14.3. Syntax

There are different aspects of the CRIS assembly syntax.

14.3.1. Special Characters

The character # is a line comment character. It starts a comment if and only if it is placed at the beginning of a line.

A ; character starts a comment anywhere on the line, causing all characters up to the end of the line to be ignored.

A @ character is handled as a line separator equivalent to a logical new-line character (except in a comment), so separate instructions can be specified on a single line.

14.3.2. Symbols in position-independent code

When generating position-independent code (SVR4 PIC) for use in cris-axis-linux-gnu shared libraries, symbol suffixes are used to specify what kind of run-time symbol lookup will be used, expressed in the object as different relocation types. Usually, all absolute symbol values must be located in a table, the global offset table, leaving the code position-independent; independent of values of global symbols and independent of the address of the code. The suffix modifies the value of the symbol, into for example an index into the global offset table where the real symbol value is entered, or a PC-relative value, or a value relative to the start of the global offset table. All symbol suffixes start with the character : (omitted in the list below). Every symbol use in code or a read-only section must therefore have a PIC suffix to enable a useful shared library to be created. Usually, these constructs must not be used with an additive constant offset as is usually allowed, i.e. no 4 as in symbol + 4 is allowed. This restriction is checked at link-time, not at assembly-time.


Attaching this suffix to a symbol in an instruction causes the symbol to be entered into the global offset table. The value is a 32-bit index for that symbol into the global offset table. The name of the corresponding relocation is R_CRIS_32_GOT. Example: move.d [$r0+extsym:GOT],$r9


Same as for GOT, but the value is a 16-bit index into the global offset table. The corresponding relocation is R_CRIS_16_GOT. Example: move.d [$r0+asymbol:GOT16],$r10


This suffix is used for function symbols. It causes a procedure linkage table, an array of code stubs, to be created at the time the shared object is created or linked against, together with a global offset table entry. The value is a pc-relative offset to the corresponding stub code in the procedure linkage table. This arrangement causes the run-time symbol resolver to be called to look up and set the value of the symbol the first time the function is called (at latest; depending environment variables). It is only safe to leave the symbol unresolved this way if all references are function calls. The name of the relocation is R_CRIS_32_PLT_PCREL. Example: add.d fnname:PLT,$pc


Like PLT, but the value is relative to the beginning of the global offset table. The relocation is R_CRIS_32_PLT_GOTREL. Example: move.d fnname:PLTG,$r3


Similar to PLT, but the value of the symbol is a 32-bit index into the global offset table. This is somewhat of a mix between the effect of the GOT and the PLT suffix; the difference to GOT is that there will be a procedure linkage table entry created, and that the symbol is assumed to be a function entry and will be resolved by the run-time resolver as with PLT. The relocation is R_CRIS_32_GOTPLT. Example: jsr [$r0+fnname:GOTPLT]


A variant of GOTPLT giving a 16-bit value. Its relocation name is R_CRIS_16_GOTPLT. Example: jsr [$r0+fnname:GOTPLT16]


This suffix must only be attached to a local symbol, but may be used in an expression adding an offset. The value is the address of the symbol relative to the start of the global offset table. The relocation name is R_CRIS_32_GOTREL. Example: move.d [$r0+localsym:GOTOFF],r3

14.3.3. Register names

A $ character may always prefix a general or special register name in an instruction operand but is mandatory when the option -no-underscore is specified or when the .syntax register_prefix directive is in effect. Register names are case-insensitive.

14.3.4. Assembler Directives

There are a few CRIS-specific pseudo-directives in addition to the generic ones. Chapter 8 Assembler Directives. Constants emitted by pseudo-directives are in little-endian order for CRIS. There is no support for floating-point-specific directives for CRIS.


The .dword directive is a synonym for .int, expecting zero or more EXPRESSIONS, separated by commas. For each expression, a 32-bit little-endian constant is emitted.

.syntax ARGUMENT

The .syntax directive takes as ARGUMENT one of the following case-sensitive choices.


The .syntax no_register_prefix directive makes a $ character prefix on all registers optional. It overrides a previous setting, including the corresponding effect of the option -no-underscore. If this directive is used when ordinary symbols do not have a _ character prefix, care must be taken to avoid ambiguities whether an operand is a register or a symbol; using symbols with names the same as general or special registers then invoke undefined behavior.


This directive makes a $ character prefix on all registers mandatory. It overrides a previous setting, including the corresponding effect of the option -underscore.


This is an assertion directive, emitting an error if the -no-underscore option is in effect.


This is the opposite of the .syntax leading_underscore directive and emits an error if the option -underscore is in effect.