DEFASM: a microprogram meta-assembler with semantic capability

A microprogram assembler which can assemble code for any user-defined target machine, i.e. a metamicroassembler, is described. Its most important feature is a definition phase where a description of the actual microinstruction set is given once for all, using a simple definition language. Within this definition phase, simple semantic controls may be introduced to facilitate the detection of errors that microprogram writers tend to make when the target machine has a high degree of parallelism, i.e. when long microinstructions are used.