Decrement and Branch Conditionally

NAME
	DBcc -- Decrement and branch conditionally

SYNOPSIS
	DBcc	Dn,<label>

	Size of offset = (Word)

FUNCTION
	Controls a loop of instructions. The parameters are: a
	condition code, a data register (counter), and an offset value.
	The instruction first tests the condition (for termination); if it
	is true, no operation is performed. If the termination condition is
	not true, the low-order 16 bits of the counter are decremented by
	one. If the result is -1, execution continues at the next
	instruction, otherwise, execution continues at the specified
	address.

	Condition code 'cc' specifies one of the following:
0000 F  False            Z = 1      1000 VC oVerflow Clear   V = 0
0001 T  True             Z = 0      1001 VS oVerflow Set     V = 1
0010 HI HIgh             C + Z = 0  1010 PL PLus             N = 0
0011 LS Low or Same      C + Z = 1  1011 MI MInus            N = 1
0100 CC Carry Clear      C = 0      1100 GE Greater or Equal N (+) V = 0
0101 CS Carry Set        C = 1      1101 LT Less Than        N (+) V = 1
0110 NE Not Equal        Z = 0      1110 GT Greater Than     Z + (N (+) V) = 0
0111 EQ EQual            Z = 1      1111 LE Less or Equal    Z + (N (+) V) = 1


	Keep the following in mind when using DBcc instructions:
	1. A DBcc acts as the UNTIL loop contruct in high level
	   languages. E.g., DBMI would be "decrement and branch until
	   minus".
	2. Most assemblers accept DBRA or DBF for use when no condition
	   is required for termination of a loop.


        The DBcc will, unlike the Bcc instruction, take the branch only if
        the set of conditions are NOT satified. The loop will be terminated
        if the condition is true, or the counter is zero BEFORE a decrement,
        and wrap to -1. This mean that if you execute code like:

	move.w	#30,d0

.Loop
	move.l	(a0)+,(a1)+
	dbf	d0,.Loop

        then the copy will be executed *31* times, and 124 bytes of memory
        will be copied, not 120.

        A good practice is therefore to write:

	move.w	#31-1,d0

.Loop
	move.l	(a0)+,(a1)+
	dbf	d0,.Loop

        To compare two strings that may be in excess of 64k length for
        beeing equal, you could execute the following code:
	...

	move.l	#$53452-1,d0
	beq.s	.NoLength	; Zero length!
	bra.s	.StartOuterLoop	; The upper word contain count of 65536's...

.OuterLoop
	swap	d0

.InnerLoop
	cmpm.b	(a0)+,(a1)+
	dbne	d0,.InnerLoop	; Remember, drop trough on condition TRUE.

.StartOuterLoop		        ; d0 will be $FFFF on 2.+ run-through
	bne.s	.NotEqual	; Dropped through due to Not Equal?
	swap	d0		; Get upper part of word...	
	dbf	d0,.OuterLoop
	...

        It would not be possible to use two sets of DBNEs, as SWAP
        changes the condition codes - and we don't want the drop-
        though to be on account of D0, instead of the compares...

        Another neat trick is to use instruction as a conditional
        decrementer; this code will decrement d0.w if the last
        instruction returned NOT EQUAL:
	...
	dbeq	d0,.Next

.Next
	...

FORMAT
	-----------------------------------------------------------------
	|15 |14 |13 |12 |11 |10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
	|---|---|---|---|---------------|---|---|---|---|---|-----------|
	| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |   CONDITION   | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | REGISTER  |
	|---------------------------------------------------------------|
	|                      16 BITS OFFSET (d16)                     |
	-----------------------------------------------------------------

	"CONDITION" is one of the condition code given some lines before.
	"REGISTER" is the number of data register.
	Offset is the relative gap in byte to do branching.

RESULT
	Not affected.

SEE ALSO
	Bcc Scc