Skool macros

Skool files and ref files may contain skool macros that are ‘expanded’ to an appropriate piece of HTML markup (when rendering in HTML mode), or to an appropriate piece of plain text (when rendering in ASM mode).

Syntax

Skool macros have the following general form:

#MACROrparam1,rparam2,...[,oparam1,oparam2,...]

where:

  • MACRO is the macro name
  • rparam1, rparam2 etc. are required parameters
  • oparam1, oparam2 etc. are optional parameters

If an optional parameter is left blank or omitted entirely, it assumes its default value. So, for example:

#UDG39144

is equivalent to:

#UDG39144,56,4,1,0,0,0,1

and:

#UDG30115,,2

is equivalent to:

#UDG30115,56,2

Numeric parameters

Numeric parameters may be written in decimal notation:

#UDG51673,17

or in hexadecimal notation (prefixed by $):

#UDG$C9D9,$11

Wherever a sequence of numeric parameters appears in a macro, that sequence may optionally be enclosed in parentheses: ( and ). Parentheses are required if any numeric parameter is written as an expression containing arithmetic operations or skool macros:

#UDG(51672+1,#PEEK51672)

The following operators are permitted in an arithmetic expression:

  • arithmetic operators: +, -, *, /, % (modulo), ** (power)
  • bitwise operators: & (AND), | (OR), ^ (XOR)
  • bit shift operators: >>, <<
  • Boolean operators: && (and), || (or)
  • comparison operators: ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=

Parentheses and spaces are also permitted in an arithmetic expression:

#IF(1 == 2 || (1 <= 2 && 2 < 3))(Yes,No)

The parameter strings of the @if directive, the #EVAL macro, the #IF macro, and the #MAP macro also recognise some replacement fields:

For example:

#IF({case}==1)(hl,HL)

expands to hl if in lower case mode, or HL otherwise.

Note that if a replacement field is used, the numeric parameter must be enclosed in parentheses.

Changed in version 6.4: The asm replacement field indicates the exact ASM mode; added the fix and vars replacement fields.

String parameters

Where a macro requires a single string parameter consisting of arbitrary text, it must be enclosed in parentheses, square brackets or braces:

(text)
[text]
{text}

If text contains unbalanced brackets, a non-whitespace character that is not present in text may be used as an alternative delimiter. For example:

/text/
|text|

Where a macro requires multiple string parameters consisting of arbitrary text, they must be enclosed in parentheses, square brackets or braces and be separated by commas:

(string1,string2)
[string1,string2]
{string1,string2}

When a comma-separated sequence of string parameters is split, any commas that appear between parentheses are retained. For example, the string parameters of the outer #FOR macro in:

#FOR0,1(n,#FOR(0,1)(m,(n,m),;),;)

are split into n, #FOR(0,1)(m,(n,m),;) and ;, and the string parameters of the inner #FOR macro are split into m, (n,m), and ;.

Alternatively, an arbitrary delimiter - d, which cannot be whitespace - and separator - s, which can be whitespace - may be used. (They can be the same character.) The string parameters must open with ds, be separated by s, and close with sd. For example:

//same/delimiter/and/separator//
| different delimiter and separator |

Note that if an alternative delimiter or separator is used, it must not be ‘&’, ‘<’ or ‘>’.

Changed in version 6.4: When a comma-separated sequence of string parameters is split, any commas that appear between parentheses are retained.

SMPL macros

The macros described in this section constitute the Skool Macro Programming Language (SMPL). They can be used to programmatically specify values in the parameter string of any macro.

#()

The #() macro expands the skool macros in its sole string parameter.

#(text)

It takes effect only when it immediately follows the opening token of another skool macro, and is expanded before that macro. For example:

#UDGARRAY#(2#FOR37159,37168,9||n|;(n+1),#PEEKn||)(item)

This instance of the #() macro expands the #FOR macro first, giving:

2;(37159+1),#PEEK37159;(37168+1),#PEEK37168

It then expands the #PEEK macros, ultimately forming the parameters of the #UDGARRAY macro.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the text parameter. Note that if an alternative delimiter is used, it must not be an alphanumeric character (A-Z, a-z, 0-9).

#EVAL

The #EVAL macro expands to the value of an arithmetic expression.

#EVALexpr[,base,width]
  • expr is the arithmetic expression
  • base is the number base in which the value is expressed: 2, 10 (the default) or 16
  • width is the minimum number of digits in the output (default: 1); the value will be padded with leading zeroes if necessary

For example:

; The following mask byte is #EVAL(#PEEK29435,2,8).
 29435 DEFB 62

This instance of the #EVAL macro expands to ‘00111110’ (62 in binary).

See Numeric parameters for details on the replacement fields that may be used in the parameter string.

Version Changes
8.0 Added support for replacement fields in the parameter string
6.0 Hexadecimal values are rendered in lower case when the --lower option is used
5.1 New

#FOR

The #FOR macro expands to a sequence of strings based on a range of integers.

#FORstart,stop[,step](var,string[,sep,fsep])
  • start is first integer in the range
  • stop is the final integer in the range
  • step is the gap between each integer in the range (default: 1)
  • var is the variable name; for each integer in the range, it evaluates to that integer
  • string is the output string that is evaluated for each integer in the range; wherever the variable name (var) appears, its value is substituted
  • sep is the separator placed between each output string (default: the empty string)
  • fsep is the separator placed between the final two output strings (default: sep)

For example:

; The next three bytes (#FOR31734,31736||n|#PEEKn|, | and ||) define the
; item locations.
 31734 DEFB 24,17,156

This instance of the #FOR macro expands to ‘24, 17 and 156’.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the var, string, sep and fsep parameters.

Version Changes
5.1 New

#FOREACH

The #FOREACH macro expands to a sequence of output strings based on a sequence of input strings.

#FOREACH([s1,s2,...])(var,string[,sep,fsep])

or:

#FOREACH(svar)(var,string[,sep,fsep])
  • s1, s2 etc. are the input strings
  • svar is a special variable that expands to a specific sequence of input strings (see below)
  • var is the variable name; for each input string, it evaluates to that string
  • string is the output string that is evaluated for each input string; wherever the variable name (var) appears, its value is substituted
  • sep is the separator placed between each output string (default: the empty string)
  • fsep is the separator placed between the final two output strings (default: sep)

For example:

; The next three bytes (#FOREACH(31734,31735,31736)||n|#PEEKn|, | and ||)
; define the item locations.
 31734 DEFB 24,17,156

This instance of the #FOREACH macro expands to ‘24, 17 and 156’.

The #FOREACH macro recognises certain special variables, each one of which expands to a specific sequence of strings. The special variables are:

  • ENTRY[types] - the addresses of every entry of the specified type(s) in the memory map; if types is not given, every type is included
  • EREFaddr - the addresses of the routines that jump to or call a given instruction (at addr)
  • REFaddr - the addresses of the routines that jump to or call a given routine (at addr), or jump to or call any entry point within that routine

For example:

; The messages can be found at #FOREACH(ENTRYt)||n|n|, | and ||.

This instance of the #FOREACH macro expands to a list of the addresses of the entries of type t (text).

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the var, string, sep and fsep parameters.

Version Changes
5.1 New

#IF

The #IF macro expands to an arbitrary string based on the truth value of an arithmetic expression.

#IFexpr(true[,false])
  • expr is the arithmetic expression
  • true is the output string when expr is true
  • false is the output string when expr is false (default: the empty string)

For example:

; #FOR0,7||n|#IF(#PEEK47134 & 2**(7-n))(X,O)||
 47134 DEFB 170

This instance of the #IF macro is used (in combination with a #FOR macro and a #PEEK macro) to display the contents of the address 47134 in the memory snapshot in binary format with ‘X’ for one and ‘O’ for zero: XOXOXOXO.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the true and false output strings.

See Numeric parameters for details on the replacement fields that may be used in the expr parameter.

Version Changes
6.0 Added support for replacement fields in the expr parameter
5.1 New

#MAP

The #MAP macro expands to a value from a map of key-value pairs whose keys are integers.

#MAPkey(default[,k1:v1,k2:v2...])
  • key is the integer to look up in the map
  • default is the default output string (used when key is not found in the map)
  • k1:v1, k2:v2 etc. are the key-value pairs in the map

For example:

; The next three bytes specify the directions that are available from here:
; #FOR56112,56114||q|#MAP(#PEEKq)(?,0:left,1:right,2:up,3:down)|, | and ||.
 56112 DEFB 0,1,3

This instance of the #MAP macro is used (in combination with a #FOR macro and a #PEEK macro) to display a list of directions available based on the contents of addresses 56112-56114: ‘left, right and down’.

Note that the keys (k1, k2 etc.) may be expressed using arithmetic operations. They may also be expressed using skool macros, but in that case the entire parameter string of the #MAP macro must be enclosed by a #() macro.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the default output string and the key-value pairs.

See Numeric parameters for details on the replacement fields that may be used in the key parameter.

Version Changes
6.0 Added support for replacement fields in the key parameter
5.1 New

#PC

The #PC macro expands to the address of the closest instruction in the current entry.

#PC

For example:

c32768 XOR A ; This instruction is at #PC.

This instance of the #PC macro expands to ‘32768’.

In an entry header (i.e. title, description, register description or start comment), the #PC macro expands to the address of the first instruction in the entry. In a mid-block comment, the #PC macro expands to the address of the following instruction. In an instruction-level comment, the #PC macro expands to the address of the instruction. In a block end comment, the #PC macro expands to the address of the last instruction in the entry.

Version Changes
8.0 New

#PEEK

The #PEEK macro expands to the contents of an address in the memory snapshot.

#PEEKaddr
  • addr is the address

For example:

; At the start of the game, the number of lives remaining is #PEEK33879.

This instance of the #PEEK macro expands to the contents of the address 33879 in the memory snapshot.

See also #POKES.

Version Changes
5.1 New

General macros

#CALL

In HTML mode, the #CALL macro expands to the return value of a method on the HtmlWriter class or subclass that is being used to create the HTML disassembly (as defined by the HtmlWriterClass parameter in the [Config] section of the ref file).

In ASM mode, the #CALL macro expands to the return value of a method on the AsmWriter class or subclass that is being used to generate the ASM output (as defined by the @writer ASM directive in the skool file).

#CALL:methodName(args)
  • methodName is the name of the method to call
  • args is a comma-separated list of arguments to pass to the method

Each argument can be expressed either as a plain value (e.g. 32768) or as a keyword argument (e.g. address=32768).

For example:

; The word at address 32768 is #CALL:word(32768).

This instance of the #CALL macro expands to the return value of the word method (on the HtmlWriter or AsmWriter subclass being used) when called with the argument 32768.

For information on writing methods that may be called by a #CALL macro, see the documentation on extending SkoolKit.

Version Changes
8.1 Added support for keyword arguments
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in numeric method arguments
3.1 Added support for ASM mode
2.1 New

#CHR

In HTML mode, the #CHR macro expands to a numeric character reference (&#num;). In ASM mode, it expands to a unicode character in the UTF-8 encoding.

#CHRnum

For example:

 26751 DEFB 127   ; This is the copyright symbol: #CHR169

In HTML mode, this instance of the #CHR macro expands to &#169;. In ASM mode, it expands to the copyright symbol.

Version Changes
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the num parameter
3.1 New

#D

The #D macro expands to the title of an entry (a routine or data block) in the memory map.

#Daddr
  • addr is the address of the entry.

For example:

; Now we make an indirect jump to one of the following routines:
; .
; #TABLE(default,centre)
; { =h Address | =h Description }
; { #R27126    | #D27126 }

This instance of the #D macro expands to the title of the routine at 27126.

Version Changes
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the addr parameter

#HTML

The #HTML macro expands to arbitrary text (in HTML mode) or to an empty string (in ASM mode).

#HTML(text)

The #HTML macro may be used to render HTML (which would otherwise be escaped) from a skool file. For example:

; #HTML(For more information, go <a href="http://example.com/">here</a>.)

text may contain other skool macros, which will be expanded before rendering. For example:

; #HTML[The UDG defined here (32768) looks like this: #UDG32768,4,1]

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the text parameter. Note that if an alternative delimiter is used, it must not be an upper case letter.

See also #UDGTABLE.

Version Changes
3.1.2 New

#INCLUDE

In HTML mode, the #INCLUDE macro expands to the contents of a ref file section; in ASM mode, it expands to an empty string.

#INCLUDE[paragraphs](section)
  • paragraphs specifies how to format the contents of the ref file section: verbatim (0 - the default), or into paragraphs (1)
  • section is the name of the ref file section

The #INCLUDE macro can be used to insert the contents of one ref file section into another. For example:

[MemoryMap:RoutinesMap]
Intro=#INCLUDE(RoutinesMapIntro)

[RoutinesMapIntro]
This is the intro to the 'Routines' map page.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the section parameter.

Version Changes
5.3 New

#LIST

The #LIST macro marks the beginning of a list of bulleted items; LIST# is used to mark the end. Between these markers, the list items are defined.

#LIST[(class[,bullet])][<flag>][items]LIST#
  • class is the CSS class to use for the <ul> element
  • bullet is the bullet character to use in ASM mode
  • flag is the wrap flag (see below)

Each item in a list must start with { followed by a space, and end with } preceded by a space.

For example:

; #LIST(data)
; { Item 1 }
; { Item 2 }
; LIST#

This list has two items, and will have the CSS class ‘data’.

In ASM mode, lists are rendered as plain text, with each item on its own line, and an asterisk as the bullet character. The bullet character can be changed for all lists by using a @set directive to set the bullet property, or it can be changed for a specific list by setting the bullet parameter.

The wrap flag (flag), if present, determines how sna2skool.py will write list items when reading from a control file. Supported values are:

  • nowrap - write each list item on a single line
  • wrapalign - wrap each list item with an indent at the start of the second and subsequent lines to maintain text alignment with the first line

By default, each list item is wrapped over multiple lines with no indent.

Version Changes
7.2 #LIST can be used in register descriptions in ASM mode
7.0 Added the nowrap and wrapalign flags
6.4 In ASM mode: #LIST can be used in an instruction-level comment and as a parameter of another macro; if the bullet character is an empty string, list items are no longer indented by one space; added the bullet parameter
3.2 New

#N

The #N macro renders a numeric value in either decimal or hexadecimal format depending on the options used with skool2asm.py or skool2html.py. A hexadecimal number is rendered in lower case when the --lower option is used, or in upper case otherwise.

#Nvalue[,hwidth,dwidth,affix,hex][(prefix[,suffix])]
  • value is the numeric value
  • hwidth is the minimum number of digits printed in hexadecimal output (default: 2 for values < 256, or 4 otherwise)
  • dwidth is the minimum number of digits printed in decimal output (default: 1)
  • affix is 1 if prefix or suffix is specified, 0 if not (default: 0)
  • hex is 1 to render the value in hexadecimal format unless the --decimal option is used, or 0 to render it in decimal format unless the --hex option is used (default: 0)
  • prefix is the prefix for a hexadecimal number (default: empty string)
  • suffix is the suffix for a hexadecimal number (default: empty string)

For example:

#N15,4,5,1(0x)

This instance of the #N macro expands to one of the following:

  • 00015 (when --hex is not used)
  • 0x000F (when --hex is used without --lower)
  • 0x000f (when both --hex and --lower are used)

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the prefix and suffix parameters.

Version Changes
6.2 Added the hex parameter
5.2 New

#R

In HTML mode, the #R macro expands to a hyperlink (<a> element) to the disassembly page for a routine or data block, or to a line at a given address within that page.

#Raddr[@code][#name][(link text)]
  • addr is the address of the routine or data block (or entry point thereof)
  • code is the ID of the disassembly that contains the routine or data block (if not given, the current disassembly is assumed; otherwise this must be an ID defined in an [OtherCode:*] section of the ref file)
  • #name is the named anchor of an item on the disassembly page
  • link text is the link text to use (default: addr)

The disassembly ID (code) and anchor name (name) must be limited to the characters ‘$’, ‘#’, 0-9, A-Z and a-z.

In ASM mode, the #R macro expands to the link text if it is specified, or to the label for addr, or to addr (converted to decimal or hexadecimal as appropriate) if no label is found.

For example:

; Prepare for a new game
;
; Used by the routine at #R25820.

In HTML mode, this instance of the #R macro expands to a hyperlink to the disassembly page for the routine at 25820.

In ASM mode, this instance of the #R macro expands to the label for the routine at 25820 (or simply 25820 if that routine has no label).

To create a hyperlink to the first instruction in a routine or data block, use an anchor that evaluates to the address of that instruction. For example:

; See the #R40000#40000(first item) in the data table at 40000.

In HTML mode, the anchor of this #R macro (40000) is converted to the format specified by the AddressAnchor parameter in the [Game] section.

Version Changes
6.1 In ASM mode, addr is converted to decimal or hexadecimal as appropriate even when it refers to an unavailable instruction
5.1 An anchor that matches the entry address is converted to the format specified by the AddressAnchor parameter; added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the addr parameter
3.5 Added the ability to resolve (in HTML mode) the address of an entry point in another disassembly when an appropriate remote entry is defined
2.0 Added support for the @code notation

#RAW

The #RAW macro expands to the exact value of its sole string argument, leaving any other macros (or macro-like tokens) it contains unexpanded.

#RAW(text)

For example:

; See the routine at #RAW(#BEEF).

This instance of the #RAW macro expands to ‘#BEEF’.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the text parameter. Note that if an alternative delimiter is used, it must not be an upper case letter.

Version Changes
6.4 New

#REG

In HTML mode, the #REG macro expands to a styled <span> element containing a register name or arbitrary text (with case adjusted as appropriate).

#REGreg

where reg is the name of the register, or:

#REG(text)

where text is arbitrary text (e.g. hlh'l').

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the text parameter. Note that if an alternative delimiter is used, it must not be a letter.

In ASM mode, the #REG macro expands to either reg or text (with case adjusted as appropriate).

The register name (reg) must be one of the following:

a b c d e f h l
a' b' c' d' e' f' h' l'
af bc de hl
af' bc' de' hl'
ix iy ixh iyh ixl iyl
i r sp pc

For example:

 24623 LD C,31       ; #REGbc'=31
Version Changes
5.4 Added support for an arbitrary text parameter
5.3 Added support for the F and F’ registers
5.1 The reg parameter must be a valid register name

#SPACE

The #SPACE macro expands to one or more &#160; expressions (in HTML mode) or spaces (in ASM mode).

#SPACE[num]
  • num is the number of spaces required (default: 1)

For example:

; '#SPACE8' (8 spaces)
t56832 DEFM "        "

In HTML mode, this instance of the #SPACE macro expands to:

&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;

In ASM mode, this instance of the #SPACE macro expands to a string containing 8 spaces.

The form SPACE([num]) may be used to distinguish the macro from adjacent text where necessary. For example:

; 'Score:#SPACE(5)0'
t49152 DEFM "Score:     0"
Version Changes
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the num parameter
2.4.1 Added support for the #SPACE([num]) syntax

#TABLE

The #TABLE macro marks the beginning of a table; TABLE# is used to mark the end. Between these markers, the rows of the table are defined.

#TABLE[([class[,class1[:w][,class2[:w]...]]])][<flag>][rows]TABLE#
  • class is the CSS class to use for the <table> element
  • class1, class2 etc. are the CSS classes to use for the <td> elements in columns 1, 2 etc.
  • flag is the wrap flag (see below)

Each row in a table must start with { followed by a space, and end with } preceded by a space. The cells in a row must be separated by | with a space on each side.

For example:

; #TABLE(default,centre)
; { 0 | Off }
; { 1 | On }
; TABLE#

This table has two rows and two columns, and will have the CSS class ‘default’. The cells in the first column will have the CSS class ‘centre’.

By default, cells will be rendered as <td> elements. To render a cell as a <th> element, use the =h indicator before the cell contents:

; #TABLE
; { =h Header 1  | =h Header 2 }
; { Regular cell | Another one }
; TABLE#

It is also possible to specify colspan and rowspan attributes using the =c and =r indicators:

; #TABLE
; { =r2 2 rows  | X | Y }
; { =c2           2 columns }
; TABLE#

Finally, the =t indicator makes a cell transparent (i.e. gives it the same background colour as the page body).

If a cell requires more than one indicator, separate the indicators by commas:

; #TABLE
; { =h,c2 Wide header }
; { Column 1 | Column 2 }
; TABLE#

The CSS files included in SkoolKit provide two classes that may be used when defining tables:

  • default - a class for <table> elements that provides a background colour to make the table stand out from the page body
  • centre - a class for <td> elements that centres their contents

In ASM mode, tables are rendered as plain text, using dashes (-) and pipes (|) for the borders, and plus signs (+) where a horizontal border meets a vertical border.

ASM mode also supports the :w indicator in the #TABLE macro’s parameters. The :w indicator marks a column as a candidate for having its width reduced (by wrapping the text it contains) so that the table will be no more than 79 characters wide when rendered. For example:

; #TABLE(default,centre,:w)
; { =h X | =h Description }
; { 0    | Text in this column will be wrapped in ASM mode to make the table less than 80 characters wide }
; TABLE#

The wrap flag (flag), if present, determines how sna2skool.py will write table rows when reading from a control file. Supported values are:

  • nowrap - write each table row on a single line
  • wrapalign - wrap each table row with an indent at the start of the second and subsequent lines to maintain text alignment with the rightmost column on the first line

By default, each table row is wrapped over multiple lines with no indent.

See also #UDGTABLE.

Version Changes
7.2 #TABLE can be used in register descriptions in ASM mode
7.0 Added the nowrap and wrapalign flags
6.4 In ASM mode, #TABLE can be used in an instruction-level comment and as a parameter of another macro

#UDGTABLE

The #UDGTABLE macro behaves in exactly the same way as the #TABLE macro, except that the resulting table will not be rendered in ASM mode. Its intended use is to contain images that will be rendered in HTML mode only.

See #TABLE, and also #HTML.

#VERSION

The #VERSION macro expands to the version of SkoolKit.

#VERSION
Version Changes
6.0 New

Image macros

The #FONT, #SCR, #UDG and #UDGARRAY macros (described in the following sections) may be used to create images based on graphic data in the memory snapshot. They are not supported in ASM mode.

These macros have several numeric parameters, most of which are optional. This can give rise to a long sequence of commas in a macro parameter string, making it hard to read (and write); for example:

#UDG32768,,,,,,1

To alleviate this problem, the image macros accept keyword arguments at any position in the parameter string; the #UDG macro above could be rewritten as follows:

#UDG32768,rotate=1

#FONT

In HTML mode, the #FONT macro expands to an <img> element for an image of text rendered in the game font.

#FONT[:(text)]addr[,chars,attr,scale][{CROP}][(fname)]
  • text is the text to render (default: the 96 characters from code 32 to code 127)
  • addr is the base address of the font graphic data
  • chars is the number of characters to render (default: the length of text)
  • attr is the attribute byte to use (default: 56)
  • scale is the scale of the image (default: 2)
  • CROP is the cropping specification (see Cropping)
  • fname is the name of the image file (default: ‘font’)

If fname contains an image path ID replacement field (e.g. {ScreenshotImagePath}/font), the corresponding parameter value from the [Paths] section will be substituted.

If fname starts with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the root of the HTML disassembly.

If fname contains no image path ID replacement fields and does not start with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the directory defined by the FontImagePath parameter in the [Paths] section.

If fname does not end with ‘.png’, that suffix will be appended.

If an image with the given filename doesn’t already exist, it will be created.

For example:

; Font graphic data
;
; #HTML[#FONT:(0123456789)49152]

In HTML mode, this instance of the #FONT macro expands to an <img> element for the image of the digits 0-9 in the 8x8 font whose graphic data starts at 49152.

See String parameters for details on alternative ways to supply the text parameter.

Version Changes
6.3 Added support for image path ID replacement fields in the fname parameter
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the numeric parameters
4.3 Added the ability to create frames
4.2 Added the ability to specify alt text for the <img> element
4.0 Added support for keyword arguments
3.6 Added the text parameter, and made the chars parameter optional
3.0 Added image-cropping capabilities
2.0.5 Added the fname parameter and support for regular 8x8 fonts

#SCR

In HTML mode, the #SCR macro expands to an <img> element for an image constructed from the display file and attribute file (or suitably arranged graphic data and attribute bytes elsewhere in memory) of the current memory snapshot (in turn constructed from the contents of the skool file).

#SCR[scale,x,y,w,h,df,af][{CROP}][(fname)]
  • scale is the scale of the image (default: 1)
  • x is the x-coordinate of the top-left tile of the screen to include in the screenshot (default: 0)
  • y is the y-coordinate of the top-left tile of the screen to include in the screenshot (default: 0)
  • w is the width of the screenshot in tiles (default: 32)
  • h is the height of the screenshot in tiles (default: 24)
  • df is the base address of the display file (default: 16384)
  • af is the base address of the attribute file (default: 22528)
  • CROP is the cropping specification (see Cropping)
  • fname is the name of the image file (default: ‘scr’)

If fname contains an image path ID replacement field (e.g. {UDGImagePath}/scr), the corresponding parameter value from the [Paths] section will be substituted.

If fname starts with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the root of the HTML disassembly.

If fname contains no image path ID replacement fields and does not start with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the directory defined by the ScreenshotImagePath parameter in the [Paths] section.

If fname does not end with ‘.png’, that suffix will be appended.

If an image with the given filename doesn’t already exist, it will be created.

For example:

; #UDGTABLE
; { #SCR(loading) | This is the loading screen. }
; TABLE#
Version Changes
6.3 Added support for image path ID replacement fields in the fname parameter
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the numeric parameters
4.3 Added the ability to create frames
4.2 Added the ability to specify alt text for the <img> element
4.0 Added support for keyword arguments
3.0 Added image-cropping capabilities and the df and af parameters
2.0.5 Added the scale, x, y, w, h and fname parameters

#UDG

In HTML mode, the #UDG macro expands to an <img> element for the image of a UDG (an 8x8 block of pixels).

#UDGaddr[,attr,scale,step,inc,flip,rotate,mask][:MASK][{CROP}][(fname)]
  • addr is the base address of the UDG bytes
  • attr is the attribute byte to use (default: 56)
  • scale is the scale of the image (default: 4)
  • step is the interval between successive bytes of the UDG (default: 1)
  • inc is added to each UDG byte before constructing the image (default: 0)
  • flip is 1 to flip the UDG horizontally, 2 to flip it vertically, 3 to flip it both ways, or 0 to leave it as it is (default: 0)
  • rotate is 1 to rotate the UDG 90 degrees clockwise, 2 to rotate it 180 degrees, 3 to rotate it 90 degrees anticlockwise, or 0 to leave it as it is (default: 0)
  • mask is the type of mask to apply (see Masks)
  • MASK is the mask specification (see below)
  • CROP is the cropping specification (see Cropping)
  • fname is the name of the image file (if not given, a name specified by the UDGFilename parameter in the [Paths] section will be used)

The mask specification (MASK) takes the form:

addr[,step]
  • addr is the base address of the mask bytes to use for the UDG
  • step is the interval between successive mask bytes (defaults to the value of step for the UDG)

Note that if any of the parameters in the mask specification is expressed using arithmetic operations or skool macros, then the entire specification must be enclosed in parentheses.

If fname contains an image path ID replacement field (e.g. {ScreenshotImagePath}/udg), the corresponding parameter value from the [Paths] section will be substituted.

If fname starts with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the root of the HTML disassembly.

If fname contains no image path ID replacement fields and does not start with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the directory defined by the UDGImagePath parameter in the [Paths] section.

If fname does not end with ‘.png’, that suffix will be appended.

If an image with the given filename doesn’t already exist, it will be created.

For example:

; Safe key UDG
;
; #HTML[#UDG39144,6(safe_key)]

In HTML mode, this instance of the #UDG macro expands to an <img> element for the image of the UDG at 39144 (which will be named safe_key.png), with attribute byte 6 (INK 6: PAPER 0).

Version Changes
6.3 Added support for image path ID replacement fields in the fname parameter
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the numeric parameters
4.3 Added the ability to create frames
4.2 Added the ability to specify alt text for the <img> element
4.0 Added the mask parameter and support for AND-OR masking; added support for keyword arguments
3.1.2 Made the attr parameter optional
3.0 Added image-cropping capabilities
2.4 Added the rotate parameter
2.3.1 Added the flip parameter
2.1 Added support for masks
2.0.5 Added the fname parameter

#UDGARRAY

In HTML mode, the #UDGARRAY macro expands to an <img> element for the image of an array of UDGs (8x8 blocks of pixels).

#UDGARRAYwidth[,attr,scale,step,inc,flip,rotate,mask];SPEC1[;SPEC2;...][@ATTRS1[;ATTRS2;...]][{CROP}](fname)
  • width is the width of the image (in UDGs)
  • attr is the default attribute byte of each UDG (default: 56)
  • scale is the scale of the image (default: 2)
  • step is the default interval between successive bytes of each UDG (default: 1)
  • inc is added to each UDG byte before constructing the image (default: 0)
  • flip is 1 to flip the array of UDGs horizontally, 2 to flip it vertically, 3 to flip it both ways, or 0 to leave it as it is (default: 0)
  • rotate is 1 to rotate the array of UDGs 90 degrees clockwise, 2 to rotate it 180 degrees, 3 to rotate it 90 degrees anticlockwise, or 0 to leave it as it is (default: 0)
  • mask is the type of mask to apply (see Masks)
  • CROP is the cropping specification (see Cropping)
  • fname is the name of the image file

SPEC1, SPEC2 etc. are UDG specifications for the sets of UDGs that make up the array. Each UDG specification has the form:

addr[,attr,step,inc][:MASK]
  • addr is the address range specification for the set of UDGs (see below)
  • attr is the attribute byte of each UDG in the set (defaults to the value of attr for the UDG array)
  • step is the interval between successive bytes of each UDG in the set (defaults to the value of step for the UDG array)
  • inc is added to each byte of every UDG in the set before constructing the image (defaults to the value of inc for the UDG array)
  • MASK is the mask specification

The mask specification (MASK) takes the form:

addr[,step]
  • addr is the address range specification for the set of mask UDGs (see below)
  • step is the interval between successive bytes of each mask UDG in the set (defaults to the value of step for the set of UDGs)

ATTRS1, ATTRS2 etc. are attribute address range specifications (see below). If supplied, attribute values are taken from the specified addresses instead of the attr parameter values.

Address range specifications (for both UDGs and attributes) may be given in one of the following forms:

  • a single address (e.g. 39144)
  • a simple address range (e.g. 33008-33015)
  • an address range with a step (e.g. 32768-33792-256)
  • an address range with a horizontal and a vertical step (e.g. 63476-63525-1-16; this form specifies the step between the base addresses of adjacent items in each row as 1, and the step between the base addresses of adjacent items in each column as 16)

Any of these forms of address ranges can be repeated by appending xN, where N is the desired number of repetitions. For example:

  • 39648x3 is equivalent to 39648;39648;39648
  • 32768-32769x2 is equivalent to 32768;32769;32768;32769

As many UDG specifications as required may be supplied, separated by semicolons; the UDGs will be arranged in a rectangular array with the given width.

Note that, like the main parameters of a #UDGARRAY macro (up to but not including the first semicolon), if any of the following parts of the parameter string is expressed using arithmetic operations or skool macros, then that part must be enclosed in parentheses:

  • any of the 1-5 parts of a UDG, mask or attribute address range specification (separated by - and x)
  • the part of a UDG or mask specification after the comma that follows the address range

If fname contains an image path ID replacement field (e.g. {ScreenshotImagePath}/udgs), the corresponding parameter value from the [Paths] section will be substituted.

If fname starts with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the root of the HTML disassembly.

If fname contains no image path ID replacement fields and does not start with a ‘/’, the filename is taken to be relative to the directory defined by the UDGImagePath parameter in the [Paths] section.

If fname does not end with ‘.png’, that suffix will be appended.

If an image with the given filename doesn’t already exist, it will be created.

For example:

; Base sprite
;
; #HTML[#UDGARRAY4;32768-32888-8(base_sprite.png)]

In HTML mode, this instance of the #UDGARRAY macro expands to an <img> element for the image of the 4x4 sprite formed by the 16 UDGs with base addresses 32768, 32776, 32784 and so on up to 32888; the image file will be named base_sprite.png.

Version Changes
7.1 Added the ability to specify attribute addresses
6.3 Added support for image path ID replacement fields in the fname parameter
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the numeric parameters
4.2 Added the ability to specify alt text for the <img> element
4.0 Added the mask parameter and support for AND-OR masking; added support for keyword arguments
3.6 Added support for creating an animated image from an arbitrary sequence of frames
3.1.1 Added support for UDG address ranges with horizontal and vertical steps
3.0 Added image-cropping capabilities
2.4 Added the rotate parameter
2.3.1 Added the flip parameter
2.2.5 Added support for masks
2.0.5 New

Alt text

The value of the alt attribute in the <img> element created by an image macro can be specified by appending a | character and the required text to the filename. For example:

#SCR(screenshot1|Screenshot 1)

This #SCR macro creates an image named screenshot1.png with alt text ‘Screenshot 1’.

Animation

The image macros may be used to create the frames of an animated image. To create a frame, the fname parameter must have one of the following forms:

  • name* - writes an image file with this name, and also creates a frame with the same name
  • name1*name2 - writes an image file named name1, and also creates a frame named name2
  • *name - writes no image file, but creates a frame with this name

Then a special form of the #UDGARRAY macro creates the animated image from a set of frames:

#UDGARRAY*FRAME1[;FRAME2;...](fname)

FRAME1, FRAME2 etc. are frame specifications; each one has the form:

name[,delay]
  • name is the name of the frame
  • delay is the delay between this frame and the next in 1/100ths of a second; it also sets the default delay for any frames that follow (default: 32)

For example:

; #UDGTABLE {
; #FONT:(hello)$3D00(hello*) |
; #FONT:(there)$3D00(there*) |
; #FONT:(peeps)$3D00(peeps*) |
; #UDGARRAY*hello,50;there;peeps(hello_there_peeps)
; } TABLE#

The #FONT macros create the required frames (and write images of them); the #UDGARRAY macro combines the three frames into a single animated image, with a delay of 0.5s between each frame.

Cropping

Each image macro accepts a cropping specification (CROP) which takes the form:

x,y,width,height
  • x is the x-coordinate of the leftmost pixel column of the constructed image to include in the final image (default: 0); if greater than 0, the image will be cropped on the left
  • y is the y-coordinate of the topmost pixel row of the constructed image to include in the final image (default: 0); if greater than 0, the image will be cropped on the top
  • width is the width of the final image in pixels (default: width of the constructed image)
  • height is the height of the final image in pixels (default: height of the constructed image)

For example:

#UDG40000,scale=2{2,2,12,12}

This #UDG macro creates an image of the UDG at 40000, at scale 2, with the top two rows and bottom two rows of pixels removed, and the leftmost two columns and rightmost two columns of pixels removed.

Masks

The #UDG and #UDGARRAY macros accept a mask parameter that determines what kind of mask to apply to each UDG. The supported values are:

  • 0 - no mask
  • 1 - OR-AND mask (this is the default)
  • 2 - AND-OR mask

Given a ‘background’ bit (B), a UDG bit (U), and a mask bit (M), the OR-AND mask works as follows:

  • OR the UDG bit (U) onto the background bit (B)
  • AND the mask bit (M) onto the result
U M Result
0 0 0 (paper)
0 1 B (transparent)
1 0 0 (paper)
1 1 1 (ink)

The AND-OR mask works as follows:

  • AND the mask bit (M) onto the background bit (B)
  • OR the UDG bit (U) onto the result
U M Result
0 0 0 (paper)
0 1 B (transparent)
1 0 1 (ink)
1 1 1 (ink)

By default, transparent bits in masked images are rendered in bright green (#00fe00); this colour can be changed by modifying the TRANSPARENT parameter in the [Colours] section. To make the transparent bits in masked images actually transparent, set PNGAlpha=0 in the [ImageWriter] section.

Snapshot macros

The #POKES, #POPS and #PUSHS macros (described in the following sections) may be used to manipulate the memory snapshot that is built from the skool file. Each macro expands to an empty string.

#POKES

The #POKES macro POKEs values into the current memory snapshot.

#POKESaddr,byte[,length,step][;addr,byte[,length,step];...]
  • addr is the address to POKE
  • byte is the value to POKE addr with
  • length is the number of addresses to POKE (default: 1)
  • step is the address increment to use after each POKE (if length>1; default: 1)

For example:

The UDG looks like this:

#UDG32768(udg_orig)

But it's supposed to look like this:

#PUSHS
#POKES32772,254;32775,136
#UDG32768(udg_fixed)
#POPS

This instance of the #POKES macro does POKE 32772,254 and POKE 32775,136, which fixes a graphic glitch in the UDG at 32768.

See also #PEEK.

Version Changes
5.1 Added support for arithmetic expressions and skool macros in the numeric parameters
3.1 Added support for ASM mode
2.3.1 Added support for multiple addresses

#POPS

The #POPS macro removes the current memory snapshot and replaces it with the one that was previously saved by a #PUSHS macro.

#POPS
Version Changes
3.1 Added support for ASM mode

#PUSHS

The #PUSHS macro saves the current memory snapshot, and replaces it with an identical copy with a given name.

#PUSHS[name]
  • name is the snapshot name (defaults to an empty string)

The snapshot name must be limited to the characters ‘$’, ‘#’, 0-9, A-Z and a-z; it must not start with a capital letter. The name can be retrieved by using the get_snapshot_name() method on HtmlWriter.

Version Changes
3.1 Added support for ASM mode

Defining macros with @replace

By using the @replace directive, it is possible to define new macros based on existing ones without writing any Python code. Some examples are given below.

#asm

There is the #HTML macro for inserting content in HTML mode only, but there is no corresponding macro for inserting content in ASM mode only. The following @replace directive defines an #asm macro to fill that gap:

@replace=/#asm(\(.*\))/#IF({asm})\1

For example:

#asm(This text appears only in ASM mode.)

#tile

Suppose the game you’re disassembling arranges tiles in groups of nine bytes: the attribute byte first, followed by the eight graphic bytes. If there is a tile at 32768, then:

#UDG(32769,#PEEK32768)

will create an image of it. If you want to create several tile images, this syntax can get cumbersome; it would be easier if you could supply just the address of the attribute byte. The following @replace directive defines a #tile macro that creates a tile image given an attribute byte address:

@replace=/#tile\i/#UDG(\1+1,#PEEK\1)

Now you can create an image of the tile at 32768 like this:

#tile32768

#tiles

If you have several nine-byte tiles arranged one after the other, you might want to create images of all of them in a single row of a #UDGTABLE. The following @replace directive defines a #tiles macro for this purpose:

@replace=/#tiles\i,\i/#FOR(\1,\1+9*(\2-1),9)(n,#UDG(n+1,#PEEKn), | )

Now you can create a #UDGTABLE of images of a series of 10 tiles starting at 32768 like this:

#UDGTABLE { #tiles32768,10 } TABLE#

#udg

The #UDG macro is not supported in ASM mode, but @replace can define a #udg macro that is:

@replace=/#udg\i/#IF({asm})(#LIST(,) #FOR(\1,\1+7)(u,{ |#FOR(7,0,-1)(n,#IF(#PEEKu&2**n)(*, ))| }) LIST#)

For example:

; #udg30000
 30000 DEFB 48,72,136,144,104,4,10,4

If conversion of DEFB statements has been switched on in ASM mode by the @assemble directive (e.g. @assemble=,1), this #udg macro produces the following output:

; |  **    |
; | *  *   |
; |*   *   |
; |*  *    |
; | ** *   |
; |     *  |
; |    * * |
; |     *  |