Nope. @Gary absolutely nailed it. You could have a perfectly valid and usable "alternative" assembler that used XML or some other syntax to specify instructions, and assemble them into valid Z binary instructions.
The opcode-blank-op1,op2 with operands in the disp(base) or disp(index,base) and similar formats is not at all an architectural thing -- but it is in the Principles nonetheless. Principles is effectively an HLASM manual as well as an architecture specification. Charles -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Seymour J Metz Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2023 8:35 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: HLASM religious texts, was Variable symbol without leading & Yes, you need PoOps to determine what format each instruction has, but the actual syntax of each field is documented only in the HLASM reference manual.
