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 specified, 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 architectures. 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 assembler 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 assembling 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-dependent; 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 instructions 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 architectures.

-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 section 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 preprocessor 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.

-q  Use the clang(1) integrated assembler instead of the GNU based system assembler. This is available for the x86 and arm architectures. -Q Used the GNU based system assembler.

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)