HLASM Language Reference

Terms, Literals, and Expressions
For C-type character self-defining terms, each character in the character sequence
is assembled as its 8-bit code equivalent (see Appendix D, “Standard Character
Set Code Table” on page 421). The two single quotation marks or ampersands
that must be used to represent a single quotation mark or ampersand within the
character sequence are assembled as a single quotation mark or ampersand.
Double-byte data may appear in a character self-defining term, if the DBCS
assembler option is specified. The assembled value includes the SO and SI
delimiters. Hence a character self-defining term containing double-byte data is
limited to one double-byte character delimited by SO and SI. For example,
C''.
Since the SO and SI are stored, the null double-byte character string, C'', is also
a valid character self-defining term.
Note: The assembler will not support character self-defining terms of the form
CU'x' because self-defining terms are required by definition of the Assembler
Language to have fixed values.
Graphic Self-Defining Term: If the DBCS assembler option is specified, a
graphic self-defining term can be specified. A graphic self-defining term consists of
1 or 2 double-byte characters delimited by SO and SI, enclosed in single quotation
marks and preceded by the letter G. Any valid double-byte characters may be
used. Examples of graphic self-defining terms are:
G''
G''
G''
G''
The SO and SI are not represented in the assembled value of the self-defining
term, hence the assembled value is pure double-byte data. A redundant SI/SO pair
can be present between two double-byte characters, as shown in the last of the
above examples. However, if SO and SI are used without an intervening
double-byte character, this error is issued:
ASMA148E Self-defining term lacks ending quote or has bad character
Location Counter
The assembler maintains a location counter to assign storage addresses to your
| program statements. It is the assembler's equivalent of the execution-time
instruction counter in the computer. You can refer to the current value of the
| location counter at any place in a source module by specifying an asterisk () as a
term in an operand.
As the instructions and constants of a source module are being assembled, the
location counter has a value that indicates a location in the program. The
assembler increments the location counter according to the following:
1. After an instruction or constant has been assembled, the location counter
indicates the next available location.
2. Before assembling the current instruction or constant, the assembler checks the
boundary alignment required for it and adjusts the location counter, if
necessary, to the correct boundary.
3. While the instruction or constant is being assembled, the location counter value
does not change. It indicates the location of the current data after boundary
36 HLASM V1R5 Language Reference