Constraint Modifier Characters

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Constraint modifier characters

The following are constraint modifier characters.

=

Means that this operand is write-only for this instruction: the previous value is discarded and replaced by output data.

+

Means that this operand is both read and written by the instruction.
When the compiler fixes up the operands to satisfy the constraints, it needs to know which operands are inputs to the instruction and which are outputs from it. ‘=’ identifies an output; ‘+’ identifies an operand that is both input and output; all other operands are assumed to be input only.

&

Means (in a particular alternative) that this operand is an earlycobber operand which is modified before the instruction is finished using the input operands. Therefore, this operand may not lie in a register that is used as an input operand or as part of any memory address.
‘&’ applies only to the alternative in which it is written. In constraints with multiple alternatives, sometimes one alternative requires ‘&’ while others do not. See, for example, the ‘movdf’ insn of the 68000.
‘&’ does not obviate the need to write ‘=’.

%

Declares the instruction to be commutative for this operand and the following operand. This means that the compiler may interchange the two operands if that is the cheapest way to make all operands fit the constraints.

#

Says that all following characters, up to the next comma, are to be ignored as a constraint. They are significant only for choosing register preferences.