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Introduction To Structures in MASM

The document provides an introduction to structures in MASM, highlighting their purpose in simplifying data management and improving readability, with examples like the PERSON structure. It also covers macros, conditional assembly directives, and defining repeat blocks, emphasizing best practices for each. Key recommendations include careful alignment of structure fields, simplicity in macros, and avoiding excessive unrolling in repeat blocks.

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tabeen.bokhat
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28 views11 pages

Introduction To Structures in MASM

The document provides an introduction to structures in MASM, highlighting their purpose in simplifying data management and improving readability, with examples like the PERSON structure. It also covers macros, conditional assembly directives, and defining repeat blocks, emphasizing best practices for each. Key recommendations include careful alignment of structure fields, simplicity in macros, and avoiding excessive unrolling in repeat blocks.

Uploaded by

tabeen.bokhat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

Introduction to

Structures in MASM
Definition: Group related data items under one name

Purpose: Simplify management, improve readability

Comparison: Similar to C structs in high-level languages

Example structure: PERSON with name, age, salary fields

by Tabeen Bokhat
2023-ce-13
Declaring and
Instantiating
Structures
Declaration Instantiation
Use STRUCT and ENDS Define variables of
directives structure type in data
segment

Memory Layout
Fields allocated sequentially in memory
Accessing Structure
Members
Syntax OFFSET Operator Example

Use structureName.member to Calculate address of structure • Load salary field into EBX
access data instance • Zero-extend age into ECX
Nested
Structures
Definition Use Cases
Structures can contain other Model complex data like
structures as members address inside person
record

Example
PERSON struct includes nested ADDRESS struct
Introduction to Macros
in MASM

Definition Benefits Directives


Parameterized Reduce code MACRO to start,
templates for duplication, improve ENDM to end macro
reusable code maintainability definition
Defining and Invoking
Macros
Parameters Invocation Syntax Example

Supports positional and named Call macro name with arguments in PRINT_NUM macro prints integers
arguments code using format string
Conditional Assembly
Directives
.IF Directive
Start conditional assembly blocks

.ELSEIF / .ELSE
Provide alternative code paths

.ENDIF
End conditional block

Example
Use DEBUG_MODE flag to include debug code only
Advanced Conditional
Assembly
.IFDEF / .IFNDEF .IFB / .IFNB Chaining
Test presence or absence of Test for blank or non-blank Use ELSEIFDEF for cascading
symbols macros or symbols conditions
Defining Repeat
Blocks
.UNTIL Directive
.REPEAT Directive
Terminate repeat block with
Begin repeated code expansion
condition

Warning
Use Cases
Avoid excessive unrolling for
Loop unrolling, code generation
maintainability
Summary and Best
Practices
Structures Macros Repeat Blocks

• Align fields carefully; document • Keep macros simple; prefer • Good for repetitive code
layouts procedures for logic generation
• Use nesting for complex data • Use conditional assembly for • Avoid excessive unrolling to
models debug vs release reduce code size

End of Chapter 10
THANK YOU!

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