• Then stack space is allocated for the called procedure's
  local variables, the address of a local variable is relative
  to the link register

• All the information that has been put on the stack is
  called the activation record or stack frame for the
  procedure - this activation record must be constructed
  each time a procedure is called

• When the procedure is ready to return all the above
  operations must be reversed

• The return value of the procedure is placed in a
  register, the calling procedure can retrieve this value
  from the register after the return is complete

• The link register and the stack pointer are then
  restored to their previous values and an rts is executed

• Nested procedure calls and recursive procedure calls
  cause the stack to grow towards the data segment - if
  you have an infinite recursion the stack will continue to
  grow until it reaches the data segment --at that point
  your program will be terminated with a segmentation
  error and a core dump

March 3, 1998

Page 13

C201/TAM