Defining Data

• Intrinsic Data Types

• Data Definition Statement
• Defining BYTE and SBYTE Data
• Defining WORD and SWORD Data
• Defining DWORD and SDWORD Data
• Defining QWORD Data
• Defining TBYTE Data
• Defining Real Number Data
• Little Endian Order
• Adding Variables to the AddSub Program
• Declaring Uninitialized Data

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 Intrinsic Data Types (1 of 2)

• BYTE, SBYTE
• 8-bit unsigned integer; 8-bit signed integer
• WORD, SWORD
• 16-bit unsigned & signed integer
• DWORD, SDWORD
• 32-bit unsigned & signed integer
• QWORD
• 64-bit integer
• TBYTE
• 80-bit integer

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 Intrinsic Data Types (2 of 2)

• REAL4
• 4-byte IEEE short real
• REAL8
• 8-byte IEEE long real
• REAL10
• 10-byte IEEE extended real

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 Data Definition Statement

• A data definition statement sets aside storage in memory for

a variable.
• May optionally assign a name (label) to the data
• Syntax:
[name] directive initializer [,initializer] . . .

value1 BYTE 10

• All initializers become binary data in memory

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 Defining BYTE and SBYTE Data
Each of the following defines a single byte of storage:

value1 BYTE 'A' ; character constant

value2 BYTE 0 ; smallest unsigned byte
value3 BYTE 255 ; largest unsigned byte
value4 SBYTE -128 ; smallest signed byte
value5 SBYTE +127 ; largest signed byte
value6 BYTE ? ; uninitialized byte

A variable name is a data label that implies an offset (an address).

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 Defining Byte Arrays

Examples that use multiple initializers:

list1 BYTE 10,20,30,40

list2 BYTE 10,20,30,40
BYTE 50,60,70,80
BYTE 81,82,83,84
list3 BYTE ?,32,41h,00100010b
list4 BYTE 0Ah,20h,‘A’,22h

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 Defining Strings (1 of
3)
• A string is implemented as an array of characters
• For convenience, it is usually enclosed in quotation
marks
• It often will be null-terminated
• Examples:

str1 BYTE "Enter your name",0

str2 BYTE 'Error: halting program',0
greeting BYTE "Welcome to the Encryption Demo program "
str3 BYTE 'A','E','I','O','U'
BYTE "created by Kip Irvine.",0

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 Defining Strings (2 of
3)
• To continue a single string across multiple lines, end
each line with a comma:

menu BYTE "Checking Account",0dh,0ah,0dh,0ah,

"1. Create a new account",0dh,0ah,
"2. Open an existing account",0dh,0ah,
"3. Credit the account",0dh,0ah,
"4. Debit the account",0dh,0ah,
"5. Exit",0ah,0ah,
"Choice> ",0

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 Defining Strings (3 of
3)
• End-of-line character sequence:
• 0Dh = carriage return
• 0Ah = line feed

str1 BYTE "Enter your name: ",0Dh,0Ah

BYTE "Enter your address: ",0

newLine BYTE 0Dh,0Ah,0

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 Using the DUP Operator
• Use DUP to allocate (create space for) an array or
string. Syntax: counter DUP ( argument )
• Counter and argument must be constants or constant
expressions
BYTE 20 DUP(0)              ;20 bytes,all equal to zero o

BYTE 20 DUP(?)               ;20 bytes,unitialized

BYTE 4 DUP(*STACK*)     ;20bytes:*STACKSTACKSTACKSTAK*

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 Defining WORD and SWORD Data

• Define storage for 16-bit integers

• or double characters
• single value or multiple values

word1 WORD 65535 ; largest unsigned value

word2 SWORD –32768 ; smallest signed value
word3 WORD ? ; uninitialized, unsigned
word4 WORD "AB" ; double characters
myList WORD 1,2,3,4,5 ; array of words
array WORD 5 DUP(?) ; uninitialized array

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 Defining DWORD and SDWORD Data

Storage definitions for signed and unsigned 32-bit

integers:

val1 DWORD 12345678h ; unsigned

val2 SDWORD –2147483648 ; signed
val3 DWORD 20 DUP(?) ; unsigned array
val4 SDWORD –3,–2,–1,0,1 ; signed array

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 Defining QWORD, TBYTE, Real Data

Storage definitions for quadwords, tenbyte values,

and real numbers:

quad1 QWORD 1234567812345678h

val1 TBYTE 1000000000123456789Ah
rVal1 REAL4 -2.1
rVal2 REAL8 3.2E-260
rVal3 REAL10 4.6E+4096
ShortArray REAL4 20 DUP(0.0)

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 Little Endian Order

• All data types larger than a byte store their individual

bytes in reverse order. The least significant byte occurs
at the first (lowest) memory address.

• Example:
val1 DWORD 12345678h

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 Adding Variables to AddSub
TITLE Add and Subtract, Version 2 (AddSub2.asm)
; This program adds and subtracts 32-bit unsigned
; integers and stores the sum in a variable.
INCLUDE Irvine32.inc
.data
val1 DWORD 10000h
val2 DWORD 40000h
val3 DWORD 20000h
finalVal DWORD ?
.code
main PROC
mov eax,val1 ; start with 10000h
add eax,val2 ; add 40000h
sub eax,val3 ; subtract 20000h
mov finalVal,eax ; store the result (30000h)
call DumpRegs ; display the registers
exit
main ENDP
END main

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 Declaring Unitialized Data

• Use the .data? directive to declare an unintialized

data segment:
.data?
• Within the segment, declare variables with "?"
initializers:
smallArray DWORD 10 DUP(?)

Advantage: the program's EXE file size is reduced.

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 Equal-Sign Directive
• name = expression
• expression is a 32-bit integer (expression or constant)
• may be redefined
• name is called a symbolic constant
• good programming style to use symbols

COUNT = 500
.
.
mov al,COUNT

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 Calculating the Size of a Byte Array

• current location counter: $

• subtract address of list
• difference is the number of bytes

list BYTE 10,20,30,40

ListSize = ($ - list)

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 Calculating the Size of a Word Array

Divide total number of bytes by 2 (the size of a word)

list WORD 1000h,2000h,3000h,4000h

ListSize = ($ - list) / 2

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Calculating the Size of a Doubleword Array

Divide total number of bytes by 4 (the size of a

doubleword)

list DWORD 1,2,3,4

ListSize = ($ - list) /
4

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Real-Address Mode Programming (1 of 2)

• Generate 16-bit MS-DOS Programs

• Advantages
• enables calling of MS-DOS and BIOS functions
• no memory access restrictions
• Disadvantages
• must be aware of both segments and offsets
• cannot call Win32 functions (Windows 95 onward)
• limited to 640K program memory

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Real-Address Mode Programming (2 of 2)

• Requirements
• INCLUDE Irvine16.inc
• Initialize DS to the data segment:
mov ax,@data
mov ds,ax

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 Add and Subtract, 16-Bit Version
TITLE Add and Subtract, Version 2 (AddSub2r.asm)
INCLUDE Irvine16.inc
.data
val1 DWORD 10000h
val2 DWORD 40000h
val3 DWORD 20000h
finalVal DWORD ?
.code
main PROC
mov ax,@data ; initialize DS
mov ds,ax
mov eax,val1 ; get first value
add eax,val2 ; add second value
sub eax,val3 ; subtract third value
mov finalVal,eax ; store the result
call DumpRegs ; display registers
exit
main ENDP
END main

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