Using local register variable

["Tal Agmon" <Tal.Agmon@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

The manual says:
You can define a local register variable with a specified register like
this:
register int *foo asm ("a5");

My question: is foo must be a pointer or can I define for example:
register int y asm ("a5");

I'm asking this because in gcc-3.3.2 I saw (in a very simple program with
no reason not the preserve a register)
that a5 was not preserved for y, and when I defined it as in the first
example, a5 WAS preserved for foo.

Regards,

   Tal.