srec_spasm(5)

πŸ’… srec_spasm β€” the SPASM file format, explained (SRecord, section 5 of the file formats manual)

okay so bestie, gather round, because we're talking about srec_spasm β€” literally the SPASM file format, and it's giving retro assembler energy ✨


πŸŽ€ NAME

srec_spasm β€” the SPASM file format. that's it, that's the name, no cap πŸ’–


🌸 DESCRIPTION

So this format is the output of the Paralax SPASM assembler β€” which is, sadly, now defunct, or at least that's what I'm told πŸ™ˆ rip bozo, gone but not forgotten.

The file itself is honestly so simple it's iconic: it contains two columns of 16-bit hexadecimal coded values. that's the whole vibe.

  • the first column is the word address πŸ‘‘
  • the second column is the word data πŸ¦‹

By default, SRecord treats this as big-endian data β€” meaning the most significant byte first, periodt. but if you're a little-endian girlie and you want that byte order instead, just use the -spasm-le argument. slay, we support you πŸ’…

⭐ Size Multiplier

real talk: in general, binary data will expand in size by approximately 5.0 times when represented with this format. and on Windows? it's 5.5 times. yeah. 5.5. we don't make the rules 😭


🌈 EXAMPLE

here's an example SPASM file, and it's lowkey cute. it contains the data Hello, World[rq] to be loaded at byte address 0x0100 β€” but remember, bestie, the file contents are word addressed, iykyk πŸ‘€

       0080 6548
       0081 6C6C
       0082 2C6F
       0083 5720
       0084 726F
       0085 646C

srec_cat version 1.65 Copyright (C) 1998... Peter Miller

The srec_cat program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY 🫢 β€” for details use the 'srec_cat -VERSion License' command. This is free software and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions β€” for details use the 'srec_cat -VERSion License' command. (yes, same command twice, it really said that, and honestly? iconic.)


🧚 MAINTAINER

  • Scott Finneran β€” E-Mail: scottfinneran@yahoo.com.au
  • Peter Miller β€” E-Mail: pmiller@opensource.org.au

the way this whole page is just word addresses and vibes… obsessed πŸ’– but fr fr, remember the big-endian default, the -spasm-le switch, and that 5.0Γ—/5.5Γ— size multiplier before you go off converting anything ✨

and that's the page, bestie β€” straight out of the Reference Manual for SRecord, dated and delivered as srec_spasm(5) πŸŽ€πŸ’…πŸ¦‹

πŸ“¦ where this page comes from