MADS: Type Based Macros

[snicklin]

Hi All,

 

I am looking to see if it is possible to do something with MADS (any version).

 

What I would like to be able to do is to have a macro called 'ADD' for example. This could then either accept bytes or words and then give an appropriate output.

 

For example (in pseudo code of course), I would like to achieve something like this....

 

ADD(123, 580) ; Byte and a word added together to give a word // Note that these are values, I am not looking at memory locations...

 

I then appreciate that this could have just as easily been either of these derivatives:

ADD(580, 123)

ADD(580,580)

ADD(1,2)

 

So I would need a macro something along these lines:

 

.macro ADD(value1, value2)

#if type(:1)=.byte and type(:2)=.byte

    ADDBB(:1,:2)

#end if

 

#if type(:1)=.byte and type(:2)=.word

    ADDBW(:1,:2)

#end if

 

#if type(:1)=.word and type(:2)=.byte

    ADDWB(:1,:2)

#end if

 

#if type(:1)=.word and type(:2)=.word

    ADDWW(:1,:2)

#end if

 

.endm

 

This way I could build up a vastly more powerful library of tools which are easier to use than having to remember whether to use ADDBB, ADDBW and other derivatives.

 

Is this possible??

 

 

[tebe]

MADS instruction - MACRO COMMANDS

http://mads.atari8.info/mads_eng.html

ADB, SBB
These macro commands add or subtract a value from a byte location in memory and store it either back or to another location.

  ADB SRC #$40 -> LDA SRC       ADB A B C  -> LDA A
               -> CLC                      -> CLC
               -> ADC #$40                 -> ADC B
               -> STA SRC                  -> STA C

  SBB SRC #$80 -> LDA SRC       SBB A B C  -> LDA A
               -> SEC                      -> SEC
               -> SBC #$80                 -> SBC B
               -> STA SRC                  -> STA C


ADW, SBW
These macro commands add or subtract a value from a word location in memory and store it either back or to another location.

  ADW SRC #$40 -> CLC             ADW A B C  -> CLC
               -> LDA SRC                    -> LDA A
               -> ADC #$40                   -> ADC B
               -> STA SRC                    -> STA C
               -> SCC                        -> LDA A+1
               -> INC SRC+1                  -> ADC B+1
                                             -> STA C+1

  ADW SRC #$40 SRC -> CLC
                   -> LDA SRC
                   -> ADC #$40
                   -> STA SRC
                   -> LDA SRC+1
                   -> ADC #$00
                   -> STA SRC+1
                                             
  SBW SRC #$4080 -> SEC           SBW A B C  -> SEC
                 -> LDA SRC                  -> LDA A
                 -> SBC <$4080               -> SBC B
                 -> STA SRC                  -> STA C
                 -> LDA SRC+1                -> LDA A+1
                 -> SBC >$4080               -> SBC B+1
                 -> STA SRC+1                -> STA C+1 

Edited May 25, 2020 by tebe

[R0ger]

Mads doesn't have types for variables. It doesn't even have variables. Just labels.

You can tell the type for constant, that's simple. If the number is less than 256, it's a byte. If it's more than 255, but less than 65536, it's a word, and so on.

But for variables, you're out of luck.

As tebe mentions, Mads has similar built-in macros, and it will correctly expand these variants:

 

adw var #40

adw var #4040

 

But if you want to add 8 bit zero page variable to 16 bit zero page variable, there is no way to do it.

 

[NRV]

If the macros provided by mads are not enough for your case you can do your own.

But you need to decide first where you want to put the results (A, X or Y, or some memory addresses).

Also if you want to support negative numbers and how you handle the cases where there is overflow (adding two bytes could give you a word result, for example).

 

Anyway the syntax would be something like:

 

.macro Add

.if [:1 < 256] .and [:2 < 256]
// code to add two bytes..

.elseif [:1 < 256] .and [:2 > 255]
// code to add one byte and a word..

.elseif [:1 > 255] .and [:2 < 256]
// code to add one word and a byte..

.else
// code to add two words..

.endif

.endm

 

 

[R0ger]

Also check out the syntax with .macro " " .. it's in MADS manual from phareon. It allows you to use both direct and indirect modes, ie. adding #10 or 10 as an address, the same way adw and similar build-in macros do.

 

[snicklin]

Hey, thank you all for your replies.

 

I am looking to use Roger/NRV's solution to be able to add things together. I am not going to cater for negative numbers at the moment, so the method used there will be good.

 

As for Tebe's kind suggestion of using the macro commands, I will use them in conjunction with Roger/NRV's method. I have been using them already, but I would like to have a very generic 'ADD' which can take anything.

 

I'll give you a story about why I am looking to do this. I was considering writing a language which would suit what I am aiming to produce: A football/soccer management game. I would like the language to be quite simple to use, use an AtariMax cartridge so that I can have LOTS of functions/methods pre-built to be re-used across projects (and I really mean a lot, I could devote 100's of kilobytes to reusable code). Code speed isn't overly important, but speed of development of the final projects is.

 

All in all, there is a lot of work to be done. I had the thought that I would write it as a pre-processing step before MADS does the compile. Then I thought to myself, "I need to do as much with MADS as I possibly can", using it's directives and macros to the fullest extent. That would mean that I could write something that looks like another language, without it actually being another language. That way I wouldn't have to write a compiler. So the first thing I wanted to achieve is some generic ADD routine.

 

Thanks for your time.

[R0ger]

Oh, didn't I promise you demo of my brand new speech synth ? Sadly since all parties is on halt, there is always something more important. So I leave it at 'soon' for now.

[snicklin]

On 5/31/2020 at 6:02 AM, R0ger said:

Oh, didn't I promise you demo of my brand new speech synth ? Sadly since all parties is on halt, there is always something more important. So I leave it at 'soon' for now.

I can't remember if you did or didn't, but feel free to show me when it is ready. It will be interesting to see.