FIX: Structure References Using '.' Cause Confusion

ID: Q30379

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Macro Assembler for MS-DOS, versions 5.1, 5.1a

SYMPTOMS

Variable names in the assembler can begin with the following character:

'.'

Structure references use the character '.' as an add operator. This means the label '.cat' is different than the element 'cat' in a structure. The assembler can become confused distinguishing the two uses in a program, and can generate the following error message:

Error A2028: Operator expected' occurs on 'mov ax,duck.cat'

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem with MASM versions 5.1 and 5.1a. This problem was corrected in MASM version 6.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Sample Code


       .MODEL SMALL
   mouse  struc
   cat     dw   1
   dog     dw   2
   mouse  ends
       .DATA
   duck    mouse  <>
       .CODE
   start:  mov  ax,@data
           mov  ds,ax
   .cat    dw   4
           mov  ax,duck.cat
    END start

Additional query words: 5.10 5.10a buglist5.10 buglist5.10a fixlist6.00

Keywords :
Version : :5.1,5.1a
Platform :
Issue type :