter and assemble your
programs.
The Editor
A text editor is a program which allows you to enter and alter lines
of text, store them on disk, and load them back again. There are
two types of text editors: line editors, which treat each line
separately and can be very tricky to use, and screen editors, which
display your text a screen at a time. The latter tend to be much
easier to use.
The editor section of GenST is a screen editor which allows you to
enter and edit text and save and load from disk, as you would
expect. It also lets you print some or all of your text, search and
replace text patterns and use any of the Srs desk-accessories. It is
GEM-based, which means it uses all the user-friendly features of
GEM programs that you have become familiar with on your
computer such as windows, menus and mice. However, if you're a
die-hard, used to the hostile world of computers before the advent
of WIMPs, you'll be pleased to know you can do practically
everything you'll want to do from the keyboard without having to
touch a mouse.
The editor is 'RAM-based', which means that the file you are
editing stays in memory for the whole time, so you don't have to
wait while your disk grinds away loading different sections of the
file as you edit. As the ST range has so much memory, the size
limitations often found in older computer editors don't exist with
GenST; if you have enough memory you can edit files of over 300k
(though make sure your disk is large enough to cope with saving it
if you do!). As all editing operations, including things like
searching, are RAM-based they act blindingly quickly.
When you have typed in your program it is not much use if you are
unable to save it to disk, so the editor has a comprehensive range of
save and load options, allowing you to save all or part of the text
and to load other files into the middle of the current one, for
example.
To get things to happen in the editor, there are various methods

available to you. Features may be accessed in one or more of the
following ways:
• Using a single key, such as a Function or cursor key;
• Clicking on a menu item, such as Save;
• Using a menu shortcut, by pressing the Alternate key

(subsequently referred to as Alt) in conjunction with
another, such as Alt-F for Find;
• Using the Control key (subsequently referred to as Ctrl) in

conjunction with another, such as Ct rl-A for cursor word
left;
• Clicking on the screen, such as in a scroll bar.

The menu shortcuts have been chosen to be easy and obvious to
remember, while the Ctrl commands are based on those used in
WordStar, and many other compatible editors since.
If at any time you get stuck, pressing the Help key will bring up a
comprehensive display of the keys required for functions not
visible in any menus.
A Few Words about Dialog Boxes

The editor makes extensive use of Dialog boxes, so it is worth
recapping how to use them, particularly for entering text. The
editor's dialog boxes contain buttons, radio buttons, and editable
text.
Buttons may be clicked on with the mouse an d cause the dialog box
to go away. Usually there is a default button, shown by having a
wider border than the others. Pressing Return on the keyboard is
equivalent to clicking on the default bu tton.
Radio buttons are groups of buttons of which only one may be

selected at a time - clicking on one automatically de-selects all th e
others.
Editable text is shown with a dotted line, and a vertical bar marks
th e cursor position. Characters may be typed in and corrected
using th e Backspace, Delete and cursor keys. You can clear th e
whole edit fi eld by pressing th e Esc key. If there is more than one
editable text field in a dialog box, you can move between them using
th e 1 and t keys or by clicking near them with th e mouse.
Some dialog boxes allow only a limited range of characters to be

typed into them - for example th e Goto Line dialog box only allows
numeric characters (digits) to be entered.
Entering text and Moving the cursor

Having loaded GenST, you will be presented with an empty window
with a status line at th e top an d a flashing black block, which is the
cursor, in th e top left-hand corner.
The status line contains information about the cursor position in
the form of Line an d Column offsets as well as the number of bytes
of memory which are free to store your text. Initially this is
displayed as 59980, as the default text size is 60000 bytes. You
may ch ange this default if you wish, together with various other
options, by selecting Preferences, described later. The 'missing' 20
bytes are used by the editor for internal information. The rest of
the status line area is used for error messages, which will usually
be accompanied by a 'ping' noise to alert you. Any message that
gets printed will be removed subsequently when you press a key.
To enter text, you type on the keyboard. As you press a key it will
be shown on the screen an d the cursor will be advanced along the
line. If you are a very good typist you may be able to type faster
than the editor can re-display the line; if so, don't worry, as the
program will not lose the keystrokes and will catch up when you
pause. At the end of each line you press the Return key (or the
Enter key on the numeric pad) to start the next line. You can
correct your mistakes by pressing the Backspace key, which
deletes the character to the left of the cursor, or the Delete key.
which removes the character the cursor is over.
The main advantage of a computer editor as opposed to a normal

typewriter is its ability to edit things you typed a long time ago.
The editor's large range of options allow complete freedom to move
around your text at wi ll .
Cursor keys
To move the cursor around the text to correct errors or enter new
characters, you use the cursor keys, labelled .- -^ t an d 1. If you
move the cursor past the right-hand end of the line this won't add
anything to your text, but if you try to type some text at that point
the editor will automatically add the text to the real end of th e line.
If you type in long lines the window display will scroll sideways if
necessary.
If you cursor up at th e top of a window the display will either scroll

down if there is a previous line, or print the message Top of file
in the status line. Similarly if you cursor down off th e bottom of th e
window th e display will either scroll up if there is a following line, or
print the message End of file.
You can move th e cursor on a character basis by clicking on th e

arrow boxes at the end of th e horizontal an d vertical scroll bars.
For those of you used to WordStar, the keys Ctrl-S, Ctrl-D, Ctrl-
E and Ctrl -x work in the same way as the cursor keys.
To move immediately to the start of the current line, press ctrl (-,
and to move to the end of the current line press ctrl -^ .
To move the cursor a word to the left, press shift i- and to move a
word to the right press Shift -. You cannot move past the end of a
line with Shift -). A word is defined as anything surrounded by a
space, a tab or a start or end of line. The keys trl-A and Ctrl-F
also move the cursor left and right on a word basis.
To move the cursor a page up, you can click on the upper grey part
of the vertical scroll bar, or press Ctrl-R or Shift t To move the
cursor a page down, you can click on the lower grey part of the
scroll bar, or press ctrl-C or Shift 1.
If you want to move the cursor to a specific position on the screen

you may move the mouse pointer to the required place and click
(There is no WordStar equivalent for this feature!).
Tab key
The Tab key inserts a special character (ASCII code 9) into your
text, which on the screen looks like a number of spaces, but is
rather different. Pressing Tab aligns the cursor onto the next
'multiple of 8' column, so if you press it at the start of a line
(column 1) the cursor moves to the next multiple of 8, +1, which is
column 9. Tabs are very useful indeed for making items line up
vertically and its main use in GenST is for making instructions line
up. When you delete a tab the line closes up as if a number of spaces
had been removed. The advantage of tabs is that they take up only
1 byte of memory, but can show on screen as many more, allowing
you to tabulate your program neatly. You can change the tab size
before or after loading GenST using the Preferences command
described shortly.
Backspace key
The Backspace key removes th e character to the left of th e cursor.
If you backspace at th e very beginning of a line it will remove the
'invisible' carriage return and Join th e line to th e end of the previous
line. Backspacing when the cursor is past th e end of th e line will
delete the last character on the line, unless th e line is empty in
which case it will re-position the cursor on the left of th e screen.
Delete key
The Delete key removes the character under the cursor and has
no effect if the cursor is past th e end of the current line.
Goto a particular line

To move th e cursor to a specific line in the text, click on Goto line...
from the Options menu, or press Alt-G. A dialog box will appear,
allowing you to enter the required line number. Press Return or
click in the OK button to go to th e line or click on Cancel to abort
th e operation. After clicking on OK th e cursor will move to th e
specified line, re-displaying if necessary, or give the error End of
file if the line doesn't exist.
Another fast way of moving around th e fi le is by dragging the

slider on th e vertical scroll bar, which works in the usual GEM-like
fashion.
Go to top of file
To move to th e top of th e text, click on Goto Top from th e Options
menu, or press Alt-T. The screen will be re-drawn if required
starting from line 1.
Go to end of file
To move the cursor to th e start of the very last line of th e text, click
on Goto Bottom, or press Alt-B.
Quitting GenST
To leave GenST, click on Quit from the File menu, or press Alt-Q. If
changes have been made to the text which have not been saved to
disk, an alert box will appear asking for confirmation. Clicking on
Cancel will return you to the editor, while clicking on OK will
discard the changes an d return you to the Desktop.
Deleting text
Delete line
The current line can be deleted from the text by pressing Ctrl-Y.
Delete to end of line

The text from the cursor position to the end of the current line can
be deleted by pressing trl-4. (This is equivalent to the WordStar
sequence Ctrl-4 Y).
UnDelete Line
When a line is deleted using either of the above commands it is
preserved in an internal buffer, an d can be re-inserted into the text
by pressing trl-u, or the Undo key. This can be done as many
times as required, particularly useful for repeating similar lines or
swapping over individual lines.
Delete all the text
To clear out the current text, click on Clear from the File menu, or
press Alt-c. If you have made any ch an ges to the text that have
not been saved onto disk, a confirmation is required an d the
requisite alert box will appear. Clicking on OK will delete the text, or
Cancel will abort the operation.
Disk Operations
It is no use being able to type in text if you are unable to save it
anywhere permanently, or load it back subsequently, so the editor
has a comprehensive set of features to read from and write to disk.
GEM File Selector
Before describing the commands, it is best to detail the GEM File

Selector, which is a consistent way for users to select filenames
from disk. It is the same in all programs, so if you have used it
before then you can skip to the next section.
Figure 2.1 shows an example of the file selector box. At the top the
current drive, directory and type selection is shown. To the right is
a space for the actual filename, with OK and Cancel buttons below
it and a window taking up most of the remainder of the selector.
This window displays all of the filenames that correspond to the
drive and directory above.
Figure 2.1- the GEM File Selector

To select a filename, to save or to load, you can either click on the
name shown in the window, perhaps after using the scroll bar to
go up or down the list, or type it in at the Selection area. If you click
on a filename it will automatically be copied into the Selection area.
Clicking on OK or pressing Return will choose that particular
filename, or once you get used to the selector you may double-click
on the filename, obviating the need to click on OK or to press
Return.
If the file you want is not in the sub-directory shown, you can go
down a directory level by clicking on the directory name in the
window, or you can go up a directory by clicking on the close box of
the filename window. By default, GenST displays all files ending in
.S, as this is the usual extension for assembly language programs.
If you want to change this, you have to edit the Directory string
and replace the .S with the extension of you choice, such as .ASM. If
you want to be shown all the files, regardless of extension, replace
the . s with . *. If you do edit the Directory string you need to click
in the filename area of the window to tell GEM to re-display the
filenames. If you want to change the disk drive specifier, you
should click on the Directory string with the mouse (or press t ),
edit it to suit and click in the filename area of the window.
Note
In all pre-blitter versions of the ST ROMs there is a bug
which means that if you press _ (underline) when the cursor is in
the Directory string the machine will crash!
Saving Text
To save the text you are currently editing, click on Save As from
the File menu, or press Alt-S. The standard GEM File Selector will
appear, allowing you to select a suitable disk and filename. Clicking
OK or pressing Return will then save the file onto the disk. If an
error occurs a dialog will appear showing a TOS error number, the
exact meaning of which can be found in Appendix A.
If you click on Cancel the text will not be saved. Normally if a file
exists with the same name it will be deleted and replaced with the
new version. but if Backups are selected from the Preferences
options then any existing file will be renamed with the extension
.BAK (deleting any existing . BAK file) before the new version is
saved.
Save
If you have already done a Save As (or a Load). GenST will

remember the name of the file and display it in the title bar of the
window. If you want to save it without having to bother with the file
selector, you can click on Save on the File menu, or press Shift-
Alt-S, and it will use the old name and save it as above. If you try to
Save without having previously specified a filename you will be
presented with the File Selector, as in Save As.
Loading Text
To load in a new text file, click on Load from the File menu, or press
Alt-L. If you have made any changes that have not been saved, a
confirmation will be required. The GEM file selector will appear,
allowing you to specify the disk and filename. Assuming you do not
Cancel, the editor will attempt to load the file. If it will fit, the file is
loaded into memory and the window is re-drawn. If it will not fit an
alert box will appear warning you, and you should use Preferences
to make the edit buffer size larger, then try to load it again.
Inserting Text
If you want to read a file from disk and insert it at the current
position in your text click on Insert File from the File menu, or press
Alt-I. The standard GEM file selector will appear and assuming
that you do not cancel, the file will be read from the disk and
inserted, memory permitting.
Page 18 Screen Editor HiSott DevpacST

Searching and Replacing Text
To find a particular section of text click on Find from the Search
menu, or press Alt-F. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to
enter the Find and Replace strings. If you click on Cancel, no
action will be taken; if you click Next (or press Return) the search
will start forwards, while clicking on Previous will start the search
backwards. If you do not wish to replace, leave the Replace string
empty. If the search was successful, the screen will be re-drawn at
that point with the cursor positioned at the start of the string. If
the search string could not be found, the message Not found will
appear in the status area and the cursor will remain unmoved. By
default the search is always case-independent, so for example if
you enter the search string as test you could find the words TEST,
Test and test. If you click on the UPPER & lower case Different
button the search will be case-dependent.
To find the next occurrence of the string click on Find Next from the
Search menu, or press Alt-N. The search starts at the position
just past the cursor.
To search for the previous occurrence of the string click on Find

Previous from the Search menu, or press Alt-P. The search starts
at the position just before the cursor.
Having found an occurrence of the required text, it can be replaced

with the Replace string by clicking on Replace from the Search
menu, or by pressing Alt-R. Having replaced it. the editor will then
search for the next occurrence.
If you wish to replace every occurrence of the find string with the
replace string from the cursor position onwards, click on Replace
All from the Search menu. During the global replace the Esc key
can be used to abort and the status area will show how many
replacements were made. There is deliberately no keyboard
equivalent for this to prevent it being chosen accidentally.
Block Commands
A block is a marked section of text which may be copied to another
section, deleted, printed or saved onto disk. The function keys are
used to control blocks.
Marking a block
The start of a block is marked by moving the cursor to the required
place and pressing key F1. The end of a block is marked by moving
the cursor and pressing key F2. The start and end of a block do not
have to be marked in a specific order - if it is more convenient you
may mark the end of the block first.
A marked block is highlighted by showing the text in reverse. While
you are editing a line that is within a block this highlighting will
not be shown but will be re-displayed when you leave that line or
choose a command.
Saving ' a block

Once a block has been marked, it can be saved by pressing key F3. If
no block is marked, the message What blocks ! will appear. If the
start of the block is textually after its end the message Invalid
block! will appear. Both errors abort the command. Assuming a
valid block has been marked, the standard GEM file selector will
appear, allowing you to select a suitable disk and filename. If you
save the block with a name that already exists the old version will
be overwritten - no backups are made with this command.
Copying a block
A marked block may be copied, memory permitting, to another
part of the text by moving the cursor to where you want the block
copied and pressing key F4. If you try to copy a block into a part of
itself, the message Invalid block will appear and the copy will be
aborted.
Deleting a block
A marked block may be deleted from the text by pressing Shift-F5.
The shift key is deliberately required to prevent it being used
accidentally. A deleted block is remembered, memory permitting,
in the block buffer, for later use.
Note
This is on a different key to that used in GenST in
versions before 2.0.
Copy block to block buffer
The current marked block may be copied to the block buffer,
memory permitting, by pressing Shift-F9. This can be very useful
for moving blocks of text between different files by loading the first,
marking a block, copying it to the block buffer then loading the
other file and pasting the block buffer into it.
Pasting a block
A block in the block buffer may be pasted at the current cursor
position by pressing F5.
Note
The block buffer will be lost if the edit buffer size is
changed or an assembly occurs.
Printing a block
A marked block may be sent to the printer by clicking on Print Block
from the File menu, or by pressing Alt-W. An alert box will appear
confirming the operation and clicking on OK will print the block.
The printer port used will depend on the port chosen with the
Install Printer desk accessory, or will default to the parallel port.
Tab characters are sent to the printer as a suitable number of
spaces, so the net result will normally look better than if you print
the file from the Desktop.
If you try to Print when no block is marked at all then the whole file
will be printed.
Block markers remain during all editing commands, moving where

necessary, and are only reset by the commands New, Delete
block, and Load.
HiSoft DevpacST Screen Editor Page 21

Miscellaneous Commands
About GenST2
It you click on About GenST2... from the Desk menu, a dialog box
will appear giving various details about GenST. Pressing Return or
clicking on OK will return you to the editor.
Help Screen
The key equivalents for the commands not found in menus can be
seen by pressing the Help key, or Alt-H. A dialog box will appear
showing the WordStar and function keys, as well as the free
memory left for the system.
Preferences
Selecting Preferences... from the Options menu will produce a
dialog box allowing you to change several editor settings:
Tabs
By default, the tab setting is 8, but this may be changed to any

value from 2 to 16.
Text Buffer Size
By default the text buffer size is 60000 bytes, but this can be
changed from 4000 to 999000 bytes. This determines the largest
file size that can be loaded and edited. Care should be taken to leave
sufficient room in memory for assembly or running MonST -
pressing the Help key displays free system memory, and for
assembly or debugging this should always be at least 100k bytes.
Changing the editor workspace size will cause any text you are
currently editing to be lost, so a confirmation is required if it has
not been saved.
Page 22 Screen Editor HiSoft DevpacST

Numeric Pad
The Numeric Pad option allows the use of the numeric keypad in
an IBM-PC-like way allowing single key presses for cursor
functions, and defaults to Cursor pad mode. The keypad works as
shown in Figure 2.2 below.
( *
) /
9 Page Up -
7Start of line
8 T
4 <— 6 —> +
1Endoflie
D Page Down Enter
. 0
Figure 2.2 Numeric Keypad
This feature can be disabled, if required, by clicking on the Numbers

button.
Backups
By default the editor does not make backups of programs when

you save them, but this can be turned on by clicking on the Yes
radio button.
Auto Indenting
It can be particularly useful when editing programs to indent

subsequent lines from the left, so the editor supports an auto-
indent mode. When active, an indent is added to the start of each
new line created when you press Return. The contents of the
indent of th e new line is taken from the white space (i.e. tabs
and/or spaces) at the start of the previous line.
Cursor
By default th e GenST cursor flashes but this can be disabled if

required.

Load MonST
By default a copy of MonST is loaded during the editor

initialisation, allowing it to be accessed at the press of a key. Should
this not be required it can be disabled with this option. This will
save around 24k of memory. The new value of this option will only
have an effect if you save the preferences and re-execute the editor.
Saving Preferences
If you click on the Cancel button any changes you make will be
ignored. If you click on the OK button the changes specified will
remain in force until you quit the editor. If you would like the
configuration made permanent then click on the Save button,
which will create the file GENST2. INF on your disk. Next time you
run GenST the configuration will be read from that file.
In addition to saving the editor configuration the current setting

from the Assembly Options dialog box are also saved.
Assembling & Running Programs

All assembly and run options can be found on the Program menu.
Assembly
To assemble the program you are currently editing click on
Assemble from the Program menu, or press Alt-A. The meaning of
the various options, together with the assembly process itself is
detailed in the next chapter. The only option covered here is the
Output to option.
GenST can assemble to disk, to memory, or nowhere - assembling

to nowhere is ideal for syntax checking while assembly to memory
is much faster than to disk and good for trying things out quickly.
When you assemble to memory you have to specify the maximum
program size in the Max: entry in the dialog box - normally this is
20k, enough for an average program with debug or a large program
with no debug. This number determines the program buffer size,
used by the assembler to store your assembled program. If you get
the program buffer full error when you assemble something you
should change the number to be larger. There is of course a penalty
for this - the bigger the program buffer size the smaller the amount

of memory left for the assembler itself to use while assembling
your program. If the assembler itself aborts with Out of memory it
means there is not enough left for a complete assembly - you
should reduce the buffer size, or if this still fails you will have to
assemble to disk.
When you assemble to disk the program buffer size number is
ignored, giving maximum room in memory for the assembler itself.
If you haven't saved your program source code yet the file will be
based on the name NONAME.
After you click on Assemble or press Return the assembly process
will start, described more fully in the next chapter. At the end of
the assembly the program will wait for a key press, allowing you to
read any messages produced, before returning you to the editor. If
there were any errors the editor will go to the first erroneous line
and display the error message in the status bar. Subsequent
errors (and warnings) may be investigated by pressing Alt-J.
Running Programs
If you click on Run from the Program menu or press Alt-X (eXecute)
you can then run a program previously assembled into memory.
When your program finishes it will return you to the editor. If the
assembly didn't complete normally for any reason then it is not
possible to run the program.
If your program crashes badly you may never return to the editor,
so if in doubt save your source code before using this, or the
following command.
Note
If only non-fatal errors occurred during assembly (e.g.
undefined symbols) you will still be permitted to run your
program, at your own risk.

Please Note
When issuing a Run command from the editor the machine may
seem to 'hang up' and not run the program. This occurs if the
mouse is in the menu bar area of the screen and can be corrected
by moving the mouse. Similarly when a program has finished
running, the machine may not return to the editor. Again, moving
the mouse will cure the problem. This is due to a feature of GEM
beyond our control.
Debug
If you wish to debug a program previously assembled to memory
click on Debug from the Program menu, or press Alt-D. This will
invoke MonST to debug your program, included any debugging
information specified. Pressing Ctrl-C from MonST will terminate
both your program and the debugger. The screen type selected is
determined by the Run with GEM option, described below.
Note
If the Load MonST option is disabled this option is not
available and the menu item is disabled.
MonST
Clicking on MonST from the Program menu, or pressing Alt-M, will

invoke MonST in a similar way to if it was invoked by double-
clicking on the program icon from the Desktop, but instantly, as it
is already in memory. You will return to the editor on termination
of the debugger. The screen type selected is determined by the Run
with GEM option, described below.
Note
If the Load MonST option is disabled this option is not
available and the menu item is disabled.

Run with GEM
Normally when the commands Run, Debug or MonST are used the
screen is initialised to the normal GEM type, with a blank menu
bar and patterned desktop. However if running a TOS program this
can be changed to a blank screen with flashing cursor, by clicking
on Run with GEM, or by pressing Alt-K. A check-mark next to the
menu item means GEM mode, no check mark means TOS mode.
The current setting of this option is remembered if you Save
Preferences.
Note
Running a TOS program in GEM mode will look messy
but work, but running a GEM program in TOS mode can crash the
machine.
Jump to Error
During an assembly any warnings or errors that occur are

remembered, and can be recalled from the editor. Clicking on Jump
to error from the Program menu, or pressing Alt-J will move the
cursor to the next line in your program which has an error, and
display the message in the status line of the window. You can step
to the next one by pressing Alt-J again, and so on, letting you
correct errors quickly and easily. If there are no further errors
when you select this option the message No more errors will
appear, or if there are no errors at all the message What errors!
will appear.
Run Other...
This option lets you run other programs from within the editor,
then return to it when they finish. Its main use is to allow you to
run programs you have assembled to disk, or to run the linker,
without having to quit to the Desktop and double-click them. You
can run both TOS and GEM programs using this command,
subject to available memory. When you click on Run Other... from
the Program menu you will first be warned if you have not saved
your source code, then the GEM File Selector will appear, from
which you should select the program you wish to run. If it is a . TOS
or . TTP program you will be prompted for a command line, then
the screen initialised suitably.

Note
Screen initialisation depends on the filename
extension, not the current Run with GEM option setting.
Window Usage & Desk Accessories

The GEM Editor Window
The window used by the editor works like all other GEM windows,
so you can move it around by using the move bar on the top of it,
you can change its size by dragging on the size box, and make it full
size (and back again) by clicking on the full box. Clicking on the
close box is equivalent to choosing Quit from the File menu.
Desk Accessories
If your ST system has any desk accessories, you will find them in
the Desk menu. If they use their own window, as Control Panel
does, you will find that you can control which window is at the
front by clicking on the one you require. For example, if you have
selected the Control Panel it will appear in the middle of the screen,
on top of the editor window. You can then move it around and if you
wish it to lie 'behind' the editor window, you can do it by clicking on
the editor window, which brings it to the front, then re-sizing it so
you can see some part of the control panel's window behind it.
When you want to bring that to the front Just click on it and the
editor window will go behind. The editor's cursor only flashes and
the menus only work when the editor's window is at the front.
Automatic Double Clicking

You may configure GenST to be loaded automatically whenever a
source file is double-clicked from the Desktop, using the Install
Application option.
To do this you first have to decide on the extension you are going to
use for your files, which we recommend to be . s for source files.
Having done this, go to the Desktop, and click once on GENST2 . PRG
to highlight it. Next click on Install Application from the Options
menu and a dialog box will appear. You should set the Document
Type to be s (or whatever you require), and leave the GEM radio
button selected. Finally click on the OK button (if you press Return
it will be taken as Cancel).
Having done this, you will return to the Desktop. To test the
installation, double-click on a file with the chosen extension which
must be on the same disk and in the same folder as GenST and the
Desktop will load GenST, which will in turn load in the file of your
choice ready for editing or assembly.
Note
To make the configuration permanent, you have to
use the Save Desktop option.
Saved! Desk Accessory Users
If you use the PATH feature of the Saved! by HiSoft desk accessory
then the restriction of having your data files in the same folder and
drive as your assembler described above is not relevant. The editor
looks for the GENST2 . INF configuration file firstly in the current
directory (which is the folder where you double-clicked on the data
file), then using the system path. Saving the editor preferences will
put the . INF file in the same place it was loaded from, or if it was
not found then it will be put in the current directory.
You may invoke Saved! from within the editor at any time by
pressing Sh i ft-dr. This will only work if the desk accessory is
called SAVED! . ACC or SAVED . ACC on your boot disk.
CHAPTER 3
Macro Assembler
Introduction
GenST is a powerful, fast, full specification assembler, available
instantly from within the editor or as a stand-alone program. It
converts the text typed or loaded into the editor, optionally
together with files read from disk, into a binary file suitable for
immediate execution or linking, or into a memory image for
immediate execution from the editor.
Invoking the Assembler

From the Editor
The assembler is invoked from the editor by clicking on Assemble

from the Program menu, or by pressing Alt-A. A dialog box
appears which looks like Figure 3.1 below.
Figure 3.1 - the Assembly Options dialog box

Program Type This lets you select between executable. GST or DRI
format output. The differences between these are detailed later.
Symbols case This lets you select whether labels are case
dependent or not. If case Dependent is selected then Test and
test would be different labels, if case Independent is selected then
they would be the same.
Debug Info If you wish to debug your program using your original
symbols you can select Normal or Extended debug modes. The
advantage of extended debug is that up to 22 characters of each
symbol are included in the debug information, whereas normal
mode restricts symbols to eight characters.
List selecting Printer will divert the assembly listing to the current
printer port, or selecting Disk will send the listing to a file based on
the source filename, but with the extension . LST
Output To This lets you select where the output file is to be

created. None means it is 'thrown away', ideal for syntax checking
a program; Memory means it is assembled into a buffer allowing it
to be run or debugged instantly from the editor without having to
create a disk file; Disk means a file will be created. The selection of
the name of this file can be left to the assembler, using rules
described shortly.
The first two options may also be specified in the source file using
the OPT directive.
Having selected your required options you should click on the

Assemble button (or press Return) to start the assembly. At the
end of assembly you should press any key to return to the editor.
If any errors occurred the cursor will be positioned on the first
offending line.
Stand-Alone Assembler
1f the . TTP version of the assembler is invoked the without a
command line the programmer will be asked for one, conforming
to the rules below, or press Return to abort. At the end of assembly
there will be a pause, pressing any key will exit the program. If a
command line has been supplied the assembler will not wait for a
key as it assumes it has been run from a CLI or batch file.
Command Line Format
The command line should be of the form
mainfile <-options> [-options]

The mainfile should be the name of the file requiring assembly and
if no extension is specified defaults to . s. Options should follow
this denoted by a - sign then an alphabetic character. Allowed
options are shown below together with equivalent OPT directives:
a no binary file should be created
c case insensitive labels (OPT c-)
D debug (OPT D+)
L GST linkable code (OPT L+)
L2 DRI linkable code (PT L2)
o specify output filename (should follow immediately after o)
P specify listing filename (should follow immediately after P).

defaults to source filename with extension of . LST
Q pause for key press after assembly

x extended debugging (PT x+)
The default is to create a executable binary file with a name based

on the source file and output file type, no listing, with case
sensitive labels. For example,
test -b
assembles t est . s with no binary output file
test -om:test.prg -p
assembles test . s into a binary file m: test .prg and a listing file to
test.lst
test -12dpprn:
assembles test .s into DRI linkable code with debug and a listing to
the parallel port. (A listing to the serial port can be obtained by
specifying AUX: as the listing name).
Output Filename
GenST has certain rules regarding the calculation of the output

filename, using a combination of that specified at assembly time
(either in the Disk: filename field in the dialog box or using the -o
option on the command line) and the OUTPUT directive:
If an output filename is explicitly given at assembly time then
name=explicit filename
else
if the OUTPUT directive has not been used then
name=source filename + . P RG, . BIN or .o
elseif the OUTPUT directive specifies an extension then
name=source filename + extension in OUTPUT
else
name=name in OUTPUT
Assembly Process
GenST is a two-pass assembler; during the first pass it scans all

the text in memory and from disk if required, building up a symbol
table. If syntax errors are found on the first pass assembly these
will be reported and assembly will stop at the end of the first pass,
otherwise, during the second pass the instructions are converted
into bytes, a listing may be produced if required and a binary file
can be created on the disk. During the second pass any further
errors and warnings will be shown, together with a full listing and
symbol table if required.
During assembly, any screen output can be paused by pressing

ctrl-S, pressing ctrl-g will resume it. Assembly may be aborted
by pressing ctrl-c, although doing so will make any binary file
being created invalid as it will be incomplete and should not be
executed.
Assembly to Memory
To reduce development time GenST can assemble programs to

memory, allowing immediate execution or debugging from the
editor. To do this a program buffer is used, the size of which is
specified in the Assembly Options dialog box. If no debug option is
specified the size given can be just a little larger than the output
program, but if either form of debug is required a much larger
buffer may be needed.
A program running from memory is just like any normal
GEMDOS program and should terminate using either pterm or
pterm0 GEMDOS calls, for example
clr.w -(a7)
trap#1
Programs may self-modify if required as a re-executed program

will be in its original state.
The program buffer size and current assembly options can be
made the default on re-loading the editor if Save Preferences is
used.
Binary file types

There are six types of binary files which may be produced by
GenST, for different types of applications: They are distinguished
by the extension on the filename:
.PRG GEM-type application i.e. one that uses windows
. TOS TOS-type application i.e. one that doesn't use windows
. TTP TOS-type application that requires a command line
.ACC desk accessory program file
.BIN non-executable file suitable for linking with GST-format files

and libraries
.O non-executable file suitable for linking with DRI-format files

and libraries
It can also assemble executable code directly to memory when

using the integrated version allowing very fast edit-assemble-
debug-run times.
The first three are double-clickable, can be run from the Desktop
and are known as executable. They differ in the initialisation
performed before the execution. With . PRG files the screen is
cleared to the Desktop's pattern, while with the other two the
screen clears to white, the flashing cursor appears and the mouse
is disabled. When you double-click a . TTP file the Desktop will
prompt you for a command line to pass to it.
. ACC files are executable files but cannot be double-clicked on from
the Desktop. They will only run successfully when executed by the
AES during the boot sequence of the machine.
. BIN and .o files cannot be run immediately, but have to be read
into a linker, usually with other sections, and are known as
Iinkable object modules. There are two different linker formats on
the ST. . BIN files are GST format, . o files are DRI format. The
differences between these are discussed later in this chapter.
The above extensions are not absolute rules; for example, if you
have a TOS type program you may give it a . PRG extension and use
the Install Application function from the Desktop, but it's usually
much easier to use the normal extensions. One exception is for
programs which are designed to be placed in the AUTO folder so
they execute during the boot sequence. They have to be TOS type
programs, but need the extension . PRG for the boot sequence to
find them.
Note
Certain versions of the French ST ROMs do not
recognise .TTP files from the Desktop so they have to be renamed
. TOS then installed as TOS Takes Parameters.
Types of code
Unlike most 8-bit operating systems, but like most 16-bit
systems, an executable program under GEMDOS will not be loaded
at a particular address but, instead, be loaded at an address
depending on the exact free memory configuration at that time.
To get around the problem of absolute addressing the ST file

format includes relocation information allowing GEMDOS to
relocate the program after it has loaded it but before running it. For
example the following program segment
move.l #string,a0
string dc.b 'Press any key',0

places the absolute address of string into a register, even though
at assembly time the real address of string cannot possibly be
known. Generally the programmer may treat addresses as
absolute even though the real addresses will not be known to him,
while the assembler (or linker) will look after the necessary
relocation information.
Note
For certain programs, normally games or for cross-
machine development an absolute start address may be required.
for this reason the ORG directive is supported.
The syntax of the assembler will now be described.
Assembler Statement Format

Each line that is to be processed by the assembler should have the
following format:
Label Mnemonic Operand(s) Comment

start move.l d0,(a0)+ store the result
Exceptions to this are comment lines, which are lines starting with
an asterisk or semi-colon, and blank lines, which are ignored. Each
field has to be separated from the others by white space - any
number or mixture of space and tab characters.
Label field
The label should normally start at column 1, but if a label is
required to start at another position then it should be followed
immediately by a colon (:). Labels are allowed on all instructions,
but are prohibited on some assembler directives, and absolutely
required on others. A label may start with the characters A-Z, a-z,
or underline (_), and may continue with a similar set together with
the addition of the digits o-9 and the period (J.
Labels starting with a period are local labels, described later. Macro
names and register equate symbols may not have periods in them,
though macro names may start with a period. By default the first
127 characters of labels are significant, though this can be reduced
if required. Labels should not be the same as register names, or the
reserved words SR. CCR or USP.
By default labels are case-sensitive though this may be changed.

Some example legal labels are:
test, Test, TEST, test, test.end, tests, 5test
Some example illegal labels are:
5test, &e, test>,
There are certain reserved symbols in GenST, denoted by starting

with two underline characters. These are LK, RS and G2.
Mnemonic Field
The mnemonic field comes after the label field and can consist of
68000 assembler instructions, assembler directives or macro calls.
Some instructions and directives allow a size specifier, separated
from the mnemonic by a period. Allowed sizes are . B for byte, .w for
word, . L for long and .S for short. Which size specifiers are allowed
in each particular case depends on the particular instruction or
directive. GenST is case-insensitive to mnemonic and directive
names, so Move is the same as move and the same as move, for
example.
Operand Field
For those instructions or directives which require operands, this
field contains one or more parameters. separated by commas.
GenST is case-insensitive regarding register names so they may
be in either or mixed case.
Comment Field
Any white space not within quotation marks found after the
expected operand(s) is treated as a delimiter before the start of the
comment, which will be ignored by the assembler.
Examples of valid lines
move.l d0, (a0)+ co mment is here
loop TST.W dO
lonely. label
rt s
* this is a complete line of co mm ent
; and so is this
indented: link A6,#-10 make room
a_string: dc.b 'spaces allowed in quotes' a string
Expressions
GenST allows complex expressions an d support s full operator
precedence, parenthesis and logical operators.
Expressions are of two types - absolute and relative - an d the

distinction is important. Absolute expressions are const an t values
which are known at assembly-time. Relative expressions are
program addresses which are not known at assembly-time as th e
GEMDOS loader can put th e program where it likes in memory.
Some instructions and directives place restrictions on which types
are allowed and some operators cannot be used with ce rtain type-
combinations.
Operators
The operators available, in decreasing order of precedence, a re:
monadic minus (-) and plus (+)

bitwise not (-)
shift left («) an d shift right (»)
bitwise And (&), Or (!) and Xor (^)
multiply (*) and divide (/)
addition (+) and subtraction (-)
equality (=). less than (<), greater than (>)
The comparison operators are signed and return 0 if false or -1
($FFFFFFFF) if true. The shift operators take the left hand operand
and shift it the number of bits specified in the right hand operand
and vacated bits are filled with zeroes.
This precedence can be overridden by the use of parentheses ( and

) . With operators of equal precedence, expressions are evaluated
from left-to-right. Spaces in expressions (other than those within
quotes as ASCII constants) are not allowed as they are taken as
the separator to the comment.
All expression evaluation is done using 32-bit signed-integer

arithmetic, with no checking of overflow.
Numbers
Absolute numbers may be in various forms:
decimal constants, e.g. 1029

hexadecimal constants, e.g. $12f
octal constants, e.g. @730
binary constants, e.g. %1100010
character constants, e.g. ' x'
$ is used to denote hexadecimal numbers, % for binary numbers, @

for octal numbers and single ' or double quotes " for character
constants.
Character Constants
Whichever quote is used to mark the start of a string must also be

used to denote its end and quotes themselves may be used in
strings delimited with the same quote character by having it occur
twice. Character constants can be up to 4 characters in length and
evaluate to right justified longs with null-padding if required. For
example, here are some character constants and their ASCII and
hex values:
"Q" Q $00000051
'hi' hi $00006869
"Test" test $54657374
"it's" it's $6974277C
'it " s' it's $6974277C
Strings used in DC. B statements follow slightly different
justification rules, detailed with the directive later.
Symbols used in expressions will be either relative or absolute,

depending on how they were defined. Labels within the source will
be relative, while those defined using the EQU directive will be the
same type as the expression to which they are equated.
The use of an asterisk (*) denotes the value of the program counter
at the start of the instruction or directive an d is always a relative
quantity.
Allowed Type Combinations
The table in Figure 3.2 summarises for each operator the results of
the various type combinations of parameter and which
combinations are not allowed. An R denotes a Relative result, an A
denotes absolute and a * denotes that the combination is not
allowed an d will produce an error message if attempted.
AopA AopR R op A R op R
Shift operators A * * *
Bitwise operators A * * *
Multiply A • * *
Divide A * a a
Add A R R *
Subtract A * R A
Comparisons A * * A
Figure 3.2 - Allowed Type Combinations

Addressing Modes
The available addressing modes are shown in the table below.

Please note that GenST is case-insensitive when scanning
addressing modes, so D0 and a3 are both valid registers.
Form Meaning Example

Dn data register direct D3
An address register direct A5
(An) address register indirect (Al)
(An)+ address register indirect with post-increment (A5) +
-(An) address register indirect with pre-decrement - (A0)
d(An) address register indirect with displacement 20 (A7)
d(An,Rn.^) address register indirect with index 4 (A6, D4 . L)
d.W absolute short address $0410.w
d.L absolute long address $12000.L
d(PC) program counter relative with offset NEXT (PC)
d(PC,Rn. ^) program counter relative with index NEXT(PC,A2.W)
#d immediate data #26
n denotes register number from 0 to 7
d denotes a number
R denotes index register, either A or D
$ denotes size, either W or L. when omitted defaults to W
When using address register indirect with index th e displacement
may be omitted, for example
move.l (a3,d2.l)0
will assemble to th e same as
move.l 0(a3,d2.l),d0
Special Addressing Modes
CCR condition code register

SR status register
USP user stack pointer
In addition to th e above, SP can be used in place of A7 in any

addressing mode, e.g. 4 (SP, D3 . w)
The data and address registers can also be denoted by use of the
reserved symbols RO through R15. RO to R7 are equivalent to DO to
D7, R8 to R15 are equivalent to AO to A7. This is included for
compatibility with other assemblers.
Local Labels
GenST supports local labels, that is labels which are local to a
particular area of the source code. These are denoted by starting
with a period and are attached to the last non-local label, for
example:
lenl move.l 4(sp),a0

.loop tst.b (a0)+
bne.s .loop
its
len2 move.l 4(sp),a0
.loop tst.b -(a0)
bne.s .loop
its
There are two labels called . loop in this code segment but the first
is attached to lent, the second to len2.
The local labels . w and . L are not allowed to avoid confusion with
the absolute addressing syntax.
Symbols and Periods
Symbols which include the period character can cause problems

with GenST due to absolute short addressing.
The Motorola standard way of denoting absolute short addresses

causes problems as periods are considered to be part of a label, best
illustrated by an example:
move.l vector.w,d0
where vector is an absolute value, such as a system variable. This
would generate an undefined label error, as the label would be
scanned as vector .w. To get around this, the expression, in this
case a symbol, may be enclosed in brackets, e.g.
move.l (vector).w,d0
though the period may still be used after numeric expressions, e.g.
move.l $402.w,d0
Note
GenST version 1 also supported the use of \ instead of
a period to denote short word addressing and this is still
supported in this version, but this is not recommended due to the
potential for \w and \L to be mistaken for macro parameters.
Instruction Set
Word Alignment
All instructions with the exception of DC.B and DS.B are always
assembled on a word boundary. Should you require a DC. B
explicitly on a word boundary, the EVEN directive should be used
before it. Although all instructions that require it are word-aligned,
labels with nothing following them are not word-aligned and can
have odd values. This is best illustrated by an example:
nop this will always be word aligned

dc.b 'odd'
start
tst.l (a0)+
bne.s start
The above code would not produce the required result as start
would have an odd value. To help in finding such instructions the
assembler will produce an error if it finds an odd destination in a
BSR or BRA operand. Note that such checks are not made on any
other instructions, so it is recommended that you precede such
labels with EVEN directives if you require them to be word-aligned. A
common error is deliberately not to do this, as you know the
preceding string is an even number of bytes long. All will be well
until the day you change the string...
Instruction Set Extensions
The complete 68000 instruction set is supported and certain

shorthands are automatically accepted, detailed below. A complete
description of the instruction set including syntax and addressing
modes can be found in any 68000 reference guide or in the
supplied Pocket Guide
Condition Codes.
The alternate condition codes HS and LO are supported in Bcc,
DBcc and Scc instructions, equivalent to CC and CS, respectively.
Branch instructions
To force a short branch use Bcc.B or Bcc.S, to force a word branch

use Bcc.W or to leave to the optimiser use Bcc. Bcc.L is supported
for compatibility with GenST 1 with a warning as it is, strictly
speaking, a 68020 instruction. A BRA.S to the immediately
following instruction is not allowed and is converted, with a
warning, to a N O P . A BSR.S to the immediately following
instruction is not allowed and will produce an error.
BTST Instruction
BTST is unique among bit-test instructions in supporting PC-

relative addressing modes.
CLR Instruction
CLR An is not allowed, use SUB.L An,An instead (though note that
the flags are not effected).
CMP Instruction
If the source is immediate then CMPI is used, else if the destination

is an address register then CMPA is used, else if both addressing
modes are post-increment then CMPM is used.
DBcc Instruction
DBRA is accepted as an equivalent to DBF.
ILLEGAL Instruction
This generates the op-code word $4AFC.
LINK Instruction
If the displacement is positive or not even a warning will be given.

MOVE from CCR Instruction
This is a 68010 and upwards instruction, converted with a

warning to MOVE from SR.
MOVES Instruction
If the data is in the range 128-255 inclusive a warning will be given.

It may be disabled by specifying a long size on the instruction.
Assembler Directives
Certain pseudo-mnemonics are recognised by GenST. These
assembler directives, as they are called, are not (normally) decoded
into opcodes, but instead direct th e assembler to take certain
actions at assembly time. These actions have the effect of changing
the object code produced or th e format of the listing. Directives are
scanned exactly like executable instructions and some may be
preceded by a label (for some it is obligatory) and may be followed
by a comment. If you put a label on a directive for which it not
relevant, th e result will be undefined but will usually result in the
label being ignored.
Each directive will now be described in turn. Please note that the
case of a directive name is not important, though they generally
are shown in upper case. The use of angled brackets (< >) in
descriptions denote optional items, ellipses (...) denote repeated
items.
Assembly Control
END
This directive signals that no more text is to be examined on the
current pass of the assembler. It is not obligatory.
INCLUDE filename
This directive will cause source code to be taken from a file on disk
and assembled exactly as though it were present in th e text. The
directive must be followed by a filename in normal GEMDOS
format.
If the filename has a space in it the name should be enclosed in
single or double quotes. A drive specifier, directory and extension
may be included as required, e.g.
include b:constants/header.s
Include directives may be nested as deeply as memory allows and if

any error occurs when trying to open the file or read it, assembly
will be aborted with a fatal en-or.
If no drive or pathname is specified, that of the main source file will
be used when trying to open the file.
Note
The more memory the better, GenST will read the
whole of the file in one go if it can and not bother to re-read the file
during pass 2.
INCBIN filename
This takes a given binary file and includes it, verbatim, into the
output file. Suggested uses include screen data, sprite data and
ASCII files.
OPT option <,option> ...

This allows control over various options within GenST and each
one is denoted by a single character normally followed by a + or -
sign. Multiple options may be specified, separated by commas. The
allowed options are:
Option C - Case-sensitivity and significance

By default, GenST is sensitive to label case . and labels are
significant to 127 characters. This can be overridden, using c- for
case-sensitivity, or c+ for case-insensitivity. The significance may
be specified by specifying a decimal number between the C and the
sign, for example Cl6+ denotes case insensitive labels with 16
character significance. This option may be used at any time in a
program but normally only makes sense at the very beginning of a
source file.
Option D - Debugging Information
The GEMDOS binary file format supports the inclusion of a

symbol table at the. end, which may be read by debuggers such as
MonST and can be extremely useful when debugging programs. By
default this is switched off but it may be activated with D+ and
deactivated with D-. The first 8 characters only of all relative labels
are written to the file and will be upper-cased if GenST is in case-
insensitive mode. The 8-character limit is due to the DRI standard
file format and may be improved on by using the Extended Debug
option, described below.
Option L - Linker Mode
The default for GenST is to produce executable code but L+ will

make it produce GST linkable code, L2 will make it produce DRI
linkable code, or L- will make it revert to executable. This directive
must be the very first line in the first text file.
Option M - Macro Expansions
When an assembly listing is produced, macro calls are shown in

the same form as in the source. If you wish the instructions within
macros to be listed, use M+, while M- will disable the option. You can
use this directive as often as required.
Option O - Optimising
GenST is capable of optimising certain statements to faster and

smaller versions. By default all optimising is off but each type can
be enabled and disabled as required. This option has several forms:
OPT 01+ will optimise backward branches to short if within

range, can be disabled with 01-
OPT 02+ will optimise address register indirect with

displacement addressing modes to address register
indirect, if the displacement evaluates to zero, and can
be disabled with 02-. For example
move.l next(a0),d3
will be optimised to
move.l (a0),d3
if the value of next is zero.
OPT 0+ will turn all optimising on •
OPT 0- will turn all optimising off

OPT 01-, OPT 02-
will disable the relevant optimisation
OPT OW- will disable the warning messages generated by each

optimisation, OW+ will enable them.
If any optimising has been done during an assembly the number of
optimisations made and bytes saved will be shown at the end of
assembly.
Option P - Position Independent checks
With this option enabled with P+ GenST will check that all code
generated is position-independent, generating errors on any lines
which require relocation. It can be disabled with P- and defaults to
off.
Option S - Symbol Table
When a listing is turned on a symbol table will be produced at the

end. If you wish to change this, s- will disable it, while s+ will re-
enable it. If you use this directive more than once the last one will be
taken into account.
Option T - Type Checking
GenST can often spot programming errors as it checks the types

of certain expressions. For some applications or styles of
programming this can be more of a hindrance than a help so T-
will turn checks off, T+ turning them back on. For example the
program segment
main bsr initialise

lea main(a6),a0
move.l (main).w,a0
will normally produce an error as main is a relative expression

whereas the assembler expects an absolute expression in both
cases. However if this code is designed to run on another 68000
machine this may be perfectly valid so the type checking should be
disabled.
Option W - Warnings
If you wish to disable the warnings that GenST can produce, you
can do so with w-. To re-enable them, use w+. This directive can be
used as often as required.
Option X - Extended Debug
This is a special version of option D which uses the HiSoft

Extended Debug format to generate debugging information with
symbols of up to 22 character significance.
Option Summary
The defaults are shown in brackets after each option description:
C case-sensitivity & significance (C127+)

D include debugging information (D-)
L- produce executable code (default)
L+ produce GST linkable code
L2 produce DRI linkable code
M expand macros in listing (M+)
O optimising control (0-)
P position independent code checks (P-)
S symbol table listing
T type checking (T +)
W warning control (w+)
X Extended debug (X-)
For example, the line
opt m+,s+,w-
will turn macro expansions on, enable the symbol table list and
turn warnings off.
<label> EVEN
This directive will force the program counter to be even, Le. word-
aligned. As GenST automatically word-aligns all instructions
(except DC.Bs and DS.Bs) it should not be required very often, but
can be useful for ensuring buffers and strings are word-aligned
when required.
CNOP offset,alignment
This directive will align the program counter using the given offset
and alignment. An alignment of 2 means word-aligned, an
alignment of 4 means long-word-aligned and so on. The alignment
is relative to the start of the current section. For example,
cnop l,4
aligns the program counter a byte past the next long-word

boundary.
<label> DC.B expression<,expression> ...

<label> DC.W expression<,expression> ...
<label> DC.L expression<,expression> ...
These directives define constants in memory. They may have one
or more operands, separated by commas. The constants will be
aligned on word boundaries for DC.W and DC.L. No more than 128
bytes can be generated with a single DC directive.
DC. B treats strings slightly differently to those in normal

expressions. While the rules described previously about quotation
marks still apply, no padding of the bytes will occur and the length
of any string can be up to 128 bytes.
Be very careful about spaces in DC directives, as a space is the

delimiter before a comment. For example, the line
dc.b l,2,3 ,9
will only generate 3 bytes - the , 4 will be taken as a comment.
<label> DS.B expression

<label> DS.W expression
<label> DS.L expression
These directives will reserve memory locations and the contents
will be initialised to zeros. If there is a label then it will be set to the
start of the area defined, which will be on a word boundary for
DS.W and DS. L directives. There is no restriction on the size,
though the larger the area the longer it will take to save to disk.
For example, all of these lines will reserve 8 bytes of space, in
different ways:
ds.b 8
ds.w 4
ds.l 2
<label> DCB.B number,value

<label> DCB.W number,value
<label> DCB.L number,value
This directive allows constant blocks of data to be generated of the
size specified. number specifies how many times the value should
be repeated.
FAIL
This directive will produce the error user error. It can be used for
such things as warning the programmer if an incorrect number of
parameters have been passed to a macro.
OUTPUT filename
This directive sets the normal output filename though can be
overridden by specifying a filename at the start of assembly. If
filename starts with a period then it is used as an extension and
the output name is built up as described previously.
__G2 (reserved symbol)

This is a reserved symbol that can be used to detect whether
GenST 2 is being used to assemble a file using the IFD conditional.
The value of this symbol depends on the version of the assembler
and is always absolute.
Repeat Loops
It is often useful to be able to repeat one or more instructions a
particular number of times and the repeat loop construct allows
this.
<label> REPT expression
ENDR
Lines to be repeated should be enclosed within REPT and ENDR
directives and will be repeated the number of times specified in the
expression. If the expression is zero or negative then no code will be
generated. It is not possible to nest repeat loops. For example
RePT 512/4 copy a sector quickly

move.l (a0)+, (al)+
eNDR
Note
Program labels should not be defined within repeat
loops to prevent label defined twice errors.
Listing Control
LIST
This will turn the assembly listing on during pass 2, to whatever
device was selected at the start of th e assembly (or to the screen if
None was initially chosen). All subsequent lines will be listed until
an END directive is reached, the end of the text is reached, or a
NOLIST directive is encountered.
Greater control over listing sections of program can be achieved

using LIST + or LIST - directives. A counter is maintained, th e state of
which dictates whether listing is on or off. A LIST + directive adds 1
to the counter an d a LIST - subtracts 1. If th e counter is zero or
positive then listing is on, if it is negative then listing is off. The
default starting value is -1 (i.e. listing off) unless a listing is
specified when the assembler was invoked, when it is set to O. This
system allows a considerable degree of control over listing
particularly for include files. The normal LIST directive sets the
counter to 0, NOLIST sets it to -1.
NOLIST
This will turn off any listing during pass 2.
When a listing is requested onto a printer or to disk, the output is
formatted into pages, with a header at the top of every page. The
header itself consists a line containing the program title, date, time
and page number, then a line showing the program title, then a
line showing the sub-title, then a blank line. The date format will be
printed in the form DD/MM/YY, unless the assembler is running on
a US Atari ST, in which case the order is automatically changed to
MM/DD/YY. Between pages a form-feed character (ASCII FF, value
12) is issued.
PLEN expression
This will set the page length of the assembly listing and defaults to
60. The expression must be between 12 and 255.
LLEN expression
This will set the line width of the assembly listing and defaults to
132. The value of the expression must be between 38 and 255.
TTL string
This will set the title printed at the top of each page to the given
string, which may be enclosed in single quotes. The first TTL
directive will set the title of the first printed page. If no title is
specified the current include file name will be used.
SUBTIL string
Sets the sub-title printed at the top of each page to the given string,
which may be enclosed in single quotes. The first such directive will
set the sub-title of the first printed page.
SPC expression
This will output the number of blank lines given in the expression
in the assembly listing, if active.
PAGE
Causes a new page in the listing to be started.
LISTCHAR expression<,expression> ...
This will send the characters specified to the listing device (except
the screen) an d is intended for doing things such as setting
condensed mode on printers. For example, on Epsons and
compatibles the line
listchar 15
will set the printer to 132-column mode.
FORMAT parameter<,parameter> ...

This allows exact control over the listed format of a line of source
code. Each parameter controls a field in th e listing and must
consist of a digit from 0 to 2 inclusive followed by a + (to enable th e
field) or a - (to disable it):
0 line number, in decimal

1 section name/number and program counter
2 hex data in words, up to 10 words unless printer is less than
80 characters wide, when up to three words are listed.
Label Directives
label EQU expression

This directive will set th e value and type of the given label to the
result of th e expression. It may not include forward references, or
external labels. If there is any error in th e expression, the
assignment will not be made. The label is compulsory and must not
be a local label.
label = expression
Alternate form of EQU statement.
label EQUR register

This directive allows a data or address register to be referred to by a
user-name, supplied as th e label to this directive. This is known as
a register equate. A register equate must be defined before it is
used.

label SET expression

This is similar to EQU, but the assignment is only temporary and
can be changed with a subsequent SET directive. Forward
references cannot be used in the expression. It is especially useful
for counters within macros, for example, using a line like
zcount set zcount+l

(assuming zcount is set to 0 at the start of the source). At the start
of pass 2 all SET labels are made undefined, so their values will
always be the same on both passes.
label REG register-list

This allows a symbol to be used to denote a register list within
MOVEM instructions, reducing the likelihood of having the list at
the start of a routine different from the list at the end of the
routine. A label defined with REG can only be used in MOVEM
instructions.
<label> RS. B expression

<label> RS.W expression
<label> RS.L expression
These directives let you set up lists of constant labels, which is very
useful for data structures and global variables and is best
illustrated by a couple of examples.
Let's assume you have a data structure which consists of a long

word, a byte and another long word, in that order. To make you
code more readable and easier to update should the structure
change, you could use lines such as
rsreset
d next rs.l 1
dflag rs.b 1
d_ where rs.l 1
then you could access them with lines like
move.l d_next(a0),l
move.l d__where(a0),a2
tst.b d_flag(a0)

As another example let's assume you are referencing all your

variables off register A6 (as done in GenST and MonST) you could
define them with lines such as
onstate rs.b 1
start rs.l 1
end rs.l 1
You then could reference them with lines such as
move.b onstate(a6),d1
move.1 start(a6),d0
cmp.l end(a6),d0
Each such directive uses its own internal counter, which is reset to
0 at the beginning of each pass. Every time the assembler comes
across the directive it sets the label according to the current value
(with word alignment if it is .W or .L) then increments it according
to the size and magnitude of the directive. If the above definitions
were the first RS directives, onstate would be 0, start would be 2
and end would be 6.
RS R ES ET
This directive will reset the internal counter as used by the RS
directive.
RSSET expression
This allows the RS counter to be set to a particular value.
_ R S
_ (reserved symbol)
This is a reserved symbol having the current value of the RS
counter.
Conditional Assembly
Conditional assembly allows the programmer to write a

comprehensive source program that can cover many conditions.
Assembly conditionals may be specified through the use of
arguments, in the case of macros, and through the definition of
symbols in EQU or SET directives. Variations in these can then
cause assembly of only those parts necessary for the specified
conditions.
There are a wide range of directives concerned with conditional
assembly. At the start of the conditional block there must be one of
the many IF directives and at th e end of each block there must be
an ENDC directive. Conditional blocks may be nested up to 65535
levels.
Labels should not be placed on IF or ENDC directives as th e

directives will be ignored by th e assembler.
FEQ expression
FNE expression
FGT expression
FGE expression
FLT expression
FLE expression
These directives will evaluate th e expression, compare it with zero
and then turn conditional assembly on or off depending on the
result. The conditions correspond exactly to the 68000 condition
codes. For example, if the label DeBUG had th e value 1, then with the
following code,
IFeQ DeBUG
logon dc.b 'enter a command:',0
eNDC
IFNe DeBUG
opt d+ labels please
logon dc.b 'Yeah, gimme man:',0
eNDC
th e first conditional would turn assembly off as 1 is not EQ to 0,
while the second conditional would turn it on as 1 is NE to 0.
Note
IFNE corresponds to IF in assemblers with only one
conditional directive.
The expressions used in these conditional statements must

evaluate correctly.
IFD label
IFND label
These directives allow conditional control depending on whether a
label is defined or not. With IFD, assembly is switched on if the label
is defined, whereas with IFND assembly is switched on if the label is
not defined. These directives should be used with care otherwise
different object code could be generated on pass 1 and pass 2 which
will produce incorrect code and generate phasing errors. Both
directives also work on reserved symbols.
IFC 'string 1','string2'

This directive will compare two strings, each of which must be
surrounded by single quotes. If they are identical then assembly is
switched on, else it is switched off. The comparison is case-
sensitive.
IFNC 'string 1','string2'

This directive is similar to th e above, but only switches assembly
on if th e strings are not identical. This may at first appear
somewhat useless, but when one or both of the parameters are
macro parameters it can be very useful, as shown in th e next
section.
ELSEIF
This directive toggles conditional assembly from on to off, or vice
versa.
ENDC
This directive will terminate the current level of conditional
assembly. If there are more IFs than ENDCs an error will be
reported at th e end of the assembly.
IIF expression instruction

This is a short form of the IF N E directive allowing a single
instruction or directive to be assembled conditionally. No ENDC
should be used with 11F directives.
Macro Operations
GenST fully suppo rt s extended Motorola-style macros, which
together with conditional assembly allows you greatly to simplify
assembly-language programming and the readability of your code.
A macro is a way for a programmer to specify a whole sequence of
instructions or directives that are used together very frequently. A
macro is first defined, then its name can be used in a macro call like
a directive with up to 36 parameters.
label MACRO
This starts a macro definition and causes GenST to copy all
following lines to a macro buffer until an ENDM directive is
encountered. Macro definitions may not be nested.
ENDM
This terminates the storing of a macro definition, after a MACRO
directive.
MEXIT
This stops prematurely the current macro exp an sion and is best
illustrated by the INC example given later.
NARG (reserved symbol)

This is not a directive but a reserved symbol. Its value is the
number of parameters passed to the current macro, or 0 if used
when not within any macro. If GenST is in case-sensitive mode
then the name should be all upper-case.
Macro Parameters
Once a macro has been defined with the MACRO directive it can be
invoked by using its name as a directive, followed by up to 36
parameters. In the macro itself the parameters may be referred to
by using the backslash character (\) followed by an alpha-numeric
(l-9, A-Z or a-z) which will be replaced with the relevant parameter
when expanded or with nothing if no parameter was given. There is
also the special macro parameter \0 which is the size appended to
the macro call and defaults to w if none is given. If a macro
parameter is to include spaces or commas then the parameter
should be enclosed in between < and > symbols; in this case a >
symbol may be included within the parameter by specifying ».
A special form of macro expansion allows the conversion of a

symbol to a decimal or hexadecimal sequence of digits, using the
syntax \< symbol> or \$< symbol>, the latter denoting hex
expansion. The symbol must be defined and absolute at the time of
the expansion.
The parameter \ @ can be useful for generating unique labels with

each macro call and is replaced when the macro is expanded by the
sequence _ nnn where nnn is a number which increases by one with
every macro call. It may be expanded up to five digits for very large
assemblies.
A true \ may be included in a macro definition by specifying \\.
A macro call may be spread over more than one line, particularly
useful for macros with large numbers of parameters. This can be
done by ending a macro call with a comma then starting the next
line with an & followed by tabs or spaces then the continuation of
the parameters.
In the assembly listing the default is to show just the macro call
and not the code produced by it. However, macro expansion
listings can be switched on and off using the OPT M directive
described previously.
Macro calls may be nested as deeply as memory permits, allowing

recursion if required.
Macro names are stored in a separate symbol table to normal

symbols so will not clash with similarly-named routines, and may
start with a period.
Macro Examples
Example 1- Calling the BDOS

As the first example, the general GEMDOS calling-sequence for the
BDOS is:
put a word parameter on the stack

invoke a TRAP #1
correct the stack afterwards
A macro to follow these specifications could be
call_gemdos MACRo
move.w #\l,-(a7) function
trap #l
lea \2(a7),a7 correct stack
eNDM
The directives are in capitals only to make them stand out: they
don't have to be. If you wanted to call this macro to use GEMDOS
function 2 (print a character) the code would be
move.w #'X',-(a7)
call_gemdos 2,4
When this macro call is expanded, \ 1 is replaced with 2 and \ 2 is

replaced with 4. \0, if it occurred in the macro, would be w as no size
is given on the ca ll . So the above call would be assembled as:
move.w #2,-(a7)
trap #1
lea 4(a7),a7
•
Example 2 - an INC instruction
The 68000 does not have the INC instruction of other processors,
but the same effect can be achieved using an ADDQ #1 instruction.
A macro may be used to do this, like so:
inc MACRO
IFC ' ' ,'\l'
fail missing parameter!
MEXIT
ENDC
addq.\0 #l,\1
ENDM
An example call would be
inc.l a0
which would expand to
addq.l #1,a0
The macro starts by comparing the first parameter with an empty

string and causing an error message to be issued using FAIL if it is
equal. The MEXIT directive is used to leave the macro without
expanding the rest of it. Assuming there is a non-null parameter,
the next line does the ADDQ instruction, using the \0 parameter to
get the correct size.
Example 3 - A Factorial Macro
Although unlikely actually to be used as it stands, this macro

defines a label to be the factorial of a number. It shows how
recursion can work in macros. Before showing the macro, it is
useful to examine how the same thing would be done in a high-level
language such as Pascal.
function factor(n:integer):integer;
begin
if n>0 then
factor:=n*factor(n-l)
else
factor:=l
end;
The macro definition for this uses the SET directive to do the
multiplication n*(n-1)*(n-2) etc. in this way:
* parameter l = label, parameter 2='n'

factor MACRO
IFND \l
\l set 1 set if not yet defined
eNDC
IFGT \2
factor \l,\2-l work out next level down
\l set \l*(\2) n=n*factor(n-l)
eNDC
eNDM
* a sample call
factor test,3
The net result of the previous code is to set test to 3! (3 factorial).
The reason the second SeT has (\ 2) instead of just \2 is that the
parameter will not normally be just a simple expression, but a list
of numbers separated by minus signs, so it could assemble to
test set test*5-l-l-1
(i.e. test *5-3) instead of the correct
test set test*(5-l-l-l)
(i.e. test *2).
Example 4 - Conditional Return Instruction
The 68000 lacks the conditional return instructions found on

other processors, but macros can be defined to implement them
using the \@ parameter. For example, a return if EQ macro could look
like:
rtseq MACRO
bne.s \@
its
\@
eNDM
The \ @ parameter has been used to generate a unique label every

time the macro is called, so will generate in this case labels such as
_002 and _017.
Example 5 - Numeric Substitution
Suppose you have a constant containing the version number of

your program and wish this to appear as ASCII in a message:
showname MACRO
dc.b \l,'\<version>',0
eNDM
version equ 42
showname <'Real Ale Search Program v'>
will expand to the line
dc.b 'Real Ale Search Program v','42',0

Note the way the string parameter is enclosed in <>s as it contains
spaces.
Example 6 - Complex Macro Call
Suppose you program needs a complicated table structure which

can have a varying number of fields. A macro can be written to only
use those parameters that are specified, for example:
table_entry macro
dc.b .end\@-* length byte
dc.b \l always
IFNC .\2',,,
dc.w \2,\3 2nd and 3rd together
eNDC
dc. l \4, \5, \6, \7
IFNC ,\8,,,,
dc.b '\8' text
ENDC
dc.b \9
.end\@ dc.b 0
eNDM
* sample call
table_entry $42,,,tl,t2,t3,t4,
& <enter name:>,%0110
This is a non-trivial example of how macros can make a
programmer's life so much easier when dealing with complex data
structures. In this case the table consists of a length byte,
calculated in the macro using \@, two optional words, four longs,
an optional string, a byte, then a zero byte. The code produced in
this example would be
dc.b .end_001
dc.b $42
dc.l t1,t2,t3,t4
dc.b 'Enter name:'
dc.b %0100
.end_001 dc.b 0

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HiSoft DevpacST

Copyright © HiSoft 1988

All Rights Reserved Worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced or

It Is an infringement of the copyright pertaining to DcvpacST and its associated

A Very Quick Tutorial 5

CHAPTER 2 - Screen Editor 9

HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page i

HISoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page iii

CHAPTER 4 - Symbolic Debugger 79

HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page y

LinkST Warnings 124

Appendix A - GEMDOS Error Codes 127

Appendix B - GenST Error Messages 129

Appendix C - ST Memory Map 135

Processor Dump Area 135

HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page vii

Appendix F - Bibliography 175

Appendix G - Technical Support 179

Appendix H - Revision History 181

HiSoft DevpacST Table of Contents Page ix

The README File

HiSoft DevpacST Introduction Page 1

Page 2 Introduction HiSoft DevpacST

README . S latest details about DevpacST

GEMLIB. BIN AES & VDI library

OLDGEM updated GEM examples from GenST 1

HiSoft DevpacST Introduction Page 3

DevpacST Version 1 Users

At the end of this chapter there is a simple tutorial which you

Chapter 2 details the editor and is well worth reading, though

Page 4 Introduction HiSoft DevpacST

If you are experienced in the use of 68000 assembly language but

To run your successfully-assembled program (if assembled to

As a quick introduction to the debugger the following tutorial is

A Very Quick Tutorial

In this tutorial we are going to assemble and run a simple program,

HiSoft DevpacST Introduction Page 5

The program line should be changed from MOV. W to MOVE . w, so do

This will cause a bus error because location 1 is in protected

Page 6 Introduction HiSoft DevpacST

HiSoft DevpacST Introduction Page 7

The next instruction is TRAP #1, to call GEMDOS to print a string,

To get things to happen in the editor, there are various methods

• Using a single key, such as a Function or cursor key;

• Clicking on a menu item, such as Save;

• Using a menu shortcut, by pressing the Alternate key

• Using the Control key (subsequently referred to as Ctrl) in

• Clicking on the screen, such as in a scroll bar.

A Few Words about Dialog Boxes

Radio buttons are groups of buttons of which only one may be

Some dialog boxes allow only a limited range of characters to be

Entering text and Moving the cursor

The main advantage of a computer editor as opposed to a normal

If you cursor up at th e top of a window the display will either scroll

You can move th e cursor on a character basis by clicking on th e

If you want to move the cursor to a specific position on the screen

Goto a particular line

Another fast way of moving around th e fi le is by dragging the

Delete to end of line