hi.

i hate having a list of dll imports at the end of my script. often i remove calls to them, so i'm importing things not needed. i know it doesn't add much to the .exe, but i'm a perfectionist.

anyway, i was hoping tomasz might think of this convention:
call[&KERNEL32.GetWindowEx]

The assembler sees the '&", assumes it's a dll, then adds KERNEL32.DLL to the import table and GetWindowEx

So you don't need to have an import table at the end. Just seems cleaner.

oh, and i guess this could be done with macros but again, it's not very clean...

It adds nothing to the .exe. The current macros will correctly and completely eliminate all data for an unused import file.

the import macros are really complicated. and either you have to have them in your source file, which is ugly, or you have to include it, and thus have more than one source. one source, one output is most preferable, i think.

oh, and with macros the imports in the source stay even if they don't end up in the .exe. so if you have a huge project you could have 20 imports written in your source that aren't ever used.
plus, everytime you want to call an import you have to check if you've imported it, and then if not write it to 2 places in your import section. why not make the assembler do this? it cleans up your code.

The main problem for your suggestion is that FASM does not natively support imports of any type. The current macros do a good job of creating the import section. This also helps to encourage modular programming for larger projects and keeps everything in well defined sections of operation. FWIW I think that some of the included examples look much better with just one "include" and more emphasis on the task at hand. But that is just my opinion.

check scan utility by Vortex

yes i agree, the macros and include system work well for modular programming, which is important for multi-developer projects. fasm tries to be a general tool and i'm only working on single-developer Windows systems. i think i might try make an assembler specific for my needs. based on fasm of course , the cleanest programming system i've ever seen.

shoorick: interesting, thanks

karl, you should read "Design Principles, or Why fasm Is Different" and then have a look at this topic: http://board.flatassembler.net/topic.php?t=5514

no problem... just learn how PE imports look and import without macros:

... thanks okasvi. i like tomasz's syntax better. but still, want no macros

vid: ya, that's the method i've been using. but it sucks cause sometimes i import what i don't need. cause i build up from previous projects, end up importing lots....

if you want to go without macros, then you must use way i described and enclose things which "if used MessageBox" etc...

hmmm ya didn't think about that. thanks

I aways put all imports at my projects. Even if I dont use any. :O

full imports slow down compilation sufficiently. also, full imports do not let you use ansi and unicode functions at once, if you need - Vortex' scan cover both problems.

This is no longer true with latest packages.

I'm using a nice way to speed-up my development cycle: compile, run, test, fix /write code, compile...

With the way I'll show here you automate the building of import section and resource section.
What you'll need:
* FASMW
* ResEd
* Win32API Documentation (Not really necessary, but helps a lot while coding)
* vbVeryBeginner's RC->FASM resource macros converter ( http://board.flatassembler.net/topic.php?t=5795)
* Vortex's Scan Utility ( http://www.vortex.masmcode.com/files/scan345.zip )
* MS-DOS command prompt

Let's begin.
1) Open up ResEd, and design a Dialog called dlgmain, a button called btnquit. Set the title and options as you like. Save as RSRC.RC.
You now have the basic look of your application.

2) Open up FASMW, and type this code:

Save as TEST.ASM.

open up MS-DOS prompt and cd to your project folder, and type:

You should now have test.exe! Execute it and your dialog pops-up!
Now every time you modify rsrc.rc or test.asm just run "build" again. And your resource section and import section will always be up-to-date.

This is a very good way to keep your code modular and clean.
You can easily modify your resource file and asm file without having to worry about imports and resources messing up with your source code. And you don't even need a resource compiler or to type the imports manually.
Enjoy!!

I think this is a very confortable programming environment.
Thanks to Tomasz, vbVeryBeginner and Vortex for the amazing tools!

Tomasz: if you changed headers already, make an announcement in Windows section pls

thanks very interesting ozzy, thanks