Binary self-defining term
A binary self-defining term is written as an unsigned sequence of 1s and 0s enclosed in
apostrophes and preceded by the letter B; for example, B'10001101'. Spaces within the value are allowed and ignored. They can be used between groups of
digits to improve readability, for example B'1010 0101'. A binary term can
have up to 32 bits, not counting leading zero bits. This allows a range of values from
-2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647.
When used as an absolute term in an expression, a binary self-defining term has a negative value if the term is 32 bits long and the high-order bit is 1.
Binary representation is used primarily in designating bit patterns of masks or in logical operations.
The following shows a binary term used as a mask in a Test Under
Mask (TM) instruction. The contents of
GAMMA are to be
tested, bit by bit, against the pattern of bits represented by the
binary term.
ALPHA TM GAMMA,B'10101101'