From: raymoon@ms1.dgsys.com (Raymond Moon)
Newsgroups: alt.lang.asm,comp.lang.asm.x86,news.answers,alt.answers,comp.answers
Subject: x86 Assembly Language FAQ - Borland TASM
Supersedes: <70vrp3$1p4$5@news.dgsys.com>
Followup-To: alt.lang.asm,comp.lang.asm.x86
Date: 23 Nov 1998 18:09:44 GMT
Organization: MoonWare
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Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Distribution: world
Expires: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 23:59:59 GMT
Message-ID: <73c8d8$nos$5@news.dgsys.com>
Reply-To: raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Summary: This is the FAQ for the x86 Assembly Language programmers for
 the alt.lang.asm and comp.lang.asm.x86 newsgroups.  This particular
 section of the FAQ contains x86 assembly information specific to the
 Inprise's Borland Turbo assembler.
Keywords: x86 Assemby Language ASM FAQ Inprise Borland TASM


Archive-Name: assembly-language/x86/borland
Posting-Frequency: monthly (21st of every month)
Last-modified: 1998/10/25

------------------------------

Subject: 1. Introduction and Intent

This is the x86 Assembly Language FAQ for the comp.lang.asm.x86 and
alt.lang.asm newsgroups.  This FAQ is posted monthly on or about the
21st of the month to both newsgroups and news.answers, alt.answers and
comp.answers.  It also is archived at the normal FAQ archival site,
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu and to SimTel and its mirror sites in the msdos/info
directory and Garbo and its mirrors in the pc/doc-net directory. 
Lastly, the current version is available from my web page as:
    As text files:
        http://www2.dgsys.com/~raymoon/faq/asmfaq.zip
    As HTML documents:
        http://www2.dgsys.com/~raymoon/faq/asmfaqh.zip
Currently, this FAQ is broken into six sections.  The following are the
section filenames and the scope of each section of the FAQ.

assembly-language/x86/general/part1 - This is the basic portion of
    the FAQ that contains information of interest to all assembly
    language programmers.  In general, the information contained in
    this portion of the FAQ is not specific to any particular
    assembler.

assembly-language/x86/general/part2 - This is a continuation of the
    above FAQ.

assembly-language/x86/general/part3 - This is a continuation of the
    above FAQ.

assembly-language/x86/microsoft - This portion of the FAQ contains
    information specific for the Microsoft MASM.

assembly-language/x86/borland - This portion of the FAQ contains
    information specific for the Inprise's Borland Turbo Assembler.
assembly-language/x86/a86 - This portion of the FAQ contains
    information specific for the Shareware A86 Assembler and D86
    Debugger.

The scope and content of this FAQ is to go beyond just answering the
frequently asked questions.  I am including pointers to assembly
language treasure troves that are hidden on the Internet.  I believe
that this will enhance the FAQ's value not only to the novices but also
to the old hands.

For the ease of determining what has changed since the last FAQ, the
Table of Contents will have "REVISED" at the end of the subject line for
all revised subjects.  If more than one FAQ revision has been missed,
the "Last Changed:" entry at the end of each subject can be used to
determine which subjects have been revised during the intervening
period.

The information in this FAQ is free for all to use as long as you
acknowledge the source.  This FAQ can be reproduced in part or in its
entirety as long as the copyright is included.  This FAQ can be made
available on public servers, like ftp, gopher or WWW servers.  Please do
not modify the file, such as converting it into some other format,
without prior permission of the author.

All references to files and locations are in Uniform Resource Locators
(URLs) format.  Some web browser will be able to use these URLs directly
as hot links.  If the format is not clear to you, get RFC 1738.  It is
available from:  ftp://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1738.txt 

Suggestions for changes and comments are always welcome.  They can be
posted to either newsgroup or e-mailed directly to me.

Author: Raymond Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Copyright 1998 - Raymond Moon
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Last Changed: 25 Oct 98

------------------------------


Subject: 2. Table of Contents

1.  Introduction And Intent
2.  Table Of Contents
3.  TASM Ideal Mode
4.  Inprise TASM Information
5.  Inprise Tools/Windows 95 Interworking Patches Available
6.  FREELIB, Version 3.0
7.  TASM Source Code Available on the Internet
8.  TASM Version 5.0 Patch
9.  Inprise's TASM Newsgroup
10. TASM MMX Macros
11. TASM IDE

------------------------------

Subject: 3. TASM Ideal Mode

3.1  SUMMARY

TASM, Inpise's Borland Turbo Assembler, supports an alternative to MASM
emulation.  This is known as Ideal mode and provides several advantages
over MASM.  The key (questionable) disadvantage, of course, is that MASM
style assemblers cannot assemble Ideal mode programs.

3.2  MEMORY CONTENTS

Square brackets are used consistently to refer to memory contents. 
Notice that size qualifiers are not necessary when TASM has enough
information by context to figure out the data size involved.  Here are
some examples without segment details:

   ByteVal db ?          ; "ByteVal" is name of byte variable

   mov ax, bx            ; OK:  Move value of BX to AX

   mov ax, [bx]          ; OK:  Move word at address BX to AX.  Size of
                         ; destination is used to generate proper object
                         ; code

   mov ax, [word bx]     ; OK:  Same as above with unnecessary size
                         ; qualifier

   mov ax, [word ptr bx]
                         ; OK:  Same as above with unnecessary size
                         ; qualifier and redundant pointer prefix

   mov al, [bx]          ; OK:  Move byte at address BX to AL.  Size of
                         ; destination is used to generate proper object
                         ; code

   mov [bx], al          ; OK:  Move AL to location BX

   mov ByteVal, al       ; Warning: "ByteVal" needs brackets

   mov [ByteVal], al     ; OK:  Move AL to memory location named         
                 ;  "ByteVal"

   mov [ByteVal], ax     ; Error: unmatched operands

   mov al, [bx + 2]      ; OK:  Move byte from memory location BX + 2 to
                         ; AL

   mov al, bx[2]         ; Error: indexes must occur with "+" as above

   mov bx, Offset ByteVal
                         ; OK: Offset statement does not use brackets

   mov bx, Offset [ByteVal]
                         ; Error:  offset cannot be taken of the 
                         ;  contents of memory

   lea bx, [ByteVal]     ; OK:  Load effective address of "ByteVal"

   lea bx, ByteVal       ; Error:  brackets required

   mov ax, 01234h        ; OK:  Move constant word to AX

   mov [bx], 012h        ; Warning: size qualifier needed to determine
                         ; whether to populate byte or word

   mov [byte bx], 012h
                         ; OK:  constant 012h is moved to byte at 
                         ;  address BX

   mov [word bx], 012h
                         ; OK:  constant 012h is moved to word at 
                         ;  address BX

STRUCTURE REFERENCES

Ideal mode handles structured records beautifully.  When referring to
structure members the dot operator is used.  The name to the left of the
dot is always the address of a structure and the name to right is always
a structure member.  Ideal mode permits member names to be duplicated in
different structures.  Here is a simple example, again without segment
details:

    Struc PosType
        Row     dw  ?
        Col     dw  ?
    Ends PosType

    Union PosValType
        Pos     PosType ?
        Val     dd      ?
    Ends PosValType

    Point   PosValType ?

    mov [Point.Pos.Row], bx     ; OK:  Move BX to Row component of Point

    mov [Point.Pos.Row], bl     ; Error:  mismatched operands

INDIRECTION

Ideal mode enforces type-size checking even with indirect references. 
Using the above structure, here is how indirection is handled.  BX is
assumed to point to an instance of PosValType in memory.  Indirection is
used frequently when pointers are passed to procedures.

    mov [(PosValType bx).Pos.Row], ax
                        ; OK: Move AX to Row component of PosValType 
                        ;  instance pointed to by BX

    mov [bx + PosValType.Pos.Row], ax
                        ; OK: same as above

    mov [bx + PosValType.Pos.Row], al
                        ; Error:  mismatched operands

SEGMENT GROUPS

The Offset operator always evaluates the offset of a data instance
relative to its group, not its segment.  This allows Offset to be used
without qualifying each reference with the appropriate group name. 
Labels in a segment could be used to determine segment offsets if
needed.

RESOURCES

Books and files which will be of interest to programmers wishing to know
more about the Ideal mode of Borland's TASM assembler include the
following:

 Turbo Assembler User's Guide / Borland International.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 Naturally, this is the definitive text on Ideal mode.  Its focus is
 strictly on using TASM; it does not cover assembly language or the
 x86 instruction set.  Exasperatingly, the examples in the book all
 use MASM emulation mode, and only one of the four complete program
 examples included with TASM (at least version 3.1) uses Ideal mode. 
 The example that does use Ideal mode is a very flexible WHEREIS
 program.  Studying this 13 file example should be sufficient for
 anyone wishing to understand Ideal mode.

 Mastering Turbo Assembler / Tom Swan.
 Indianapolis, IN:  Hayden Books, c 1989.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 This book is not just another Microsoft Assembler book reprinted
 with a Turbo Assembler cover.  Swan uses and promotes Ideal mode
 throughout.  This is a great beginning text for programmers who are
 still hassling with the ubiquitous non-reentrant interrupt handler
 known as DOS.  It includes an overview of the x86 instruction set.

 SKEL32.ZIP / Bill Magaletta.
 Obtainable by ftp at hobbes.nmsu.edu:/os2/32bit/program as well as
 ftp-os2.cdrom.com and CompuServe
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 This is a standalone 32 bit OS/2 Ideal mode program, the simplicity
 of which will make converts of DOS programmers dealing with
 interrupts and segments.  It includes an overview of the initial
 register states of DOS and OS/2 programs.  This example illustrates
 the fact that TASM for DOS can be used to produce object files for
 OS/2.

Contributor: Kurt Jung, kwjung@vela.acs.oakland.edu
Last changed: 17 Jan 95

------------------------------

Subject: 4. Inprise Borland TASM Information                    REVISED

4.1 Inprise FTP Site

Borland maintains a ftp site which has a directory dedicated to TASM. 
Most entries are patches and HOW-TOs, but there is a shell for TSRs that
will load and unload either high or low.

    ftp://ftp.inprise.com/pub/borlandcpp/devsupport/tasm/

4.2 Inprice Web Site                                            REVISED

At Borland's Web Site, I only could find a factsheet on TASM.  Most
information was found in the Borland C++ Quick Tour.  Click on the TASM
icon in the lower right

Contributor: Ray Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Last changed: 23 Nov 98

------------------------------

Subject: 5. Inprise Tools/Windows 95 Interworking Patches Available

5.1 TASM32/H2ASM/H2ASM32 FAIL UNDER WINDOWS95

Using the 32bit tools from Borland C++ 4.5 / TASM 4.0 under Windows 95
can fail when the DOS based tools are called from the Windows IDE.

The nature of the problem is that any attempt to specify a commands file
using the @ style argument will fail due to an incompatibility between
Windows 95 long filenames, and the TASM32.EXE file-open code.

Note that by default the Borland C++ 4.5 IDE uses the @ directive for
launching TASM32.EXE if 32bit instructions (which are not handled by the
inline C++ assembler) are encountered in a user's source.

Although the Borland tools reportedly use the PowerPack DPMI extensions
for their 32bit operation, user applications which use the Powerpack
libraries do not seem to be affected by this problem.

A patch is available to correct this issue from location:
    ftp://ftp.inprise.com/pub/borlandcpp/devsupport/patches/tasm/ta4p01.zip

This should be applied using the patcher executable from location:
    ftp://ftp.inprise.com/pub/borlandcpp/devsupport/patches/bc5/patch.zip

Some people experience problems using the normal version 3.20 PATCH
program on systems running NTFS.  This version should be used only
under Windows NT, and only if there have been immediate crashes using
the regular version.  The URL for this version is:
    ftp://ftp.inprise.com/pub/borlandcpp/devsupport/patches/bc5/patch-nt.zip

Contributor: Iain Barker, ibarker@bnr.ca
Last changed: 19 Feb 96

------------------------------

Subject: 6. FREELIB, Version 3.0

Freelib v3.0 is a library of 200 routines that may be useful for
assembly language programming.  Freelib includes routines that do many
of the tasks that make assembly language difficult - like buffered
file I/O, formatted string output, memory allocation, etc.  Also
includes 16.16bit fixed point arithmetic, text screen output (EGA
80x25 or VGA 90x34), and VGA graphics in both 16 and 256 colors.  All
routines are highly optimized for size and speed, and average only 60
bytes each.  Full source code and documentation is included for all
routines.  Freelib is public domain software, free for non-commercial
use.  The library is available from SimTel:

    ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/asmutl/freeli30.zip

Contributor: Raymond Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Last changed: 20 Dec 96

------------------------------

Subject: 7. TASM Source Code Available on the Internet

7.1  TENIE REMMEL'S ASSEMBLY SNIPPETS CODE COLLECTION 

The Assembly Snippets is a large collection of assembly language code
and other information.   Many files from the original 80XXX snippets,
the ASM0-Z collection, and the Aquila site are included.  All code is
99% guaranteed to compile under TASM.   This new release contains the
following items, among others:

  An object file disassembler       A 4971 byte Tetris game
  Several Conway LIFE programs      Assembly & Disassembly tables
  A demonstration of FakeMode       Several powerful editors
  A complete DOS extender           A Pentium optimization list
  A ModeX graphics library          Info for writing antivirus

You can download these rather large files from SimTel:

ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/asmutl/asnip40a.zip  1.41 Megs
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/asmutl/asnip40b.zip  1.35 Megs
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/asmutl/asnip40c.zip  1.32 Megs

Contributor: Raymond Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Last changed: 21 May 97

------------------------------

Subject: 8. TASM Version 5.0 Patch

8.1  TASM 5.0 PATCH 1 (152KB)

This patch will modify TD32.EXE and TASM32.EXE to support Borland
C++Builder applications.  The URL is:
    http://www.borland.com/devsupport/borlandcpp/patches/TASMPT.ZIP

Contributor: Raymond Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Last changed: 26 Dec 97

------------------------------

Subject 9.  Inprise's Borland TASM Newsgroup

Borland has create a whole family of newsgroups devoted to their
products.  One of these new newsgroups is devoted to TASM.  Its URL is

    news:forums.inprise.com/borland.public.tasm

Contributor: Raymond Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Last Changed: 26 Dec 97

------------------------------

Subject 10.  TASM MMX Macros

Normand Leclerc has written some Turbo Assembler MMx macroes that are
based on Intel's IAMMX.INC definition file.  Transparent to the
programmer, they have been written to be used in IDEAL mode.  They
can be assembled with or without case sensitivity and support
simplified segmentation definitions.  The are available from:

    ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/asmutl/mmxtasm0.zip

Contributor: Normand Leclerc, lecn1306@ele.etsmtl.ca
Last Changed: 20 Mar 97

------------------------------

Subject 11.  TASM IDE

Joost Vrielink has developed a Turbo Assembler IDE.  It is free for
downloading from his web site:
    http://www.angelfire.com/in/tasm

The IDE is an editor just like WordPad, but compile/link/run/debug
can be accomplished with just one click  It also has a built-in
dec/hex/bin/oct converter, and syntax highlighting is almost
finished.  It is perfectly suited to make simple 16-bit DOS programs
within the Windows 95/98 environment.  Changes are being added quite
often, so remember to return and check every now and then.

Contributor:Raymond Moon, raymoon@moonware.dgsys.com
Last Changed: 19 Sep 98

