1.2.1 $A or $ALIGN : Align Data

The {$ALIGN} directive can be used to select the data alignment strategy of the compiler for records. It takes a numerical argument which can be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32, specifying the alignment boundary in bytes. For these values, it has the same effect as the {$PACKRECORDS} directive (see section 1.2.61, page 166).

Thus, the following

{$ALIGN 8}

is equivalent to

{$PACKRECORDS 8}

In MACPAS mode, additionally it can have the following values:

MAC68K

Specifies alignment following the m68K ABI.

POWER

Specifies alignment following the PowerPC ABI.

POWERPC

Specifies alignment following the PowerPC ABI.

RESET

Resets the default alignment.

ON

Same as specifying 4.

OFF

Same as specifying 1.

These values are not available in the {$PACKRECORDS} directive.