Book	Appendix B →

Appendix A - Declaration Reference

Every Glimmer declaration in one place. Each entry gives the grammar production from the Glim grammar reference, then one example from a program built with glimmer build, then the constraints the compiler enforces.

Rules that apply everywhere:

• Every statement starts with a keyword; ; starts a comment, in .glim and AZM alike.
• Three symbols, one meaning each: : reads “is a”, = reads “starting at”, -> reads “fires”.
• All declared names share one namespace and must be unique. The Glim, Snd_, Curve_, Shape_, CHG_, and __ prefixes and the runtime and profile names are reserved.
• Flag-carrying cells are allocated by category order - states, then pulses, then ramps, then FrameCount - into up to four change-flag banks; the current cap is 32 cells.
• Two built-in cells need no declaration: FrameCount increments every frame and is legal in on; CurrentCard arrives with the first card.

identifier      ::= [A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*
number          ::= decimal | "$" hex | "0x" hex | "%" binary

Program shape

program

program-decl    ::= "program" identifier

program RefMatrix

• Required, exactly once per program; only the entry file declares it.

platform

platform-decl   ::= "platform" platform-name        ; "tec1g-mon3"

platform tec1g-mon3

• At most once, and only together with display.
• Omitting both selects the generic profile: placeholder API addresses, for tests and for reading the generated structure.

display

display-decl    ::= "display" display-name          ; "matrix8x8" | "tms9918"

display matrix8x8

• At most once, and only together with platform.
• matrix8x8 generates the scan-driven matrix runtime; tms9918 the vblank-paced VDP runtime with a commit phase.
• The display gates its resources: shapes and sounds belong to matrix8x8, sprites and tiles to tms9918.

Facts and moments

state

state-decl      ::= "state" identifier ":" cell-type
                    ( "=" number )? ( "changed" )?
                  | "state" identifier ":" array-type ( "changed" )?
                  | "state" identifier ":" type-expr ( "changed" )?
cell-type       ::= "byte" | "word"
array-type      ::= "byte" "[" number "]"

state Count  : byte = 0 changed
state Score  : word = 0
state Board  : byte[8] changed
state Cursor : Point changed

• Scalars are byte or word; the initial value defaults to 0.
• changed marks the cell changed at startup, so dependents run on the first frame.
• Arrays and typed cells: one flag for the whole cell, zero-filled storage, no initializer; indexing is ordinary Z80 in block bodies.
• byte[N] takes N from 1 to 256; word arrays are unimplemented.

type

type-decl       ::= "type" identifier newline
                    type-field*
                    "end"
                  | "type" identifier "=" type-expr    ; alias (.typealias)
type-field      ::= identifier ":" field-type
field-type      ::= "byte" | "word" | "addr"
                  | number                             ; byte count
                  | type-expr
type-expr       ::= identifier ( "[" number "]" )?

type Point
    x : byte
    y : byte
end

type Pair = Point[2]

• Field types: byte, word, addr, a raw byte count, or another layout, including arrays of layouts; recursion is a parse error.
• The block form compiles to an AZM .type record, the alias form to .typealias; sizeof, offset, and layout casts work on the name inside block bodies.

pulse

pulse-decl      ::= "pulse" identifier

pulse Step

• A one-frame transient cell, raised by bindings, timers, ramps, or a block’s updates; it clears at the end of every frame.
• A raise whose consumers are all in later phases lands the same frame; any other raise rolls over whole to the next frame.

bind

bind-decl       ::= "bind" "key" key-name trigger "->" identifier
trigger         ::= "rising"
                  | "held" "period" number          ; tec1g-mon3 only
key-name        ::= identifier | "any"              ; validated per platform;

bind key KEY_2 rising -> Step
bind key KEY_4 held period 8 -> Fire
bind key any rising -> AnyKey

• The target must be a declared pulse.
• rising fires on the frame the key is first pressed; held adds an autorepeat every period frames while the key stays down.
• any fires on every new press, rising only, tec1g only, alongside any named binding the same press matches.
• Key names are validated per platform; Appendix B lists the MON-3 set.

timer

timer-decl      ::= "timer" identifier ":" cell-type "=" number
                    "->" identifier ( "once" )?

timer Blink : byte = 12 -> Tick
timer Gate : word = 384 -> Opened once

• The target must be a declared pulse.
• The cell is the writable period; a hidden countdown fires the pulse and reloads from the cell each time it runs out.
• once: the cell is the countdown itself; it fires a single time at zero and stays idle until code writes it again.
• Timer cells carry no change flag - trigger on the pulse - so they are legal in updates and absent from on.

ramp

ramp-decl       ::= "ramp" identifier ":" "byte" "steps" number
                    "->" identifier

ramp Travel : byte steps 64 -> Arrived

• The target must be a declared pulse.
• The cell steps each frame toward steps - 1, marked changed at every step, fires the pulse on arrival, and idles at the terminal value; writing the cell (usually to 0) starts it moving again.
• The cell is legal in both on and updates.

Blocks

block-decl      ::= block-kind identifier
                    block-header*
                    ( "begin" newline azm-line* )?  ; body optional with goto
                    "end"
block-kind      ::= "compute" | "effect" | "render" | "enter"
block-header    ::= "on" name-list                  ; not on enter
                  | "updates" name-list             ; not on render
                  | "goto" identifier               ; card transition after
name-list       ::= identifier ( "," identifier )*

Constraints shared by every block kind:

• Every block needs at least one on trigger; enter alone omits it, because entry is its trigger.
• on names must be flag-carrying cells, updates names writable runtime cells; an array or typed cell is one flag.
• Bodies are verbatim AZM and fall through: the generated wrapper appends the flag bookkeeping and the ret. end terminates a body when it is the only word on the line.
• _name labels are local to the block; a plain label is a file-level symbol. A direct store into a flag-carrying cell missing from updates draws a compiler warning.

compute

compute DeriveScore
    on Count
    updates Score
begin
    ld a,(Count)
    ld l,a
    ld h,0
    ld (Score),hl
end

• Computes run first in the frame, before effects and renders.
• updates is required: computing state is the block’s purpose.

effect

effect Advance
    on Step
    updates Count
begin
    ld hl,Count
    inc (hl)
end

• Effects run second: the phase for game rules.
• updates is optional: an effect may act entirely through calls, such as starting a sound cue.

render

render ShowScore
    on Score
begin
    ld hl,(Score)
    call HudWriteU16
end

• Renders run last in the frame and draw state to the display.
• updates and goto are rejected on a render: it depicts state.

enter

enter SetupPlaying
    updates Count
begin
    xor a
    ld (Count),a
end

• Legal only inside a card section; runs once on entry to that card, before the card’s other blocks, with no on line.
• Entry is edge-triggered: marking CurrentCard changed without switching cards cannot re-run it.
• An enter block’s updates re-raises the cells a card’s renders need, because a card-gated block sees only flags raised while its card is active.

goto

effect StartGame
    on AnyKey
    goto Playing
end

• goto names a declared card and switches to it after the block runs; with goto, begin is optional, so a header-only routing block closes directly with end.
• The switch lands at the next frame start; the destination’s enter blocks run first on the frame it activates.
• goto is the unconditional form; a transition that depends on a runtime test is a conditional store of a Card.<Name> value into CurrentCard, under updates CurrentCard.

routine

routine-decl    ::= "routine" identifier newline
                    "begin" newline
                    z80-body
                    "end"

routine ClampX
begin
    cp 8
    ret c
    ld a,7
end

• No triggers, no dispatch: blocks call it with an ordinary call ClampX.
• Emitted as a .routine boundary followed by ClampX:, with its register contract inferred by AZM.
• The body falls through and the generator appends the final ret; conditional early returns are fine.

Resources

curve

curve-decl      ::= "curve" identifier preset "steps" number
                    ( "from" number "to" number )?
preset          ::= identifier

curve SlideX ease_out steps 64 from 0 to 7

• Computed at build time; emitted as a page-aligned byte table named Curve_<Name>.
• Presets: linear, ease_in, ease_out, ease_in_out, sine, overshoot, anticipation.
• steps runs from 2 to 256; from and to are byte values and default to 0 and steps - 1.

shape

shape-decl      ::= "shape" identifier "color" color-name
                    ( shape-row+ | rot-group+ )
                    "end"
rot-group       ::= "rot" digit shape-row* newline shape-row*
                  | "rot" digit "=" "rot" digit   ; alias of an earlier
shape-row       ::= string
color-name      ::= "red" | "green" | "blue" | "yellow" | "cyan"
                  | "magenta" | "white"

shape Dot color green
  "XX"
  "XX"
end

shape PieceS color green
  rot0 "XX."
       ".XX"
  rot1 ".X"
       "XX"
       "X."
  rot2 "..."
       "XX."
       ".XX"
  rot3 = rot1
end

• Requires platform tec1g-mon3 with display matrix8x8; rows are rectangular quoted strings, 1 to 8 wide by 1 to 8 high, X lit and . empty.
• The plain form emits a Shape_<Name> table drawn with ShapeDraw (HL = table, B = x, C = y): an OR into the framebuffer, no clipping.
• Rotation groups: rot0..rot3 declared in order, 1 to 4 rows each, padded to a 4-row frame; rotN = rotM aliases an earlier distinct rotation, and rotations beyond those declared cycle.
• The rotational form compiles to ShapeRot_<Name>_<k> bitmaps plus the shared ShapeRotPtrTable, ShapeRotRightTbl, and ShapeRotColorTbl, with a ShapeId_<Name> equate per shape; index an entry by id*4 + rotation.

sprite

sprite-decl     ::= "sprite" identifier "color" vdp-color
                    shape-row+     ; exactly 8 rows of 8
                    "end"

sprite Player color white
  "..XXXX.."
  ".XXXXXX."
  "XX.XX.XX"
  "XXXXXXXX"
  "XX....XX"
  ".XXXXXX."
  "..XXXX.."
  "........"
end

• tms9918 profile only; exactly 8 rows of 8.
• Declaration order is the sprite slot and pattern number; the name compiles to the slot equate, so the generated op takes it directly: sprite_at Player, PlayerX, PlayerY.
• Patterns, colours, and slot setup upload once through the generated LoadResourcesVram. At most 31 sprites; slot 31 stays hidden.

tile

tile-decl       ::= "tile" identifier "color" vdp-color "on" vdp-color
                    shape-row+     ; exactly 8 rows of 8
                    "end"
vdp-color       ::= "transparent" | "black" | "medgreen" | "lightgreen"
                  | "darkblue" | "lightblue" | "darkred" | "cyan"
                  | "medred" | "lightred" | "darkyellow" | "lightyellow"
                  | "darkgreen" | "magenta" | "gray" | "white"

tile Pip color white on black
  "........"
  "..XXXX.."
  ".XXXXXX."
  ".XXXXXX."
  ".XXXXXX."
  ".XXXXXX."
  "..XXXX.."
  "........"
end

• tms9918 profile only; exactly 8 rows of 8.
• The name compiles to the tile index equate: tile_at Pip, 4, 5 places it at fixed coordinates, and NamePut (tile A at column D, row E) handles computed positions.
• Graphics I colours patterns in groups of eight, so tiles group by their (fg, bg) pair; the first pair’s background is the screen background for empty cells.

sound

sound-decl      ::= "sound" identifier "len" number "div" number

sound Click len 2 div 10

• Requires platform tec1g-mon3 with display matrix8x8; len and div are byte values from 1 to 255.
• len is measured in row ticks of the matrix scan (8 ticks is about one frame); div is the speaker divider, smaller values higher pitch.
• Each cue generates a callable routine: call Snd_Click starts it, non-blocking. One cue at a time; a new cue replaces the current one.

text

text-decl       ::= "text" identifier string

text MsgPaused "PAUSED"

• tec1g platform with either display: the LCD is board hardware.
• The string is zero-terminated; the generated lcd_row op positions the cursor and writes it: lcd_row MsgPaused, LcdRow1 in a body.
• LcdRow1..LcdRow4 and the MON-3 LCD call equates are emitted alongside.

Structure

card

card-decl       ::= "card" identifier

card Playing

• Starts a section: blocks after it belong to that card until the next card line or end of file, with no closing keyword; declarations before the first card are global.
• The first declared card is the start card.
• Cards generate a Card enum and the built-in CurrentCard cell, legal in on and updates; a card’s blocks run only while it is active.

part

part-decl       ::= "part" string

part "ref-part.glim"

• Entry file only. The semantics are merge: the named file’s declarations join the same program and namespace, so the compilation unit is the project and files are storage.
• Paths resolve relative to the entry file; diagnostics name the file they come from.
• Parts may not declare program, platform, display, or parts.

import

import-decl     ::= "import" string

import "double.asm"

with the module’s exported routine written in ordinary AZM:

.routine in HL out HL clobbers carry,zero,sign,parity,halfCarry
@Double:
    add hl,hl
    ret

• @-exported names become callable from any block (references omit the @); plain labels stay private to the module.
• Give each callable a .routine contract line; the generated program checks register contracts strictly, and a call into a routine with no declared or inferable contract fails to assemble.
• Glimmer places the .import in a dedicated section outside every execution path, because import bytes land at the directive.

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Book	Appendix B →