Assembler/Session 1

Course
Course Title
Title ::
ASSEMBLER
ASSEMBLER
LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE
Duration
Duration :: 55 Half
Half -- DAYS
DAYS

ASM Version 1.0 1

Assembler/Session 1

Course Title :
ASSEMBLER
LANGUAGE
Duration : 5 Half - DAYS
Assembler/Session 1

Objectives
Objectives

• Familiarise with IBM 370 Assembly Language

Assembler/Session 1
COURSE SCHEDULE

SESSION 1 Introduction
Day 1

SESSION 2 Addressing
Day 1

SESSION 3
Day 2 Machine Instructions
Assembler/Session 1
COURSE SCHEDULE
SESSION 4 Program Sectioning
Day 3

SESSION 5 Assembler Directives

Day 3

SESSION 6 Writing a complete program

Day 3

SESSION 7 Assemble and link program

Day 4
Assembler/Session 1

COURSE SCHEDULE

SESSION 8 Macro Language

Day 4
SESSION 9 Other Topics
Day 5
Assembler/Session 1

Assembler Language

SESSION 1
Assembler/Session 1

INTRODUCTION
Objectives
• An assembler language is a symbolic form of
machine language
• Assembler translates assembler language
program to machine language
• An assembler program consists of many
statements
• In general, one assembler language statement
corresponds to one machine language
instruction
Assembler/Session 1

STATEMENT FORMAT
Objectives
1 10 16 30
label operation operands comments

e.g..
INIT1 LA R5,4 ;INITIALISE REGISTER 5

Rules for choosing labels:

• maximum 8 characters
• Alphabets, digits, @, #, $
• First character should not be a digit
• label should begin in column 1
Assembler/Session 1

STATEMENT FORMAT
Objectives
Operation
• One of the 200 M/C instruction mnemonics

Operand
• can be a register or memory location

Continuing a statement
• Place any character in column 72 of the line to be continued
• Continue the statement from column 16 of next line
• Maximum 2 continuation lines for a statement
Assembler/Session 1

STATEMENT FORMAT
Objectives
Comment Statement
• * in column 1
• Any text in columns 2 - 71

Note : Fields separated by one or more

blanks
Assembler/Session 1

TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
1. Machine Instructions

2. Assembler Instructions (Directives)

3. Macro Instructions
Assembler/Session 1

REGISTERS
Objectives
Registers are storage areas inside the processor

Advantages:
- No need to retrieve data from main storage
(saves time)
- Shared resource that allows inter
communication between programs
Assembler/Session 1

REGISTERS
Objectives
General purpose registers:
* 16 registers available
* Numbered 0 - 15
* Holds 32 bits (4 bytes) of data

Floating point registers:

* 4 registers available
* Numbered 0,2,4,6
* Holds 64 bits (8 bytes) of data

Note : The registers 0, 1, 13, 14 and 15 are reserved for special purpose
Assembler/Session 1

DATA REPRESENTATION
Objectives
Binary fields
- Always fixed in length, either 2 or 4 bytes
(Fullword or Halfword)
- Negative numbers stored in 2’s complement form

Examples:
A DC H’295’ 01 27

B DC H’-75’ FF 35
Assembler/Session 1
DATA REPRESENTATION
Objectives
Characters
- One byte (EBCDIC form)
- Character representation of decimal digits is called
Zoned Decimal (first nibble is zone and next is digit)

Zone digit Zone Code

0-9 + C
- D
+, - , blank Blank F
Assembler/Session 1

DATA REPRESENTATION
Objectives
Floating Point Numbers
- Always fixed in length, 4, 8 or 16 bytes
(Full word, double word, double double word)
- Left most bit represents sign
(0 - positive; 1 - negative)
- Next 7 bits represent exponent
- Remaining bytes represent the fraction
Assembler/Session 1

DATA REPRESENTATION
Objectives
Decimal numbers ( Packed Decimal representation)
- Each byte but the rightmost has 2 decimal digits (0-9)
- The right most byte contains a digit in the left half and
a sign indicator in the right

Sign indicator: C- Positive

D - Negative

Example: 753 - 753C

Assembler/Session 1

Objectives
Addressing Operands

• Register addressing
• Base, displacement addressing
• Base, index and displacement addressing
Assembler/Session 6
INSTRUCTION FORMATS
RR opcode R1 R2 Objectives
SI opcode I2 B1 D1

SS opcode L B1 D1 B2 D2

SS opcode L1 L2 B1 D1 B2 D2

RX opcode R1 X2 B2 D2

RS opcode R1 R3 B2 D2
Assembler/Session 2

Assembler Language

SESSION 2
Addressing
Assembler/Session 2

STORAGE DEFINITIONS
Objectives
Two ways to define fields :

1. Define a field and initialise the data in it using

the DC assembler directive

2. Define a field without initialising using the DS

assembler directive
Assembler/Session 2

STORAGE DEFINITIONS
Objectives
Format:
label {DS/DC} dtLn’value’

where :
label : Label used to name the field (optional)
d : Duplication factor (optional)
t : Type of data ( required)
Ln : The letter ‘L’ followed by the length of the field in
bytes (optional)
value : Represents the value enclosed in apostrophes
Assembler/Session 2

STORAGE DEFINITIONS
Objectives
Examples:
ALPHA DC C’ABC EF’
FLDS DS 3CL2
H1 DC H’29’
F2 DC F’-10’
F1 DC X’03’
F3 DC PL4’-72’

Note : for character constants truncation or padding is to

the right and for almost all others it is to the left.
Assembler/Session 2

STORAGE DEFINITIONS
Objectives
DC TYPES
Type Implied Alignment Data Representation
Length
C - None Character
X - None Hex digits
B - None Binary digits
F 4 Full word Binary
H 2 Half word Binary
E 4 Full word Floating point
D 8 Double word Floating point
L 16 Double word Floating point
P - None Packed decimal
Assembler/Session 2

STORAGE DEFINITIONS
Objectives
Data Representation in other languages:
Assembler FORTRAN COBOL PASCAL BASIC
Language
DC Type
C Character Display String String
F, H Integer COMP Integer Integer
E Real COMP-1 Real Single
precision
D Double COMP-2 Real Double
Precision Precision
X, B Logical N/A Boolean Hex
P N/A COMP-3 N/A N/A
Assembler/Session 2

STORAGE DEFINITIONS
Objectives
Literals
• A literal is a constant preceded by an equals sign ‘=‘.
• Can be used as a main-storage operand but not as a
destination field of an instruction
• Causes assembler to define a field that is initialised with
the data specified
• All constants defined by literals are put by the assembler
in a literal pool, usually at the very end of the program

L R4,=F’1’
Assembler/Session 2

Objectives
Exercise 1 Q 1 and Q2.

2.What will happen in the following cases

DC CL5’123’
DC CL5’123456’
DC X’A1245’
DC XL2’A1245’
DC XL5’A1245’
DC F’19’
DC FL1’513’
Assembler/Session 2

Objectives
EQU (Assembler directive)

• The EQU statement is used to associate a

fixed value with a symbol

R4 EQU4
DRBACK EQUOUT+25
Assembler/Session 2

ESTABLISHING ADDRESSABILITY
Objectives
• By establishing the addressability of a
coding section, you can refer to the
symbolic addresses defined in it in the
operands of machine instruction
• Assembler will convert the implicit
addresses into explicit addresses
(base - displacement form)
Assembler/Session 2

ESTABLISHING ADDRESSABILITY
Objectives
To establish the address of a coding section :
• Specify a base address from which the
assembler can compute displacements
• Assign a base register to contain this base
address
• Write the instruction that loads the base
register with the base address
Note: The base address should remain in the base
register throughout the execution of the program
Assembler/Session 2
ESTABLISHING ADDRESSABILITY
Objectives
Establishing Base Register
The USING and DROP assembler instructions
enable one to use expressions representing
implicit addresses as operands of machine
instruction statements, leaving the assignment of
base registers and the calculation of
displacements to the assembler

USING - Use Base Address Register

- allows one to specify a base address and assign
one or more base registers
Assembler/Session 2

ESTABLISHING ADDRESSABILITY
Objectives
To use the USING instruction correctly, one should know :
• which locations in a coding section are made addressable
by the USING statement
• where in a source module you can use these established
addresses as implicit addresses in instruction operands

Format:
symbol USING base address,basereg1| basereg2|,..
e.g. USING BASE,9,10,11
USING *,12
Assembler/Session 2

ESTABLISHING ADDRESSABILITY
Objectives
Range of a USING instruction:
• The range of a USING instruction is the 4096
bytes beginning at the base address specified in
the USING instruction
Domain of a USING instruction
• The domain of a USING instruction begins
where the USING instruction appears in a source
module to the end of the source module
Assembler/Session 2
ESTABLISHING ADDRESSABILITY
Objectives
The assembler converts implicit address references into
their explicit form:
• if the address reference appears in the domain of a
USING instruction
• if the addresses referred to lie within the range of the
same USING instruction

Guideline:
• Specify all USING instructions at the beginning of the
source module
• Specify a base address in each USING instruction that lies
at the beginning of each control section
Assembler/Session 2

RELATIVE ADDRESSING
Objectives
• Relative addressing is the technique of addressing
instructions and data areas by designating their location
in relation to the location counter or to some symbolic
location

ALPHA LR 3,4
CR 4,6 ALPHA+2 or BETA-4
BCR 1,14
BETA AR 2,3

Note : Always avoid using relative addressing

Assembler/Session 3 & 4

Assembler Language

SESSION 3 & 4
Machine Instructions
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

HANDLING CHARACTER DATA

Objectives
Move Character Instruction (MVC)
• Copy data from one place in memory to another
Format : MVC operand1,operand2
S1(L), S2 - implicit
D1(L,B1),D2(B2) - explicit
e.g...
MVC INPUT(5),OUTPUT
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

HANDLING CHARACTER DATA

Objectives
Move Immediate Instruction (MVI)
• Can move only one byte of constant data to a field
Format : MVI operand1,operand2
S1,I2 - implicit
D1(B1),I2 - explicit
e.g..
MVI CTL,C’B’

DBSS TRAINING CENTRE

Assembler/Session 3 & 4

HANDLING CHARACTER DATA

Objectives
Advanced Techniques
1. Explicit lengths and relative addressing
MVC PAD+6(4),=CL4’ ‘
PAD DS CL10

2. Overlapping fields and the MVC instruction

MVC FLDB,FLDA
FLDS DC C’A’
FLDB DS CL3
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

HANDLING CHARACTER DATA

Objectives
Comparison Instructions
• Compares 2 values - the values are found in fields, in
registers or in immediate data
CLC - Compare logical character
e.g. CLC FLDA,FLDB
CLI - Compare logical immediate
e.g. CLI FLDA,C’K’
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

Objectives
Exercise 2 Q1 and Q2
2. What will be the effect of the following instructions :

MVI OUTAREA,C’ ‘
MVC OUTAREA+1(132),OUTAREA
OUTAREA DS 133C
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
Three types of binary instructions
•Full word
•Half word
•Register
The Binary Move Instructions
L, LH, LR ,ST, STH
Type : R,X Register and indexed storage
e.g... L 5,FULL LR 5,7
STH 7,HALF
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
Note : Do not mix up the instruction types and field types
e.g.
LH 5,FULL - right half of Reg 5 gets 1st 2 bytes at FULL
L 6,HALF - Reg 6 gets 4 bytes starting from HALF
ST 3,RES - 4 bytes of reg 3 are stored starting from RES
RES DS H
HALF DC H’15’
FULL DC F’8’
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
Binary Addition (A, AH and AR)
• Fixed-point overflow occurs when the sum will not
fit in the receiving register
• Type R-X
e.g.
A 5,FULL
AH 6,HALF
AR 7,3
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
Binary Subtraction (S, SH and SR)
• Type R-X
e.g.
S 5,FULL
SH 6,HALF
SR 7,3
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
Binary comparisons (C, CH and CR)
e.g.
C 5,FULL
CH 6,HALF
CR 7,3

Condition code set as HIGH, LOW or EQUAL

Assembler/Session 3 & 4

Objectives
Binary Multiplication (M, MR, MH)

Format : M op1,op2
op1 : An even numbered register; refers to an even-odd
pair of registers
(any register in case of halfword format)
op2 : storage area (fullword/halfword/register)
Binary Multiplication (M, MR, MH) ...

Function : The value in OP2 is

multiplied by the value in the odd
register of the even-odd pair and the
result placed in even-odd registers
(For half word format : The half word
specified in OP2 is multiplied by the
value in OP1 and result stored in OP1.)
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Objectives
Binary Division (D, DR)
Format: D op1,op2
Type : R-X / R-R
Op1 : An even numbered register. It refers to an even-odd pair
of registers. The pair holds the double word to be
divided. The even register receives the remainder; the
odd register receives the quotient.

e.g. D 4,FULL
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BRANCHING
Objectives
A branch causes execution to continue at some
other instruction in the program
• Branch conditions : B, BH, BL, BE, BNH, BNL,
BNE, BZ, BNZ, BM, BNM, BO, BNO

e.g : CLI FLDA,C’K’

BNL GOOD
Assembler/Session 3 & 4
CONDITION CODE PROCESSING
• Objectives
condition code occupies 2 bits of PSW
• condition code is set by each of a number of instructions
• condition code is an extremely important intermediary
between arithmetic instructions and conditional branch
instructions
• very important in implementing control structures
0 Zero
1 < Zero
2 >Zero
3 Overflow
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BC and BCR Instructions

• Objectives
instructions that do or do not branch depending on
the value of the condition code
Format : BC M1,S2
BCR M1,R2

e.g. BC B’1001’,BRPTA
will cause a branch to the instruction named
BRPTA, if at the time the instruction is executed,
the condition code is 0 or 3.
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BIT MANIPULATIONS
Objectives
Operation S-I S-S R-R R-X
OR OI OC OR O
AND NI NC NR N
Exclusive OR XI XC XR X

e.g... OI FLDA,X’0F’
NR 5,7
X 9,FULL
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BIT MANIPULATIONS
Objectives
Testing individual bits - Test under mask (TM)
TM S1,I2
Function : The bits of S1 ( a single byte) are tested
under the control of the mask in I2 and condition
code is set as ‘all zeroes’, all ones’ or ‘mixed’
e.g. TM EMP,B’00000101’
BNM NEXT
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BIT MANIPULATIONS
Objectives
Bit Shifting Instructions
SLL, SLDL Left logical
SRL, SRDL Right logical
SLA, SLDA Left arithmetic (sign bit not affected)
SRA, SRDA Right arithmetic (& condition code set)
e.g. SLL 5,1
SRDA 4,5
Assembler/Session 3 & 4
BIT MANIPULATIONS
Translations Objectives
• To translate from one bit combination to another
Format : TR S1(L),S2 or S1,S2
S1 : The field whose data is to be translated
S2 : A 256-byte translation table
Function : The value of the original byte is used as a
displacement into the translation table. The byte found there
replaces the original byte.
e.g. TR WORK,XTABLE
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY CONVERSIONS
Objectives
1. Conversion to binary (CVB)
Format: CVB operand1,operand2
operand1 : Register
operand2 : a double word (containing
valid packed decimal number)
e.g. CVB 5,DOUBLE
Use : character data -(PACK)->packed decimal-(CVB)->
binary
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

BINARY CONVERSIONS
Objectives
2. Conversion from binary (CVD)
Format: CVD operand1,operand2
operand1 : Register
operand2 : a double word
e.g. CVD 5,DOUBLE
Use : binary-(CVD)->packed decimal-(UNPK)->
character data
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

TABLE PROCESSING
Objectives
A table is a named storage structure consisting of
subunits or entries
e.g. RATE DS 6F
L 4,RATE+8
Accessing table elements with indexed storage
operands:
e.g. LH 9,=H’2’
L 5,RATE(9) (9 - index register)
Assembler/Session 3 & 4
Multi-purpose branching instructions
Objectives
Convenient when counted repetition structure (table processing) is
needed

• Branch on count (BCT and BCTR)

Format: BCT op1,op2 (R-X)
Function: First the op1 value is decremented by 1. Second the
branch is taken to the address specified in op2 only if the value in op1
is not 0.
e.g. LH 9,=H’12’
REPEAT EQU *
..
BCT 9,REPEAT
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

• Branch on index high and branch on index low or equal (BXH

and BXLE) Objectives
Format: BXLE op1,op2,op3
BXH
op1 : A register known as the index register
op2 : A even-odd pair of registers
Even register - increment register
Odd register - Limit register
op3 : A storage operand. This is the branch addres.
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

Function : First, the value in the increment

Objectives
register is added to the indexed register. Second,
the branch is taken only when the value in the
index register is ‘lower than or equal to’ / ‘higher
than’ the value in the limit register

Useful when the same register is to be used as the

count and index register
Assembler/Session 3 & 4
BXLE - ‘DO UNTIL’ repetitions
BXH-
Objectives
‘DO WHILE’ repetitions
e.g... LH 7,=H’0’ index
LH 2,=H’2’ increment amount
LH 3,=H’18 the limit
---
REPEAT ...
LH 6,TABLE(7)
...
BXLE 7,2,REPEAT
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

Objectives
Load instructions with additional features

• Load and Test (LTR)

e.g... LTR 15,15
BNZ ERROR
• Load Address (LA)
LA R1,D2(X2,B2)
Assembler/Session 3 & 4

USING EQUATES
Objectives
• To associate a fixed value with a symbol
• Useful for length and relative address calculation
e.g. TABLE DS 0H
DC C’01
DC C’02’
...
TBLEND EQU *
TBLSIZE EQU TBLEND-TABLE
Assembler/Session 3 & 4
USING EQUATES

Can be
Objectives
used for the following purposes:
1. To assign single absolute values to symbols.
2. To assign the values of previously defined
symbols or expressions to new symbols, thus
allowing you to use different mnemonics for
different purposes.
3. To compute expressions whose values are
unknown at coding time or difficult to calculate.
The value of the expressions is then assigned to a
symbol.
Assembler/Session 5

Assembler Language

SESSION 5
Program Sectioning
Assembler/Session 5

Beginning and End of Source Modules

Objectives
• Code a CSECT segment before any
statement that affects the location
counter
• END statement is required as the last
statement in the assembly
Assembler/Session 5

CONTROL SECTIONS
Objectives
• A source module can be divided into
one or more control sections
• A control section is the smallest
subdivision of a program that can be
relocated as a unit
 CONTROL SECTIONS

• At coding time, establish the addressability

of each control section within the source
module, and provide any symbolic linkages
between control sections that lie in different
source modules.
• Initiated by using the START or CSECT
instruction
Assembler/Session 5
CONTROL SECTIONS
Objectives
• Any instruction that affects the location
counter, or uses its current value,
establishes the beginning of the first
control section.
 CONTROL SECTIONS

Format of CSECT:
Name Operation Operand
Any symbol CSECT Not required
or blank

Note: The end of a control section or portion of a

control section is marked by (a) any instruction that
defines a new or continued control section, or (b) the
END instruction.
Assembler/Session 5

DUMMY SECTIONS
Objectives
• A dummy control section is a reference
control section that allows you to describe
the layout of data in a storage area without
actually reserving any virtual storage.
 DUMMY SECTIONS

• Use the DSECT instruction to initiate a

dummy control section or to indicate its
continuation.
Format of DSECT:
Name Operation Operand
Any symbol DSECT Not required
or blank
Assembler/Session 5
DUMMY SECTIONS
Objectives
To use a dummy section :
• Reserve a storage area for the
unformatted data
• Ensure that this data is loaded into the area
at execution time
 DUMMY SECTIONS

• Ensure that the locations of the symbols in

the dummy section actually correspond to
the locations of the data being described
• Establish the addressability of the dummy
section in combination with the storage area
You can then refer to the unformatted data
symbolically by using the symbols defined in the
dummy section.
Assembler/Session 5

ASMBLY2 CSECT
BEGIN BALR
Objectives
2,0
USING *,2
... Reg 3 points to dataarea
USING INAREA,3
CLI INCODE,C'A'
BE ATYPE
...
ATYPE MVC WORKA,INPUTA
MVC WORKB,INPUTB
..
WORKA DS CL20
WORKB DS CL18
...
INAREA DSECT
INCODE DS CL1
INPUTA DS CL20
INPUTB DS CL18

...
END
Assembler/Session 5
Assembler Directives
Objectives
TITLE : To provide headings for each page of
the assembly listing of the source modules.
EJECT : To stop the printing of the assembler
listing on the current page, and continue the
printing on the next page.
ORG : To reset the location counter
 Assembler Directives

LTORG : A literal pool is created

immediately after a LTORG instruction or,
if no LTORG instruction is specified, at the
end of the first control section.
PRINT : To control the amount of detail to
be printed in the listing of programs.
PRINT NOGEN / GEN
Assembler/Session 6

Assembler Language

SESSION 6
Writing a complete program
Assembler/Session 6

Program Entry and Exit Logic

Objectives
Program entry - Preserve register contents
Program Exit - Restore register contents
Register save area
Always calling program provides a savearea of
18 words long used for storage of registers
Savearea address passed through register 13
Assembler/Session 6
A register save area
Word AddressObjectives
Contents
1 SAV
2 SAV+4 Address of calling program’s save area
3 SAV+8 Address of called program’s save area
4 SAV+12 Contents of Register 14
5 SAV+16 Contents of Register 15
6 SAV+20 Contents of Register 0
...
18 SAV+68 Contents of Register 12
Assembler/Session 6

Responsibilities of called program

Objectives
Program entry conventions
1.Save contents of registers 0-12,14 & 15 in
calling program’s save area
2.Establish base register
3.Store calling program’s save area in the 2nd
word of its own save area
Assembler/Session 6

Program entry conventions (contd..)

Objectives
4. Store the address of its register savearea in the
third word of the calling program’s register save
area
(The addresses in the 3d word of save area establish
a chain of register save areas. This will be useful in
reading the dump when program crashes).
Assembler/Session 6
Responsibilities of called program (contd..)
Program Entry Objectives
STM R14,R12,12(R13)
BALR R12,0
USING *,R12
ST R13,SAVOWN+4 store calling programs save area
LR R14,R13
LA R13,SAVOWN Reg 13 contains current prog’s SA
...
ST R13,8(R14)
Assembler/Session 6

Responsibilities of called program (contd..)

Objectives
Program Exit conventions
1. Restore registers 0-12 and 14
2. Place the address of the save area provided by the
calling program in Reg 13
3. Place a return code in the low order byte of
register 15 if one is required. Otherwise restore
register 15.
Assembler/Session 6

Responsibilities of called program (contd..)

Objectives
Program Exit
L R13,4(R13)
LM R14,R12,12(R13)
BR R4
Assembler/Session 6
Responsibilities of calling program
Objectives
1. Register 13 must contain the address of a register
save area.
2. Register 15 should be set to the beginning address
of the subroutine
L R15,=V(SUBENTRY)
where SUBENTRY is the entry address (usually the CSECT
name) of the subroutine
Assembler/Session 6
Responsibilities of calling program (contd...)
3. Objectives
Register 14 should have the return address
4. Register 1 sould have the address of the parameter
list
A BALR instruction stores the address of the next
instruction in the calling program into register 14 and
transfers control to the called subroutine
BALR R14,R15
Assembler/Session 6
Passing parameters to a subroutine
Objectives
• The standard interface requires that addresses of
parameters be placed in a block of storage, and the
address of the block be loaded into register 1 as the
subroutine is called
• Both input and output parameters are treated the same
way
e.g... ADDS DC A(T)
DC A(U)
DC A(V)
LA R1,ADDS
Assembler/Session 6

R1 Main storage
Objectives
Addr of parmlist Parmlist parm3
Addr of parm1
Addr of parm2 parm1
Addr of parm3 parm2
Assembler/Session 6

Called subroutine B may get the second parameter

by Objectives

L R3,4(,R1)
L R8,0(,R3)
Assembler/Session 6

Objectives
Registers with special use
R0 : Contains single word output of a
subroutine
R1 : contains the address of an area of
main storage that contains addresses of
parameters
Assembler/Session 6

Objectives
Registers with special use (contd...)
R14 : Contains the return address, the address
in the calling routine to which a subroutine
should return control when finished
R15 : contains the address of the entry point in
the subroutine
R13 : contains the address of an area in which
register contents can be stored by a subroutine
Assembler/Session 6
The subroutine RANDOM
Objectives
RANDOM STM RR14,R12,12(R13)
BALR R12,0
USING *,R12
L R7,RN
M R6,=F’65541’
ST R7,RN
LR R0,R7
LM R1,R12,24(R13)
BR R14
RN DC F’8193’
Assembler/Session 6
Subroutine RDIGIT

Objectives
RDIGIT STM R14,R12,12(R13)
BALR R12,0
USING *,R12
ST R13,SAV+4
LA R13,SAV
...
L R15,RANDAD
BALR R14,R15
...
L R13,SAV+4
LM R14,R15,12(R13)
LM R1,R12,24(R13)
BR R14
SAV DS 18F

RANDAD DC A(RANDOM)
Assembler/Session 6

Linkage Conventions
Objectives
•Program divided into 2 or more source
modules
•Source module divided into 2 or more control
sections
•For link-editing, a complete object module or
any individual control section of the object
module can be specified
Assembler/Session 6

Communicating between program parts

Objectives
• To communicate between 2 or more source
modules, symbolically link them together

• To communicate between 2 or more control

sections within a source module, establish proper
addressability
Assembler/Session 6

Establishing symbolic linkage

Objectives
• Identify external symbols in the EXTRN or WXTRN
instruction or the V-type address constant
• provide A-type or V-type address constants to reserve
storage for addresses represented by external symbols
• In the external source modules, identify these symbols
with the ENTRY instruction
(name entry of a START or CSECT instruction is
automatically identified as an entry symbol)
External symbol dictionary
Assembler/Session 6
Establishing symbolic linkage (contd...)
e.g. Objectives
program A
EXTRN TABLEB
WXTRN TABLEB
TABADR DS V(TABLEB)
program B
ENTRY TABLEB
TABLEB DS ...
Assembler/Session 6

Address Constants (A and V)

Objectives
• An address constant is a main storage address contained
in a constant
• A V-type constant is the value of an external symbol - a
relocatable symbol that is external to the current control
section.
Used for branching to locations in other control sections
e.g L 5,ADCON
ADCON DC A(SOMWHERE)
GSUBAD DC V(READATA)
Assembler/Session 7

Assembler Language

SESSION 7
Assemble and Link Program
Assembler/Session 7
Processing of Instructions
Time/ M/C Objectives
Assembler ENTRY Macro
Activity instruc. EXTRN Instr.
Code source m/c DC,DS
instruc.
Preassembly Refer to macro
instruc.
Assembly object code
LKED
Prog fetch
Execution data area form data
area in load mod
Assembler/Session 7

JCL ‘ parm’ processing

Objectives
EXEC PGM=pgmname,PARM=
When program gets control :
•Register 1 contains the address of a fullword
on a fullword boundary in program’s address
space
•the high order bit of this fullword is set to 1
(this convention is to indicate the last word in
a variable length parameter list)
 JCL ‘ parm’ processing ...
• Bits 1-31 of the fullword contain the
address of a 2-byte length field on a
halfword boundary
• The length field contains a binary count
of the no. of bytes in the PARM field
which immediately follows the length
field
Assembler/Session 7
COBOL to Assembler
CALL
Objectives
asmpgm USING COMM-AREA

PL/I to Assembler
DCL ASMSUB ENTRY OPTIONS(ASSEMBLER)
CHARSTRING CHAR(25);
CALL ASMSUB(CHARSTRING);
Ref : PL/I Programming Guide, COBOL programming
Guide
Assembler/Session 8

Assembler Language

SESSION 8
Macro Language
Assembler/Session 8

Macros Objectives
• Short source routines written and
stored in libraries
•Assembler inserts the source
statements in the program where
the macro appears
Macro Definition
Format :
•A header statement
•A prototype
•Model statements
•A trailer statement
Assembler/Session 8

Header statement:
Objectives
MACRO
Prototype:
&name MOVE &TO,&FROM,&LENGTH
Model statements:
A set of machine and assembler instructions

Trailer statement:
&name MEND
Assembler/Session 8
Macro Instruction:
Objectives
• A statement containing the name of a
macro
• when expanded, the symbolic parameters in
the model statements are replaced by
corresponding parameters from the macro
instructions
• symbolic prarameters may be positional or
keyword
 Macro Instruction ...
MACRO
&LABEL HALFSWAP &REG,&SV
&LABEL ST &REG,&SV
SLL &REG,8
IC &REG,&SV
SLL &REG,8
IC &REG,&SV+1
MEND
Assembler/Session 8

SET Symbols (global or local)

3 types : Objectives
• arithmetic (SETS)
• binary (SETB)
• character (SETC)
• SET symbols are declared using,
LCLA LCLB LCLC
GCLA GCLB GCLC
Assembler/Session 8
Format:
Label Objectives
operation operands
symbol-name SETA An expression
SETB
SETC
e.g.
LCLA &A1
GCLA &A2
&A1 SETA 1
&A2 SETA &A1+3
Assembler/Session 8

Attributes
Objectives
There are 6 attributes of a symbol or
symbolic parameter :
type, length, scaling, integer, count and
number
System variable symbols
&SYSINDX, &SYSDATE, &SYSTIME, &SYSECT,
&SYSPARM, &SYSLOC
Assembler/Session 8

Conditional Assembly
Objectives
The assembler can be made to branch and loop
among assembler language statements using
sequence symbols and the assembler
instructions AIF and AGO

Sequence symbol : Period followed by 1 to 7

alphabets or digits of which the first is a letter
e.g. .Z23Ab
Assembler/Session 8

Format:
Objectives
Label Operation Operand
seq symbo AGO seq. symbol
or blank
-do- AIF A logical expression
enclosed in parenthesis,
followed by seq symbol
A logical expression is composed of one or
more relations or values of SETB symbols
connected by logical connects AND, OR, AND
NOT, OR NOT
A relation consists of 2 arithmetic expressions
or 2 character expressions connected by a
relational operator EQ, NE, LT, LE, GT, GE
Assembler/Session 8
e.g.
MACRO Objectives
PSRCH &PARAMS,&STRING
GBLB &FOUND
LCLA &I
&FOUND SETB 0
.LP AIF ((&I GE N’&PARAMS) OR &FOUND) .E
&I SETA &I+1
&FOUND SETB (‘&PARAMS(&I)’ EQ ‘&STRING’)
AGO .LP
.E MEND
Assembler/Session 9

Assembler Language

SESSION 9
Other Topics
Assembler/Session 8

Objectives
Characteristics of good assembler program
• has simple, easy to understand logic
• uses mostly simple instructions
• has no relative addressing
• uses subroutines
 Characteristics of good assembler program ...

• uses DSECTs
• has efficient code (LA R10, 4(0,R10 - A R10,=F’4)
• does not abnormally terminate due to user error
• requests and check feedback from macro instructions
• provides meaningful error messages
Assembler/Session 8

Characteristics of good assembler program

(contd..)
Objectives
• lets the assembler determine lengths
• has opcodes, operand and comments aligned
• contains meaningful comments
• uses meaningful labels
Assembler/Session 8

Structured Programming
Objectives
• To improve design and understandability of a
program
• made up of building blocks of subroutines

Conventions for general purpose registers

• Base registers
• Link registers
Assembler/Session 9

The EXecute Instruction

Objectives
• the EX instruction is a R-X type instruction that
directs the execution of an instruction called the
subject instruction, which is addressed by the second
operand
• the subject instruction is in effect a one-instruction
subroutine
 The EXecute Instruction (contd...)

•The subject instruction is modified before execution

(though not altered at its main storage location) :
bits 8-15 of the instruction ORed with bits 24-31 of
register R1 to form the second byte of the instruction
actually executed
e.g. Let reg 9 have the length of string to be moved
EX R9,VARMVC
VARMVC MVC A(0),B
Assembler/Session 9

DEBUGGING
Objectives
Exceptions and Interrupts
Interrupts that result directly from attempts at invalid
program execution are called program-check
interrupts; identified by a code
Interruption code 1 : Operation
Interruption code 2 : Privileged operation
Interruption code 4 : Protection
Interruption code 5 :Addressing
Interruption code 6 :Specification
Assembler/Session 9

DEBUGGING
Objectives
Exceptions and Interrupts (contd..)
Interruption code 7 : Data
Interruption code 8 : Fixed-Point Overflow
Interruption code 9 : Fixed-Point Divide
Other Interruption codes ( 3, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15)
Assembler/Session 9

DEBUGGING
Objectives
Reading dumps
• whenever a program abends an indicative
dump is generated
• The completion code is a code furnished by
the O/S to designate the reason for the
termination of the job step
• In case of program check interruption, the
first 2 digits of the completion code is 0C
 DEBUGGING

Reading dumps ...

• Locate the entry point of your program
Assembler/Session 9

DEBUGGING
Objectives
Reading dumps (contd...)
• The register contents are the contents at the
point of interruption (the instruction that
caused the interrupt is usually the one just
before the interrupt address given)
• use address at interrupt and entry address to
locate the instruction that caused the program-
check interruption
Assembler/Session 9

DEBUGGING
Objectives
Full and Partial dumps
• //SYSUDUMP DD SYSOUT=A
• SNAP macro
 DEBUGGING

Reading the dump

• SAVE AREA trace
• P/P Storage
• Examine register contents, PSW and listed entry
point to find the portion of program being executed
• Look at main storage dump to determine the data
being used
Assembler/Session 9

SYSTEM MACROS
Objectives
Data Management Macros
DCB - Construct a data control block
OPEN - Logically connect a dataset
CLOSE - Logically disconnect a dataset
GET - Obtain next logical record (queued access)
PUT - Write next logical record (queued
access)
READ - Read a block (basic access)
WRITE - Write a block (basic access)
Assembler/Session 9

SYSTEM MACROS
Objectives
Supervisor Services Macros
ABEND - Abnormally terminate a task
CALL - Pass control to a control section
GETMAIN - Allocate virtual storage
FREEMAIN - Free virtual storage
LOAD - Bring a load module into virtual storage
RETURN - return control to the calling program
SAVE - Save register contents
Assembler/Session 9

SYSTEM MACROS
Objectives
Supervisor Services Macros (contd)
SNAP - Dump virtual storage and continue
LINK - Pass control to a Program in
Another load module
WTO - Write to operator
Assembler/Session 9
SYSTEM MACROS
e.g. File I/O Objectives
OPEN (INFILE,INPUT)
GET INFILE,RECAREA
PUT OUTFILE,RECAREA
CLOSE (INFILE)
INFILE DCB
DSORG=PS,MACRF=GM,DDNAME=IFILE
OUTFILE DCB
DSORG=PS,MACRF=PM,DDNAME=OFILE
(RECFM=,LRECL=,BLKSIZE=,)
Assembler/Session 9
SYSTEM MACROS

Three forms : Objectives

Standard form : Results in instructions that store
into an inline parameter list and pass control to
the required program
List form : Provides asn out-of-line parameter list
Execute form : Provides the executable instructions
required to modify the out-of-line parameter list
and pass control to the required program
 k yo u
Th a n