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11 Microprocessor Systems Lecture No 11 Arrays and Symbolic Constants

This document discusses various techniques for working with arrays and symbolic constants in assembly language, including: - Using the DUP operator to allocate arrays and initialize with repeated values. - Declaring uninitialized data segments with the .data? directive to reduce EXE file sizes. - Defining symbolic constants with directives like =, EQU, and TEXTEQU to associate names with values or text in a redefinable or non-redefinable way. - Calculating the size of a byte array by subtracting its address from the current location counter.

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Muhammad Zubair
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53 views14 pages

11 Microprocessor Systems Lecture No 11 Arrays and Symbolic Constants

This document discusses various techniques for working with arrays and symbolic constants in assembly language, including: - Using the DUP operator to allocate arrays and initialize with repeated values. - Declaring uninitialized data segments with the .data? directive to reduce EXE file sizes. - Defining symbolic constants with directives like =, EQU, and TEXTEQU to associate names with values or text in a redefinable or non-redefinable way. - Calculating the size of a byte array by subtracting its address from the current location counter.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Zubair
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Microprocessor Based

Systems
Lecture No 11 Arrays and Symbolic
Constants

By Nasir Mahmood
This Lecture
  Using the DUP Operator
  Declaring Unitialized Data
  Calculating the Size of a Byte Array
  Symbolic Constant

  Book Reading “Assembly Language for x86 Processors” 6th


Edition By Kip R. Irvine
  Section 3.4 and 3.5
Using the DUP Operator
  Use DUP to allocate (create space for) an array or string.
  Syntax: counter DUP ( argument )
  Counter and argument must be constants or constant
expressions
var1 BYTE 20 DUP(0) ; 20 bytes, all equal to zero
var2 BYTE 20 DUP(?) ; 20 bytes, uninitialized
var3 BYTE 4 DUP("STACK")
; 20 bytes: "STACKSTACKSTACKSTACK”

3
Declaring Unitialized Data
  Use the .data? directive to declare an
unintialized data segment:
.data?
  Within the segment, declare variables with "?"
initializers:
smallArray DWORD 10 DUP(?)

Advantage: the program's EXE file size is reduced.

4
Mixing Code and Data
  The assembler lets you switch back and forth between code
and data in your programs. You might, for example, want to
declare a variable used only within a localized area of a
program.
  The following example inserts a variable named temp between
two code statements :
.code
mov eax,ebx
.data
temp DWORD ?
.code
mov temp,eax
...
Symbolic Constants
  A symbolic constant (or symbol definition) is
created by associating an identifier (a symbol)
with an integer expression or some text.
  Symbols do not reserve storage. They are used
only by the assembler when scanning a
program, and they cannot change at runtime
Equal-Sign Directive
  name = expression
  expression is a 32-bit integer
(expression or constant)
  may be redefined

  name is called a symbolic constant

  good programming style to use symbols


COUNT = 500
.
.
7
mov al,COUNT
Redefinitions of a Symbol
  A symbol defined with = can be redefined within
the same program.
  The following example shows how the
assembler evaluates COUNT as it changes value:
COUNT = 5
mov al,COUNT ; AL = 5
COUNT = 10
mov al,COUNT ; AL = 10
COUNT = 100
mov al,COUNT ; AL = 100
Calculating the Size of a Byte Array
  current location counter: $
  subtract address of list
  difference is the number of bytes

list WORD 1000h,2000h,3000h,4000h


ListSize = ($ - list) / 2
list BYTE 10,20,30,40
ListSize = ($ - list)
9
EQU Directive
  The EQU directive associates a symbolic name
with an integer expression or some arbitrary text.
  There are three formats:
  name EQU expression
  name EQU symbol
  name EQU <text>

PI EQU <3.1416>
  No Redefinition Unlike the = directive, a symbol
defined with EQU cannot be redefined in the
same source code file
Examples EQU Directive
  Example 1

  Example 2
TEXTEQU Directive
  The TEXTEQU directive, similar to EQU, creates
what is known as a text macro. There are three
different formats: the first assigns text, the second
assigns the contents of an existing text macro, and
the third assigns a constant integer expression:
  name TEXTEQU <text>
  name TEXTEQU textmacro
  name TEXTEQU %constExpr
  A symbol defined by TEXTEQU can be redefined
at any time
Examples TEXTEQU Directive
Example 1

Example 2
THE END

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