1 <!doctype linuxdoc system>
4 <title>cl65 Users Guide
5 <author><url url="mailto:uz@cc65.org" name="Ullrich von Bassewitz">,<newline>
6 <url url="mailto:greg.king5@verizon.net" name="Greg King">
10 cl65 is the compile & link utility for cc65, the 6502 C compiler. It was
11 designed as a smart frontend for the C compiler (cc65), the assembler (ca65),
12 the object file converter (co65), and the linker (ld65).
15 <!-- Table of contents -->
18 <!-- Begin the document -->
22 cl65 is a frontend for cc65, ca65, co65 and ld65. While you may not use the
23 full power of the tools when calling them through cl65, most features are
24 available, and the use of cl65 is much simpler.
29 The cl65 compile and link utility may be used to convert, compile, assemble
30 and link files. While the separate tools do just one step, cl65 knows how to
31 build object files from C files (by calling the compiler, then the assembler)
35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
36 Usage: cl65 [options] file [...]
38 -c Compile and assemble but don't link
42 -l name Create an assembler listing file
43 -m name Create a map file
44 -mm model Set the memory model
45 -o name Name the output file
46 -r Enable register variables
47 -t sys Set the target system
48 -u sym Force an import of symbol `sym'
51 -C name Use linker config file
52 -Cl Make local variables static
53 -D sym[=defn] Define a preprocessor symbol
54 -E Stop after the preprocessing stage
55 -I dir Set a compiler include directory path
56 -L path Specify a library search path
57 -Ln name Create a VICE label file
59 -Oi Optimize code, inline more code
60 -Or Optimize code, honour the register keyword
61 -Os Optimize code, inline standard funtions
62 -S Compile but don't assemble and link
63 -T Include source as comment
64 -V Print the version number
65 -W name[,...] Supress compiler warnings
66 -Wa options Pass options to the assembler
67 -Wc options Pass options to the compiler
68 -Wl options Pass options to the linker
71 --add-source Include source as comment
72 --asm-args options Pass options to the assembler
73 --asm-define sym[=v] Define an assembler symbol
74 --asm-include-dir dir Set an assembler include directory
75 --bin-include-dir dir Set an assembler binary include directory
76 --bss-label name Define and export a BSS segment label
77 --bss-name seg Set the name of the BSS segment
78 --cc-args options Pass options to the compiler
79 --cfg-path path Specify a config file search path
80 --check-stack Generate stack overflow checks
81 --code-label name Define and export a CODE segment label
82 --code-name seg Set the name of the CODE segment
83 --codesize x Accept larger code by factor x
84 --config name Use linker config file
85 --cpu type Set cpu type
86 --create-dep name Create a make dependency file
87 --create-full-dep name Create a full make dependency file
88 --data-label name Define and export a DATA segment label
89 --data-name seg Set the name of the DATA segment
91 --debug-info Add debug info
92 --feature name Set an emulation feature
93 --force-import sym Force an import of symbol `sym'
94 --help Help (this text)
95 --include-dir dir Set a compiler include directory path
96 --ld-args options Pass options to the linker
97 --lib file Link this library
98 --lib-path path Specify a library search path
99 --list-targets List all available targets
100 --listing name Create an assembler listing file
101 --list-bytes n Number of bytes per assembler listing line
102 --mapfile name Create a map file
103 --memory-model model Set the memory model
104 --module Link as a module
105 --module-id id Specify a module id for the linker
106 --o65-model model Override the o65 model
107 --obj file Link this object file
108 --obj-path path Specify an object file search path
109 --print-target-path Print the target file path
110 --register-space b Set space available for register variables
111 --register-vars Enable register variables
112 --rodata-name seg Set the name of the RODATA segment
113 --signed-chars Default characters are signed
114 --standard std Language standard (c89, c99, cc65)
115 --start-addr addr Set the default start address
116 --static-locals Make local variables static
117 --target sys Set the target system
118 --version Print the version number
119 --verbose Verbose mode
120 --zeropage-label name Define and export a ZEROPAGE segment label
121 --zeropage-name seg Set the name of the ZEROPAGE segment
122 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
125 Most of the options have the same meanings as the corresponding compiler,
126 assembler, and linker options. See the documentation for those tools for an
127 explanation. If an option is available for more than one of the tools, it
128 is set for all tools where it is available. One example for that is <tt/-v/:
129 The compiler, the assembler, and the linker are all called with the <tt/-v/
132 There are a few remaining options that control the behaviour of cl65:
136 <tag><tt>-E</tt></tag>
138 This option is passed to the cc65 compiler; and, it forces cl65 to stop
139 before the assembly step. That means that C-level preprocessor directives
140 are obeyed; and, macroes are expanded. But, the C source isn't compiled.
141 If the <tt/-o/ option isn't used, then the C code results are written into
142 files with a ".i" suffix on their base names. Assembler files, object
143 files, and libraries given on the command line are ignored.
146 <tag><tt>-S</tt></tag>
148 This option forces cl65 to stop before the assembly step. That means that
149 C files are translated into assembler files; but, nothing more is done.
150 Assembler files, object files, and libraries given on the command line
154 <tag><tt>-c</tt></tag>
156 This option forces cl65 to stop after the assembly step. That means
157 that C and assembler files given on the command line are translated into
158 object files; but, there is no link step. Object files and libraries
159 given on the command line are ignored.
162 <tag><tt>-o name</tt></tag>
164 The -o option is used for the target name in the final step. That causes
165 problems if the linker will not be called, and there are several input
166 files on the command line. In that case, the name given with -o will be
167 used for all of them, which makes the option pretty useless. You
168 shouldn't use <tt/-o/ when more than one output file is created.
171 <tag><tt>--print-target-path</tt></tag>
173 This option prints the absolute path of the target file directory, and exits
174 then. It is supposed to be used with shell backquotes or the GNU make shell
175 function. That way, you can write build scripts or Makefiles accessing target
176 files without any assumption about the cc65 installation path.
179 <tag><tt>-t sys, --target sys</tt></tag>
181 The default for this option is different from the compiler and linker, in the
182 case that the option is missing: While the other tools (compiler, assembler,
183 and linker) will use the "none" system settings by default, cl65 will use
184 "c64" as a target system by default. That was chosen because most people
185 seem to use cc65 to develop for the C64.
188 <tag><tt>-Wa options, --asm-args options</tt></tag>
190 Pass options directly to the assembler. This may be used to pass options
191 that aren't directly supported by cl65. Several options may be separated by
192 commas; the commas are replaced by spaces when passing them to the
193 assembler. Beware: Passing arguments directly to the assembler might interfere
194 with some of the defaults because cl65 doesn't parse the options passed. So,
195 if cl65 supports an option by itself, do not pass that option to the
196 assembler by means of the <tt/-Wa/ switch.
199 <tag><tt>-Wc options, --cc-args options</tt></tag>
201 Pass options directly to the compiler. This may be used to pass options
202 that aren't directly supported by cl65. Several options may be separated by
203 commas; the commas are replaced by spaces when passing them to the
204 compiler. Beware: Passing arguments directly to the compiler might interfere
205 with some of the defaults because cl65 doesn't parse the options passed. So,
206 if cl65 supports an option by itself, do not pass that option to the
207 compiler by means of the <tt/-Wc/ switch.
210 <tag><tt>-Wl options, --ld-args options</tt></tag>
212 Pass options directly to the linker. This may be used to pass options that
213 aren't directly supported by cl65. Several options may be separated by
214 commas; the commas are replaced by spaces when passing them to the linker.
215 Beware: Passing arguments directly to the linker might interfere with some of
216 the defaults because cl65 doesn't parse the options passed. So, if cl65
217 supports an option by itself, do not pass that option to the linker by means
218 of the <tt/-Wl/ switch.
226 Because cl65 was created to simplify the use of the cc65 development
227 package, it tries to be smart about several things.
231 <item> If you don't give a target system on the command line, cl65
234 <item> When linking, cl65 will supply the name of the library file for
235 the target system to the linker; so, you don't have to do that.
237 <item> If the final step is the linker, and the name of the output file was
238 not explicitly given, cl65 will use the name of the first input file
239 without the extension, provided that the name of that file has an
240 extension. So, you don't need to give the executable name in most
241 cases; just give the name of your "main" file as the first input file.
244 The command line is parsed from left to right, and the actual processing tool
245 (compiler, assembler, ...) is invoked whenever a file name is encountered.
246 This means that only the options to the left of a file name are in effect when
247 this file is processed. It does also mean that you're able to specify
248 different options for different files on the command line. As an example.
251 cl65 -Oirs main.c -O -g module.c
254 translates main.c with full optimization and module.c with less optimization
255 and debug info enabled.
257 The type of an input file is derived from its extension:
260 <item>C files: <tt/.c/
261 <item>Assembler files: <tt/.s/, <tt/.asm/, <tt/.a65/
262 <item>Object files: <tt/.o/, <tt/.obj/
263 <item>Libraries: <tt/.a/, <tt/.lib/
264 <item>GEOS resource files: <tt/.grc/
265 <item>o65 files: <tt/.o65/, <tt/.emd/, <tt/.joy/, <tt/.tgi/
268 Please note that the program cannot handle input files with unknown file
274 The morse trainer software, which consists of one C file (morse.c) and one
275 assembler file (irq.s) will need the following separate steps to compile
276 into an executable named morse:
279 cc65 -g -Oi -t c64 morse.c
282 ld65 -o morse -t c64 c64.o morse.o irq.o c64.lib
285 When using cl65, this is simplified to
288 cl65 -g -Oi morse.c irq.s
291 As a general rule, you may use cl65 instead of cc65 at most times,
292 especially in makefiles to build object files directly from C files. Use
305 cl65 (and all cc65 binutils) are (C) Copyright 1998-2004 Ullrich von
306 Bassewitz. For usage of the binaries and/or sources the following
309 This software is provided 'as-is', without any expressed or implied
310 warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
311 arising from the use of this software.
313 Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
314 including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
315 freely, subject to the following restrictions:
318 <item> The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
319 claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
320 in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
321 appreciated but is not required.
322 <item> Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not
323 be misrepresented as being the original software.
324 <item> This notice may not be removed or altered from any source