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Index > Macroinstructions > Passing hard-coded string to Macro

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fasmnewbie



Joined: 01 Mar 2011
Posts: 555
fasmnewbie 30 Jul 2013, 20:56
Hi guys. I developed a small macro that should be able to accept a hard-coded string and then prints the string.

Code:
org 100h
include 'macro16.inc'

prtCStr 'Hello FASM!'
pquit    


And this is part of the macros (macro16.inc)
Code:
macro prtCStr [a] ;prints a constant string
{
    pusha
    call @f
    @@:
    ..b db a,'$'

    xor ax,ax ;why need this line?
    xor si,si
    mov si,..b
    .go:
        cmp byte[si],'$'
        je .ok
        prtChar byte[si]
        inc si
    jmp .go
    .ok:
    popa
}
macro pquit
{
        mov ah,0h
        int 16h
        int 20h
}
macro prtChar a
{
     ;BIOS: Prints a character
     push ax
     mov ah, 0eh
     mov al, a
     int 10h
     pop ax
}    


My problem is that the result is inconsistent after multiple compiles. Sometimes it runs ok, but some other time the NTVDM cries foul of error and the Windows 8 complains of illegal instructions particularly after changing the string to something else.

Another thing is that I have to insert the instruction
Code:
 xor ax, ax    

or else the string will be printed with some leading garbage values before the string. I don't know see why that XOR instruction would somehow affect the output. I don't use any AX register. Is this even the correct way to pass a string constant to the macro?

Thank you for the explanation.
Post 30 Jul 2013, 20:56
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cod3b453



Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 618
cod3b453 30 Jul 2013, 21:41
It looks like this section will execute your string as code (there's also a stack imbalance):
Code:
    call @f 
    @@: 
    ..b db a,'$'    
something like this should do it:
Code:
macro prtCStr [a] ;prints a constant string
{ 
    pusha
    mov si,..b 
    .go: 
        cmp byte[si],'$' 
        je .ok 
        prtChar byte[si] 
        inc si 
    jmp .go
    ..b db a,'$'
    .ok: 
    popa 
}    
Question
Post 30 Jul 2013, 21:41
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fasmnewbie



Joined: 01 Mar 2011
Posts: 555
fasmnewbie 30 Jul 2013, 21:51
cod3b453 wrote:
It looks like this section will execute your string as code (there's also a stack imbalance):
Code:
    call @f 
    @@: 
    ..b db a,'$'    
something like this should do it:
Code:
macro prtCStr [a] ;prints a constant string
{ 
    pusha
    mov si,..b 
    .go: 
        cmp byte[si],'$' 
        je .ok 
        prtChar byte[si] 
        inc si 
    jmp .go
    ..b db a,'$'
    .ok: 
    popa 
}    
Question


Thank you. That solves it. But funny because I used the same code you listed here much earlier but it didn't work especially this
Code:
mov si,..b    


But maybe because I used the single dot (.) operator for defining the b. Thank you cod3ba53.
Post 30 Jul 2013, 21:51
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fasmnewbie



Joined: 01 Mar 2011
Posts: 555
fasmnewbie 30 Jul 2013, 22:12
This is my earlier code that didn't work.

Code:
macro prtCStr [a] ;prints a constant string
{ 
    pusha
    ..b db a,'$'
    mov si,..b
    .go: 
        cmp byte[si],'$' 
        je .ok 
        prtChar byte[si] 
        inc si 
    jmp .go
    .ok:
    popa 
}    


The difference between cod3ba5e's and mine is the location of
Code:
..b db a,'$'    

How could this offer very different effect?

Thanks
Post 30 Jul 2013, 22:12
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cod3b453



Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 618
cod3b453 30 Jul 2013, 22:24
Note that in my version the string never get execute because of the jump code paths, whereas your original one execute the string as code.

----
If you still see problems:

int 0x10 ah=0x0E also lists bx as a parameter so maybe zeroing this will help?

If the macro spans a 64k boundary it is possible the pointer to the string will be wrong - using a segment prefix should fix that:
Code:
macro prtCStr [a] ;prints a constant string
{  
    pusha 
    mov ax,((..b shr 4) and 0xF000) ; Upper 4 bits
    mov es,ax
    mov si,(..b and 0xFFFF) ; Lower 16 bits
    .go:  
        cmp byte[es:si],'$'
        je .ok
        prtChar byte[es:si]
        add si,1
        jnc .go
        ;si=0, so increment es
        mov ax,es
        add ax,0x1000
        mov es,ax
    jmp .go 
    ..b db a,'$' 
    .ok:  
    popa  
}    
Post 30 Jul 2013, 22:24
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fasmnewbie



Joined: 01 Mar 2011
Posts: 555
fasmnewbie 30 Jul 2013, 23:06
cod3b453 wrote:
Note that in my version the string never get execute because of the jump code paths, whereas your original one execute the string as code.

----
If you still see problems:

int 0x10 ah=0x0E also lists bx as a parameter so maybe zeroing this will help?

If the macro spans a 64k boundary it is possible the pointer to the string will be wrong - using a segment prefix should fix that:
Code:
macro prtCStr [a] ;prints a constant string
{  
    pusha 
    mov ax,((..b shr 4) and 0xF000) ; Upper 4 bits
    mov es,ax
    mov si,(..b and 0xFFFF) ; Lower 16 bits
    .go:  
        cmp byte[es:si],'$'
        je .ok
        prtChar byte[es:si]
        add si,1
        jnc .go
        ;si=0, so increment es
        mov ax,es
        add ax,0x1000
        mov es,ax
    jmp .go 
    ..b db a,'$' 
    .ok:  
    popa  
}    


Hi again cod3ba5e. TQVM for the explanation. My problem is that my code didn't work (even without the call @ff, @@...). The faulty code was exactly like I listed above where only the position of
Code:
..b db a, '$'    

was different than your version.

TQVM for your time and effort.
Post 30 Jul 2013, 23:06
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fasmnewbie



Joined: 01 Mar 2011
Posts: 555
fasmnewbie 30 Jul 2013, 23:57
Thanks to cod3ba5e, I come to this final version. Hope this can help some newbies like me out there. Any improvement is welcomed.

Code:
macro prtCStr [a]
{
    pusha
    local .go, ..b, .ok

    xor si,si
    mov si,..b
    .go:
        cmp byte[si],'$'
        je .ok
        prtChar byte[si]
        inc si
    jmp .go
    ..b db a, '$'
    .ok:
    popa
}    


For prtChar macro... just a simple BIOS call
Code:
macro prtChar a
{
     ;BIOS: Prints a character
     push ax
     mov ah, 0eh
     mov al, a
     int 10h
     pop ax
}    




Usage:

prtCStr 'Hi'
prtCStr 'Hello FASM', 0dh, 0ah, "HELLO AGAIN"
Post 30 Jul 2013, 23:57
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uart777



Joined: 17 Jan 2012
Posts: 369
uart777 10 Aug 2013, 18:29
Regarding eqtype: When macro is invoked, send [m] then if X eqtype [0] is true if [memory]/variable. if X eqtype 0 is true if immediate/address/label (m without []).

Here's a quick variation. It is recommended that you learn real ASM first before writing macros. Practice by writing your own "string functions" - strlen, strcpy, strcat, strcmp, etc. Try to use common names and develop a consistent style. Experienced programmers always use this_style, this.style or ThisStyle. weirdStyle seem to be introduced by Java and web languages in the 90s.
Code:
; display string at si (until 0)

!print.string:
@@:
 mov ah, 0Eh
 mov al, [si]
 test al, al
 jz @f
 int 10h
 inc si
jmp @b
@@:
ret

macro print.string s { ; or specify
 pusha
 mov si, s
 call !print.string
 popa
}    
Post 10 Aug 2013, 18:29
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