WELCOME TO TURBO ASSEMBLER 1.01
-------------------------------
This README file contains important, last minute information
about Turbo Assembler 1.01. The HELPME!.DOC file on the TURBO
ASSEMBLER/INSTALLATION disk also answers many common Technical
Support questions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
1. How to Get Help
2. Installation
3. Important Notes
4. New Features
5. Manual Additions and Corrections
6. Files on the Disks
1. HOW TO GET HELP
------------------
If you have any problems, please read this file, the HELPME!.DOC
file, and the Turbo Assembler manuals first. If you still have a
question and need assistance, help is available from the following
sources:
1. Type GO BOR on the CompuServe bulletin board system for
instant access to the Borland forums with their libraries of
technical information and answers to common questions.
If you are not a member of CompuServe, see the enclosed special
offer, and write for full details on how to receive a free
IntroPak containing a $15 credit toward your first month's on-
line charges.
2. Check with your local software dealer or users' group.
3. Write to us at the following address:
Borland International
Turbo Assembler Technical Support
1800 Green Hills Road
P.O. Box 660001
Scotts Valley, CA 95066-0001
Please remember to include your serial number or we will be
unable to process your letter.
4. If you have an urgent problem that cannot wait and you have sent
in the license agreement from the front of your manual, you may
call the Borland Technical Support Department at (408) 438-5300.
Please have the following information ready before calling:
a. Product name and serial number on your original distribution
disk. Please have your serial number ready or we will be
unable to process your call.
b. Product version number. The version number for Turbo Assembler
is displayed when you run the program.
c. Computer brand, model, and the brands and model numbers of any
additional hardware.
d. Operating system and version number. (The version number can
be determined by typing VER at the MSDOS prompt.)
e. Contents of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
f. Contents of your CONFIG.SYS file.
2. INSTALLATION
---------------
This disk contains a program called INSTALL.EXE that will
assist you with the installation of Turbo Assembler 1.01. There
are two options for installation:
1. Hard Disk - This option allows you to pick the subdirectories
where the files will be loaded.
2. Floppy Disk - This option will install the files necessary to
use Turbo Assembler on a two-drive system. Be sure to have
four formatted disks ready before you start.
To start the installation, change your current drive to the one
that has the install program on it and type INSTALL. You will
be given instructions in a box at the bottom of the screen for
each prompt. For example, if you will be installing from drive
A:, type
A:
INSTALL
You should read the rest of this README file to get further
information about this release before you do the installation.
3. IMPORTANT NOTES
------------------
o Additional tips and answers to many common questions will be found
in the text file HELPME!.DOC, which has been installed to the same
location as this file (README). You can use the README.COM utility
to view the HELPME!.DOC file by giving the following command:
README HELPME!.DOC
o If you will be running INSTALL on a laptop or any other system
that uses an LCD display, you should set your system into black
and white mode before running INSTALL. You can do this from DOS
with the following command line:
mode bw80
or, you can force INSTALL to come up in black and white mode by
using the /b switch:
install /b
o Changed Switches for OBJXREF:
The /O option (object files directory) has been changed to
the /D (directories) option. The switch now allows for
multiple search directories to be specified. The new syntax
follows:
OBJXREF /Ddir1[;dir2[;dir3]]
or
OBJXREF /Ddir1 [/Ddir2] [/Ddir3]
OBJXREF will search each of the directories in the specified
order for all object and library files. If no /D option is
used, only the current directory will be searched. However,
if a /D option is used, the current directory will NOT be
searched unless it is included in the directory list. For
example, to first search the BORLAND directory for files and
then search the current directory, you would type
OBJXREF /Dborland;.
If multiple search directories are specified and a file
matching the file specification is found, OBJXREF will
include the file as part of the cross-reference. OBJXREF will
only continue to search the other directories for the same
file specification if the file specification contains
wildcards.
A new option has been added to allow you to specify an output
file where OBJXREF will send any reports generated. The new
option is the /O option, and it has the following syntax:
OBJXREF myfile.obj /RU /Ofilename.ext
By default, all output is sent to the console.
o Turbo Linker (TLINK) Notes:
1) When linking with the /V option, TLINK will initialize all
segments. If you have a program that runs differently when
linked with debug information, you have an uninitialized
variable somewhere.
2) TLINK loads last any segments of class 'STACK' even if
they are part of DGROUP.
4. NEW FEATURES
----------------
o Listing files generated with /LA will now contain the mnemonics for
the opcodes inserted as a result of the use of high level language
directives. The listing is changed only for things that actually
generate code such as the first instruction of a PROC with arguments.
The listing of things such as .MODEL, .CODE, and other instructions
that do not actually generate any code will not be changed. /LA also
overrides other directives that turn off listing. If certain parts
of listing need to be supressed use /L instead of /LA.
o If a string is defined with a DB instruction, and a comma is the
last thing on the line, a null byte will be assumed at the end of
the string. A warning will be generated. For example:
db 'ABCDEF',
will generate the following, with a warning "Trailing null assumed"
41 42 43 44 45 46 00
o If a structure instance does not have any initializer specified
the "Trailing null assumed" warning will be generated. No extra
zeros are placed in the emitted code.
o Segment alignment and padding now match MASM.
o Confusion about certain features of TYPE used in IDEAL
mode should be cleared up by the following addition to the
manual:
Function Returns a number indicating the size of a symbol
(Masm mode), or returns the type of a symbol
(Ideal mode)
Mode MASM, Ideal
Syntax Masm mode: TYPE <expression>
Ideal mode: TYPE <symbol>
Remarks Masm mode:
(Keep discussion as exists now)
Ideal mode:
TYPE is used to get the type of an
existing symbol. In Ideal mode, this
operation can only be used where a type
specifier is needed.
Example Masm mode:
(Keep discussion as exists now)
Ideal mode:
ideal
...
bvar db 1 ;Byte storage.
tempvr dt ? ;Scratch area.
...
mov [bvar],0 ;Clear byte variable.
mov [type bvar ptr tempvr],0
;Clear scratch area of
;same size.
;Equivalent to 'BYTE PTR'.
o TED.ASM from PCMAGNET will now assemble and link properly. Be
sure to use the /t switch with TLINK to produce a .COM file.
o Existence of ">" character within a string passed to IFB macro
directive causes TASM 1.0 to report that extra characters are
on line. This will now be handled without an error if QUIRKS
directive is used. All characters past the embedded ">" will
be ignored.
o Colons within label names passed to IFDEF macro directive
are now ignored if QUIRKS directive is used. All characters
past the colon are ignored.
o In tiny model programs, all registers should be pointing to the
same DGROUP. If unwanted SS: overrides occur when referencing
variables in the DGROUP, use the statement ASSUME SS:NOTHING to
causes CS: overrides to be used.
5. MANUAL ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS
-----------------------------------
Turbo Assembler User's Guide
----------------------------
For your convenience, many of the examples are provided on the dis-
tribution diskettes. Consult the files listed at the bottom of the
README file for their names and the page on which the example appears.
Turbo Assembler Reference Guide
-------------------------------
All references to P386P and P286P are incorrect. These do not exist.
Please see pages 403 and 404 of the User's Guide for a discussion
of the following line-segment override directives:
SEGCS
SEGDS
SEGES
SEGSS
Page
53 - Add the % directive, which is a one-line macro that uses
all current text macros as possible arguments.
74 - Change the number in the first bulleted item from
4,294,967,295 to 2,147,483,647.
76 - The DISPLAY directive is available in both MASM and Ideal
modes.
You may use the substitute operator inside a string passed
to the DISPLAY directive. For example,
MAKE_DATA macro VALUE
display "Initializing a byte to: &VALUE&"
db VALUE
endm
77 - In DQ, change the numeric range in the first bulleted item
from -2^64+1 to 2^64-1.
79 - The number in the first bulleted item on the page should
be 32,767, not 65,536.
131 - Note that %NOTRUNC is the default mode when Turbo Assembler
starts assembling a file.
151 - The example for the STRUC directive should have
MODEL SMALL
instead of the .MODEL SMALL.
6. FILES ON THE DISKS
-----------------------
TURBO ASSEMBLER/INSTALLATION
----------------------------
INSTALL EXE - Installation program
README COM - Reads this README
TASM EXE - Turbo Assembler
TCREF EXE - Turbo Assembler cross-reference utility
MAKE EXE - Program for managing projects
TLINK EXE - Borland Turbo Linker
TLIB EXE - Borland Turbo Librarian
OBJXREF COM - Object file cross-reference utility
GREP COM - Turbo GREP program
TOUCH COM - Program that updates a file's date and time
HELPME! DOC - Text file with the answers to many common
questions. Please read HELPME!.DOC before
contacting Technical Support
README - This file
MMACROS ARC - MASM Mode Macros
BIOS.INC - Equates representing the BIOS services
DOS.INC - Equates representing the DOS services
KBD.INC - Equates representing the IBM PC keyboard keystrokes
MBIOS.MAC - Macros used to interface with the IBM PC BIOS. MASM Mode
MDOS.MAC - Macros to interface with DOS. MASM Mode
MMACROS.MAC - General macros. Masm Mode
TURBO DEBUGGER UTILITIES/EXAMPLES
-----------------------------------------
This diskette also contains files for use with the Turbo Debugger.
Please see the Turbo Debugger README and manuals for a complete
description of these files.
TDCONVRT EXE - Turbo Debugger utility
TDPACK EXE - Turbo Debugger utility
TDNMI COM - Turbo Debugger utility
UNPACK COM - Program to unpack the .ARC files
TDEXMPL ARC - Packed file that contains Turbo Debugger examples
TAEXMPL1 ARC - Ideal mode example and macros
BIOS.INC - Equates representing the BIOS services
BIOSMAC.DOC - Documentation for macros implemented in ?BIOS.MAC
DEMO1.BAT - Batch file to make Whereis.exe
DOS.INC - Equates representing the DOS services
DOSMAC.DOC - Documentation for macros implemented in ?DOS.MAC
IASCIIZS.ASM - Routine to display an ASCIIZ string
IBIOS.MAC - Ideal mode macros used to interface with the IBM PC BIOS
IBYTECPY.ASM - Routine that copies an array of bytes from one
location to another
IDELCHAR.ASM - Routine that deletes n characters from a
Pascal-style string starting at position i
IDOS.INC - Type declarations used to interface with DOS
IDOS.MAC - Macros to interface with DOS. Ideal Mode
IFINDBYT.ASM - Routine that searches an array of bytes, looking for a
value; routine that returns the length of an ASCIIZ string.
IFINDFIL.ASM - Routine that does a recursive search of a hard disk
looking for a file
IFINDREP.ASM - Routine that searches through an array of bytes,
replacing all instances of a value with another value.
ILOCSTRG.ASM - Routine that searches through memory looking for the
nth Pascal-style string
IMACROS.MAC - General macros. Ideal Mode
IPARAM.ASM - Routines to return the # of command-line parameters and
the contents of an individual parameter
IPARSEFN.ASM - Routine that parses a file name into Drive,
Path, and File spec
ISKPWHIT.ASM - Routine to advance a pointer past any whitespace in
an array of bytes
IWHEREIS.ASM - Main module for Whereis program
IWHGLOBL.INC - Global declarations for Whereis
IWRITEPS.ASM - Routine to display a Pascal-style string
KBD.INC - Equates representing the IBM PC keyboard keystrokes
WHEREIS.DOC - Documentation for Whereis file locator program
WHEREIS.MAK - Make file for creating Whereis.exe using the Make utility
WHUSAGE.INC - Usage screen text
TAEXMPL2 ARC - Simplified (FILT) and standard segmentation (SHOW87)
examples
CONVERT1.INC - Converts from binary numbers to strings
CONVERT2.INC - Converts from floating point to integer numbers
DEMO3.BAT - Batch file to make Filt.exe text filter program
DEMO2.BAT - Batch file to build Show87
FILT.ASM - Text filter main file
FILT.DOC - Documentation file for Filt.exe text filter program
FILT.MAK - Make file for creating Filt.exe using the make utility
FILT.RSP - Linker response file for linking Filt.exe
GLOBALS.INC - Declares procedures and symbols needed by the modules
of FILT
OBYTEHI.ASM - Processes the current high byte value in AL
OBYTELOW.ASM - Processes the current low byte value in AL
OBYTENRM.ASM - Processes the current normal byte value in AL
OCMDNUM.ASM - Parses the command line
OERREXIT.ASM - Handles the printing of error messages
OFCREATE.ASM - Creates or truncates a file; the file is opened
for writing
OFILALOC.ASM - Allocates a read/write buffer
OFILCLOS.ASM - Closes a file
OFILEFIL.ASM - Fills a read buffer
OFILFREE.ASM - Deallocates a read/write buffer
OFILREAD.ASM - Reads from a file
OFILWRIT.ASM - Writes to a file
OFLFLUSH.ASM - Flushes the write buffer
OFOPENR.ASM - Opens a file for reading
OFOPENW.ASM - Opens a file for writing
OLOCASE.ASM - Routine converts a letter to lowercase
OPARSCMD.ASM - Parses the command line
OPRCBYTE.ASM - Processes a byte
OPROCDOC.ASM - Processes an entire document, one line at a time
OPROCLIN.ASM - Processes a line
OSETOPTN.ASM - Sets input buffer size; sets output buffer
size; sets the byte to end lines; clears all
tab stops; sets a tab stop; truncates lines to
a specified length; sets the left margin;
deletes the left margin; displays a help
message
OSPACES.ASM - Stores a specified number of spaces at
particular location
OSTORSPC.ASM - Stores any currently stored spaces
OSTORTAB.ASM - Stores a tab character if there are any spaces
to compress
OTABCLR.ASM - Clears all tab stops
OTABNEXT.ASM - Returns the number of spaces to the next tab stop
OTABRSET.ASM - Sets tap stops every eight columns
OTABSET.ASM - Sets a tap stop at a specified column location
OUPCASE.ASM - Converts a letter to uppercase
SHOW87.ASM - Standard Segmentation Demo Program
SHOW87.DOC - Documentation for Show87 8087 register display
program
VIDEO1.INC - Routines to display text and control the screen
VIDEO2.INC - Routines to display formatted text strings
CHAPXMPL ARC - Example Programs from the Manual
Note: This file is not automatically unpacked when Turbo Assembler
is installed to a hard disk. To unpack these files you will
first need to switch to the drive and subdirectory containing
this file and then give the command
unpack /r chapxmpl
HELLO.ASM - Pg 9
HELLO2.ASM - Pg 13
HELLOPRN.ASM - Pg 15
REVERSE.ASM - Pg 16
ECHOCHAR.ASM - Pg 55
MODCHAR.ASM - Pg 80
DELAY.ASM - Pg 88
DSLYSTR.ASM - Pg 109
USE_ES.ASM - Pg 110
STDSEG.ASM - Pg 115
STRINGS.ASM - Pg 132
PRNTSTR.ASM - Pg 175
CNTWORDS.ASM - Pg 181
MAIN.ASM - Pg 207
SUB1.ASM - Pg 208
PLUSONE.C - Pg 282
PLUSONE.ASM - Pg 283
SQRETBLE.C - Pg 287
SQRTBLE2.C - Pg 287
STRINGUP.C - Pg 293
DOTOTAL.ASM - Pg 305
SHOWTOT.C - Pg 306
DOTOTAL2.ASM - Pg 307
TOGLFLAG.C - Pg 313
TOGFLAG.ASM - Pg 313
CALLCT.C - Pg 328
COUNT.ASM - Pg 327
COUNTLG.ASM - Pg 329
CALCAVG.C - Pg 334
AVERAGE.ASM - Pg 334
SAMPLE.PAS - Pg 344
ASMPROC.ASM - Pg 344
TSAMPLE.PAS - Pg 345
HEXTEST.PAS - Pg 358
HEXSTR.ASM - Pg 357
XCHANGE.PAS - Pg 361
XCHANGE.ASM - Pg 360
ENVTEST.PAS - Pg 364
ENVSTR.ASM - Pg 362
SCROLLH.PRO - Pg 387
SCROL.ASM - Pg 388
MYPROLOG.PRO - Pg 391
MYASM.ASM - Pg 391
ADDPRO.PRO - Pg 393
ADD.ASM - Pg 393
SHOWMESS.PRO - Pg 395
FROM_ASM.ASM - Pg 395
SHOWNEW.PRO - Pg 396
FROM_NEW.ASM - Pg 396
FUNC.PRO - Pg 398
IFUNC.ASM - Pg 398
MULT_C&D.ASM - Pg 469
PRIMES.ASM - Pg 521
MASEXMPL.ASM - Pg 548
IDLEXMPL.ASM - Pg 549
