RFC: AArch64 Disassembler: Annotate undefined instructions
Nick Clifton clarifies that the RFC to annotate undefined AArch64 instructions is driven by a desire for more informative disassembler output, not a specific u…
Nick Clifton clarifies that his RFC to annotate undefined AArch64 instructions in the disassembler isn’t driven by a specific user-reported case, but rather by a desire to improve the disassembler’s output. He also acknowledges a mistake regarding the size of AArch64 instructions and agrees that creating a test case to trigger unintended annotation of .inst values is difficult.
- proposer
Proposes annotating undefined AArch64 instructions in the disassembler to provide more informative output. Responds to questions about 32-bit instructions and the use of labels with `.inst` directives.
“No, it is just me, trying to make the disassembler output slightly more informative.”
In Details
The disassembler translates machine code back into assembly language. This RFC proposes to annotate instructions that are undefined in the AArch64 architecture. The discussion touches on the .inst directive which is used to insert raw machine code words into the assembly.
For Context
A disassembler is a tool that converts machine code (the binary instructions that a computer executes) into a human-readable assembly language representation. Assembly language is a low-level programming language that corresponds directly to the machine code instructions. This discussion concerns a proposal to improve the output of the AArch64 disassembler by adding annotations to undefined instructions. Undefined instructions are sequences of bytes that don't correspond to valid AArch64 operations.