Macros and Conditional Assembly

Chapter 10
S. Dandamudi

Outline
• What are macros? • Repeat block directives
• Macros with parameters ∗ REPT directive
∗ WHLE directive
• Macros vs procedures
∗ IRP and IRPC directives
∗ Parameter passing
∗ Types of parameters • Conditional assembly
∗ Invocation mechanism ∗ IF and IFE
∗ When are macros better? ∗ IFDEF and IFNDEF
∗ IFB and IFNB
• Labels in macros
∗ IFIDN and IFDIF
• Comments in macros
• Nested macros
• Macro operators
• Performance: Macros vs
• List control directives procedures
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 2
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 What Are Macros?
• Macros provide a means to represent a block of
text (code, data, etc.) by a name (macro name)
• Macros provide a sophisticated text substitution
mechanism
• Three directives
∗ =
Example: CLASS_SIZE = 90 (can be redefined later)
∗ EQU
» Example: CLASS_SIZE EQU 90
∗ MACRO

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 3

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

What Are Macros? (cont’d)

• Macros can be defined with MACRO and ENDM
• Format
macro_name MACRO [parameter1, parameter2, ...]
macro body
ENDM

• A macro can be invoked using

macro_name [argument1, argument2, …]

Example: Definition Invocation

multAX_by_16 MACRO ...
sal AX,4 mov AX,27
ENDM multAX_by_16
...
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 4
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Macros with Parameters
• Macros can be defined with parameters
» More flexible
» More useful

• Example
mult_by_16 MACRO operand
sal operand,4
ENDM
∗ To multiply a byte in DL register
mult_by_16 DL
∗ To multiply a memory variable count
mult_by_16 count

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 5

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Macros with Parameters (cont’d)

Example: To exchange two memory words
Wmxchg MACRO operand1, operand2
xchg AX,operand1
xchg AX,operand2
xchg AX,operand1
ENDM

Example: To exchange two memory bytes

Bmxchg MACRO operand1, operand2
xchg AL,operand1
xchg AL,operand2
xchg AL,operand1
ENDM
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 6
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Macros vs. Procedures
• Similar to procedures in some respects
∗ Both improve programmer productivity
∗ Aids development of modular code
∗ Can be used when a block of code is repeated in the
source program

• Some significant differences as well

∗ Parameter passing
∗ Types of parameters
∗ Invocation mechanism

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 7

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Macros vs. Procedures (cont’d)

Parameter passing
• In macros, similar to a procedure call in a HLL
mult_by_16 AX

• In procedures, we have to push parameters onto

the stack
push AX
call times16

• Macros can avoid

∗ Parameter passing overhead
– Proportional to the number of parameters passed
∗ call/ret overhead
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 8
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Macros vs. Procedures (cont’d)
Types of parameters
∗ Macros allow more flexibility in the types of
parameters that can be passed
– Result of it being a text substitution mechanism
Example
shift MACRO op_code,operand,count
op_code operand,count
ENDM
can be invoked as
shift sal,AX,3
which results in the following expansion
sal AX,3

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 9

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Macros vs. Procedures (cont’d)

Invocation mechanism
∗ Macro invocation
» Done at assembly time by text substitution
∗ Procedure invocation
» Done at run time
• Tradeoffs
Type of overhead Procedure Macro
Memory space lower higher
Execution time higher lower
Assembly time lower higher
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 10
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 When Are Macros Better?
• Useful to extend the instruction set by defining
macro-instructions
times16 PROC Invocation
push BP
mov BP,SP push count
push AX call times16
mov AX,[BP+4] pop count
sal AX,4
mov [BP+4],AX
pop AX Too much overhead
pop BP Use of procedure is impractical
ret 2
times16 ENDP

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 11

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

When Are Macros Better? (cont’d)

• Sometimes procedures cannot be used
» Suppose we want to save and restore BX, CX, DX, SI, DI, and
BP registers
» Cannot use pusha and popa as they include AX as well

save_regs MACRO restore_regs MACRO

push BP pop BX
push DI pop CX
push SI pop DX
push DX pop SI
push CX pop DI
push BX pop BP
ENDM ENDM

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 12

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Labels in Macros
• Problem with the following macro definiton
to_upper0 MACRO ch
cmp ch,'a'
jb done
cmp ch,'z'
ja done
sub ch,32
done:
ENDM
∗ If we invoke it more than once, we will have duplicate
label done

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 13

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Labels in Macros (cont’d)

• Solution: Use LOCAL directive
• Format: LOCAL local_label1 [,local_label2,…]
to_upper MACRO ch
LOCAL done Assembler uses labels
cmp ch,'a’ ??XXXX
jb done where XXXX is
cmp ch,'z’ between 0 and FFFFH
ja done
sub ch,32 To avoid conflict,
done: do not use labels that
ENDM begin with ??

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 14

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Comments in Macros
• We don’t want comments in a macro definition to
appear every time it is expanded
» The ;; operator suppresses comments in the expansions

;;Converts a lowercase letter to uppercase.

to_upper MACRO ch
LOCAL done
; case conversion macro
cmp ch,'a' ;; check if ch >= 'a'
jb done
cmp ch,'z' ;; and if ch >= 'z'
ja done
sub ch,32 ;; then ch := ch - 32
done:
ENDM
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 15
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Comments in Macros (cont’d)

• Invoking the to_upper macro by
mov AL,'b'
to_upper AL
mov BL,AL
mov AH,'1'
to_upper AH
mov BH,AH

generates the following macro expansion

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 16

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Comments in Macros (cont’d)

17 0000 B0 62 mov AL,'b'

18 to_upper AL
1 19 ; case conversion macro
1 20 0002 3C 61 cmp AL,'a'
1 21 0004 72 06 jb ??0000
1 22 0006 3C 7A cmp AL,'z'
1 23 0008 77 02 ja ??0000
1 24 000A 2C 20 sub AL,32
1 25 000C ??0000:
26 000C 8A D8 mov BL,AL
27 000E B4 31 mov AH,'1'

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 17

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Comments in Macros (cont’d)

28 to_upper AH
1 29 ; case conversion macro
1 30 0010 80 FC 61 cmp AH,'a'
1 31 0013 72 08 jb ??0001
1 32 0015 80 FC 7A cmp AH,'z'
1 33 0018 77 03 ja ??0001
1 34 001A 80 EC 20 sub AH,32
1 35 001D ??0001:
36 001D 8A FC mov BH,AH

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 18

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Macro Operators
• Five operators
;; Suppress comment
& Substitute
<> Literal-text string
! Literal-character
% Expression evaluate

∗ We have already seen ;; operator

∗ We will discuss the remaining four operators

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 19

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Macro Operators (cont’d)

Substitute operator (&)
∗ Substitutes a parameter with the actual argument
• Syntax: &name
sort2 MACRO cond, num1, num2
LOCAL done
push AX
mov AX,num1
cmp AX,num2
j&cond done
xchg AX,num2
mov num1,AX
done:
pop AX
ENDM

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 20

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Macro Operators (cont’d)
• To sort two unsigned numbers value1 and value2, use
sort2 ae,value1,value2
generates the following macro expansion
push AX
mov AX,value1
cmp AX,value2
jae ??0000
xchg AX,value2
mov value1,AX
??0000:
pop AX
• To sort two signed numbers value1 and value2, use
sort2 ge,value1,value2
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 21
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Macro Operators (cont’d)

Literal-text string operator (< >)
∗ Treats the enclosed text as a single string literal rather
than separate arguments
∗ Syntax: <text>
range_error1 MACRO number,variable,range
err_msg&number DB '&variable: out of range',0
range_msg&number DB 'Correct range is &range',0
ENDM
• Invoking with
range_error1 1,<Assignment mark>,<0 to 25>
produces
err_msg1 DB 'Assignment mark: out of range',0
range_msg1 DB 'Correct range is 0 to 25',0

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 22

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Macro Operators (cont’d)
Literal-character operator (!)
∗ Treats the character literally without its default meaning
∗ Syntax: !character
range_error2 MACRO number,variable,range
err_msg&number DB '&variable: out of range - &range',0
ENDM
• Invoking with
range_error2 3,mark,<can!'!'t be !> 100>

produces
err_msg3 DB 'mark: out of range - can''t be > 100',0
∗ Without the ! operator, two single quotes will produce a single quote
in the output
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 23
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Macro Operators (cont’d)

Expression Evaluate operator (%)
∗ Expression is evaluated and its value is used to replace
the expression itself
∗ Syntax: %expression
init_arry MACRO element_size,name,size,init_value
name D&element_size size DUP (init_value)
ENDM
• Assuming NUM_STUDENTS EQU 47
NUM_TESTS EQU 7
Invoking with
init_array W,marks,%NUM_STUDENTS*NUM_TESTS,-1
produces
marks DW 329 DUP (-1)
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 24
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 List Control Directives
• Control the contents of .LST file
• Two directives control the source lines
.LIST Allows listing of subsequent source lines
Default mode
.XLIST Suppresses listing of subsequent source lines
• Macro invocation call directives
.LALL Enables listing of macro expansions
.SALL Suppresses listing of all statements in
macro expansions
.XALL Lists only the source statements in a macro
expansion that generates code or data
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 25
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Repeat Block Directives

• Three directives to repeat a block of statements
∗ REPT
∗ WHILE
∗ IRP/IRPC

• Mostly used to define and initialize variables in a

data segment
• Each directive identifies the beginning of a block
∗ ENDM indicates the end of a repeat block

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 26

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Repeat Block Directives (cont’d)
REPT directive
• Syntax:
REPT expression
macro-body
ENDM
∗ macro-body is repeated expression times
mult_16 MACRO operand mult_16 MACRO operand
REPT 4 sal operand,1
sal operand,1 sal operand,1
ENDM sal operand,1
ENDM sal operand,1
ENDM

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 27

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Repeat Block Directives (cont’d)

WHILE directive
• Syntax:
WHILE expression
macro-body
ENDM
∗ macro-body is executed until expression is false (0)

• Following code produces cubed data table

WHILE int_value LT NUM_ENTRIES
DW int_value*int_value*int_value
int_value = int_value+1
ENDM

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 28

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Repeat Block Directives (cont’d)
IRP and IRPC directives
IRP - Iteration RePeat
IRPC - Iteration RePeat with Character substitution
• IRP directive
• Syntax:
IRP parameter,<argument1[,argument2,…]>
macro-body
ENDM
∗ Angle brackets are required
∗ Arguments are gives as a list separated by commas
» During the first iteration argument1 is assigned to parameter,
argument2 during the second iteration, ...
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 29
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Repeat Block Directives (cont’d)

IRP example
.DATA
IRP value, <9,6,11,8,13>
DB value
ENDM

produces
.DATA
DB 9
DB 6
DB 11
DB 8
DB 13

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 30

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Repeat Block Directives (cont’d)
• IRPC directive
• Syntax:
IRPC parameter, string
macro-body
ENDM
∗ macro-body is repeated once for each character in string
∗ string specifies
» the number of iterations
» the character to be used in each iteration
∗ During the first iteration first character of string is assigned to
parameter, second character during the second iteration, ...

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 31

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Repeat Block Directives (cont’d)

• IRPC example
∗ To generate a sequence of DB statements in the order a, A, e, E, …
defineDB MACRO value
DB value
ENDM
IRPC char, aeiou
defineDB '&char'
defineDB %'&char'-32
ENDM
∗ Can also use
IRP char, <a,e,i,o,u>
in place of IRPC statement
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 32
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Conditional Assembly
• Several conditional directives are available
IF/IFE Assembles if condition is true (IF)
or false (IFE)
IFDEF/IFNDEF Assembles if symbol is defined (IFDEF)
or undefined (IFNDEF)
IFB/IFNB Assembles if arguments are blank (IFB)
or not blank (IFNB)
IFIDN/IFDIF Assembles if arguments are same (IFIDN)
or different (IFDIF) - case sensitive
IFIDNI/IFDIFI Assembles if arguments are same (IFIDNI)
or different (IFDIFI) - case insensitive
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 33
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Nested Macros
• Macros can be nested
shifty MACRO lr,operand,count
IF PROC_TYPE EQ 8086
IF count LE 4
REPT count
sh&lr operand,1
ENDM
ELSE
mov CL,count
sh&lr operand,CL
ENDIF
ELSE
sh&lr operand,count
ENDIF
ENDM
1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 34
To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Nested Macros (cont’d)

shift MACRO operand,count

;; positive count => left shift
;; negative count => right shift
IFE count EQ 0
IF count GT 0 ;; left shift
shifty l,operand,count
ELSE ;; right shift
;; count negative
shifty r,operand,-count
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDM

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 35

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

Performance: Macros vs Procedures

60

50
Sort time (seconds)

40
re
ocedu
30 pr
ro
20 mac

10

0
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Number of elements

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 36

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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 Performance: Macros vs Procedures (cont’d)
60
e
ur
50
ced
o
pr
Sort time (seconds)

40
cro
ma
30

20

10

0
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Number of elements

1998  S. Dandamudi Macros: Page 37

To be used with S. Dandamudi, “Introduction to Assembly Language Programming,” Springer-Verlag, 1998.

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