Command-Line Options

Usage

pbxa64 [options] <input files>

Options Reference

Option	Description
`--target=win32`	Generate native x86/i686 COFF and Windows PE32 output.
`--target=win64`	Generate native x64 COFF and Windows PE32+ output.
`-o <path>`	Output file path. Default depends on mode: `a.exe` (link), `a.obj` (compile-only), `a.asm` (assembly).
`-c`	Compile only — produce a `.o` COFF object file without linking.
`-S`	Emit assembly only — output `.asm` text file instead of binary. Includes comment header with compiler version and command line.
`--asm:<path>`	Save generated assembly to file, then continue compiling and linking (unlike `-S` which stops). Assembly includes comment header.
`--dump-tokens`	Dump the lexer token stream to stdout. Useful for debugging lexer behavior.
`--dump-ast, --emit-ast`	Dump the abstract syntax tree to stdout after parsing.
`--dump-ir, --emit-ir`	Dump the intermediate representation to stdout after IR lowering.
`-O0`	No optimization (default). Fastest compilation, no transforms applied.
`-O1`	Basic optimization — enables simple peephole and local transforms.
`-O2`	Aggressive optimization — enables all available optimization passes.
`-O3`	Maximum optimization — highest optimization level.
`-v, --verbose`	Verbose output — prints additional diagnostic information during compilation.
`-h, --help`	Show the help message and exit.
`--version`	Show version banner and exit.

Windows Target Selection

PBXA64 itself is a 64-bit compiler executable. The --target option selects the architecture of the generated program, not the architecture of the compiler process. PowerBASIC, the supported C frontend, and assembler support both Windows targets.

Option	CPU	Windows image
`--target=win32`	x86 / i686	PE32
`--target=win64`	x64	PE32+

Input Files

Extension	Frontend	Description
`.pb`	PowerBASIC	Primary PowerBASIC source file
`.bas`	PowerBASIC	PowerBASIC source file (alternate)
`.pbi`	PowerBASIC	PowerBASIC include file
`.mgc`	MGC	C-like intermediate language source

Examples

# Build the same PowerBASIC source for both Windows targets
PBXA64.exe --target=win32 program.bas -o program32.exe
PBXA64.exe --target=win64 program.bas -o program64.exe

# Compile to object file only
pbxa64 -c program.bas -o program.obj

# Generate assembly listing
pbxa64 -S program.pb -o program.asm

# Debug token stream
pbxa64 --dump-tokens hello.pb

# Debug AST
pbxa64 --dump-ast hello.pb

# Debug IR with optimization
pbxa64 --dump-ir -O1 program.mgc