Programming Assignment P6 - LC-3 String Library

P6a - Due Sunday, Mar. 6 at 11:59pm, no late period.

P6b - Due Sunday, Mar. 20 at 11:59pm, no late period.

See the details of which subroutines must be implemented for P6a and P6b below.

This assignment has a number of objectives:

Writing a larger LC-3 assembly language program with subroutines.
Practice writing loops and conditionals in LC-3.
Learn how subroutines call other subroutines.
Learn how to use a register calling convention for subroutines.
Write some simple I/O in LC-3.
Give you a sense of how C stores and manipulates strings.
Learn how to use the LC-3 debugger to execute portions of your code.

You will complete an LC-3 assembly language program that implements a number of subroutines. Several of these subroutines are duplicates of C functions for strings. Subroutine parameters will be passed in register(s) R0/R1 and results will be returned in register(s). You may find that you do not have enough registers to keep all of your variables in registers. In this case, you will create variables to hold them.

The following list is the set of subroutines you must implement.

pack(b1, b0) - Pack (combines) the lower 8 bits of R0 and the lower 8 bits of R1 and pack them into a single 16 bit quantity in R0. The lower 8 bits of R0 will be in the upper 8 bits of the result.
unpack(b) - Unpack the 16 bits in R0 into registers R0/R1 such that the upper 8 bits of R0 are stored in the lower 8 bits of R0 and the lower 8 bits of R0 are stored in the lower 8 bits of R1.
printCC() - Print the word NEGATIVE, ZERO, POSITIVE depending on the value in register R0. At exit, register R0 contains the original value. Each word is followed by a newline. Do not depend on the condition code being set on entry. The test of strcmp() uses this method.
strlen(s) - On entry R0 contains the address of a valid (null terminated) C string. On exit, R0 contains the length.
strcpy(dest, src) - On entry R0 contains a pointer to the destination string (dest), and R1 contains a pointer to the source string (src). On exit, src has been copied to dest and R0 contains a pointer to dest.
strcat(dest, src) - On entry R0 contains a pointer to the destination string (dest), and R1 contains a pointer to the source string (src). On exit, src has been appended to the end of dest and R0 contains a pointer to dest.
strcmp(s1, s2) - On entry R0 contains a pointer to a string (s1), and R1 contains another pointer to a string (s2). On exit R0 contains a negative number if s1 < s2, zero if s1 == s2 and a positive number if s1 > s2, based on the lexigraphic ordering.

Getting Started

Start with the file string.asm. You may assemble and run the program. For many of the subroutines you will be prompted to enter a string (see the blue "console"). Enter whatever you like (<256 chars). Your entry is terminated when you press the Enter key. As with any project, incremental development will improve your efficiency.

You might first write pseudo-code in a C or Java syntax to understand the algorithum for a subroutine. If your pseudo code uses variables, you may want to declare these variables for you subroutine. Declare them before the first statement of the subroutine. Although using variables may make your code a little longer, it is likely that you will get correct results more quickly if you use them. When you need a value, simply load it from the memory. When you update the value, write it back to memory. This is the load/store model.

When you write the LC-3 code for a subroutine, you may find it helpful if you add comments in each subroutine that explain how you are allocating the registers. For example, you might write ; R4 holds the count.

Testing/debugging each individual subroutines follows a pattern:

Write/modify the code for a single subroutines.
Assemble your program using lc3as.
Load your program into the simulator/debugger.
Set the variable Option to the index of the routine you wish to test. You may want to change the .FILL value so that you do not need to continually reset it as you write, and debug your subroutine.
Set a break point at the entry of your subroutine, or wherever you would like to start your debugging.
Continue the simulator/debugger. If you have set a breakpoint, it will stop when your program reaches that line. Use Step/Next to watch your code execute and examine registers and memory locations for correctness. You will want to use Next so that you do NOT step into the traps GETS, PUTS, PUTSP, GETC, OUT. You may step into them, but you will find them very tedious to step through.
When the program halts, examine output and/or memory locations for results.
Test your code with multiple test values and verify results

When you have completed one subroutine, move on to the next one.

You may want to call one subroutine from another, or add subroutines to accomplish specific tasks. Do not duplicate code in multiple places. Recall that calling a subroutine from another subroutine requires careful handling of the return address (R7), and that registers from the calling routine may be overwritten.

Grading Criteria

First installment of assignment (P6a):

Implement pack, unpack, and printCC.
Preliminary testing will verify pack and unpack (80 points).
Final testing will add printCC (20 points).

Second installment of assignment (P6b):

Implement strlen, strcpy, strcat, and strcmp.
Preliminary testing will verify strlen and strcpy (50 points).
Final testing will add strcat and strcmp(50 points).

Assignments Submission

Submit the single file string.asm using the Checkin tab of the course website.

Programming Assignment P6 - LC-3 String Library

P6a - Due Sunday, Mar. 6 at 11:59pm, no late period. P6b - Due Sunday, Mar. 20 at 11:59pm, no late period.

Getting Started

Grading Criteria

Assignments Submission

P6a - Due Sunday, Mar. 6 at 11:59pm, no late period.

P6b - Due Sunday, Mar. 20 at 11:59pm, no late period.