ID Number: Q73407
6.00 | 6.00
MS-DOS | OS/2
Summary:
With the Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) version 6.0, the coding for
a procedure call may be simplified by the use of the PROTO and INVOKE
directives. These directives handle many of the details, such as
pushing the parameters on the stack in the correct order, generating
the correct external references, coercing arguments to the correct
size, and cleaning up the stack (if required) after the function
terminates.
The two sample programs below illustrate how a C function is called
from MASM, both with and without the PROTO and INVOKE directives.
Sample Code 1 calls the C printf() function using the conventional
method of coding. Sample Code 2 shows the simplified call to the same
function through the use of PROTO and INVOKE.
More Information:
PROTO defines a prototype for a procedure much the way a function
prototype works in C. This is the syntax for PROTO:
label PROTO [distance] [langtype] [,[parameter]:tag]
The PROTO statement is used by the assembler to check parameter types
and quantity along with indicating the naming convention for the
function. Arguments for the function are indicated by listing the
type, and optionally, a parameter name. For instance,
myfunc PROTO C arg1:SWORD, arg2:SBYTE
This indicates that the function myfunc takes two arguments. The first
is a signed word, the second is a signed byte. If you need a variable
argument list, you use the type VARARG.
INVOKE actually generates the code to call the function. You must have
defined the function previously with either a PROC, an EXTERNDEF, a
TYPEDEF, or a PROTO statement. This is the syntax for INVOKE:
INVOKE expression [,arguments]
Because the assembler knows what the function is expecting in the way
of arguments and calling convention, it can take the arguments passed
in the INVOKE statement and push them on the stack in the correct
order, call the function using the required function name, and clean
up the stack afterwards (if required by the calling convention used).
If an argument passed by INVOKE is smaller than the type specified in
the PROTO statement, MASM does a type conversion. It widens the
argument in the PROTO statement to match that in the INVOKE statement
(for example, SBYTE to SWORD). These types of conversions use the AX
and DX registers on the 8086 and 8088 and the EAX and EDX registers on
the 80386/80486. Because these registers are effectively overwritten,
you should take care to avoid using these registers to pass arguments.
The language type for the function determines the naming and calling
conventions. In addition to the language type in the PROTO statement,
the language type can be set by the .MODEL directive, the OPTION
LANGTYPE:, or by the command line switches /Gc (for Pascal) and /Gd
(for C). There is a table of the various language conventions provided
in Help.
Sample Code 1
-------------
; Assemble options needed: /MX
.MODEL small,c ; The "c" langtype prepends
; labels with an underscore.
;-----for OS/2-------
;INCLUDELIB OS2.LIB
;INCLUDE OS2.INC
;--------------------
EXTRN _acrtused:NEAR
EXTRN printf:NEAR
.DATA
fmtlist db "%s, %d, %lu", 0Ah,0
string_1 db "signed byte and unsigned double word", 0
data_1 db -2
data_2 dd 0FFFFFFFFh
.CODE
main PROC
push word ptr data_2+2 ; push the high word of data_2
push word ptr data_2 ; push the low word of data_2
mov al,data_1
cbw ; converts data_1 to a word
push ax
mov ax,offset string_1 ; load the address of string_1
push ax ; push the address on the stack
lea ax,fmtlist ; load the address of fmtlist
push ax ; push the address on the stack
call printf ; call the C library function
add sp,0Ah ; adjust the stackpointer
main ENDP
ret
end
Sample Code 2
-------------
; Assemble options needed: none
.MODEL small,c
;-----for OS/2--------|
;.MODEL small,c,os_os2|
;INCLUDELIB OS2.LIB <---Not needed if "os_os2" indicated. The
;INCLUDE OS2.INC | assembler knows to look for os2.lib
;---------------------| in the path set by the lib environment
; | variable.
EXTERNDEF _acrtused:WORD
printf PROTO arg1:Ptr Byte, printlist: VARARG
;The first argument is a pointer to a string. The second is a keyword
; that permits a variable number of arguments.
.STACK 100h
.DATA
fmtlist BYTE "%s, %d, %lu", 0Ah,0
string_1 BYTE "signed byte and unsigned double word", 0
data_1 SBYTE -2
data_2 DWORD 0FFFFFFFFh
.CODE
main PROC
INVOKE printf, ADDR fmtlist, ADDR string_1, data_1, data_2
main ENDP
ret
end