SPIM Interface

SPIM provides both a simple terminal and a X-window interface. Both provide equivalent functionality, but the X interface is superior.

spim, the terminal version, and xspim, the X version, have the following command-line options:

-bare
Simulate a bare MIPS machine without pseudo instructions or the additional addressing modes provided by the assembler. Implies -quiet.

-asm
Simulate the virtual MIPS machine provided by the assembler. This is the default.

-notrap
Do not load the standard trap handler. This trap handler has two functions that must be assumed by the user's program. First, it handles traps. When a trap occurs, SPIM jumps to location 0x80000080, which should contain code to service the exception. Second, this file contains startup code that invokes the routine main. Without the trap handler, execution begins at the instruction labeled __start.

-trap
Load the standard trap handler. This is the default.

-noquiet
Print a message when an exception occurs. This is the default.

-quiet
Do not print a message at an exception.

-file
Load and execute the assembly code in the file.

-execute
Load and execute the code in the MIPS executable file a.out. The program cannot invoke any operating system services (e.g., input or output) since SPIM does not simulate the MIPS kernel traps.

-sseg size Sets the initial size of memory segment seg to be size bytes. The memory segments are named: text, data, stack, ktext, and kdata. For example, the pair of arguments -sdata 2000000 starts the user data segment at 2,000,000 bytes.

-lseg size Sets the limit on how large memory segment seg can grow to be size bytes. The memory segments that can grow are: data, stack, and kdata.

• Terminal Interface
• X-Window Interface