Chapter 16: Expert MS-DOS Programming

Chapter Overview

Defining Segments Runtime Program Structure Interrupt Handling Hardware Control Using I/O Ports

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Examples

Defining Segments
Simplified Segment Directives Explicit Segment Definitions Segment Overrides Combining Segments

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Simplified Segment Directives

.MODEL program memory model .CODE code segment . .DATA near data segment

. . .STACK stack segment . .

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Memory Models

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NEAR and FAR call

NEAR call
requires only a 16-bit offset faster execution than FAR

FAR call
32-bit (cs:ip) : requires setting both segment and offset values slower execution than NEAR call

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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.STACK Directive
Syntax:
.STACK [stacksize]

Stacksize specifies size of stack, in bytes

default is 1024

Example: set to 2048 bytes:

.stack 2048

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Explicit Segment Definitions

Use them when you cannot or do not want to use simplified segment directives All segment attributes must be specified The ASSUME directive is required

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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SEGMENT Directive
Syntax:
name SEGMENT [align] [combine] ['class'] statements name ENDS

name identifies the segment; it can either be unique or the name of an existing segment. align can be BYTE, WORD, DWORD, PARA, or PAGE. combine can be PRIVATE, PUBLIC, STACK, COMMON, MEMORY, or AT address. class is an identifier used when identifying a particular type of segment such as CODE or STACK.

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Segment Example
ExtraData SEGMENT PARA PUBLIC 'DATA' var1 BYTE 1 var2 WORD 2 ExtraData ENDS

name: ExtraData paragraph align type (starts on 16-bit boundary) public combine type: combine with all other public segments having the same name 'DATA' class: 'DATA' (load into memory along with other segments whose class is 'DATA')

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ASSUME Directive
Tells the assembler how to calculate the offsets of labels

Associates a segment register with a segment name Syntax:

ASSUME segreg:segname [,segreg:segname] ...

Examples:
ASSUME cs:myCode, ds:Data, ss:myStack ASSUME es:ExtraData

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Multiple Data Segments

(1 of 2)

cseg SEGMENT 'CODE' ASSUME cs:cseg, ds:data1, es:data2, ss:mystack main PROC mov ax,data1 mov ds,ax mov ax,SEG val2 mov es,ax mov ax,val1 mov bx,val2 mov ax,4C00h int 21h main ENDP cseg ENDS

; DS points to data1 ; ES points to data2 ; data1 segment assumed ; data2 segment assumed ; (same as .exit)

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Multiple Data Segments

data1 SEGMENT 'DATA' val1 WORD 1001h data1 ENDS data2 SEGMENT 'DATA' val2 WORD 1002h data2 ENDS

(1 of 2)

mystack SEGMENT PARA STACK 'STACK' BYTE 100h DUP('S') mystack ENDS

END main

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Segment Overrides
A segment override instructs the processor to use a different segment from the default when calculating an effective address Syntax: segreg:segname
segname:label

cseg SEGMENT 'CODE' ASSUME cs:cseg, ss:mystack main PROC ... mov ax,ds:val1 mov bx,OFFSET AltSeg:var2

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Combining Segments
Segments can be merged into a single segment by the linker, if . . .
their names are the same, and they both have combine type PUBLIC, . . . even when they appear in different source code modules

Example:
cseg SEGMENT PUBLIC 'CODE'

See the program in the Examples\ch16\Seg2\ directory

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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What's Next

Defining Segments Runtime Program Structure Interrupt Handling Hardware Control Using I/O Ports

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Examples

16

Runtime Program Structure

COM Programs EXE Programs

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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When you run a program, . . .

MS-DOS performs the following steps, in order:
1. checks for a matching internal command name 2. looks for a matching file with .COM, .EXE, or .BAT extensions, in that order, in the current directory 3. looks in the first directory in the PATH variable, for .COM, .EXE, and .BAT file 4. continutes to second directory in the PATH, and so on

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Program Segment Prefix (PSP)

256-byte memory block created when a program is loaded into memory contains pointer to Ctrl-Break handler contains pointers saved by MS-DOS Offset 2Ch: 16-bit segment address of current environment string Offset 80h: disk transfer area, and copy of the current MS-DOS command tail

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COM Programs
Unmodified binary image of a program PSP created at offset 0 by loader Code, data, stack all in the same segment Code entry point is at offset 0100h, data follows immediately after code Stack located at the end of the segment All segments point to base of PSP Based on TINY memory model Linker uses the /T option Can only run under MS-DOS

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Sample COM Program

TITLE Hello Program in COM format (HelloCom.asm) .MODEL tiny .code ORG 100h ; must be before main main PROC mov ah,9 mov dx,OFFSET hello_message int 21h mov ax,4C00h int 21h main ENDP hello_message BYTE 'Hello, world!',0dh,0ah,'$' END main

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EXE Programs
Use memory more efficiently than COM programs Stored on disk in two parts:
EXE header record load module (code and data)

PSP created when loaded into memory DS and ES set to the load address CS and IP set to code entry point SS set to the beginning of the stack segment, and SP set to the stack size

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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EXE Programs
Sample EXE structure shows overlapping code, data, and stack segments:
Offset
00 code data stack 20 30 130 (64K) (64K) (64K)

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EXE Header Record

A relocation table, containing addresses to be calculated when the program is loaded. The file size of the EXE program, measured in 512-byte units. Minimum allocation: min number of paragraphs needed above the program. Maximum allocation: max number of paragraphs needed above the program. Starting IP and SP values. Displacement (in paragraphs) of the stack and code segments from the beginning of the load module. A checksum of all words in the file, used in catching data errors when loading the program into memory.

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What's Next

Defining Segments Runtime Program Structure Interrupt Handling Hardware Control Using I/O Ports

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Examples

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Interrupt Handling
Overview Hardware Interrupts Interrupt Control Instructions Writing a Custom Interrupt Handler Terminate and Stay Resident Programs The No_Reset Program

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Overview
Interrupt handler (interrrupt service routine) performs common I/O tasks
can be called as functions can be activated by hardware events

Examples:
video output handler critical error handler keyboard handler divide by zero handler Ctrl-Break handler serial port I/O

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Interrupt Vector Table

Each entry contains a 32-bit segment/offset address that points to an interrupt service routine Offset = interruptNumber * 4 The following are only examples:

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Hardware Interrupts
Generated by the Intel 8259 Programmable Interrupt Contoller (PIC)
in response to a hardware signal

Interrupt Request Levels (IRQ)

priority-based interrupt scheduler brokers simultaneous interrupt requests prevents low-priority interrupt from interrupting a highpriority interrupt

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Common IRQ Assignments

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 System timer Keyboard Programmable Interrupt Controller COM2 (serial) COM1 (serial) LPT2 (printer) Floppy disk controller LPT1 (printer)

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Common IRQ Assignments

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMOS real-time clock modem, video, network, sound, and USB controllers (available) (available) mouse Math coprocessor Hard disk controller (available)

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Interrupt Control Instructions

STI set interrupt flag
enables external interrupts always executed at beginning of an interrupt handler

CLI clear interrupt flag

disables external interrupts used before critical code sections that cannot be interrupted suspends the system timer

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Writing a Custom Interrupt Handler

Motivations
Change the behavior of an existing handler Fix a bug in an existing handler Improve system security by disabling certain keyboard commands

What's Involved
Write a new handler Load it into memory Replace entry in interrupt vector table Chain to existing interrupt hander (usually)

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Get Interrupt Vector

INT 21h Function 35h Get interrupt vector
returns segment-offset addr of handler in ES:BX
.data int9Save LABEL WORD DWORD ? ; store old INT 9 address here .code mov ah,35h ; get interrupt vector mov al,9 ; for INT 9 int 21h ; call MS-DOS mov int9Save,BX ; store the offset mov [int9Save+2],ES ; store the segment

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Set Interrupt Vector

INT 21h Function 25h Set interrupt vector
installs new interrupt handler, pointed to by DS:DX
mov ax,SEG kybd_rtn mov ds,ax mov dx,OFFSET kybd_rtn mov ah,25h mov al,9h int 21h . . kybd_rtn PROC ; ; ; ; ; keyboard handler segment offset set Interrupt vector for INT 9h

; (new handler begins here)

See the CtrlBrk.asm program.

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Keyboard Processing Steps

1. Key pressed, byte sent by hardward to keyboard port 2. 8259 controller interrupts the CPU, passing it the interrupt number 3. CPU looks up interrupt vector table entry 9h, branches to the address found there
Interrupt Vector Table 10B2:0020 (INT 9)
10B2:0020 0DAD:2BAD

(our program) . . . jmp 0DAD:2BAD

(Bios INT 9 service routine) . . . IRET

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Keyboard Processing Steps

4. Our handler executes, intercepting the byte sent by the keyboard 5. Our handler jumps to the regular INT 9 handler 6. The INT 9h handler finishes and returns 7. System continues normal processing
Interrupt Vector Table 10B2:0020 (INT 9)
10B2:0020 0DAD:2BAD

(our program) . . . jmp 0DAD:2BAD

(Bios INT 9 service routine) . . . IRET

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Terminate and Stay Resident Programs

(TSR): Installed in memory, stays there until removed
by a removal program, or by rebooting

Keyboard example
replace the INT 9 vector so it points to our own handler check, or filter certain keystroke combinations, using our handler forward-chain to the existing INT 9 handler to do normal keyboard processing

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The No_Reset Program

Inspects each incoming key If the Del key is received,

(1 of 5)

checks for the Ctrl and Alt keys permits a system reset only if the Right shift key is also held down
Insert mode on Caps lock is on Num lock is on Scroll lock is on ALT key held down CTRL key held down Left shift key held down Right shift key held down

The keyboard status byte indicates the current state of special keys:
1 7 1 6 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 0

(bit position)

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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The No_Reset Program

View the source code Resident program begins with:
int9_handler PROC FAR sti pushf push es push ax push di

(2 of 5)

; enable hardware interrupts ; save regs & flags

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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The No_Reset Program

(3 of 5)

Locate the keyboard flag byte and copy into AH:

L1: mov mov mov mov ax,40h es,ax di,17h ah,es:[di] ; DOS data segment is at 40h
; location of keyboard flag ; copy keyboard flag into AH

Check to see if the Ctrl and Alt keys are held down:
L2: test jz test jz ah,ctrl_key L5 ah,alt_key L5 ; ; ; ; Ctrl key held down? no: exit ALT key held down? no: exit

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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The No_Reset Program

Test for the Del and Right shift keys:
L3: in cmp jne test jnz al,kybd_port al,del_key L5 ah,rt_shift L5 ; ; ; ; ;

(4 of 5)

read keyboard port Del key pressed? no: exit right shift key pressed? yes: allow system reset

Turn off the Ctrl key and write the keyboard flag byte back to memory:
L4: and mov ah,NOT ctrl_key es:[di],ah ; turn off bit for CTRL ; store keyboard_flag

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The No_Reset Program

(5 of 5)

Pop the flags and registers off the stack and execute a far jump to the existing BIOS INT 9h routine:
L5: pop pop pop popf jmp di ax es ; restore regs & flags

cs:[old_interrupt9]

; jump to INT 9 routine

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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What's Next

Defining Segments Runtime Program Structure Interrupt Handling Hardware Control Using I/O Ports

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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Examples

44

Hardware Control Using I/O Ports

Two types of hardware I/O
memory mapped
program and hardware device share the same memory address, as if it were a variable

port based
data written to port using the OUT instruction data read from port using the IN instruction

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Input-Ouput Ports
ports numbered from 0 to FFFFh keyboard controller chip sends 8-bit scan code to port 60h
triggers a hardware interrupt 9

IN and OUT instructions:

IN accumulator, port OUT port, accumulator

accumulator is AL, AX, or EAX port is a constant between 0 and FFh, or a value in DX betweeen 0 and FFFFh

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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PC Sound Program
Generates sound through speaker speaker control port: 61h Intel 8255 Programmable Peripheral Interface chip turns the speaker on and off Intel 8253 Timer chip controls the frequency Source code

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Boot Process
ROM beginning at FFFF0h. Power on: set CS to FFFF[0] and IP to 0. The first instruction to execute is at location FFFF0h which is the entry point of BIOS. BIOS then establishes the Interrupt Vector Table among others.

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Summary
Explicit segment definitions used often in custom code libraries Directives: SEGMENT, ENDS, ASSUME Transient programs Program segment prefix (PSP) Interrupt handlers, interrupt vector table Hardware interrupt, 8259 Programmable Interrupt Controller, interrupt flag Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) Memory-mapped and port-based I/O

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 5/e, 2007.

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The End

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