5.5.1 Align Directive

The .align [algn[, fill]] directive pads the location counter (in the current subsection) to a particular storage boundary. The first expression (which must be absolute) is the alignment required specified as the number of low-order zero bits the location counter must have after advancement.

The assembler accepts algn values from 0 up to 15. A .align 0 turns off the automatic alignment used by the data creating pseudo-ops. You must make sure that data is properly aligned. Reinstate auto alignment with a .align directive.

The second expression (also absolute) gives the fill value to be stored in the padding bytes. It (and the comma) may be omitted. If it is omitted, the padding bytes are zero. You may wish to use a fill value of 0xFF for regions of Flash memory.