HCSystem Software Development Kit

DevKit focused on retrocomputers.

Targets

• i86: Intel 8088/8086 or Compatible

Supported Hosts

• Linux x86
• Windows x86
• DOS 8086

Binary Formats

• v7: UNIX V7 a.out code and data in separated segments
• v7tiny: UNIX V7 a.out with code and data in one segment
• hcix: HC-IX a.out
• com: DOS COM file
• sys: DOS SYS file
• pcboot: PC Boot Sector

Tools:

• ar: Archiver
• as: Assembler
• ld: Linker
• nm: Symbol Names
• size: Object Size
• cc0: C Compiler

Usage

• Assemble source to DOS .COM

i86-as -o test.o test.s
i86-ld -f com -o test.com test.o

• Compile C source to DOS .COM [DON'T USE. IN DEVELOPMENT]

i86-cc0 -o test.s test.c
i86-as -o test.o test.s
i86-ld -f com -o test.com -L /usr/local/lib/hcsystem -l libdos.a test.o

• Compile SubC source to DOS .COM [DON'T USE. IN DEVELOPMENT]

i86-sub -c -o test.o test.c
i86-ld -f com -o test.com -L /usr/local/lib/hcsystem -l libdos.a test.o

• Assemble multiple sources to Library

i86-as -o test0.o test0.s
i86-as -o test1.o test1.s
i86-ar -f libtest.a -a test0.o test1.o

• Assemble multiple sources with Library

i86-as -o test2.o test2.s
i86-as -o test3.o test3.s
i86-ld -f com -o test.com -L /libs/path/ -l libtest.a test2.o test3.o

Development Reqs

• GNU Make
• OpenWatcom 2.0
• nasm (tests only)
• dev86/bcc (tests only)

Versions Roadmap

• 2.00-final

  • Add i80 Target
  • Add z80 Target
  • Add Assembly Macro Processor

• 1.00-final

  • Add Far pointer

• 0.96-beta

  • Add b2o tool (binary to object converter)

• 0.95-beta

  • Add Minimal DOS Library
    • Add _start routine
  • Add C Pre-processor

• 0.94-beta

  • Add C Compiler arguments parser

• 0.93-beta

  • Fix LD Symbols Bug
  • Add missing opcodes to i86 AS
    • Segment selectors
    • retf
  • Fix Size/Nm multiple objects issue
  • Add SubC Compiler

• 0.92-beta

  • Add C Compiler minimal prototype
  • Fix AS/LD Binary output offset

• 0.91-beta

  • Add missing opcodes to Assembler (eg.: cmp REG16, VALUE)
  • Add UNIX NM-like Tool
  • Add NASM dot labels to Assembler
  • Add ECHO-like example to distribution

• 0.90-beta

  • Add PCBOOT File format
  • Add UNIX Size-like tool
  • Add Archiver tool

• 0.02-alpha

  • Add NASM TIMES command to Assembler
  • Add DOS COM/SYS File format

• 0.01-alpha

  • Add Linker tool
  • Add 8086 Assembler tool

Assembly Language

Based on NASM language.

• Labels

  main:
      .test:
      .end:

• 8086 Opcodes

  mov word [0x123], 0x456

• .text/.data/.bss sections

  section .text
  section .data
  section .bss

• db/dw/dd command

  db 0x11
  dw 0x2222
  dd 0x44444444

• resb/resw/resd command

  resb 5
  resw 1
  resd 3

• times-like command

  times 5 db 5

C Language

• global variables
• do/while/for loops
• pointers

i86-as: Assembler

HCSystem Software Development Kit for POSIX
HCSystem i86 Assembler v0.91-beta
Copyright (c) 2025, Humberto Costa dos Santos Junior

Usage: as [-o output] [objects...]
Options:
 -o output       set output file

i86-ar: Archiver

HCSystem Software Development Kit for POSIX
HCSystem Archiver v0.91-beta
Copyright (c) 2025, Humberto Costa dos Santos Junior

Usage: ar [-f archive] [-a file] [-l]
Options:
 -f archive      set archive file
 -a file         append file to archive
 -l              list all files from archive

i86-ld: Linker

HCSystem Software Development Kit for POSIX
HCSystem Linker v0.91-beta
Copyright (c) 2025, Humberto Costa dos Santos Junior

Usage: ld [-f format] [-b] [-o output] [-L dir] [-l library] [-s stack_size] [objects...]
Options:
 -f format       set output format (see list bellow)
 -b              include bss space to output
 -o output       set output file
 -s stack_size   set stack size (default: 2048)
 -L dir          add to library dirs list
 -l library      add library (auto include 'lib' prefix)
Output format:
 hcix            produce HC-IX a.out
 hcsys           produce HCSystem a.out
 v7|v7small      produce Seventh Edition UNIX a.out
 v7tiny          tiny model output (text/data/bss in one segment)
 com             DOS COM executable (ORG 0x100)
 sys             DOS SYS executable (ORG 0x0)
 pcboot          PC Boot Sector executable (ORG 0x7c00)

i86-size: Object size

HCSystem Software Development Kit for POSIX
HCSystem Object Size v0.91-beta
Copyright (c) 2025, Humberto Costa dos Santos Junior

Usage: size [objects...]

i86-nm: Symbol names

HCSystem Software Development Kit for POSIX
HCSystem Symbol Names v0.91-beta
Copyright (c) 2025, Humberto Costa dos Santos Junior

Usage: nm [objects...]

i86-cc0: C Compiler

HCSystem Software Development Kit for POSIX
HCSystem C Compiler v0.91-beta
Copyright (c) 2025, Humberto Costa dos Santos Junior

Usage: cc0 [-o output] [sources]
Options:
 -o output       set output file