CODEWITHSUNDEEP
assemblymipsspim
jxstxcks
jxstxcks

Reputation: 1

Undefined symbol in MIPS

I got the following message after trying to run my code:

The following symbols are undefined:
printf

Here is part of what my code looks like:

main__loser:

    .asciiz "You lose!"

(...)
main__body:
    
    jal     whole_grid
    nop

    jal     direction
    nop

    sw      $v0,24($fp)
    lw      $a0,24($fp)
    jal     update_snake
    nop

    bne     $v0,$zero,main__body
    nop

    la      $v0,length
    lw      $v1,0($v0)
    li      $v0,3                        # 0x3
    bne     $v0,$zero,main__epilogue
    div     $zero,$v1,$v0
    break   7
    mfhi    $v0
    mflo    $v0
    sw      $v0,28($fp)
    lw      $a1,28($fp)
    la      $a0, main__loser
    jal     printf
    nop

    move    $v0,$zero

main__epilogue: 
(...)

Does anyone know what it means by the error that I have not defined the symbol printf?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 697

Answers (1)

Martin Rosenau
Martin Rosenau

Reputation: 18493

Does anyone know what it means by the error that I have not defined the symbol printf?

A typical program consists of multiple files.

The function printf that you call in the following line of code:

jal printf

... is defined in another assembler (or C) source file.

Typically, such functions are defined in a "library" file that contains pre-compiled assembler and C code.

The error:

You compiled your program without adding this "library" file to your project.

If you cannot use the library file (for example you don't have a library file that is suitable for your CPU or OS), you cannot use printf but you must write the message directly to the OS (or even to the hardware).

Upvotes: 1

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