ARM Assembler Command-Line Reference

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This article provides command-line information about the Microsoft ARM assembler, armasm, which compiles ARMv7 Thumb assembly language into the Microsoft implementation of the Common Object File Format (COFF). The linker can link COFF code with object code that is produced by the ARM assembler or by the C compiler, together with object libraries that are created by the librarian.

armasm [[options]] sourcefile objectfile

armasm [[options]] -o objectfile sourcefile

Parameters

  • options

    • -errors filename
      Redirect error and warning messages to filename.

    • -i dir[;dir]
      Add the specified directories to the include search path.

    • -predefine directive
      Specify a SETA, SETL, or SETS directive to predefine a symbol. Example: armasm.exe -predefine "COUNT SETA 150" source.asm. For more information, see the ARM assembler tools guide.

    • -nowarn
      Disable all warning messages.

    • -ignore warning
      Disable the specified warning. For possible values, see the section about warnings.

    • -help
      Print the command-line help message.

    • -machine machine
      Specify the machine type to set in the PE header. Possible values for machine are:
      ARM—Sets the machine type to IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_ARMNT. This is the default.
      THUMB—Sets the machine type to IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_THUMB.

    • -oldit
      Generate ARMv7-style IT blocks. By default, ARMv8-compatible IT blocks are generated.

    • -via filename
      Read additional command-line arguments from filename.

    • -16
      Assemble source as 16-bit Thumb instructions. This is the default.

    • -32
      Assemble source as 32-bit ARM instructions.

    • -g
      Generate debugging information.

    • -errorReport: option
      Specify how internal assembler errors are reported to Microsoft. Possible values for option are:
      none—Do not send reports.
      prompt—Prompt the user to send reports immediately.
      queue—Prompt the user to send reports at the next admin logon. This is the default.
      send—Send reports automatically.

  • sourcefile
    The name of the source file.

  • objectfile
    The name of the object (output) file.

The following example demonstrates how to use armasm in a typical scenario. First, use armasm to build an assembly language source (.asm) file to an object (.obj) file. Then, use the CL command-line C compiler to compile a source (.c) file, and also specify the linker option to link the ARM object file.

armasm myasmcode.asm -o myasmcode.obj

cl myccode.c /link myasmcode.obj

See Also

Reference

ARM Assembler Diagnostic Messages

ARM Assembler Directives