Command Usage
Table of Contents
This is subject to change in the future. In general, command-line mode has not changed very much since MARS 4.5, and this feature will likely be cleaned up and improved before version 5.0.
Syntax
Command syntax takes the following format, where mars.jar is the path to the JAR file for the MARS Red application. (Items surrounded by [] are optional.)
java -jar mars.jar [options...] <asmfiles...> [pa <args...>]
Valid options (case-insensitive, separated by spaces):
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
a | Assemble only, do not simulate. |
ae<n> | Terminate MARS with integer exit code n if an assemble error occurs. |
ascii | Display memory or register contents interpreted as ASCII. |
b | Brief; do not display register/memory address along with contents. |
d | Print debugging statements. |
da or ad | Both a and d. |
db | Enable delayed branching. |
dec | Display memory or register contents in decimal. |
dump <segment> <format> <file> | Dump memory contents to file. Supports an address range (see <m>-<n> below). Current supported segments are .text and .data. Current supported dump formats are Binary, HexText, BinaryText. |
h | Display help. Use by itself and with no filename. |
hex | Display memory or register contents in hexadecimal (default). |
ic | Display count of MIPS basic instructions ‘executed’. |
mc <config> | Set memory configuration, where config is Default for the MARS default 32-bit address space, CompactDataAtZero for a 32KB address space with data segment at address 0, or CompactTextAtZero for a 32KB address space with text segment at address 0. |
me | Display MARS messages to standard error instead of standard output. Can separate via redirection. |
nc | Do not display copyright notice (for cleaner redirected/piped output). |
np or ne | No extended instructions (pseudo-instructions) allowed. |
p | Project mode; assemble all files in the same directory as given file. |
se<n> | Terminate MARS with integer exit code n if a simulation error occurs. |
sm | Start execution at main. Execution will start at program statement globally labeled main. |
smc | Allow self-modifying code. If enabled, the program can write and branch to either text or data segment. |
we | Assembler warnings will be considered errors. |
<n> | Set the step limit, where n is the maximum number of steps to simulate. If 0, negative or not specified, no step limit will be applied. |
<reg> | Display register contents after simulation, where reg is the number or name (e.g. $5, $t3, $f10) of a register. May be repeated to specify multiple registers. The $ is not required, except for register numbers such as $5. |
<m>-<n> | Display memory address range from m (inclusive) to n (exclusive) after simulation, where m and n may be hex or decimal, m ≤ n, and both must lie on a word boundary. May be repeated to specify multiple memory address ranges. |
pa <args...> | Specify program arguments separated by spaces. This option must be the last one specified since everything that follows it is interpreted as a program argument to be made available to the MIPS program at runtime. |