Zxb
Note: This section does not explain the ZX BASIC language, but the usage of its compiler: ZXB.
Introduction
ZXB is the main SDK executable. It can act both as a compiler or as a translator:
- When used as a compiler (this is the default behavior) it will convert a
.BAS
text file to a binary.BIN
or.TZX
file you can later run on your Spectrum or in a ZX Spectrum emulator. - If invoked as a translator it will convert a
.BAS
file to assembler (.ASM
source file). You can alter edit this assembler text file (for example to perform some low-level modifications or just to see how the compiler does it work!).
Using ZXB
ZXB is invoked from the command line as zxb.py if you used the Multiplatform (.zip) distribution or zxb if you installed the .MSI package.
Using ZXB is quite straightforward. You will need to type in a BASIC source in a text file. If you don't have any, create a file named helloworld.bas using your favorite text editor, and type in the following:
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
Save this text file as helloworld.bas
. Now let's compile it:
zxb.py helloworld.bas
NOTE: In Windows you should omit the trailing
.py
extension. So typezxb helloworld.bas
instead.
If everything went ok, no message should appear on the screen.
Now, if you examine your directory, you will see a helloworld.bin
binary file.
This file contains the bytes of your program.
Another supported output formats are .TAP
and .TZX
. These formats are supported by many emulators, and can also be converted into sound (WAV, MP3, VOC) to be later loaded on a real ZX Spectrum. TZX and TAP files can also contain a BASIC loader which will load the binary code and execute it. Let's use all of this together:
zxb.py helloworld.bas --tzx --BASIC --autorun
This will create a .tzx file. Open it with your preferred emulator, and type LOAD "". You will see a BASIC loader program executing and loading your code. The machine code is finally executed using RANDOMIZE USR 32768.
NOTE: 32768 (8000h) is the default ORG for your program.
You can change the default origin using the -S command line parameter.
Command Line Options
ZXB provides several (and useful) command line options. To see them, just type zxb.py -h, which outputs:
usage: zxb [-h] [-d] [-O OPTIMIZE] [-o OUTPUT_FILE] [-T] [-t] [-B] [-a] [-A]
[-S ORG] [-e STDERR] [--array-base ARRAY_BASE]
[--string-base STRING_BASE] [-Z] [-H HEAP_SIZE] [--debug-memory]
[--debug-array] [--strict-bool] [--enable-break] [-E] [--explicit]
[-D DEFINES] [-M MEMORY_MAP] [-i] [-I INCLUDE_PATH] [--strict]
[--version]
PROGRAM
positional arguments:
PROGRAM BASIC program file
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-d, --debug Enable verbosity/debugging output. Additional -d
increase verbosity/debug level
-O OPTIMIZE, --optimize OPTIMIZE
Sets optimization level. 0 = None (default level is 2)
-o OUTPUT_FILE, --output OUTPUT_FILE
Sets output file. Default is input filename with .bin
extension
-T, --tzx Sets output format to tzx (default is .bin)
-t, --tap Sets output format to tap (default is .bin)
-B, --BASIC Creates a BASIC loader which loads the rest of the
CODE. Requires -T ot -t
-a, --autorun Sets the program to be run once loaded
-A, --asm Sets output format to asm
-S ORG, --org ORG Start of machine code. By default 32768
-e STDERR, --errmsg STDERR
Error messages file (standard error console by
default)
--array-base ARRAY_BASE
Default lower index for arrays (0 by default)
--string-base STRING_BASE
Default lower index for strings (0 by default)
-Z, --sinclair Enable by default some more original ZX Spectrum
Sinclair BASIC features: ATTR, SCREEN$, POINT
-H HEAP_SIZE, --heap-size HEAP_SIZE
Sets heap size in bytes (default 4768 bytes)
--heap-size HEAP_ADDRESS
Sets the start address of the heap
--debug-memory Enables out-of-memory debug
--debug-array Enables array boundary checking
--strict-bool Enforce boolean values to be 0 or 1
--enable-break Enables program execution BREAK detection
-E, --emit-backend Emits backend code instead of ASM or binary
--explicit Requires all variables and functions to be declared
before used
-D DEFINES, --define DEFINES
Defines de given macro. Eg. -D MYDEBUG or -D
NAME=Value
-M MEMORY_MAP, --mmap MEMORY_MAP
Generate label memory map
-i, --ignore-case Ignore case. Makes variable names are case insensitive
-I INCLUDE_PATH, --include-path INCLUDE_PATH
Add colon separated list of directories to add to
include path. e.g. -I dir1:dir2
--strict Enables strict mode. Force explicit type declaration
--version show program's version number and exit
Some options (-h, --version) are quite obvious. Let's focus on the rest:
-
-d or -debug
This will show lots of (useless) debug information for the compiler developer (e.g. to me). Usually, you won't need this at all. -
-O or --optimize
The default optimization level is 1. Setting this to a value greater than 1 will enable the compiler code optimizations (e.g. Peephole optimizer). Setting this to 0 will produce slower code, but could be useful for debugging purposes (both for the compiler or the BASIC program). A value of 3 will enable aggressive optimizations not fully tested yet! So, beware! -
-o or --output
Sets the output file name. By default it will be the same as the input file, but with the extension changed as appropriated (.BIN, .TAP, .ASM, .TZX). -
-T or --tzx
Outputs the binary result in TZX Format. This format can be converted to sound (.WAV or .MP3). -
-t or --tap
Outputs the binary result in TAP Format. -
-B or --BASIC
This is a very useful option. It will prepend a ZX spectrum BASIC loader that will load the rest of your binary compiled program. This option requires the --tap or --tzx to be specified. This way you can typeLOAD ""
to load your program. -
-a or --autorun
Makes your program to run automatically. If specified with the-B
or--basic
option, your program will autorun if loaded withLOAD ""
. If--basic
is no used this option is ignored. -
-A or --asm
This will create the .asm (assembler) file. Useful to see / edit the assembler code. You could later assemble it using ZXbasm included assembler. -
-S or --org
This will change the default machine code ORiGin. By default your code will start at memory position 32768 (8000h). But you can change this with this parameter. -
-e or --stderr
This specifies an output file name for error msgs. This is useful if you want to capture compilation error messages (for example, to call ZX BASIC compiler from within an IDE). -
--array-base
Unlike original Sinclair BASIC, array indexes starts from 0, not from 1 (see DIM). You can change this behavior. For example setting--array-base=1
will make array indexes start from 1 (like in Sinclair BASIC). This option (array-base=1) is active when--sinclair
compatibility flag is specified. -
--string-base
Unlike original Sinclair BASIC, string indexes starts from 0, not from 1. That is, in ZX BASIC, a$(1) is the 2nd letter in a$ string variable, and a$(0) the 1st. You can change this behavior, setting which position in the string refers to the 1st letter. For example, setting--string-base=1
will make strings start from 1 (like in Sinclair BASIC). This option (string-base=1) is active when--sinclair
compatibility flag is specified. -
-Z or --sinclair
Tries to make ZX BASIC as much compatible as possible with Sinclair BASIC (ej. Arrays and Strings start at position 1). Also includes some external functions likePOINT
,ATTR
andSCREEN$
, not available by default (they are in external libraries). -
-H or --heap-size
Set the size of the heap. Default heap size is above 4K (4768 bytes exactly). The heap is a memory zone used to store and manipulate strings (and other dynamic size objects where available). If you don't make use of strings, you can get back part of the heap memory. You might also need more heap space, so set it with this flag. The heap zone comes at the end of your program, and it size is fixed (won't change during program execution). -
--debug-memory
During your program execution, using strings might fail due to lack of memory, but your program won't report it and will continue executing (except the strings not fitting into the heap will be converted toNULL
string or""
). The same aplies to other dynamic objects. So enabling this flag, will make your program to stop reporting a ROM Out of memory error. This will add a little overhead to your program execution, but it's useful to detect Out of Memory errors. -
--debug-array
As above, using wrong subscript (out of range) in arrays won't trigger an error. Setting this flag will raise ROM error Subscript out of Range. This flag will add a little overhead to your program execution, but it's useful to detect Out of Range errors. -
--strict-bool
By default, ZX BASIC will treat boolean values as 0 = False, Any other value = True. Some programmers expect TRUE = 1 always. Using this option will enforce boolean results to be always 0 or 1. Using this option might add a little overhead to your program. Using--sinclair
option will also enable this feature. -
--enable-break
Unlike Sinclair BASIC, Your program, being converted to machine code, won't be affected by BREAK. If you enable this flag, you will be able to stop your program pressing BREAK (Shift + SPACE). The ROM Break message will also report the line in which the program was interrupted. This option will add some overhead to your program. -
--explicit
Requires all variables to be declared with DIM before being used. This is something similar to Sinclair BASIC, in which when you tried to read a variable not previously set, a "Variable not Found" error was triggered. This option is really useful and you should enable it for large programs. -
--strict
Requires all variables (and parameters and functions!) to have an explicit type declared (e.g. Uinteger). Otherwise, forgetting a type will cause an error and the program won't compile. This is very useful to avoid forgetting type declarations. When the type is explicitly declared the compiler can make better assumptions and further error checking and optimizations.
This is all you need to know to use the compiler. Proceed to the ZX BASIC page for a language reference.