1 <!doctype linuxdoc system>
4 <title>cl65 Users Guide
5 <author><url url="mailto:uz@cc65.org" name="Ullrich von Bassewitz">
6 <date>01.08.2000, 27.11.2000, 02.10.2001
9 cl65 is the compile & link utility for cc65, the 6502 C compiler. It was
10 designed as a smart frontend for the C compiler (cc65), the assembler (ca65),
11 the object file converter (co65), and the linker (ld65).
14 <!-- Table of contents -->
17 <!-- Begin the document -->
21 cl65 is a frontend for cc65, ca65, co65 and ld65. While you may not use the
22 full power of the tools when calling them through cl65, most features are
23 available, and the use of cl65 is much simpler.
28 The cl65 compile and link utility may be used to convert, compile, assemble
29 and link files. While the separate tools do just one step, cl65 knows how to
30 build object files from C files (by calling the compiler, then the assembler)
34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
35 Usage: cl65 [options] file [...]
37 -c Compile and assemble but don't link
41 -l name Create an assembler listing file
42 -m name Create a map file
43 -mm model Set the memory model
44 -o name Name the output file
45 -r Enable register variables
46 -t sys Set the target system
47 -u sym Force an import of symbol `sym'
50 -C name Use linker config file
51 -Cl Make local variables static
52 -D sym[=defn] Define a preprocessor symbol
53 -I dir Set a compiler include directory path
54 -L path Specify a library search path
55 -Ln name Create a VICE label file
57 -Oi Optimize code, inline functions
58 -Or Optimize code, honour the register keyword
59 -Os Optimize code, inline known C funtions
60 -S Compile but don't assemble and link
61 -T Include source as comment
62 -V Print the version number
63 -W name[,...] Supress compiler warnings
64 -Wa options Pass options to the assembler
65 -Wc options Pass options to the compiler
66 -Wl options Pass options to the linker
69 --add-source Include source as comment
70 --asm-args options Pass options to the assembler
71 --asm-define sym[=v] Define an assembler symbol
72 --asm-include-dir dir Set an assembler include directory
73 --bin-include-dir dir Set an assembler binary include directory
74 --bss-label name Define and export a BSS segment label
75 --bss-name seg Set the name of the BSS segment
76 --cc-args options Pass options to the compiler
77 --cfg-path path Specify a config file search path
78 --check-stack Generate stack overflow checks
79 --code-label name Define and export a CODE segment label
80 --code-name seg Set the name of the CODE segment
81 --codesize x Accept larger code by factor x
82 --config name Use linker config file
83 --cpu type Set cpu type
84 --create-dep name Create a make dependency file
85 --create-full-dep name Create a full make dependency file
86 --data-label name Define and export a DATA segment label
87 --data-name seg Set the name of the DATA segment
89 --debug-info Add debug info
90 --feature name Set an emulation feature
91 --force-import sym Force an import of symbol `sym'
92 --help Help (this text)
93 --include-dir dir Set a compiler include directory path
94 --ld-args options Pass options to the linker
95 --lib file Link this library
96 --lib-path path Specify a library search path
97 --list-targets List all available targets
98 --listing name Create an assembler listing file
99 --list-bytes n Number of bytes per assembler listing line
100 --mapfile name Create a map file
101 --memory-model model Set the memory model
102 --module Link as a module
103 --module-id id Specify a module id for the linker
104 --o65-model model Override the o65 model
105 --obj file Link this object file
106 --obj-path path Specify an object file search path
107 --print-target-path Print the target file path
108 --register-space b Set space available for register variables
109 --register-vars Enable register variables
110 --rodata-name seg Set the name of the RODATA segment
111 --signed-chars Default characters are signed
112 --standard std Language standard (c89, c99, cc65)
113 --start-addr addr Set the default start address
114 --static-locals Make local variables static
115 --target sys Set the target system
116 --version Print the version number
117 --verbose Verbose mode
118 --zeropage-label name Define and export a ZEROPAGE segment label
119 --zeropage-name seg Set the name of the ZEROPAGE segment
120 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
123 Most of the options have the same meaning than the corresponding compiler,
124 assembler or linker option. See the documentation for these tools for an
125 explanation. If an option is available for more than one of the tools, it
126 is set for all tools, where it is available. One example for this is <tt/-v/:
127 The compiler, the assembler and the linker are all called with the <tt/-v/
130 There are a few remaining options that control the behaviour of cl65:
134 <tag><tt>-S</tt></tag>
136 This option forces cl65 to stop after the assembly step. This means that
137 C files are translated into assembler files, but nothing more is done.
138 Assembler files, object files and libraries given on the command line
142 <tag><tt>-c</tt></tag>
144 This options forces cl65 to stop after the assembly step. This means
145 that C and assembler files given on the command line are translated into
146 object files, but there is no link step, and object files and libraries
147 given on the command line are ignored.
150 <tag><tt>-o name</tt></tag>
152 The -o option is used for the target name in the final step. This causes
153 problems, if the linker will not be called, and there are several input
154 files on the command line. In this case, the name given with -o will be
155 used for all of them, which makes the option pretty useless. You
156 shouldn't use -o when more than one output file is created.
159 <tag><tt>--print-target-path</tt></tag>
161 This option prints the absolute path of the target file directory and exits
162 then. It is supposed to be used with shell backquotes or the GNU make shell
163 function. This way you can write build scripts or Makefiles accessing target
164 files without any assumption about the cc65 installation path.
167 <tag><tt>-t sys, --target sys</tt></tag>
169 The default for this option is different from the compiler and linker in the
170 case that the option is missing: While the other tools (compiler, assembler
171 and linker) will use the "none" system settings by default, cl65 will use
172 the C64 as a target system by default. This was chosen since most people
173 seem to use cc65 to develop for the C64.
176 <tag><tt>-Wa options, --asm-args options</tt></tag>
178 Pass options directly to the assembler. This may be used to pass options
179 that aren't directly supported by cl65. Several options may be separated by
180 commas, the commas are replaced by spaces when passing them to the
181 assembler. Beware: Passing arguments directly to the assembler may interfere
182 with some of the defaults, because cl65 doesn't parse the options passed. So
183 if cl65 supports an option by itself, do not pass this option to the
184 assembler by means of the <tt/-Wa/ switch.
187 <tag><tt>-Wc options, --cc-args options</tt></tag>
189 Pass options directly to the compiler. This may be used to pass options
190 that aren't directly supported by cl65. Several options may be separated by
191 commas, the commas are replaced by spaces when passing them to the
192 compiler. Beware: Passing arguments directly to the compiler may interfere
193 with some of the defaults, because cl65 doesn't parse the options passed. So
194 if cl65 supports an option by itself, do not pass this option to the
195 compiler by means of the <tt/-Wc/ switch.
198 <tag><tt>-Wl options, --ld-args options</tt></tag>
200 Pass options directly to the linker. This may be used to pass options that
201 aren't directly supported by cl65. Several options may be separated by
202 commas, the commas are replaced by spaces when passing them to the linker.
203 Beware: Passing arguments directly to the linker may interfere with some of
204 the defaults, because cl65 doesn't parse the options passed. So if cl65
205 supports an option by itself, do not pass this option to the linker by means
206 of the <tt/-Wl/ switch.
214 Since cl65 was created to simplify the use of the cc65 development
215 package, it tries to be smart about several things.
219 <item> If you don't give a target system on the command line, cl65
222 <item> When linking, cl65 will supply the names of the startup file and
223 library for the target system to the linker, so you don't have to do
226 <item> If the final step is the linker, and the name of the output file was
227 not explicitly given, cl65 will use the name of the first input file
228 without the extension, provided that the name of this file has an
229 extension. So you don't need to name the executable name in most
230 cases, just give the name of your "main" file as first input file.
233 The command line is parsed from left to right, and the actual processing tool
234 (compiler, assembler, ...) is invoked whenever a file name is encountered.
235 This means that only the options to the left of a file name are in effect when
236 this file is processed. It does also mean that you're able to specify
237 different options for different files on the command line. As an example.
240 cl65 -Oirs main.c -O -g module.c
243 translates main.c with full optimization and module.c with less optimization
244 and debug info enabled.
246 The type of an input file is derived from its extension:
249 <item>C files: <tt/.c/
250 <item>Assembler files: <tt/.s/, <tt/.asm/, <tt/.a65/
251 <item>Object files: <tt/.o/ <tt/.obj/
252 <item>Libraries: <tt/.a/, <tt/.lib/
253 <item>GEOS resource files: <tt/.grc/
254 <item>o65 files: <tt/.o65/, <tt/.emd/, <tt/.joy/, <tt/.tgi/
257 Please note that the program cannot handle input files with unknown file
263 The morse trainer software, which consists of one C file (morse.c) and one
264 assembler file (irq.s) will need the following separate steps to compile
265 into an executable named morse:
268 cc65 -g -Oi -t c64 morse.c
271 ld65 -o morse -t c64 c64.o morse.o irq.o c64.lib
274 When using cl65, this is simplified to
277 cl65 -g -Oi morse.c irq.s
280 As a general rule, you may use cl65 instead of cc65 at most times,
281 especially in makefiles to build object files directly from C files. Use
294 cl65 (and all cc65 binutils) are (C) Copyright 1998-2004 Ullrich von
295 Bassewitz. For usage of the binaries and/or sources the following
298 This software is provided 'as-is', without any expressed or implied
299 warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
300 arising from the use of this software.
302 Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
303 including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
304 freely, subject to the following restrictions:
307 <item> The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
308 claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
309 in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
310 appreciated but is not required.
311 <item> Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not
312 be misrepresented as being the original software.
313 <item> This notice may not be removed or altered from any source