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Elite on the BBC Micro and NES

Version analysis of LOIN (Part 5 of 7)

This code appears in the following versions (click to see it in the source code):

Code variations between these versions are shown below.

Name: LOIN (Part 5 of 7) Type: Subroutine Category: Drawing lines Summary: Draw a line: Line has a steep gradient, step up along y-axis Deep dive: Bresenham's line algorithm
This routine draws a line from (X1, Y1) to (X2, Y2). It has multiple stages. If we get here, then: * |delta_y| >= |delta_x| * The line is closer to being vertical than horizontal * We are going to step up along the y-axis * We potentially swap coordinates to make sure Y1 >= Y2
.STPY LDY Y1 \ Set A = Y = Y1 TYA LDX X1 \ Set X = X1 CPY Y2 \ If Y1 >= Y2, jump down to LI15, as the coordinates are BCS LI15 \ already in the order that we want DEC SWAP \ Otherwise decrement SWAP from 0 to &FF, to denote that \ we are swapping the coordinates around LDA X2 \ Swap the values of X1 and X2 STA X1 STX X2 TAX \ Set X = X1 LDA Y2 \ Swap the values of Y1 and Y2 STA Y1 STY Y2 TAY \ Set Y = A = Y1 .LI15 \ By this point we know the line is vertical-ish and \ Y1 >= Y2, so we're going from top to bottom as we go \ from Y1 to Y2

Code variation 1 of 12Related to the screen mode

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LSR A \ Set A = Y1 / 8, so A now contains the character row LSR A \ that will contain our horizontal line LSR A ORA #&60 \ As A < 32, this effectively adds &60 to A, which gives \ us the screen address of the character row (as each \ character row takes up 256 bytes, and the first \ character row is at screen address &6000, or page &60) STA SCH \ Store the page number of the character row in SCH, so \ the high byte of SC is set correctly for drawing the \ start of our line TXA \ Set A = bits 3-7 of X1 AND #%11111000
LDA ylookup,Y \ Look up the page number of the character row that STA SC+1 \ contains the pixel with the y-coordinate in Y1, and \ store it in the high byte of SC(1 0) at SC+1, so the \ high byte of SC is set correctly for drawing our line TXA \ Set A = 2 * bits 2-6 of X1 AND #%11111100 \ ASL A \ and shift bit 7 of X1 into the C flag
\ We now calculate the address of the character block \ containing the pixel (X1, Y1) and put it in SC(1 0), \ as follows: \ \ SC = &5800 + (Y1 div 8 * 256) + (Y1 div 8 * 64) + 32 \ \ See the deep dive on "Drawing pixels in the Electron \ version" for details LSR A \ Set A = Y1 / 8, so A now contains the character row LSR A \ that will contain our horizontal line LSR A STA SC+1 \ Set SC+1 = A, so (SC+1 0) = A * 256 \ = char row * 256 LSR A \ Set (A SC) = (A SC) / 4 ROR SC \ = (4 * ((char row * 64) + 32)) / 4 LSR A \ = char row * 64 + 32 ROR SC ADC SC+1 \ Set SC(1 0) = (A SC) + (SC+1 0) + &5800 ADC #&58 \ = (char row * 64 + 32) STA SC+1 \ + char row * 256 \ + &5800 \ \ which is what we want, so SC(1 0) contains the address \ of the first visible pixel on the character row \ containing the point (X1, Y1) TXA \ Each character block contains 8 pixel rows, so to get AND #%11111000 \ the address of the first byte in the character block \ that we need to draw into, as an offset from the start \ of the row, we clear bits 0-2 ADC SC \ And add the result to SC(1 0) to get the character STA SC \ block on the row we want BCC P%+4 \ If the addition of the low bytes overflowed, increment INC SC+1 \ the high byte \ So SC(1 0) now contains the address of the first pixel \ in the character block containing the (X1, Y1), taking \ the screen borders into consideration

Code variation 2 of 12Related to the screen mode

This variation is blank in the Electron version.

STA SC \ Store this value in SC, so SC(1 0) now contains the \ screen address of the far left end (x-coordinate = 0) \ of the horizontal pixel row that we want to draw the \ start of our line on

Code variation 3 of 12Related to the screen mode

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (flight), Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

BCC P%+4 \ If bit 7 of X1 was set, so X1 > 127, increment the INC SC+1 \ high byte of SC(1 0) to point to the second page on \ this screen row, as this page contains the right half \ of the row

Code variation 4 of 12Related to the screen mode

This variation is blank in the Electron version.

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TXA \ Set X = X1 mod 8, which is the horizontal pixel number AND #7 \ within the character block where the line starts (as TAX \ each pixel line in the character block is 8 pixels \ wide)
TXA \ Set X = X1 mod 4, which is the horizontal pixel number AND #3 \ within the character block where the line starts (as TAX \ each pixel line in the character block is 4 pixels \ wide)

Code variation 5 of 12Related to the screen mode

This variation is blank in the Electron version.

LDA TWOS,X \ Fetch a 1-pixel byte from TWOS where pixel X is set, STA R \ and store it in R

Code variation 6 of 12Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

Part 5 of the LOIN routine in the advanced versions uses logarithms to speed up the multiplication.

This variation is blank in the 6502 Second Processor and Master versions.

LDA Y1 \ Set Y = Y1 mod 8, which is the pixel row within the AND #7 \ character block at which we want to draw the start of TAY \ our line (as each character block has 8 rows)

Code variation 7 of 12Related to the screen mode

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (flight), Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor and Master versions.

TXA \ Set X = X1 mod 8, which is the pixel column within the AND #7 \ character block at which we want to draw the start of TAX \ our line (as each character block has 8 rows) LDA TWOS,X \ Fetch a mode 4 1-pixel byte with the pixel position STA R \ at X and store it in R to act as a mask

Code variation 8 of 12Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

Part 5 of the LOIN routine in the advanced versions uses logarithms to speed up the multiplication.

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\ The following calculates: \ \ P = P / Q \ = |delta_x| / |delta_y| \ \ using the same shift-and-subtract algorithm \ documented in TIS2 LDA P \ Set A = |delta_x| LDX #1 \ Set Q to have bits 1-7 clear, so we can rotate through STX P \ 7 loop iterations, getting a 1 each time, and then \ getting a 1 on the 8th iteration... and we can also \ use P to catch our result bits into bit 0 each time .LIL4 ASL A \ Shift A to the left BCS LI13 \ If bit 7 of A was set, then jump straight to the \ subtraction CMP Q \ If A < Q, skip the following subtraction BCC LI14 .LI13 SBC Q \ A >= Q, so set A = A - Q SEC \ Set the C flag to rotate into the result in Q .LI14 ROL P \ Rotate the counter in P to the left, and catch the \ result bit into bit 0 (which will be a 0 if we didn't \ do the subtraction, or 1 if we did) BCC LIL4 \ If we still have set bits in P, loop back to TIL2 to \ do the next iteration of 7 \ We now have: \ \ P = A / Q \ = |delta_x| / |delta_y| \ \ and the C flag is set LDX Q \ Set X = Q + 1 INX \ = |delta_y| + 1 \ \ We add 1 so we can skip the first pixel plot if the \ line is being drawn with swapped coordinates LDA X2 \ Set A = X2 - X1 (the C flag is set as we didn't take SBC X1 \ the above BCC) BCC LFT \ If X2 < X1 then jump to LFT, as we need to draw the \ line to the left and down
\ The following section calculates: \ \ P = P / Q \ = |delta_x| / |delta_y| \ \ using the log tables at logL and log to calculate: \ \ A = log(P) - log(Q) \ = log(|delta_x|) - log(|delta_y|) \ \ by first subtracting the low bytes of the logarithms \ from the table at LogL, and then subtracting the high \ bytes from the table at log, before applying the \ antilog to get the result of the division and putting \ it in P LDX P \ Set X = |delta_x| BEQ LIfudge \ If |delta_x| = 0, jump to LIfudge to return 0 as the \ result of the division LDA logL,X \ Set A = log(P) - log(Q) LDX Q \ = log(|delta_x|) - log(|delta_y|) SEC \ SBC logL,X \ by first subtracting the low bytes of log(P) - log(Q)

Code variation 9 of 12Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

The Master version omits half of the logarithm algorithm when compared to the 6502SP version.

See below for more variations related to this code.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (flight), Disc (docked), Master and Electron versions.

BMI LIloG \ If A > 127, jump to LIloG

Code variation 10 of 12Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

See variation 9 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (flight), Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

Tap on a block to expand it, and tap it again to revert.

LDX P \ And then subtracting the high bytes of log(P) - log(Q) LDA log,X \ so now A contains the high byte of log(P) - log(Q) LDX Q SBC log,X BCS LIlog3 \ If the subtraction fitted into one byte and didn't \ underflow, then log(P) - log(Q) < 256, so we jump to \ LIlog3 to return a result of 255 TAX \ Otherwise we set A to the A-th entry from the antilog LDA alogh,X \ table so the result of the division is now in A JMP LIlog2 \ Jump to LIlog2 to return the result .LIlog3
LDX P \ And then subtracting the high bytes of log(P) - log(Q) LDA log,X \ so now A contains the high byte of log(P) - log(Q) LDX Q SBC log,X BCS LIlog3 \ If the subtraction fitted into one byte and didn't \ underflow, then log(P) - log(Q) < 256, so we jump to \ LIlog3 to return a result of 255 TAX \ Otherwise we set A to the A-th entry from the antilog LDA antilog,X \ table so the result of the division is now in A JMP LIlog2 \ Jump to LIlog2 to return the result .LIlog3

Code variation 11 of 12Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

See variation 9 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (flight), Disc (docked), Master and Electron versions.

LDA #255 \ The division is very close to 1, so set A to the BNE LIlog2 \ closest possible answer to 256, i.e. 255, and jump to \ LIlog2 to return the result (this BNE is effectively a \ JMP as A is never zero) .LIloG LDX P \ Subtract the high bytes of log(P) - log(Q) so now A LDA log,X \ contains the high byte of log(P) - log(Q) LDX Q SBC log,X BCS LIlog3 \ If the subtraction fitted into one byte and didn't \ underflow, then log(P) - log(Q) < 256, so we jump to \ LIlog3 to return a result of 255 TAX \ Otherwise we set A to the A-th entry from the LDA antilogODD,X \ antilogODD so the result of the division is now in A

Code variation 12 of 12Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

See variation 9 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (flight), Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

.LIlog2 STA P \ Store the result of the division in P, so we have: \ \ P = |delta_x| / |delta_y| .LIfudge LDX Q \ Set X = Q \ = |delta_y| BEQ LIEX7 \ If |delta_y| = 0, jump down to LIEX7 to return from \ the subroutine INX \ Set X = Q + 1 \ = |delta_y| + 1 \ \ We add 1 so we can skip the first pixel plot if the \ line is being drawn with swapped coordinates LDA X2 \ Set A = X2 - X1 SEC SBC X1 BCS P%+6 \ If X2 >= X1 then skip the following two instructions JMP LFT \ If X2 < X1 then jump to LFT, as we need to draw the \ line to the left and down .LIEX7 RTS \ Return from the subroutine