Each byte of internal memory is numbered sequentially beginning with 0 for the first byte, 1 for the second byte, and continuing in this way until the end of memory is reached. We will call the number associated with each byte the address of the byte. There is a limit to the amount of memory that is supported, since addresses are expressed as binary integers using 31 bits. The smallest address which can be created is 0 and the maximum address is 2³¹ - 1 which is 2,147,483,647 or 2 gigabytes.

Address fields are created by using the A,Y, or V indicators in a DS or a DC. (Q-constants and S-constants are discussed elsewhere.) If a length indicator is not coded, A and V indicate fullword fields, while Y indicates a halfword address. A length indicator can be used to create A-constants with 1 to 4 bytes, V-constants with 3 or 4 bytes, and Y-constants with 1 or 2 bytes.

The following are formats for creating address constants,

name DC T( address, ... )

name DC TLn( address, ...)

where “name” is a field name,

“T” is the address type A,Y, or V,

“address, ...” represents 1 or more addresses separated by commas. Each address is

either a relocatable, a complex relocatable, or an absolute expression.

It is difficult to give the technical definition of the terms relocatable and complex relocatable, but generally, an expression is relocatable if it refers to labels in a program and the value of the expression changes if the program is moved from its original location. An expression is absolute if it refers to labels in a program, and the value of the expression is constant regardless of the location of the program. An example will help with these ideas,

DOG DS CL5

CAT DS CL7

PIG DS CL9

ADR1 DC A(PIG) RELOCATABLE

ADR2 DC A(PIG - DOG) ABSOLUTE

ADR3 DC A(PIG + DOG) COMPLEX RELOCATABLE

Notice that “ADR1” is relocatable since its value (address) would change if the program were moved. “ADR2” is absolute since PIG and DOG are 12 bytes apart regardless of where the program is loaded. “ADR3” is complex relocatable since it involves multiple “unpaired” relocatable expressions and its value would change depending on the program’s location.

Relocatable expressions are initially created at assembly time and then modified by the linkage editior at link time to contain the correct address for the expression you have created. Absolute expressions are not modified by the linkage editor.

The main difference between A-constants and V-constants is that a V-constant can refer to a label in a different control section. A-constants can only reference labels within the same control section. For V-constants, at assembly time, the assembler creates a fullword containing 0’s and leaves an indicator for the linkage editior to supply the correct address in the constant at link time. The primary reason for using a V-constant is for program linkage - we want to branch to a separately assembled control section. This can be accomplished with the code below,

LA R1,=A(X,Y,Z) POINT TO THE PARAMETERS

L R15,=V(SUBPROG1) VIRTUAL ADDRESS SUBPROG1

BASR R14,R15 BRANCH TO THE SUBPROGRAM

Notice that the above example also uses A-constants to create 3 consecutive fullword addresses for parameter passing.

Some Typical DS’s and DC’s:

TABSTART EQU *

GOAT DS CL8

TABRECLN EQU *-TABSTART

HORSE DS CL8

CAT DS CL8

TABEND EQU *

TABLEN DC A(TABEND - TABSTART) Assemble table length

TABLEN2 DC AL2(TABEND - TABSTART) Halfword table length

NORECS DC A((TABEND - TABSTART)/TABRECLN) Number of entries

P DS A A fullword field, properly aligned

Q DS AL4 A fullword field, no slack bytes

R DC V(SUBPROG1) The virtual address of SUBPROG1

S DC A(CAT) A relocatable address

T DC A(CAT,HORSE,GOAT) Three consecutive address constants

U DC Y(HORSE) A halfword address

TRANTAB1 DC 256AL1(0) A skeleton for a TRT table

TRANTAB2 DC 256AL1(*-TRANTAB2) A skeleton for a TR table

x’000102030405060708090A...’

1. Read the technical definitions of Relocatable, Complex Relocatable, and Absolute expressions found in IBM’s High Level Assembler Language Reference .