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PAPP(1)                DragonFly General Commands Manual               PAPP(1)


NAME

       PAPP - Portable Assembly Preprocessor


SYNOPSIS

       papp [source file]


DESCRIPTION

       The papp command preprocesses assembly language code, much like cpp
       does for C and C++.

       Papp parses assembly language programs line-by-line, processing macro
       definitions, macro references, and includes.  Output is sent to the
       standard output.

       Papp can be used with any assembler, but was specifically designed to
       enhance the programming experience with the SPIM MIPS simulator, and
       follows a syntax taken from MIPS assembly language documentation.

       Macro definitions take the following general form:

           .macro name($arg1[,$arg2...])
           Macro text
           .end_macro

       Argument names must begin with a $, and should use standard variable
       naming conventions that do not conflict with any tokens in the assembly
       language being preprocessed.  References to arguments within the macro
       text are replaced by the text from the macro invocation.

       MIPS assembly language (MAL) example:

           .macro push($x)
           sw      $x, ($sp)
           addi    $sp, $sp, -4
           .end_macro

           .macro swap($r1,$r2,$temp)
           move    $temp, $r1
           move    $r1, $r2
           move    $r2, $temp
           .end_macro

       Macros are invoked using parentheses surrounding the argument:

           lw      $t0, x
           push($t0)
           swap($a0, $a1, $t1)

       Files can be included using the .include directive.  This is especially
       useful for storing commonly used predefined constants and macros in a
       separate file for inclusion in other programs.  For example, if the
       macro examples above are stored in a file called mymacros.mal, then the
       following could be used to import them to another program (in the same
       directory):

           .include("mymacros.mal")


SEE ALSO

       cpp(1), as(1), spim(1), ape(1)


AUTHOR

       Jason W. Bacon
       Acadix Consulting, LLC

                                                                       PAPP(1)

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