No Operation and Skip (NOOPS)


Op Code (Hex) Operand 1


0001 Skip count


Operand 1: Unsigned immediate value.

Description:   This instruction performs no function other than to indicate a specific number of bytes within the instruction stream that are to be skipped during encapsulation. It consists of an operation code and 1 operand. Operand 1 is an unsigned immediate value that contains the number of bytes between this instruction and the next instruction to be processed. These bytes are skipped during the encapsulation of this program. A value of zero for operand 1 indicates that no bytes are to be skipped between this instruction and the next instruction to be processed.

If the operand 1 skip count indicates that the next instruction to process is beyond the end of the instruction stream, an invalid operand value range  (hex 2A08) exception is signaled.

This instruction may be used to insert gaps in the instruction stream in such a manner that allows instructions with adjacent instruction addresses to not be physically adjacent.

This instruction may not be branched to, and is not counted as an instruction in the instruction stream.

The instruction may precede or follow any machine instruction except the End instruction, and any number of No Operation and Skip instructions may exist in succession.

Note: When this instruction is used in an existing program template, the following items within the template may be adversely affected:

  • The actual count of instructions may be altered to be different than the count of instructions that is specified in the program template header.

  • Object definitions that reference instructions may now be out of range or may not reference the intended instruction.

The actual number of bytes skipped includes the bytes containing the instruction plus the number of bytes specified by the skip count value. The number of bytes skipped per template version is as follows: