7.16 .dc[size] expressions

The .dc directive expects zero or more expressions separated by commas. These expressions are evaluated and their values inserted into the current section. The size of the emitted value depends upon the suffix to the .dc directive:

.a

Emits N-bit values, where N is the size of an address on the target system.

.b

Emits 8-bit values.

.d

Emits double precision floating-point values.

.l

Emits 32-bit values.

.s

Emits single precision floating-point values.

.w

Emits 16-bit values. Note - this is true even on targets where the .word directive would emit 32-bit values.

.x

Emits long double precision floating-point values.

If no suffix is used then .w is assumed.

The byte ordering is target dependent, as is the size and format of floating point values.

Note - these directives are not intended for encoding instructions, and they will not trigger effects like DWARF line number generation. Instead some targets support special directives for encoding arbitrary binary sequences as instructions such as .insn or .inst.