P?S/8 Pal Technical Guide

Summary

The P?S/8 PAL Technical Guide provides comprehensive documentation for the P?S/8 PAL assembler, a general-purpose assembler for PDP-8 assembly language. This version (8S) serves as a standard component within the P?S/8 operating system.

Key aspects covered in the guide include:

• Assembly Features: Detailed descriptions of language features, including unique capabilities like "conditional literals," which allow for dynamic memory addressing based on the assembly state.
• Operating Modes: Instructions for using both standard PDP-8 mode and dual-mode (PDP-8 and LINC) assembly, compatible with systems such as the LINC-8 and PDP-12.
• Command-Line Options: Extensive information on the many command-line switches available to configure assembly, binary output, listing formats, memory management, and automatic chaining to other utilities like P?S/8 BIN (loader/utility) and P?S/8 MAP (bitmap creation).
• Performance: A comparison with other PDP-8 assemblers (such as OS/8 PAL8 and TOPS-10 PAL10), highlighting the assembler's efficiency and features, such as single-pass assembly options for early development.
• Directives: An appendix detailing standard and unique assembler directives, including critical warnings regarding the use of the DTORG directive.
• File Management: Documentation on the P?S/8 Tiny File System (TFS), including input/output file handling and the "Slurp" binary format, which is optimized for efficiency on P?S/8 configurations.
• Glossary: Explanations of core technical terms related to the P?S/8 environment, including binary formats (BIN, RIM, Slurp), memory management, and file systems.