gasp(1) 						       GNU Development Tools							   gasp(1)

NAME

       gasp - a preprocessor for assembly programs

SYNOPSIS

       gasp   [-a|--alternate] [-c CHAR | --commentchar CHAR] [-d|--debug] [-h|--help] [-M|--mri] [-o OUTFILE | --output OUTFILE] [-p|--print]
	      [-s|--copysource] [-u|--unreasonable] [-v|--version] INFILE ...

DESCRIPTION

       The primary purpose of the GNU assembler is to assemble the output of other programs--notably compilers.  When you have to  hand-code  spe-
       cialized  routines  in assembly, that means the GNU assembler is an unfriendly processor: it has no directives for macros, conditionals, or
       many other conveniences that you might expect.

       In some cases you can simply use the C preprocessor, or a generalized preprocessor like M4; but this can be awkward, since  none  of  these
       things are designed with assembly in mind.

       gasp  fills  this  need.   It is expressly designed to provide the facilities you need with hand-coded assembly code.  Implementing it as a
       preprocessor, rather than part of the assembler, allows the maximum flexibility: you can use it with hand-coded assembly, without paying  a
       penalty of added complexity in the assembler you use for compiler output.

       INFILE...  are the files to be preprocessed.

OPTIONS

       The simplest way to use GASP is to run it as a filter and assemble its output.  In Unix and its ilk, you can do this, for example:

	    $ gasp prog.asm | as -o prog.o

       Naturally,  there are also a few command-line options to allow you to request variations on this basic theme.  Here is the full set of pos-
       sibilities for the GASP command line.

       -a

       --alternate
	      Use alternative macro syntax.  *Note Alternate macro syntax: Alternate, for a discussion of how this syntax differs from the default
	      GASP syntax.

       -c CHAR

       --commentchar CHAR
	      Use CHAR as the comment character.  The default comment character is `!'.  For example, to use a semicolon as the comment character,
	      specify `-c ';'' on the GASP command line.  Since assembler command characters often have special significance to command shells, it
	      is a good idea to quote or escape CHAR when you specify a comment character.

	      For the sake of simplicity, all examples in this manual use the default comment character `!'.

       -d

       --debug
	      Show  debugging  statistics.   In this version of GASP, this option produces statistics about the string buffers that GASP allocates
	      internally.  For each defined buffersize S, GASP shows the number of strings N that it allocated, with a line like this:

		   strings size S : N

	      GASP displays these statistics on the standard error stream, when done preprocessing.

       -h

       --help Display a summary of the GASP command line options.

       -M

       --mri  Use MRI compatibility mode.  Using this option causes GASP to accept the	syntax	and  pseudo-ops  used  by  the	Microtec  Research
	      `ASM68K' assembler.

       -o OUTFILE

       --output OUTFILE
	      `-o  OUTFILE' `--output OUTFILE' Write the output in a file called OUTFILE.  If you do not use the `-o' option, GASP writes its out-
	      put on the standard output stream.

       -p

       --print
	      Print line numbers.  GASP obeys this option _only_ if you also specify `-s' to copy source lines to its output.  With `-s -p',  GASP
	      displays the line number of each source line copied (immediately after the comment character at the beginning of the line).

       -s

       --copysource
	      Copy  the  source  lines	to the output file.  Use this option to see the effect of each preprocessor line on the GASP output.  GASP
	      places a comment character (`!' by default) at the beginning of each source line it copies, so that you  can  use  this  option  and
	      still assemble the result.

       -u

       --unreasonable
	      Bypass  "unreasonable  expansion" limit.	Since you can define GASP macros inside other macro definitions, the preprocessor normally
	      includes a sanity check.	If your program requires more than 1,000 nested expansions, GASP normally exits  with  an  error  message.
	      Use this option to turn off this check, allowing unlimited nested expansions.

       -v

       --version
	      Display the GASP version number.

       INFILE ...
	      The  input file names.  You must specify at least one input file; if you specify more, GASP preprocesses them all, concatenating the
	      output in the order you list the INFILE arguments.

	      Mark the end of each input file with the preprocessor command `.END'.

SEE ALSO

       `gasp' entry in info; The GNU Binary Utilities, Roland H. Pesch (October 1991); gasp(1).

Debian								  September 1999							   gasp(1)