This directory (and its sub-directories) contain files for building the 
HAL assembler.  This assembler generates code for Digital's Alpha family of 
products.  It has been used to generate simple PALcode routines and module 
diagnostics, and is useful for any small to medium size assembly-level 
programming.  This is free software which is distributed without warranties 
or support.


The HAL Assembler is a simple, portable assembler which generates a binary 
image ready to be loaded directly into memory and executed.  It supports the 
full instruction set used by the DECchip 21064, and uses a syntax based on the 
VAX Macro-32 Assembler.  Its main feature is portability to any platform 
supporting a C compiler.  

The assembler consists of two parts - a pre-processor phase which converts 
many syntactical quirks and assembler directives into a consistent form, 
followed by the assembly phase which actually converts the mnemonics into 
machine code.  For more information about the assembler, see the file
"user_guide.txt" in this directory.



Files related to the HAL assembler:


README			This file

user_guide.txt		ASCII text file describing how to use the assembler

test.mar		Trivial example assembly-language file


pp/			Sub-directory containing source code for pre-processor

hal/			Sub-directory containing source code for main assembler

exe/			Sub-directory containing executable images for several
			platforms 









  We would appreciate knowing about problems, bugs, enhancement suggestions,
  or other comments related to the assembler.  However, please remember this
  is a free-ware product which is distributed without support and no warranty 
  of fitness for use.  We will do our best to respond to all requests, but
  make no promise of acknowledging or fixing any problem.

  All comments and problem reports can be sent via E-Mail to:

     assembler@ricks.enet.dec.com

