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AS(1)                                                                                                  AS(1)



NAME
       as - Mac OS X Mach-O GNU-based assemblers

SYNOPSIS
       as [ option ...  ] [ file ...  ]

DESCRIPTION
       The  as  command  translates assembly code in the named files to object code.  If no files are speci-fied, specified,
       fied, as reads from stdin.  All undefined symbols in the assembly are treated as global.  The  output
       of the assembly is left in the file a.out by default.

       The  program  /usr/bin/as is actually a driver that executes assemblers for specific target architec-tures. architectures.
       tures.  If no target architecture is specified, it defaults to the architecture of  the  host  it  is
       running on.

OPTIONS
       -o name
              Name the output file name instead of a.out.

       -arch arch_type
              Specifies  the  target  architecture,  arch_type, of the assembler to be executed.  The target
              assemblers   for   each   architecture   are   in   /usr/libexec/gcc/darwin/arch_type/as    or
              /usr/local/libexec/gcc/darwin/arch_type/as.   There  is only one assembler for an architecture
              family.  If the specified target architecture is a machine-specific implementation, the assem-bler assembler
              bler  for that architecture family is executed (e.g., /usr/libexec/gcc/darwin/ppc/as for -arch
              ppc604e).  See arch(3) for the currently known arch_types.

       -arch_multiple
              Precede any displayed messages with a line stating the program name (as) and the  architecture
              (from  the  -arch  arch_type flag), to distinguish which architecture the error messages refer
              to.  When the cc(1) driver program is run with multiple -arch flags, it invokes  as  with  the
              -arch_multiple option.

       -force_cpusubtype_ALL
              By  default,  the  assembler will produce the CPU subtype ALL for the object file it is assem-bling assembling
              bling if it finds no implementation-specific instructions.  Also  by  default,  the  assembler
              will  allow  implementation-specific  instructions  and will combine the CPU subtype for those
              specific implementations.  The combining of specific  implementations  is  architecture-depen-dent; architecture-dependent;
              dent;  if  some  combination  of instructions is not allowed, an error is generated.  With the
              optional -force_cpusubtype_ALL flag, all instructions are allowed and the  object  file's  CPU
              subtype  will  be the ALL subtype.  If the target architecture specified is a machine-specific
              implementation (e.g., -arch ppc603, -arch i486), the assembler will flag  as  errors  instruc-tions instructions
              tions that are not supported on that architecture, and it will produce an object file with the
              CPU subtype for that specific implementation (even if no implementation-specific  instructions
              are  used).   The  -force_cpusubtype_ALL  flag is the default for all x86 and x86_64 architec-tures. architectures.
              tures.

       -dynamic
              Enables dynamic linking features.  This is the default.

       -static
              Causes the assembler to treat as an error any features for dynamic linking.  Also  causes  the
              .text directive to not include the pure_instructions section attribute.

       --     Use stdin for the assembly source input.

       -n     Instructs  the  assembler  not to assume that the assembly file starts with a .text directive.
              Use this option when an output file is not to contain a (__TEXT,__text) section or  this  sec-tion section
              tion is not to be first one in the output file.

       -f     Fast;  no  need for the assembler preprocessor (``app'').  The assembler preprocessor can also
              be turned off by starting the assembly file with "#NO_APP\n".  This is  intended  for  use  by
              compilers  which produce assembly code in a strict "clean" format that specifies exactly where
              whitespace can go.  The assembler preprocessor needs to be run on hand-written assembly  files
              and/or  files that have been preprocessed by the C preprocessor cpp.  This is typically needed
              when assembler files are assembled through the use of the cc(1) command,  which  automatically
              runs  the  C  preprocessor  on  assembly  source files.  The assembler preprocessor strips out
              excess spaces, turns single-quoted characters into a decimal constants, and turns  #  <number>
              <filename> <level> into .line <number>;.file <filename>  pairs.  When the assembler preproces-sor preprocessor
              sor has been turned off by a "#NO_APP\n" at the start of a file, it can be turned back on  and
              off  again with pairs of "#APP\n" and "#NO_APP\n" at the beginnings of lines.  This is used by
              the compiler to wrap assembly statements produced from asm() statements.

       -g     Produce debugging information for the symbolic debugger gdb(1) so that the assembly source can
              be  debugged  symbolically.   The  debugger  depends  on  correct  use of the C preprocessor's
              #include directive or the assembler's .include directive:   Any  include  file  that  produces
              instructions  in  the  (__TEXT,__text)  section must be included while a .text directive is in
              effect.  In other words, there must be a .text directive before the  include,  and  the  .text
              directive  must  still  be  in effect at the end of the include file.  Otherwise, the debugger
              will get confused when in that assembly file.

       -v     Display the version of the assembler (both the Mac OS X version and  the  GNU  version  it  is
              based on).

       -V     Print the path and the command line of the assembler the assembler driver is using.

       -Idir  Add  the  directory  dir  to  the  list  of  directories to search for files included with the
              .include directive.  The default place to search is the current directory.

       -W     Suppress warnings.

       -L     Save non-global defined labels beginning with an 'L'; these labels are normally  discarded  to
              save space in the resultant symbol table.  The compiler generates such temporary labels.

Assembler options for the PowerPC processors
       -static_branch_prediction_Y_bit
              Treat  a single trailing '+' or '-' after a conditional PowerPC branch instruction as a static
              branch prediction that sets the Y-bit in the opcode.  Pairs of trailing "++"  or  "--"  always
              set the AT-bits. This is the default for Mac OS X.

       -static_branch_prediction_AT_bits
              Treat  a single trailing '+' or '-' after a conditional PowerPC branch instruction as a static
              branch prediction that sets the AT-bits in the opcode. Pairs of trailing "++" or  "--"  always
              set  the  AT-bits  but with this option a warning is issued if this syntax is used.  With this
              flag the assembler behaves like the IBM tools.

       -no_ppc601
              Treat any PowerPC 601 instructions as an error.

FILES
       a.out     output file

SEE ALSO
       The Mac OS X Assembler Reference in the Xcode  documentation  viewer:  Perform  a  title  search  for
       "assembler" in Apple > Developer Tools Reference Library.
       The assembler source in the cctools module of the Darwin sources.
       cc(1), ld(1), nm(1), otool(1), arch(3), Mach-O(5)



Apple, Inc.                                    April 24, 2007                                          AS(1)

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