ref: 4c51792f15e8c2732e5e915c853324d13b4bcc71
dir: /man/rgbds.5/
.\"
.\" This file is part of RGBDS.
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2017-2021, Antonio Nino Diaz and RGBDS contributors.
.\"
.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
.\"
.Dd March 28, 2021
.Dt RGBDS 5
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm rgbds
.Nd object file format documentation
.Sh DESCRIPTION
This is the description of the object files used by
.Xr rgbasm 1
and
.Xr rgblink 1 .
.Em Please note that the specifications may change .
This toolchain is in development and new features may require adding more information to the current format, or modifying some fields, which would break compatibility with older versions.
.Sh FILE STRUCTURE
The following types are used:
.Pp
.Ar LONG
is a 32-bit integer stored in little-endian format.
.Ar BYTE
is an 8-bit integer.
.Ar STRING
is a 0-terminated string of
.Ar BYTE .
.Bd -literal
; Header
BYTE ID[4] ; "RGB9"
LONG RevisionNumber ; The format's revision number this file uses.
LONG NumberOfSymbols ; The number of symbols used in this file.
LONG NumberOfSections ; The number of sections used in this file.
; File info
LONG NumberOfNodes ; The number of nodes contained in this file.
REPT NumberOfNodes ; IMPORTANT NOTE: the nodes are actually written in
; **reverse** order, meaning the node with ID 0 is
; the last one in the file!
LONG ParentID ; ID of the parent node, -1 means this is the root.
LONG ParentLineNo ; Line at which the parent context was exited.
; Meaningless on the root node.
BYTE Type ; 0 = REPT node
; 1 = File node
; 2 = Macro node
IF Type != 0 ; If the node is not a REPT...
STRING Name ; The node's name: either a file name, or macro name
; prefixed by its definition file name.
ELSE ; If the node is a REPT, it also contains the iter
; counts of all the parent REPTs.
LONG Depth ; Size of the array below.
LONG Iter[Depth] ; The number of REPT iterations by increasing depth.
ENDC
ENDR
; Symbols
REPT NumberOfSymbols ; Number of symbols defined in this object file.
STRING Name ; The name of this symbol. Local symbols are stored
; as "Scope.Symbol".
BYTE Type ; 0 = LOCAL symbol only used in this file.
; 1 = IMPORT this symbol from elsewhere
; 2 = EXPORT this symbol to other objects.
IF (Type & 0x7F) != 1 ; If symbol is defined in this object file.
LONG SourceFile ; File where the symbol is defined.
LONG LineNum ; Line number in the file where the symbol is defined.
LONG SectionID ; The section number (of this object file) in which
; this symbol is defined. If it doesn't belong to any
; specific section (like a constant), this field has
; the value -1.
LONG Value ; The symbols value. It's the offset into that
; symbol's section.
ENDC
ENDR
; Sections
REPT NumberOfSections
STRING Name ; Name of the section
LONG Size ; Size in bytes of this section
BYTE Type ; 0 = WRAM0
; 1 = VRAM
; 2 = ROMX
; 3 = ROM0
; 4 = HRAM
; 5 = WRAMX
; 6 = SRAM
; 7 = OAM
; Bits 7 and 6 are independent from the above value:
; Bit 7 encodes whether the section is unionized
; Bit 6 encodes whether the section is a fragment
; Bits 6 and 7 may not be both set at the same time!
LONG Org ; Address to fix this section at. -1 if the linker should
; decide (floating address).
LONG Bank ; Bank to load this section into. -1 if the linker should
; decide (floating bank). This field is only valid for ROMX,
; VRAM, WRAMX and SRAM sections.
BYTE Align ; Alignment of this section, as N bits. 0 when not specified.
LONG Ofs ; Offset relative to the alignment specified above.
; Must be below 1 << Align.
IF (Type == ROMX) || (Type == ROM0) ; Sections that can contain data.
BYTE Data[Size] ; Raw data of the section.
LONG NumberOfPatches ; Number of patches to apply.
REPT NumberOfPatches
LONG SourceFile ; ID of the source file node (for printing
; error messages).
LONG LineNo ; Line at which the patch was created.
LONG Offset ; Offset into the section where patch should
; be applied (in bytes).
LONG PCSectionID ; Index within the file of the section in which
; PC is located.
; This is usually the same section that the
; patch should be applied into, except e.g.
; with LOAD blocks.
LONG PCOffset ; PC's offset into the above section.
; Used because the section may be floating, so
; PC's value is not known to RGBASM.
BYTE Type ; 0 = BYTE patch.
; 1 = little endian WORD patch.
; 2 = little endian LONG patch.
; 3 = JR offset value BYTE patch.
LONG RPNSize ; Size of the buffer with the RPN.
; expression.
BYTE RPN[RPNSize] ; RPN expression. Definition below.
ENDR
ENDC
ENDR
; Assertions
LONG NumberOfAssertions
REPT NumberOfAssertions
LONG SourceFile ; ID of the source file node (for printing the failure).
LONG LineNo ; Line at which the assertion was created.
LONG Offset ; Offset into the section where the assertion is located.
LONG SectionID ; Index within the file of the section in which PC is
; located, or -1 if defined outside a section.
LONG PCOffset ; PC's offset into the above section.
; Used because the section may be floating, so PC's value
; is not known to RGBASM.
BYTE Type ; 0 = Prints the message but allows linking to continue
; 1 = Prints the message and evaluates other assertions,
; but linking fails afterwards
; 2 = Prints the message and immediately fails linking
LONG RPNSize ; Size of the RPN expression's buffer.
BYTE RPN[RPNSize] ; RPN expression, same as patches. Assert fails if == 0.
STRING Message ; A message displayed when the assert fails. If set to
; the empty string, a generic message is printed instead.
ENDR
.Ed
.Ss RPN DATA
Expressions in the object file are stored as RPN.
This is an expression of the form
.Dq 2 5 + .
This will first push the value
.Do 2 Dc to the stack, then
.Dq 5 .
The
.Do + Dc operator pops two arguments from the stack, adds them, and then pushes the result on the stack, effectively replacing the two top arguments with their sum.
In the RGB format, RPN expressions are stored as
.Ar BYTE Ns s
with some bytes being special prefixes for integers and symbols.
.Bl -column -offset indent "Sy String" "Sy String"
.It Sy Value Ta Sy Meaning
.It Li $00 Ta Li + operator
.It Li $01 Ta Li - operator
.It Li $02 Ta Li * operator
.It Li $03 Ta Li / operator
.It Li $04 Ta Li % operator
.It Li $05 Ta Li unary -
.It Li $06 Ta Li ** operator
.It Li $10 Ta Li \&| operator
.It Li $11 Ta Li & operator
.It Li $12 Ta Li ^ operator
.It Li $13 Ta Li unary ~
.It Li $21 Ta Li && comparison
.It Li $22 Ta Li || comparison
.It Li $23 Ta Li unary \&!
.It Li $30 Ta Li == comparison
.It Li $31 Ta Li != comparison
.It Li $32 Ta Li > comparison
.It Li $33 Ta Li < comparison
.It Li $34 Ta Li >= comparison
.It Li $35 Ta Li <= comparison
.It Li $40 Ta Li << operator
.It Li $41 Ta Li >> operator
.It Li $42 Ta Li >>> operator
.It Li $50 Ta Li BANK(symbol) ,
a
.Ar LONG
Symbol ID follows, where -1 means PC
.It Li $51 Ta Li BANK(section_name) ,
a null-terminated string follows.
.It Li $52 Ta Li Current BANK()
.It Li $53 Ta Li SIZEOF(section_name) ,
a null-terminated string follows.
.It Li $54 Ta Li STARTOF(section_name) ,
a null-terminated string follows.
.It Li $60 Ta Li HRAMCheck .
Checks if the value is in HRAM, ANDs it with 0xFF.
.It Li $61 Ta Li RSTCheck .
Checks if the value is a RST vector, ORs it with 0xC7.
.It Li $80 Ta Ar LONG
integer follows.
.It Li $81 Ta Ar LONG
symbol ID follows.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr rgbasm 1 ,
.Xr rgblink 1 ,
.Xr rgbds 7 ,
.Xr gbz80 7
.Sh HISTORY
.Nm
was originally written by Carsten S\(/orensen as part of the ASMotor package,
and was later packaged in RGBDS by Justin Lloyd.
It is now maintained by a number of contributors at
.Lk https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds .