3 \# Source code to NASM documentation
5 \M{category}{Programming}
6 \M{title}{NASM - The Netwide Assembler}
8 \M{author}{The NASM Development Team}
9 \M{license}{All rights reserved. This document is redistributable under the licence given in the file "COPYING" distributed in the NASM archive.}
10 \M{summary}{This file documents NASM, the Netwide Assembler: an assembler targetting the Intel x86 series of processors, with portable source.}
13 \M{infotitle}{The Netwide Assembler for x86}
14 \M{epslogo}{nasmlogo.eps}
20 \IR{-On} \c{-On} option
38 \IR{!=} \c{!=} operator
39 \IR{$, here} \c{$}, Here token
40 \IR{$, prefix} \c{$}, prefix
43 \IR{%%} \c{%%} operator
44 \IR{%+1} \c{%+1} and \c{%-1} syntax
46 \IR{%0} \c{%0} parameter count
48 \IR{&&} \c{&&} operator
50 \IR{..@} \c{..@} symbol prefix
52 \IR{//} \c{//} operator
54 \IR{<<} \c{<<} operator
55 \IR{<=} \c{<=} operator
56 \IR{<>} \c{<>} operator
58 \IR{==} \c{==} operator
60 \IR{>=} \c{>=} operator
61 \IR{>>} \c{>>} operator
62 \IR{?} \c{?} MASM syntax
64 \IR{^^} \c{^^} operator
66 \IR{||} \c{||} operator
68 \IR{%$} \c{%$} and \c{%$$} prefixes
70 \IR{+ opaddition} \c{+} operator, binary
71 \IR{+ opunary} \c{+} operator, unary
72 \IR{+ modifier} \c{+} modifier
73 \IR{- opsubtraction} \c{-} operator, binary
74 \IR{- opunary} \c{-} operator, unary
75 \IR{alignment, in bin sections} alignment, in \c{bin} sections
76 \IR{alignment, in elf sections} alignment, in \c{elf} sections
77 \IR{alignment, in win32 sections} alignment, in \c{win32} sections
78 \IR{alignment, of elf common variables} alignment, of \c{elf} common
80 \IR{alignment, in obj sections} alignment, in \c{obj} sections
81 \IR{a.out, bsd version} \c{a.out}, BSD version
82 \IR{a.out, linux version} \c{a.out}, Linux version
83 \IR{autoconf} Autoconf
85 \IR{bitwise and} bitwise AND
86 \IR{bitwise or} bitwise OR
87 \IR{bitwise xor} bitwise XOR
88 \IR{block ifs} block IFs
89 \IR{borland pascal} Borland, Pascal
90 \IR{borland's win32 compilers} Borland, Win32 compilers
91 \IR{braces, after % sign} braces, after \c{%} sign
93 \IR{c calling convention} C calling convention
94 \IR{c symbol names} C symbol names
95 \IA{critical expressions}{critical expression}
96 \IA{command line}{command-line}
97 \IA{case sensitivity}{case sensitive}
98 \IA{case-sensitive}{case sensitive}
99 \IA{case-insensitive}{case sensitive}
100 \IA{character constants}{character constant}
101 \IR{common object file format} Common Object File Format
102 \IR{common variables, alignment in elf} common variables, alignment
104 \IR{common, elf extensions to} \c{COMMON}, \c{elf} extensions to
105 \IR{common, obj extensions to} \c{COMMON}, \c{obj} extensions to
106 \IR{declaring structure} declaring structures
107 \IR{default-wrt mechanism} default-\c{WRT} mechanism
110 \IR{dll symbols, exporting} DLL symbols, exporting
111 \IR{dll symbols, importing} DLL symbols, importing
113 \IR{dos archive} DOS archive
114 \IR{dos source archive} DOS source archive
115 \IA{effective address}{effective addresses}
116 \IA{effective-address}{effective addresses}
118 \IR{elf, 16-bit code and} ELF, 16-bit code and
119 \IR{elf shared libraries} ELF, shared libraries
120 \IR{executable and linkable format} Executable and Linkable Format
121 \IR{extern, obj extensions to} \c{EXTERN}, \c{obj} extensions to
122 \IR{extern, rdf extensions to} \c{EXTERN}, \c{rdf} extensions to
124 \IR{freelink} FreeLink
125 \IR{functions, c calling convention} functions, C calling convention
126 \IR{functions, pascal calling convention} functions, Pascal calling
128 \IR{global, aoutb extensions to} \c{GLOBAL}, \c{aoutb} extensions to
129 \IR{global, elf extensions to} \c{GLOBAL}, \c{elf} extensions to
130 \IR{global, rdf extensions to} \c{GLOBAL}, \c{rdf} extensions to
132 \IR{got relocations} \c{GOT} relocations
133 \IR{gotoff relocation} \c{GOTOFF} relocations
134 \IR{gotpc relocation} \c{GOTPC} relocations
135 \IR{intel number formats} Intel number formats
136 \IR{linux, elf} Linux, ELF
137 \IR{linux, a.out} Linux, \c{a.out}
138 \IR{linux, as86} Linux, \c{as86}
139 \IR{logical and} logical AND
140 \IR{logical or} logical OR
141 \IR{logical xor} logical XOR
143 \IA{memory reference}{memory references}
145 \IA{misc directory}{misc subdirectory}
146 \IR{misc subdirectory} \c{misc} subdirectory
147 \IR{microsoft omf} Microsoft OMF
148 \IR{mmx registers} MMX registers
149 \IA{modr/m}{modr/m byte}
150 \IR{modr/m byte} ModR/M byte
152 \IR{ms-dos device drivers} MS-DOS device drivers
153 \IR{multipush} \c{multipush} macro
154 \IR{nasm version} NASM version
158 \IR{operating system} operating system
160 \IR{pascal calling convention}Pascal calling convention
161 \IR{passes} passes, assembly
166 \IR{plt} \c{PLT} relocations
167 \IA{pre-defining macros}{pre-define}
168 \IA{preprocessor expressions}{preprocessor, expressions}
169 \IA{preprocessor loops}{preprocessor, loops}
170 \IA{preprocessor variables}{preprocessor, variables}
171 \IA{rdoff subdirectory}{rdoff}
172 \IR{rdoff} \c{rdoff} subdirectory
173 \IR{relocatable dynamic object file format} Relocatable Dynamic
175 \IR{relocations, pic-specific} relocations, PIC-specific
176 \IA{repeating}{repeating code}
177 \IR{section alignment, in elf} section alignment, in \c{elf}
178 \IR{section alignment, in bin} section alignment, in \c{bin}
179 \IR{section alignment, in obj} section alignment, in \c{obj}
180 \IR{section alignment, in win32} section alignment, in \c{win32}
181 \IR{section, elf extensions to} \c{SECTION}, \c{elf} extensions to
182 \IR{section, win32 extensions to} \c{SECTION}, \c{win32} extensions to
183 \IR{segment alignment, in bin} segment alignment, in \c{bin}
184 \IR{segment alignment, in obj} segment alignment, in \c{obj}
185 \IR{segment, obj extensions to} \c{SEGMENT}, \c{elf} extensions to
186 \IR{segment names, borland pascal} segment names, Borland Pascal
187 \IR{shift command} \c{shift} command
189 \IR{sib byte} SIB byte
190 \IR{solaris x86} Solaris x86
191 \IA{standard section names}{standardised section names}
192 \IR{symbols, exporting from dlls} symbols, exporting from DLLs
193 \IR{symbols, importing from dlls} symbols, importing from DLLs
194 \IR{test subdirectory} \c{test} subdirectory
196 \IR{underscore, in c symbols} underscore, in C symbols
198 \IA{sco unix}{unix, sco}
199 \IR{unix, sco} Unix, SCO
200 \IA{unix source archive}{unix, source archive}
201 \IR{unix, source archive} Unix, source archive
202 \IA{unix system v}{unix, system v}
203 \IR{unix, system v} Unix, System V
204 \IR{unixware} UnixWare
206 \IR{version number of nasm} version number of NASM
207 \IR{visual c++} Visual C++
208 \IR{www page} WWW page
211 \IR{windows 95} Windows 95
212 \IR{windows nt} Windows NT
213 \# \IC{program entry point}{entry point, program}
214 \# \IC{program entry point}{start point, program}
215 \# \IC{MS-DOS device drivers}{device drivers, MS-DOS}
216 \# \IC{16-bit mode, versus 32-bit mode}{32-bit mode, versus 16-bit mode}
217 \# \IC{c symbol names}{symbol names, in C}
220 \C{intro} Introduction
222 \H{whatsnasm} What Is NASM?
224 The Netwide Assembler, NASM, is an 80x86 assembler designed for
225 portability and modularity. It supports a range of object file
226 formats, including Linux and \c{NetBSD/FreeBSD} \c{a.out}, \c{ELF},
227 \c{COFF}, Microsoft 16-bit \c{OBJ} and \c{Win32}. It will also output
228 plain binary files. Its syntax is designed to be simple and easy to
229 understand, similar to Intel's but less complex. It supports \c{Pentium},
230 \c{P6}, \c{MMX}, \c{3DNow!}, \c{SSE} and \c{SSE2} opcodes, and has
234 \S{yaasm} Why Yet Another Assembler?
236 The Netwide Assembler grew out of an idea on \i\c{comp.lang.asm.x86}
237 (or possibly \i\c{alt.lang.asm} - I forget which), which was
238 essentially that there didn't seem to be a good \e{free} x86-series
239 assembler around, and that maybe someone ought to write one.
241 \b \i\c{a86} is good, but not free, and in particular you don't get any
242 32-bit capability until you pay. It's DOS only, too.
244 \b \i\c{gas} is free, and ports over DOS and Unix, but it's not
245 very good, since it's designed to be a back end to \i\c{gcc}, which
246 always feeds it correct code. So its error checking is minimal. Also,
247 its syntax is horrible, from the point of view of anyone trying to
248 actually \e{write} anything in it. Plus you can't write 16-bit code in
251 \b \i\c{as86} is Minix- and Linux-specific, and (my version at least)
252 doesn't seem to have much (or any) documentation.
254 \b \i\c{MASM} isn't very good, and it's (was) expensive, and it runs only under
257 \b \i\c{TASM} is better, but still strives for MASM compatibility,
258 which means millions of directives and tons of red tape. And its syntax
259 is essentially MASM's, with the contradictions and quirks that
260 entails (although it sorts out some of those by means of Ideal mode).
261 It's expensive too. And it's DOS-only.
263 So here, for your coding pleasure, is NASM. At present it's
264 still in prototype stage - we don't promise that it can outperform
265 any of these assemblers. But please, \e{please} send us bug reports,
266 fixes, helpful information, and anything else you can get your hands
267 on (and thanks to the many people who've done this already! You all
268 know who you are), and we'll improve it out of all recognition.
272 \S{legal} Licence Conditions
274 Please see the file \c{COPYING}, supplied as part of any NASM
275 distribution archive, for the \i{licence} conditions under which you
276 may use NASM. NASM is now under the so-called GNU Lesser General
277 Public License, LGPL.
280 \H{contact} Contact Information
282 The current version of NASM (since about 0.98.08) are maintained by a
283 team of developers, accessible through the \c{nasm-devel} mailing list
284 (see below for the link).
285 If you want to report a bug, please read \k{bugs} first.
287 NASM has a \i{WWW page} at
288 \W{http://nasm.sourceforge.net}\c{http://nasm.sourceforge.net}. If it's
289 not there, google for us!
292 The original authors are \i{e\-mail}able as
293 \W{mailto:jules@dsf.org.uk}\c{jules@dsf.org.uk} and
294 \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\c{anakin@pobox.com}.
295 The latter is no longer involved in the development team.
297 \i{New releases} of NASM are uploaded to the official sites
298 \W{http://nasm.sourceforge.net}\c{http://nasm.sourceforge.net}
300 \W{ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/software/devel/nasm/}\i\c{ftp.kernel.org}
302 \W{ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/devel/lang/assemblers/}\i\c{ibiblio.org}.
304 Announcements are posted to
305 \W{news:comp.lang.asm.x86}\i\c{comp.lang.asm.x86},
306 \W{news:alt.lang.asm}\i\c{alt.lang.asm} and
307 \W{news:comp.os.linux.announce}\i\c{comp.os.linux.announce}
309 If you want information about NASM beta releases, and the current
310 development status, please subscribe to the \i\c{nasm-devel} email list
312 \W{http://sourceforge.net/projects/nasm}\c{http://sourceforge.net/projects/nasm}.
315 \H{install} Installation
317 \S{instdos} \i{Installing} NASM under MS-\i{DOS} or Windows
319 Once you've obtained the \i{DOS archive} for NASM, \i\c{nasmXXX.zip}
320 (where \c{XXX} denotes the version number of NASM contained in the
321 archive), unpack it into its own directory (for example \c{c:\\nasm}).
323 The archive will contain four executable files: the NASM executable
324 files \i\c{nasm.exe} and \i\c{nasmw.exe}, and the NDISASM executable
325 files \i\c{ndisasm.exe} and \i\c{ndisasmw.exe}. In each case, the
326 file whose name ends in \c{w} is a \I{Win32}\c{Win32} executable,
327 designed to run under \I{Windows 95}\c{Windows 95} or \I{Windows NT}
328 \c{Windows NT} Intel, and the other one is a 16-bit \I{DOS}\c{DOS}
331 The only file NASM needs to run is its own executable, so copy
332 (at least) one of \c{nasm.exe} and \c{nasmw.exe} to a directory on
333 your PATH, or alternatively edit \i\c{autoexec.bat} to add the
334 \c{nasm} directory to your \i\c{PATH}. (If you're only installing the
335 \c{Win32} version, you may wish to rename it to \c{nasm.exe}.)
337 That's it - NASM is installed. You don't need the nasm directory
338 to be present to run NASM (unless you've added it to your \c{PATH}),
339 so you can delete it if you need to save space; however, you may
340 want to keep the documentation or test programs.
342 If you've downloaded the \i{DOS source archive}, \i\c{nasmXXXs.zip},
343 the \c{nasm} directory will also contain the full NASM \i{source
344 code}, and a selection of \i{Makefiles} you can (hopefully) use to
345 rebuild your copy of NASM from scratch.
347 Note that the source files \c{insnsa.c}, \c{insnsd.c}, \c{insnsi.h}
348 and \c{insnsn.c} are automatically generated from the master
349 instruction table \c{insns.dat} by a Perl script; the file
350 \c{macros.c} is generated from \c{standard.mac} by another Perl
351 script. Although the NASM source distribution includes these generated
352 files, you will need to rebuild them (and hence, will need a Perl
353 interpreter) if you change insns.dat, standard.mac or the
354 documentation. It is possible future source distributions may not
355 include these files at all. Ports of \i{Perl} for a variety of
356 platforms, including DOS and Windows, are available from
357 \W{http://www.cpan.org/ports/}\i{www.cpan.org}.
360 \S{instdos} Installing NASM under \i{Unix}
362 Once you've obtained the \i{Unix source archive} for NASM,
363 \i\c{nasm-X.XX.tar.gz} (where \c{X.XX} denotes the version number of
364 NASM contained in the archive), unpack it into a directory such
365 as \c{/usr/local/src}. The archive, when unpacked, will create its
366 own subdirectory \c{nasm-X.XX}.
368 NASM is an \I{Autoconf}\I\c{configure}auto-configuring package: once
369 you've unpacked it, \c{cd} to the directory it's been unpacked into
370 and type \c{./configure}. This shell script will find the best C
371 compiler to use for building NASM and set up \i{Makefiles}
374 Once NASM has auto-configured, you can type \i\c{make} to build the
375 \c{nasm} and \c{ndisasm} binaries, and then \c{make install} to
376 install them in \c{/usr/local/bin} and install the \i{man pages}
377 \i\c{nasm.1} and \i\c{ndisasm.1} in \c{/usr/local/man/man1}.
378 Alternatively, you can give options such as \c{--prefix} to the
379 configure script (see the file \i\c{INSTALL} for more details), or
380 install the programs yourself.
382 NASM also comes with a set of utilities for handling the \c{RDOFF}
383 custom object-file format, which are in the \i\c{rdoff} subdirectory
384 of the NASM archive. You can build these with \c{make rdf} and
385 install them with \c{make rdf_install}, if you want them.
387 If NASM fails to auto-configure, you may still be able to make it
388 compile by using the fall-back Unix makefile \i\c{Makefile.unx}.
389 Copy or rename that file to \c{Makefile} and try typing \c{make}.
390 There is also a Makefile.unx file in the \c{rdoff} subdirectory.
393 \C{running} Running NASM
395 \H{syntax} NASM \i{Command-Line} Syntax
397 To assemble a file, you issue a command of the form
399 \c nasm -f <format> <filename> [-o <output>]
403 \c nasm -f elf myfile.asm
405 will assemble \c{myfile.asm} into an \c{ELF} object file \c{myfile.o}. And
407 \c nasm -f bin myfile.asm -o myfile.com
409 will assemble \c{myfile.asm} into a raw binary file \c{myfile.com}.
411 To produce a listing file, with the hex codes output from NASM
412 displayed on the left of the original sources, use the \c{-l} option
413 to give a listing file name, for example:
415 \c nasm -f coff myfile.asm -l myfile.lst
417 To get further usage instructions from NASM, try typing
421 As \c{-hf}, this will also list the available output file formats, and what they
424 If you use Linux but aren't sure whether your system is \c{a.out}
429 (in the directory in which you put the NASM binary when you
430 installed it). If it says something like
432 \c nasm: ELF 32-bit LSB executable i386 (386 and up) Version 1
434 then your system is \c{ELF}, and you should use the option \c{-f elf}
435 when you want NASM to produce Linux object files. If it says
437 \c nasm: Linux/i386 demand-paged executable (QMAGIC)
439 or something similar, your system is \c{a.out}, and you should use
440 \c{-f aout} instead (Linux \c{a.out} systems have long been obsolete,
441 and are rare these days.)
443 Like Unix compilers and assemblers, NASM is silent unless it
444 goes wrong: you won't see any output at all, unless it gives error
448 \S{opt-o} The \i\c{-o} Option: Specifying the Output File Name
450 NASM will normally choose the name of your output file for you;
451 precisely how it does this is dependent on the object file format.
452 For Microsoft object file formats (\i\c{obj} and \i\c{win32}), it
453 will remove the \c{.asm} \i{extension} (or whatever extension you
454 like to use - NASM doesn't care) from your source file name and
455 substitute \c{.obj}. For Unix object file formats (\i\c{aout},
456 \i\c{coff}, \i\c{elf} and \i\c{as86}) it will substitute \c{.o}. For
457 \i\c{rdf}, it will use \c{.rdf}, and for the \i\c{bin} format it
458 will simply remove the extension, so that \c{myfile.asm} produces
459 the output file \c{myfile}.
461 If the output file already exists, NASM will overwrite it, unless it
462 has the same name as the input file, in which case it will give a
463 warning and use \i\c{nasm.out} as the output file name instead.
465 For situations in which this behaviour is unacceptable, NASM
466 provides the \c{-o} command-line option, which allows you to specify
467 your desired output file name. You invoke \c{-o} by following it
468 with the name you wish for the output file, either with or without
469 an intervening space. For example:
471 \c nasm -f bin program.asm -o program.com
472 \c nasm -f bin driver.asm -odriver.sys
474 Note that this is a small o, and is different from a capital O , which
475 is used to specify the number of optimisation passes required. See \k{opt-On}.
478 \S{opt-f} The \i\c{-f} Option: Specifying the \i{Output File Format}
480 If you do not supply the \c{-f} option to NASM, it will choose an
481 output file format for you itself. In the distribution versions of
482 NASM, the default is always \i\c{bin}; if you've compiled your own
483 copy of NASM, you can redefine \i\c{OF_DEFAULT} at compile time and
484 choose what you want the default to be.
486 Like \c{-o}, the intervening space between \c{-f} and the output
487 file format is optional; so \c{-f elf} and \c{-felf} are both valid.
489 A complete list of the available output file formats can be given by
490 issuing the command \i\c{nasm -hf}.
493 \S{opt-l} The \i\c{-l} Option: Generating a \i{Listing File}
495 If you supply the \c{-l} option to NASM, followed (with the usual
496 optional space) by a file name, NASM will generate a
497 \i{source-listing file} for you, in which addresses and generated
498 code are listed on the left, and the actual source code, with
499 expansions of multi-line macros (except those which specifically
500 request no expansion in source listings: see \k{nolist}) on the
503 \c nasm -f elf myfile.asm -l myfile.lst
505 If a list file is selected, you may turn off listing for a
506 section of your source with \c{[list -]}, and turn it back on
507 with \c{[list +]}, (the default, obviously). There is no "user
508 form" (without the brackets). This can be used to list only
509 sections of interest, avoiding excessively long listings.
512 \S{opt-M} The \i\c{-M} Option: Generate \i{Makefile Dependencies}.
514 This option can be used to generate makefile dependencies on stdout.
515 This can be redirected to a file for further processing. For example:
517 \c NASM -M myfile.asm > myfile.dep
520 \S{opt-F} The \i\c{-F} Option: Selecting a \i{Debug Information Format}
522 This option is used to select the format of the debug information emitted
523 into the output file, to be used by a debugger (or \e{will} be). Use
524 of this switch does \e{not} enable output of the selected debug info format.
525 Use \c{-g}, see \k{opt-g}, to enable output.
527 A complete list of the available debug file formats for an output format
528 can be seen by issuing the command \i\c{nasm -f <format> -y}. (only
529 "borland" in "-f obj", as of 0.98.35, but "watch this space")
532 This should not be confused with the "-f dbg" output format option which
533 is not built into NASM by default. For information on how
534 to enable it when building from the sources, see \k{dbgfmt}
537 \S{opt-g} The \i\c{-g} Option: Enabling \i{Debug Information}.
539 This option can be used to generate debugging information in the specified
540 format. See: \k{opt-F}. Using \c{-g} without \c{-F} results in emitting
541 debug info in the default format, if any, for the selected output format.
542 If no debug information is currently implemented in the selected output
543 format, \c{-g} is \e{silently ignored}.
546 \S{opt-X} The \i\c{-X} Option: Selecting an \i{Error Reporting Format}
548 This option can be used to select an error reporting format for any
549 error messages that might be produced by NASM.
551 Currently, two error reporting formats may be selected. They are
552 the \c{-Xvc} option and the \c{-Xgnu} option. The GNU format is
553 the default and looks like this:
555 \c filename.asm:65: error: specific error message
557 where \c{filename.asm} is the name of the source file in which the
558 error was detected, \c{65} is the source file line number on which
559 the error was detected, \c{error} is the severity of the error (this
560 could be \c{warning}), and \c{specific error message} is a more
561 detailed text message which should help pinpoint the exact problem.
563 The other format, specified by \c{-Xvc} is the style used by Microsoft
564 Visual C++ and some other programs. It looks like this:
566 \c filename.asm(65) : error: specific error message
568 where the only difference is that the line number is in parentheses
569 instead of being delimited by colons.
571 See also the \c{Visual C++} output format, \k{win32fmt}.
573 \S{opt-E} The \i\c{-E} Option: Send Errors to a File
575 Under \I{DOS}\c{MS-DOS} it can be difficult (though there are ways) to
576 redirect the standard-error output of a program to a file. Since
577 NASM usually produces its warning and \i{error messages} on
578 \i\c{stderr}, this can make it hard to capture the errors if (for
579 example) you want to load them into an editor.
581 NASM therefore provides the \c{-E} option, taking a filename argument
582 which causes errors to be sent to the specified files rather than
583 standard error. Therefore you can \I{redirecting errors}redirect
584 the errors into a file by typing
586 \c nasm -E myfile.err -f obj myfile.asm
589 \S{opt-s} The \i\c{-s} Option: Send Errors to \i\c{stdout}
591 The \c{-s} option redirects \i{error messages} to \c{stdout} rather
592 than \c{stderr}, so it can be redirected under \I{DOS}\c{MS-DOS}. To
593 assemble the file \c{myfile.asm} and pipe its output to the \c{more}
594 program, you can type:
596 \c nasm -s -f obj myfile.asm | more
598 See also the \c{-E} option, \k{opt-E}.
601 \S{opt-i} The \i\c{-i}\I\c{-I} Option: Include File Search Directories
603 When NASM sees the \i\c{%include} or \i\c{incbin} directive in
604 a source file (see \k{include} or \k{incbin}),
605 it will search for the given file not only in the
606 current directory, but also in any directories specified on the
607 command line by the use of the \c{-i} option. Therefore you can
608 include files from a \i{macro library}, for example, by typing
610 \c nasm -ic:\macrolib\ -f obj myfile.asm
612 (As usual, a space between \c{-i} and the path name is allowed, and
615 NASM, in the interests of complete source-code portability, does not
616 understand the file naming conventions of the OS it is running on;
617 the string you provide as an argument to the \c{-i} option will be
618 prepended exactly as written to the name of the include file.
619 Therefore the trailing backslash in the above example is necessary.
620 Under Unix, a trailing forward slash is similarly necessary.
622 (You can use this to your advantage, if you're really \i{perverse},
623 by noting that the option \c{-ifoo} will cause \c{%include "bar.i"}
624 to search for the file \c{foobar.i}...)
626 If you want to define a \e{standard} \i{include search path},
627 similar to \c{/usr/include} on Unix systems, you should place one or
628 more \c{-i} directives in the \c{NASMENV} environment variable (see
631 For Makefile compatibility with many C compilers, this option can also
632 be specified as \c{-I}.
635 \S{opt-p} The \i\c{-p}\I\c{-P} Option: \I{pre-including files}Pre-Include a File
637 \I\c{%include}NASM allows you to specify files to be
638 \e{pre-included} into your source file, by the use of the \c{-p}
641 \c nasm myfile.asm -p myinc.inc
643 is equivalent to running \c{nasm myfile.asm} and placing the
644 directive \c{%include "myinc.inc"} at the start of the file.
646 For consistency with the \c{-I}, \c{-D} and \c{-U} options, this
647 option can also be specified as \c{-P}.
650 \S{opt-d} The \i\c{-d}\I\c{-D} Option: \I{pre-defining macros}Pre-Define a Macro
652 \I\c{%define}Just as the \c{-p} option gives an alternative to placing
653 \c{%include} directives at the start of a source file, the \c{-d}
654 option gives an alternative to placing a \c{%define} directive. You
657 \c nasm myfile.asm -dFOO=100
659 as an alternative to placing the directive
663 at the start of the file. You can miss off the macro value, as well:
664 the option \c{-dFOO} is equivalent to coding \c{%define FOO}. This
665 form of the directive may be useful for selecting \i{assembly-time
666 options} which are then tested using \c{%ifdef}, for example
669 For Makefile compatibility with many C compilers, this option can also
670 be specified as \c{-D}.
673 \S{opt-u} The \i\c{-u}\I\c{-U} Option: \I{Undefining macros}Undefine a Macro
675 \I\c{%undef}The \c{-u} option undefines a macro that would otherwise
676 have been pre-defined, either automatically or by a \c{-p} or \c{-d}
677 option specified earlier on the command lines.
679 For example, the following command line:
681 \c nasm myfile.asm -dFOO=100 -uFOO
683 would result in \c{FOO} \e{not} being a predefined macro in the
684 program. This is useful to override options specified at a different
687 For Makefile compatibility with many C compilers, this option can also
688 be specified as \c{-U}.
691 \S{opt-e} The \i\c{-e} Option: Preprocess Only
693 NASM allows the \i{preprocessor} to be run on its own, up to a
694 point. Using the \c{-e} option (which requires no arguments) will
695 cause NASM to preprocess its input file, expand all the macro
696 references, remove all the comments and preprocessor directives, and
697 print the resulting file on standard output (or save it to a file,
698 if the \c{-o} option is also used).
700 This option cannot be applied to programs which require the
701 preprocessor to evaluate \I{preprocessor expressions}\i{expressions}
702 which depend on the values of symbols: so code such as
704 \c %assign tablesize ($-tablestart)
706 will cause an error in \i{preprocess-only mode}.
709 \S{opt-a} The \i\c{-a} Option: Don't Preprocess At All
711 If NASM is being used as the back end to a compiler, it might be
712 desirable to \I{suppressing preprocessing}suppress preprocessing
713 completely and assume the compiler has already done it, to save time
714 and increase compilation speeds. The \c{-a} option, requiring no
715 argument, instructs NASM to replace its powerful \i{preprocessor}
716 with a \i{stub preprocessor} which does nothing.
719 \S{opt-On} The \i\c{-On} Option: Specifying \i{Multipass Optimization}.
721 NASM defaults to being a two pass assembler. This means that if you
722 have a complex source file which needs more than 2 passes to assemble
723 optimally, you have to enable extra passes.
725 Using the \c{-O} option, you can tell NASM to carry out multiple passes.
728 \b \c{-O0} strict two-pass assembly, JMP and Jcc are handled more
729 like v0.98, except that backward JMPs are short, if possible.
730 Immediate operands take their long forms if a short form is
733 \b \c{-O1} strict two-pass assembly, but forward branches are assembled
734 with code guaranteed to reach; may produce larger code than
735 -O0, but will produce successful assembly more often if
736 branch offset sizes are not specified.
737 Additionally, immediate operands which will fit in a signed byte
738 are optimised, unless the long form is specified.
740 \b \c{-On} multi-pass optimization, minimize branch offsets; also will
741 minimize signed immediate bytes, overriding size specification
742 unless the \c{strict} keyword has been used (see \k{strict}).
743 The number specifies the maximum number of passes. The more
744 passes, the better the code, but the slower is the assembly.
746 Note that this is a capital O, and is different from a small o, which
747 is used to specify the output format. See \k{opt-o}.
750 \S{opt-t} The \i\c{-t} option: Enable TASM Compatibility Mode
752 NASM includes a limited form of compatibility with Borland's \i\c{TASM}.
753 When NASM's \c{-t} option is used, the following changes are made:
755 \b local labels may be prefixed with \c{@@} instead of \c{.}
757 \b TASM-style response files beginning with \c{@} may be specified on
758 the command line. This is different from the \c{-@resp} style that NASM
761 \b size override is supported within brackets. In TASM compatible mode,
762 a size override inside square brackets changes the size of the operand,
763 and not the address type of the operand as it does in NASM syntax. E.g.
764 \c{mov eax,[DWORD val]} is valid syntax in TASM compatibility mode.
765 Note that you lose the ability to override the default address type for
768 \b \c{%arg} preprocessor directive is supported which is similar to
769 TASM's \c{ARG} directive.
771 \b \c{%local} preprocessor directive
773 \b \c{%stacksize} preprocessor directive
775 \b unprefixed forms of some directives supported (\c{arg}, \c{elif},
776 \c{else}, \c{endif}, \c{if}, \c{ifdef}, \c{ifdifi}, \c{ifndef},
777 \c{include}, \c{local})
781 For more information on the directives, see the section on TASM
782 Compatiblity preprocessor directives in \k{tasmcompat}.
785 \S{opt-w} The \i\c{-w} Option: Enable or Disable Assembly \i{Warnings}
787 NASM can observe many conditions during the course of assembly which
788 are worth mentioning to the user, but not a sufficiently severe
789 error to justify NASM refusing to generate an output file. These
790 conditions are reported like errors, but come up with the word
791 `warning' before the message. Warnings do not prevent NASM from
792 generating an output file and returning a success status to the
795 Some conditions are even less severe than that: they are only
796 sometimes worth mentioning to the user. Therefore NASM supports the
797 \c{-w} command-line option, which enables or disables certain
798 classes of assembly warning. Such warning classes are described by a
799 name, for example \c{orphan-labels}; you can enable warnings of
800 this class by the command-line option \c{-w+orphan-labels} and
801 disable it by \c{-w-orphan-labels}.
803 The \i{suppressible warning} classes are:
805 \b \i\c{macro-params} covers warnings about \i{multi-line macros}
806 being invoked with the wrong number of parameters. This warning
807 class is enabled by default; see \k{mlmacover} for an example of why
808 you might want to disable it.
810 \b \i\c{macro-selfref} warns if a macro references itself. This
811 warning class is enabled by default.
813 \b \i\c{orphan-labels} covers warnings about source lines which
814 contain no instruction but define a label without a trailing colon.
815 NASM does not warn about this somewhat obscure condition by default;
816 see \k{syntax} for an example of why you might want it to.
818 \b \i\c{number-overflow} covers warnings about numeric constants which
819 don't fit in 32 bits (for example, it's easy to type one too many Fs
820 and produce \c{0x7ffffffff} by mistake). This warning class is
823 \b \i\c{gnu-elf-extensions} warns if 8-bit or 16-bit relocations
824 are used in \c{-f elf} format. The GNU extensions allow this.
825 This warning class is enabled by default.
827 \b In addition, warning classes may be enabled or disabled across
828 sections of source code with \i\c{[warning +warning-name]} or
829 \i\c{[warning -warning-name]}. No "user form" (without the
833 \S{opt-v} The \i\c{-v} Option: Display \i{Version} Info
835 Typing \c{NASM -v} will display the version of NASM which you are using,
836 and the date on which it was compiled. This replaces the deprecated
839 You will need the version number if you report a bug.
841 \S{opt-y} The \i\c{-y} Option: Display Available Debug Info Formats
843 Typing \c{nasm -f <option> -y} will display a list of the available
844 debug info formats for the given output format. The default format
845 is indicated by an asterisk. E.g. \c{nasm -f obj -y} yields \c{* borland}.
846 (as of 0.98.35, the \e{only} debug info format implemented).
849 \S{opt-pfix} The \i\c{--prefix} and \i\c{--postfix} Options.
851 The \c{--prefix} and \c{--postfix} options prepend or append
852 (respectively) the given argument to all \c{global} or
853 \c{extern} variables. E.g. \c{--prefix_} will prepend the
854 underscore to all global and external variables, as C sometimes
855 (but not always) likes it.
858 \S{nasmenv} The \c{NASMENV} \i{Environment} Variable
860 If you define an environment variable called \c{NASMENV}, the program
861 will interpret it as a list of extra command-line options, which are
862 processed before the real command line. You can use this to define
863 standard search directories for include files, by putting \c{-i}
864 options in the \c{NASMENV} variable.
866 The value of the variable is split up at white space, so that the
867 value \c{-s -ic:\\nasmlib} will be treated as two separate options.
868 However, that means that the value \c{-dNAME="my name"} won't do
869 what you might want, because it will be split at the space and the
870 NASM command-line processing will get confused by the two
871 nonsensical words \c{-dNAME="my} and \c{name"}.
873 To get round this, NASM provides a feature whereby, if you begin the
874 \c{NASMENV} environment variable with some character that isn't a minus
875 sign, then NASM will treat this character as the \i{separator
876 character} for options. So setting the \c{NASMENV} variable to the
877 value \c{!-s!-ic:\\nasmlib} is equivalent to setting it to \c{-s
878 -ic:\\nasmlib}, but \c{!-dNAME="my name"} will work.
880 This environment variable was previously called \c{NASM}. This was
881 changed with version 0.98.31.
884 \H{qstart} \i{Quick Start} for \i{MASM} Users
886 If you're used to writing programs with MASM, or with \i{TASM} in
887 MASM-compatible (non-Ideal) mode, or with \i\c{a86}, this section
888 attempts to outline the major differences between MASM's syntax and
889 NASM's. If you're not already used to MASM, it's probably worth
890 skipping this section.
893 \S{qscs} NASM Is \I{case sensitivity}Case-Sensitive
895 One simple difference is that NASM is case-sensitive. It makes a
896 difference whether you call your label \c{foo}, \c{Foo} or \c{FOO}.
897 If you're assembling to \c{DOS} or \c{OS/2} \c{.OBJ} files, you can
898 invoke the \i\c{UPPERCASE} directive (documented in \k{objfmt}) to
899 ensure that all symbols exported to other code modules are forced
900 to be upper case; but even then, \e{within} a single module, NASM
901 will distinguish between labels differing only in case.
904 \S{qsbrackets} NASM Requires \i{Square Brackets} For \i{Memory References}
906 NASM was designed with simplicity of syntax in mind. One of the
907 \i{design goals} of NASM is that it should be possible, as far as is
908 practical, for the user to look at a single line of NASM code
909 and tell what opcode is generated by it. You can't do this in MASM:
910 if you declare, for example,
915 then the two lines of code
920 generate completely different opcodes, despite having
921 identical-looking syntaxes.
923 NASM avoids this undesirable situation by having a much simpler
924 syntax for memory references. The rule is simply that any access to
925 the \e{contents} of a memory location requires square brackets
926 around the address, and any access to the \e{address} of a variable
927 doesn't. So an instruction of the form \c{mov ax,foo} will
928 \e{always} refer to a compile-time constant, whether it's an \c{EQU}
929 or the address of a variable; and to access the \e{contents} of the
930 variable \c{bar}, you must code \c{mov ax,[bar]}.
932 This also means that NASM has no need for MASM's \i\c{OFFSET}
933 keyword, since the MASM code \c{mov ax,offset bar} means exactly the
934 same thing as NASM's \c{mov ax,bar}. If you're trying to get
935 large amounts of MASM code to assemble sensibly under NASM, you
936 can always code \c{%idefine offset} to make the preprocessor treat
937 the \c{OFFSET} keyword as a no-op.
939 This issue is even more confusing in \i\c{a86}, where declaring a
940 label with a trailing colon defines it to be a `label' as opposed to
941 a `variable' and causes \c{a86} to adopt NASM-style semantics; so in
942 \c{a86}, \c{mov ax,var} has different behaviour depending on whether
943 \c{var} was declared as \c{var: dw 0} (a label) or \c{var dw 0} (a
944 word-size variable). NASM is very simple by comparison:
945 \e{everything} is a label.
947 NASM, in the interests of simplicity, also does not support the
948 \i{hybrid syntaxes} supported by MASM and its clones, such as
949 \c{mov ax,table[bx]}, where a memory reference is denoted by one
950 portion outside square brackets and another portion inside. The
951 correct syntax for the above is \c{mov ax,[table+bx]}. Likewise,
952 \c{mov ax,es:[di]} is wrong and \c{mov ax,[es:di]} is right.
955 \S{qstypes} NASM Doesn't Store \i{Variable Types}
957 NASM, by design, chooses not to remember the types of variables you
958 declare. Whereas MASM will remember, on seeing \c{var dw 0}, that
959 you declared \c{var} as a word-size variable, and will then be able
960 to fill in the \i{ambiguity} in the size of the instruction \c{mov
961 var,2}, NASM will deliberately remember nothing about the symbol
962 \c{var} except where it begins, and so you must explicitly code
963 \c{mov word [var],2}.
965 For this reason, NASM doesn't support the \c{LODS}, \c{MOVS},
966 \c{STOS}, \c{SCAS}, \c{CMPS}, \c{INS}, or \c{OUTS} instructions,
967 but only supports the forms such as \c{LODSB}, \c{MOVSW}, and
968 \c{SCASD}, which explicitly specify the size of the components of
969 the strings being manipulated.
972 \S{qsassume} NASM Doesn't \i\c{ASSUME}
974 As part of NASM's drive for simplicity, it also does not support the
975 \c{ASSUME} directive. NASM will not keep track of what values you
976 choose to put in your segment registers, and will never
977 \e{automatically} generate a \i{segment override} prefix.
980 \S{qsmodel} NASM Doesn't Support \i{Memory Models}
982 NASM also does not have any directives to support different 16-bit
983 memory models. The programmer has to keep track of which functions
984 are supposed to be called with a \i{far call} and which with a
985 \i{near call}, and is responsible for putting the correct form of
986 \c{RET} instruction (\c{RETN} or \c{RETF}; NASM accepts \c{RET}
987 itself as an alternate form for \c{RETN}); in addition, the
988 programmer is responsible for coding CALL FAR instructions where
989 necessary when calling \e{external} functions, and must also keep
990 track of which external variable definitions are far and which are
994 \S{qsfpu} \i{Floating-Point} Differences
996 NASM uses different names to refer to floating-point registers from
997 MASM: where MASM would call them \c{ST(0)}, \c{ST(1)} and so on, and
998 \i\c{a86} would call them simply \c{0}, \c{1} and so on, NASM
999 chooses to call them \c{st0}, \c{st1} etc.
1001 As of version 0.96, NASM now treats the instructions with
1002 \i{`nowait'} forms in the same way as MASM-compatible assemblers.
1003 The idiosyncratic treatment employed by 0.95 and earlier was based
1004 on a misunderstanding by the authors.
1007 \S{qsother} Other Differences
1009 For historical reasons, NASM uses the keyword \i\c{TWORD} where MASM
1010 and compatible assemblers use \i\c{TBYTE}.
1012 NASM does not declare \i{uninitialised storage} in the same way as
1013 MASM: where a MASM programmer might use \c{stack db 64 dup (?)},
1014 NASM requires \c{stack resb 64}, intended to be read as `reserve 64
1015 bytes'. For a limited amount of compatibility, since NASM treats
1016 \c{?} as a valid character in symbol names, you can code \c{? equ 0}
1017 and then writing \c{dw ?} will at least do something vaguely useful.
1018 \I\c{RESB}\i\c{DUP} is still not a supported syntax, however.
1020 In addition to all of this, macros and directives work completely
1021 differently to MASM. See \k{preproc} and \k{directive} for further
1025 \C{lang} The NASM Language
1027 \H{syntax} Layout of a NASM Source Line
1029 Like most assemblers, each NASM source line contains (unless it
1030 is a macro, a preprocessor directive or an assembler directive: see
1031 \k{preproc} and \k{directive}) some combination of the four fields
1033 \c label: instruction operands ; comment
1035 As usual, most of these fields are optional; the presence or absence
1036 of any combination of a label, an instruction and a comment is allowed.
1037 Of course, the operand field is either required or forbidden by the
1038 presence and nature of the instruction field.
1040 NASM uses backslash (\\) as the line continuation character; if a line
1041 ends with backslash, the next line is considered to be a part of the
1042 backslash-ended line.
1044 NASM places no restrictions on white space within a line: labels may
1045 have white space before them, or instructions may have no space
1046 before them, or anything. The \i{colon} after a label is also
1047 optional. (Note that this means that if you intend to code \c{lodsb}
1048 alone on a line, and type \c{lodab} by accident, then that's still a
1049 valid source line which does nothing but define a label. Running
1050 NASM with the command-line option
1051 \I{orphan-labels}\c{-w+orphan-labels} will cause it to warn you if
1052 you define a label alone on a line without a \i{trailing colon}.)
1054 \i{Valid characters} in labels are letters, numbers, \c{_}, \c{$},
1055 \c{#}, \c{@}, \c{~}, \c{.}, and \c{?}. The only characters which may
1056 be used as the \e{first} character of an identifier are letters,
1057 \c{.} (with special meaning: see \k{locallab}), \c{_} and \c{?}.
1058 An identifier may also be prefixed with a \I{$, prefix}\c{$} to
1059 indicate that it is intended to be read as an identifier and not a
1060 reserved word; thus, if some other module you are linking with
1061 defines a symbol called \c{eax}, you can refer to \c{$eax} in NASM
1062 code to distinguish the symbol from the register. Maximum length of
1063 an identifier is 4095 characters.
1065 The instruction field may contain any machine instruction: Pentium
1066 and P6 instructions, FPU instructions, MMX instructions and even
1067 undocumented instructions are all supported. The instruction may be
1068 prefixed by \c{LOCK}, \c{REP}, \c{REPE}/\c{REPZ} or
1069 \c{REPNE}/\c{REPNZ}, in the usual way. Explicit \I{address-size
1070 prefixes}address-size and \i{operand-size prefixes} \c{A16},
1071 \c{A32}, \c{O16} and \c{O32} are provided - one example of their use
1072 is given in \k{mixsize}. You can also use the name of a \I{segment
1073 override}segment register as an instruction prefix: coding
1074 \c{es mov [bx],ax} is equivalent to coding \c{mov [es:bx],ax}. We
1075 recommend the latter syntax, since it is consistent with other
1076 syntactic features of the language, but for instructions such as
1077 \c{LODSB}, which has no operands and yet can require a segment
1078 override, there is no clean syntactic way to proceed apart from
1081 An instruction is not required to use a prefix: prefixes such as
1082 \c{CS}, \c{A32}, \c{LOCK} or \c{REPE} can appear on a line by
1083 themselves, and NASM will just generate the prefix bytes.
1085 In addition to actual machine instructions, NASM also supports a
1086 number of pseudo-instructions, described in \k{pseudop}.
1088 Instruction \i{operands} may take a number of forms: they can be
1089 registers, described simply by the register name (e.g. \c{ax},
1090 \c{bp}, \c{ebx}, \c{cr0}: NASM does not use the \c{gas}-style
1091 syntax in which register names must be prefixed by a \c{%} sign), or
1092 they can be \i{effective addresses} (see \k{effaddr}), constants
1093 (\k{const}) or expressions (\k{expr}).
1095 For \i{floating-point} instructions, NASM accepts a wide range of
1096 syntaxes: you can use two-operand forms like MASM supports, or you
1097 can use NASM's native single-operand forms in most cases. Details of
1098 all forms of each supported instruction are given in
1099 \k{iref}. For example, you can code:
1101 \c fadd st1 ; this sets st0 := st0 + st1
1102 \c fadd st0,st1 ; so does this
1104 \c fadd st1,st0 ; this sets st1 := st1 + st0
1105 \c fadd to st1 ; so does this
1107 Almost any floating-point instruction that references memory must
1108 use one of the prefixes \i\c{DWORD}, \i\c{QWORD} or \i\c{TWORD} to
1109 indicate what size of \i{memory operand} it refers to.
1112 \H{pseudop} \i{Pseudo-Instructions}
1114 Pseudo-instructions are things which, though not real x86 machine
1115 instructions, are used in the instruction field anyway because
1116 that's the most convenient place to put them. The current
1117 pseudo-instructions are \i\c{DB}, \i\c{DW}, \i\c{DD}, \i\c{DQ} and
1118 \i\c{DT}, their \i{uninitialised} counterparts \i\c{RESB},
1119 \i\c{RESW}, \i\c{RESD}, \i\c{RESQ} and \i\c{REST}, the \i\c{INCBIN}
1120 command, the \i\c{EQU} command, and the \i\c{TIMES} prefix.
1123 \S{db} \c{DB} and friends: Declaring Initialised Data
1125 \i\c{DB}, \i\c{DW}, \i\c{DD}, \i\c{DQ} and \i\c{DT} are used, much
1126 as in MASM, to declare initialised data in the output file. They can
1127 be invoked in a wide range of ways:
1128 \I{floating-point}\I{character constant}\I{string constant}
1130 \c db 0x55 ; just the byte 0x55
1131 \c db 0x55,0x56,0x57 ; three bytes in succession
1132 \c db 'a',0x55 ; character constants are OK
1133 \c db 'hello',13,10,'$' ; so are string constants
1134 \c dw 0x1234 ; 0x34 0x12
1135 \c dw 'a' ; 0x61 0x00 (it's just a number)
1136 \c dw 'ab' ; 0x61 0x62 (character constant)
1137 \c dw 'abc' ; 0x61 0x62 0x63 0x00 (string)
1138 \c dd 0x12345678 ; 0x78 0x56 0x34 0x12
1139 \c dd 1.234567e20 ; floating-point constant
1140 \c dq 1.234567e20 ; double-precision float
1141 \c dt 1.234567e20 ; extended-precision float
1143 \c{DQ} and \c{DT} do not accept \i{numeric constants} or string
1144 constants as operands.
1147 \S{resb} \c{RESB} and friends: Declaring \i{Uninitialised} Data
1149 \i\c{RESB}, \i\c{RESW}, \i\c{RESD}, \i\c{RESQ} and \i\c{REST} are
1150 designed to be used in the BSS section of a module: they declare
1151 \e{uninitialised} storage space. Each takes a single operand, which
1152 is the number of bytes, words, doublewords or whatever to reserve.
1153 As stated in \k{qsother}, NASM does not support the MASM/TASM syntax
1154 of reserving uninitialised space by writing \I\c{?}\c{DW ?} or
1155 similar things: this is what it does instead. The operand to a
1156 \c{RESB}-type pseudo-instruction is a \i\e{critical expression}: see
1161 \c buffer: resb 64 ; reserve 64 bytes
1162 \c wordvar: resw 1 ; reserve a word
1163 \c realarray resq 10 ; array of ten reals
1166 \S{incbin} \i\c{INCBIN}: Including External \i{Binary Files}
1168 \c{INCBIN} is borrowed from the old Amiga assembler \i{DevPac}: it
1169 includes a binary file verbatim into the output file. This can be
1170 handy for (for example) including \i{graphics} and \i{sound} data
1171 directly into a game executable file. It can be called in one of
1174 \c incbin "file.dat" ; include the whole file
1175 \c incbin "file.dat",1024 ; skip the first 1024 bytes
1176 \c incbin "file.dat",1024,512 ; skip the first 1024, and
1177 \c ; actually include at most 512
1180 \S{equ} \i\c{EQU}: Defining Constants
1182 \c{EQU} defines a symbol to a given constant value: when \c{EQU} is
1183 used, the source line must contain a label. The action of \c{EQU} is
1184 to define the given label name to the value of its (only) operand.
1185 This definition is absolute, and cannot change later. So, for
1188 \c message db 'hello, world'
1189 \c msglen equ $-message
1191 defines \c{msglen} to be the constant 12. \c{msglen} may not then be
1192 redefined later. This is not a \i{preprocessor} definition either:
1193 the value of \c{msglen} is evaluated \e{once}, using the value of
1194 \c{$} (see \k{expr} for an explanation of \c{$}) at the point of
1195 definition, rather than being evaluated wherever it is referenced
1196 and using the value of \c{$} at the point of reference. Note that
1197 the operand to an \c{EQU} is also a \i{critical expression}
1201 \S{times} \i\c{TIMES}: \i{Repeating} Instructions or Data
1203 The \c{TIMES} prefix causes the instruction to be assembled multiple
1204 times. This is partly present as NASM's equivalent of the \i\c{DUP}
1205 syntax supported by \i{MASM}-compatible assemblers, in that you can
1208 \c zerobuf: times 64 db 0
1210 or similar things; but \c{TIMES} is more versatile than that. The
1211 argument to \c{TIMES} is not just a numeric constant, but a numeric
1212 \e{expression}, so you can do things like
1214 \c buffer: db 'hello, world'
1215 \c times 64-$+buffer db ' '
1217 which will store exactly enough spaces to make the total length of
1218 \c{buffer} up to 64. Finally, \c{TIMES} can be applied to ordinary
1219 instructions, so you can code trivial \i{unrolled loops} in it:
1223 Note that there is no effective difference between \c{times 100 resb
1224 1} and \c{resb 100}, except that the latter will be assembled about
1225 100 times faster due to the internal structure of the assembler.
1227 The operand to \c{TIMES}, like that of \c{EQU} and those of \c{RESB}
1228 and friends, is a critical expression (\k{crit}).
1230 Note also that \c{TIMES} can't be applied to \i{macros}: the reason
1231 for this is that \c{TIMES} is processed after the macro phase, which
1232 allows the argument to \c{TIMES} to contain expressions such as
1233 \c{64-$+buffer} as above. To repeat more than one line of code, or a
1234 complex macro, use the preprocessor \i\c{%rep} directive.
1237 \H{effaddr} Effective Addresses
1239 An \i{effective address} is any operand to an instruction which
1240 \I{memory reference}references memory. Effective addresses, in NASM,
1241 have a very simple syntax: they consist of an expression evaluating
1242 to the desired address, enclosed in \i{square brackets}. For
1247 \c mov ax,[wordvar+1]
1248 \c mov ax,[es:wordvar+bx]
1250 Anything not conforming to this simple system is not a valid memory
1251 reference in NASM, for example \c{es:wordvar[bx]}.
1253 More complicated effective addresses, such as those involving more
1254 than one register, work in exactly the same way:
1256 \c mov eax,[ebx*2+ecx+offset]
1259 NASM is capable of doing \i{algebra} on these effective addresses,
1260 so that things which don't necessarily \e{look} legal are perfectly
1263 \c mov eax,[ebx*5] ; assembles as [ebx*4+ebx]
1264 \c mov eax,[label1*2-label2] ; ie [label1+(label1-label2)]
1266 Some forms of effective address have more than one assembled form;
1267 in most such cases NASM will generate the smallest form it can. For
1268 example, there are distinct assembled forms for the 32-bit effective
1269 addresses \c{[eax*2+0]} and \c{[eax+eax]}, and NASM will generally
1270 generate the latter on the grounds that the former requires four
1271 bytes to store a zero offset.
1273 NASM has a hinting mechanism which will cause \c{[eax+ebx]} and
1274 \c{[ebx+eax]} to generate different opcodes; this is occasionally
1275 useful because \c{[esi+ebp]} and \c{[ebp+esi]} have different
1276 default segment registers.
1278 However, you can force NASM to generate an effective address in a
1279 particular form by the use of the keywords \c{BYTE}, \c{WORD},
1280 \c{DWORD} and \c{NOSPLIT}. If you need \c{[eax+3]} to be assembled
1281 using a double-word offset field instead of the one byte NASM will
1282 normally generate, you can code \c{[dword eax+3]}. Similarly, you
1283 can force NASM to use a byte offset for a small value which it
1284 hasn't seen on the first pass (see \k{crit} for an example of such a
1285 code fragment) by using \c{[byte eax+offset]}. As special cases,
1286 \c{[byte eax]} will code \c{[eax+0]} with a byte offset of zero, and
1287 \c{[dword eax]} will code it with a double-word offset of zero. The
1288 normal form, \c{[eax]}, will be coded with no offset field.
1290 The form described in the previous paragraph is also useful if you
1291 are trying to access data in a 32-bit segment from within 16 bit code.
1292 For more information on this see the section on mixed-size addressing
1293 (\k{mixaddr}). In particular, if you need to access data with a known
1294 offset that is larger than will fit in a 16-bit value, if you don't
1295 specify that it is a dword offset, nasm will cause the high word of
1296 the offset to be lost.
1298 Similarly, NASM will split \c{[eax*2]} into \c{[eax+eax]} because
1299 that allows the offset field to be absent and space to be saved; in
1300 fact, it will also split \c{[eax*2+offset]} into
1301 \c{[eax+eax+offset]}. You can combat this behaviour by the use of
1302 the \c{NOSPLIT} keyword: \c{[nosplit eax*2]} will force
1303 \c{[eax*2+0]} to be generated literally.
1306 \H{const} \i{Constants}
1308 NASM understands four different types of constant: numeric,
1309 character, string and floating-point.
1312 \S{numconst} \i{Numeric Constants}
1314 A numeric constant is simply a number. NASM allows you to specify
1315 numbers in a variety of number bases, in a variety of ways: you can
1316 suffix \c{H}, \c{Q} or \c{O}, and \c{B} for \i{hex}, \i{octal} and \i{binary},
1317 or you can prefix \c{0x} for hex in the style of C, or you can
1318 prefix \c{$} for hex in the style of Borland Pascal. Note, though,
1319 that the \I{$, prefix}\c{$} prefix does double duty as a prefix on
1320 identifiers (see \k{syntax}), so a hex number prefixed with a \c{$}
1321 sign must have a digit after the \c{$} rather than a letter.
1325 \c mov ax,100 ; decimal
1326 \c mov ax,0a2h ; hex
1327 \c mov ax,$0a2 ; hex again: the 0 is required
1328 \c mov ax,0xa2 ; hex yet again
1329 \c mov ax,777q ; octal
1330 \c mov ax,777o ; octal again
1331 \c mov ax,10010011b ; binary
1334 \S{chrconst} \i{Character Constants}
1336 A character constant consists of up to four characters enclosed in
1337 either single or double quotes. The type of quote makes no
1338 difference to NASM, except of course that surrounding the constant
1339 with single quotes allows double quotes to appear within it and vice
1342 A character constant with more than one character will be arranged
1343 with \i{little-endian} order in mind: if you code
1347 then the constant generated is not \c{0x61626364}, but
1348 \c{0x64636261}, so that if you were then to store the value into
1349 memory, it would read \c{abcd} rather than \c{dcba}. This is also
1350 the sense of character constants understood by the Pentium's
1351 \i\c{CPUID} instruction (see \k{insCPUID}).
1354 \S{strconst} String Constants
1356 String constants are only acceptable to some pseudo-instructions,
1357 namely the \I\c{DW}\I\c{DD}\I\c{DQ}\I\c{DT}\i\c{DB} family and
1360 A string constant looks like a character constant, only longer. It
1361 is treated as a concatenation of maximum-size character constants
1362 for the conditions. So the following are equivalent:
1364 \c db 'hello' ; string constant
1365 \c db 'h','e','l','l','o' ; equivalent character constants
1367 And the following are also equivalent:
1369 \c dd 'ninechars' ; doubleword string constant
1370 \c dd 'nine','char','s' ; becomes three doublewords
1371 \c db 'ninechars',0,0,0 ; and really looks like this
1373 Note that when used as an operand to \c{db}, a constant like
1374 \c{'ab'} is treated as a string constant despite being short enough
1375 to be a character constant, because otherwise \c{db 'ab'} would have
1376 the same effect as \c{db 'a'}, which would be silly. Similarly,
1377 three-character or four-character constants are treated as strings
1378 when they are operands to \c{dw}.
1381 \S{fltconst} \I{floating-point, constants}Floating-Point Constants
1383 \i{Floating-point} constants are acceptable only as arguments to
1384 \i\c{DD}, \i\c{DQ} and \i\c{DT}. They are expressed in the
1385 traditional form: digits, then a period, then optionally more
1386 digits, then optionally an \c{E} followed by an exponent. The period
1387 is mandatory, so that NASM can distinguish between \c{dd 1}, which
1388 declares an integer constant, and \c{dd 1.0} which declares a
1389 floating-point constant.
1393 \c dd 1.2 ; an easy one
1394 \c dq 1.e10 ; 10,000,000,000
1395 \c dq 1.e+10 ; synonymous with 1.e10
1396 \c dq 1.e-10 ; 0.000 000 000 1
1397 \c dt 3.141592653589793238462 ; pi
1399 NASM cannot do compile-time arithmetic on floating-point constants.
1400 This is because NASM is designed to be portable - although it always
1401 generates code to run on x86 processors, the assembler itself can
1402 run on any system with an ANSI C compiler. Therefore, the assembler
1403 cannot guarantee the presence of a floating-point unit capable of
1404 handling the \i{Intel number formats}, and so for NASM to be able to
1405 do floating arithmetic it would have to include its own complete set
1406 of floating-point routines, which would significantly increase the
1407 size of the assembler for very little benefit.
1410 \H{expr} \i{Expressions}
1412 Expressions in NASM are similar in syntax to those in C.
1414 NASM does not guarantee the size of the integers used to evaluate
1415 expressions at compile time: since NASM can compile and run on
1416 64-bit systems quite happily, don't assume that expressions are
1417 evaluated in 32-bit registers and so try to make deliberate use of
1418 \i{integer overflow}. It might not always work. The only thing NASM
1419 will guarantee is what's guaranteed by ANSI C: you always have \e{at
1420 least} 32 bits to work in.
1422 NASM supports two special tokens in expressions, allowing
1423 calculations to involve the current assembly position: the
1424 \I{$, here}\c{$} and \i\c{$$} tokens. \c{$} evaluates to the assembly
1425 position at the beginning of the line containing the expression; so
1426 you can code an \i{infinite loop} using \c{JMP $}. \c{$$} evaluates
1427 to the beginning of the current section; so you can tell how far
1428 into the section you are by using \c{($-$$)}.
1430 The arithmetic \i{operators} provided by NASM are listed here, in
1431 increasing order of \i{precedence}.
1434 \S{expor} \i\c{|}: \i{Bitwise OR} Operator
1436 The \c{|} operator gives a bitwise OR, exactly as performed by the
1437 \c{OR} machine instruction. Bitwise OR is the lowest-priority
1438 arithmetic operator supported by NASM.
1441 \S{expxor} \i\c{^}: \i{Bitwise XOR} Operator
1443 \c{^} provides the bitwise XOR operation.
1446 \S{expand} \i\c{&}: \i{Bitwise AND} Operator
1448 \c{&} provides the bitwise AND operation.
1451 \S{expshift} \i\c{<<} and \i\c{>>}: \i{Bit Shift} Operators
1453 \c{<<} gives a bit-shift to the left, just as it does in C. So \c{5<<3}
1454 evaluates to 5 times 8, or 40. \c{>>} gives a bit-shift to the
1455 right; in NASM, such a shift is \e{always} unsigned, so that
1456 the bits shifted in from the left-hand end are filled with zero
1457 rather than a sign-extension of the previous highest bit.
1460 \S{expplmi} \I{+ opaddition}\c{+} and \I{- opsubtraction}\c{-}:
1461 \i{Addition} and \i{Subtraction} Operators
1463 The \c{+} and \c{-} operators do perfectly ordinary addition and
1467 \S{expmul} \i\c{*}, \i\c{/}, \i\c{//}, \i\c{%} and \i\c{%%}:
1468 \i{Multiplication} and \i{Division}
1470 \c{*} is the multiplication operator. \c{/} and \c{//} are both
1471 division operators: \c{/} is \i{unsigned division} and \c{//} is
1472 \i{signed division}. Similarly, \c{%} and \c{%%} provide \I{unsigned
1473 modulo}\I{modulo operators}unsigned and
1474 \i{signed modulo} operators respectively.
1476 NASM, like ANSI C, provides no guarantees about the sensible
1477 operation of the signed modulo operator.
1479 Since the \c{%} character is used extensively by the macro
1480 \i{preprocessor}, you should ensure that both the signed and unsigned
1481 modulo operators are followed by white space wherever they appear.
1484 \S{expmul} \i{Unary Operators}: \I{+ opunary}\c{+}, \I{- opunary}\c{-},
1485 \i\c{~} and \i\c{SEG}
1487 The highest-priority operators in NASM's expression grammar are
1488 those which only apply to one argument. \c{-} negates its operand,
1489 \c{+} does nothing (it's provided for symmetry with \c{-}), \c{~}
1490 computes the \i{one's complement} of its operand, and \c{SEG}
1491 provides the \i{segment address} of its operand (explained in more
1492 detail in \k{segwrt}).
1495 \H{segwrt} \i\c{SEG} and \i\c{WRT}
1497 When writing large 16-bit programs, which must be split into
1498 multiple \i{segments}, it is often necessary to be able to refer to
1499 the \I{segment address}segment part of the address of a symbol. NASM
1500 supports the \c{SEG} operator to perform this function.
1502 The \c{SEG} operator returns the \i\e{preferred} segment base of a
1503 symbol, defined as the segment base relative to which the offset of
1504 the symbol makes sense. So the code
1506 \c mov ax,seg symbol
1510 will load \c{ES:BX} with a valid pointer to the symbol \c{symbol}.
1512 Things can be more complex than this: since 16-bit segments and
1513 \i{groups} may \I{overlapping segments}overlap, you might occasionally
1514 want to refer to some symbol using a different segment base from the
1515 preferred one. NASM lets you do this, by the use of the \c{WRT}
1516 (With Reference To) keyword. So you can do things like
1518 \c mov ax,weird_seg ; weird_seg is a segment base
1520 \c mov bx,symbol wrt weird_seg
1522 to load \c{ES:BX} with a different, but functionally equivalent,
1523 pointer to the symbol \c{symbol}.
1525 NASM supports far (inter-segment) calls and jumps by means of the
1526 syntax \c{call segment:offset}, where \c{segment} and \c{offset}
1527 both represent immediate values. So to call a far procedure, you
1528 could code either of
1530 \c call (seg procedure):procedure
1531 \c call weird_seg:(procedure wrt weird_seg)
1533 (The parentheses are included for clarity, to show the intended
1534 parsing of the above instructions. They are not necessary in
1537 NASM supports the syntax \I\c{CALL FAR}\c{call far procedure} as a
1538 synonym for the first of the above usages. \c{JMP} works identically
1539 to \c{CALL} in these examples.
1541 To declare a \i{far pointer} to a data item in a data segment, you
1544 \c dw symbol, seg symbol
1546 NASM supports no convenient synonym for this, though you can always
1547 invent one using the macro processor.
1550 \H{strict} \i\c{STRICT}: Inhibiting Optimization
1552 When assembling with the optimizer set to level 2 or higher (see
1553 \k{opt-On}), NASM will use size specifiers (\c{BYTE}, \c{WORD},
1554 \c{DWORD}, \c{QWORD}, or \c{TWORD}), but will give them the smallest
1555 possible size. The keyword \c{STRICT} can be used to inhibit
1556 optimization and force a particular operand to be emitted in the
1557 specified size. For example, with the optimizer on, and in
1562 is encoded in three bytes \c{66 6A 21}, whereas
1564 \c push strict dword 33
1566 is encoded in six bytes, with a full dword immediate operand \c{66 68
1569 With the optimizer off, the same code (six bytes) is generated whether
1570 the \c{STRICT} keyword was used or not.
1573 \H{crit} \i{Critical Expressions}
1575 A limitation of NASM is that it is a \i{two-pass assembler}; unlike
1576 TASM and others, it will always do exactly two \I{passes}\i{assembly
1577 passes}. Therefore it is unable to cope with source files that are
1578 complex enough to require three or more passes.
1580 The first pass is used to determine the size of all the assembled
1581 code and data, so that the second pass, when generating all the
1582 code, knows all the symbol addresses the code refers to. So one
1583 thing NASM can't handle is code whose size depends on the value of a
1584 symbol declared after the code in question. For example,
1586 \c times (label-$) db 0
1587 \c label: db 'Where am I?'
1589 The argument to \i\c{TIMES} in this case could equally legally
1590 evaluate to anything at all; NASM will reject this example because
1591 it cannot tell the size of the \c{TIMES} line when it first sees it.
1592 It will just as firmly reject the slightly \I{paradox}paradoxical
1595 \c times (label-$+1) db 0
1596 \c label: db 'NOW where am I?'
1598 in which \e{any} value for the \c{TIMES} argument is by definition
1601 NASM rejects these examples by means of a concept called a
1602 \e{critical expression}, which is defined to be an expression whose
1603 value is required to be computable in the first pass, and which must
1604 therefore depend only on symbols defined before it. The argument to
1605 the \c{TIMES} prefix is a critical expression; for the same reason,
1606 the arguments to the \i\c{RESB} family of pseudo-instructions are
1607 also critical expressions.
1609 Critical expressions can crop up in other contexts as well: consider
1613 \c symbol1 equ symbol2
1616 On the first pass, NASM cannot determine the value of \c{symbol1},
1617 because \c{symbol1} is defined to be equal to \c{symbol2} which NASM
1618 hasn't seen yet. On the second pass, therefore, when it encounters
1619 the line \c{mov ax,symbol1}, it is unable to generate the code for
1620 it because it still doesn't know the value of \c{symbol1}. On the
1621 next line, it would see the \i\c{EQU} again and be able to determine
1622 the value of \c{symbol1}, but by then it would be too late.
1624 NASM avoids this problem by defining the right-hand side of an
1625 \c{EQU} statement to be a critical expression, so the definition of
1626 \c{symbol1} would be rejected in the first pass.
1628 There is a related issue involving \i{forward references}: consider
1631 \c mov eax,[ebx+offset]
1634 NASM, on pass one, must calculate the size of the instruction \c{mov
1635 eax,[ebx+offset]} without knowing the value of \c{offset}. It has no
1636 way of knowing that \c{offset} is small enough to fit into a
1637 one-byte offset field and that it could therefore get away with
1638 generating a shorter form of the \i{effective-address} encoding; for
1639 all it knows, in pass one, \c{offset} could be a symbol in the code
1640 segment, and it might need the full four-byte form. So it is forced
1641 to compute the size of the instruction to accommodate a four-byte
1642 address part. In pass two, having made this decision, it is now
1643 forced to honour it and keep the instruction large, so the code
1644 generated in this case is not as small as it could have been. This
1645 problem can be solved by defining \c{offset} before using it, or by
1646 forcing byte size in the effective address by coding \c{[byte
1649 Note that use of the \c{-On} switch (with n>=2) makes some of the above
1650 no longer true (see \k{opt-On}).
1652 \H{locallab} \i{Local Labels}
1654 NASM gives special treatment to symbols beginning with a \i{period}.
1655 A label beginning with a single period is treated as a \e{local}
1656 label, which means that it is associated with the previous non-local
1657 label. So, for example:
1659 \c label1 ; some code
1667 \c label2 ; some code
1675 In the above code fragment, each \c{JNE} instruction jumps to the
1676 line immediately before it, because the two definitions of \c{.loop}
1677 are kept separate by virtue of each being associated with the
1678 previous non-local label.
1680 This form of local label handling is borrowed from the old Amiga
1681 assembler \i{DevPac}; however, NASM goes one step further, in
1682 allowing access to local labels from other parts of the code. This
1683 is achieved by means of \e{defining} a local label in terms of the
1684 previous non-local label: the first definition of \c{.loop} above is
1685 really defining a symbol called \c{label1.loop}, and the second
1686 defines a symbol called \c{label2.loop}. So, if you really needed
1689 \c label3 ; some more code
1694 Sometimes it is useful - in a macro, for instance - to be able to
1695 define a label which can be referenced from anywhere but which
1696 doesn't interfere with the normal local-label mechanism. Such a
1697 label can't be non-local because it would interfere with subsequent
1698 definitions of, and references to, local labels; and it can't be
1699 local because the macro that defined it wouldn't know the label's
1700 full name. NASM therefore introduces a third type of label, which is
1701 probably only useful in macro definitions: if a label begins with
1702 the \I{label prefix}special prefix \i\c{..@}, then it does nothing
1703 to the local label mechanism. So you could code
1705 \c label1: ; a non-local label
1706 \c .local: ; this is really label1.local
1707 \c ..@foo: ; this is a special symbol
1708 \c label2: ; another non-local label
1709 \c .local: ; this is really label2.local
1711 \c jmp ..@foo ; this will jump three lines up
1713 NASM has the capacity to define other special symbols beginning with
1714 a double period: for example, \c{..start} is used to specify the
1715 entry point in the \c{obj} output format (see \k{dotdotstart}).
1718 \C{preproc} The NASM \i{Preprocessor}
1720 NASM contains a powerful \i{macro processor}, which supports
1721 conditional assembly, multi-level file inclusion, two forms of macro
1722 (single-line and multi-line), and a `context stack' mechanism for
1723 extra macro power. Preprocessor directives all begin with a \c{%}
1726 The preprocessor collapses all lines which end with a backslash (\\)
1727 character into a single line. Thus:
1729 \c %define THIS_VERY_LONG_MACRO_NAME_IS_DEFINED_TO \\
1732 will work like a single-line macro without the backslash-newline
1735 \H{slmacro} \i{Single-Line Macros}
1737 \S{define} The Normal Way: \I\c{%idefine}\i\c{%define}
1739 Single-line macros are defined using the \c{%define} preprocessor
1740 directive. The definitions work in a similar way to C; so you can do
1743 \c %define ctrl 0x1F &
1744 \c %define param(a,b) ((a)+(a)*(b))
1746 \c mov byte [param(2,ebx)], ctrl 'D'
1748 which will expand to
1750 \c mov byte [(2)+(2)*(ebx)], 0x1F & 'D'
1752 When the expansion of a single-line macro contains tokens which
1753 invoke another macro, the expansion is performed at invocation time,
1754 not at definition time. Thus the code
1756 \c %define a(x) 1+b(x)
1761 will evaluate in the expected way to \c{mov ax,1+2*8}, even though
1762 the macro \c{b} wasn't defined at the time of definition of \c{a}.
1764 Macros defined with \c{%define} are \i{case sensitive}: after
1765 \c{%define foo bar}, only \c{foo} will expand to \c{bar}: \c{Foo} or
1766 \c{FOO} will not. By using \c{%idefine} instead of \c{%define} (the
1767 `i' stands for `insensitive') you can define all the case variants
1768 of a macro at once, so that \c{%idefine foo bar} would cause
1769 \c{foo}, \c{Foo}, \c{FOO}, \c{fOO} and so on all to expand to
1772 There is a mechanism which detects when a macro call has occurred as
1773 a result of a previous expansion of the same macro, to guard against
1774 \i{circular references} and infinite loops. If this happens, the
1775 preprocessor will only expand the first occurrence of the macro.
1778 \c %define a(x) 1+a(x)
1782 the macro \c{a(3)} will expand once, becoming \c{1+a(3)}, and will
1783 then expand no further. This behaviour can be useful: see \k{32c}
1784 for an example of its use.
1786 You can \I{overloading, single-line macros}overload single-line
1787 macros: if you write
1789 \c %define foo(x) 1+x
1790 \c %define foo(x,y) 1+x*y
1792 the preprocessor will be able to handle both types of macro call,
1793 by counting the parameters you pass; so \c{foo(3)} will become
1794 \c{1+3} whereas \c{foo(ebx,2)} will become \c{1+ebx*2}. However, if
1799 then no other definition of \c{foo} will be accepted: a macro with
1800 no parameters prohibits the definition of the same name as a macro
1801 \e{with} parameters, and vice versa.
1803 This doesn't prevent single-line macros being \e{redefined}: you can
1804 perfectly well define a macro with
1808 and then re-define it later in the same source file with
1812 Then everywhere the macro \c{foo} is invoked, it will be expanded
1813 according to the most recent definition. This is particularly useful
1814 when defining single-line macros with \c{%assign} (see \k{assign}).
1816 You can \i{pre-define} single-line macros using the `-d' option on
1817 the NASM command line: see \k{opt-d}.
1820 \S{xdefine} Enhancing %define: \I\c{%xidefine}\i\c{%xdefine}
1822 To have a reference to an embedded single-line macro resolved at the
1823 time that it is embedded, as opposed to when the calling macro is
1824 expanded, you need a different mechanism to the one offered by
1825 \c{%define}. The solution is to use \c{%xdefine}, or it's
1826 \I{case sensitive}case-insensitive counterpart \c{%xidefine}.
1828 Suppose you have the following code:
1831 \c %define isFalse isTrue
1840 In this case, \c{val1} is equal to 0, and \c{val2} is equal to 1.
1841 This is because, when a single-line macro is defined using
1842 \c{%define}, it is expanded only when it is called. As \c{isFalse}
1843 expands to \c{isTrue}, the expansion will be the current value of
1844 \c{isTrue}. The first time it is called that is 0, and the second
1847 If you wanted \c{isFalse} to expand to the value assigned to the
1848 embedded macro \c{isTrue} at the time that \c{isFalse} was defined,
1849 you need to change the above code to use \c{%xdefine}.
1851 \c %xdefine isTrue 1
1852 \c %xdefine isFalse isTrue
1853 \c %xdefine isTrue 0
1857 \c %xdefine isTrue 1
1861 Now, each time that \c{isFalse} is called, it expands to 1,
1862 as that is what the embedded macro \c{isTrue} expanded to at
1863 the time that \c{isFalse} was defined.
1866 \S{concat%+} Concatenating Single Line Macro Tokens: \i\c{%+}
1868 Individual tokens in single line macros can be concatenated, to produce
1869 longer tokens for later processing. This can be useful if there are
1870 several similar macros that perform similar functions.
1872 As an example, consider the following:
1874 \c %define BDASTART 400h ; Start of BIOS data area
1876 \c struc tBIOSDA ; its structure
1882 Now, if we need to access the elements of tBIOSDA in different places,
1885 \c mov ax,BDASTART + tBIOSDA.COM1addr
1886 \c mov bx,BDASTART + tBIOSDA.COM2addr
1888 This will become pretty ugly (and tedious) if used in many places, and
1889 can be reduced in size significantly by using the following macro:
1891 \c ; Macro to access BIOS variables by their names (from tBDA):
1893 \c %define BDA(x) BDASTART + tBIOSDA. %+ x
1895 Now the above code can be written as:
1897 \c mov ax,BDA(COM1addr)
1898 \c mov bx,BDA(COM2addr)
1900 Using this feature, we can simplify references to a lot of macros (and,
1901 in turn, reduce typing errors).
1904 \S{undef} Undefining macros: \i\c{%undef}
1906 Single-line macros can be removed with the \c{%undef} command. For
1907 example, the following sequence:
1914 will expand to the instruction \c{mov eax, foo}, since after
1915 \c{%undef} the macro \c{foo} is no longer defined.
1917 Macros that would otherwise be pre-defined can be undefined on the
1918 command-line using the `-u' option on the NASM command line: see
1922 \S{assign} \i{Preprocessor Variables}: \i\c{%assign}
1924 An alternative way to define single-line macros is by means of the
1925 \c{%assign} command (and its \I{case sensitive}case-insensitive
1926 counterpart \i\c{%iassign}, which differs from \c{%assign} in
1927 exactly the same way that \c{%idefine} differs from \c{%define}).
1929 \c{%assign} is used to define single-line macros which take no
1930 parameters and have a numeric value. This value can be specified in
1931 the form of an expression, and it will be evaluated once, when the
1932 \c{%assign} directive is processed.
1934 Like \c{%define}, macros defined using \c{%assign} can be re-defined
1935 later, so you can do things like
1939 to increment the numeric value of a macro.
1941 \c{%assign} is useful for controlling the termination of \c{%rep}
1942 preprocessor loops: see \k{rep} for an example of this. Another
1943 use for \c{%assign} is given in \k{16c} and \k{32c}.
1945 The expression passed to \c{%assign} is a \i{critical expression}
1946 (see \k{crit}), and must also evaluate to a pure number (rather than
1947 a relocatable reference such as a code or data address, or anything
1948 involving a register).
1951 \H{strlen} \i{String Handling in Macros}: \i\c{%strlen} and \i\c{%substr}
1953 It's often useful to be able to handle strings in macros. NASM
1954 supports two simple string handling macro operators from which
1955 more complex operations can be constructed.
1958 \S{strlen} \i{String Length}: \i\c{%strlen}
1960 The \c{%strlen} macro is like \c{%assign} macro in that it creates
1961 (or redefines) a numeric value to a macro. The difference is that
1962 with \c{%strlen}, the numeric value is the length of a string. An
1963 example of the use of this would be:
1965 \c %strlen charcnt 'my string'
1967 In this example, \c{charcnt} would receive the value 8, just as
1968 if an \c{%assign} had been used. In this example, \c{'my string'}
1969 was a literal string but it could also have been a single-line
1970 macro that expands to a string, as in the following example:
1972 \c %define sometext 'my string'
1973 \c %strlen charcnt sometext
1975 As in the first case, this would result in \c{charcnt} being
1976 assigned the value of 8.
1979 \S{substr} \i{Sub-strings}: \i\c{%substr}
1981 Individual letters in strings can be extracted using \c{%substr}.
1982 An example of its use is probably more useful than the description:
1984 \c %substr mychar 'xyz' 1 ; equivalent to %define mychar 'x'
1985 \c %substr mychar 'xyz' 2 ; equivalent to %define mychar 'y'
1986 \c %substr mychar 'xyz' 3 ; equivalent to %define mychar 'z'
1988 In this example, mychar gets the value of 'y'. As with \c{%strlen}
1989 (see \k{strlen}), the first parameter is the single-line macro to
1990 be created and the second is the string. The third parameter
1991 specifies which character is to be selected. Note that the first
1992 index is 1, not 0 and the last index is equal to the value that
1993 \c{%strlen} would assign given the same string. Index values out
1994 of range result in an empty string.
1997 \H{mlmacro} \i{Multi-Line Macros}: \I\c{%imacro}\i\c{%macro}
1999 Multi-line macros are much more like the type of macro seen in MASM
2000 and TASM: a multi-line macro definition in NASM looks something like
2003 \c %macro prologue 1
2011 This defines a C-like function prologue as a macro: so you would
2012 invoke the macro with a call such as
2014 \c myfunc: prologue 12
2016 which would expand to the three lines of code
2022 The number \c{1} after the macro name in the \c{%macro} line defines
2023 the number of parameters the macro \c{prologue} expects to receive.
2024 The use of \c{%1} inside the macro definition refers to the first
2025 parameter to the macro call. With a macro taking more than one
2026 parameter, subsequent parameters would be referred to as \c{%2},
2029 Multi-line macros, like single-line macros, are \i{case-sensitive},
2030 unless you define them using the alternative directive \c{%imacro}.
2032 If you need to pass a comma as \e{part} of a parameter to a
2033 multi-line macro, you can do that by enclosing the entire parameter
2034 in \I{braces, around macro parameters}braces. So you could code
2043 \c silly 'a', letter_a ; letter_a: db 'a'
2044 \c silly 'ab', string_ab ; string_ab: db 'ab'
2045 \c silly {13,10}, crlf ; crlf: db 13,10
2048 \S{mlmacover} Overloading Multi-Line Macros\I{overloading, multi-line macros}
2050 As with single-line macros, multi-line macros can be overloaded by
2051 defining the same macro name several times with different numbers of
2052 parameters. This time, no exception is made for macros with no
2053 parameters at all. So you could define
2055 \c %macro prologue 0
2062 to define an alternative form of the function prologue which
2063 allocates no local stack space.
2065 Sometimes, however, you might want to `overload' a machine
2066 instruction; for example, you might want to define
2075 so that you could code
2077 \c push ebx ; this line is not a macro call
2078 \c push eax,ecx ; but this one is
2080 Ordinarily, NASM will give a warning for the first of the above two
2081 lines, since \c{push} is now defined to be a macro, and is being
2082 invoked with a number of parameters for which no definition has been
2083 given. The correct code will still be generated, but the assembler
2084 will give a warning. This warning can be disabled by the use of the
2085 \c{-w-macro-params} command-line option (see \k{opt-w}).
2088 \S{maclocal} \i{Macro-Local Labels}
2090 NASM allows you to define labels within a multi-line macro
2091 definition in such a way as to make them local to the macro call: so
2092 calling the same macro multiple times will use a different label
2093 each time. You do this by prefixing \i\c{%%} to the label name. So
2094 you can invent an instruction which executes a \c{RET} if the \c{Z}
2095 flag is set by doing this:
2105 You can call this macro as many times as you want, and every time
2106 you call it NASM will make up a different `real' name to substitute
2107 for the label \c{%%skip}. The names NASM invents are of the form
2108 \c{..@2345.skip}, where the number 2345 changes with every macro
2109 call. The \i\c{..@} prefix prevents macro-local labels from
2110 interfering with the local label mechanism, as described in
2111 \k{locallab}. You should avoid defining your own labels in this form
2112 (the \c{..@} prefix, then a number, then another period) in case
2113 they interfere with macro-local labels.
2116 \S{mlmacgre} \i{Greedy Macro Parameters}
2118 Occasionally it is useful to define a macro which lumps its entire
2119 command line into one parameter definition, possibly after
2120 extracting one or two smaller parameters from the front. An example
2121 might be a macro to write a text string to a file in MS-DOS, where
2122 you might want to be able to write
2124 \c writefile [filehandle],"hello, world",13,10
2126 NASM allows you to define the last parameter of a macro to be
2127 \e{greedy}, meaning that if you invoke the macro with more
2128 parameters than it expects, all the spare parameters get lumped into
2129 the last defined one along with the separating commas. So if you
2132 \c %macro writefile 2+
2138 \c mov cx,%%endstr-%%str
2145 then the example call to \c{writefile} above will work as expected:
2146 the text before the first comma, \c{[filehandle]}, is used as the
2147 first macro parameter and expanded when \c{%1} is referred to, and
2148 all the subsequent text is lumped into \c{%2} and placed after the
2151 The greedy nature of the macro is indicated to NASM by the use of
2152 the \I{+ modifier}\c{+} sign after the parameter count on the
2155 If you define a greedy macro, you are effectively telling NASM how
2156 it should expand the macro given \e{any} number of parameters from
2157 the actual number specified up to infinity; in this case, for
2158 example, NASM now knows what to do when it sees a call to
2159 \c{writefile} with 2, 3, 4 or more parameters. NASM will take this
2160 into account when overloading macros, and will not allow you to
2161 define another form of \c{writefile} taking 4 parameters (for
2164 Of course, the above macro could have been implemented as a
2165 non-greedy macro, in which case the call to it would have had to
2168 \c writefile [filehandle], {"hello, world",13,10}
2170 NASM provides both mechanisms for putting \i{commas in macro
2171 parameters}, and you choose which one you prefer for each macro
2174 See \k{sectmac} for a better way to write the above macro.
2177 \S{mlmacdef} \i{Default Macro Parameters}
2179 NASM also allows you to define a multi-line macro with a \e{range}
2180 of allowable parameter counts. If you do this, you can specify
2181 defaults for \i{omitted parameters}. So, for example:
2183 \c %macro die 0-1 "Painful program death has occurred."
2191 This macro (which makes use of the \c{writefile} macro defined in
2192 \k{mlmacgre}) can be called with an explicit error message, which it
2193 will display on the error output stream before exiting, or it can be
2194 called with no parameters, in which case it will use the default
2195 error message supplied in the macro definition.
2197 In general, you supply a minimum and maximum number of parameters
2198 for a macro of this type; the minimum number of parameters are then
2199 required in the macro call, and then you provide defaults for the
2200 optional ones. So if a macro definition began with the line
2202 \c %macro foobar 1-3 eax,[ebx+2]
2204 then it could be called with between one and three parameters, and
2205 \c{%1} would always be taken from the macro call. \c{%2}, if not
2206 specified by the macro call, would default to \c{eax}, and \c{%3} if
2207 not specified would default to \c{[ebx+2]}.
2209 You may omit parameter defaults from the macro definition, in which
2210 case the parameter default is taken to be blank. This can be useful
2211 for macros which can take a variable number of parameters, since the
2212 \i\c{%0} token (see \k{percent0}) allows you to determine how many
2213 parameters were really passed to the macro call.
2215 This defaulting mechanism can be combined with the greedy-parameter
2216 mechanism; so the \c{die} macro above could be made more powerful,
2217 and more useful, by changing the first line of the definition to
2219 \c %macro die 0-1+ "Painful program death has occurred.",13,10
2221 The maximum parameter count can be infinite, denoted by \c{*}. In
2222 this case, of course, it is impossible to provide a \e{full} set of
2223 default parameters. Examples of this usage are shown in \k{rotate}.
2226 \S{percent0} \i\c{%0}: \I{counting macro parameters}Macro Parameter Counter
2228 For a macro which can take a variable number of parameters, the
2229 parameter reference \c{%0} will return a numeric constant giving the
2230 number of parameters passed to the macro. This can be used as an
2231 argument to \c{%rep} (see \k{rep}) in order to iterate through all
2232 the parameters of a macro. Examples are given in \k{rotate}.
2235 \S{rotate} \i\c{%rotate}: \i{Rotating Macro Parameters}
2237 Unix shell programmers will be familiar with the \I{shift
2238 command}\c{shift} shell command, which allows the arguments passed
2239 to a shell script (referenced as \c{$1}, \c{$2} and so on) to be
2240 moved left by one place, so that the argument previously referenced
2241 as \c{$2} becomes available as \c{$1}, and the argument previously
2242 referenced as \c{$1} is no longer available at all.
2244 NASM provides a similar mechanism, in the form of \c{%rotate}. As
2245 its name suggests, it differs from the Unix \c{shift} in that no
2246 parameters are lost: parameters rotated off the left end of the
2247 argument list reappear on the right, and vice versa.
2249 \c{%rotate} is invoked with a single numeric argument (which may be
2250 an expression). The macro parameters are rotated to the left by that
2251 many places. If the argument to \c{%rotate} is negative, the macro
2252 parameters are rotated to the right.
2254 \I{iterating over macro parameters}So a pair of macros to save and
2255 restore a set of registers might work as follows:
2257 \c %macro multipush 1-*
2266 This macro invokes the \c{PUSH} instruction on each of its arguments
2267 in turn, from left to right. It begins by pushing its first
2268 argument, \c{%1}, then invokes \c{%rotate} to move all the arguments
2269 one place to the left, so that the original second argument is now
2270 available as \c{%1}. Repeating this procedure as many times as there
2271 were arguments (achieved by supplying \c{%0} as the argument to
2272 \c{%rep}) causes each argument in turn to be pushed.
2274 Note also the use of \c{*} as the maximum parameter count,
2275 indicating that there is no upper limit on the number of parameters
2276 you may supply to the \i\c{multipush} macro.
2278 It would be convenient, when using this macro, to have a \c{POP}
2279 equivalent, which \e{didn't} require the arguments to be given in
2280 reverse order. Ideally, you would write the \c{multipush} macro
2281 call, then cut-and-paste the line to where the pop needed to be
2282 done, and change the name of the called macro to \c{multipop}, and
2283 the macro would take care of popping the registers in the opposite
2284 order from the one in which they were pushed.
2286 This can be done by the following definition:
2288 \c %macro multipop 1-*
2297 This macro begins by rotating its arguments one place to the
2298 \e{right}, so that the original \e{last} argument appears as \c{%1}.
2299 This is then popped, and the arguments are rotated right again, so
2300 the second-to-last argument becomes \c{%1}. Thus the arguments are
2301 iterated through in reverse order.
2304 \S{concat} \i{Concatenating Macro Parameters}
2306 NASM can concatenate macro parameters on to other text surrounding
2307 them. This allows you to declare a family of symbols, for example,
2308 in a macro definition. If, for example, you wanted to generate a
2309 table of key codes along with offsets into the table, you could code
2312 \c %macro keytab_entry 2
2314 \c keypos%1 equ $-keytab
2320 \c keytab_entry F1,128+1
2321 \c keytab_entry F2,128+2
2322 \c keytab_entry Return,13
2324 which would expand to
2327 \c keyposF1 equ $-keytab
2329 \c keyposF2 equ $-keytab
2331 \c keyposReturn equ $-keytab
2334 You can just as easily concatenate text on to the other end of a
2335 macro parameter, by writing \c{%1foo}.
2337 If you need to append a \e{digit} to a macro parameter, for example
2338 defining labels \c{foo1} and \c{foo2} when passed the parameter
2339 \c{foo}, you can't code \c{%11} because that would be taken as the
2340 eleventh macro parameter. Instead, you must code
2341 \I{braces, after % sign}\c{%\{1\}1}, which will separate the first
2342 \c{1} (giving the number of the macro parameter) from the second
2343 (literal text to be concatenated to the parameter).
2345 This concatenation can also be applied to other preprocessor in-line
2346 objects, such as macro-local labels (\k{maclocal}) and context-local
2347 labels (\k{ctxlocal}). In all cases, ambiguities in syntax can be
2348 resolved by enclosing everything after the \c{%} sign and before the
2349 literal text in braces: so \c{%\{%foo\}bar} concatenates the text
2350 \c{bar} to the end of the real name of the macro-local label
2351 \c{%%foo}. (This is unnecessary, since the form NASM uses for the
2352 real names of macro-local labels means that the two usages
2353 \c{%\{%foo\}bar} and \c{%%foobar} would both expand to the same
2354 thing anyway; nevertheless, the capability is there.)
2357 \S{mlmaccc} \i{Condition Codes as Macro Parameters}
2359 NASM can give special treatment to a macro parameter which contains
2360 a condition code. For a start, you can refer to the macro parameter
2361 \c{%1} by means of the alternative syntax \i\c{%+1}, which informs
2362 NASM that this macro parameter is supposed to contain a condition
2363 code, and will cause the preprocessor to report an error message if
2364 the macro is called with a parameter which is \e{not} a valid
2367 Far more usefully, though, you can refer to the macro parameter by
2368 means of \i\c{%-1}, which NASM will expand as the \e{inverse}
2369 condition code. So the \c{retz} macro defined in \k{maclocal} can be
2370 replaced by a general \i{conditional-return macro} like this:
2380 This macro can now be invoked using calls like \c{retc ne}, which
2381 will cause the conditional-jump instruction in the macro expansion
2382 to come out as \c{JE}, or \c{retc po} which will make the jump a
2385 The \c{%+1} macro-parameter reference is quite happy to interpret
2386 the arguments \c{CXZ} and \c{ECXZ} as valid condition codes;
2387 however, \c{%-1} will report an error if passed either of these,
2388 because no inverse condition code exists.
2391 \S{nolist} \i{Disabling Listing Expansion}\I\c{.nolist}
2393 When NASM is generating a listing file from your program, it will
2394 generally expand multi-line macros by means of writing the macro
2395 call and then listing each line of the expansion. This allows you to
2396 see which instructions in the macro expansion are generating what
2397 code; however, for some macros this clutters the listing up
2400 NASM therefore provides the \c{.nolist} qualifier, which you can
2401 include in a macro definition to inhibit the expansion of the macro
2402 in the listing file. The \c{.nolist} qualifier comes directly after
2403 the number of parameters, like this:
2405 \c %macro foo 1.nolist
2409 \c %macro bar 1-5+.nolist a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h
2411 \H{condasm} \i{Conditional Assembly}\I\c{%if}
2413 Similarly to the C preprocessor, NASM allows sections of a source
2414 file to be assembled only if certain conditions are met. The general
2415 syntax of this feature looks like this:
2418 \c ; some code which only appears if <condition> is met
2419 \c %elif<condition2>
2420 \c ; only appears if <condition> is not met but <condition2> is
2422 \c ; this appears if neither <condition> nor <condition2> was met
2425 The \i\c{%else} clause is optional, as is the \i\c{%elif} clause.
2426 You can have more than one \c{%elif} clause as well.
2429 \S{ifdef} \i\c{%ifdef}: Testing Single-Line Macro Existence\I{testing,
2430 single-line macro existence}
2432 Beginning a conditional-assembly block with the line \c{%ifdef
2433 MACRO} will assemble the subsequent code if, and only if, a
2434 single-line macro called \c{MACRO} is defined. If not, then the
2435 \c{%elif} and \c{%else} blocks (if any) will be processed instead.
2437 For example, when debugging a program, you might want to write code
2440 \c ; perform some function
2442 \c writefile 2,"Function performed successfully",13,10
2444 \c ; go and do something else
2446 Then you could use the command-line option \c{-dDEBUG} to create a
2447 version of the program which produced debugging messages, and remove
2448 the option to generate the final release version of the program.
2450 You can test for a macro \e{not} being defined by using
2451 \i\c{%ifndef} instead of \c{%ifdef}. You can also test for macro
2452 definitions in \c{%elif} blocks by using \i\c{%elifdef} and
2456 \S{ifmacro} \i\c{ifmacro}: Testing Multi-Line Macro
2457 Existence\I{testing, multi-line macro existence}
2459 The \c{%ifmacro} directive operates in the same way as the \c{%ifdef}
2460 directive, except that it checks for the existence of a multi-line macro.
2462 For example, you may be working with a large project and not have control
2463 over the macros in a library. You may want to create a macro with one
2464 name if it doesn't already exist, and another name if one with that name
2467 The \c{%ifmacro} is considered true if defining a macro with the given name
2468 and number of arguments would cause a definitions conflict. For example:
2470 \c %ifmacro MyMacro 1-3
2472 \c %error "MyMacro 1-3" causes a conflict with an existing macro.
2476 \c %macro MyMacro 1-3
2478 \c ; insert code to define the macro
2484 This will create the macro "MyMacro 1-3" if no macro already exists which
2485 would conflict with it, and emits a warning if there would be a definition
2488 You can test for the macro not existing by using the \i\c{%ifnmacro} instead
2489 of \c{%ifmacro}. Additional tests can be performed in \c{%elif} blocks by using
2490 \i\c{%elifmacro} and \i\c{%elifnmacro}.
2493 \S{ifctx} \i\c{%ifctx}: Testing the Context Stack\I{testing, context
2496 The conditional-assembly construct \c{%ifctx ctxname} will cause the
2497 subsequent code to be assembled if and only if the top context on
2498 the preprocessor's context stack has the name \c{ctxname}. As with
2499 \c{%ifdef}, the inverse and \c{%elif} forms \i\c{%ifnctx},
2500 \i\c{%elifctx} and \i\c{%elifnctx} are also supported.
2502 For more details of the context stack, see \k{ctxstack}. For a
2503 sample use of \c{%ifctx}, see \k{blockif}.
2506 \S{if} \i\c{%if}: Testing Arbitrary Numeric Expressions\I{testing,
2507 arbitrary numeric expressions}
2509 The conditional-assembly construct \c{%if expr} will cause the
2510 subsequent code to be assembled if and only if the value of the
2511 numeric expression \c{expr} is non-zero. An example of the use of
2512 this feature is in deciding when to break out of a \c{%rep}
2513 preprocessor loop: see \k{rep} for a detailed example.
2515 The expression given to \c{%if}, and its counterpart \i\c{%elif}, is
2516 a critical expression (see \k{crit}).
2518 \c{%if} extends the normal NASM expression syntax, by providing a
2519 set of \i{relational operators} which are not normally available in
2520 expressions. The operators \i\c{=}, \i\c{<}, \i\c{>}, \i\c{<=},
2521 \i\c{>=} and \i\c{<>} test equality, less-than, greater-than,
2522 less-or-equal, greater-or-equal and not-equal respectively. The
2523 C-like forms \i\c{==} and \i\c{!=} are supported as alternative
2524 forms of \c{=} and \c{<>}. In addition, low-priority logical
2525 operators \i\c{&&}, \i\c{^^} and \i\c{||} are provided, supplying
2526 \i{logical AND}, \i{logical XOR} and \i{logical OR}. These work like
2527 the C logical operators (although C has no logical XOR), in that
2528 they always return either 0 or 1, and treat any non-zero input as 1
2529 (so that \c{^^}, for example, returns 1 if exactly one of its inputs
2530 is zero, and 0 otherwise). The relational operators also return 1
2531 for true and 0 for false.
2534 \S{ifidn} \i\c{%ifidn} and \i\c{%ifidni}: Testing Exact Text
2535 Identity\I{testing, exact text identity}
2537 The construct \c{%ifidn text1,text2} will cause the subsequent code
2538 to be assembled if and only if \c{text1} and \c{text2}, after
2539 expanding single-line macros, are identical pieces of text.
2540 Differences in white space are not counted.
2542 \c{%ifidni} is similar to \c{%ifidn}, but is \i{case-insensitive}.
2544 For example, the following macro pushes a register or number on the
2545 stack, and allows you to treat \c{IP} as a real register:
2547 \c %macro pushparam 1
2558 Like most other \c{%if} constructs, \c{%ifidn} has a counterpart
2559 \i\c{%elifidn}, and negative forms \i\c{%ifnidn} and \i\c{%elifnidn}.
2560 Similarly, \c{%ifidni} has counterparts \i\c{%elifidni},
2561 \i\c{%ifnidni} and \i\c{%elifnidni}.
2564 \S{iftyp} \i\c{%ifid}, \i\c{%ifnum}, \i\c{%ifstr}: Testing Token
2565 Types\I{testing, token types}
2567 Some macros will want to perform different tasks depending on
2568 whether they are passed a number, a string, or an identifier. For
2569 example, a string output macro might want to be able to cope with
2570 being passed either a string constant or a pointer to an existing
2573 The conditional assembly construct \c{%ifid}, taking one parameter
2574 (which may be blank), assembles the subsequent code if and only if
2575 the first token in the parameter exists and is an identifier.
2576 \c{%ifnum} works similarly, but tests for the token being a numeric
2577 constant; \c{%ifstr} tests for it being a string.
2579 For example, the \c{writefile} macro defined in \k{mlmacgre} can be
2580 extended to take advantage of \c{%ifstr} in the following fashion:
2582 \c %macro writefile 2-3+
2591 \c %%endstr: mov dx,%%str
2592 \c mov cx,%%endstr-%%str
2603 Then the \c{writefile} macro can cope with being called in either of
2604 the following two ways:
2606 \c writefile [file], strpointer, length
2607 \c writefile [file], "hello", 13, 10
2609 In the first, \c{strpointer} is used as the address of an
2610 already-declared string, and \c{length} is used as its length; in
2611 the second, a string is given to the macro, which therefore declares
2612 it itself and works out the address and length for itself.
2614 Note the use of \c{%if} inside the \c{%ifstr}: this is to detect
2615 whether the macro was passed two arguments (so the string would be a
2616 single string constant, and \c{db %2} would be adequate) or more (in
2617 which case, all but the first two would be lumped together into
2618 \c{%3}, and \c{db %2,%3} would be required).
2620 \I\c{%ifnid}\I\c{%elifid}\I\c{%elifnid}\I\c{%ifnnum}\I\c{%elifnum}
2621 \I\c{%elifnnum}\I\c{%ifnstr}\I\c{%elifstr}\I\c{%elifnstr}
2622 The usual \c{%elifXXX}, \c{%ifnXXX} and \c{%elifnXXX} versions exist
2623 for each of \c{%ifid}, \c{%ifnum} and \c{%ifstr}.
2626 \S{pperror} \i\c{%error}: Reporting \i{User-Defined Errors}
2628 The preprocessor directive \c{%error} will cause NASM to report an
2629 error if it occurs in assembled code. So if other users are going to
2630 try to assemble your source files, you can ensure that they define
2631 the right macros by means of code like this:
2633 \c %ifdef SOME_MACRO
2635 \c %elifdef SOME_OTHER_MACRO
2636 \c ; do some different setup
2638 \c %error Neither SOME_MACRO nor SOME_OTHER_MACRO was defined.
2641 Then any user who fails to understand the way your code is supposed
2642 to be assembled will be quickly warned of their mistake, rather than
2643 having to wait until the program crashes on being run and then not
2644 knowing what went wrong.
2647 \H{rep} \i{Preprocessor Loops}\I{repeating code}: \i\c{%rep}
2649 NASM's \c{TIMES} prefix, though useful, cannot be used to invoke a
2650 multi-line macro multiple times, because it is processed by NASM
2651 after macros have already been expanded. Therefore NASM provides
2652 another form of loop, this time at the preprocessor level: \c{%rep}.
2654 The directives \c{%rep} and \i\c{%endrep} (\c{%rep} takes a numeric
2655 argument, which can be an expression; \c{%endrep} takes no
2656 arguments) can be used to enclose a chunk of code, which is then
2657 replicated as many times as specified by the preprocessor:
2661 \c inc word [table+2*i]
2665 This will generate a sequence of 64 \c{INC} instructions,
2666 incrementing every word of memory from \c{[table]} to
2669 For more complex termination conditions, or to break out of a repeat
2670 loop part way along, you can use the \i\c{%exitrep} directive to
2671 terminate the loop, like this:
2686 \c fib_number equ ($-fibonacci)/2
2688 This produces a list of all the Fibonacci numbers that will fit in
2689 16 bits. Note that a maximum repeat count must still be given to
2690 \c{%rep}. This is to prevent the possibility of NASM getting into an
2691 infinite loop in the preprocessor, which (on multitasking or
2692 multi-user systems) would typically cause all the system memory to
2693 be gradually used up and other applications to start crashing.
2696 \H{include} \i{Including Other Files}
2698 Using, once again, a very similar syntax to the C preprocessor,
2699 NASM's preprocessor lets you include other source files into your
2700 code. This is done by the use of the \i\c{%include} directive:
2702 \c %include "macros.mac"
2704 will include the contents of the file \c{macros.mac} into the source
2705 file containing the \c{%include} directive.
2707 Include files are \I{searching for include files}searched for in the
2708 current directory (the directory you're in when you run NASM, as
2709 opposed to the location of the NASM executable or the location of
2710 the source file), plus any directories specified on the NASM command
2711 line using the \c{-i} option.
2713 The standard C idiom for preventing a file being included more than
2714 once is just as applicable in NASM: if the file \c{macros.mac} has
2717 \c %ifndef MACROS_MAC
2718 \c %define MACROS_MAC
2719 \c ; now define some macros
2722 then including the file more than once will not cause errors,
2723 because the second time the file is included nothing will happen
2724 because the macro \c{MACROS_MAC} will already be defined.
2726 You can force a file to be included even if there is no \c{%include}
2727 directive that explicitly includes it, by using the \i\c{-p} option
2728 on the NASM command line (see \k{opt-p}).
2731 \H{ctxstack} The \i{Context Stack}
2733 Having labels that are local to a macro definition is sometimes not
2734 quite powerful enough: sometimes you want to be able to share labels
2735 between several macro calls. An example might be a \c{REPEAT} ...
2736 \c{UNTIL} loop, in which the expansion of the \c{REPEAT} macro
2737 would need to be able to refer to a label which the \c{UNTIL} macro
2738 had defined. However, for such a macro you would also want to be
2739 able to nest these loops.
2741 NASM provides this level of power by means of a \e{context stack}.
2742 The preprocessor maintains a stack of \e{contexts}, each of which is
2743 characterised by a name. You add a new context to the stack using
2744 the \i\c{%push} directive, and remove one using \i\c{%pop}. You can
2745 define labels that are local to a particular context on the stack.
2748 \S{pushpop} \i\c{%push} and \i\c{%pop}: \I{creating
2749 contexts}\I{removing contexts}Creating and Removing Contexts
2751 The \c{%push} directive is used to create a new context and place it
2752 on the top of the context stack. \c{%push} requires one argument,
2753 which is the name of the context. For example:
2757 This pushes a new context called \c{foobar} on the stack. You can
2758 have several contexts on the stack with the same name: they can
2759 still be distinguished.
2761 The directive \c{%pop}, requiring no arguments, removes the top
2762 context from the context stack and destroys it, along with any
2763 labels associated with it.
2766 \S{ctxlocal} \i{Context-Local Labels}
2768 Just as the usage \c{%%foo} defines a label which is local to the
2769 particular macro call in which it is used, the usage \I{%$}\c{%$foo}
2770 is used to define a label which is local to the context on the top
2771 of the context stack. So the \c{REPEAT} and \c{UNTIL} example given
2772 above could be implemented by means of:
2788 and invoked by means of, for example,
2796 which would scan every fourth byte of a string in search of the byte
2799 If you need to define, or access, labels local to the context
2800 \e{below} the top one on the stack, you can use \I{%$$}\c{%$$foo}, or
2801 \c{%$$$foo} for the context below that, and so on.
2804 \S{ctxdefine} \i{Context-Local Single-Line Macros}
2806 NASM also allows you to define single-line macros which are local to
2807 a particular context, in just the same way:
2809 \c %define %$localmac 3
2811 will define the single-line macro \c{%$localmac} to be local to the
2812 top context on the stack. Of course, after a subsequent \c{%push},
2813 it can then still be accessed by the name \c{%$$localmac}.
2816 \S{ctxrepl} \i\c{%repl}: \I{renaming contexts}Renaming a Context
2818 If you need to change the name of the top context on the stack (in
2819 order, for example, to have it respond differently to \c{%ifctx}),
2820 you can execute a \c{%pop} followed by a \c{%push}; but this will
2821 have the side effect of destroying all context-local labels and
2822 macros associated with the context that was just popped.
2824 NASM provides the directive \c{%repl}, which \e{replaces} a context
2825 with a different name, without touching the associated macros and
2826 labels. So you could replace the destructive code
2831 with the non-destructive version \c{%repl newname}.
2834 \S{blockif} Example Use of the \i{Context Stack}: \i{Block IFs}
2836 This example makes use of almost all the context-stack features,
2837 including the conditional-assembly construct \i\c{%ifctx}, to
2838 implement a block IF statement as a set of macros.
2854 \c %error "expected `if' before `else'"
2868 \c %error "expected `if' or `else' before `endif'"
2873 This code is more robust than the \c{REPEAT} and \c{UNTIL} macros
2874 given in \k{ctxlocal}, because it uses conditional assembly to check
2875 that the macros are issued in the right order (for example, not
2876 calling \c{endif} before \c{if}) and issues a \c{%error} if they're
2879 In addition, the \c{endif} macro has to be able to cope with the two
2880 distinct cases of either directly following an \c{if}, or following
2881 an \c{else}. It achieves this, again, by using conditional assembly
2882 to do different things depending on whether the context on top of
2883 the stack is \c{if} or \c{else}.
2885 The \c{else} macro has to preserve the context on the stack, in
2886 order to have the \c{%$ifnot} referred to by the \c{if} macro be the
2887 same as the one defined by the \c{endif} macro, but has to change
2888 the context's name so that \c{endif} will know there was an
2889 intervening \c{else}. It does this by the use of \c{%repl}.
2891 A sample usage of these macros might look like:
2913 The block-\c{IF} macros handle nesting quite happily, by means of
2914 pushing another context, describing the inner \c{if}, on top of the
2915 one describing the outer \c{if}; thus \c{else} and \c{endif} always
2916 refer to the last unmatched \c{if} or \c{else}.
2919 \H{stdmac} \i{Standard Macros}
2921 NASM defines a set of standard macros, which are already defined
2922 when it starts to process any source file. If you really need a
2923 program to be assembled with no pre-defined macros, you can use the
2924 \i\c{%clear} directive to empty the preprocessor of everything but
2925 context-local preprocessor variables and single-line macros.
2927 Most \i{user-level assembler directives} (see \k{directive}) are
2928 implemented as macros which invoke primitive directives; these are
2929 described in \k{directive}. The rest of the standard macro set is
2933 \S{stdmacver} \i\c{__NASM_MAJOR__}, \i\c{__NASM_MINOR__},
2934 \i\c{__NASM_SUBMINOR__} and \i\c{___NASM_PATCHLEVEL__}: \i{NASM Version}
2936 The single-line macros \c{__NASM_MAJOR__}, \c{__NASM_MINOR__},
2937 \c{__NASM_SUBMINOR__} and \c{___NASM_PATCHLEVEL__} expand to the
2938 major, minor, subminor and patch level parts of the \i{version
2939 number of NASM} being used. So, under NASM 0.98.32p1 for
2940 example, \c{__NASM_MAJOR__} would be defined to be 0, \c{__NASM_MINOR__}
2941 would be defined as 98, \c{__NASM_SUBMINOR__} would be defined to 32,
2942 and \c{___NASM_PATCHLEVEL__} would be defined as 1.
2945 \S{stdmacverid} \i\c{__NASM_VERSION_ID__}: \i{NASM Version ID}
2947 The single-line macro \c{__NASM_VERSION_ID__} expands to a dword integer
2948 representing the full version number of the version of nasm being used.
2949 The value is the equivalent to \c{__NASM_MAJOR__}, \c{__NASM_MINOR__},
2950 \c{__NASM_SUBMINOR__} and \c{___NASM_PATCHLEVEL__} concatenated to
2951 produce a single doubleword. Hence, for 0.98.32p1, the returned number
2952 would be equivalent to:
2960 Note that the above lines are generate exactly the same code, the second
2961 line is used just to give an indication of the order that the separate
2962 values will be present in memory.
2965 \S{stdmacverstr} \i\c{__NASM_VER__}: \i{NASM Version string}
2967 The single-line macro \c{__NASM_VER__} expands to a string which defines
2968 the version number of nasm being used. So, under NASM 0.98.32 for example,
2977 \S{fileline} \i\c{__FILE__} and \i\c{__LINE__}: File Name and Line Number
2979 Like the C preprocessor, NASM allows the user to find out the file
2980 name and line number containing the current instruction. The macro
2981 \c{__FILE__} expands to a string constant giving the name of the
2982 current input file (which may change through the course of assembly
2983 if \c{%include} directives are used), and \c{__LINE__} expands to a
2984 numeric constant giving the current line number in the input file.
2986 These macros could be used, for example, to communicate debugging
2987 information to a macro, since invoking \c{__LINE__} inside a macro
2988 definition (either single-line or multi-line) will return the line
2989 number of the macro \e{call}, rather than \e{definition}. So to
2990 determine where in a piece of code a crash is occurring, for
2991 example, one could write a routine \c{stillhere}, which is passed a
2992 line number in \c{EAX} and outputs something like `line 155: still
2993 here'. You could then write a macro
2995 \c %macro notdeadyet 0
3004 and then pepper your code with calls to \c{notdeadyet} until you
3005 find the crash point.
3008 \S{struc} \i\c{STRUC} and \i\c{ENDSTRUC}: \i{Declaring Structure} Data Types
3010 The core of NASM contains no intrinsic means of defining data
3011 structures; instead, the preprocessor is sufficiently powerful that
3012 data structures can be implemented as a set of macros. The macros
3013 \c{STRUC} and \c{ENDSTRUC} are used to define a structure data type.
3015 \c{STRUC} takes one parameter, which is the name of the data type.
3016 This name is defined as a symbol with the value zero, and also has
3017 the suffix \c{_size} appended to it and is then defined as an
3018 \c{EQU} giving the size of the structure. Once \c{STRUC} has been
3019 issued, you are defining the structure, and should define fields
3020 using the \c{RESB} family of pseudo-instructions, and then invoke
3021 \c{ENDSTRUC} to finish the definition.
3023 For example, to define a structure called \c{mytype} containing a
3024 longword, a word, a byte and a string of bytes, you might code
3035 The above code defines six symbols: \c{mt_long} as 0 (the offset
3036 from the beginning of a \c{mytype} structure to the longword field),
3037 \c{mt_word} as 4, \c{mt_byte} as 6, \c{mt_str} as 7, \c{mytype_size}
3038 as 39, and \c{mytype} itself as zero.
3040 The reason why the structure type name is defined at zero is a side
3041 effect of allowing structures to work with the local label
3042 mechanism: if your structure members tend to have the same names in
3043 more than one structure, you can define the above structure like this:
3054 This defines the offsets to the structure fields as \c{mytype.long},
3055 \c{mytype.word}, \c{mytype.byte} and \c{mytype.str}.
3057 NASM, since it has no \e{intrinsic} structure support, does not
3058 support any form of period notation to refer to the elements of a
3059 structure once you have one (except the above local-label notation),
3060 so code such as \c{mov ax,[mystruc.mt_word]} is not valid.
3061 \c{mt_word} is a constant just like any other constant, so the
3062 correct syntax is \c{mov ax,[mystruc+mt_word]} or \c{mov
3063 ax,[mystruc+mytype.word]}.
3066 \S{istruc} \i\c{ISTRUC}, \i\c{AT} and \i\c{IEND}: Declaring
3067 \i{Instances of Structures}
3069 Having defined a structure type, the next thing you typically want
3070 to do is to declare instances of that structure in your data
3071 segment. NASM provides an easy way to do this in the \c{ISTRUC}
3072 mechanism. To declare a structure of type \c{mytype} in a program,
3073 you code something like this:
3078 \c at mt_long, dd 123456
3079 \c at mt_word, dw 1024
3080 \c at mt_byte, db 'x'
3081 \c at mt_str, db 'hello, world', 13, 10, 0
3085 The function of the \c{AT} macro is to make use of the \c{TIMES}
3086 prefix to advance the assembly position to the correct point for the
3087 specified structure field, and then to declare the specified data.
3088 Therefore the structure fields must be declared in the same order as
3089 they were specified in the structure definition.
3091 If the data to go in a structure field requires more than one source
3092 line to specify, the remaining source lines can easily come after
3093 the \c{AT} line. For example:
3095 \c at mt_str, db 123,134,145,156,167,178,189
3098 Depending on personal taste, you can also omit the code part of the
3099 \c{AT} line completely, and start the structure field on the next
3103 \c db 'hello, world'
3107 \S{align} \i\c{ALIGN} and \i\c{ALIGNB}: Data Alignment
3109 The \c{ALIGN} and \c{ALIGNB} macros provides a convenient way to
3110 align code or data on a word, longword, paragraph or other boundary.
3111 (Some assemblers call this directive \i\c{EVEN}.) The syntax of the
3112 \c{ALIGN} and \c{ALIGNB} macros is
3114 \c align 4 ; align on 4-byte boundary
3115 \c align 16 ; align on 16-byte boundary
3116 \c align 8,db 0 ; pad with 0s rather than NOPs
3117 \c align 4,resb 1 ; align to 4 in the BSS
3118 \c alignb 4 ; equivalent to previous line
3120 Both macros require their first argument to be a power of two; they
3121 both compute the number of additional bytes required to bring the
3122 length of the current section up to a multiple of that power of two,
3123 and then apply the \c{TIMES} prefix to their second argument to
3124 perform the alignment.
3126 If the second argument is not specified, the default for \c{ALIGN}
3127 is \c{NOP}, and the default for \c{ALIGNB} is \c{RESB 1}. So if the
3128 second argument is specified, the two macros are equivalent.
3129 Normally, you can just use \c{ALIGN} in code and data sections and
3130 \c{ALIGNB} in BSS sections, and never need the second argument
3131 except for special purposes.
3133 \c{ALIGN} and \c{ALIGNB}, being simple macros, perform no error
3134 checking: they cannot warn you if their first argument fails to be a
3135 power of two, or if their second argument generates more than one
3136 byte of code. In each of these cases they will silently do the wrong
3139 \c{ALIGNB} (or \c{ALIGN} with a second argument of \c{RESB 1}) can
3140 be used within structure definitions:
3157 This will ensure that the structure members are sensibly aligned
3158 relative to the base of the structure.
3160 A final caveat: \c{ALIGN} and \c{ALIGNB} work relative to the
3161 beginning of the \e{section}, not the beginning of the address space
3162 in the final executable. Aligning to a 16-byte boundary when the
3163 section you're in is only guaranteed to be aligned to a 4-byte
3164 boundary, for example, is a waste of effort. Again, NASM does not
3165 check that the section's alignment characteristics are sensible for
3166 the use of \c{ALIGN} or \c{ALIGNB}.
3169 \H{tasmcompat} \i{TASM Compatible Preprocessor Directives}
3171 The following preprocessor directives may only be used when TASM
3172 compatibility is turned on using the \c{-t} command line switch
3173 (This switch is described in \k{opt-t}.)
3175 \b\c{%arg} (see \k{arg})
3177 \b\c{%stacksize} (see \k{stacksize})
3179 \b\c{%local} (see \k{local})
3182 \S{arg} \i\c{%arg} Directive
3184 The \c{%arg} directive is used to simplify the handling of
3185 parameters passed on the stack. Stack based parameter passing
3186 is used by many high level languages, including C, C++ and Pascal.
3188 While NASM comes with macros which attempt to duplicate this
3189 functionality (see \k{16cmacro}), the syntax is not particularly
3190 convenient to use and is not TASM compatible. Here is an example
3191 which shows the use of \c{%arg} without any external macros:
3195 \c %push mycontext ; save the current context
3196 \c %stacksize large ; tell NASM to use bp
3197 \c %arg i:word, j_ptr:word
3204 \c %pop ; restore original context
3206 This is similar to the procedure defined in \k{16cmacro} and adds
3207 the value in i to the value pointed to by j_ptr and returns the
3208 sum in the ax register. See \k{pushpop} for an explanation of
3209 \c{push} and \c{pop} and the use of context stacks.
3212 \S{stacksize} \i\c{%stacksize} Directive
3214 The \c{%stacksize} directive is used in conjunction with the
3215 \c{%arg} (see \k{arg}) and the \c{%local} (see \k{local}) directives.
3216 It tells NASM the default size to use for subsequent \c{%arg} and
3217 \c{%local} directives. The \c{%stacksize} directive takes one
3218 required argument which is one of \c{flat}, \c{large} or \c{small}.
3222 This form causes NASM to use stack-based parameter addressing
3223 relative to \c{ebp} and it assumes that a near form of call was used
3224 to get to this label (i.e. that \c{eip} is on the stack).
3228 This form uses \c{bp} to do stack-based parameter addressing and
3229 assumes that a far form of call was used to get to this address
3230 (i.e. that \c{ip} and \c{cs} are on the stack).
3234 This form also uses \c{bp} to address stack parameters, but it is
3235 different from \c{large} because it also assumes that the old value
3236 of bp is pushed onto the stack (i.e. it expects an \c{ENTER}
3237 instruction). In other words, it expects that \c{bp}, \c{ip} and
3238 \c{cs} are on the top of the stack, underneath any local space which
3239 may have been allocated by \c{ENTER}. This form is probably most
3240 useful when used in combination with the \c{%local} directive
3244 \S{local} \i\c{%local} Directive
3246 The \c{%local} directive is used to simplify the use of local
3247 temporary stack variables allocated in a stack frame. Automatic
3248 local variables in C are an example of this kind of variable. The
3249 \c{%local} directive is most useful when used with the \c{%stacksize}
3250 (see \k{stacksize} and is also compatible with the \c{%arg} directive
3251 (see \k{arg}). It allows simplified reference to variables on the
3252 stack which have been allocated typically by using the \c{ENTER}
3253 instruction (see \k{insENTER} for a description of that instruction).
3254 An example of its use is the following:
3258 \c %push mycontext ; save the current context
3259 \c %stacksize small ; tell NASM to use bp
3260 \c %assign %$localsize 0 ; see text for explanation
3261 \c %local old_ax:word, old_dx:word
3263 \c enter %$localsize,0 ; see text for explanation
3264 \c mov [old_ax],ax ; swap ax & bx
3265 \c mov [old_dx],dx ; and swap dx & cx
3270 \c leave ; restore old bp
3273 \c %pop ; restore original context
3275 The \c{%$localsize} variable is used internally by the
3276 \c{%local} directive and \e{must} be defined within the
3277 current context before the \c{%local} directive may be used.
3278 Failure to do so will result in one expression syntax error for
3279 each \c{%local} variable declared. It then may be used in
3280 the construction of an appropriately sized ENTER instruction
3281 as shown in the example.
3283 \H{otherpreproc} \i{Other Preprocessor Directives}
3285 NASM also has preprocessor directives which allow access to
3286 information from external sources. Currently they include:
3288 The following preprocessor directive is supported to allow NASM to
3289 correctly handle output of the cpp C language preprocessor.
3291 \b\c{%line} enables NAsM to correctly handle the output of the cpp
3292 C language preprocessor (see \k{line}).
3294 \b\c{%!} enables NASM to read in the value of an environment variable,
3295 which can then be used in your program (see \k{getenv}).
3297 \S{line} \i\c{%line} Directive
3299 The \c{%line} directive is used to notify NASM that the input line
3300 corresponds to a specific line number in another file. Typically
3301 this other file would be an original source file, with the current
3302 NASM input being the output of a pre-processor. The \c{%line}
3303 directive allows NASM to output messages which indicate the line
3304 number of the original source file, instead of the file that is being
3307 This preprocessor directive is not generally of use to programmers,
3308 by may be of interest to preprocessor authors. The usage of the
3309 \c{%line} preprocessor directive is as follows:
3311 \c %line nnn[+mmm] [filename]
3313 In this directive, \c{nnn} indentifies the line of the original source
3314 file which this line corresponds to. \c{mmm} is an optional parameter
3315 which specifies a line increment value; each line of the input file
3316 read in is considered to correspond to \c{mmm} lines of the original
3317 source file. Finally, \c{filename} is an optional parameter which
3318 specifies the file name of the original source file.
3320 After reading a \c{%line} preprocessor directive, NASM will report
3321 all file name and line numbers relative to the values specified
3325 \S{getenv} \i\c{%!}\c{<env>}: Read an environment variable.
3327 The \c{%!<env>} directive makes it possible to read the value of an
3328 environment variable at assembly time. This could, for example, be used
3329 to store the contents of an environment variable into a string, which
3330 could be used at some other point in your code.
3332 For example, suppose that you have an environment variable \c{FOO}, and
3333 you want the contents of \c{FOO} to be embedded in your program. You
3334 could do that as follows:
3336 \c %define FOO %!FOO
3339 \c tmpstr db quote FOO quote
3341 At the time of writing, this will generate an "unterminated string"
3342 warning at the time of defining "quote", and it will add a space
3343 before and after the string that is read in. I was unable to find
3344 a simple workaround (although a workaround can be created using a
3345 multi-line macro), so I believe that you will need to either learn how
3346 to create more complex macros, or allow for the extra spaces if you
3347 make use of this feature in that way.
3350 \C{directive} \i{Assembler Directives}
3352 NASM, though it attempts to avoid the bureaucracy of assemblers like
3353 MASM and TASM, is nevertheless forced to support a \e{few}
3354 directives. These are described in this chapter.
3356 NASM's directives come in two types: \I{user-level
3357 directives}\e{user-level} directives and \I{primitive
3358 directives}\e{primitive} directives. Typically, each directive has a
3359 user-level form and a primitive form. In almost all cases, we
3360 recommend that users use the user-level forms of the directives,
3361 which are implemented as macros which call the primitive forms.
3363 Primitive directives are enclosed in square brackets; user-level
3366 In addition to the universal directives described in this chapter,
3367 each object file format can optionally supply extra directives in
3368 order to control particular features of that file format. These
3369 \I{format-specific directives}\e{format-specific} directives are
3370 documented along with the formats that implement them, in \k{outfmt}.
3373 \H{bits} \i\c{BITS}: Specifying Target \i{Processor Mode}
3375 The \c{BITS} directive specifies whether NASM should generate code
3376 \I{16-bit mode, versus 32-bit mode}designed to run on a processor
3377 operating in 16-bit mode, or code designed to run on a processor
3378 operating in 32-bit mode. The syntax is \c{BITS 16} or \c{BITS 32}.
3380 In most cases, you should not need to use \c{BITS} explicitly. The
3381 \c{aout}, \c{coff}, \c{elf} and \c{win32} object formats, which are
3382 designed for use in 32-bit operating systems, all cause NASM to
3383 select 32-bit mode by default. The \c{obj} object format allows you
3384 to specify each segment you define as either \c{USE16} or \c{USE32},
3385 and NASM will set its operating mode accordingly, so the use of the
3386 \c{BITS} directive is once again unnecessary.
3388 The most likely reason for using the \c{BITS} directive is to write
3389 32-bit code in a flat binary file; this is because the \c{bin}
3390 output format defaults to 16-bit mode in anticipation of it being
3391 used most frequently to write DOS \c{.COM} programs, DOS \c{.SYS}
3392 device drivers and boot loader software.
3394 You do \e{not} need to specify \c{BITS 32} merely in order to use
3395 32-bit instructions in a 16-bit DOS program; if you do, the
3396 assembler will generate incorrect code because it will be writing
3397 code targeted at a 32-bit platform, to be run on a 16-bit one.
3399 When NASM is in \c{BITS 16} state, instructions which use 32-bit
3400 data are prefixed with an 0x66 byte, and those referring to 32-bit
3401 addresses have an 0x67 prefix. In \c{BITS 32} state, the reverse is
3402 true: 32-bit instructions require no prefixes, whereas instructions
3403 using 16-bit data need an 0x66 and those working on 16-bit addresses
3406 The \c{BITS} directive has an exactly equivalent primitive form,
3407 \c{[BITS 16]} and \c{[BITS 32]}. The user-level form is a macro
3408 which has no function other than to call the primitive form.
3410 Note that the space is neccessary, \c{BITS32} will \e{not} work!
3412 \S{USE16 & USE32} \i\c{USE16} & \i\c{USE32}: Aliases for BITS
3414 The `\c{USE16}' and `\c{USE32}' directives can be used in place of
3415 `\c{BITS 16}' and `\c{BITS 32}', for compatibility with other assemblers.
3418 \H{section} \i\c{SECTION} or \i\c{SEGMENT}: Changing and \i{Defining
3421 \I{changing sections}\I{switching between sections}The \c{SECTION}
3422 directive (\c{SEGMENT} is an exactly equivalent synonym) changes
3423 which section of the output file the code you write will be
3424 assembled into. In some object file formats, the number and names of
3425 sections are fixed; in others, the user may make up as many as they
3426 wish. Hence \c{SECTION} may sometimes give an error message, or may
3427 define a new section, if you try to switch to a section that does
3430 The Unix object formats, and the \c{bin} object format (but see
3431 \k{multisec}, all support
3432 the \i{standardised section names} \c{.text}, \c{.data} and \c{.bss}
3433 for the code, data and uninitialised-data sections. The \c{obj}
3434 format, by contrast, does not recognise these section names as being
3435 special, and indeed will strip off the leading period of any section
3439 \S{sectmac} The \i\c{__SECT__} Macro
3441 The \c{SECTION} directive is unusual in that its user-level form
3442 functions differently from its primitive form. The primitive form,
3443 \c{[SECTION xyz]}, simply switches the current target section to the
3444 one given. The user-level form, \c{SECTION xyz}, however, first
3445 defines the single-line macro \c{__SECT__} to be the primitive
3446 \c{[SECTION]} directive which it is about to issue, and then issues
3447 it. So the user-level directive
3451 expands to the two lines
3453 \c %define __SECT__ [SECTION .text]
3456 Users may find it useful to make use of this in their own macros.
3457 For example, the \c{writefile} macro defined in \k{mlmacgre} can be
3458 usefully rewritten in the following more sophisticated form:
3460 \c %macro writefile 2+
3470 \c mov cx,%%endstr-%%str
3477 This form of the macro, once passed a string to output, first
3478 switches temporarily to the data section of the file, using the
3479 primitive form of the \c{SECTION} directive so as not to modify
3480 \c{__SECT__}. It then declares its string in the data section, and
3481 then invokes \c{__SECT__} to switch back to \e{whichever} section
3482 the user was previously working in. It thus avoids the need, in the
3483 previous version of the macro, to include a \c{JMP} instruction to
3484 jump over the data, and also does not fail if, in a complicated
3485 \c{OBJ} format module, the user could potentially be assembling the
3486 code in any of several separate code sections.
3489 \H{absolute} \i\c{ABSOLUTE}: Defining Absolute Labels
3491 The \c{ABSOLUTE} directive can be thought of as an alternative form
3492 of \c{SECTION}: it causes the subsequent code to be directed at no
3493 physical section, but at the hypothetical section starting at the
3494 given absolute address. The only instructions you can use in this
3495 mode are the \c{RESB} family.
3497 \c{ABSOLUTE} is used as follows:
3505 This example describes a section of the PC BIOS data area, at
3506 segment address 0x40: the above code defines \c{kbuf_chr} to be
3507 0x1A, \c{kbuf_free} to be 0x1C, and \c{kbuf} to be 0x1E.
3509 The user-level form of \c{ABSOLUTE}, like that of \c{SECTION},
3510 redefines the \i\c{__SECT__} macro when it is invoked.
3512 \i\c{STRUC} and \i\c{ENDSTRUC} are defined as macros which use
3513 \c{ABSOLUTE} (and also \c{__SECT__}).
3515 \c{ABSOLUTE} doesn't have to take an absolute constant as an
3516 argument: it can take an expression (actually, a \i{critical
3517 expression}: see \k{crit}) and it can be a value in a segment. For
3518 example, a TSR can re-use its setup code as run-time BSS like this:
3520 \c org 100h ; it's a .COM program
3522 \c jmp setup ; setup code comes last
3524 \c ; the resident part of the TSR goes here
3526 \c ; now write the code that installs the TSR here
3530 \c runtimevar1 resw 1
3531 \c runtimevar2 resd 20
3535 This defines some variables `on top of' the setup code, so that
3536 after the setup has finished running, the space it took up can be
3537 re-used as data storage for the running TSR. The symbol `tsr_end'
3538 can be used to calculate the total size of the part of the TSR that
3539 needs to be made resident.
3542 \H{extern} \i\c{EXTERN}: \i{Importing Symbols} from Other Modules
3544 \c{EXTERN} is similar to the MASM directive \c{EXTRN} and the C
3545 keyword \c{extern}: it is used to declare a symbol which is not
3546 defined anywhere in the module being assembled, but is assumed to be
3547 defined in some other module and needs to be referred to by this
3548 one. Not every object-file format can support external variables:
3549 the \c{bin} format cannot.
3551 The \c{EXTERN} directive takes as many arguments as you like. Each
3552 argument is the name of a symbol:
3555 \c extern _sscanf,_fscanf
3557 Some object-file formats provide extra features to the \c{EXTERN}
3558 directive. In all cases, the extra features are used by suffixing a
3559 colon to the symbol name followed by object-format specific text.
3560 For example, the \c{obj} format allows you to declare that the
3561 default segment base of an external should be the group \c{dgroup}
3562 by means of the directive
3564 \c extern _variable:wrt dgroup
3566 The primitive form of \c{EXTERN} differs from the user-level form
3567 only in that it can take only one argument at a time: the support
3568 for multiple arguments is implemented at the preprocessor level.
3570 You can declare the same variable as \c{EXTERN} more than once: NASM
3571 will quietly ignore the second and later redeclarations. You can't
3572 declare a variable as \c{EXTERN} as well as something else, though.
3575 \H{global} \i\c{GLOBAL}: \i{Exporting Symbols} to Other Modules
3577 \c{GLOBAL} is the other end of \c{EXTERN}: if one module declares a
3578 symbol as \c{EXTERN} and refers to it, then in order to prevent
3579 linker errors, some other module must actually \e{define} the
3580 symbol and declare it as \c{GLOBAL}. Some assemblers use the name
3581 \i\c{PUBLIC} for this purpose.
3583 The \c{GLOBAL} directive applying to a symbol must appear \e{before}
3584 the definition of the symbol.
3586 \c{GLOBAL} uses the same syntax as \c{EXTERN}, except that it must
3587 refer to symbols which \e{are} defined in the same module as the
3588 \c{GLOBAL} directive. For example:
3594 \c{GLOBAL}, like \c{EXTERN}, allows object formats to define private
3595 extensions by means of a colon. The \c{elf} object format, for
3596 example, lets you specify whether global data items are functions or
3599 \c global hashlookup:function, hashtable:data
3601 Like \c{EXTERN}, the primitive form of \c{GLOBAL} differs from the
3602 user-level form only in that it can take only one argument at a
3606 \H{common} \i\c{COMMON}: Defining Common Data Areas
3608 The \c{COMMON} directive is used to declare \i\e{common variables}.
3609 A common variable is much like a global variable declared in the
3610 uninitialised data section, so that
3614 is similar in function to
3621 The difference is that if more than one module defines the same
3622 common variable, then at link time those variables will be
3623 \e{merged}, and references to \c{intvar} in all modules will point
3624 at the same piece of memory.
3626 Like \c{GLOBAL} and \c{EXTERN}, \c{COMMON} supports object-format
3627 specific extensions. For example, the \c{obj} format allows common
3628 variables to be NEAR or FAR, and the \c{elf} format allows you to
3629 specify the alignment requirements of a common variable:
3631 \c common commvar 4:near ; works in OBJ
3632 \c common intarray 100:4 ; works in ELF: 4 byte aligned
3634 Once again, like \c{EXTERN} and \c{GLOBAL}, the primitive form of
3635 \c{COMMON} differs from the user-level form only in that it can take
3636 only one argument at a time.
3639 \H{CPU} \i\c{CPU}: Defining CPU Dependencies
3641 The \i\c{CPU} directive restricts assembly to those instructions which
3642 are available on the specified CPU.
3646 \b\c{CPU 8086} Assemble only 8086 instruction set
3648 \b\c{CPU 186} Assemble instructions up to the 80186 instruction set
3650 \b\c{CPU 286} Assemble instructions up to the 286 instruction set
3652 \b\c{CPU 386} Assemble instructions up to the 386 instruction set
3654 \b\c{CPU 486} 486 instruction set
3656 \b\c{CPU 586} Pentium instruction set
3658 \b\c{CPU PENTIUM} Same as 586
3660 \b\c{CPU 686} P6 instruction set
3662 \b\c{CPU PPRO} Same as 686
3664 \b\c{CPU P2} Same as 686
3666 \b\c{CPU P3} Pentium III (Katmai) instruction sets
3668 \b\c{CPU KATMAI} Same as P3
3670 \b\c{CPU P4} Pentium 4 (Willamette) instruction set
3672 \b\c{CPU WILLAMETTE} Same as P4
3674 \b\c{CPU PRESCOTT} Prescott instruction set
3676 \b\c{CPU IA64} IA64 CPU (in x86 mode) instruction set
3678 All options are case insensitive. All instructions will be selected
3679 only if they apply to the selected CPU or lower. By default, all
3680 instructions are available.
3683 \C{outfmt} \i{Output Formats}
3685 NASM is a portable assembler, designed to be able to compile on any
3686 ANSI C-supporting platform and produce output to run on a variety of
3687 Intel x86 operating systems. For this reason, it has a large number
3688 of available output formats, selected using the \i\c{-f} option on
3689 the NASM \i{command line}. Each of these formats, along with its
3690 extensions to the base NASM syntax, is detailed in this chapter.
3692 As stated in \k{opt-o}, NASM chooses a \i{default name} for your
3693 output file based on the input file name and the chosen output
3694 format. This will be generated by removing the \i{extension}
3695 (\c{.asm}, \c{.s}, or whatever you like to use) from the input file
3696 name, and substituting an extension defined by the output format.
3697 The extensions are given with each format below.
3700 \H{binfmt} \i\c{bin}: \i{Flat-Form Binary}\I{pure binary} Output
3702 The \c{bin} format does not produce object files: it generates
3703 nothing in the output file except the code you wrote. Such `pure
3704 binary' files are used by \i{MS-DOS}: \i\c{.COM} executables and
3705 \i\c{.SYS} device drivers are pure binary files. Pure binary output
3706 is also useful for \i{operating system} and \i{boot loader}
3709 The \c{bin} format supports \i{multiple section names}. For details of
3710 how nasm handles sections in the \c{bin} format, see \k{multisec}.
3712 Using the \c{bin} format puts NASM by default into 16-bit mode (see
3713 \k{bits}). In order to use \c{bin} to write 32-bit code such as an
3714 OS kernel, you need to explicitly issue the \I\c{BITS}\c{BITS 32}
3717 \c{bin} has no default output file name extension: instead, it
3718 leaves your file name as it is once the original extension has been
3719 removed. Thus, the default is for NASM to assemble \c{binprog.asm}
3720 into a binary file called \c{binprog}.
3723 \S{org} \i\c{ORG}: Binary File \i{Program Origin}
3725 The \c{bin} format provides an additional directive to the list
3726 given in \k{directive}: \c{ORG}. The function of the \c{ORG}
3727 directive is to specify the origin address which NASM will assume
3728 the program begins at when it is loaded into memory.
3730 For example, the following code will generate the longword
3737 Unlike the \c{ORG} directive provided by MASM-compatible assemblers,
3738 which allows you to jump around in the object file and overwrite
3739 code you have already generated, NASM's \c{ORG} does exactly what
3740 the directive says: \e{origin}. Its sole function is to specify one
3741 offset which is added to all internal address references within the
3742 section; it does not permit any of the trickery that MASM's version
3743 does. See \k{proborg} for further comments.
3746 \S{binseg} \c{bin} Extensions to the \c{SECTION}
3747 Directive\I{SECTION, bin extensions to}
3749 The \c{bin} output format extends the \c{SECTION} (or \c{SEGMENT})
3750 directive to allow you to specify the alignment requirements of
3751 segments. This is done by appending the \i\c{ALIGN} qualifier to the
3752 end of the section-definition line. For example,
3754 \c section .data align=16
3756 switches to the section \c{.data} and also specifies that it must be
3757 aligned on a 16-byte boundary.
3759 The parameter to \c{ALIGN} specifies how many low bits of the
3760 section start address must be forced to zero. The alignment value
3761 given may be any power of two.\I{section alignment, in
3762 bin}\I{segment alignment, in bin}\I{alignment, in bin sections}
3765 \S{multisec} \i\c{Multisection}\I{bin, multisection} support for the BIN format.
3767 The \c{bin} format allows the use of multiple sections, of arbitrary names,
3768 besides the "known" \c{.text}, \c{.data}, and \c{.bss} names.
3770 \b Sections may be designated \i\c{progbits} or \i\c{nobits}. Default
3771 is \c{progbits} (except \c{.bss}, which defaults to \c{nobits},
3774 \b Sections can be aligned at a specified boundary following the previous
3775 section with \c{align=}, or at an arbitrary byte-granular position with
3778 \b Sections can be given a virtual start address, which will be used
3779 for the calculation of all memory references within that section
3782 \b Sections can be ordered using \i\c{follows=}\c{<section>} or
3783 \i\c{vfollows=}\c{<section>} as an alternative to specifying an explicit
3786 \b Arguments to \c{org}, \c{start}, \c{vstart}, and \c{align=} are
3787 critical expressions. See \k{crit}. E.g. \c{align=(1 << ALIGN_SHIFT)}
3788 - \c{ALIGN_SHIFT} must be defined before it is used here.
3790 \b Any code which comes before an explicit \c{SECTION} directive
3791 is directed by default into the \c{.text} section.
3793 \b If an \c{ORG} statement is not given, \c{ORG 0} is used
3796 \b The \c{.bss} section will be placed after the last \c{progbits}
3797 section, unless \c{start=}, \c{vstart=}, \c{follows=}, or \c{vfollows=}
3800 \b All sections are aligned on dword boundaries, unless a different
3801 alignment has been specified.
3803 \b Sections may not overlap.
3805 \b Nasm creates the \c{section.<secname>.start} for each section,
3806 which may be used in your code.
3808 \S{map}\i{Map files}
3810 Map files can be generated in \c{-f bin} format by means of the \c{[map]}
3811 option. Map types of \c{all} (default), \c{brief}, \c{sections}, \c{segments},
3812 or \c{symbols} may be specified. Output may be directed to \c{stdout}
3813 (default), \c{stderr}, or a specified file. E.g.
3814 \c{[map symbols myfile.map]}. No "user form" exists, the square
3815 brackets must be used.
3818 \H{objfmt} \i\c{obj}: \i{Microsoft OMF}\I{OMF} Object Files
3820 The \c{obj} file format (NASM calls it \c{obj} rather than \c{omf}
3821 for historical reasons) is the one produced by \i{MASM} and
3822 \i{TASM}, which is typically fed to 16-bit DOS linkers to produce
3823 \i\c{.EXE} files. It is also the format used by \i{OS/2}.
3825 \c{obj} provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.obj}.
3827 \c{obj} is not exclusively a 16-bit format, though: NASM has full
3828 support for the 32-bit extensions to the format. In particular,
3829 32-bit \c{obj} format files are used by \i{Borland's Win32
3830 compilers}, instead of using Microsoft's newer \i\c{win32} object
3833 The \c{obj} format does not define any special segment names: you
3834 can call your segments anything you like. Typical names for segments
3835 in \c{obj} format files are \c{CODE}, \c{DATA} and \c{BSS}.
3837 If your source file contains code before specifying an explicit
3838 \c{SEGMENT} directive, then NASM will invent its own segment called
3839 \i\c{__NASMDEFSEG} for you.
3841 When you define a segment in an \c{obj} file, NASM defines the
3842 segment name as a symbol as well, so that you can access the segment
3843 address of the segment. So, for example:
3852 \c mov ax,data ; get segment address of data
3853 \c mov ds,ax ; and move it into DS
3854 \c inc word [dvar] ; now this reference will work
3857 The \c{obj} format also enables the use of the \i\c{SEG} and
3858 \i\c{WRT} operators, so that you can write code which does things
3863 \c mov ax,seg foo ; get preferred segment of foo
3865 \c mov ax,data ; a different segment
3867 \c mov ax,[ds:foo] ; this accesses `foo'
3868 \c mov [es:foo wrt data],bx ; so does this
3871 \S{objseg} \c{obj} Extensions to the \c{SEGMENT}
3872 Directive\I{SEGMENT, obj extensions to}
3874 The \c{obj} output format extends the \c{SEGMENT} (or \c{SECTION})
3875 directive to allow you to specify various properties of the segment
3876 you are defining. This is done by appending extra qualifiers to the
3877 end of the segment-definition line. For example,
3879 \c segment code private align=16
3881 defines the segment \c{code}, but also declares it to be a private
3882 segment, and requires that the portion of it described in this code
3883 module must be aligned on a 16-byte boundary.
3885 The available qualifiers are:
3887 \b \i\c{PRIVATE}, \i\c{PUBLIC}, \i\c{COMMON} and \i\c{STACK} specify
3888 the combination characteristics of the segment. \c{PRIVATE} segments
3889 do not get combined with any others by the linker; \c{PUBLIC} and
3890 \c{STACK} segments get concatenated together at link time; and
3891 \c{COMMON} segments all get overlaid on top of each other rather
3892 than stuck end-to-end.
3894 \b \i\c{ALIGN} is used, as shown above, to specify how many low bits
3895 of the segment start address must be forced to zero. The alignment
3896 value given may be any power of two from 1 to 4096; in reality, the
3897 only values supported are 1, 2, 4, 16, 256 and 4096, so if 8 is
3898 specified it will be rounded up to 16, and 32, 64 and 128 will all
3899 be rounded up to 256, and so on. Note that alignment to 4096-byte
3900 boundaries is a \i{PharLap} extension to the format and may not be
3901 supported by all linkers.\I{section alignment, in OBJ}\I{segment
3902 alignment, in OBJ}\I{alignment, in OBJ sections}
3904 \b \i\c{CLASS} can be used to specify the segment class; this feature
3905 indicates to the linker that segments of the same class should be
3906 placed near each other in the output file. The class name can be any
3907 word, e.g. \c{CLASS=CODE}.
3909 \b \i\c{OVERLAY}, like \c{CLASS}, is specified with an arbitrary word
3910 as an argument, and provides overlay information to an
3911 overlay-capable linker.
3913 \b Segments can be declared as \i\c{USE16} or \i\c{USE32}, which has
3914 the effect of recording the choice in the object file and also
3915 ensuring that NASM's default assembly mode when assembling in that
3916 segment is 16-bit or 32-bit respectively.
3918 \b When writing \i{OS/2} object files, you should declare 32-bit
3919 segments as \i\c{FLAT}, which causes the default segment base for
3920 anything in the segment to be the special group \c{FLAT}, and also
3921 defines the group if it is not already defined.
3923 \b The \c{obj} file format also allows segments to be declared as
3924 having a pre-defined absolute segment address, although no linkers
3925 are currently known to make sensible use of this feature;
3926 nevertheless, NASM allows you to declare a segment such as
3927 \c{SEGMENT SCREEN ABSOLUTE=0xB800} if you need to. The \i\c{ABSOLUTE}
3928 and \c{ALIGN} keywords are mutually exclusive.
3930 NASM's default segment attributes are \c{PUBLIC}, \c{ALIGN=1}, no
3931 class, no overlay, and \c{USE16}.
3934 \S{group} \i\c{GROUP}: Defining Groups of Segments\I{segments, groups of}
3936 The \c{obj} format also allows segments to be grouped, so that a
3937 single segment register can be used to refer to all the segments in
3938 a group. NASM therefore supplies the \c{GROUP} directive, whereby
3947 \c ; some uninitialised data
3949 \c group dgroup data bss
3951 which will define a group called \c{dgroup} to contain the segments
3952 \c{data} and \c{bss}. Like \c{SEGMENT}, \c{GROUP} causes the group
3953 name to be defined as a symbol, so that you can refer to a variable
3954 \c{var} in the \c{data} segment as \c{var wrt data} or as \c{var wrt
3955 dgroup}, depending on which segment value is currently in your
3958 If you just refer to \c{var}, however, and \c{var} is declared in a
3959 segment which is part of a group, then NASM will default to giving
3960 you the offset of \c{var} from the beginning of the \e{group}, not
3961 the \e{segment}. Therefore \c{SEG var}, also, will return the group
3962 base rather than the segment base.
3964 NASM will allow a segment to be part of more than one group, but
3965 will generate a warning if you do this. Variables declared in a
3966 segment which is part of more than one group will default to being
3967 relative to the first group that was defined to contain the segment.
3969 A group does not have to contain any segments; you can still make
3970 \c{WRT} references to a group which does not contain the variable
3971 you are referring to. OS/2, for example, defines the special group
3972 \c{FLAT} with no segments in it.
3975 \S{uppercase} \i\c{UPPERCASE}: Disabling Case Sensitivity in Output
3977 Although NASM itself is \i{case sensitive}, some OMF linkers are
3978 not; therefore it can be useful for NASM to output single-case
3979 object files. The \c{UPPERCASE} format-specific directive causes all
3980 segment, group and symbol names that are written to the object file
3981 to be forced to upper case just before being written. Within a
3982 source file, NASM is still case-sensitive; but the object file can
3983 be written entirely in upper case if desired.
3985 \c{UPPERCASE} is used alone on a line; it requires no parameters.
3988 \S{import} \i\c{IMPORT}: Importing DLL Symbols\I{DLL symbols,
3989 importing}\I{symbols, importing from DLLs}
3991 The \c{IMPORT} format-specific directive defines a symbol to be
3992 imported from a DLL, for use if you are writing a DLL's \i{import
3993 library} in NASM. You still need to declare the symbol as \c{EXTERN}
3994 as well as using the \c{IMPORT} directive.
3996 The \c{IMPORT} directive takes two required parameters, separated by
3997 white space, which are (respectively) the name of the symbol you
3998 wish to import and the name of the library you wish to import it
4001 \c import WSAStartup wsock32.dll
4003 A third optional parameter gives the name by which the symbol is
4004 known in the library you are importing it from, in case this is not
4005 the same as the name you wish the symbol to be known by to your code
4006 once you have imported it. For example:
4008 \c import asyncsel wsock32.dll WSAAsyncSelect
4011 \S{export} \i\c{EXPORT}: Exporting DLL Symbols\I{DLL symbols,
4012 exporting}\I{symbols, exporting from DLLs}
4014 The \c{EXPORT} format-specific directive defines a global symbol to
4015 be exported as a DLL symbol, for use if you are writing a DLL in
4016 NASM. You still need to declare the symbol as \c{GLOBAL} as well as
4017 using the \c{EXPORT} directive.
4019 \c{EXPORT} takes one required parameter, which is the name of the
4020 symbol you wish to export, as it was defined in your source file. An
4021 optional second parameter (separated by white space from the first)
4022 gives the \e{external} name of the symbol: the name by which you
4023 wish the symbol to be known to programs using the DLL. If this name
4024 is the same as the internal name, you may leave the second parameter
4027 Further parameters can be given to define attributes of the exported
4028 symbol. These parameters, like the second, are separated by white
4029 space. If further parameters are given, the external name must also
4030 be specified, even if it is the same as the internal name. The
4031 available attributes are:
4033 \b \c{resident} indicates that the exported name is to be kept
4034 resident by the system loader. This is an optimisation for
4035 frequently used symbols imported by name.
4037 \b \c{nodata} indicates that the exported symbol is a function which
4038 does not make use of any initialised data.
4040 \b \c{parm=NNN}, where \c{NNN} is an integer, sets the number of
4041 parameter words for the case in which the symbol is a call gate
4042 between 32-bit and 16-bit segments.
4044 \b An attribute which is just a number indicates that the symbol
4045 should be exported with an identifying number (ordinal), and gives
4051 \c export myfunc TheRealMoreFormalLookingFunctionName
4052 \c export myfunc myfunc 1234 ; export by ordinal
4053 \c export myfunc myfunc resident parm=23 nodata
4056 \S{dotdotstart} \i\c{..start}: Defining the \i{Program Entry
4059 \c{OMF} linkers require exactly one of the object files being linked to
4060 define the program entry point, where execution will begin when the
4061 program is run. If the object file that defines the entry point is
4062 assembled using NASM, you specify the entry point by declaring the
4063 special symbol \c{..start} at the point where you wish execution to
4067 \S{objextern} \c{obj} Extensions to the \c{EXTERN}
4068 Directive\I{EXTERN, obj extensions to}
4070 If you declare an external symbol with the directive
4074 then references such as \c{mov ax,foo} will give you the offset of
4075 \c{foo} from its preferred segment base (as specified in whichever
4076 module \c{foo} is actually defined in). So to access the contents of
4077 \c{foo} you will usually need to do something like
4079 \c mov ax,seg foo ; get preferred segment base
4080 \c mov es,ax ; move it into ES
4081 \c mov ax,[es:foo] ; and use offset `foo' from it
4083 This is a little unwieldy, particularly if you know that an external
4084 is going to be accessible from a given segment or group, say
4085 \c{dgroup}. So if \c{DS} already contained \c{dgroup}, you could
4088 \c mov ax,[foo wrt dgroup]
4090 However, having to type this every time you want to access \c{foo}
4091 can be a pain; so NASM allows you to declare \c{foo} in the
4094 \c extern foo:wrt dgroup
4096 This form causes NASM to pretend that the preferred segment base of
4097 \c{foo} is in fact \c{dgroup}; so the expression \c{seg foo} will
4098 now return \c{dgroup}, and the expression \c{foo} is equivalent to
4101 This \I{default-WRT mechanism}default-\c{WRT} mechanism can be used
4102 to make externals appear to be relative to any group or segment in
4103 your program. It can also be applied to common variables: see
4107 \S{objcommon} \c{obj} Extensions to the \c{COMMON}
4108 Directive\I{COMMON, obj extensions to}
4110 The \c{obj} format allows common variables to be either near\I{near
4111 common variables} or far\I{far common variables}; NASM allows you to
4112 specify which your variables should be by the use of the syntax
4114 \c common nearvar 2:near ; `nearvar' is a near common
4115 \c common farvar 10:far ; and `farvar' is far
4117 Far common variables may be greater in size than 64Kb, and so the
4118 OMF specification says that they are declared as a number of
4119 \e{elements} of a given size. So a 10-byte far common variable could
4120 be declared as ten one-byte elements, five two-byte elements, two
4121 five-byte elements or one ten-byte element.
4123 Some \c{OMF} linkers require the \I{element size, in common
4124 variables}\I{common variables, element size}element size, as well as
4125 the variable size, to match when resolving common variables declared
4126 in more than one module. Therefore NASM must allow you to specify
4127 the element size on your far common variables. This is done by the
4130 \c common c_5by2 10:far 5 ; two five-byte elements
4131 \c common c_2by5 10:far 2 ; five two-byte elements
4133 If no element size is specified, the default is 1. Also, the \c{FAR}
4134 keyword is not required when an element size is specified, since
4135 only far commons may have element sizes at all. So the above
4136 declarations could equivalently be
4138 \c common c_5by2 10:5 ; two five-byte elements
4139 \c common c_2by5 10:2 ; five two-byte elements
4141 In addition to these extensions, the \c{COMMON} directive in \c{obj}
4142 also supports default-\c{WRT} specification like \c{EXTERN} does
4143 (explained in \k{objextern}). So you can also declare things like
4145 \c common foo 10:wrt dgroup
4146 \c common bar 16:far 2:wrt data
4147 \c common baz 24:wrt data:6
4150 \H{win32fmt} \i\c{win32}: Microsoft Win32 Object Files
4152 The \c{win32} output format generates Microsoft Win32 object files,
4153 suitable for passing to Microsoft linkers such as \i{Visual C++}.
4154 Note that Borland Win32 compilers do not use this format, but use
4155 \c{obj} instead (see \k{objfmt}).
4157 \c{win32} provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.obj}.
4159 Note that although Microsoft say that Win32 object files follow the
4160 \c{COFF} (Common Object File Format) standard, the object files produced
4161 by Microsoft Win32 compilers are not compatible with COFF linkers
4162 such as DJGPP's, and vice versa. This is due to a difference of
4163 opinion over the precise semantics of PC-relative relocations. To
4164 produce COFF files suitable for DJGPP, use NASM's \c{coff} output
4165 format; conversely, the \c{coff} format does not produce object
4166 files that Win32 linkers can generate correct output from.
4169 \S{win32sect} \c{win32} Extensions to the \c{SECTION}
4170 Directive\I{SECTION, win32 extensions to}
4172 Like the \c{obj} format, \c{win32} allows you to specify additional
4173 information on the \c{SECTION} directive line, to control the type
4174 and properties of sections you declare. Section types and properties
4175 are generated automatically by NASM for the \i{standard section names}
4176 \c{.text}, \c{.data} and \c{.bss}, but may still be overridden by
4179 The available qualifiers are:
4181 \b \c{code}, or equivalently \c{text}, defines the section to be a
4182 code section. This marks the section as readable and executable, but
4183 not writable, and also indicates to the linker that the type of the
4186 \b \c{data} and \c{bss} define the section to be a data section,
4187 analogously to \c{code}. Data sections are marked as readable and
4188 writable, but not executable. \c{data} declares an initialised data
4189 section, whereas \c{bss} declares an uninitialised data section.
4191 \b \c{rdata} declares an initialised data section that is readable
4192 but not writable. Microsoft compilers use this section to place
4195 \b \c{info} defines the section to be an \i{informational section},
4196 which is not included in the executable file by the linker, but may
4197 (for example) pass information \e{to} the linker. For example,
4198 declaring an \c{info}-type section called \i\c{.drectve} causes the
4199 linker to interpret the contents of the section as command-line
4202 \b \c{align=}, used with a trailing number as in \c{obj}, gives the
4203 \I{section alignment, in win32}\I{alignment, in win32
4204 sections}alignment requirements of the section. The maximum you may
4205 specify is 64: the Win32 object file format contains no means to
4206 request a greater section alignment than this. If alignment is not
4207 explicitly specified, the defaults are 16-byte alignment for code
4208 sections, 8-byte alignment for rdata sections and 4-byte alignment
4209 for data (and BSS) sections.
4210 Informational sections get a default alignment of 1 byte (no
4211 alignment), though the value does not matter.
4213 The defaults assumed by NASM if you do not specify the above
4216 \c section .text code align=16
4217 \c section .data data align=4
4218 \c section .rdata rdata align=8
4219 \c section .bss bss align=4
4221 Any other section name is treated by default like \c{.text}.
4224 \H{cofffmt} \i\c{coff}: \i{Common Object File Format}
4226 The \c{coff} output type produces \c{COFF} object files suitable for
4227 linking with the \i{DJGPP} linker.
4229 \c{coff} provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.o}.
4231 The \c{coff} format supports the same extensions to the \c{SECTION}
4232 directive as \c{win32} does, except that the \c{align} qualifier and
4233 the \c{info} section type are not supported.
4236 \H{elffmt} \i\c{elf}: \I{ELF}\I{linux, elf}\i{Executable and Linkable
4237 Format} Object Files
4239 The \c{elf} output format generates \c{ELF32} (Executable and Linkable
4240 Format) object files, as used by Linux as well as \i{Unix System V},
4241 including \i{Solaris x86}, \i{UnixWare} and \i{SCO Unix}. \c{elf}
4242 provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.o}.
4245 \S{elfsect} \c{elf} Extensions to the \c{SECTION}
4246 Directive\I{SECTION, elf extensions to}
4248 Like the \c{obj} format, \c{elf} allows you to specify additional
4249 information on the \c{SECTION} directive line, to control the type
4250 and properties of sections you declare. Section types and properties
4251 are generated automatically by NASM for the \i{standard section
4252 names} \i\c{.text}, \i\c{.data} and \i\c{.bss}, but may still be
4253 overridden by these qualifiers.
4255 The available qualifiers are:
4257 \b \i\c{alloc} defines the section to be one which is loaded into
4258 memory when the program is run. \i\c{noalloc} defines it to be one
4259 which is not, such as an informational or comment section.
4261 \b \i\c{exec} defines the section to be one which should have execute
4262 permission when the program is run. \i\c{noexec} defines it as one
4265 \b \i\c{write} defines the section to be one which should be writable
4266 when the program is run. \i\c{nowrite} defines it as one which should
4269 \b \i\c{progbits} defines the section to be one with explicit contents
4270 stored in the object file: an ordinary code or data section, for
4271 example, \i\c{nobits} defines the section to be one with no explicit
4272 contents given, such as a BSS section.
4274 \b \c{align=}, used with a trailing number as in \c{obj}, gives the
4275 \I{section alignment, in elf}\I{alignment, in elf sections}alignment
4276 requirements of the section.
4278 The defaults assumed by NASM if you do not specify the above
4281 \c section .text progbits alloc exec nowrite align=16
4282 \c section .rodata progbits alloc noexec nowrite align=4
4283 \c section .data progbits alloc noexec write align=4
4284 \c section .bss nobits alloc noexec write align=4
4285 \c section other progbits alloc noexec nowrite align=1
4287 (Any section name other than \c{.text}, \c{.rodata}, \c{.data} and
4288 \c{.bss} is treated by default like \c{other} in the above code.)
4291 \S{elfwrt} \i{Position-Independent Code}\I{PIC}: \c{elf} Special
4292 Symbols and \i\c{WRT}
4294 The \c{ELF} specification contains enough features to allow
4295 position-independent code (PIC) to be written, which makes \i{ELF
4296 shared libraries} very flexible. However, it also means NASM has to
4297 be able to generate a variety of strange relocation types in ELF
4298 object files, if it is to be an assembler which can write PIC.
4300 Since \c{ELF} does not support segment-base references, the \c{WRT}
4301 operator is not used for its normal purpose; therefore NASM's
4302 \c{elf} output format makes use of \c{WRT} for a different purpose,
4303 namely the PIC-specific \I{relocations, PIC-specific}relocation
4306 \c{elf} defines five special symbols which you can use as the
4307 right-hand side of the \c{WRT} operator to obtain PIC relocation
4308 types. They are \i\c{..gotpc}, \i\c{..gotoff}, \i\c{..got},
4309 \i\c{..plt} and \i\c{..sym}. Their functions are summarised here:
4311 \b Referring to the symbol marking the global offset table base
4312 using \c{wrt ..gotpc} will end up giving the distance from the
4313 beginning of the current section to the global offset table.
4314 (\i\c{_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_} is the standard symbol name used to
4315 refer to the \i{GOT}.) So you would then need to add \i\c{$$} to the
4316 result to get the real address of the GOT.
4318 \b Referring to a location in one of your own sections using \c{wrt
4319 ..gotoff} will give the distance from the beginning of the GOT to
4320 the specified location, so that adding on the address of the GOT
4321 would give the real address of the location you wanted.
4323 \b Referring to an external or global symbol using \c{wrt ..got}
4324 causes the linker to build an entry \e{in} the GOT containing the
4325 address of the symbol, and the reference gives the distance from the
4326 beginning of the GOT to the entry; so you can add on the address of
4327 the GOT, load from the resulting address, and end up with the
4328 address of the symbol.
4330 \b Referring to a procedure name using \c{wrt ..plt} causes the
4331 linker to build a \i{procedure linkage table} entry for the symbol,
4332 and the reference gives the address of the \i{PLT} entry. You can
4333 only use this in contexts which would generate a PC-relative
4334 relocation normally (i.e. as the destination for \c{CALL} or
4335 \c{JMP}), since ELF contains no relocation type to refer to PLT
4338 \b Referring to a symbol name using \c{wrt ..sym} causes NASM to
4339 write an ordinary relocation, but instead of making the relocation
4340 relative to the start of the section and then adding on the offset
4341 to the symbol, it will write a relocation record aimed directly at
4342 the symbol in question. The distinction is a necessary one due to a
4343 peculiarity of the dynamic linker.
4345 A fuller explanation of how to use these relocation types to write
4346 shared libraries entirely in NASM is given in \k{picdll}.
4349 \S{elfglob} \c{elf} Extensions to the \c{GLOBAL} Directive\I{GLOBAL,
4350 elf extensions to}\I{GLOBAL, aoutb extensions to}
4352 \c{ELF} object files can contain more information about a global symbol
4353 than just its address: they can contain the \I{symbol sizes,
4354 specifying}\I{size, of symbols}size of the symbol and its \I{symbol
4355 types, specifying}\I{type, of symbols}type as well. These are not
4356 merely debugger conveniences, but are actually necessary when the
4357 program being written is a \i{shared library}. NASM therefore
4358 supports some extensions to the \c{GLOBAL} directive, allowing you
4359 to specify these features.
4361 You can specify whether a global variable is a function or a data
4362 object by suffixing the name with a colon and the word
4363 \i\c{function} or \i\c{data}. (\i\c{object} is a synonym for
4364 \c{data}.) For example:
4366 \c global hashlookup:function, hashtable:data
4368 exports the global symbol \c{hashlookup} as a function and
4369 \c{hashtable} as a data object.
4371 You can also specify the size of the data associated with the
4372 symbol, as a numeric expression (which may involve labels, and even
4373 forward references) after the type specifier. Like this:
4375 \c global hashtable:data (hashtable.end - hashtable)
4378 \c db this,that,theother ; some data here
4381 This makes NASM automatically calculate the length of the table and
4382 place that information into the \c{ELF} symbol table.
4384 Declaring the type and size of global symbols is necessary when
4385 writing shared library code. For more information, see
4389 \S{elfcomm} \c{elf} Extensions to the \c{COMMON} Directive
4390 \I{COMMON, elf extensions to}
4392 \c{ELF} also allows you to specify alignment requirements \I{common
4393 variables, alignment in elf}\I{alignment, of elf common variables}on
4394 common variables. This is done by putting a number (which must be a
4395 power of two) after the name and size of the common variable,
4396 separated (as usual) by a colon. For example, an array of
4397 doublewords would benefit from 4-byte alignment:
4399 \c common dwordarray 128:4
4401 This declares the total size of the array to be 128 bytes, and
4402 requires that it be aligned on a 4-byte boundary.
4405 \S{elf16} 16-bit code and ELF
4406 \I{ELF, 16-bit code and}
4408 The \c{ELF32} specification doesn't provide relocations for 8- and
4409 16-bit values, but the GNU \c{ld} linker adds these as an extension.
4410 NASM can generate GNU-compatible relocations, to allow 16-bit code to
4411 be linked as ELF using GNU \c{ld}. If NASM is used with the
4412 \c{-w+gnu-elf-extensions} option, a warning is issued when one of
4413 these relocations is generated.
4415 \H{aoutfmt} \i\c{aout}: Linux \I{a.out, Linux version}\I{linux, a.out}\c{a.out} Object Files
4417 The \c{aout} format generates \c{a.out} object files, in the form used
4418 by early Linux systems (current Linux systems use ELF, see
4419 \k{elffmt}.) These differ from other \c{a.out} object files in that
4420 the magic number in the first four bytes of the file is
4421 different; also, some implementations of \c{a.out}, for example
4422 NetBSD's, support position-independent code, which Linux's
4423 implementation does not.
4425 \c{a.out} provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.o}.
4427 \c{a.out} is a very simple object format. It supports no special
4428 directives, no special symbols, no use of \c{SEG} or \c{WRT}, and no
4429 extensions to any standard directives. It supports only the three
4430 \i{standard section names} \i\c{.text}, \i\c{.data} and \i\c{.bss}.
4433 \H{aoutfmt} \i\c{aoutb}: \i{NetBSD}/\i{FreeBSD}/\i{OpenBSD}
4434 \I{a.out, BSD version}\c{a.out} Object Files
4436 The \c{aoutb} format generates \c{a.out} object files, in the form
4437 used by the various free \c{BSD Unix} clones, \c{NetBSD}, \c{FreeBSD}
4438 and \c{OpenBSD}. For simple object files, this object format is exactly
4439 the same as \c{aout} except for the magic number in the first four bytes
4440 of the file. However, the \c{aoutb} format supports
4441 \I{PIC}\i{position-independent code} in the same way as the \c{elf}
4442 format, so you can use it to write \c{BSD} \i{shared libraries}.
4444 \c{aoutb} provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.o}.
4446 \c{aoutb} supports no special directives, no special symbols, and
4447 only the three \i{standard section names} \i\c{.text}, \i\c{.data}
4448 and \i\c{.bss}. However, it also supports the same use of \i\c{WRT} as
4449 \c{elf} does, to provide position-independent code relocation types.
4450 See \k{elfwrt} for full documentation of this feature.
4452 \c{aoutb} also supports the same extensions to the \c{GLOBAL}
4453 directive as \c{elf} does: see \k{elfglob} for documentation of
4457 \H{as86fmt} \c{as86}: \i{Minix}/Linux\I{linux, as86} \i\c{as86} Object Files
4459 The Minix/Linux 16-bit assembler \c{as86} has its own non-standard
4460 object file format. Although its companion linker \i\c{ld86} produces
4461 something close to ordinary \c{a.out} binaries as output, the object
4462 file format used to communicate between \c{as86} and \c{ld86} is not
4465 NASM supports this format, just in case it is useful, as \c{as86}.
4466 \c{as86} provides a default output file-name extension of \c{.o}.
4468 \c{as86} is a very simple object format (from the NASM user's point
4469 of view). It supports no special directives, no special symbols, no
4470 use of \c{SEG} or \c{WRT}, and no extensions to any standard
4471 directives. It supports only the three \i{standard section names}
4472 \i\c{.text}, \i\c{.data} and \i\c{.bss}.
4475 \H{rdffmt} \I{RDOFF}\i\c{rdf}: \i{Relocatable Dynamic Object File
4478 The \c{rdf} output format produces \c{RDOFF} object files. \c{RDOFF}
4479 (Relocatable Dynamic Object File Format) is a home-grown object-file
4480 format, designed alongside NASM itself and reflecting in its file
4481 format the internal structure of the assembler.
4483 \c{RDOFF} is not used by any well-known operating systems. Those
4484 writing their own systems, however, may well wish to use \c{RDOFF}
4485 as their object format, on the grounds that it is designed primarily
4486 for simplicity and contains very little file-header bureaucracy.
4488 The Unix NASM archive, and the DOS archive which includes sources,
4489 both contain an \I{rdoff subdirectory}\c{rdoff} subdirectory holding
4490 a set of RDOFF utilities: an RDF linker, an \c{RDF} static-library
4491 manager, an RDF file dump utility, and a program which will load and
4492 execute an RDF executable under Linux.
4494 \c{rdf} supports only the \i{standard section names} \i\c{.text},
4495 \i\c{.data} and \i\c{.bss}.
4498 \S{rdflib} Requiring a Library: The \i\c{LIBRARY} Directive
4500 \c{RDOFF} contains a mechanism for an object file to demand a given
4501 library to be linked to the module, either at load time or run time.
4502 This is done by the \c{LIBRARY} directive, which takes one argument
4503 which is the name of the module:
4505 \c library mylib.rdl
4508 \S{rdfmod} Specifying a Module Name: The \i\c{MODULE} Directive
4510 Special \c{RDOFF} header record is used to store the name of the module.
4511 It can be used, for example, by run-time loader to perform dynamic
4512 linking. \c{MODULE} directive takes one argument which is the name
4517 Note that when you statically link modules and tell linker to strip
4518 the symbols from output file, all module names will be stripped too.
4519 To avoid it, you should start module names with \I{$, prefix}\c{$}, like:
4521 \c module $kernel.core
4524 \S{rdfglob} \c{rdf} Extensions to the \c{GLOBAL} directive\I{GLOBAL,
4527 \c{RDOFF} global symbols can contain additional information needed by
4528 the static linker. You can mark a global symbol as exported, thus
4529 telling the linker do not strip it from target executable or library
4530 file. Like in \c{ELF}, you can also specify whether an exported symbol
4531 is a procedure (function) or data object.
4533 Suffixing the name with a colon and the word \i\c{export} you make the
4536 \c global sys_open:export
4538 To specify that exported symbol is a procedure (function), you add the
4539 word \i\c{proc} or \i\c{function} after declaration:
4541 \c global sys_open:export proc
4543 Similarly, to specify exported data object, add the word \i\c{data}
4544 or \i\c{object} to the directive:
4546 \c global kernel_ticks:export data
4549 \S{rdfimpt} \c{rdf} Extensions to the \c{EXTERN} directive\I{EXTERN,
4552 By default the \c{EXTERN} directive in \c{RDOFF} declares a "pure external"
4553 symbol (i.e. the static linker will complain if such a symbol is not resolved).
4554 To declare an "imported" symbol, which must be resolved later during a dynamic
4555 linking phase, \c{RDOFF} offers an additional \c{import} modifier. As in
4556 \c{GLOBAL}, you can also specify whether an imported symbol is a procedure
4557 (function) or data object. For example:
4560 \c extern _open:import
4561 \c extern _printf:import proc
4562 \c extern _errno:import data
4564 Here the directive \c{LIBRARY} is also included, which gives the dynamic linker
4565 a hint as to where to find requested symbols.
4568 \H{dbgfmt} \i\c{dbg}: Debugging Format
4570 The \c{dbg} output format is not built into NASM in the default
4571 configuration. If you are building your own NASM executable from the
4572 sources, you can define \i\c{OF_DBG} in \c{outform.h} or on the
4573 compiler command line, and obtain the \c{dbg} output format.
4575 The \c{dbg} format does not output an object file as such; instead,
4576 it outputs a text file which contains a complete list of all the
4577 transactions between the main body of NASM and the output-format
4578 back end module. It is primarily intended to aid people who want to
4579 write their own output drivers, so that they can get a clearer idea
4580 of the various requests the main program makes of the output driver,
4581 and in what order they happen.
4583 For simple files, one can easily use the \c{dbg} format like this:
4585 \c nasm -f dbg filename.asm
4587 which will generate a diagnostic file called \c{filename.dbg}.
4588 However, this will not work well on files which were designed for a
4589 different object format, because each object format defines its own
4590 macros (usually user-level forms of directives), and those macros
4591 will not be defined in the \c{dbg} format. Therefore it can be
4592 useful to run NASM twice, in order to do the preprocessing with the
4593 native object format selected:
4595 \c nasm -e -f rdf -o rdfprog.i rdfprog.asm
4596 \c nasm -a -f dbg rdfprog.i
4598 This preprocesses \c{rdfprog.asm} into \c{rdfprog.i}, keeping the
4599 \c{rdf} object format selected in order to make sure RDF special
4600 directives are converted into primitive form correctly. Then the
4601 preprocessed source is fed through the \c{dbg} format to generate
4602 the final diagnostic output.
4604 This workaround will still typically not work for programs intended
4605 for \c{obj} format, because the \c{obj} \c{SEGMENT} and \c{GROUP}
4606 directives have side effects of defining the segment and group names
4607 as symbols; \c{dbg} will not do this, so the program will not
4608 assemble. You will have to work around that by defining the symbols
4609 yourself (using \c{EXTERN}, for example) if you really need to get a
4610 \c{dbg} trace of an \c{obj}-specific source file.
4612 \c{dbg} accepts any section name and any directives at all, and logs
4613 them all to its output file.
4616 \C{16bit} Writing 16-bit Code (DOS, Windows 3/3.1)
4618 This chapter attempts to cover some of the common issues encountered
4619 when writing 16-bit code to run under \c{MS-DOS} or \c{Windows 3.x}. It
4620 covers how to link programs to produce \c{.EXE} or \c{.COM} files,
4621 how to write \c{.SYS} device drivers, and how to interface assembly
4622 language code with 16-bit C compilers and with Borland Pascal.
4625 \H{exefiles} Producing \i\c{.EXE} Files
4627 Any large program written under DOS needs to be built as a \c{.EXE}
4628 file: only \c{.EXE} files have the necessary internal structure
4629 required to span more than one 64K segment. \i{Windows} programs,
4630 also, have to be built as \c{.EXE} files, since Windows does not
4631 support the \c{.COM} format.
4633 In general, you generate \c{.EXE} files by using the \c{obj} output
4634 format to produce one or more \i\c{.OBJ} files, and then linking
4635 them together using a linker. However, NASM also supports the direct
4636 generation of simple DOS \c{.EXE} files using the \c{bin} output
4637 format (by using \c{DB} and \c{DW} to construct the \c{.EXE} file
4638 header), and a macro package is supplied to do this. Thanks to
4639 Yann Guidon for contributing the code for this.
4641 NASM may also support \c{.EXE} natively as another output format in
4645 \S{objexe} Using the \c{obj} Format To Generate \c{.EXE} Files
4647 This section describes the usual method of generating \c{.EXE} files
4648 by linking \c{.OBJ} files together.
4650 Most 16-bit programming language packages come with a suitable
4651 linker; if you have none of these, there is a free linker called
4652 \i{VAL}\I{linker, free}, available in \c{LZH} archive format from
4653 \W{ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/lang/}\i\c{x2ftp.oulu.fi}.
4654 An LZH archiver can be found at
4655 \W{ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/arcers}\i\c{ftp.simtel.net}.
4656 There is another `free' linker (though this one doesn't come with
4657 sources) called \i{FREELINK}, available from
4658 \W{http://www.pcorner.com/tpc/old/3-101.html}\i\c{www.pcorner.com}.
4659 A third, \i\c{djlink}, written by DJ Delorie, is available at
4660 \W{http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/16bit/djlink/}\i\c{www.delorie.com}.
4661 A fourth linker, \i\c{ALINK}, written by Anthony A.J. Williams, is
4662 available at \W{http://alink.sourceforge.net}\i\c{alink.sourceforge.net}.
4664 When linking several \c{.OBJ} files into a \c{.EXE} file, you should
4665 ensure that exactly one of them has a start point defined (using the
4666 \I{program entry point}\i\c{..start} special symbol defined by the
4667 \c{obj} format: see \k{dotdotstart}). If no module defines a start
4668 point, the linker will not know what value to give the entry-point
4669 field in the output file header; if more than one defines a start
4670 point, the linker will not know \e{which} value to use.
4672 An example of a NASM source file which can be assembled to a
4673 \c{.OBJ} file and linked on its own to a \c{.EXE} is given here. It
4674 demonstrates the basic principles of defining a stack, initialising
4675 the segment registers, and declaring a start point. This file is
4676 also provided in the \I{test subdirectory}\c{test} subdirectory of
4677 the NASM archives, under the name \c{objexe.asm}.
4688 This initial piece of code sets up \c{DS} to point to the data
4689 segment, and initialises \c{SS} and \c{SP} to point to the top of
4690 the provided stack. Notice that interrupts are implicitly disabled
4691 for one instruction after a move into \c{SS}, precisely for this
4692 situation, so that there's no chance of an interrupt occurring
4693 between the loads of \c{SS} and \c{SP} and not having a stack to
4696 Note also that the special symbol \c{..start} is defined at the
4697 beginning of this code, which means that will be the entry point
4698 into the resulting executable file.
4704 The above is the main program: load \c{DS:DX} with a pointer to the
4705 greeting message (\c{hello} is implicitly relative to the segment
4706 \c{data}, which was loaded into \c{DS} in the setup code, so the
4707 full pointer is valid), and call the DOS print-string function.
4712 This terminates the program using another DOS system call.
4716 \c hello: db 'hello, world', 13, 10, '$'
4718 The data segment contains the string we want to display.
4720 \c segment stack stack
4724 The above code declares a stack segment containing 64 bytes of
4725 uninitialised stack space, and points \c{stacktop} at the top of it.
4726 The directive \c{segment stack stack} defines a segment \e{called}
4727 \c{stack}, and also of \e{type} \c{STACK}. The latter is not
4728 necessary to the correct running of the program, but linkers are
4729 likely to issue warnings or errors if your program has no segment of
4732 The above file, when assembled into a \c{.OBJ} file, will link on
4733 its own to a valid \c{.EXE} file, which when run will print `hello,
4734 world' and then exit.
4737 \S{binexe} Using the \c{bin} Format To Generate \c{.EXE} Files
4739 The \c{.EXE} file format is simple enough that it's possible to
4740 build a \c{.EXE} file by writing a pure-binary program and sticking
4741 a 32-byte header on the front. This header is simple enough that it
4742 can be generated using \c{DB} and \c{DW} commands by NASM itself, so
4743 that you can use the \c{bin} output format to directly generate
4746 Included in the NASM archives, in the \I{misc subdirectory}\c{misc}
4747 subdirectory, is a file \i\c{exebin.mac} of macros. It defines three
4748 macros: \i\c{EXE_begin}, \i\c{EXE_stack} and \i\c{EXE_end}.
4750 To produce a \c{.EXE} file using this method, you should start by
4751 using \c{%include} to load the \c{exebin.mac} macro package into
4752 your source file. You should then issue the \c{EXE_begin} macro call
4753 (which takes no arguments) to generate the file header data. Then
4754 write code as normal for the \c{bin} format - you can use all three
4755 standard sections \c{.text}, \c{.data} and \c{.bss}. At the end of
4756 the file you should call the \c{EXE_end} macro (again, no arguments),
4757 which defines some symbols to mark section sizes, and these symbols
4758 are referred to in the header code generated by \c{EXE_begin}.
4760 In this model, the code you end up writing starts at \c{0x100}, just
4761 like a \c{.COM} file - in fact, if you strip off the 32-byte header
4762 from the resulting \c{.EXE} file, you will have a valid \c{.COM}
4763 program. All the segment bases are the same, so you are limited to a
4764 64K program, again just like a \c{.COM} file. Note that an \c{ORG}
4765 directive is issued by the \c{EXE_begin} macro, so you should not
4766 explicitly issue one of your own.
4768 You can't directly refer to your segment base value, unfortunately,
4769 since this would require a relocation in the header, and things
4770 would get a lot more complicated. So you should get your segment
4771 base by copying it out of \c{CS} instead.
4773 On entry to your \c{.EXE} file, \c{SS:SP} are already set up to
4774 point to the top of a 2Kb stack. You can adjust the default stack
4775 size of 2Kb by calling the \c{EXE_stack} macro. For example, to
4776 change the stack size of your program to 64 bytes, you would call
4779 A sample program which generates a \c{.EXE} file in this way is
4780 given in the \c{test} subdirectory of the NASM archive, as
4784 \H{comfiles} Producing \i\c{.COM} Files
4786 While large DOS programs must be written as \c{.EXE} files, small
4787 ones are often better written as \c{.COM} files. \c{.COM} files are
4788 pure binary, and therefore most easily produced using the \c{bin}
4792 \S{combinfmt} Using the \c{bin} Format To Generate \c{.COM} Files
4794 \c{.COM} files expect to be loaded at offset \c{100h} into their
4795 segment (though the segment may change). Execution then begins at
4796 \I\c{ORG}\c{100h}, i.e. right at the start of the program. So to
4797 write a \c{.COM} program, you would create a source file looking
4805 \c ; put your code here
4809 \c ; put data items here
4813 \c ; put uninitialised data here
4815 The \c{bin} format puts the \c{.text} section first in the file, so
4816 you can declare data or BSS items before beginning to write code if
4817 you want to and the code will still end up at the front of the file
4820 The BSS (uninitialised data) section does not take up space in the
4821 \c{.COM} file itself: instead, addresses of BSS items are resolved
4822 to point at space beyond the end of the file, on the grounds that
4823 this will be free memory when the program is run. Therefore you
4824 should not rely on your BSS being initialised to all zeros when you
4827 To assemble the above program, you should use a command line like
4829 \c nasm myprog.asm -fbin -o myprog.com
4831 The \c{bin} format would produce a file called \c{myprog} if no
4832 explicit output file name were specified, so you have to override it
4833 and give the desired file name.
4836 \S{comobjfmt} Using the \c{obj} Format To Generate \c{.COM} Files
4838 If you are writing a \c{.COM} program as more than one module, you
4839 may wish to assemble several \c{.OBJ} files and link them together
4840 into a \c{.COM} program. You can do this, provided you have a linker
4841 capable of outputting \c{.COM} files directly (\i{TLINK} does this),
4842 or alternatively a converter program such as \i\c{EXE2BIN} to
4843 transform the \c{.EXE} file output from the linker into a \c{.COM}
4846 If you do this, you need to take care of several things:
4848 \b The first object file containing code should start its code
4849 segment with a line like \c{RESB 100h}. This is to ensure that the
4850 code begins at offset \c{100h} relative to the beginning of the code
4851 segment, so that the linker or converter program does not have to
4852 adjust address references within the file when generating the
4853 \c{.COM} file. Other assemblers use an \i\c{ORG} directive for this
4854 purpose, but \c{ORG} in NASM is a format-specific directive to the
4855 \c{bin} output format, and does not mean the same thing as it does
4856 in MASM-compatible assemblers.
4858 \b You don't need to define a stack segment.
4860 \b All your segments should be in the same group, so that every time
4861 your code or data references a symbol offset, all offsets are
4862 relative to the same segment base. This is because, when a \c{.COM}
4863 file is loaded, all the segment registers contain the same value.
4866 \H{sysfiles} Producing \i\c{.SYS} Files
4868 \i{MS-DOS device drivers} - \c{.SYS} files - are pure binary files,
4869 similar to \c{.COM} files, except that they start at origin zero
4870 rather than \c{100h}. Therefore, if you are writing a device driver
4871 using the \c{bin} format, you do not need the \c{ORG} directive,
4872 since the default origin for \c{bin} is zero. Similarly, if you are
4873 using \c{obj}, you do not need the \c{RESB 100h} at the start of
4876 \c{.SYS} files start with a header structure, containing pointers to
4877 the various routines inside the driver which do the work. This
4878 structure should be defined at the start of the code segment, even
4879 though it is not actually code.
4881 For more information on the format of \c{.SYS} files, and the data
4882 which has to go in the header structure, a list of books is given in
4883 the Frequently Asked Questions list for the newsgroup
4884 \W{news:comp.os.msdos.programmer}\i\c{comp.os.msdos.programmer}.
4887 \H{16c} Interfacing to 16-bit C Programs
4889 This section covers the basics of writing assembly routines that
4890 call, or are called from, C programs. To do this, you would
4891 typically write an assembly module as a \c{.OBJ} file, and link it
4892 with your C modules to produce a \i{mixed-language program}.
4895 \S{16cunder} External Symbol Names
4897 \I{C symbol names}\I{underscore, in C symbols}C compilers have the
4898 convention that the names of all global symbols (functions or data)
4899 they define are formed by prefixing an underscore to the name as it
4900 appears in the C program. So, for example, the function a C
4901 programmer thinks of as \c{printf} appears to an assembly language
4902 programmer as \c{_printf}. This means that in your assembly
4903 programs, you can define symbols without a leading underscore, and
4904 not have to worry about name clashes with C symbols.
4906 If you find the underscores inconvenient, you can define macros to
4907 replace the \c{GLOBAL} and \c{EXTERN} directives as follows:
4923 (These forms of the macros only take one argument at a time; a
4924 \c{%rep} construct could solve this.)
4926 If you then declare an external like this:
4930 then the macro will expand it as
4933 \c %define printf _printf
4935 Thereafter, you can reference \c{printf} as if it was a symbol, and
4936 the preprocessor will put the leading underscore on where necessary.
4938 The \c{cglobal} macro works similarly. You must use \c{cglobal}
4939 before defining the symbol in question, but you would have had to do
4940 that anyway if you used \c{GLOBAL}.
4942 Also see \k{opt-pfix}.
4944 \S{16cmodels} \i{Memory Models}
4946 NASM contains no mechanism to support the various C memory models
4947 directly; you have to keep track yourself of which one you are
4948 writing for. This means you have to keep track of the following
4951 \b In models using a single code segment (tiny, small and compact),
4952 functions are near. This means that function pointers, when stored
4953 in data segments or pushed on the stack as function arguments, are
4954 16 bits long and contain only an offset field (the \c{CS} register
4955 never changes its value, and always gives the segment part of the
4956 full function address), and that functions are called using ordinary
4957 near \c{CALL} instructions and return using \c{RETN} (which, in
4958 NASM, is synonymous with \c{RET} anyway). This means both that you
4959 should write your own routines to return with \c{RETN}, and that you
4960 should call external C routines with near \c{CALL} instructions.
4962 \b In models using more than one code segment (medium, large and
4963 huge), functions are far. This means that function pointers are 32
4964 bits long (consisting of a 16-bit offset followed by a 16-bit
4965 segment), and that functions are called using \c{CALL FAR} (or
4966 \c{CALL seg:offset}) and return using \c{RETF}. Again, you should
4967 therefore write your own routines to return with \c{RETF} and use
4968 \c{CALL FAR} to call external routines.
4970 \b In models using a single data segment (tiny, small and medium),
4971 data pointers are 16 bits long, containing only an offset field (the
4972 \c{DS} register doesn't change its value, and always gives the
4973 segment part of the full data item address).
4975 \b In models using more than one data segment (compact, large and
4976 huge), data pointers are 32 bits long, consisting of a 16-bit offset
4977 followed by a 16-bit segment. You should still be careful not to
4978 modify \c{DS} in your routines without restoring it afterwards, but
4979 \c{ES} is free for you to use to access the contents of 32-bit data
4980 pointers you are passed.
4982 \b The huge memory model allows single data items to exceed 64K in
4983 size. In all other memory models, you can access the whole of a data
4984 item just by doing arithmetic on the offset field of the pointer you
4985 are given, whether a segment field is present or not; in huge model,
4986 you have to be more careful of your pointer arithmetic.
4988 \b In most memory models, there is a \e{default} data segment, whose
4989 segment address is kept in \c{DS} throughout the program. This data
4990 segment is typically the same segment as the stack, kept in \c{SS},
4991 so that functions' local variables (which are stored on the stack)
4992 and global data items can both be accessed easily without changing
4993 \c{DS}. Particularly large data items are typically stored in other
4994 segments. However, some memory models (though not the standard
4995 ones, usually) allow the assumption that \c{SS} and \c{DS} hold the
4996 same value to be removed. Be careful about functions' local
4997 variables in this latter case.
4999 In models with a single code segment, the segment is called
5000 \i\c{_TEXT}, so your code segment must also go by this name in order
5001 to be linked into the same place as the main code segment. In models
5002 with a single data segment, or with a default data segment, it is
5006 \S{16cfunc} Function Definitions and Function Calls
5008 \I{functions, C calling convention}The \i{C calling convention} in
5009 16-bit programs is as follows. In the following description, the
5010 words \e{caller} and \e{callee} are used to denote the function
5011 doing the calling and the function which gets called.
5013 \b The caller pushes the function's parameters on the stack, one
5014 after another, in reverse order (right to left, so that the first
5015 argument specified to the function is pushed last).
5017 \b The caller then executes a \c{CALL} instruction to pass control
5018 to the callee. This \c{CALL} is either near or far depending on the
5021 \b The callee receives control, and typically (although this is not
5022 actually necessary, in functions which do not need to access their
5023 parameters) starts by saving the value of \c{SP} in \c{BP} so as to
5024 be able to use \c{BP} as a base pointer to find its parameters on
5025 the stack. However, the caller was probably doing this too, so part
5026 of the calling convention states that \c{BP} must be preserved by
5027 any C function. Hence the callee, if it is going to set up \c{BP} as
5028 a \i\e{frame pointer}, must push the previous value first.
5030 \b The callee may then access its parameters relative to \c{BP}.
5031 The word at \c{[BP]} holds the previous value of \c{BP} as it was
5032 pushed; the next word, at \c{[BP+2]}, holds the offset part of the
5033 return address, pushed implicitly by \c{CALL}. In a small-model
5034 (near) function, the parameters start after that, at \c{[BP+4]}; in
5035 a large-model (far) function, the segment part of the return address
5036 lives at \c{[BP+4]}, and the parameters begin at \c{[BP+6]}. The
5037 leftmost parameter of the function, since it was pushed last, is
5038 accessible at this offset from \c{BP}; the others follow, at
5039 successively greater offsets. Thus, in a function such as \c{printf}
5040 which takes a variable number of parameters, the pushing of the
5041 parameters in reverse order means that the function knows where to
5042 find its first parameter, which tells it the number and type of the
5045 \b The callee may also wish to decrease \c{SP} further, so as to
5046 allocate space on the stack for local variables, which will then be
5047 accessible at negative offsets from \c{BP}.
5049 \b The callee, if it wishes to return a value to the caller, should
5050 leave the value in \c{AL}, \c{AX} or \c{DX:AX} depending on the size
5051 of the value. Floating-point results are sometimes (depending on the
5052 compiler) returned in \c{ST0}.
5054 \b Once the callee has finished processing, it restores \c{SP} from
5055 \c{BP} if it had allocated local stack space, then pops the previous
5056 value of \c{BP}, and returns via \c{RETN} or \c{RETF} depending on
5059 \b When the caller regains control from the callee, the function
5060 parameters are still on the stack, so it typically adds an immediate
5061 constant to \c{SP} to remove them (instead of executing a number of
5062 slow \c{POP} instructions). Thus, if a function is accidentally
5063 called with the wrong number of parameters due to a prototype
5064 mismatch, the stack will still be returned to a sensible state since
5065 the caller, which \e{knows} how many parameters it pushed, does the
5068 It is instructive to compare this calling convention with that for
5069 Pascal programs (described in \k{16bpfunc}). Pascal has a simpler
5070 convention, since no functions have variable numbers of parameters.
5071 Therefore the callee knows how many parameters it should have been
5072 passed, and is able to deallocate them from the stack itself by
5073 passing an immediate argument to the \c{RET} or \c{RETF}
5074 instruction, so the caller does not have to do it. Also, the
5075 parameters are pushed in left-to-right order, not right-to-left,
5076 which means that a compiler can give better guarantees about
5077 sequence points without performance suffering.
5079 Thus, you would define a function in C style in the following way.
5080 The following example is for small model:
5087 \c sub sp,0x40 ; 64 bytes of local stack space
5088 \c mov bx,[bp+4] ; first parameter to function
5092 \c mov sp,bp ; undo "sub sp,0x40" above
5096 For a large-model function, you would replace \c{RET} by \c{RETF},
5097 and look for the first parameter at \c{[BP+6]} instead of
5098 \c{[BP+4]}. Of course, if one of the parameters is a pointer, then
5099 the offsets of \e{subsequent} parameters will change depending on
5100 the memory model as well: far pointers take up four bytes on the
5101 stack when passed as a parameter, whereas near pointers take up two.
5103 At the other end of the process, to call a C function from your
5104 assembly code, you would do something like this:
5108 \c ; and then, further down...
5110 \c push word [myint] ; one of my integer variables
5111 \c push word mystring ; pointer into my data segment
5113 \c add sp,byte 4 ; `byte' saves space
5115 \c ; then those data items...
5120 \c mystring db 'This number -> %d <- should be 1234',10,0
5122 This piece of code is the small-model assembly equivalent of the C
5125 \c int myint = 1234;
5126 \c printf("This number -> %d <- should be 1234\n", myint);
5128 In large model, the function-call code might look more like this. In
5129 this example, it is assumed that \c{DS} already holds the segment
5130 base of the segment \c{_DATA}. If not, you would have to initialise
5133 \c push word [myint]
5134 \c push word seg mystring ; Now push the segment, and...
5135 \c push word mystring ; ... offset of "mystring"
5139 The integer value still takes up one word on the stack, since large
5140 model does not affect the size of the \c{int} data type. The first
5141 argument (pushed last) to \c{printf}, however, is a data pointer,
5142 and therefore has to contain a segment and offset part. The segment
5143 should be stored second in memory, and therefore must be pushed
5144 first. (Of course, \c{PUSH DS} would have been a shorter instruction
5145 than \c{PUSH WORD SEG mystring}, if \c{DS} was set up as the above
5146 example assumed.) Then the actual call becomes a far call, since
5147 functions expect far calls in large model; and \c{SP} has to be
5148 increased by 6 rather than 4 afterwards to make up for the extra
5152 \S{16cdata} Accessing Data Items
5154 To get at the contents of C variables, or to declare variables which
5155 C can access, you need only declare the names as \c{GLOBAL} or
5156 \c{EXTERN}. (Again, the names require leading underscores, as stated
5157 in \k{16cunder}.) Thus, a C variable declared as \c{int i} can be
5158 accessed from assembler as
5164 And to declare your own integer variable which C programs can access
5165 as \c{extern int j}, you do this (making sure you are assembling in
5166 the \c{_DATA} segment, if necessary):
5172 To access a C array, you need to know the size of the components of
5173 the array. For example, \c{int} variables are two bytes long, so if
5174 a C program declares an array as \c{int a[10]}, you can access
5175 \c{a[3]} by coding \c{mov ax,[_a+6]}. (The byte offset 6 is obtained
5176 by multiplying the desired array index, 3, by the size of the array
5177 element, 2.) The sizes of the C base types in 16-bit compilers are:
5178 1 for \c{char}, 2 for \c{short} and \c{int}, 4 for \c{long} and
5179 \c{float}, and 8 for \c{double}.
5181 To access a C \i{data structure}, you need to know the offset from
5182 the base of the structure to the field you are interested in. You
5183 can either do this by converting the C structure definition into a
5184 NASM structure definition (using \i\c{STRUC}), or by calculating the
5185 one offset and using just that.
5187 To do either of these, you should read your C compiler's manual to
5188 find out how it organises data structures. NASM gives no special
5189 alignment to structure members in its own \c{STRUC} macro, so you
5190 have to specify alignment yourself if the C compiler generates it.
5191 Typically, you might find that a structure like
5198 might be four bytes long rather than three, since the \c{int} field
5199 would be aligned to a two-byte boundary. However, this sort of
5200 feature tends to be a configurable option in the C compiler, either
5201 using command-line options or \c{#pragma} lines, so you have to find
5202 out how your own compiler does it.
5205 \S{16cmacro} \i\c{c16.mac}: Helper Macros for the 16-bit C Interface
5207 Included in the NASM archives, in the \I{misc subdirectory}\c{misc}
5208 directory, is a file \c{c16.mac} of macros. It defines three macros:
5209 \i\c{proc}, \i\c{arg} and \i\c{endproc}. These are intended to be
5210 used for C-style procedure definitions, and they automate a lot of
5211 the work involved in keeping track of the calling convention.
5213 (An alternative, TASM compatible form of \c{arg} is also now built
5214 into NASM's preprocessor. See \k{tasmcompat} for details.)
5216 An example of an assembly function using the macro set is given
5223 \c mov ax,[bp + %$i]
5224 \c mov bx,[bp + %$j]
5229 This defines \c{_nearproc} to be a procedure taking two arguments,
5230 the first (\c{i}) an integer and the second (\c{j}) a pointer to an
5231 integer. It returns \c{i + *j}.
5233 Note that the \c{arg} macro has an \c{EQU} as the first line of its
5234 expansion, and since the label before the macro call gets prepended
5235 to the first line of the expanded macro, the \c{EQU} works, defining
5236 \c{%$i} to be an offset from \c{BP}. A context-local variable is
5237 used, local to the context pushed by the \c{proc} macro and popped
5238 by the \c{endproc} macro, so that the same argument name can be used
5239 in later procedures. Of course, you don't \e{have} to do that.
5241 The macro set produces code for near functions (tiny, small and
5242 compact-model code) by default. You can have it generate far
5243 functions (medium, large and huge-model code) by means of coding
5244 \I\c{FARCODE}\c{%define FARCODE}. This changes the kind of return
5245 instruction generated by \c{endproc}, and also changes the starting
5246 point for the argument offsets. The macro set contains no intrinsic
5247 dependency on whether data pointers are far or not.
5249 \c{arg} can take an optional parameter, giving the size of the
5250 argument. If no size is given, 2 is assumed, since it is likely that
5251 many function parameters will be of type \c{int}.
5253 The large-model equivalent of the above function would look like this:
5261 \c mov ax,[bp + %$i]
5262 \c mov bx,[bp + %$j]
5263 \c mov es,[bp + %$j + 2]
5268 This makes use of the argument to the \c{arg} macro to define a
5269 parameter of size 4, because \c{j} is now a far pointer. When we
5270 load from \c{j}, we must load a segment and an offset.
5273 \H{16bp} Interfacing to \i{Borland Pascal} Programs
5275 Interfacing to Borland Pascal programs is similar in concept to
5276 interfacing to 16-bit C programs. The differences are:
5278 \b The leading underscore required for interfacing to C programs is
5279 not required for Pascal.
5281 \b The memory model is always large: functions are far, data
5282 pointers are far, and no data item can be more than 64K long.
5283 (Actually, some functions are near, but only those functions that
5284 are local to a Pascal unit and never called from outside it. All
5285 assembly functions that Pascal calls, and all Pascal functions that
5286 assembly routines are able to call, are far.) However, all static
5287 data declared in a Pascal program goes into the default data
5288 segment, which is the one whose segment address will be in \c{DS}
5289 when control is passed to your assembly code. The only things that
5290 do not live in the default data segment are local variables (they
5291 live in the stack segment) and dynamically allocated variables. All
5292 data \e{pointers}, however, are far.
5294 \b The function calling convention is different - described below.
5296 \b Some data types, such as strings, are stored differently.
5298 \b There are restrictions on the segment names you are allowed to
5299 use - Borland Pascal will ignore code or data declared in a segment
5300 it doesn't like the name of. The restrictions are described below.
5303 \S{16bpfunc} The Pascal Calling Convention
5305 \I{functions, Pascal calling convention}\I{Pascal calling
5306 convention}The 16-bit Pascal calling convention is as follows. In
5307 the following description, the words \e{caller} and \e{callee} are
5308 used to denote the function doing the calling and the function which
5311 \b The caller pushes the function's parameters on the stack, one
5312 after another, in normal order (left to right, so that the first
5313 argument specified to the function is pushed first).
5315 \b The caller then executes a far \c{CALL} instruction to pass
5316 control to the callee.
5318 \b The callee receives control, and typically (although this is not
5319 actually necessary, in functions which do not need to access their
5320 parameters) starts by saving the value of \c{SP} in \c{BP} so as to
5321 be able to use \c{BP} as a base pointer to find its parameters on
5322 the stack. However, the caller was probably doing this too, so part
5323 of the calling convention states that \c{BP} must be preserved by
5324 any function. Hence the callee, if it is going to set up \c{BP} as a
5325 \i{frame pointer}, must push the previous value first.
5327 \b The callee may then access its parameters relative to \c{BP}.
5328 The word at \c{[BP]} holds the previous value of \c{BP} as it was
5329 pushed. The next word, at \c{[BP+2]}, holds the offset part of the
5330 return address, and the next one at \c{[BP+4]} the segment part. The
5331 parameters begin at \c{[BP+6]}. The rightmost parameter of the
5332 function, since it was pushed last, is accessible at this offset
5333 from \c{BP}; the others follow, at successively greater offsets.
5335 \b The callee may also wish to decrease \c{SP} further, so as to
5336 allocate space on the stack for local variables, which will then be
5337 accessible at negative offsets from \c{BP}.
5339 \b The callee, if it wishes to return a value to the caller, should
5340 leave the value in \c{AL}, \c{AX} or \c{DX:AX} depending on the size
5341 of the value. Floating-point results are returned in \c{ST0}.
5342 Results of type \c{Real} (Borland's own custom floating-point data
5343 type, not handled directly by the FPU) are returned in \c{DX:BX:AX}.
5344 To return a result of type \c{String}, the caller pushes a pointer
5345 to a temporary string before pushing the parameters, and the callee
5346 places the returned string value at that location. The pointer is
5347 not a parameter, and should not be removed from the stack by the
5348 \c{RETF} instruction.
5350 \b Once the callee has finished processing, it restores \c{SP} from
5351 \c{BP} if it had allocated local stack space, then pops the previous
5352 value of \c{BP}, and returns via \c{RETF}. It uses the form of
5353 \c{RETF} with an immediate parameter, giving the number of bytes
5354 taken up by the parameters on the stack. This causes the parameters
5355 to be removed from the stack as a side effect of the return
5358 \b When the caller regains control from the callee, the function
5359 parameters have already been removed from the stack, so it needs to
5362 Thus, you would define a function in Pascal style, taking two
5363 \c{Integer}-type parameters, in the following way:
5369 \c sub sp,0x40 ; 64 bytes of local stack space
5370 \c mov bx,[bp+8] ; first parameter to function
5371 \c mov bx,[bp+6] ; second parameter to function
5375 \c mov sp,bp ; undo "sub sp,0x40" above
5377 \c retf 4 ; total size of params is 4
5379 At the other end of the process, to call a Pascal function from your
5380 assembly code, you would do something like this:
5384 \c ; and then, further down...
5386 \c push word seg mystring ; Now push the segment, and...
5387 \c push word mystring ; ... offset of "mystring"
5388 \c push word [myint] ; one of my variables
5389 \c call far SomeFunc
5391 This is equivalent to the Pascal code
5393 \c procedure SomeFunc(String: PChar; Int: Integer);
5394 \c SomeFunc(@mystring, myint);
5397 \S{16bpseg} Borland Pascal \I{segment names, Borland Pascal}Segment
5400 Since Borland Pascal's internal unit file format is completely
5401 different from \c{OBJ}, it only makes a very sketchy job of actually
5402 reading and understanding the various information contained in a
5403 real \c{OBJ} file when it links that in. Therefore an object file
5404 intended to be linked to a Pascal program must obey a number of
5407 \b Procedures and functions must be in a segment whose name is
5408 either \c{CODE}, \c{CSEG}, or something ending in \c{_TEXT}.
5410 \b Initialised data must be in a segment whose name is either
5411 \c{CONST} or something ending in \c{_DATA}.
5413 \b Uninitialised data must be in a segment whose name is either
5414 \c{DATA}, \c{DSEG}, or something ending in \c{_BSS}.
5416 \b Any other segments in the object file are completely ignored.
5417 \c{GROUP} directives and segment attributes are also ignored.
5420 \S{16bpmacro} Using \i\c{c16.mac} With Pascal Programs
5422 The \c{c16.mac} macro package, described in \k{16cmacro}, can also
5423 be used to simplify writing functions to be called from Pascal
5424 programs, if you code \I\c{PASCAL}\c{%define PASCAL}. This
5425 definition ensures that functions are far (it implies
5426 \i\c{FARCODE}), and also causes procedure return instructions to be
5427 generated with an operand.
5429 Defining \c{PASCAL} does not change the code which calculates the
5430 argument offsets; you must declare your function's arguments in
5431 reverse order. For example:
5439 \c mov ax,[bp + %$i]
5440 \c mov bx,[bp + %$j]
5441 \c mov es,[bp + %$j + 2]
5446 This defines the same routine, conceptually, as the example in
5447 \k{16cmacro}: it defines a function taking two arguments, an integer
5448 and a pointer to an integer, which returns the sum of the integer
5449 and the contents of the pointer. The only difference between this
5450 code and the large-model C version is that \c{PASCAL} is defined
5451 instead of \c{FARCODE}, and that the arguments are declared in
5455 \C{32bit} Writing 32-bit Code (Unix, Win32, DJGPP)
5457 This chapter attempts to cover some of the common issues involved
5458 when writing 32-bit code, to run under \i{Win32} or Unix, or to be
5459 linked with C code generated by a Unix-style C compiler such as
5460 \i{DJGPP}. It covers how to write assembly code to interface with
5461 32-bit C routines, and how to write position-independent code for
5464 Almost all 32-bit code, and in particular all code running under
5465 \c{Win32}, \c{DJGPP} or any of the PC Unix variants, runs in \I{flat
5466 memory model}\e{flat} memory model. This means that the segment registers
5467 and paging have already been set up to give you the same 32-bit 4Gb
5468 address space no matter what segment you work relative to, and that
5469 you should ignore all segment registers completely. When writing
5470 flat-model application code, you never need to use a segment
5471 override or modify any segment register, and the code-section
5472 addresses you pass to \c{CALL} and \c{JMP} live in the same address
5473 space as the data-section addresses you access your variables by and
5474 the stack-section addresses you access local variables and procedure
5475 parameters by. Every address is 32 bits long and contains only an
5479 \H{32c} Interfacing to 32-bit C Programs
5481 A lot of the discussion in \k{16c}, about interfacing to 16-bit C
5482 programs, still applies when working in 32 bits. The absence of
5483 memory models or segmentation worries simplifies things a lot.
5486 \S{32cunder} External Symbol Names
5488 Most 32-bit C compilers share the convention used by 16-bit
5489 compilers, that the names of all global symbols (functions or data)
5490 they define are formed by prefixing an underscore to the name as it
5491 appears in the C program. However, not all of them do: the \c{ELF}
5492 specification states that C symbols do \e{not} have a leading
5493 underscore on their assembly-language names.
5495 The older Linux \c{a.out} C compiler, all \c{Win32} compilers,
5496 \c{DJGPP}, and \c{NetBSD} and \c{FreeBSD}, all use the leading
5497 underscore; for these compilers, the macros \c{cextern} and
5498 \c{cglobal}, as given in \k{16cunder}, will still work. For \c{ELF},
5499 though, the leading underscore should not be used.
5501 See also \k{opt-pfix}.
5503 \S{32cfunc} Function Definitions and Function Calls
5505 \I{functions, C calling convention}The \i{C calling convention}The C
5506 calling convention in 32-bit programs is as follows. In the
5507 following description, the words \e{caller} and \e{callee} are used
5508 to denote the function doing the calling and the function which gets
5511 \b The caller pushes the function's parameters on the stack, one
5512 after another, in reverse order (right to left, so that the first
5513 argument specified to the function is pushed last).
5515 \b The caller then executes a near \c{CALL} instruction to pass
5516 control to the callee.
5518 \b The callee receives control, and typically (although this is not
5519 actually necessary, in functions which do not need to access their
5520 parameters) starts by saving the value of \c{ESP} in \c{EBP} so as
5521 to be able to use \c{EBP} as a base pointer to find its parameters
5522 on the stack. However, the caller was probably doing this too, so
5523 part of the calling convention states that \c{EBP} must be preserved
5524 by any C function. Hence the callee, if it is going to set up
5525 \c{EBP} as a \i{frame pointer}, must push the previous value first.
5527 \b The callee may then access its parameters relative to \c{EBP}.
5528 The doubleword at \c{[EBP]} holds the previous value of \c{EBP} as
5529 it was pushed; the next doubleword, at \c{[EBP+4]}, holds the return
5530 address, pushed implicitly by \c{CALL}. The parameters start after
5531 that, at \c{[EBP+8]}. The leftmost parameter of the function, since
5532 it was pushed last, is accessible at this offset from \c{EBP}; the
5533 others follow, at successively greater offsets. Thus, in a function
5534 such as \c{printf} which takes a variable number of parameters, the
5535 pushing of the parameters in reverse order means that the function
5536 knows where to find its first parameter, which tells it the number
5537 and type of the remaining ones.
5539 \b The callee may also wish to decrease \c{ESP} further, so as to
5540 allocate space on the stack for local variables, which will then be
5541 accessible at negative offsets from \c{EBP}.
5543 \b The callee, if it wishes to return a value to the caller, should
5544 leave the value in \c{AL}, \c{AX} or \c{EAX} depending on the size
5545 of the value. Floating-point results are typically returned in
5548 \b Once the callee has finished processing, it restores \c{ESP} from
5549 \c{EBP} if it had allocated local stack space, then pops the previous
5550 value of \c{EBP}, and returns via \c{RET} (equivalently, \c{RETN}).
5552 \b When the caller regains control from the callee, the function
5553 parameters are still on the stack, so it typically adds an immediate
5554 constant to \c{ESP} to remove them (instead of executing a number of
5555 slow \c{POP} instructions). Thus, if a function is accidentally
5556 called with the wrong number of parameters due to a prototype
5557 mismatch, the stack will still be returned to a sensible state since
5558 the caller, which \e{knows} how many parameters it pushed, does the
5561 There is an alternative calling convention used by Win32 programs
5562 for Windows API calls, and also for functions called \e{by} the
5563 Windows API such as window procedures: they follow what Microsoft
5564 calls the \c{__stdcall} convention. This is slightly closer to the
5565 Pascal convention, in that the callee clears the stack by passing a
5566 parameter to the \c{RET} instruction. However, the parameters are
5567 still pushed in right-to-left order.
5569 Thus, you would define a function in C style in the following way:
5576 \c sub esp,0x40 ; 64 bytes of local stack space
5577 \c mov ebx,[ebp+8] ; first parameter to function
5581 \c leave ; mov esp,ebp / pop ebp
5584 At the other end of the process, to call a C function from your
5585 assembly code, you would do something like this:
5589 \c ; and then, further down...
5591 \c push dword [myint] ; one of my integer variables
5592 \c push dword mystring ; pointer into my data segment
5594 \c add esp,byte 8 ; `byte' saves space
5596 \c ; then those data items...
5601 \c mystring db 'This number -> %d <- should be 1234',10,0
5603 This piece of code is the assembly equivalent of the C code
5605 \c int myint = 1234;
5606 \c printf("This number -> %d <- should be 1234\n", myint);
5609 \S{32cdata} Accessing Data Items
5611 To get at the contents of C variables, or to declare variables which
5612 C can access, you need only declare the names as \c{GLOBAL} or
5613 \c{EXTERN}. (Again, the names require leading underscores, as stated
5614 in \k{32cunder}.) Thus, a C variable declared as \c{int i} can be
5615 accessed from assembler as
5620 And to declare your own integer variable which C programs can access
5621 as \c{extern int j}, you do this (making sure you are assembling in
5622 the \c{_DATA} segment, if necessary):
5627 To access a C array, you need to know the size of the components of
5628 the array. For example, \c{int} variables are four bytes long, so if
5629 a C program declares an array as \c{int a[10]}, you can access
5630 \c{a[3]} by coding \c{mov ax,[_a+12]}. (The byte offset 12 is obtained
5631 by multiplying the desired array index, 3, by the size of the array
5632 element, 4.) The sizes of the C base types in 32-bit compilers are:
5633 1 for \c{char}, 2 for \c{short}, 4 for \c{int}, \c{long} and
5634 \c{float}, and 8 for \c{double}. Pointers, being 32-bit addresses,
5635 are also 4 bytes long.
5637 To access a C \i{data structure}, you need to know the offset from
5638 the base of the structure to the field you are interested in. You
5639 can either do this by converting the C structure definition into a
5640 NASM structure definition (using \c{STRUC}), or by calculating the
5641 one offset and using just that.
5643 To do either of these, you should read your C compiler's manual to
5644 find out how it organises data structures. NASM gives no special
5645 alignment to structure members in its own \i\c{STRUC} macro, so you
5646 have to specify alignment yourself if the C compiler generates it.
5647 Typically, you might find that a structure like
5654 might be eight bytes long rather than five, since the \c{int} field
5655 would be aligned to a four-byte boundary. However, this sort of
5656 feature is sometimes a configurable option in the C compiler, either
5657 using command-line options or \c{#pragma} lines, so you have to find
5658 out how your own compiler does it.
5661 \S{32cmacro} \i\c{c32.mac}: Helper Macros for the 32-bit C Interface
5663 Included in the NASM archives, in the \I{misc directory}\c{misc}
5664 directory, is a file \c{c32.mac} of macros. It defines three macros:
5665 \i\c{proc}, \i\c{arg} and \i\c{endproc}. These are intended to be
5666 used for C-style procedure definitions, and they automate a lot of
5667 the work involved in keeping track of the calling convention.
5669 An example of an assembly function using the macro set is given
5676 \c mov eax,[ebp + %$i]
5677 \c mov ebx,[ebp + %$j]
5682 This defines \c{_proc32} to be a procedure taking two arguments, the
5683 first (\c{i}) an integer and the second (\c{j}) a pointer to an
5684 integer. It returns \c{i + *j}.
5686 Note that the \c{arg} macro has an \c{EQU} as the first line of its
5687 expansion, and since the label before the macro call gets prepended
5688 to the first line of the expanded macro, the \c{EQU} works, defining
5689 \c{%$i} to be an offset from \c{BP}. A context-local variable is
5690 used, local to the context pushed by the \c{proc} macro and popped
5691 by the \c{endproc} macro, so that the same argument name can be used
5692 in later procedures. Of course, you don't \e{have} to do that.
5694 \c{arg} can take an optional parameter, giving the size of the
5695 argument. If no size is given, 4 is assumed, since it is likely that
5696 many function parameters will be of type \c{int} or pointers.
5699 \H{picdll} Writing NetBSD/FreeBSD/OpenBSD and Linux/ELF \i{Shared
5702 \c{ELF} replaced the older \c{a.out} object file format under Linux
5703 because it contains support for \i{position-independent code}
5704 (\i{PIC}), which makes writing shared libraries much easier. NASM
5705 supports the \c{ELF} position-independent code features, so you can
5706 write Linux \c{ELF} shared libraries in NASM.
5708 \i{NetBSD}, and its close cousins \i{FreeBSD} and \i{OpenBSD}, take
5709 a different approach by hacking PIC support into the \c{a.out}
5710 format. NASM supports this as the \i\c{aoutb} output format, so you
5711 can write \i{BSD} shared libraries in NASM too.
5713 The operating system loads a PIC shared library by memory-mapping
5714 the library file at an arbitrarily chosen point in the address space
5715 of the running process. The contents of the library's code section
5716 must therefore not depend on where it is loaded in memory.
5718 Therefore, you cannot get at your variables by writing code like
5721 \c mov eax,[myvar] ; WRONG
5723 Instead, the linker provides an area of memory called the
5724 \i\e{global offset table}, or \i{GOT}; the GOT is situated at a
5725 constant distance from your library's code, so if you can find out
5726 where your library is loaded (which is typically done using a
5727 \c{CALL} and \c{POP} combination), you can obtain the address of the
5728 GOT, and you can then load the addresses of your variables out of
5729 linker-generated entries in the GOT.
5731 The \e{data} section of a PIC shared library does not have these
5732 restrictions: since the data section is writable, it has to be
5733 copied into memory anyway rather than just paged in from the library
5734 file, so as long as it's being copied it can be relocated too. So
5735 you can put ordinary types of relocation in the data section without
5736 too much worry (but see \k{picglobal} for a caveat).
5739 \S{picgot} Obtaining the Address of the GOT
5741 Each code module in your shared library should define the GOT as an
5744 \c extern _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ ; in ELF
5745 \c extern __GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ ; in BSD a.out
5747 At the beginning of any function in your shared library which plans
5748 to access your data or BSS sections, you must first calculate the
5749 address of the GOT. This is typically done by writing the function
5758 \c add ebx,_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_+$$-.get_GOT wrt ..gotpc
5760 \c ; the function body comes here
5767 (For BSD, again, the symbol \c{_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE} requires a
5768 second leading underscore.)
5770 The first two lines of this function are simply the standard C
5771 prologue to set up a stack frame, and the last three lines are
5772 standard C function epilogue. The third line, and the fourth to last
5773 line, save and restore the \c{EBX} register, because PIC shared
5774 libraries use this register to store the address of the GOT.
5776 The interesting bit is the \c{CALL} instruction and the following
5777 two lines. The \c{CALL} and \c{POP} combination obtains the address
5778 of the label \c{.get_GOT}, without having to know in advance where
5779 the program was loaded (since the \c{CALL} instruction is encoded
5780 relative to the current position). The \c{ADD} instruction makes use
5781 of one of the special PIC relocation types: \i{GOTPC relocation}.
5782 With the \i\c{WRT ..gotpc} qualifier specified, the symbol
5783 referenced (here \c{_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_}, the special symbol
5784 assigned to the GOT) is given as an offset from the beginning of the
5785 section. (Actually, \c{ELF} encodes it as the offset from the operand
5786 field of the \c{ADD} instruction, but NASM simplifies this
5787 deliberately, so you do things the same way for both \c{ELF} and
5788 \c{BSD}.) So the instruction then \e{adds} the beginning of the section,
5789 to get the real address of the GOT, and subtracts the value of
5790 \c{.get_GOT} which it knows is in \c{EBX}. Therefore, by the time
5791 that instruction has finished, \c{EBX} contains the address of the GOT.
5793 If you didn't follow that, don't worry: it's never necessary to
5794 obtain the address of the GOT by any other means, so you can put
5795 those three instructions into a macro and safely ignore them:
5802 \c add ebx,_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_+$$-%%getgot wrt ..gotpc
5806 \S{piclocal} Finding Your Local Data Items
5808 Having got the GOT, you can then use it to obtain the addresses of
5809 your data items. Most variables will reside in the sections you have
5810 declared; they can be accessed using the \I{GOTOFF
5811 relocation}\c{..gotoff} special \I\c{WRT ..gotoff}\c{WRT} type. The
5812 way this works is like this:
5814 \c lea eax,[ebx+myvar wrt ..gotoff]
5816 The expression \c{myvar wrt ..gotoff} is calculated, when the shared
5817 library is linked, to be the offset to the local variable \c{myvar}
5818 from the beginning of the GOT. Therefore, adding it to \c{EBX} as
5819 above will place the real address of \c{myvar} in \c{EAX}.
5821 If you declare variables as \c{GLOBAL} without specifying a size for
5822 them, they are shared between code modules in the library, but do
5823 not get exported from the library to the program that loaded it.
5824 They will still be in your ordinary data and BSS sections, so you
5825 can access them in the same way as local variables, using the above
5826 \c{..gotoff} mechanism.
5828 Note that due to a peculiarity of the way BSD \c{a.out} format
5829 handles this relocation type, there must be at least one non-local
5830 symbol in the same section as the address you're trying to access.
5833 \S{picextern} Finding External and Common Data Items
5835 If your library needs to get at an external variable (external to
5836 the \e{library}, not just to one of the modules within it), you must
5837 use the \I{GOT relocations}\I\c{WRT ..got}\c{..got} type to get at
5838 it. The \c{..got} type, instead of giving you the offset from the
5839 GOT base to the variable, gives you the offset from the GOT base to
5840 a GOT \e{entry} containing the address of the variable. The linker
5841 will set up this GOT entry when it builds the library, and the
5842 dynamic linker will place the correct address in it at load time. So
5843 to obtain the address of an external variable \c{extvar} in \c{EAX},
5846 \c mov eax,[ebx+extvar wrt ..got]
5848 This loads the address of \c{extvar} out of an entry in the GOT. The
5849 linker, when it builds the shared library, collects together every
5850 relocation of type \c{..got}, and builds the GOT so as to ensure it
5851 has every necessary entry present.
5853 Common variables must also be accessed in this way.
5856 \S{picglobal} Exporting Symbols to the Library User
5858 If you want to export symbols to the user of the library, you have
5859 to declare whether they are functions or data, and if they are data,
5860 you have to give the size of the data item. This is because the
5861 dynamic linker has to build \I{PLT}\i{procedure linkage table}
5862 entries for any exported functions, and also moves exported data
5863 items away from the library's data section in which they were
5866 So to export a function to users of the library, you must use
5868 \c global func:function ; declare it as a function
5874 And to export a data item such as an array, you would have to code
5876 \c global array:data array.end-array ; give the size too
5881 Be careful: If you export a variable to the library user, by
5882 declaring it as \c{GLOBAL} and supplying a size, the variable will
5883 end up living in the data section of the main program, rather than
5884 in your library's data section, where you declared it. So you will
5885 have to access your own global variable with the \c{..got} mechanism
5886 rather than \c{..gotoff}, as if it were external (which,
5887 effectively, it has become).
5889 Equally, if you need to store the address of an exported global in
5890 one of your data sections, you can't do it by means of the standard
5893 \c dataptr: dd global_data_item ; WRONG
5895 NASM will interpret this code as an ordinary relocation, in which
5896 \c{global_data_item} is merely an offset from the beginning of the
5897 \c{.data} section (or whatever); so this reference will end up
5898 pointing at your data section instead of at the exported global
5899 which resides elsewhere.
5901 Instead of the above code, then, you must write
5903 \c dataptr: dd global_data_item wrt ..sym
5905 which makes use of the special \c{WRT} type \I\c{WRT ..sym}\c{..sym}
5906 to instruct NASM to search the symbol table for a particular symbol
5907 at that address, rather than just relocating by section base.
5909 Either method will work for functions: referring to one of your
5910 functions by means of
5912 \c funcptr: dd my_function
5914 will give the user the address of the code you wrote, whereas
5916 \c funcptr: dd my_function wrt .sym
5918 will give the address of the procedure linkage table for the
5919 function, which is where the calling program will \e{believe} the
5920 function lives. Either address is a valid way to call the function.
5923 \S{picproc} Calling Procedures Outside the Library
5925 Calling procedures outside your shared library has to be done by
5926 means of a \i\e{procedure linkage table}, or \i{PLT}. The PLT is
5927 placed at a known offset from where the library is loaded, so the
5928 library code can make calls to the PLT in a position-independent
5929 way. Within the PLT there is code to jump to offsets contained in
5930 the GOT, so function calls to other shared libraries or to routines
5931 in the main program can be transparently passed off to their real
5934 To call an external routine, you must use another special PIC
5935 relocation type, \I{PLT relocations}\i\c{WRT ..plt}. This is much
5936 easier than the GOT-based ones: you simply replace calls such as
5937 \c{CALL printf} with the PLT-relative version \c{CALL printf WRT
5941 \S{link} Generating the Library File
5943 Having written some code modules and assembled them to \c{.o} files,
5944 you then generate your shared library with a command such as
5946 \c ld -shared -o library.so module1.o module2.o # for ELF
5947 \c ld -Bshareable -o library.so module1.o module2.o # for BSD
5949 For ELF, if your shared library is going to reside in system
5950 directories such as \c{/usr/lib} or \c{/lib}, it is usually worth
5951 using the \i\c{-soname} flag to the linker, to store the final
5952 library file name, with a version number, into the library:
5954 \c ld -shared -soname library.so.1 -o library.so.1.2 *.o
5956 You would then copy \c{library.so.1.2} into the library directory,
5957 and create \c{library.so.1} as a symbolic link to it.
5960 \C{mixsize} Mixing 16 and 32 Bit Code
5962 This chapter tries to cover some of the issues, largely related to
5963 unusual forms of addressing and jump instructions, encountered when
5964 writing operating system code such as protected-mode initialisation
5965 routines, which require code that operates in mixed segment sizes,
5966 such as code in a 16-bit segment trying to modify data in a 32-bit
5967 one, or jumps between different-size segments.
5970 \H{mixjump} Mixed-Size Jumps\I{jumps, mixed-size}
5972 \I{operating system, writing}\I{writing operating systems}The most
5973 common form of \i{mixed-size instruction} is the one used when
5974 writing a 32-bit OS: having done your setup in 16-bit mode, such as
5975 loading the kernel, you then have to boot it by switching into
5976 protected mode and jumping to the 32-bit kernel start address. In a
5977 fully 32-bit OS, this tends to be the \e{only} mixed-size
5978 instruction you need, since everything before it can be done in pure
5979 16-bit code, and everything after it can be pure 32-bit.
5981 This jump must specify a 48-bit far address, since the target
5982 segment is a 32-bit one. However, it must be assembled in a 16-bit
5983 segment, so just coding, for example,
5985 \c jmp 0x1234:0x56789ABC ; wrong!
5987 will not work, since the offset part of the address will be
5988 truncated to \c{0x9ABC} and the jump will be an ordinary 16-bit far
5991 The Linux kernel setup code gets round the inability of \c{as86} to
5992 generate the required instruction by coding it manually, using
5993 \c{DB} instructions. NASM can go one better than that, by actually
5994 generating the right instruction itself. Here's how to do it right:
5996 \c jmp dword 0x1234:0x56789ABC ; right
5998 \I\c{JMP DWORD}The \c{DWORD} prefix (strictly speaking, it should
5999 come \e{after} the colon, since it is declaring the \e{offset} field
6000 to be a doubleword; but NASM will accept either form, since both are
6001 unambiguous) forces the offset part to be treated as far, in the
6002 assumption that you are deliberately writing a jump from a 16-bit
6003 segment to a 32-bit one.
6005 You can do the reverse operation, jumping from a 32-bit segment to a
6006 16-bit one, by means of the \c{WORD} prefix:
6008 \c jmp word 0x8765:0x4321 ; 32 to 16 bit
6010 If the \c{WORD} prefix is specified in 16-bit mode, or the \c{DWORD}
6011 prefix in 32-bit mode, they will be ignored, since each is
6012 explicitly forcing NASM into a mode it was in anyway.
6015 \H{mixaddr} Addressing Between Different-Size Segments\I{addressing,
6016 mixed-size}\I{mixed-size addressing}
6018 If your OS is mixed 16 and 32-bit, or if you are writing a DOS
6019 extender, you are likely to have to deal with some 16-bit segments
6020 and some 32-bit ones. At some point, you will probably end up
6021 writing code in a 16-bit segment which has to access data in a
6022 32-bit segment, or vice versa.
6024 If the data you are trying to access in a 32-bit segment lies within
6025 the first 64K of the segment, you may be able to get away with using
6026 an ordinary 16-bit addressing operation for the purpose; but sooner
6027 or later, you will want to do 32-bit addressing from 16-bit mode.
6029 The easiest way to do this is to make sure you use a register for
6030 the address, since any effective address containing a 32-bit
6031 register is forced to be a 32-bit address. So you can do
6033 \c mov eax,offset_into_32_bit_segment_specified_by_fs
6034 \c mov dword [fs:eax],0x11223344
6036 This is fine, but slightly cumbersome (since it wastes an
6037 instruction and a register) if you already know the precise offset
6038 you are aiming at. The x86 architecture does allow 32-bit effective
6039 addresses to specify nothing but a 4-byte offset, so why shouldn't
6040 NASM be able to generate the best instruction for the purpose?
6042 It can. As in \k{mixjump}, you need only prefix the address with the
6043 \c{DWORD} keyword, and it will be forced to be a 32-bit address:
6045 \c mov dword [fs:dword my_offset],0x11223344
6047 Also as in \k{mixjump}, NASM is not fussy about whether the
6048 \c{DWORD} prefix comes before or after the segment override, so
6049 arguably a nicer-looking way to code the above instruction is
6051 \c mov dword [dword fs:my_offset],0x11223344
6053 Don't confuse the \c{DWORD} prefix \e{outside} the square brackets,
6054 which controls the size of the data stored at the address, with the
6055 one \c{inside} the square brackets which controls the length of the
6056 address itself. The two can quite easily be different:
6058 \c mov word [dword 0x12345678],0x9ABC
6060 This moves 16 bits of data to an address specified by a 32-bit
6063 You can also specify \c{WORD} or \c{DWORD} prefixes along with the
6064 \c{FAR} prefix to indirect far jumps or calls. For example:
6066 \c call dword far [fs:word 0x4321]
6068 This instruction contains an address specified by a 16-bit offset;
6069 it loads a 48-bit far pointer from that (16-bit segment and 32-bit
6070 offset), and calls that address.
6073 \H{mixother} Other Mixed-Size Instructions
6075 The other way you might want to access data might be using the
6076 string instructions (\c{LODSx}, \c{STOSx} and so on) or the
6077 \c{XLATB} instruction. These instructions, since they take no
6078 parameters, might seem to have no easy way to make them perform
6079 32-bit addressing when assembled in a 16-bit segment.
6081 This is the purpose of NASM's \i\c{a16} and \i\c{a32} prefixes. If
6082 you are coding \c{LODSB} in a 16-bit segment but it is supposed to
6083 be accessing a string in a 32-bit segment, you should load the
6084 desired address into \c{ESI} and then code
6088 The prefix forces the addressing size to 32 bits, meaning that
6089 \c{LODSB} loads from \c{[DS:ESI]} instead of \c{[DS:SI]}. To access
6090 a string in a 16-bit segment when coding in a 32-bit one, the
6091 corresponding \c{a16} prefix can be used.
6093 The \c{a16} and \c{a32} prefixes can be applied to any instruction
6094 in NASM's instruction table, but most of them can generate all the
6095 useful forms without them. The prefixes are necessary only for
6096 instructions with implicit addressing: \c{CMPSx} (\k{insCMPSB}),
6097 \c{SCASx} (\k{insSCASB}), \c{LODSx} (\k{insLODSB}), \c{STOSx}
6098 (\k{insSTOSB}), \c{MOVSx} (\k{insMOVSB}), \c{INSx} (\k{insINSB}),
6099 \c{OUTSx} (\k{insOUTSB}), and \c{XLATB} (\k{insXLATB}). Also, the
6100 various push and pop instructions (\c{PUSHA} and \c{POPF} as well as
6101 the more usual \c{PUSH} and \c{POP}) can accept \c{a16} or \c{a32}
6102 prefixes to force a particular one of \c{SP} or \c{ESP} to be used
6103 as a stack pointer, in case the stack segment in use is a different
6104 size from the code segment.
6106 \c{PUSH} and \c{POP}, when applied to segment registers in 32-bit
6107 mode, also have the slightly odd behaviour that they push and pop 4
6108 bytes at a time, of which the top two are ignored and the bottom two
6109 give the value of the segment register being manipulated. To force
6110 the 16-bit behaviour of segment-register push and pop instructions,
6111 you can use the operand-size prefix \i\c{o16}:
6116 This code saves a doubleword of stack space by fitting two segment
6117 registers into the space which would normally be consumed by pushing
6120 (You can also use the \i\c{o32} prefix to force the 32-bit behaviour
6121 when in 16-bit mode, but this seems less useful.)
6124 \C{trouble} Troubleshooting
6126 This chapter describes some of the common problems that users have
6127 been known to encounter with NASM, and answers them. It also gives
6128 instructions for reporting bugs in NASM if you find a difficulty
6129 that isn't listed here.
6132 \H{problems} Common Problems
6134 \S{inefficient} NASM Generates \i{Inefficient Code}
6136 We sometimes get `bug' reports about NASM generating inefficient, or
6137 even `wrong', code on instructions such as \c{ADD ESP,8}. This is a
6138 deliberate design feature, connected to predictability of output:
6139 NASM, on seeing \c{ADD ESP,8}, will generate the form of the
6140 instruction which leaves room for a 32-bit offset. You need to code
6141 \I\c{BYTE}\c{ADD ESP,BYTE 8} if you want the space-efficient form of
6142 the instruction. This isn't a bug, it's user error: if you prefer to
6143 have NASM produce the more efficient code automatically enable
6144 optimization with the \c{-On} option (see \k{opt-On}).
6147 \S{jmprange} My Jumps are Out of Range\I{out of range, jumps}
6149 Similarly, people complain that when they issue \i{conditional
6150 jumps} (which are \c{SHORT} by default) that try to jump too far,
6151 NASM reports `short jump out of range' instead of making the jumps
6154 This, again, is partly a predictability issue, but in fact has a
6155 more practical reason as well. NASM has no means of being told what
6156 type of processor the code it is generating will be run on; so it
6157 cannot decide for itself that it should generate \i\c{Jcc NEAR} type
6158 instructions, because it doesn't know that it's working for a 386 or
6159 above. Alternatively, it could replace the out-of-range short
6160 \c{JNE} instruction with a very short \c{JE} instruction that jumps
6161 over a \c{JMP NEAR}; this is a sensible solution for processors
6162 below a 386, but hardly efficient on processors which have good
6163 branch prediction \e{and} could have used \c{JNE NEAR} instead. So,
6164 once again, it's up to the user, not the assembler, to decide what
6165 instructions should be generated. See \k{opt-On}.
6168 \S{proborg} \i\c{ORG} Doesn't Work
6170 People writing \i{boot sector} programs in the \c{bin} format often
6171 complain that \c{ORG} doesn't work the way they'd like: in order to
6172 place the \c{0xAA55} signature word at the end of a 512-byte boot
6173 sector, people who are used to MASM tend to code
6177 \c ; some boot sector code
6182 This is not the intended use of the \c{ORG} directive in NASM, and
6183 will not work. The correct way to solve this problem in NASM is to
6184 use the \i\c{TIMES} directive, like this:
6188 \c ; some boot sector code
6190 \c TIMES 510-($-$$) DB 0
6193 The \c{TIMES} directive will insert exactly enough zero bytes into
6194 the output to move the assembly point up to 510. This method also
6195 has the advantage that if you accidentally fill your boot sector too
6196 full, NASM will catch the problem at assembly time and report it, so
6197 you won't end up with a boot sector that you have to disassemble to
6198 find out what's wrong with it.
6201 \S{probtimes} \i\c{TIMES} Doesn't Work
6203 The other common problem with the above code is people who write the
6208 by reasoning that \c{$} should be a pure number, just like 510, so
6209 the difference between them is also a pure number and can happily be
6212 NASM is a \e{modular} assembler: the various component parts are
6213 designed to be easily separable for re-use, so they don't exchange
6214 information unnecessarily. In consequence, the \c{bin} output
6215 format, even though it has been told by the \c{ORG} directive that
6216 the \c{.text} section should start at 0, does not pass that
6217 information back to the expression evaluator. So from the
6218 evaluator's point of view, \c{$} isn't a pure number: it's an offset
6219 from a section base. Therefore the difference between \c{$} and 510
6220 is also not a pure number, but involves a section base. Values
6221 involving section bases cannot be passed as arguments to \c{TIMES}.
6223 The solution, as in the previous section, is to code the \c{TIMES}
6226 \c TIMES 510-($-$$) DB 0
6228 in which \c{$} and \c{$$} are offsets from the same section base,
6229 and so their difference is a pure number. This will solve the
6230 problem and generate sensible code.
6233 \H{bugs} \i{Bugs}\I{reporting bugs}
6235 We have never yet released a version of NASM with any \e{known}
6236 bugs. That doesn't usually stop there being plenty we didn't know
6237 about, though. Any that you find should be reported firstly via the
6239 \W{https://sourceforge.net/projects/nasm/}\c{https://sourceforge.net/projects/nasm/}
6240 (click on "Bugs"), or if that fails then through one of the
6241 contacts in \k{contact}.
6243 Please read \k{qstart} first, and don't report the bug if it's
6244 listed in there as a deliberate feature. (If you think the feature
6245 is badly thought out, feel free to send us reasons why you think it
6246 should be changed, but don't just send us mail saying `This is a
6247 bug' if the documentation says we did it on purpose.) Then read
6248 \k{problems}, and don't bother reporting the bug if it's listed
6251 If you do report a bug, \e{please} give us all of the following
6254 \b What operating system you're running NASM under. DOS, Linux,
6255 NetBSD, Win16, Win32, VMS (I'd be impressed), whatever.
6257 \b If you're running NASM under DOS or Win32, tell us whether you've
6258 compiled your own executable from the DOS source archive, or whether
6259 you were using the standard distribution binaries out of the
6260 archive. If you were using a locally built executable, try to
6261 reproduce the problem using one of the standard binaries, as this
6262 will make it easier for us to reproduce your problem prior to fixing
6265 \b Which version of NASM you're using, and exactly how you invoked
6266 it. Give us the precise command line, and the contents of the
6267 \c{NASMENV} environment variable if any.
6269 \b Which versions of any supplementary programs you're using, and
6270 how you invoked them. If the problem only becomes visible at link
6271 time, tell us what linker you're using, what version of it you've
6272 got, and the exact linker command line. If the problem involves
6273 linking against object files generated by a compiler, tell us what
6274 compiler, what version, and what command line or options you used.
6275 (If you're compiling in an IDE, please try to reproduce the problem
6276 with the command-line version of the compiler.)
6278 \b If at all possible, send us a NASM source file which exhibits the
6279 problem. If this causes copyright problems (e.g. you can only
6280 reproduce the bug in restricted-distribution code) then bear in mind
6281 the following two points: firstly, we guarantee that any source code
6282 sent to us for the purposes of debugging NASM will be used \e{only}
6283 for the purposes of debugging NASM, and that we will delete all our
6284 copies of it as soon as we have found and fixed the bug or bugs in
6285 question; and secondly, we would prefer \e{not} to be mailed large
6286 chunks of code anyway. The smaller the file, the better. A
6287 three-line sample file that does nothing useful \e{except}
6288 demonstrate the problem is much easier to work with than a
6289 fully fledged ten-thousand-line program. (Of course, some errors
6290 \e{do} only crop up in large files, so this may not be possible.)
6292 \b A description of what the problem actually \e{is}. `It doesn't
6293 work' is \e{not} a helpful description! Please describe exactly what
6294 is happening that shouldn't be, or what isn't happening that should.
6295 Examples might be: `NASM generates an error message saying Line 3
6296 for an error that's actually on Line 5'; `NASM generates an error
6297 message that I believe it shouldn't be generating at all'; `NASM
6298 fails to generate an error message that I believe it \e{should} be
6299 generating'; `the object file produced from this source code crashes
6300 my linker'; `the ninth byte of the output file is 66 and I think it
6301 should be 77 instead'.
6303 \b If you believe the output file from NASM to be faulty, send it to
6304 us. That allows us to determine whether our own copy of NASM
6305 generates the same file, or whether the problem is related to
6306 portability issues between our development platforms and yours. We
6307 can handle binary files mailed to us as MIME attachments, uuencoded,
6308 and even BinHex. Alternatively, we may be able to provide an FTP
6309 site you can upload the suspect files to; but mailing them is easier
6312 \b Any other information or data files that might be helpful. If,
6313 for example, the problem involves NASM failing to generate an object
6314 file while TASM can generate an equivalent file without trouble,
6315 then send us \e{both} object files, so we can see what TASM is doing
6316 differently from us.
6319 \A{ndisasm} \i{Ndisasm}
6321 The Netwide Disassembler, NDISASM
6323 \H{ndisintro} Introduction
6326 The Netwide Disassembler is a small companion program to the Netwide
6327 Assembler, NASM. It seemed a shame to have an x86 assembler,
6328 complete with a full instruction table, and not make as much use of
6329 it as possible, so here's a disassembler which shares the
6330 instruction table (and some other bits of code) with NASM.
6332 The Netwide Disassembler does nothing except to produce
6333 disassemblies of \e{binary} source files. NDISASM does not have any
6334 understanding of object file formats, like \c{objdump}, and it will
6335 not understand \c{DOS .EXE} files like \c{debug} will. It just
6339 \H{ndisstart} Getting Started: Installation
6341 See \k{install} for installation instructions. NDISASM, like NASM,
6342 has a \c{man page} which you may want to put somewhere useful, if you
6343 are on a Unix system.
6346 \H{ndisrun} Running NDISASM
6348 To disassemble a file, you will typically use a command of the form
6350 \c ndisasm [-b16 | -b32] filename
6352 NDISASM can disassemble 16-bit code or 32-bit code equally easily,
6353 provided of course that you remember to specify which it is to work
6354 with. If no \i\c{-b} switch is present, NDISASM works in 16-bit mode by
6355 default. The \i\c{-u} switch (for USE32) also invokes 32-bit mode.
6357 Two more command line options are \i\c{-r} which reports the version
6358 number of NDISASM you are running, and \i\c{-h} which gives a short
6359 summary of command line options.
6362 \S{ndiscom} COM Files: Specifying an Origin
6364 To disassemble a \c{DOS .COM} file correctly, a disassembler must assume
6365 that the first instruction in the file is loaded at address \c{0x100},
6366 rather than at zero. NDISASM, which assumes by default that any file
6367 you give it is loaded at zero, will therefore need to be informed of
6370 The \i\c{-o} option allows you to declare a different origin for the
6371 file you are disassembling. Its argument may be expressed in any of
6372 the NASM numeric formats: decimal by default, if it begins with `\c{$}'
6373 or `\c{0x}' or ends in `\c{H}' it's \c{hex}, if it ends in `\c{Q}' it's
6374 \c{octal}, and if it ends in `\c{B}' it's \c{binary}.
6376 Hence, to disassemble a \c{.COM} file:
6378 \c ndisasm -o100h filename.com
6383 \S{ndissync} Code Following Data: Synchronisation
6385 Suppose you are disassembling a file which contains some data which
6386 isn't machine code, and \e{then} contains some machine code. NDISASM
6387 will faithfully plough through the data section, producing machine
6388 instructions wherever it can (although most of them will look
6389 bizarre, and some may have unusual prefixes, e.g. `\c{FS OR AX,0x240A}'),
6390 and generating `DB' instructions ever so often if it's totally stumped.
6391 Then it will reach the code section.
6393 Supposing NDISASM has just finished generating a strange machine
6394 instruction from part of the data section, and its file position is
6395 now one byte \e{before} the beginning of the code section. It's
6396 entirely possible that another spurious instruction will get
6397 generated, starting with the final byte of the data section, and
6398 then the correct first instruction in the code section will not be
6399 seen because the starting point skipped over it. This isn't really
6402 To avoid this, you can specify a `\i\c{synchronisation}' point, or indeed
6403 as many synchronisation points as you like (although NDISASM can
6404 only handle 8192 sync points internally). The definition of a sync
6405 point is this: NDISASM guarantees to hit sync points exactly during
6406 disassembly. If it is thinking about generating an instruction which
6407 would cause it to jump over a sync point, it will discard that
6408 instruction and output a `\c{db}' instead. So it \e{will} start
6409 disassembly exactly from the sync point, and so you \e{will} see all
6410 the instructions in your code section.
6412 Sync points are specified using the \i\c{-s} option: they are measured
6413 in terms of the program origin, not the file position. So if you
6414 want to synchronise after 32 bytes of a \c{.COM} file, you would have to
6417 \c ndisasm -o100h -s120h file.com
6421 \c ndisasm -o100h -s20h file.com
6423 As stated above, you can specify multiple sync markers if you need
6424 to, just by repeating the \c{-s} option.
6427 \S{ndisisync} Mixed Code and Data: Automatic (Intelligent) Synchronisation
6430 Suppose you are disassembling the boot sector of a \c{DOS} floppy (maybe
6431 it has a virus, and you need to understand the virus so that you
6432 know what kinds of damage it might have done you). Typically, this
6433 will contain a \c{JMP} instruction, then some data, then the rest of the
6434 code. So there is a very good chance of NDISASM being \e{misaligned}
6435 when the data ends and the code begins. Hence a sync point is
6438 On the other hand, why should you have to specify the sync point
6439 manually? What you'd do in order to find where the sync point would
6440 be, surely, would be to read the \c{JMP} instruction, and then to use
6441 its target address as a sync point. So can NDISASM do that for you?
6443 The answer, of course, is yes: using either of the synonymous
6444 switches \i\c{-a} (for automatic sync) or \i\c{-i} (for intelligent
6445 sync) will enable \c{auto-sync} mode. Auto-sync mode automatically
6446 generates a sync point for any forward-referring PC-relative jump or
6447 call instruction that NDISASM encounters. (Since NDISASM is one-pass,
6448 if it encounters a PC-relative jump whose target has already been
6449 processed, there isn't much it can do about it...)
6451 Only PC-relative jumps are processed, since an absolute jump is
6452 either through a register (in which case NDISASM doesn't know what
6453 the register contains) or involves a segment address (in which case
6454 the target code isn't in the same segment that NDISASM is working
6455 in, and so the sync point can't be placed anywhere useful).
6457 For some kinds of file, this mechanism will automatically put sync
6458 points in all the right places, and save you from having to place
6459 any sync points manually. However, it should be stressed that
6460 auto-sync mode is \e{not} guaranteed to catch all the sync points, and
6461 you may still have to place some manually.
6463 Auto-sync mode doesn't prevent you from declaring manual sync
6464 points: it just adds automatically generated ones to the ones you
6465 provide. It's perfectly feasible to specify \c{-i} \e{and} some \c{-s}
6468 Another caveat with auto-sync mode is that if, by some unpleasant
6469 fluke, something in your data section should disassemble to a
6470 PC-relative call or jump instruction, NDISASM may obediently place a
6471 sync point in a totally random place, for example in the middle of
6472 one of the instructions in your code section. So you may end up with
6473 a wrong disassembly even if you use auto-sync. Again, there isn't
6474 much I can do about this. If you have problems, you'll have to use
6475 manual sync points, or use the \c{-k} option (documented below) to
6476 suppress disassembly of the data area.
6479 \S{ndisother} Other Options
6481 The \i\c{-e} option skips a header on the file, by ignoring the first N
6482 bytes. This means that the header is \e{not} counted towards the
6483 disassembly offset: if you give \c{-e10 -o10}, disassembly will start
6484 at byte 10 in the file, and this will be given offset 10, not 20.
6486 The \i\c{-k} option is provided with two comma-separated numeric
6487 arguments, the first of which is an assembly offset and the second
6488 is a number of bytes to skip. This \e{will} count the skipped bytes
6489 towards the assembly offset: its use is to suppress disassembly of a
6490 data section which wouldn't contain anything you wanted to see
6494 \H{ndisbugs} Bugs and Improvements
6496 There are no known bugs. However, any you find, with patches if
6497 possible, should be sent to \W{mailto:jules@dsf.org.uk}\c{jules@dsf.org.uk}
6498 or \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\c{anakin@pobox.com}, or to the
6500 \W{https://sourceforge.net/projects/nasm/}\c{https://sourceforge.net/projects/nasm/}
6501 and we'll try to fix them. Feel free to send contributions and
6502 new features as well.
6504 Future plans include awareness of which processors certain
6505 instructions will run on, and marking of instructions that are too
6506 advanced for some processor (or are \c{FPU} instructions, or are
6507 undocumented opcodes, or are privileged protected-mode instructions,
6512 I hope NDISASM is of some use to somebody. Including me. :-)
6514 I don't recommend taking NDISASM apart to see how an efficient
6515 disassembler works, because as far as I know, it isn't an efficient
6516 one anyway. You have been warned.
6519 \A{iref} x86 Instruction Reference
6521 This appendix provides a complete list of the machine instructions
6522 which NASM will assemble, and a short description of the function of
6525 It is not intended to be exhaustive documentation on the fine
6526 details of the instructions' function, such as which exceptions they
6527 can trigger: for such documentation, you should go to Intel's Web
6528 site, \W{http://developer.intel.com/design/Pentium4/manuals/}\c{http://developer.intel.com/design/Pentium4/manuals/}.
6530 Instead, this appendix is intended primarily to provide
6531 documentation on the way the instructions may be used within NASM.
6532 For example, looking up \c{LOOP} will tell you that NASM allows
6533 \c{CX} or \c{ECX} to be specified as an optional second argument to
6534 the \c{LOOP} instruction, to enforce which of the two possible
6535 counter registers should be used if the default is not the one
6538 The instructions are not quite listed in alphabetical order, since
6539 groups of instructions with similar functions are lumped together in
6540 the same entry. Most of them don't move very far from their
6541 alphabetic position because of this.
6544 \H{iref-opr} Key to Operand Specifications
6546 The instruction descriptions in this appendix specify their operands
6547 using the following notation:
6549 \b Registers: \c{reg8} denotes an 8-bit \i{general purpose
6550 register}, \c{reg16} denotes a 16-bit general purpose register, and
6551 \c{reg32} a 32-bit one. \c{fpureg} denotes one of the eight FPU
6552 stack registers, \c{mmxreg} denotes one of the eight 64-bit MMX
6553 registers, and \c{segreg} denotes a segment register. In addition,
6554 some registers (such as \c{AL}, \c{DX} or
6555 \c{ECX}) may be specified explicitly.
6557 \b Immediate operands: \c{imm} denotes a generic \i{immediate operand}.
6558 \c{imm8}, \c{imm16} and \c{imm32} are used when the operand is
6559 intended to be a specific size. For some of these instructions, NASM
6560 needs an explicit specifier: for example, \c{ADD ESP,16} could be
6561 interpreted as either \c{ADD r/m32,imm32} or \c{ADD r/m32,imm8}.
6562 NASM chooses the former by default, and so you must specify \c{ADD
6563 ESP,BYTE 16} for the latter.
6565 \b Memory references: \c{mem} denotes a generic \i{memory reference};
6566 \c{mem8}, \c{mem16}, \c{mem32}, \c{mem64} and \c{mem80} are used
6567 when the operand needs to be a specific size. Again, a specifier is
6568 needed in some cases: \c{DEC [address]} is ambiguous and will be
6569 rejected by NASM. You must specify \c{DEC BYTE [address]}, \c{DEC
6570 WORD [address]} or \c{DEC DWORD [address]} instead.
6572 \b \i{Restricted memory references}: one form of the \c{MOV}
6573 instruction allows a memory address to be specified \e{without}
6574 allowing the normal range of register combinations and effective
6575 address processing. This is denoted by \c{memoffs8}, \c{memoffs16}
6578 \b Register or memory choices: many instructions can accept either a
6579 register \e{or} a memory reference as an operand. \c{r/m8} is a
6580 shorthand for \c{reg8/mem8}; similarly \c{r/m16} and \c{r/m32}.
6581 \c{r/m64} is MMX-related, and is a shorthand for \c{mmxreg/mem64}.
6584 \H{iref-opc} Key to Opcode Descriptions
6586 This appendix also provides the opcodes which NASM will generate for
6587 each form of each instruction. The opcodes are listed in the
6590 \b A hex number, such as \c{3F}, indicates a fixed byte containing
6593 \b A hex number followed by \c{+r}, such as \c{C8+r}, indicates that
6594 one of the operands to the instruction is a register, and the
6595 `register value' of that register should be added to the hex number
6596 to produce the generated byte. For example, EDX has register value
6597 2, so the code \c{C8+r}, when the register operand is EDX, generates
6598 the hex byte \c{CA}. Register values for specific registers are
6599 given in \k{iref-rv}.
6601 \b A hex number followed by \c{+cc}, such as \c{40+cc}, indicates
6602 that the instruction name has a condition code suffix, and the
6603 numeric representation of the condition code should be added to the
6604 hex number to produce the generated byte. For example, the code
6605 \c{40+cc}, when the instruction contains the \c{NE} condition,
6606 generates the hex byte \c{45}. Condition codes and their numeric
6607 representations are given in \k{iref-cc}.
6609 \b A slash followed by a digit, such as \c{/2}, indicates that one
6610 of the operands to the instruction is a memory address or register
6611 (denoted \c{mem} or \c{r/m}, with an optional size). This is to be
6612 encoded as an effective address, with a \i{ModR/M byte}, an optional
6613 \i{SIB byte}, and an optional displacement, and the spare (register)
6614 field of the ModR/M byte should be the digit given (which will be
6615 from 0 to 7, so it fits in three bits). The encoding of effective
6616 addresses is given in \k{iref-ea}.
6618 \b The code \c{/r} combines the above two: it indicates that one of
6619 the operands is a memory address or \c{r/m}, and another is a
6620 register, and that an effective address should be generated with the
6621 spare (register) field in the ModR/M byte being equal to the
6622 `register value' of the register operand. The encoding of effective
6623 addresses is given in \k{iref-ea}; register values are given in
6626 \b The codes \c{ib}, \c{iw} and \c{id} indicate that one of the
6627 operands to the instruction is an immediate value, and that this is
6628 to be encoded as a byte, little-endian word or little-endian
6629 doubleword respectively.
6631 \b The codes \c{rb}, \c{rw} and \c{rd} indicate that one of the
6632 operands to the instruction is an immediate value, and that the
6633 \e{difference} between this value and the address of the end of the
6634 instruction is to be encoded as a byte, word or doubleword
6635 respectively. Where the form \c{rw/rd} appears, it indicates that
6636 either \c{rw} or \c{rd} should be used according to whether assembly
6637 is being performed in \c{BITS 16} or \c{BITS 32} state respectively.
6639 \b The codes \c{ow} and \c{od} indicate that one of the operands to
6640 the instruction is a reference to the contents of a memory address
6641 specified as an immediate value: this encoding is used in some forms
6642 of the \c{MOV} instruction in place of the standard
6643 effective-address mechanism. The displacement is encoded as a word
6644 or doubleword. Again, \c{ow/od} denotes that \c{ow} or \c{od} should
6645 be chosen according to the \c{BITS} setting.
6647 \b The codes \c{o16} and \c{o32} indicate that the given form of the
6648 instruction should be assembled with operand size 16 or 32 bits. In
6649 other words, \c{o16} indicates a \c{66} prefix in \c{BITS 32} state,
6650 but generates no code in \c{BITS 16} state; and \c{o32} indicates a
6651 \c{66} prefix in \c{BITS 16} state but generates nothing in \c{BITS
6654 \b The codes \c{a16} and \c{a32}, similarly to \c{o16} and \c{o32},
6655 indicate the address size of the given form of the instruction.
6656 Where this does not match the \c{BITS} setting, a \c{67} prefix is
6660 \S{iref-rv} Register Values
6662 Where an instruction requires a register value, it is already
6663 implicit in the encoding of the rest of the instruction what type of
6664 register is intended: an 8-bit general-purpose register, a segment
6665 register, a debug register, an MMX register, or whatever. Therefore
6666 there is no problem with registers of different types sharing an
6669 The encodings for the various classes of register are:
6671 \b 8-bit general registers: \c{AL} is 0, \c{CL} is 1, \c{DL} is 2,
6672 \c{BL} is 3, \c{AH} is 4, \c{CH} is 5, \c{DH} is 6, and \c{BH} is
6675 \b 16-bit general registers: \c{AX} is 0, \c{CX} is 1, \c{DX} is 2,
6676 \c{BX} is 3, \c{SP} is 4, \c{BP} is 5, \c{SI} is 6, and \c{DI} is 7.
6678 \b 32-bit general registers: \c{EAX} is 0, \c{ECX} is 1, \c{EDX} is
6679 2, \c{EBX} is 3, \c{ESP} is 4, \c{EBP} is 5, \c{ESI} is 6, and
6682 \b \i{Segment registers}: \c{ES} is 0, \c{CS} is 1, \c{SS} is 2, \c{DS}
6683 is 3, \c{FS} is 4, and \c{GS} is 5.
6685 \b \I{floating-point, registers}Floating-point registers: \c{ST0}
6686 is 0, \c{ST1} is 1, \c{ST2} is 2, \c{ST3} is 3, \c{ST4} is 4,
6687 \c{ST5} is 5, \c{ST6} is 6, and \c{ST7} is 7.
6689 \b 64-bit \i{MMX registers}: \c{MM0} is 0, \c{MM1} is 1, \c{MM2} is 2,
6690 \c{MM3} is 3, \c{MM4} is 4, \c{MM5} is 5, \c{MM6} is 6, and \c{MM7}
6693 \b \i{Control registers}: \c{CR0} is 0, \c{CR2} is 2, \c{CR3} is 3,
6696 \b \i{Debug registers}: \c{DR0} is 0, \c{DR1} is 1, \c{DR2} is 2,
6697 \c{DR3} is 3, \c{DR6} is 6, and \c{DR7} is 7.
6699 \b \i{Test registers}: \c{TR3} is 3, \c{TR4} is 4, \c{TR5} is 5,
6700 \c{TR6} is 6, and \c{TR7} is 7.
6702 (Note that wherever a register name contains a number, that number
6703 is also the register value for that register.)
6706 \S{iref-cc} \i{Condition Codes}
6708 The available condition codes are given here, along with their
6709 numeric representations as part of opcodes. Many of these condition
6710 codes have synonyms, so several will be listed at a time.
6712 In the following descriptions, the word `either', when applied to two
6713 possible trigger conditions, is used to mean `either or both'. If
6714 `either but not both' is meant, the phrase `exactly one of' is used.
6716 \b \c{O} is 0 (trigger if the overflow flag is set); \c{NO} is 1.
6718 \b \c{B}, \c{C} and \c{NAE} are 2 (trigger if the carry flag is
6719 set); \c{AE}, \c{NB} and \c{NC} are 3.
6721 \b \c{E} and \c{Z} are 4 (trigger if the zero flag is set); \c{NE}
6724 \b \c{BE} and \c{NA} are 6 (trigger if either of the carry or zero
6725 flags is set); \c{A} and \c{NBE} are 7.
6727 \b \c{S} is 8 (trigger if the sign flag is set); \c{NS} is 9.
6729 \b \c{P} and \c{PE} are 10 (trigger if the parity flag is set);
6730 \c{NP} and \c{PO} are 11.
6732 \b \c{L} and \c{NGE} are 12 (trigger if exactly one of the sign and
6733 overflow flags is set); \c{GE} and \c{NL} are 13.
6735 \b \c{LE} and \c{NG} are 14 (trigger if either the zero flag is set,
6736 or exactly one of the sign and overflow flags is set); \c{G} and
6739 Note that in all cases, the sense of a condition code may be
6740 reversed by changing the low bit of the numeric representation.
6742 For details of when an instruction sets each of the status flags,
6743 see the individual instruction, plus the Status Flags reference
6747 \S{iref-SSE-cc} \i{SSE Condition Predicates}
6749 The condition predicates for SSE comparison instructions are the
6750 codes used as part of the opcode, to determine what form of
6751 comparison is being carried out. In each case, the imm8 value is
6752 the final byte of the opcode encoding, and the predicate is the
6753 code used as part of the mnemonic for the instruction (equivalent
6754 to the "cc" in an integer instruction that used a condition code).
6755 The instructions that use this will give details of what the various
6756 mnemonics are, this table is used to help you work out details of what
6759 \c Predi- imm8 Description Relation where: Emula- Result QNaN
6760 \c cate Encod- A Is 1st Operand tion if NaN Signal
6761 \c ing B Is 2nd Operand Operand Invalid
6763 \c EQ 000B equal A = B False No
6765 \c LT 001B less-than A < B False Yes
6767 \c LE 010B less-than- A <= B False Yes
6770 \c --- ---- greater A > B Swap False Yes
6774 \c --- ---- greater- A >= B Swap False Yes
6775 \c than-or-equal Operands,
6778 \c UNORD 011B unordered A, B = Unordered True No
6780 \c NEQ 100B not-equal A != B True No
6782 \c NLT 101B not-less- NOT(A < B) True Yes
6785 \c NLE 110B not-less- NOT(A <= B) True Yes
6789 \c --- ---- not-greater NOT(A > B) Swap True Yes
6793 \c --- ---- not-greater NOT(A >= B) Swap True Yes
6797 \c ORD 111B ordered A , B = Ordered False No
6799 The unordered relationship is true when at least one of the two
6800 values being compared is a NaN or in an unsupported format.
6802 Note that the comparisons which are listed as not having a predicate
6803 or encoding can only be achieved through software emulation, as
6804 described in the "emulation" column. Note in particular that an
6805 instruction such as \c{greater-than} is not the same as \c{NLE}, as,
6806 unlike with the \c{CMP} instruction, it has to take into account the
6807 possibility of one operand containing a NaN or an unsupported numeric
6811 \S{iref-Flags} \i{Status Flags}
6813 The status flags provide some information about the result of the
6814 arithmetic instructions. This information can be used by conditional
6815 instructions (such a \c{Jcc} and \c{CMOVcc}) as well as by some of
6816 the other instructions (such as \c{ADC} and \c{INTO}).
6818 There are 6 status flags:
6822 Set if an arithmetic operation generates a
6823 carry or a borrow out of the most-significant bit of the result;
6824 cleared otherwise. This flag indicates an overflow condition for
6825 unsigned-integer arithmetic. It is also used in multiple-precision
6828 \c PF - Parity flag.
6830 Set if the least-significant byte of the result contains an even
6831 number of 1 bits; cleared otherwise.
6833 \c AF - Adjust flag.
6835 Set if an arithmetic operation generates a carry or a borrow
6836 out of bit 3 of the result; cleared otherwise. This flag is used
6837 in binary-coded decimal (BCD) arithmetic.
6841 Set if the result is zero; cleared otherwise.
6845 Set equal to the most-significant bit of the result, which is the
6846 sign bit of a signed integer. (0 indicates a positive value and 1
6847 indicates a negative value.)
6849 \c OF - Overflow flag.
6851 Set if the integer result is too large a positive number or too
6852 small a negative number (excluding the sign-bit) to fit in the
6853 destination operand; cleared otherwise. This flag indicates an
6854 overflow condition for signed-integer (two's complement) arithmetic.
6857 \S{iref-ea} Effective Address Encoding: \i{ModR/M} and \i{SIB}
6859 An \i{effective address} is encoded in up to three parts: a ModR/M
6860 byte, an optional SIB byte, and an optional byte, word or doubleword
6863 The ModR/M byte consists of three fields: the \c{mod} field, ranging
6864 from 0 to 3, in the upper two bits of the byte, the \c{r/m} field,
6865 ranging from 0 to 7, in the lower three bits, and the spare
6866 (register) field in the middle (bit 3 to bit 5). The spare field is
6867 not relevant to the effective address being encoded, and either
6868 contains an extension to the instruction opcode or the register
6869 value of another operand.
6871 The ModR/M system can be used to encode a direct register reference
6872 rather than a memory access. This is always done by setting the
6873 \c{mod} field to 3 and the \c{r/m} field to the register value of
6874 the register in question (it must be a general-purpose register, and
6875 the size of the register must already be implicit in the encoding of
6876 the rest of the instruction). In this case, the SIB byte and
6877 displacement field are both absent.
6879 In 16-bit addressing mode (either \c{BITS 16} with no \c{67} prefix,
6880 or \c{BITS 32} with a \c{67} prefix), the SIB byte is never used.
6881 The general rules for \c{mod} and \c{r/m} (there is an exception,
6884 \b The \c{mod} field gives the length of the displacement field: 0
6885 means no displacement, 1 means one byte, and 2 means two bytes.
6887 \b The \c{r/m} field encodes the combination of registers to be
6888 added to the displacement to give the accessed address: 0 means
6889 \c{BX+SI}, 1 means \c{BX+DI}, 2 means \c{BP+SI}, 3 means \c{BP+DI},
6890 4 means \c{SI} only, 5 means \c{DI} only, 6 means \c{BP} only, and 7
6893 However, there is a special case:
6895 \b If \c{mod} is 0 and \c{r/m} is 6, the effective address encoded
6896 is not \c{[BP]} as the above rules would suggest, but instead
6897 \c{[disp16]}: the displacement field is present and is two bytes
6898 long, and no registers are added to the displacement.
6900 Therefore the effective address \c{[BP]} cannot be encoded as
6901 efficiently as \c{[BX]}; so if you code \c{[BP]} in a program, NASM
6902 adds a notional 8-bit zero displacement, and sets \c{mod} to 1,
6903 \c{r/m} to 6, and the one-byte displacement field to 0.
6905 In 32-bit addressing mode (either \c{BITS 16} with a \c{67} prefix,
6906 or \c{BITS 32} with no \c{67} prefix) the general rules (again,
6907 there are exceptions) for \c{mod} and \c{r/m} are:
6909 \b The \c{mod} field gives the length of the displacement field: 0
6910 means no displacement, 1 means one byte, and 2 means four bytes.
6912 \b If only one register is to be added to the displacement, and it
6913 is not \c{ESP}, the \c{r/m} field gives its register value, and the
6914 SIB byte is absent. If the \c{r/m} field is 4 (which would encode
6915 \c{ESP}), the SIB byte is present and gives the combination and
6916 scaling of registers to be added to the displacement.
6918 If the SIB byte is present, it describes the combination of
6919 registers (an optional base register, and an optional index register
6920 scaled by multiplication by 1, 2, 4 or 8) to be added to the
6921 displacement. The SIB byte is divided into the \c{scale} field, in
6922 the top two bits, the \c{index} field in the next three, and the
6923 \c{base} field in the bottom three. The general rules are:
6925 \b The \c{base} field encodes the register value of the base
6928 \b The \c{index} field encodes the register value of the index
6929 register, unless it is 4, in which case no index register is used
6930 (so \c{ESP} cannot be used as an index register).
6932 \b The \c{scale} field encodes the multiplier by which the index
6933 register is scaled before adding it to the base and displacement: 0
6934 encodes a multiplier of 1, 1 encodes 2, 2 encodes 4 and 3 encodes 8.
6936 The exceptions to the 32-bit encoding rules are:
6938 \b If \c{mod} is 0 and \c{r/m} is 5, the effective address encoded
6939 is not \c{[EBP]} as the above rules would suggest, but instead
6940 \c{[disp32]}: the displacement field is present and is four bytes
6941 long, and no registers are added to the displacement.
6943 \b If \c{mod} is 0, \c{r/m} is 4 (meaning the SIB byte is present)
6944 and \c{base} is 4, the effective address encoded is not
6945 \c{[EBP+index]} as the above rules would suggest, but instead
6946 \c{[disp32+index]}: the displacement field is present and is four
6947 bytes long, and there is no base register (but the index register is
6948 still processed in the normal way).
6951 \H{iref-flg} Key to Instruction Flags
6953 Given along with each instruction in this appendix is a set of
6954 flags, denoting the type of the instruction. The types are as follows:
6956 \b \c{8086}, \c{186}, \c{286}, \c{386}, \c{486}, \c{PENT} and \c{P6}
6957 denote the lowest processor type that supports the instruction. Most
6958 instructions run on all processors above the given type; those that
6959 do not are documented. The Pentium II contains no additional
6960 instructions beyond the P6 (Pentium Pro); from the point of view of
6961 its instruction set, it can be thought of as a P6 with MMX
6964 \b \c{3DNOW} indicates that the instruction is a 3DNow! one, and will
6965 run on the AMD K6-2 and later processors. ATHLON extensions to the
6966 3DNow! instruction set are documented as such.
6968 \b \c{CYRIX} indicates that the instruction is specific to Cyrix
6969 processors, for example the extra MMX instructions in the Cyrix
6970 extended MMX instruction set.
6972 \b \c{FPU} indicates that the instruction is a floating-point one,
6973 and will only run on machines with a coprocessor (automatically
6974 including 486DX, Pentium and above).
6976 \b \c{KATMAI} indicates that the instruction was introduced as part
6977 of the Katmai New Instruction set. These instructions are available
6978 on the Pentium III and later processors. Those which are not
6979 specifically SSE instructions are also available on the AMD Athlon.
6981 \b \c{MMX} indicates that the instruction is an MMX one, and will
6982 run on MMX-capable Pentium processors and the Pentium II.
6984 \b \c{PRIV} indicates that the instruction is a protected-mode
6985 management instruction. Many of these may only be used in protected
6986 mode, or only at privilege level zero.
6988 \b \c{SSE} and \c{SSE2} indicate that the instruction is a Streaming
6989 SIMD Extension instruction. These instructions operate on multiple
6990 values in a single operation. SSE was introduced with the Pentium III
6991 and SSE2 was introduced with the Pentium 4.
6993 \b \c{UNDOC} indicates that the instruction is an undocumented one,
6994 and not part of the official Intel Architecture; it may or may not
6995 be supported on any given machine.
6997 \b \c{WILLAMETTE} indicates that the instruction was introduced as
6998 part of the new instruction set in the Pentium 4 and Intel Xeon
6999 processors. These instructions are also known as SSE2 instructions.
7002 \H{iref-inst} x86 Instruction Set
7005 \S{insAAA} \i\c{AAA}, \i\c{AAS}, \i\c{AAM}, \i\c{AAD}: ASCII
7012 \c AAD ; D5 0A [8086]
7013 \c AAD imm ; D5 ib [8086]
7015 \c AAM ; D4 0A [8086]
7016 \c AAM imm ; D4 ib [8086]
7018 These instructions are used in conjunction with the add, subtract,
7019 multiply and divide instructions to perform binary-coded decimal
7020 arithmetic in \e{unpacked} (one BCD digit per byte - easy to
7021 translate to and from \c{ASCII}, hence the instruction names) form.
7022 There are also packed BCD instructions \c{DAA} and \c{DAS}: see
7025 \b \c{AAA} (ASCII Adjust After Addition) should be used after a
7026 one-byte \c{ADD} instruction whose destination was the \c{AL}
7027 register: by means of examining the value in the low nibble of
7028 \c{AL} and also the auxiliary carry flag \c{AF}, it determines
7029 whether the addition has overflowed, and adjusts it (and sets
7030 the carry flag) if so. You can add long BCD strings together
7031 by doing \c{ADD}/\c{AAA} on the low digits, then doing
7032 \c{ADC}/\c{AAA} on each subsequent digit.
7034 \b \c{AAS} (ASCII Adjust AL After Subtraction) works similarly to
7035 \c{AAA}, but is for use after \c{SUB} instructions rather than
7038 \b \c{AAM} (ASCII Adjust AX After Multiply) is for use after you
7039 have multiplied two decimal digits together and left the result
7040 in \c{AL}: it divides \c{AL} by ten and stores the quotient in
7041 \c{AH}, leaving the remainder in \c{AL}. The divisor 10 can be
7042 changed by specifying an operand to the instruction: a particularly
7043 handy use of this is \c{AAM 16}, causing the two nibbles in \c{AL}
7044 to be separated into \c{AH} and \c{AL}.
7046 \b \c{AAD} (ASCII Adjust AX Before Division) performs the inverse
7047 operation to \c{AAM}: it multiplies \c{AH} by ten, adds it to
7048 \c{AL}, and sets \c{AH} to zero. Again, the multiplier 10 can
7052 \S{insADC} \i\c{ADC}: Add with Carry
7054 \c ADC r/m8,reg8 ; 10 /r [8086]
7055 \c ADC r/m16,reg16 ; o16 11 /r [8086]
7056 \c ADC r/m32,reg32 ; o32 11 /r [386]
7058 \c ADC reg8,r/m8 ; 12 /r [8086]
7059 \c ADC reg16,r/m16 ; o16 13 /r [8086]
7060 \c ADC reg32,r/m32 ; o32 13 /r [386]
7062 \c ADC r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /2 ib [8086]
7063 \c ADC r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /2 iw [8086]
7064 \c ADC r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /2 id [386]
7066 \c ADC r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /2 ib [8086]
7067 \c ADC r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /2 ib [386]
7069 \c ADC AL,imm8 ; 14 ib [8086]
7070 \c ADC AX,imm16 ; o16 15 iw [8086]
7071 \c ADC EAX,imm32 ; o32 15 id [386]
7073 \c{ADC} performs integer addition: it adds its two operands
7074 together, plus the value of the carry flag, and leaves the result in
7075 its destination (first) operand. The destination operand can be a
7076 register or a memory location. The source operand can be a register,
7077 a memory location or an immediate value.
7079 The flags are set according to the result of the operation: in
7080 particular, the carry flag is affected and can be used by a
7081 subsequent \c{ADC} instruction.
7083 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
7084 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
7085 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
7086 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
7087 form of the instruction.
7089 To add two numbers without also adding the contents of the carry
7090 flag, use \c{ADD} (\k{insADD}).
7093 \S{insADD} \i\c{ADD}: Add Integers
7095 \c ADD r/m8,reg8 ; 00 /r [8086]
7096 \c ADD r/m16,reg16 ; o16 01 /r [8086]
7097 \c ADD r/m32,reg32 ; o32 01 /r [386]
7099 \c ADD reg8,r/m8 ; 02 /r [8086]
7100 \c ADD reg16,r/m16 ; o16 03 /r [8086]
7101 \c ADD reg32,r/m32 ; o32 03 /r [386]
7103 \c ADD r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /7 ib [8086]
7104 \c ADD r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /7 iw [8086]
7105 \c ADD r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /7 id [386]
7107 \c ADD r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /7 ib [8086]
7108 \c ADD r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /7 ib [386]
7110 \c ADD AL,imm8 ; 04 ib [8086]
7111 \c ADD AX,imm16 ; o16 05 iw [8086]
7112 \c ADD EAX,imm32 ; o32 05 id [386]
7114 \c{ADD} performs integer addition: it adds its two operands
7115 together, and leaves the result in its destination (first) operand.
7116 The destination operand can be a register or a memory location.
7117 The source operand can be a register, a memory location or an
7120 The flags are set according to the result of the operation: in
7121 particular, the carry flag is affected and can be used by a
7122 subsequent \c{ADC} instruction.
7124 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
7125 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
7126 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
7127 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
7128 form of the instruction.
7131 \S{insADDPD} \i\c{ADDPD}: ADD Packed Double-Precision FP Values
7133 \c ADDPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 58 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7135 \c{ADDPD} performs addition on each of two packed double-precision
7138 \c dst[0-63] := dst[0-63] + src[0-63],
7139 \c dst[64-127] := dst[64-127] + src[64-127].
7141 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7142 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7145 \S{insADDPS} \i\c{ADDPS}: ADD Packed Single-Precision FP Values
7147 \c ADDPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 58 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
7149 \c{ADDPS} performs addition on each of four packed single-precision
7152 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] + src[0-31],
7153 \c dst[32-63] := dst[32-63] + src[32-63],
7154 \c dst[64-95] := dst[64-95] + src[64-95],
7155 \c dst[96-127] := dst[96-127] + src[96-127].
7157 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7158 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7161 \S{insADDSD} \i\c{ADDSD}: ADD Scalar Double-Precision FP Values
7163 \c ADDSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F 58 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
7165 \c{ADDSD} adds the low double-precision FP values from the source
7166 and destination operands and stores the double-precision FP result
7167 in the destination operand.
7169 \c dst[0-63] := dst[0-63] + src[0-63],
7170 \c dst[64-127) remains unchanged.
7172 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7173 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location.
7176 \S{insADDSS} \i\c{ADDSS}: ADD Scalar Single-Precision FP Values
7178 \c ADDSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F 58 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7180 \c{ADDSS} adds the low single-precision FP values from the source
7181 and destination operands and stores the single-precision FP result
7182 in the destination operand.
7184 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] + src[0-31],
7185 \c dst[32-127] remains unchanged.
7187 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7188 either an \c{XMM} register or a 32-bit memory location.
7191 \S{insAND} \i\c{AND}: Bitwise AND
7193 \c AND r/m8,reg8 ; 20 /r [8086]
7194 \c AND r/m16,reg16 ; o16 21 /r [8086]
7195 \c AND r/m32,reg32 ; o32 21 /r [386]
7197 \c AND reg8,r/m8 ; 22 /r [8086]
7198 \c AND reg16,r/m16 ; o16 23 /r [8086]
7199 \c AND reg32,r/m32 ; o32 23 /r [386]
7201 \c AND r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /4 ib [8086]
7202 \c AND r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /4 iw [8086]
7203 \c AND r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /4 id [386]
7205 \c AND r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /4 ib [8086]
7206 \c AND r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /4 ib [386]
7208 \c AND AL,imm8 ; 24 ib [8086]
7209 \c AND AX,imm16 ; o16 25 iw [8086]
7210 \c AND EAX,imm32 ; o32 25 id [386]
7212 \c{AND} performs a bitwise AND operation between its two operands
7213 (i.e. each bit of the result is 1 if and only if the corresponding
7214 bits of the two inputs were both 1), and stores the result in the
7215 destination (first) operand. The destination operand can be a
7216 register or a memory location. The source operand can be a register,
7217 a memory location or an immediate value.
7219 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
7220 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
7221 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
7222 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
7223 form of the instruction.
7225 The \c{MMX} instruction \c{PAND} (see \k{insPAND}) performs the same
7226 operation on the 64-bit \c{MMX} registers.
7229 \S{insANDNPD} \i\c{ANDNPD}: Bitwise Logical AND NOT of
7230 Packed Double-Precision FP Values
7232 \c ANDNPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 55 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7234 \c{ANDNPD} inverts the bits of the two double-precision
7235 floating-point values in the destination register, and then
7236 performs a logical AND between the two double-precision
7237 floating-point values in the source operand and the temporary
7238 inverted result, storing the result in the destination register.
7240 \c dst[0-63] := src[0-63] AND NOT dst[0-63],
7241 \c dst[64-127] := src[64-127] AND NOT dst[64-127].
7243 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7244 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7247 \S{insANDNPS} \i\c{ANDNPS}: Bitwise Logical AND NOT of
7248 Packed Single-Precision FP Values
7250 \c ANDNPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 55 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
7252 \c{ANDNPS} inverts the bits of the four single-precision
7253 floating-point values in the destination register, and then
7254 performs a logical AND between the four single-precision
7255 floating-point values in the source operand and the temporary
7256 inverted result, storing the result in the destination register.
7258 \c dst[0-31] := src[0-31] AND NOT dst[0-31],
7259 \c dst[32-63] := src[32-63] AND NOT dst[32-63],
7260 \c dst[64-95] := src[64-95] AND NOT dst[64-95],
7261 \c dst[96-127] := src[96-127] AND NOT dst[96-127].
7263 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7264 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7267 \S{insANDPD} \i\c{ANDPD}: Bitwise Logical AND For Single FP
7269 \c ANDPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 54 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7271 \c{ANDPD} performs a bitwise logical AND of the two double-precision
7272 floating point values in the source and destination operand, and
7273 stores the result in the destination register.
7275 \c dst[0-63] := src[0-63] AND dst[0-63],
7276 \c dst[64-127] := src[64-127] AND dst[64-127].
7278 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7279 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7282 \S{insANDPS} \i\c{ANDPS}: Bitwise Logical AND For Single FP
7284 \c ANDPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 54 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
7286 \c{ANDPS} performs a bitwise logical AND of the four single-precision
7287 floating point values in the source and destination operand, and
7288 stores the result in the destination register.
7290 \c dst[0-31] := src[0-31] AND dst[0-31],
7291 \c dst[32-63] := src[32-63] AND dst[32-63],
7292 \c dst[64-95] := src[64-95] AND dst[64-95],
7293 \c dst[96-127] := src[96-127] AND dst[96-127].
7295 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
7296 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7299 \S{insARPL} \i\c{ARPL}: Adjust RPL Field of Selector
7301 \c ARPL r/m16,reg16 ; 63 /r [286,PRIV]
7303 \c{ARPL} expects its two word operands to be segment selectors. It
7304 adjusts the \i\c{RPL} (requested privilege level - stored in the bottom
7305 two bits of the selector) field of the destination (first) operand
7306 to ensure that it is no less (i.e. no more privileged than) the \c{RPL}
7307 field of the source operand. The zero flag is set if and only if a
7308 change had to be made.
7311 \S{insBOUND} \i\c{BOUND}: Check Array Index against Bounds
7313 \c BOUND reg16,mem ; o16 62 /r [186]
7314 \c BOUND reg32,mem ; o32 62 /r [386]
7316 \c{BOUND} expects its second operand to point to an area of memory
7317 containing two signed values of the same size as its first operand
7318 (i.e. two words for the 16-bit form; two doublewords for the 32-bit
7319 form). It performs two signed comparisons: if the value in the
7320 register passed as its first operand is less than the first of the
7321 in-memory values, or is greater than or equal to the second, it
7322 throws a \c{BR} exception. Otherwise, it does nothing.
7325 \S{insBSF} \i\c{BSF}, \i\c{BSR}: Bit Scan
7327 \c BSF reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F BC /r [386]
7328 \c BSF reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F BC /r [386]
7330 \c BSR reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F BD /r [386]
7331 \c BSR reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F BD /r [386]
7333 \b \c{BSF} searches for the least significant set bit in its source
7334 (second) operand, and if it finds one, stores the index in
7335 its destination (first) operand. If no set bit is found, the
7336 contents of the destination operand are undefined. If the source
7337 operand is zero, the zero flag is set.
7339 \b \c{BSR} performs the same function, but searches from the top
7340 instead, so it finds the most significant set bit.
7342 Bit indices are from 0 (least significant) to 15 or 31 (most
7343 significant). The destination operand can only be a register.
7344 The source operand can be a register or a memory location.
7347 \S{insBSWAP} \i\c{BSWAP}: Byte Swap
7349 \c BSWAP reg32 ; o32 0F C8+r [486]
7351 \c{BSWAP} swaps the order of the four bytes of a 32-bit register:
7352 bits 0-7 exchange places with bits 24-31, and bits 8-15 swap with
7353 bits 16-23. There is no explicit 16-bit equivalent: to byte-swap
7354 \c{AX}, \c{BX}, \c{CX} or \c{DX}, \c{XCHG} can be used. When \c{BSWAP}
7355 is used with a 16-bit register, the result is undefined.
7358 \S{insBT} \i\c{BT}, \i\c{BTC}, \i\c{BTR}, \i\c{BTS}: Bit Test
7360 \c BT r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F A3 /r [386]
7361 \c BT r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F A3 /r [386]
7362 \c BT r/m16,imm8 ; o16 0F BA /4 ib [386]
7363 \c BT r/m32,imm8 ; o32 0F BA /4 ib [386]
7365 \c BTC r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F BB /r [386]
7366 \c BTC r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F BB /r [386]
7367 \c BTC r/m16,imm8 ; o16 0F BA /7 ib [386]
7368 \c BTC r/m32,imm8 ; o32 0F BA /7 ib [386]
7370 \c BTR r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F B3 /r [386]
7371 \c BTR r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F B3 /r [386]
7372 \c BTR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 0F BA /6 ib [386]
7373 \c BTR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 0F BA /6 ib [386]
7375 \c BTS r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F AB /r [386]
7376 \c BTS r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F AB /r [386]
7377 \c BTS r/m16,imm ; o16 0F BA /5 ib [386]
7378 \c BTS r/m32,imm ; o32 0F BA /5 ib [386]
7380 These instructions all test one bit of their first operand, whose
7381 index is given by the second operand, and store the value of that
7382 bit into the carry flag. Bit indices are from 0 (least significant)
7383 to 15 or 31 (most significant).
7385 In addition to storing the original value of the bit into the carry
7386 flag, \c{BTR} also resets (clears) the bit in the operand itself.
7387 \c{BTS} sets the bit, and \c{BTC} complements the bit. \c{BT} does
7388 not modify its operands.
7390 The destination can be a register or a memory location. The source can
7391 be a register or an immediate value.
7393 If the destination operand is a register, the bit offset should be
7394 in the range 0-15 (for 16-bit operands) or 0-31 (for 32-bit operands).
7395 An immediate value outside these ranges will be taken modulo 16/32
7398 If the destination operand is a memory location, then an immediate
7399 bit offset follows the same rules as for a register. If the bit offset
7400 is in a register, then it can be anything within the signed range of
7401 the register used (ie, for a 32-bit operand, it can be (-2^31) to (2^31 - 1)
7404 \S{insCALL} \i\c{CALL}: Call Subroutine
7406 \c CALL imm ; E8 rw/rd [8086]
7407 \c CALL imm:imm16 ; o16 9A iw iw [8086]
7408 \c CALL imm:imm32 ; o32 9A id iw [386]
7409 \c CALL FAR mem16 ; o16 FF /3 [8086]
7410 \c CALL FAR mem32 ; o32 FF /3 [386]
7411 \c CALL r/m16 ; o16 FF /2 [8086]
7412 \c CALL r/m32 ; o32 FF /2 [386]
7414 \c{CALL} calls a subroutine, by means of pushing the current
7415 instruction pointer (\c{IP}) and optionally \c{CS} as well on the
7416 stack, and then jumping to a given address.
7418 \c{CS} is pushed as well as \c{IP} if and only if the call is a far
7419 call, i.e. a destination segment address is specified in the
7420 instruction. The forms involving two colon-separated arguments are
7421 far calls; so are the \c{CALL FAR mem} forms.
7423 The immediate \i{near call} takes one of two forms (\c{call imm16/imm32},
7424 determined by the current segment size limit. For 16-bit operands,
7425 you would use \c{CALL 0x1234}, and for 32-bit operands you would use
7426 \c{CALL 0x12345678}. The value passed as an operand is a relative offset.
7428 You can choose between the two immediate \i{far call} forms
7429 (\c{CALL imm:imm}) by the use of the \c{WORD} and \c{DWORD} keywords:
7430 \c{CALL WORD 0x1234:0x5678}) or \c{CALL DWORD 0x1234:0x56789abc}.
7432 The \c{CALL FAR mem} forms execute a far call by loading the
7433 destination address out of memory. The address loaded consists of 16
7434 or 32 bits of offset (depending on the operand size), and 16 bits of
7435 segment. The operand size may be overridden using \c{CALL WORD FAR
7436 mem} or \c{CALL DWORD FAR mem}.
7438 The \c{CALL r/m} forms execute a \i{near call} (within the same
7439 segment), loading the destination address out of memory or out of a
7440 register. The keyword \c{NEAR} may be specified, for clarity, in
7441 these forms, but is not necessary. Again, operand size can be
7442 overridden using \c{CALL WORD mem} or \c{CALL DWORD mem}.
7444 As a convenience, NASM does not require you to call a far procedure
7445 symbol by coding the cumbersome \c{CALL SEG routine:routine}, but
7446 instead allows the easier synonym \c{CALL FAR routine}.
7448 The \c{CALL r/m} forms given above are near calls; NASM will accept
7449 the \c{NEAR} keyword (e.g. \c{CALL NEAR [address]}), even though it
7450 is not strictly necessary.
7453 \S{insCBW} \i\c{CBW}, \i\c{CWD}, \i\c{CDQ}, \i\c{CWDE}: Sign Extensions
7455 \c CBW ; o16 98 [8086]
7456 \c CWDE ; o32 98 [386]
7458 \c CWD ; o16 99 [8086]
7459 \c CDQ ; o32 99 [386]
7461 All these instructions sign-extend a short value into a longer one,
7462 by replicating the top bit of the original value to fill the
7465 \c{CBW} extends \c{AL} into \c{AX} by repeating the top bit of
7466 \c{AL} in every bit of \c{AH}. \c{CWDE} extends \c{AX} into
7467 \c{EAX}. \c{CWD} extends \c{AX} into \c{DX:AX} by repeating
7468 the top bit of \c{AX} throughout \c{DX}, and \c{CDQ} extends
7469 \c{EAX} into \c{EDX:EAX}.
7472 \S{insCLC} \i\c{CLC}, \i\c{CLD}, \i\c{CLI}, \i\c{CLTS}: Clear Flags
7477 \c CLTS ; 0F 06 [286,PRIV]
7479 These instructions clear various flags. \c{CLC} clears the carry
7480 flag; \c{CLD} clears the direction flag; \c{CLI} clears the
7481 interrupt flag (thus disabling interrupts); and \c{CLTS} clears the
7482 task-switched (\c{TS}) flag in \c{CR0}.
7484 To set the carry, direction, or interrupt flags, use the \c{STC},
7485 \c{STD} and \c{STI} instructions (\k{insSTC}). To invert the carry
7486 flag, use \c{CMC} (\k{insCMC}).
7489 \S{insCLFLUSH} \i\c{CLFLUSH}: Flush Cache Line
7491 \c CLFLUSH mem ; 0F AE /7 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7493 \c{CLFLUSH} invalidates the cache line that contains the linear address
7494 specified by the source operand from all levels of the processor cache
7495 hierarchy (data and instruction). If, at any level of the cache
7496 hierarchy, the line is inconsistent with memory (dirty) it is written
7497 to memory before invalidation. The source operand points to a
7498 byte-sized memory location.
7500 Although \c{CLFLUSH} is flagged \c{SSE2} and above, it may not be
7501 present on all processors which have \c{SSE2} support, and it may be
7502 supported on other processors; the \c{CPUID} instruction (\k{insCPUID})
7503 will return a bit which indicates support for the \c{CLFLUSH} instruction.
7506 \S{insCMC} \i\c{CMC}: Complement Carry Flag
7510 \c{CMC} changes the value of the carry flag: if it was 0, it sets it
7511 to 1, and vice versa.
7514 \S{insCMOVcc} \i\c{CMOVcc}: Conditional Move
7516 \c CMOVcc reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F 40+cc /r [P6]
7517 \c CMOVcc reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F 40+cc /r [P6]
7519 \c{CMOV} moves its source (second) operand into its destination
7520 (first) operand if the given condition code is satisfied; otherwise
7523 For a list of condition codes, see \k{iref-cc}.
7525 Although the \c{CMOV} instructions are flagged \c{P6} and above, they
7526 may not be supported by all Pentium Pro processors; the \c{CPUID}
7527 instruction (\k{insCPUID}) will return a bit which indicates whether
7528 conditional moves are supported.
7531 \S{insCMP} \i\c{CMP}: Compare Integers
7533 \c CMP r/m8,reg8 ; 38 /r [8086]
7534 \c CMP r/m16,reg16 ; o16 39 /r [8086]
7535 \c CMP r/m32,reg32 ; o32 39 /r [386]
7537 \c CMP reg8,r/m8 ; 3A /r [8086]
7538 \c CMP reg16,r/m16 ; o16 3B /r [8086]
7539 \c CMP reg32,r/m32 ; o32 3B /r [386]
7541 \c CMP r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /7 ib [8086]
7542 \c CMP r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /7 iw [8086]
7543 \c CMP r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /7 id [386]
7545 \c CMP r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /7 ib [8086]
7546 \c CMP r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /7 ib [386]
7548 \c CMP AL,imm8 ; 3C ib [8086]
7549 \c CMP AX,imm16 ; o16 3D iw [8086]
7550 \c CMP EAX,imm32 ; o32 3D id [386]
7552 \c{CMP} performs a `mental' subtraction of its second operand from
7553 its first operand, and affects the flags as if the subtraction had
7554 taken place, but does not store the result of the subtraction
7557 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
7558 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
7559 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
7560 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
7561 form of the instruction.
7563 The destination operand can be a register or a memory location. The
7564 source can be a register, memory location or an immediate value of
7565 the same size as the destination.
7568 \S{insCMPccPD} \i\c{CMPccPD}: Packed Double-Precision FP Compare
7569 \I\c{CMPEQPD} \I\c{CMPLTPD} \I\c{CMPLEPD} \I\c{CMPUNORDPD}
7570 \I\c{CMPNEQPD} \I\c{CMPNLTPD} \I\c{CMPNLEPD} \I\c{CMPORDPD}
7572 \c CMPPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128,imm8 ; 66 0F C2 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7574 \c CMPEQPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 00 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7575 \c CMPLTPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 01 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7576 \c CMPLEPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 02 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7577 \c CMPUNORDPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 03 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7578 \c CMPNEQPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 04 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7579 \c CMPNLTPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 05 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7580 \c CMPNLEPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 06 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7581 \c CMPORDPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F C2 /r 07 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7583 The \c{CMPccPD} instructions compare the two packed double-precision
7584 FP values in the source and destination operands, and returns the
7585 result of the comparison in the destination register. The result of
7586 each comparison is a quadword mask of all 1s (comparison true) or
7587 all 0s (comparison false).
7589 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either an
7590 \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7592 The third operand is an 8-bit immediate value, of which the low 3
7593 bits define the type of comparison. For ease of programming, the
7594 8 two-operand pseudo-instructions are provided, with the third
7595 operand already filled in. The \I{Condition Predicates}
7596 \c{Condition Predicates} are:
7600 \c LE 2 Less-than-or-equal
7601 \c UNORD 3 Unordered
7603 \c NLT 5 Not-less-than
7604 \c NLE 6 Not-less-than-or-equal
7607 For more details of the comparison predicates, and details of how
7608 to emulate the "greater-than" equivalents, see \k{iref-SSE-cc}
7611 \S{insCMPccPS} \i\c{CMPccPS}: Packed Single-Precision FP Compare
7612 \I\c{CMPEQPS} \I\c{CMPLTPS} \I\c{CMPLEPS} \I\c{CMPUNORDPS}
7613 \I\c{CMPNEQPS} \I\c{CMPNLTPS} \I\c{CMPNLEPS} \I\c{CMPORDPS}
7615 \c CMPPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128,imm8 ; 0F C2 /r ib [KATMAI,SSE]
7617 \c CMPEQPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 00 [KATMAI,SSE]
7618 \c CMPLTPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 01 [KATMAI,SSE]
7619 \c CMPLEPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 02 [KATMAI,SSE]
7620 \c CMPUNORDPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 03 [KATMAI,SSE]
7621 \c CMPNEQPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 04 [KATMAI,SSE]
7622 \c CMPNLTPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 05 [KATMAI,SSE]
7623 \c CMPNLEPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 06 [KATMAI,SSE]
7624 \c CMPORDPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F C2 /r 07 [KATMAI,SSE]
7626 The \c{CMPccPS} instructions compare the two packed single-precision
7627 FP values in the source and destination operands, and returns the
7628 result of the comparison in the destination register. The result of
7629 each comparison is a doubleword mask of all 1s (comparison true) or
7630 all 0s (comparison false).
7632 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either an
7633 \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7635 The third operand is an 8-bit immediate value, of which the low 3
7636 bits define the type of comparison. For ease of programming, the
7637 8 two-operand pseudo-instructions are provided, with the third
7638 operand already filled in. The \I{Condition Predicates}
7639 \c{Condition Predicates} are:
7643 \c LE 2 Less-than-or-equal
7644 \c UNORD 3 Unordered
7646 \c NLT 5 Not-less-than
7647 \c NLE 6 Not-less-than-or-equal
7650 For more details of the comparison predicates, and details of how
7651 to emulate the "greater-than" equivalents, see \k{iref-SSE-cc}
7654 \S{insCMPSB} \i\c{CMPSB}, \i\c{CMPSW}, \i\c{CMPSD}: Compare Strings
7656 \c CMPSB ; A6 [8086]
7657 \c CMPSW ; o16 A7 [8086]
7658 \c CMPSD ; o32 A7 [386]
7660 \c{CMPSB} compares the byte at \c{[DS:SI]} or \c{[DS:ESI]} with the
7661 byte at \c{[ES:DI]} or \c{[ES:EDI]}, and sets the flags accordingly.
7662 It then increments or decrements (depending on the direction flag:
7663 increments if the flag is clear, decrements if it is set) \c{SI} and
7664 \c{DI} (or \c{ESI} and \c{EDI}).
7666 The registers used are \c{SI} and \c{DI} if the address size is 16
7667 bits, and \c{ESI} and \c{EDI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use
7668 an address size not equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can
7669 use an explicit \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
7671 The segment register used to load from \c{[SI]} or \c{[ESI]} can be
7672 overridden by using a segment register name as a prefix (for
7673 example, \c{ES CMPSB}). The use of \c{ES} for the load from \c{[DI]}
7674 or \c{[EDI]} cannot be overridden.
7676 \c{CMPSW} and \c{CMPSD} work in the same way, but they compare a
7677 word or a doubleword instead of a byte, and increment or decrement
7678 the addressing registers by 2 or 4 instead of 1.
7680 The \c{REPE} and \c{REPNE} prefixes (equivalently, \c{REPZ} and
7681 \c{REPNZ}) may be used to repeat the instruction up to \c{CX} (or
7682 \c{ECX} - again, the address size chooses which) times until the
7683 first unequal or equal byte is found.
7686 \S{insCMPccSD} \i\c{CMPccSD}: Scalar Double-Precision FP Compare
7687 \I\c{CMPEQSD} \I\c{CMPLTSD} \I\c{CMPLESD} \I\c{CMPUNORDSD}
7688 \I\c{CMPNEQSD} \I\c{CMPNLTSD} \I\c{CMPNLESD} \I\c{CMPORDSD}
7690 \c CMPSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64,imm8 ; F2 0F C2 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7692 \c CMPEQSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 00 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7693 \c CMPLTSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 01 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7694 \c CMPLESD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 02 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7695 \c CMPUNORDSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 03 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7696 \c CMPNEQSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 04 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7697 \c CMPNLTSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 05 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7698 \c CMPNLESD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 06 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7699 \c CMPORDSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F C2 /r 07 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7701 The \c{CMPccSD} instructions compare the low-order double-precision
7702 FP values in the source and destination operands, and returns the
7703 result of the comparison in the destination register. The result of
7704 each comparison is a quadword mask of all 1s (comparison true) or
7705 all 0s (comparison false).
7707 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either an
7708 \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7710 The third operand is an 8-bit immediate value, of which the low 3
7711 bits define the type of comparison. For ease of programming, the
7712 8 two-operand pseudo-instructions are provided, with the third
7713 operand already filled in. The \I{Condition Predicates}
7714 \c{Condition Predicates} are:
7718 \c LE 2 Less-than-or-equal
7719 \c UNORD 3 Unordered
7721 \c NLT 5 Not-less-than
7722 \c NLE 6 Not-less-than-or-equal
7725 For more details of the comparison predicates, and details of how
7726 to emulate the "greater-than" equivalents, see \k{iref-SSE-cc}
7729 \S{insCMPccSS} \i\c{CMPccSS}: Scalar Single-Precision FP Compare
7730 \I\c{CMPEQSS} \I\c{CMPLTSS} \I\c{CMPLESS} \I\c{CMPUNORDSS}
7731 \I\c{CMPNEQSS} \I\c{CMPNLTSS} \I\c{CMPNLESS} \I\c{CMPORDSS}
7733 \c CMPSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32,imm8 ; F3 0F C2 /r ib [KATMAI,SSE]
7735 \c CMPEQSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 00 [KATMAI,SSE]
7736 \c CMPLTSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 01 [KATMAI,SSE]
7737 \c CMPLESS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 02 [KATMAI,SSE]
7738 \c CMPUNORDSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 03 [KATMAI,SSE]
7739 \c CMPNEQSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 04 [KATMAI,SSE]
7740 \c CMPNLTSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 05 [KATMAI,SSE]
7741 \c CMPNLESS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 06 [KATMAI,SSE]
7742 \c CMPORDSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F C2 /r 07 [KATMAI,SSE]
7744 The \c{CMPccSS} instructions compare the low-order single-precision
7745 FP values in the source and destination operands, and returns the
7746 result of the comparison in the destination register. The result of
7747 each comparison is a doubleword mask of all 1s (comparison true) or
7748 all 0s (comparison false).
7750 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either an
7751 \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7753 The third operand is an 8-bit immediate value, of which the low 3
7754 bits define the type of comparison. For ease of programming, the
7755 8 two-operand pseudo-instructions are provided, with the third
7756 operand already filled in. The \I{Condition Predicates}
7757 \c{Condition Predicates} are:
7761 \c LE 2 Less-than-or-equal
7762 \c UNORD 3 Unordered
7764 \c NLT 5 Not-less-than
7765 \c NLE 6 Not-less-than-or-equal
7768 For more details of the comparison predicates, and details of how
7769 to emulate the "greater-than" equivalents, see \k{iref-SSE-cc}
7772 \S{insCMPXCHG} \i\c{CMPXCHG}, \i\c{CMPXCHG486}: Compare and Exchange
7774 \c CMPXCHG r/m8,reg8 ; 0F B0 /r [PENT]
7775 \c CMPXCHG r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F B1 /r [PENT]
7776 \c CMPXCHG r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F B1 /r [PENT]
7778 \c CMPXCHG486 r/m8,reg8 ; 0F A6 /r [486,UNDOC]
7779 \c CMPXCHG486 r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F A7 /r [486,UNDOC]
7780 \c CMPXCHG486 r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F A7 /r [486,UNDOC]
7782 These two instructions perform exactly the same operation; however,
7783 apparently some (not all) 486 processors support it under a
7784 non-standard opcode, so NASM provides the undocumented
7785 \c{CMPXCHG486} form to generate the non-standard opcode.
7787 \c{CMPXCHG} compares its destination (first) operand to the value in
7788 \c{AL}, \c{AX} or \c{EAX} (depending on the operand size of the
7789 instruction). If they are equal, it copies its source (second)
7790 operand into the destination and sets the zero flag. Otherwise, it
7791 clears the zero flag and copies the destination register to AL, AX or EAX.
7793 The destination can be either a register or a memory location. The
7794 source is a register.
7796 \c{CMPXCHG} is intended to be used for atomic operations in
7797 multitasking or multiprocessor environments. To safely update a
7798 value in shared memory, for example, you might load the value into
7799 \c{EAX}, load the updated value into \c{EBX}, and then execute the
7800 instruction \c{LOCK CMPXCHG [value],EBX}. If \c{value} has not
7801 changed since being loaded, it is updated with your desired new
7802 value, and the zero flag is set to let you know it has worked. (The
7803 \c{LOCK} prefix prevents another processor doing anything in the
7804 middle of this operation: it guarantees atomicity.) However, if
7805 another processor has modified the value in between your load and
7806 your attempted store, the store does not happen, and you are
7807 notified of the failure by a cleared zero flag, so you can go round
7811 \S{insCMPXCHG8B} \i\c{CMPXCHG8B}: Compare and Exchange Eight Bytes
7813 \c CMPXCHG8B mem ; 0F C7 /1 [PENT]
7815 This is a larger and more unwieldy version of \c{CMPXCHG}: it
7816 compares the 64-bit (eight-byte) value stored at \c{[mem]} with the
7817 value in \c{EDX:EAX}. If they are equal, it sets the zero flag and
7818 stores \c{ECX:EBX} into the memory area. If they are unequal, it
7819 clears the zero flag and stores the memory contents into \c{EDX:EAX}.
7821 \c{CMPXCHG8B} can be used with the \c{LOCK} prefix, to allow atomic
7822 execution. This is useful in multi-processor and multi-tasking
7826 \S{insCOMISD} \i\c{COMISD}: Scalar Ordered Double-Precision FP Compare and Set EFLAGS
7828 \c COMISD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; 66 0F 2F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7830 \c{COMISD} compares the low-order double-precision FP value in the
7831 two source operands. ZF, PF and CF are set according to the result.
7832 OF, AF and AF are cleared. The unordered result is returned if either
7833 source is a NaN (QNaN or SNaN).
7835 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either
7836 an \c{XMM} register or a memory location.
7838 The flags are set according to the following rules:
7840 \c Result Flags Values
7842 \c UNORDERED: ZF,PF,CF <-- 111;
7843 \c GREATER_THAN: ZF,PF,CF <-- 000;
7844 \c LESS_THAN: ZF,PF,CF <-- 001;
7845 \c EQUAL: ZF,PF,CF <-- 100;
7848 \S{insCOMISS} \i\c{COMISS}: Scalar Ordered Single-Precision FP Compare and Set EFLAGS
7850 \c COMISS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; 66 0F 2F /r [KATMAI,SSE]
7852 \c{COMISS} compares the low-order single-precision FP value in the
7853 two source operands. ZF, PF and CF are set according to the result.
7854 OF, AF and AF are cleared. The unordered result is returned if either
7855 source is a NaN (QNaN or SNaN).
7857 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either
7858 an \c{XMM} register or a memory location.
7860 The flags are set according to the following rules:
7862 \c Result Flags Values
7864 \c UNORDERED: ZF,PF,CF <-- 111;
7865 \c GREATER_THAN: ZF,PF,CF <-- 000;
7866 \c LESS_THAN: ZF,PF,CF <-- 001;
7867 \c EQUAL: ZF,PF,CF <-- 100;
7870 \S{insCPUID} \i\c{CPUID}: Get CPU Identification Code
7872 \c CPUID ; 0F A2 [PENT]
7874 \c{CPUID} returns various information about the processor it is
7875 being executed on. It fills the four registers \c{EAX}, \c{EBX},
7876 \c{ECX} and \c{EDX} with information, which varies depending on the
7877 input contents of \c{EAX}.
7879 \c{CPUID} also acts as a barrier to serialise instruction execution:
7880 executing the \c{CPUID} instruction guarantees that all the effects
7881 (memory modification, flag modification, register modification) of
7882 previous instructions have been completed before the next
7883 instruction gets fetched.
7885 The information returned is as follows:
7887 \b If \c{EAX} is zero on input, \c{EAX} on output holds the maximum
7888 acceptable input value of \c{EAX}, and \c{EBX:EDX:ECX} contain the
7889 string \c{"GenuineIntel"} (or not, if you have a clone processor).
7890 That is to say, \c{EBX} contains \c{"Genu"} (in NASM's own sense of
7891 character constants, described in \k{chrconst}), \c{EDX} contains
7892 \c{"ineI"} and \c{ECX} contains \c{"ntel"}.
7894 \b If \c{EAX} is one on input, \c{EAX} on output contains version
7895 information about the processor, and \c{EDX} contains a set of
7896 feature flags, showing the presence and absence of various features.
7897 For example, bit 8 is set if the \c{CMPXCHG8B} instruction
7898 (\k{insCMPXCHG8B}) is supported, bit 15 is set if the conditional
7899 move instructions (\k{insCMOVcc} and \k{insFCMOVB}) are supported,
7900 and bit 23 is set if \c{MMX} instructions are supported.
7902 \b If \c{EAX} is two on input, \c{EAX}, \c{EBX}, \c{ECX} and \c{EDX}
7903 all contain information about caches and TLBs (Translation Lookahead
7906 For more information on the data returned from \c{CPUID}, see the
7907 documentation from Intel and other processor manufacturers.
7910 \S{insCVTDQ2PD} \i\c{CVTDQ2PD}:
7911 Packed Signed INT32 to Packed Double-Precision FP Conversion
7913 \c CVTDQ2PD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F3 0F E6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7915 \c{CVTDQ2PD} converts two packed signed doublewords from the source
7916 operand to two packed double-precision FP values in the destination
7919 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
7920 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the
7921 source is a register, the packed integers are in the low quadword.
7924 \S{insCVTDQ2PS} \i\c{CVTDQ2PS}:
7925 Packed Signed INT32 to Packed Single-Precision FP Conversion
7927 \c CVTDQ2PS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 5B /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7929 \c{CVTDQ2PS} converts four packed signed doublewords from the source
7930 operand to four packed single-precision FP values in the destination
7933 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
7934 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7936 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
7939 \S{insCVTPD2DQ} \i\c{CVTPD2DQ}:
7940 Packed Double-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion
7942 \c CVTPD2DQ xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; F2 0F E6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7944 \c{CVTPD2DQ} converts two packed double-precision FP values from the
7945 source operand to two packed signed doublewords in the low quadword
7946 of the destination operand. The high quadword of the destination is
7949 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
7950 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7952 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
7955 \S{insCVTPD2PI} \i\c{CVTPD2PI}:
7956 Packed Double-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion
7958 \c CVTPD2PI mm,xmm/mem128 ; 66 0F 2D /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7960 \c{CVTPD2PI} converts two packed double-precision FP values from the
7961 source operand to two packed signed doublewords in the destination
7964 The destination operand is an \c{MMX} register. The source can be
7965 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7967 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
7970 \S{insCVTPD2PS} \i\c{CVTPD2PS}:
7971 Packed Double-Precision FP to Packed Single-Precision FP Conversion
7973 \c CVTPD2PS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 5A /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7975 \c{CVTPD2PS} converts two packed double-precision FP values from the
7976 source operand to two packed single-precision FP values in the low
7977 quadword of the destination operand. The high quadword of the
7978 destination is set to all 0s.
7980 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
7981 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
7983 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
7986 \S{insCVTPI2PD} \i\c{CVTPI2PD}:
7987 Packed Signed INT32 to Packed Double-Precision FP Conversion
7989 \c CVTPI2PD xmm,mm/mem64 ; 66 0F 2A /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
7991 \c{CVTPI2PD} converts two packed signed doublewords from the source
7992 operand to two packed double-precision FP values in the destination
7995 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
7996 either an \c{MMX} register or a 64-bit memory location.
7998 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8001 \S{insCVTPI2PS} \i\c{CVTPI2PS}:
8002 Packed Signed INT32 to Packed Single-FP Conversion
8004 \c CVTPI2PS xmm,mm/mem64 ; 0F 2A /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8006 \c{CVTPI2PS} converts two packed signed doublewords from the source
8007 operand to two packed single-precision FP values in the low quadword
8008 of the destination operand. The high quadword of the destination
8011 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
8012 either an \c{MMX} register or a 64-bit memory location.
8014 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8017 \S{insCVTPS2DQ} \i\c{CVTPS2DQ}:
8018 Packed Single-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion
8020 \c CVTPS2DQ xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 5B /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8022 \c{CVTPS2DQ} converts four packed single-precision FP values from the
8023 source operand to four packed signed doublewords in the destination operand.
8025 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
8026 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
8028 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8031 \S{insCVTPS2PD} \i\c{CVTPS2PD}:
8032 Packed Single-Precision FP to Packed Double-Precision FP Conversion
8034 \c CVTPS2PD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; 0F 5A /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8036 \c{CVTPS2PD} converts two packed single-precision FP values from the
8037 source operand to two packed double-precision FP values in the destination
8040 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
8041 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the source
8042 is a register, the input values are in the low quadword.
8044 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8047 \S{insCVTPS2PI} \i\c{CVTPS2PI}:
8048 Packed Single-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion
8050 \c CVTPS2PI mm,xmm/mem64 ; 0F 2D /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8052 \c{CVTPS2PI} converts two packed single-precision FP values from
8053 the source operand to two packed signed doublewords in the destination
8056 The destination operand is an \c{MMX} register. The source can be
8057 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the
8058 source is a register, the input values are in the low quadword.
8060 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8063 \S{insCVTSD2SI} \i\c{CVTSD2SI}:
8064 Scalar Double-Precision FP to Signed INT32 Conversion
8066 \c CVTSD2SI reg32,xmm/mem64 ; F2 0F 2D /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8068 \c{CVTSD2SI} converts a double-precision FP value from the source
8069 operand to a signed doubleword in the destination operand.
8071 The destination operand is a general purpose register. The source can be
8072 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the
8073 source is a register, the input value is in the low quadword.
8075 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8078 \S{insCVTSD2SS} \i\c{CVTSD2SS}:
8079 Scalar Double-Precision FP to Scalar Single-Precision FP Conversion
8081 \c CVTSD2SS xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F 5A /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8083 \c{CVTSD2SS} converts a double-precision FP value from the source
8084 operand to a single-precision FP value in the low doubleword of the
8085 destination operand. The upper 3 doublewords are left unchanged.
8087 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
8088 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the
8089 source is a register, the input value is in the low quadword.
8091 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8094 \S{insCVTSI2SD} \i\c{CVTSI2SD}:
8095 Signed INT32 to Scalar Double-Precision FP Conversion
8097 \c CVTSI2SD xmm,r/m32 ; F2 0F 2A /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8099 \c{CVTSI2SD} converts a signed doubleword from the source operand to
8100 a double-precision FP value in the low quadword of the destination
8101 operand. The high quadword is left unchanged.
8103 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either
8104 a general purpose register or a 32-bit memory location.
8106 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8109 \S{insCVTSI2SS} \i\c{CVTSI2SS}:
8110 Signed INT32 to Scalar Single-Precision FP Conversion
8112 \c CVTSI2SS xmm,r/m32 ; F3 0F 2A /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8114 \c{CVTSI2SS} converts a signed doubleword from the source operand to a
8115 single-precision FP value in the low doubleword of the destination operand.
8116 The upper 3 doublewords are left unchanged.
8118 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either
8119 a general purpose register or a 32-bit memory location.
8121 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8124 \S{insCVTSS2SD} \i\c{CVTSS2SD}:
8125 Scalar Single-Precision FP to Scalar Double-Precision FP Conversion
8127 \c CVTSS2SD xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F 5A /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8129 \c{CVTSS2SD} converts a single-precision FP value from the source operand
8130 to a double-precision FP value in the low quadword of the destination
8131 operand. The upper quadword is left unchanged.
8133 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be either
8134 an \c{XMM} register or a 32-bit memory location. If the source is a
8135 register, the input value is contained in the low doubleword.
8137 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8140 \S{insCVTSS2SI} \i\c{CVTSS2SI}:
8141 Scalar Single-Precision FP to Signed INT32 Conversion
8143 \c CVTSS2SI reg32,xmm/mem32 ; F3 0F 2D /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8145 \c{CVTSS2SI} converts a single-precision FP value from the source
8146 operand to a signed doubleword in the destination operand.
8148 The destination operand is a general purpose register. The source can be
8149 either an \c{XMM} register or a 32-bit memory location. If the
8150 source is a register, the input value is in the low doubleword.
8152 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8155 \S{insCVTTPD2DQ} \i\c{CVTTPD2DQ}:
8156 Packed Double-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion with Truncation
8158 \c CVTTPD2DQ xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F E6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8160 \c{CVTTPD2DQ} converts two packed double-precision FP values in the source
8161 operand to two packed single-precision FP values in the destination operand.
8162 If the result is inexact, it is truncated (rounded toward zero). The high
8163 quadword is set to all 0s.
8165 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
8166 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
8168 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8171 \S{insCVTTPD2PI} \i\c{CVTTPD2PI}:
8172 Packed Double-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion with Truncation
8174 \c CVTTPD2PI mm,xmm/mem128 ; 66 0F 2C /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8176 \c{CVTTPD2PI} converts two packed double-precision FP values in the source
8177 operand to two packed single-precision FP values in the destination operand.
8178 If the result is inexact, it is truncated (rounded toward zero).
8180 The destination operand is an \c{MMX} register. The source can be
8181 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
8183 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8186 \S{insCVTTPS2DQ} \i\c{CVTTPS2DQ}:
8187 Packed Single-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion with Truncation
8189 \c CVTTPS2DQ xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; F3 0F 5B /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8191 \c{CVTTPS2DQ} converts four packed single-precision FP values in the source
8192 operand to four packed signed doublewords in the destination operand.
8193 If the result is inexact, it is truncated (rounded toward zero).
8195 The destination operand is an \c{XMM} register. The source can be
8196 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
8198 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8201 \S{insCVTTPS2PI} \i\c{CVTTPS2PI}:
8202 Packed Single-Precision FP to Packed Signed INT32 Conversion with Truncation
8204 \c CVTTPS2PI mm,xmm/mem64 ; 0F 2C /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8206 \c{CVTTPS2PI} converts two packed single-precision FP values in the source
8207 operand to two packed signed doublewords in the destination operand.
8208 If the result is inexact, it is truncated (rounded toward zero). If
8209 the source is a register, the input values are in the low quadword.
8211 The destination operand is an \c{MMX} register. The source can be
8212 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the source
8213 is a register, the input value is in the low quadword.
8215 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8218 \S{insCVTTSD2SI} \i\c{CVTTSD2SI}:
8219 Scalar Double-Precision FP to Signed INT32 Conversion with Truncation
8221 \c CVTTSD2SI reg32,xmm/mem64 ; F2 0F 2C /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8223 \c{CVTTSD2SI} converts a double-precision FP value in the source operand
8224 to a signed doubleword in the destination operand. If the result is
8225 inexact, it is truncated (rounded toward zero).
8227 The destination operand is a general purpose register. The source can be
8228 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location. If the source is a
8229 register, the input value is in the low quadword.
8231 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8234 \S{insCVTTSS2SI} \i\c{CVTTSS2SI}:
8235 Scalar Single-Precision FP to Signed INT32 Conversion with Truncation
8237 \c CVTTSD2SI reg32,xmm/mem32 ; F3 0F 2C /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8239 \c{CVTTSS2SI} converts a single-precision FP value in the source operand
8240 to a signed doubleword in the destination operand. If the result is
8241 inexact, it is truncated (rounded toward zero).
8243 The destination operand is a general purpose register. The source can be
8244 either an \c{XMM} register or a 32-bit memory location. If the source is a
8245 register, the input value is in the low doubleword.
8247 For more details of this instruction, see the Intel Processor manuals.
8250 \S{insDAA} \i\c{DAA}, \i\c{DAS}: Decimal Adjustments
8255 These instructions are used in conjunction with the add and subtract
8256 instructions to perform binary-coded decimal arithmetic in
8257 \e{packed} (one BCD digit per nibble) form. For the unpacked
8258 equivalents, see \k{insAAA}.
8260 \c{DAA} should be used after a one-byte \c{ADD} instruction whose
8261 destination was the \c{AL} register: by means of examining the value
8262 in the \c{AL} and also the auxiliary carry flag \c{AF}, it
8263 determines whether either digit of the addition has overflowed, and
8264 adjusts it (and sets the carry and auxiliary-carry flags) if so. You
8265 can add long BCD strings together by doing \c{ADD}/\c{DAA} on the
8266 low two digits, then doing \c{ADC}/\c{DAA} on each subsequent pair
8269 \c{DAS} works similarly to \c{DAA}, but is for use after \c{SUB}
8270 instructions rather than \c{ADD}.
8273 \S{insDEC} \i\c{DEC}: Decrement Integer
8275 \c DEC reg16 ; o16 48+r [8086]
8276 \c DEC reg32 ; o32 48+r [386]
8277 \c DEC r/m8 ; FE /1 [8086]
8278 \c DEC r/m16 ; o16 FF /1 [8086]
8279 \c DEC r/m32 ; o32 FF /1 [386]
8281 \c{DEC} subtracts 1 from its operand. It does \e{not} affect the
8282 carry flag: to affect the carry flag, use \c{SUB something,1} (see
8283 \k{insSUB}). \c{DEC} affects all the other flags according to the result.
8285 This instruction can be used with a \c{LOCK} prefix to allow atomic
8288 See also \c{INC} (\k{insINC}).
8291 \S{insDIV} \i\c{DIV}: Unsigned Integer Divide
8293 \c DIV r/m8 ; F6 /6 [8086]
8294 \c DIV r/m16 ; o16 F7 /6 [8086]
8295 \c DIV r/m32 ; o32 F7 /6 [386]
8297 \c{DIV} performs unsigned integer division. The explicit operand
8298 provided is the divisor; the dividend and destination operands are
8299 implicit, in the following way:
8301 \b For \c{DIV r/m8}, \c{AX} is divided by the given operand; the
8302 quotient is stored in \c{AL} and the remainder in \c{AH}.
8304 \b For \c{DIV r/m16}, \c{DX:AX} is divided by the given operand; the
8305 quotient is stored in \c{AX} and the remainder in \c{DX}.
8307 \b For \c{DIV r/m32}, \c{EDX:EAX} is divided by the given operand;
8308 the quotient is stored in \c{EAX} and the remainder in \c{EDX}.
8310 Signed integer division is performed by the \c{IDIV} instruction:
8314 \S{insDIVPD} \i\c{DIVPD}: Packed Double-Precision FP Divide
8316 \c DIVPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 5E /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8318 \c{DIVPD} divides the two packed double-precision FP values in
8319 the destination operand by the two packed double-precision FP
8320 values in the source operand, and stores the packed double-precision
8321 results in the destination register.
8323 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
8324 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
8326 \c dst[0-63] := dst[0-63] / src[0-63],
8327 \c dst[64-127] := dst[64-127] / src[64-127].
8330 \S{insDIVPS} \i\c{DIVPS}: Packed Single-Precision FP Divide
8332 \c DIVPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 5E /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8334 \c{DIVPS} divides the four packed single-precision FP values in
8335 the destination operand by the four packed single-precision FP
8336 values in the source operand, and stores the packed single-precision
8337 results in the destination register.
8339 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
8340 either an \c{XMM} register or a 128-bit memory location.
8342 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] / src[0-31],
8343 \c dst[32-63] := dst[32-63] / src[32-63],
8344 \c dst[64-95] := dst[64-95] / src[64-95],
8345 \c dst[96-127] := dst[96-127] / src[96-127].
8348 \S{insDIVSD} \i\c{DIVSD}: Scalar Double-Precision FP Divide
8350 \c DIVSD xmm1,xmm2/mem64 ; F2 0F 5E /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
8352 \c{DIVSD} divides the low-order double-precision FP value in the
8353 destination operand by the low-order double-precision FP value in
8354 the source operand, and stores the double-precision result in the
8355 destination register.
8357 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
8358 either an \c{XMM} register or a 64-bit memory location.
8360 \c dst[0-63] := dst[0-63] / src[0-63],
8361 \c dst[64-127] remains unchanged.
8364 \S{insDIVSS} \i\c{DIVSS}: Scalar Single-Precision FP Divide
8366 \c DIVSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F 5E /r [KATMAI,SSE]
8368 \c{DIVSS} divides the low-order single-precision FP value in the
8369 destination operand by the low-order single-precision FP value in
8370 the source operand, and stores the single-precision result in the
8371 destination register.
8373 The destination is an \c{XMM} register. The source operand can be
8374 either an \c{XMM} register or a 32-bit memory location.
8376 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] / src[0-31],
8377 \c dst[32-127] remains unchanged.
8380 \S{insEMMS} \i\c{EMMS}: Empty MMX State
8382 \c EMMS ; 0F 77 [PENT,MMX]
8384 \c{EMMS} sets the FPU tag word (marking which floating-point registers
8385 are available) to all ones, meaning all registers are available for
8386 the FPU to use. It should be used after executing \c{MMX} instructions
8387 and before executing any subsequent floating-point operations.
8390 \S{insENTER} \i\c{ENTER}: Create Stack Frame
8392 \c ENTER imm,imm ; C8 iw ib [186]
8394 \c{ENTER} constructs a \i\c{stack frame} for a high-level language
8395 procedure call. The first operand (the \c{iw} in the opcode
8396 definition above refers to the first operand) gives the amount of
8397 stack space to allocate for local variables; the second (the \c{ib}
8398 above) gives the nesting level of the procedure (for languages like
8399 Pascal, with nested procedures).
8401 The function of \c{ENTER}, with a nesting level of zero, is
8404 \c PUSH EBP ; or PUSH BP in 16 bits
8405 \c MOV EBP,ESP ; or MOV BP,SP in 16 bits
8406 \c SUB ESP,operand1 ; or SUB SP,operand1 in 16 bits
8408 This creates a stack frame with the procedure parameters accessible
8409 upwards from \c{EBP}, and local variables accessible downwards from
8412 With a nesting level of one, the stack frame created is 4 (or 2)
8413 bytes bigger, and the value of the final frame pointer \c{EBP} is
8414 accessible in memory at \c{[EBP-4]}.
8416 This allows \c{ENTER}, when called with a nesting level of two, to
8417 look at the stack frame described by the \e{previous} value of
8418 \c{EBP}, find the frame pointer at offset -4 from that, and push it
8419 along with its new frame pointer, so that when a level-two procedure
8420 is called from within a level-one procedure, \c{[EBP-4]} holds the
8421 frame pointer of the most recent level-one procedure call and
8422 \c{[EBP-8]} holds that of the most recent level-two call. And so on,
8423 for nesting levels up to 31.
8425 Stack frames created by \c{ENTER} can be destroyed by the \c{LEAVE}
8426 instruction: see \k{insLEAVE}.
8429 \S{insF2XM1} \i\c{F2XM1}: Calculate 2**X-1
8431 \c F2XM1 ; D9 F0 [8086,FPU]
8433 \c{F2XM1} raises 2 to the power of \c{ST0}, subtracts one, and
8434 stores the result back into \c{ST0}. The initial contents of \c{ST0}
8435 must be a number in the range -1.0 to +1.0.
8438 \S{insFABS} \i\c{FABS}: Floating-Point Absolute Value
8440 \c FABS ; D9 E1 [8086,FPU]
8442 \c{FABS} computes the absolute value of \c{ST0},by clearing the sign
8443 bit, and stores the result back in \c{ST0}.
8446 \S{insFADD} \i\c{FADD}, \i\c{FADDP}: Floating-Point Addition
8448 \c FADD mem32 ; D8 /0 [8086,FPU]
8449 \c FADD mem64 ; DC /0 [8086,FPU]
8451 \c FADD fpureg ; D8 C0+r [8086,FPU]
8452 \c FADD ST0,fpureg ; D8 C0+r [8086,FPU]
8454 \c FADD TO fpureg ; DC C0+r [8086,FPU]
8455 \c FADD fpureg,ST0 ; DC C0+r [8086,FPU]
8457 \c FADDP fpureg ; DE C0+r [8086,FPU]
8458 \c FADDP fpureg,ST0 ; DE C0+r [8086,FPU]
8460 \b \c{FADD}, given one operand, adds the operand to \c{ST0} and stores
8461 the result back in \c{ST0}. If the operand has the \c{TO} modifier,
8462 the result is stored in the register given rather than in \c{ST0}.
8464 \b \c{FADDP} performs the same function as \c{FADD TO}, but pops the
8465 register stack after storing the result.
8467 The given two-operand forms are synonyms for the one-operand forms.
8469 To add an integer value to \c{ST0}, use the c{FIADD} instruction
8473 \S{insFBLD} \i\c{FBLD}, \i\c{FBSTP}: BCD Floating-Point Load and Store
8475 \c FBLD mem80 ; DF /4 [8086,FPU]
8476 \c FBSTP mem80 ; DF /6 [8086,FPU]
8478 \c{FBLD} loads an 80-bit (ten-byte) packed binary-coded decimal
8479 number from the given memory address, converts it to a real, and
8480 pushes it on the register stack. \c{FBSTP} stores the value of
8481 \c{ST0}, in packed BCD, at the given address and then pops the
8485 \S{insFCHS} \i\c{FCHS}: Floating-Point Change Sign
8487 \c FCHS ; D9 E0 [8086,FPU]
8489 \c{FCHS} negates the number in \c{ST0}, by inverting the sign bit:
8490 negative numbers become positive, and vice versa.
8493 \S{insFCLEX} \i\c{FCLEX}, \c{FNCLEX}: Clear Floating-Point Exceptions
8495 \c FCLEX ; 9B DB E2 [8086,FPU]
8496 \c FNCLEX ; DB E2 [8086,FPU]
8498 \c{FCLEX} clears any floating-point exceptions which may be pending.
8499 \c{FNCLEX} does the same thing but doesn't wait for previous
8500 floating-point operations (including the \e{handling} of pending
8501 exceptions) to finish first.
8504 \S{insFCMOVB} \i\c{FCMOVcc}: Floating-Point Conditional Move
8506 \c FCMOVB fpureg ; DA C0+r [P6,FPU]
8507 \c FCMOVB ST0,fpureg ; DA C0+r [P6,FPU]
8509 \c FCMOVE fpureg ; DA C8+r [P6,FPU]
8510 \c FCMOVE ST0,fpureg ; DA C8+r [P6,FPU]
8512 \c FCMOVBE fpureg ; DA D0+r [P6,FPU]
8513 \c FCMOVBE ST0,fpureg ; DA D0+r [P6,FPU]
8515 \c FCMOVU fpureg ; DA D8+r [P6,FPU]
8516 \c FCMOVU ST0,fpureg ; DA D8+r [P6,FPU]
8518 \c FCMOVNB fpureg ; DB C0+r [P6,FPU]
8519 \c FCMOVNB ST0,fpureg ; DB C0+r [P6,FPU]
8521 \c FCMOVNE fpureg ; DB C8+r [P6,FPU]
8522 \c FCMOVNE ST0,fpureg ; DB C8+r [P6,FPU]
8524 \c FCMOVNBE fpureg ; DB D0+r [P6,FPU]
8525 \c FCMOVNBE ST0,fpureg ; DB D0+r [P6,FPU]
8527 \c FCMOVNU fpureg ; DB D8+r [P6,FPU]
8528 \c FCMOVNU ST0,fpureg ; DB D8+r [P6,FPU]
8530 The \c{FCMOV} instructions perform conditional move operations: each
8531 of them moves the contents of the given register into \c{ST0} if its
8532 condition is satisfied, and does nothing if not.
8534 The conditions are not the same as the standard condition codes used
8535 with conditional jump instructions. The conditions \c{B}, \c{BE},
8536 \c{NB}, \c{NBE}, \c{E} and \c{NE} are exactly as normal, but none of
8537 the other standard ones are supported. Instead, the condition \c{U}
8538 and its counterpart \c{NU} are provided; the \c{U} condition is
8539 satisfied if the last two floating-point numbers compared were
8540 \e{unordered}, i.e. they were not equal but neither one could be
8541 said to be greater than the other, for example if they were NaNs.
8542 (The flag state which signals this is the setting of the parity
8543 flag: so the \c{U} condition is notionally equivalent to \c{PE}, and
8544 \c{NU} is equivalent to \c{PO}.)
8546 The \c{FCMOV} conditions test the main processor's status flags, not
8547 the FPU status flags, so using \c{FCMOV} directly after \c{FCOM}
8548 will not work. Instead, you should either use \c{FCOMI} which writes
8549 directly to the main CPU flags word, or use \c{FSTSW} to extract the
8552 Although the \c{FCMOV} instructions are flagged \c{P6} above, they
8553 may not be supported by all Pentium Pro processors; the \c{CPUID}
8554 instruction (\k{insCPUID}) will return a bit which indicates whether
8555 conditional moves are supported.
8558 \S{insFCOM} \i\c{FCOM}, \i\c{FCOMP}, \i\c{FCOMPP}, \i\c{FCOMI},
8559 \i\c{FCOMIP}: Floating-Point Compare
8561 \c FCOM mem32 ; D8 /2 [8086,FPU]
8562 \c FCOM mem64 ; DC /2 [8086,FPU]
8563 \c FCOM fpureg ; D8 D0+r [8086,FPU]
8564 \c FCOM ST0,fpureg ; D8 D0+r [8086,FPU]
8566 \c FCOMP mem32 ; D8 /3 [8086,FPU]
8567 \c FCOMP mem64 ; DC /3 [8086,FPU]
8568 \c FCOMP fpureg ; D8 D8+r [8086,FPU]
8569 \c FCOMP ST0,fpureg ; D8 D8+r [8086,FPU]
8571 \c FCOMPP ; DE D9 [8086,FPU]
8573 \c FCOMI fpureg ; DB F0+r [P6,FPU]
8574 \c FCOMI ST0,fpureg ; DB F0+r [P6,FPU]
8576 \c FCOMIP fpureg ; DF F0+r [P6,FPU]
8577 \c FCOMIP ST0,fpureg ; DF F0+r [P6,FPU]
8579 \c{FCOM} compares \c{ST0} with the given operand, and sets the FPU
8580 flags accordingly. \c{ST0} is treated as the left-hand side of the
8581 comparison, so that the carry flag is set (for a `less-than' result)
8582 if \c{ST0} is less than the given operand.
8584 \c{FCOMP} does the same as \c{FCOM}, but pops the register stack
8585 afterwards. \c{FCOMPP} compares \c{ST0} with \c{ST1} and then pops
8586 the register stack twice.
8588 \c{FCOMI} and \c{FCOMIP} work like the corresponding forms of
8589 \c{FCOM} and \c{FCOMP}, but write their results directly to the CPU
8590 flags register rather than the FPU status word, so they can be
8591 immediately followed by conditional jump or conditional move
8594 The \c{FCOM} instructions differ from the \c{FUCOM} instructions
8595 (\k{insFUCOM}) only in the way they handle quiet NaNs: \c{FUCOM}
8596 will handle them silently and set the condition code flags to an
8597 `unordered' result, whereas \c{FCOM} will generate an exception.
8600 \S{insFCOS} \i\c{FCOS}: Cosine
8602 \c FCOS ; D9 FF [386,FPU]
8604 \c{FCOS} computes the cosine of \c{ST0} (in radians), and stores the
8605 result in \c{ST0}. The absolute value of \c{ST0} must be less than 2**63.
8607 See also \c{FSINCOS} (\k{insFSIN}).
8610 \S{insFDECSTP} \i\c{FDECSTP}: Decrement Floating-Point Stack Pointer
8612 \c FDECSTP ; D9 F6 [8086,FPU]
8614 \c{FDECSTP} decrements the `top' field in the floating-point status
8615 word. This has the effect of rotating the FPU register stack by one,
8616 as if the contents of \c{ST7} had been pushed on the stack. See also
8617 \c{FINCSTP} (\k{insFINCSTP}).
8620 \S{insFDISI} \i\c{FxDISI}, \i\c{FxENI}: Disable and Enable Floating-Point Interrupts
8622 \c FDISI ; 9B DB E1 [8086,FPU]
8623 \c FNDISI ; DB E1 [8086,FPU]
8625 \c FENI ; 9B DB E0 [8086,FPU]
8626 \c FNENI ; DB E0 [8086,FPU]
8628 \c{FDISI} and \c{FENI} disable and enable floating-point interrupts.
8629 These instructions are only meaningful on original 8087 processors:
8630 the 287 and above treat them as no-operation instructions.
8632 \c{FNDISI} and \c{FNENI} do the same thing as \c{FDISI} and \c{FENI}
8633 respectively, but without waiting for the floating-point processor
8634 to finish what it was doing first.
8637 \S{insFDIV} \i\c{FDIV}, \i\c{FDIVP}, \i\c{FDIVR}, \i\c{FDIVRP}: Floating-Point Division
8639 \c FDIV mem32 ; D8 /6 [8086,FPU]
8640 \c FDIV mem64 ; DC /6 [8086,FPU]
8642 \c FDIV fpureg ; D8 F0+r [8086,FPU]
8643 \c FDIV ST0,fpureg ; D8 F0+r [8086,FPU]
8645 \c FDIV TO fpureg ; DC F8+r [8086,FPU]
8646 \c FDIV fpureg,ST0 ; DC F8+r [8086,FPU]
8648 \c FDIVR mem32 ; D8 /7 [8086,FPU]
8649 \c FDIVR mem64 ; DC /7 [8086,FPU]
8651 \c FDIVR fpureg ; D8 F8+r [8086,FPU]
8652 \c FDIVR ST0,fpureg ; D8 F8+r [8086,FPU]
8654 \c FDIVR TO fpureg ; DC F0+r [8086,FPU]
8655 \c FDIVR fpureg,ST0 ; DC F0+r [8086,FPU]
8657 \c FDIVP fpureg ; DE F8+r [8086,FPU]
8658 \c FDIVP fpureg,ST0 ; DE F8+r [8086,FPU]
8660 \c FDIVRP fpureg ; DE F0+r [8086,FPU]
8661 \c FDIVRP fpureg,ST0 ; DE F0+r [8086,FPU]
8663 \b \c{FDIV} divides \c{ST0} by the given operand and stores the result
8664 back in \c{ST0}, unless the \c{TO} qualifier is given, in which case
8665 it divides the given operand by \c{ST0} and stores the result in the
8668 \b \c{FDIVR} does the same thing, but does the division the other way
8669 up: so if \c{TO} is not given, it divides the given operand by
8670 \c{ST0} and stores the result in \c{ST0}, whereas if \c{TO} is given
8671 it divides \c{ST0} by its operand and stores the result in the
8674 \b \c{FDIVP} operates like \c{FDIV TO}, but pops the register stack
8675 once it has finished.
8677 \b \c{FDIVRP} operates like \c{FDIVR TO}, but pops the register stack
8678 once it has finished.
8680 For FP/Integer divisions, see \c{FIDIV} (\k{insFIDIV}).
8683 \S{insFEMMS} \i\c{FEMMS}: Faster Enter/Exit of the MMX or floating-point state
8685 \c FEMMS ; 0F 0E [PENT,3DNOW]
8687 \c{FEMMS} can be used in place of the \c{EMMS} instruction on
8688 processors which support the 3DNow! instruction set. Following
8689 execution of \c{FEMMS}, the state of the \c{MMX/FP} registers
8690 is undefined, and this allows a faster context switch between
8691 \c{FP} and \c{MMX} instructions. The \c{FEMMS} instruction can
8692 also be used \e{before} executing \c{MMX} instructions
8695 \S{insFFREE} \i\c{FFREE}: Flag Floating-Point Register as Unused
8697 \c FFREE fpureg ; DD C0+r [8086,FPU]
8698 \c FFREEP fpureg ; DF C0+r [286,FPU,UNDOC]
8700 \c{FFREE} marks the given register as being empty.
8702 \c{FFREEP} marks the given register as being empty, and then
8703 pops the register stack.
8706 \S{insFIADD} \i\c{FIADD}: Floating-Point/Integer Addition
8708 \c FIADD mem16 ; DE /0 [8086,FPU]
8709 \c FIADD mem32 ; DA /0 [8086,FPU]
8711 \c{FIADD} adds the 16-bit or 32-bit integer stored in the given
8712 memory location to \c{ST0}, storing the result in \c{ST0}.
8715 \S{insFICOM} \i\c{FICOM}, \i\c{FICOMP}: Floating-Point/Integer Compare
8717 \c FICOM mem16 ; DE /2 [8086,FPU]
8718 \c FICOM mem32 ; DA /2 [8086,FPU]
8720 \c FICOMP mem16 ; DE /3 [8086,FPU]
8721 \c FICOMP mem32 ; DA /3 [8086,FPU]
8723 \c{FICOM} compares \c{ST0} with the 16-bit or 32-bit integer stored
8724 in the given memory location, and sets the FPU flags accordingly.
8725 \c{FICOMP} does the same, but pops the register stack afterwards.
8728 \S{insFIDIV} \i\c{FIDIV}, \i\c{FIDIVR}: Floating-Point/Integer Division
8730 \c FIDIV mem16 ; DE /6 [8086,FPU]
8731 \c FIDIV mem32 ; DA /6 [8086,FPU]
8733 \c FIDIVR mem16 ; DE /7 [8086,FPU]
8734 \c FIDIVR mem32 ; DA /7 [8086,FPU]
8736 \c{FIDIV} divides \c{ST0} by the 16-bit or 32-bit integer stored in
8737 the given memory location, and stores the result in \c{ST0}.
8738 \c{FIDIVR} does the division the other way up: it divides the
8739 integer by \c{ST0}, but still stores the result in \c{ST0}.
8742 \S{insFILD} \i\c{FILD}, \i\c{FIST}, \i\c{FISTP}: Floating-Point/Integer Conversion
8744 \c FILD mem16 ; DF /0 [8086,FPU]
8745 \c FILD mem32 ; DB /0 [8086,FPU]
8746 \c FILD mem64 ; DF /5 [8086,FPU]
8748 \c FIST mem16 ; DF /2 [8086,FPU]
8749 \c FIST mem32 ; DB /2 [8086,FPU]
8751 \c FISTP mem16 ; DF /3 [8086,FPU]
8752 \c FISTP mem32 ; DB /3 [8086,FPU]
8753 \c FISTP mem64 ; DF /7 [8086,FPU]
8755 \c{FILD} loads an integer out of a memory location, converts it to a
8756 real, and pushes it on the FPU register stack. \c{FIST} converts
8757 \c{ST0} to an integer and stores that in memory; \c{FISTP} does the
8758 same as \c{FIST}, but pops the register stack afterwards.
8761 \S{insFIMUL} \i\c{FIMUL}: Floating-Point/Integer Multiplication
8763 \c FIMUL mem16 ; DE /1 [8086,FPU]
8764 \c FIMUL mem32 ; DA /1 [8086,FPU]
8766 \c{FIMUL} multiplies \c{ST0} by the 16-bit or 32-bit integer stored
8767 in the given memory location, and stores the result in \c{ST0}.
8770 \S{insFINCSTP} \i\c{FINCSTP}: Increment Floating-Point Stack Pointer
8772 \c FINCSTP ; D9 F7 [8086,FPU]
8774 \c{FINCSTP} increments the `top' field in the floating-point status
8775 word. This has the effect of rotating the FPU register stack by one,
8776 as if the register stack had been popped; however, unlike the
8777 popping of the stack performed by many FPU instructions, it does not
8778 flag the new \c{ST7} (previously \c{ST0}) as empty. See also
8779 \c{FDECSTP} (\k{insFDECSTP}).
8782 \S{insFINIT} \i\c{FINIT}, \i\c{FNINIT}: Initialise Floating-Point Unit
8784 \c FINIT ; 9B DB E3 [8086,FPU]
8785 \c FNINIT ; DB E3 [8086,FPU]
8787 \c{FINIT} initialises the FPU to its default state. It flags all
8788 registers as empty, without actually change their values, clears
8789 the top of stack pointer. \c{FNINIT} does the same, without first
8790 waiting for pending exceptions to clear.
8793 \S{insFISUB} \i\c{FISUB}: Floating-Point/Integer Subtraction
8795 \c FISUB mem16 ; DE /4 [8086,FPU]
8796 \c FISUB mem32 ; DA /4 [8086,FPU]
8798 \c FISUBR mem16 ; DE /5 [8086,FPU]
8799 \c FISUBR mem32 ; DA /5 [8086,FPU]
8801 \c{FISUB} subtracts the 16-bit or 32-bit integer stored in the given
8802 memory location from \c{ST0}, and stores the result in \c{ST0}.
8803 \c{FISUBR} does the subtraction the other way round, i.e. it
8804 subtracts \c{ST0} from the given integer, but still stores the
8808 \S{insFLD} \i\c{FLD}: Floating-Point Load
8810 \c FLD mem32 ; D9 /0 [8086,FPU]
8811 \c FLD mem64 ; DD /0 [8086,FPU]
8812 \c FLD mem80 ; DB /5 [8086,FPU]
8813 \c FLD fpureg ; D9 C0+r [8086,FPU]
8815 \c{FLD} loads a floating-point value out of the given register or
8816 memory location, and pushes it on the FPU register stack.
8819 \S{insFLD1} \i\c{FLDxx}: Floating-Point Load Constants
8821 \c FLD1 ; D9 E8 [8086,FPU]
8822 \c FLDL2E ; D9 EA [8086,FPU]
8823 \c FLDL2T ; D9 E9 [8086,FPU]
8824 \c FLDLG2 ; D9 EC [8086,FPU]
8825 \c FLDLN2 ; D9 ED [8086,FPU]
8826 \c FLDPI ; D9 EB [8086,FPU]
8827 \c FLDZ ; D9 EE [8086,FPU]
8829 These instructions push specific standard constants on the FPU
8832 \c Instruction Constant pushed
8835 \c FLDL2E base-2 logarithm of e
8836 \c FLDL2T base-2 log of 10
8837 \c FLDLG2 base-10 log of 2
8838 \c FLDLN2 base-e log of 2
8843 \S{insFLDCW} \i\c{FLDCW}: Load Floating-Point Control Word
8845 \c FLDCW mem16 ; D9 /5 [8086,FPU]
8847 \c{FLDCW} loads a 16-bit value out of memory and stores it into the
8848 FPU control word (governing things like the rounding mode, the
8849 precision, and the exception masks). See also \c{FSTCW}
8850 (\k{insFSTCW}). If exceptions are enabled and you don't want to
8851 generate one, use \c{FCLEX} or \c{FNCLEX} (\k{insFCLEX}) before
8852 loading the new control word.
8855 \S{insFLDENV} \i\c{FLDENV}: Load Floating-Point Environment
8857 \c FLDENV mem ; D9 /4 [8086,FPU]
8859 \c{FLDENV} loads the FPU operating environment (control word, status
8860 word, tag word, instruction pointer, data pointer and last opcode)
8861 from memory. The memory area is 14 or 28 bytes long, depending on
8862 the CPU mode at the time. See also \c{FSTENV} (\k{insFSTENV}).
8865 \S{insFMUL} \i\c{FMUL}, \i\c{FMULP}: Floating-Point Multiply
8867 \c FMUL mem32 ; D8 /1 [8086,FPU]
8868 \c FMUL mem64 ; DC /1 [8086,FPU]
8870 \c FMUL fpureg ; D8 C8+r [8086,FPU]
8871 \c FMUL ST0,fpureg ; D8 C8+r [8086,FPU]
8873 \c FMUL TO fpureg ; DC C8+r [8086,FPU]
8874 \c FMUL fpureg,ST0 ; DC C8+r [8086,FPU]
8876 \c FMULP fpureg ; DE C8+r [8086,FPU]
8877 \c FMULP fpureg,ST0 ; DE C8+r [8086,FPU]
8879 \c{FMUL} multiplies \c{ST0} by the given operand, and stores the
8880 result in \c{ST0}, unless the \c{TO} qualifier is used in which case
8881 it stores the result in the operand. \c{FMULP} performs the same
8882 operation as \c{FMUL TO}, and then pops the register stack.
8885 \S{insFNOP} \i\c{FNOP}: Floating-Point No Operation
8887 \c FNOP ; D9 D0 [8086,FPU]
8889 \c{FNOP} does nothing.
8892 \S{insFPATAN} \i\c{FPATAN}, \i\c{FPTAN}: Arctangent and Tangent
8894 \c FPATAN ; D9 F3 [8086,FPU]
8895 \c FPTAN ; D9 F2 [8086,FPU]
8897 \c{FPATAN} computes the arctangent, in radians, of the result of
8898 dividing \c{ST1} by \c{ST0}, stores the result in \c{ST1}, and pops
8899 the register stack. It works like the C \c{atan2} function, in that
8900 changing the sign of both \c{ST0} and \c{ST1} changes the output
8901 value by pi (so it performs true rectangular-to-polar coordinate
8902 conversion, with \c{ST1} being the Y coordinate and \c{ST0} being
8903 the X coordinate, not merely an arctangent).
8905 \c{FPTAN} computes the tangent of the value in \c{ST0} (in radians),
8906 and stores the result back into \c{ST0}.
8908 The absolute value of \c{ST0} must be less than 2**63.
8911 \S{insFPREM} \i\c{FPREM}, \i\c{FPREM1}: Floating-Point Partial Remainder
8913 \c FPREM ; D9 F8 [8086,FPU]
8914 \c FPREM1 ; D9 F5 [386,FPU]
8916 These instructions both produce the remainder obtained by dividing
8917 \c{ST0} by \c{ST1}. This is calculated, notionally, by dividing
8918 \c{ST0} by \c{ST1}, rounding the result to an integer, multiplying
8919 by \c{ST1} again, and computing the value which would need to be
8920 added back on to the result to get back to the original value in
8923 The two instructions differ in the way the notional round-to-integer
8924 operation is performed. \c{FPREM} does it by rounding towards zero,
8925 so that the remainder it returns always has the same sign as the
8926 original value in \c{ST0}; \c{FPREM1} does it by rounding to the
8927 nearest integer, so that the remainder always has at most half the
8928 magnitude of \c{ST1}.
8930 Both instructions calculate \e{partial} remainders, meaning that
8931 they may not manage to provide the final result, but might leave
8932 intermediate results in \c{ST0} instead. If this happens, they will
8933 set the C2 flag in the FPU status word; therefore, to calculate a
8934 remainder, you should repeatedly execute \c{FPREM} or \c{FPREM1}
8935 until C2 becomes clear.
8938 \S{insFRNDINT} \i\c{FRNDINT}: Floating-Point Round to Integer
8940 \c FRNDINT ; D9 FC [8086,FPU]
8942 \c{FRNDINT} rounds the contents of \c{ST0} to an integer, according
8943 to the current rounding mode set in the FPU control word, and stores
8944 the result back in \c{ST0}.
8947 \S{insFRSTOR} \i\c{FSAVE}, \i\c{FRSTOR}: Save/Restore Floating-Point State
8949 \c FSAVE mem ; 9B DD /6 [8086,FPU]
8950 \c FNSAVE mem ; DD /6 [8086,FPU]
8952 \c FRSTOR mem ; DD /4 [8086,FPU]
8954 \c{FSAVE} saves the entire floating-point unit state, including all
8955 the information saved by \c{FSTENV} (\k{insFSTENV}) plus the
8956 contents of all the registers, to a 94 or 108 byte area of memory
8957 (depending on the CPU mode). \c{FRSTOR} restores the floating-point
8958 state from the same area of memory.
8960 \c{FNSAVE} does the same as \c{FSAVE}, without first waiting for
8961 pending floating-point exceptions to clear.
8964 \S{insFSCALE} \i\c{FSCALE}: Scale Floating-Point Value by Power of Two
8966 \c FSCALE ; D9 FD [8086,FPU]
8968 \c{FSCALE} scales a number by a power of two: it rounds \c{ST1}
8969 towards zero to obtain an integer, then multiplies \c{ST0} by two to
8970 the power of that integer, and stores the result in \c{ST0}.
8973 \S{insFSETPM} \i\c{FSETPM}: Set Protected Mode
8975 \c FSETPM ; DB E4 [286,FPU]
8977 This instruction initialises protected mode on the 287 floating-point
8978 coprocessor. It is only meaningful on that processor: the 387 and
8979 above treat the instruction as a no-operation.
8982 \S{insFSIN} \i\c{FSIN}, \i\c{FSINCOS}: Sine and Cosine
8984 \c FSIN ; D9 FE [386,FPU]
8985 \c FSINCOS ; D9 FB [386,FPU]
8987 \c{FSIN} calculates the sine of \c{ST0} (in radians) and stores the
8988 result in \c{ST0}. \c{FSINCOS} does the same, but then pushes the
8989 cosine of the same value on the register stack, so that the sine
8990 ends up in \c{ST1} and the cosine in \c{ST0}. \c{FSINCOS} is faster
8991 than executing \c{FSIN} and \c{FCOS} (see \k{insFCOS}) in succession.
8993 The absolute value of \c{ST0} must be less than 2**63.
8996 \S{insFSQRT} \i\c{FSQRT}: Floating-Point Square Root
8998 \c FSQRT ; D9 FA [8086,FPU]
9000 \c{FSQRT} calculates the square root of \c{ST0} and stores the
9004 \S{insFST} \i\c{FST}, \i\c{FSTP}: Floating-Point Store
9006 \c FST mem32 ; D9 /2 [8086,FPU]
9007 \c FST mem64 ; DD /2 [8086,FPU]
9008 \c FST fpureg ; DD D0+r [8086,FPU]
9010 \c FSTP mem32 ; D9 /3 [8086,FPU]
9011 \c FSTP mem64 ; DD /3 [8086,FPU]
9012 \c FSTP mem80 ; DB /7 [8086,FPU]
9013 \c FSTP fpureg ; DD D8+r [8086,FPU]
9015 \c{FST} stores the value in \c{ST0} into the given memory location
9016 or other FPU register. \c{FSTP} does the same, but then pops the
9020 \S{insFSTCW} \i\c{FSTCW}: Store Floating-Point Control Word
9022 \c FSTCW mem16 ; 9B D9 /7 [8086,FPU]
9023 \c FNSTCW mem16 ; D9 /7 [8086,FPU]
9025 \c{FSTCW} stores the \c{FPU} control word (governing things like the
9026 rounding mode, the precision, and the exception masks) into a 2-byte
9027 memory area. See also \c{FLDCW} (\k{insFLDCW}).
9029 \c{FNSTCW} does the same thing as \c{FSTCW}, without first waiting
9030 for pending floating-point exceptions to clear.
9033 \S{insFSTENV} \i\c{FSTENV}: Store Floating-Point Environment
9035 \c FSTENV mem ; 9B D9 /6 [8086,FPU]
9036 \c FNSTENV mem ; D9 /6 [8086,FPU]
9038 \c{FSTENV} stores the \c{FPU} operating environment (control word,
9039 status word, tag word, instruction pointer, data pointer and last
9040 opcode) into memory. The memory area is 14 or 28 bytes long,
9041 depending on the CPU mode at the time. See also \c{FLDENV}
9044 \c{FNSTENV} does the same thing as \c{FSTENV}, without first waiting
9045 for pending floating-point exceptions to clear.
9048 \S{insFSTSW} \i\c{FSTSW}: Store Floating-Point Status Word
9050 \c FSTSW mem16 ; 9B DD /7 [8086,FPU]
9051 \c FSTSW AX ; 9B DF E0 [286,FPU]
9053 \c FNSTSW mem16 ; DD /7 [8086,FPU]
9054 \c FNSTSW AX ; DF E0 [286,FPU]
9056 \c{FSTSW} stores the \c{FPU} status word into \c{AX} or into a 2-byte
9059 \c{FNSTSW} does the same thing as \c{FSTSW}, without first waiting
9060 for pending floating-point exceptions to clear.
9063 \S{insFSUB} \i\c{FSUB}, \i\c{FSUBP}, \i\c{FSUBR}, \i\c{FSUBRP}: Floating-Point Subtract
9065 \c FSUB mem32 ; D8 /4 [8086,FPU]
9066 \c FSUB mem64 ; DC /4 [8086,FPU]
9068 \c FSUB fpureg ; D8 E0+r [8086,FPU]
9069 \c FSUB ST0,fpureg ; D8 E0+r [8086,FPU]
9071 \c FSUB TO fpureg ; DC E8+r [8086,FPU]
9072 \c FSUB fpureg,ST0 ; DC E8+r [8086,FPU]
9074 \c FSUBR mem32 ; D8 /5 [8086,FPU]
9075 \c FSUBR mem64 ; DC /5 [8086,FPU]
9077 \c FSUBR fpureg ; D8 E8+r [8086,FPU]
9078 \c FSUBR ST0,fpureg ; D8 E8+r [8086,FPU]
9080 \c FSUBR TO fpureg ; DC E0+r [8086,FPU]
9081 \c FSUBR fpureg,ST0 ; DC E0+r [8086,FPU]
9083 \c FSUBP fpureg ; DE E8+r [8086,FPU]
9084 \c FSUBP fpureg,ST0 ; DE E8+r [8086,FPU]
9086 \c FSUBRP fpureg ; DE E0+r [8086,FPU]
9087 \c FSUBRP fpureg,ST0 ; DE E0+r [8086,FPU]
9089 \b \c{FSUB} subtracts the given operand from \c{ST0} and stores the
9090 result back in \c{ST0}, unless the \c{TO} qualifier is given, in
9091 which case it subtracts \c{ST0} from the given operand and stores
9092 the result in the operand.
9094 \b \c{FSUBR} does the same thing, but does the subtraction the other
9095 way up: so if \c{TO} is not given, it subtracts \c{ST0} from the given
9096 operand and stores the result in \c{ST0}, whereas if \c{TO} is given
9097 it subtracts its operand from \c{ST0} and stores the result in the
9100 \b \c{FSUBP} operates like \c{FSUB TO}, but pops the register stack
9101 once it has finished.
9103 \b \c{FSUBRP} operates like \c{FSUBR TO}, but pops the register stack
9104 once it has finished.
9107 \S{insFTST} \i\c{FTST}: Test \c{ST0} Against Zero
9109 \c FTST ; D9 E4 [8086,FPU]
9111 \c{FTST} compares \c{ST0} with zero and sets the FPU flags
9112 accordingly. \c{ST0} is treated as the left-hand side of the
9113 comparison, so that a `less-than' result is generated if \c{ST0} is
9117 \S{insFUCOM} \i\c{FUCOMxx}: Floating-Point Unordered Compare
9119 \c FUCOM fpureg ; DD E0+r [386,FPU]
9120 \c FUCOM ST0,fpureg ; DD E0+r [386,FPU]
9122 \c FUCOMP fpureg ; DD E8+r [386,FPU]
9123 \c FUCOMP ST0,fpureg ; DD E8+r [386,FPU]
9125 \c FUCOMPP ; DA E9 [386,FPU]
9127 \c FUCOMI fpureg ; DB E8+r [P6,FPU]
9128 \c FUCOMI ST0,fpureg ; DB E8+r [P6,FPU]
9130 \c FUCOMIP fpureg ; DF E8+r [P6,FPU]
9131 \c FUCOMIP ST0,fpureg ; DF E8+r [P6,FPU]
9133 \b \c{FUCOM} compares \c{ST0} with the given operand, and sets the
9134 FPU flags accordingly. \c{ST0} is treated as the left-hand side of
9135 the comparison, so that the carry flag is set (for a `less-than'
9136 result) if \c{ST0} is less than the given operand.
9138 \b \c{FUCOMP} does the same as \c{FUCOM}, but pops the register stack
9139 afterwards. \c{FUCOMPP} compares \c{ST0} with \c{ST1} and then pops
9140 the register stack twice.
9142 \b \c{FUCOMI} and \c{FUCOMIP} work like the corresponding forms of
9143 \c{FUCOM} and \c{FUCOMP}, but write their results directly to the CPU
9144 flags register rather than the FPU status word, so they can be
9145 immediately followed by conditional jump or conditional move
9148 The \c{FUCOM} instructions differ from the \c{FCOM} instructions
9149 (\k{insFCOM}) only in the way they handle quiet NaNs: \c{FUCOM} will
9150 handle them silently and set the condition code flags to an
9151 `unordered' result, whereas \c{FCOM} will generate an exception.
9154 \S{insFXAM} \i\c{FXAM}: Examine Class of Value in \c{ST0}
9156 \c FXAM ; D9 E5 [8086,FPU]
9158 \c{FXAM} sets the FPU flags \c{C3}, \c{C2} and \c{C0} depending on
9159 the type of value stored in \c{ST0}:
9161 \c Register contents Flags
9163 \c Unsupported format 000
9165 \c Finite number 010
9168 \c Empty register 101
9171 Additionally, the \c{C1} flag is set to the sign of the number.
9174 \S{insFXCH} \i\c{FXCH}: Floating-Point Exchange
9176 \c FXCH ; D9 C9 [8086,FPU]
9177 \c FXCH fpureg ; D9 C8+r [8086,FPU]
9178 \c FXCH fpureg,ST0 ; D9 C8+r [8086,FPU]
9179 \c FXCH ST0,fpureg ; D9 C8+r [8086,FPU]
9181 \c{FXCH} exchanges \c{ST0} with a given FPU register. The no-operand
9182 form exchanges \c{ST0} with \c{ST1}.
9185 \S{insFXRSTOR} \i\c{FXRSTOR}: Restore \c{FP}, \c{MMX} and \c{SSE} State
9187 \c FXRSTOR memory ; 0F AE /1 [P6,SSE,FPU]
9189 The \c{FXRSTOR} instruction reloads the \c{FPU}, \c{MMX} and \c{SSE}
9190 state (environment and registers), from the 512 byte memory area defined
9191 by the source operand. This data should have been written by a previous
9195 \S{insFXSAVE} \i\c{FXSAVE}: Store \c{FP}, \c{MMX} and \c{SSE} State
9197 \c FXSAVE memory ; 0F AE /0 [P6,SSE,FPU]
9199 \c{FXSAVE}The FXSAVE instruction writes the current \c{FPU}, \c{MMX}
9200 and \c{SSE} technology states (environment and registers), to the
9201 512 byte memory area defined by the destination operand. It does this
9202 without checking for pending unmasked floating-point exceptions
9203 (similar to the operation of \c{FNSAVE}).
9205 Unlike the \c{FSAVE/FNSAVE} instructions, the processor retains the
9206 contents of the \c{FPU}, \c{MMX} and \c{SSE} state in the processor
9207 after the state has been saved. This instruction has been optimised
9208 to maximize floating-point save performance.
9211 \S{insFXTRACT} \i\c{FXTRACT}: Extract Exponent and Significand
9213 \c FXTRACT ; D9 F4 [8086,FPU]
9215 \c{FXTRACT} separates the number in \c{ST0} into its exponent and
9216 significand (mantissa), stores the exponent back into \c{ST0}, and
9217 then pushes the significand on the register stack (so that the
9218 significand ends up in \c{ST0}, and the exponent in \c{ST1}).
9221 \S{insFYL2X} \i\c{FYL2X}, \i\c{FYL2XP1}: Compute Y times Log2(X) or Log2(X+1)
9223 \c FYL2X ; D9 F1 [8086,FPU]
9224 \c FYL2XP1 ; D9 F9 [8086,FPU]
9226 \c{FYL2X} multiplies \c{ST1} by the base-2 logarithm of \c{ST0},
9227 stores the result in \c{ST1}, and pops the register stack (so that
9228 the result ends up in \c{ST0}). \c{ST0} must be non-zero and
9231 \c{FYL2XP1} works the same way, but replacing the base-2 log of
9232 \c{ST0} with that of \c{ST0} plus one. This time, \c{ST0} must have
9233 magnitude no greater than 1 minus half the square root of two.
9236 \S{insHLT} \i\c{HLT}: Halt Processor
9238 \c HLT ; F4 [8086,PRIV]
9240 \c{HLT} puts the processor into a halted state, where it will
9241 perform no more operations until restarted by an interrupt or a
9244 On the 286 and later processors, this is a privileged instruction.
9247 \S{insIBTS} \i\c{IBTS}: Insert Bit String
9249 \c IBTS r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F A7 /r [386,UNDOC]
9250 \c IBTS r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F A7 /r [386,UNDOC]
9252 The implied operation of this instruction is:
9254 \c IBTS r/m16,AX,CL,reg16
9255 \c IBTS r/m32,EAX,CL,reg32
9257 Writes a bit string from the source operand to the destination.
9258 \c{CL} indicates the number of bits to be copied, from the low bits
9259 of the source. \c{(E)AX} indicates the low order bit offset in the
9260 destination that is written to. For example, if \c{CL} is set to 4
9261 and \c{AX} (for 16-bit code) is set to 5, bits 0-3 of \c{src} will
9262 be copied to bits 5-8 of \c{dst}. This instruction is very poorly
9263 documented, and I have been unable to find any official source of
9264 documentation on it.
9266 \c{IBTS} is supported only on the early Intel 386s, and conflicts
9267 with the opcodes for \c{CMPXCHG486} (on early Intel 486s). NASM
9268 supports it only for completeness. Its counterpart is \c{XBTS}
9272 \S{insIDIV} \i\c{IDIV}: Signed Integer Divide
9274 \c IDIV r/m8 ; F6 /7 [8086]
9275 \c IDIV r/m16 ; o16 F7 /7 [8086]
9276 \c IDIV r/m32 ; o32 F7 /7 [386]
9278 \c{IDIV} performs signed integer division. The explicit operand
9279 provided is the divisor; the dividend and destination operands
9280 are implicit, in the following way:
9282 \b For \c{IDIV r/m8}, \c{AX} is divided by the given operand;
9283 the quotient is stored in \c{AL} and the remainder in \c{AH}.
9285 \b For \c{IDIV r/m16}, \c{DX:AX} is divided by the given operand;
9286 the quotient is stored in \c{AX} and the remainder in \c{DX}.
9288 \b For \c{IDIV r/m32}, \c{EDX:EAX} is divided by the given operand;
9289 the quotient is stored in \c{EAX} and the remainder in \c{EDX}.
9291 Unsigned integer division is performed by the \c{DIV} instruction:
9295 \S{insIMUL} \i\c{IMUL}: Signed Integer Multiply
9297 \c IMUL r/m8 ; F6 /5 [8086]
9298 \c IMUL r/m16 ; o16 F7 /5 [8086]
9299 \c IMUL r/m32 ; o32 F7 /5 [386]
9301 \c IMUL reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F AF /r [386]
9302 \c IMUL reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F AF /r [386]
9304 \c IMUL reg16,imm8 ; o16 6B /r ib [186]
9305 \c IMUL reg16,imm16 ; o16 69 /r iw [186]
9306 \c IMUL reg32,imm8 ; o32 6B /r ib [386]
9307 \c IMUL reg32,imm32 ; o32 69 /r id [386]
9309 \c IMUL reg16,r/m16,imm8 ; o16 6B /r ib [186]
9310 \c IMUL reg16,r/m16,imm16 ; o16 69 /r iw [186]
9311 \c IMUL reg32,r/m32,imm8 ; o32 6B /r ib [386]
9312 \c IMUL reg32,r/m32,imm32 ; o32 69 /r id [386]
9314 \c{IMUL} performs signed integer multiplication. For the
9315 single-operand form, the other operand and destination are
9316 implicit, in the following way:
9318 \b For \c{IMUL r/m8}, \c{AL} is multiplied by the given operand;
9319 the product is stored in \c{AX}.
9321 \b For \c{IMUL r/m16}, \c{AX} is multiplied by the given operand;
9322 the product is stored in \c{DX:AX}.
9324 \b For \c{IMUL r/m32}, \c{EAX} is multiplied by the given operand;
9325 the product is stored in \c{EDX:EAX}.
9327 The two-operand form multiplies its two operands and stores the
9328 result in the destination (first) operand. The three-operand
9329 form multiplies its last two operands and stores the result in
9332 The two-operand form with an immediate second operand is in
9333 fact a shorthand for the three-operand form, as can be seen by
9334 examining the opcode descriptions: in the two-operand form, the
9335 code \c{/r} takes both its register and \c{r/m} parts from the
9336 same operand (the first one).
9338 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate operand and another longer
9339 source operand, the immediate operand is considered to be signed,
9340 and is sign-extended to the length of the other source operand.
9341 In these cases, the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force
9342 NASM to generate this form of the instruction.
9344 Unsigned integer multiplication is performed by the \c{MUL}
9345 instruction: see \k{insMUL}.
9348 \S{insIN} \i\c{IN}: Input from I/O Port
9350 \c IN AL,imm8 ; E4 ib [8086]
9351 \c IN AX,imm8 ; o16 E5 ib [8086]
9352 \c IN EAX,imm8 ; o32 E5 ib [386]
9353 \c IN AL,DX ; EC [8086]
9354 \c IN AX,DX ; o16 ED [8086]
9355 \c IN EAX,DX ; o32 ED [386]
9357 \c{IN} reads a byte, word or doubleword from the specified I/O port,
9358 and stores it in the given destination register. The port number may
9359 be specified as an immediate value if it is between 0 and 255, and
9360 otherwise must be stored in \c{DX}. See also \c{OUT} (\k{insOUT}).
9363 \S{insINC} \i\c{INC}: Increment Integer
9365 \c INC reg16 ; o16 40+r [8086]
9366 \c INC reg32 ; o32 40+r [386]
9367 \c INC r/m8 ; FE /0 [8086]
9368 \c INC r/m16 ; o16 FF /0 [8086]
9369 \c INC r/m32 ; o32 FF /0 [386]
9371 \c{INC} adds 1 to its operand. It does \e{not} affect the carry
9372 flag: to affect the carry flag, use \c{ADD something,1} (see
9373 \k{insADD}). \c{INC} affects all the other flags according to the result.
9375 This instruction can be used with a \c{LOCK} prefix to allow atomic execution.
9377 See also \c{DEC} (\k{insDEC}).
9380 \S{insINSB} \i\c{INSB}, \i\c{INSW}, \i\c{INSD}: Input String from I/O Port
9383 \c INSW ; o16 6D [186]
9384 \c INSD ; o32 6D [386]
9386 \c{INSB} inputs a byte from the I/O port specified in \c{DX} and
9387 stores it at \c{[ES:DI]} or \c{[ES:EDI]}. It then increments or
9388 decrements (depending on the direction flag: increments if the flag
9389 is clear, decrements if it is set) \c{DI} or \c{EDI}.
9391 The register used is \c{DI} if the address size is 16 bits, and
9392 \c{EDI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use an address size not
9393 equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can use an explicit
9394 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
9396 Segment override prefixes have no effect for this instruction: the
9397 use of \c{ES} for the load from \c{[DI]} or \c{[EDI]} cannot be
9400 \c{INSW} and \c{INSD} work in the same way, but they input a word or
9401 a doubleword instead of a byte, and increment or decrement the
9402 addressing register by 2 or 4 instead of 1.
9404 The \c{REP} prefix may be used to repeat the instruction \c{CX} (or
9405 \c{ECX} - again, the address size chooses which) times.
9407 See also \c{OUTSB}, \c{OUTSW} and \c{OUTSD} (\k{insOUTSB}).
9410 \S{insINT} \i\c{INT}: Software Interrupt
9412 \c INT imm8 ; CD ib [8086]
9414 \c{INT} causes a software interrupt through a specified vector
9415 number from 0 to 255.
9417 The code generated by the \c{INT} instruction is always two bytes
9418 long: although there are short forms for some \c{INT} instructions,
9419 NASM does not generate them when it sees the \c{INT} mnemonic. In
9420 order to generate single-byte breakpoint instructions, use the
9421 \c{INT3} or \c{INT1} instructions (see \k{insINT1}) instead.
9424 \S{insINT1} \i\c{INT3}, \i\c{INT1}, \i\c{ICEBP}, \i\c{INT01}: Breakpoints
9431 \c INT03 ; CC [8086]
9433 \c{INT1} and \c{INT3} are short one-byte forms of the instructions
9434 \c{INT 1} and \c{INT 3} (see \k{insINT}). They perform a similar
9435 function to their longer counterparts, but take up less code space.
9436 They are used as breakpoints by debuggers.
9438 \b \c{INT1}, and its alternative synonyms \c{INT01} and \c{ICEBP}, is
9439 an instruction used by in-circuit emulators (ICEs). It is present,
9440 though not documented, on some processors down to the 286, but is
9441 only documented for the Pentium Pro. \c{INT3} is the instruction
9442 normally used as a breakpoint by debuggers.
9444 \b \c{INT3}, and its synonym \c{INT03}, is not precisely equivalent to
9445 \c{INT 3}: the short form, since it is designed to be used as a
9446 breakpoint, bypasses the normal \c{IOPL} checks in virtual-8086 mode,
9447 and also does not go through interrupt redirection.
9450 \S{insINTO} \i\c{INTO}: Interrupt if Overflow
9454 \c{INTO} performs an \c{INT 4} software interrupt (see \k{insINT})
9455 if and only if the overflow flag is set.
9458 \S{insINVD} \i\c{INVD}: Invalidate Internal Caches
9460 \c INVD ; 0F 08 [486]
9462 \c{INVD} invalidates and empties the processor's internal caches,
9463 and causes the processor to instruct external caches to do the same.
9464 It does not write the contents of the caches back to memory first:
9465 any modified data held in the caches will be lost. To write the data
9466 back first, use \c{WBINVD} (\k{insWBINVD}).
9469 \S{insINVLPG} \i\c{INVLPG}: Invalidate TLB Entry
9471 \c INVLPG mem ; 0F 01 /7 [486]
9473 \c{INVLPG} invalidates the translation lookahead buffer (TLB) entry
9474 associated with the supplied memory address.
9477 \S{insIRET} \i\c{IRET}, \i\c{IRETW}, \i\c{IRETD}: Return from Interrupt
9480 \c IRETW ; o16 CF [8086]
9481 \c IRETD ; o32 CF [386]
9483 \c{IRET} returns from an interrupt (hardware or software) by means
9484 of popping \c{IP} (or \c{EIP}), \c{CS} and the flags off the stack
9485 and then continuing execution from the new \c{CS:IP}.
9487 \c{IRETW} pops \c{IP}, \c{CS} and the flags as 2 bytes each, taking
9488 6 bytes off the stack in total. \c{IRETD} pops \c{EIP} as 4 bytes,
9489 pops a further 4 bytes of which the top two are discarded and the
9490 bottom two go into \c{CS}, and pops the flags as 4 bytes as well,
9491 taking 12 bytes off the stack.
9493 \c{IRET} is a shorthand for either \c{IRETW} or \c{IRETD}, depending
9494 on the default \c{BITS} setting at the time.
9497 \S{insJcc} \i\c{Jcc}: Conditional Branch
9499 \c Jcc imm ; 70+cc rb [8086]
9500 \c Jcc NEAR imm ; 0F 80+cc rw/rd [386]
9502 The \i{conditional jump} instructions execute a near (same segment)
9503 jump if and only if their conditions are satisfied. For example,
9504 \c{JNZ} jumps only if the zero flag is not set.
9506 The ordinary form of the instructions has only a 128-byte range; the
9507 \c{NEAR} form is a 386 extension to the instruction set, and can
9508 span the full size of a segment. NASM will not override your choice
9509 of jump instruction: if you want \c{Jcc NEAR}, you have to use the
9512 The \c{SHORT} keyword is allowed on the first form of the
9513 instruction, for clarity, but is not necessary.
9515 For details of the condition codes, see \k{iref-cc}.
9518 \S{insJCXZ} \i\c{JCXZ}, \i\c{JECXZ}: Jump if CX/ECX Zero
9520 \c JCXZ imm ; a16 E3 rb [8086]
9521 \c JECXZ imm ; a32 E3 rb [386]
9523 \c{JCXZ} performs a short jump (with maximum range 128 bytes) if and
9524 only if the contents of the \c{CX} register is 0. \c{JECXZ} does the
9525 same thing, but with \c{ECX}.
9528 \S{insJMP} \i\c{JMP}: Jump
9530 \c JMP imm ; E9 rw/rd [8086]
9531 \c JMP SHORT imm ; EB rb [8086]
9532 \c JMP imm:imm16 ; o16 EA iw iw [8086]
9533 \c JMP imm:imm32 ; o32 EA id iw [386]
9534 \c JMP FAR mem ; o16 FF /5 [8086]
9535 \c JMP FAR mem32 ; o32 FF /5 [386]
9536 \c JMP r/m16 ; o16 FF /4 [8086]
9537 \c JMP r/m32 ; o32 FF /4 [386]
9539 \c{JMP} jumps to a given address. The address may be specified as an
9540 absolute segment and offset, or as a relative jump within the
9543 \c{JMP SHORT imm} has a maximum range of 128 bytes, since the
9544 displacement is specified as only 8 bits, but takes up less code
9545 space. NASM does not choose when to generate \c{JMP SHORT} for you:
9546 you must explicitly code \c{SHORT} every time you want a short jump.
9548 You can choose between the two immediate \i{far jump} forms (\c{JMP
9549 imm:imm}) by the use of the \c{WORD} and \c{DWORD} keywords: \c{JMP
9550 WORD 0x1234:0x5678}) or \c{JMP DWORD 0x1234:0x56789abc}.
9552 The \c{JMP FAR mem} forms execute a far jump by loading the
9553 destination address out of memory. The address loaded consists of 16
9554 or 32 bits of offset (depending on the operand size), and 16 bits of
9555 segment. The operand size may be overridden using \c{JMP WORD FAR
9556 mem} or \c{JMP DWORD FAR mem}.
9558 The \c{JMP r/m} forms execute a \i{near jump} (within the same
9559 segment), loading the destination address out of memory or out of a
9560 register. The keyword \c{NEAR} may be specified, for clarity, in
9561 these forms, but is not necessary. Again, operand size can be
9562 overridden using \c{JMP WORD mem} or \c{JMP DWORD mem}.
9564 As a convenience, NASM does not require you to jump to a far symbol
9565 by coding the cumbersome \c{JMP SEG routine:routine}, but instead
9566 allows the easier synonym \c{JMP FAR routine}.
9568 The \c{CALL r/m} forms given above are near calls; NASM will accept
9569 the \c{NEAR} keyword (e.g. \c{CALL NEAR [address]}), even though it
9570 is not strictly necessary.
9573 \S{insLAHF} \i\c{LAHF}: Load AH from Flags
9577 \c{LAHF} sets the \c{AH} register according to the contents of the
9578 low byte of the flags word.
9580 The operation of \c{LAHF} is:
9582 \c AH <-- SF:ZF:0:AF:0:PF:1:CF
9584 See also \c{SAHF} (\k{insSAHF}).
9587 \S{insLAR} \i\c{LAR}: Load Access Rights
9589 \c LAR reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F 02 /r [286,PRIV]
9590 \c LAR reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F 02 /r [286,PRIV]
9592 \c{LAR} takes the segment selector specified by its source (second)
9593 operand, finds the corresponding segment descriptor in the GDT or
9594 LDT, and loads the access-rights byte of the descriptor into its
9595 destination (first) operand.
9598 \S{insLDMXCSR} \i\c{LDMXCSR}: Load Streaming SIMD Extension
9601 \c LDMXCSR mem32 ; 0F AE /2 [KATMAI,SSE]
9603 \c{LDMXCSR} loads 32-bits of data from the specified memory location
9604 into the \c{MXCSR} control/status register. \c{MXCSR} is used to
9605 enable masked/unmasked exception handling, to set rounding modes,
9606 to set flush-to-zero mode, and to view exception status flags.
9608 For details of the \c{MXCSR} register, see the Intel processor docs.
9610 See also \c{STMXCSR} (\k{insSTMXCSR}
9613 \S{insLDS} \i\c{LDS}, \i\c{LES}, \i\c{LFS}, \i\c{LGS}, \i\c{LSS}: Load Far Pointer
9615 \c LDS reg16,mem ; o16 C5 /r [8086]
9616 \c LDS reg32,mem ; o32 C5 /r [386]
9618 \c LES reg16,mem ; o16 C4 /r [8086]
9619 \c LES reg32,mem ; o32 C4 /r [386]
9621 \c LFS reg16,mem ; o16 0F B4 /r [386]
9622 \c LFS reg32,mem ; o32 0F B4 /r [386]
9624 \c LGS reg16,mem ; o16 0F B5 /r [386]
9625 \c LGS reg32,mem ; o32 0F B5 /r [386]
9627 \c LSS reg16,mem ; o16 0F B2 /r [386]
9628 \c LSS reg32,mem ; o32 0F B2 /r [386]
9630 These instructions load an entire far pointer (16 or 32 bits of
9631 offset, plus 16 bits of segment) out of memory in one go. \c{LDS},
9632 for example, loads 16 or 32 bits from the given memory address into
9633 the given register (depending on the size of the register), then
9634 loads the \e{next} 16 bits from memory into \c{DS}. \c{LES},
9635 \c{LFS}, \c{LGS} and \c{LSS} work in the same way but use the other
9639 \S{insLEA} \i\c{LEA}: Load Effective Address
9641 \c LEA reg16,mem ; o16 8D /r [8086]
9642 \c LEA reg32,mem ; o32 8D /r [386]
9644 \c{LEA}, despite its syntax, does not access memory. It calculates
9645 the effective address specified by its second operand as if it were
9646 going to load or store data from it, but instead it stores the
9647 calculated address into the register specified by its first operand.
9648 This can be used to perform quite complex calculations (e.g. \c{LEA
9649 EAX,[EBX+ECX*4+100]}) in one instruction.
9651 \c{LEA}, despite being a purely arithmetic instruction which
9652 accesses no memory, still requires square brackets around its second
9653 operand, as if it were a memory reference.
9655 The size of the calculation is the current \e{address} size, and the
9656 size that the result is stored as is the current \e{operand} size.
9657 If the address and operand size are not the same, then if the
9658 addressing mode was 32-bits, the low 16-bits are stored, and if the
9659 address was 16-bits, it is zero-extended to 32-bits before storing.
9662 \S{insLEAVE} \i\c{LEAVE}: Destroy Stack Frame
9666 \c{LEAVE} destroys a stack frame of the form created by the
9667 \c{ENTER} instruction (see \k{insENTER}). It is functionally
9668 equivalent to \c{MOV ESP,EBP} followed by \c{POP EBP} (or \c{MOV
9669 SP,BP} followed by \c{POP BP} in 16-bit mode).
9672 \S{insLFENCE} \i\c{LFENCE}: Load Fence
9674 \c LFENCE ; 0F AE /5 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9676 \c{LFENCE} performs a serialising operation on all loads from memory
9677 that were issued before the \c{LFENCE} instruction. This guarantees that
9678 all memory reads before the \c{LFENCE} instruction are visible before any
9679 reads after the \c{LFENCE} instruction.
9681 \c{LFENCE} is ordered respective to other \c{LFENCE} instruction, \c{MFENCE},
9682 any memory read and any other serialising instruction (such as \c{CPUID}).
9684 Weakly ordered memory types can be used to achieve higher processor
9685 performance through such techniques as out-of-order issue and
9686 speculative reads. The degree to which a consumer of data recognizes
9687 or knows that the data is weakly ordered varies among applications
9688 and may be unknown to the producer of this data. The \c{LFENCE}
9689 instruction provides a performance-efficient way of ensuring load
9690 ordering between routines that produce weakly-ordered results and
9691 routines that consume that data.
9693 \c{LFENCE} uses the following ModRM encoding:
9696 \c Reg/Opcode (5:3) = 101B
9699 All other ModRM encodings are defined to be reserved, and use
9700 of these encodings risks incompatibility with future processors.
9702 See also \c{SFENCE} (\k{insSFENCE}) and \c{MFENCE} (\k{insMFENCE}).
9705 \S{insLGDT} \i\c{LGDT}, \i\c{LIDT}, \i\c{LLDT}: Load Descriptor Tables
9707 \c LGDT mem ; 0F 01 /2 [286,PRIV]
9708 \c LIDT mem ; 0F 01 /3 [286,PRIV]
9709 \c LLDT r/m16 ; 0F 00 /2 [286,PRIV]
9711 \c{LGDT} and \c{LIDT} both take a 6-byte memory area as an operand:
9712 they load a 32-bit linear address and a 16-bit size limit from that
9713 area (in the opposite order) into the \c{GDTR} (global descriptor table
9714 register) or \c{IDTR} (interrupt descriptor table register). These are
9715 the only instructions which directly use \e{linear} addresses, rather
9716 than segment/offset pairs.
9718 \c{LLDT} takes a segment selector as an operand. The processor looks
9719 up that selector in the GDT and stores the limit and base address
9720 given there into the \c{LDTR} (local descriptor table register).
9722 See also \c{SGDT}, \c{SIDT} and \c{SLDT} (\k{insSGDT}).
9725 \S{insLMSW} \i\c{LMSW}: Load/Store Machine Status Word
9727 \c LMSW r/m16 ; 0F 01 /6 [286,PRIV]
9729 \c{LMSW} loads the bottom four bits of the source operand into the
9730 bottom four bits of the \c{CR0} control register (or the Machine
9731 Status Word, on 286 processors). See also \c{SMSW} (\k{insSMSW}).
9734 \S{insLOADALL} \i\c{LOADALL}, \i\c{LOADALL286}: Load Processor State
9736 \c LOADALL ; 0F 07 [386,UNDOC]
9737 \c LOADALL286 ; 0F 05 [286,UNDOC]
9739 This instruction, in its two different-opcode forms, is apparently
9740 supported on most 286 processors, some 386 and possibly some 486.
9741 The opcode differs between the 286 and the 386.
9743 The function of the instruction is to load all information relating
9744 to the state of the processor out of a block of memory: on the 286,
9745 this block is located implicitly at absolute address \c{0x800}, and
9746 on the 386 and 486 it is at \c{[ES:EDI]}.
9749 \S{insLODSB} \i\c{LODSB}, \i\c{LODSW}, \i\c{LODSD}: Load from String
9751 \c LODSB ; AC [8086]
9752 \c LODSW ; o16 AD [8086]
9753 \c LODSD ; o32 AD [386]
9755 \c{LODSB} loads a byte from \c{[DS:SI]} or \c{[DS:ESI]} into \c{AL}.
9756 It then increments or decrements (depending on the direction flag:
9757 increments if the flag is clear, decrements if it is set) \c{SI} or
9760 The register used is \c{SI} if the address size is 16 bits, and
9761 \c{ESI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use an address size not
9762 equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can use an explicit
9763 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
9765 The segment register used to load from \c{[SI]} or \c{[ESI]} can be
9766 overridden by using a segment register name as a prefix (for
9767 example, \c{ES LODSB}).
9769 \c{LODSW} and \c{LODSD} work in the same way, but they load a
9770 word or a doubleword instead of a byte, and increment or decrement
9771 the addressing registers by 2 or 4 instead of 1.
9774 \S{insLOOP} \i\c{LOOP}, \i\c{LOOPE}, \i\c{LOOPZ}, \i\c{LOOPNE}, \i\c{LOOPNZ}: Loop with Counter
9776 \c LOOP imm ; E2 rb [8086]
9777 \c LOOP imm,CX ; a16 E2 rb [8086]
9778 \c LOOP imm,ECX ; a32 E2 rb [386]
9780 \c LOOPE imm ; E1 rb [8086]
9781 \c LOOPE imm,CX ; a16 E1 rb [8086]
9782 \c LOOPE imm,ECX ; a32 E1 rb [386]
9783 \c LOOPZ imm ; E1 rb [8086]
9784 \c LOOPZ imm,CX ; a16 E1 rb [8086]
9785 \c LOOPZ imm,ECX ; a32 E1 rb [386]
9787 \c LOOPNE imm ; E0 rb [8086]
9788 \c LOOPNE imm,CX ; a16 E0 rb [8086]
9789 \c LOOPNE imm,ECX ; a32 E0 rb [386]
9790 \c LOOPNZ imm ; E0 rb [8086]
9791 \c LOOPNZ imm,CX ; a16 E0 rb [8086]
9792 \c LOOPNZ imm,ECX ; a32 E0 rb [386]
9794 \c{LOOP} decrements its counter register (either \c{CX} or \c{ECX} -
9795 if one is not specified explicitly, the \c{BITS} setting dictates
9796 which is used) by one, and if the counter does not become zero as a
9797 result of this operation, it jumps to the given label. The jump has
9798 a range of 128 bytes.
9800 \c{LOOPE} (or its synonym \c{LOOPZ}) adds the additional condition
9801 that it only jumps if the counter is nonzero \e{and} the zero flag
9802 is set. Similarly, \c{LOOPNE} (and \c{LOOPNZ}) jumps only if the
9803 counter is nonzero and the zero flag is clear.
9806 \S{insLSL} \i\c{LSL}: Load Segment Limit
9808 \c LSL reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F 03 /r [286,PRIV]
9809 \c LSL reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F 03 /r [286,PRIV]
9811 \c{LSL} is given a segment selector in its source (second) operand;
9812 it computes the segment limit value by loading the segment limit
9813 field from the associated segment descriptor in the \c{GDT} or \c{LDT}.
9814 (This involves shifting left by 12 bits if the segment limit is
9815 page-granular, and not if it is byte-granular; so you end up with a
9816 byte limit in either case.) The segment limit obtained is then
9817 loaded into the destination (first) operand.
9820 \S{insLTR} \i\c{LTR}: Load Task Register
9822 \c LTR r/m16 ; 0F 00 /3 [286,PRIV]
9824 \c{LTR} looks up the segment base and limit in the GDT or LDT
9825 descriptor specified by the segment selector given as its operand,
9826 and loads them into the Task Register.
9829 \S{insMASKMOVDQU} \i\c{MASKMOVDQU}: Byte Mask Write
9831 \c MASKMOVDQU xmm1,xmm2 ; 66 0F F7 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9833 \c{MASKMOVDQU} stores data from xmm1 to the location specified by
9834 \c{ES:(E)DI}. The size of the store depends on the address-size
9835 attribute. The most significant bit in each byte of the mask
9836 register xmm2 is used to selectively write the data (0 = no write,
9837 1 = write) on a per-byte basis.
9840 \S{insMASKMOVQ} \i\c{MASKMOVQ}: Byte Mask Write
9842 \c MASKMOVQ mm1,mm2 ; 0F F7 /r [KATMAI,MMX]
9844 \c{MASKMOVQ} stores data from mm1 to the location specified by
9845 \c{ES:(E)DI}. The size of the store depends on the address-size
9846 attribute. The most significant bit in each byte of the mask
9847 register mm2 is used to selectively write the data (0 = no write,
9848 1 = write) on a per-byte basis.
9851 \S{insMAXPD} \i\c{MAXPD}: Return Packed Double-Precision FP Maximum
9853 \c MAXPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 5F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9855 \c{MAXPD} performs a SIMD compare of the packed double-precision
9856 FP numbers from xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the maximum values
9857 of each pair of values in xmm1. If the values being compared are
9858 both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m128) would be returned. If source2
9859 (xmm2/m128) is an SNaN, this SNaN is forwarded unchanged to the
9860 destination (i.e., a QNaN version of the SNaN is not returned).
9863 \S{insMAXPS} \i\c{MAXPS}: Return Packed Single-Precision FP Maximum
9865 \c MAXPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 5F /r [KATMAI,SSE]
9867 \c{MAXPS} performs a SIMD compare of the packed single-precision
9868 FP numbers from xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the maximum values
9869 of each pair of values in xmm1. If the values being compared are
9870 both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m128) would be returned. If source2
9871 (xmm2/m128) is an SNaN, this SNaN is forwarded unchanged to the
9872 destination (i.e., a QNaN version of the SNaN is not returned).
9875 \S{insMAXSD} \i\c{MAXSD}: Return Scalar Double-Precision FP Maximum
9877 \c MAXSD xmm1,xmm2/m64 ; F2 0F 5F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9879 \c{MAXSD} compares the low-order double-precision FP numbers from
9880 xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the maximum value in xmm1. If the
9881 values being compared are both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m64) would
9882 be returned. If source2 (xmm2/m64) is an SNaN, this SNaN is
9883 forwarded unchanged to the destination (i.e., a QNaN version of
9884 the SNaN is not returned). The high quadword of the destination
9888 \S{insMAXSS} \i\c{MAXSS}: Return Scalar Single-Precision FP Maximum
9890 \c MAXSS xmm1,xmm2/m32 ; F3 0F 5F /r [KATMAI,SSE]
9892 \c{MAXSS} compares the low-order single-precision FP numbers from
9893 xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the maximum value in xmm1. If the
9894 values being compared are both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m32) would
9895 be returned. If source2 (xmm2/m32) is an SNaN, this SNaN is
9896 forwarded unchanged to the destination (i.e., a QNaN version of
9897 the SNaN is not returned). The high three doublewords of the
9898 destination are left unchanged.
9901 \S{insMFENCE} \i\c{MFENCE}: Memory Fence
9903 \c MFENCE ; 0F AE /6 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9905 \c{MFENCE} performs a serialising operation on all loads from memory
9906 and writes to memory that were issued before the \c{MFENCE} instruction.
9907 This guarantees that all memory reads and writes before the \c{MFENCE}
9908 instruction are completed before any reads and writes after the
9909 \c{MFENCE} instruction.
9911 \c{MFENCE} is ordered respective to other \c{MFENCE} instructions,
9912 \c{LFENCE}, \c{SFENCE}, any memory read and any other serialising
9913 instruction (such as \c{CPUID}).
9915 Weakly ordered memory types can be used to achieve higher processor
9916 performance through such techniques as out-of-order issue, speculative
9917 reads, write-combining, and write-collapsing. The degree to which a
9918 consumer of data recognizes or knows that the data is weakly ordered
9919 varies among applications and may be unknown to the producer of this
9920 data. The \c{MFENCE} instruction provides a performance-efficient way
9921 of ensuring load and store ordering between routines that produce
9922 weakly-ordered results and routines that consume that data.
9924 \c{MFENCE} uses the following ModRM encoding:
9927 \c Reg/Opcode (5:3) = 110B
9930 All other ModRM encodings are defined to be reserved, and use
9931 of these encodings risks incompatibility with future processors.
9933 See also \c{LFENCE} (\k{insLFENCE}) and \c{SFENCE} (\k{insSFENCE}).
9936 \S{insMINPD} \i\c{MINPD}: Return Packed Double-Precision FP Minimum
9938 \c MINPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 5D /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9940 \c{MINPD} performs a SIMD compare of the packed double-precision
9941 FP numbers from xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the minimum values
9942 of each pair of values in xmm1. If the values being compared are
9943 both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m128) would be returned. If source2
9944 (xmm2/m128) is an SNaN, this SNaN is forwarded unchanged to the
9945 destination (i.e., a QNaN version of the SNaN is not returned).
9948 \S{insMINPS} \i\c{MINPS}: Return Packed Single-Precision FP Minimum
9950 \c MINPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 5D /r [KATMAI,SSE]
9952 \c{MINPS} performs a SIMD compare of the packed single-precision
9953 FP numbers from xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the minimum values
9954 of each pair of values in xmm1. If the values being compared are
9955 both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m128) would be returned. If source2
9956 (xmm2/m128) is an SNaN, this SNaN is forwarded unchanged to the
9957 destination (i.e., a QNaN version of the SNaN is not returned).
9960 \S{insMINSD} \i\c{MINSD}: Return Scalar Double-Precision FP Minimum
9962 \c MINSD xmm1,xmm2/m64 ; F2 0F 5D /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
9964 \c{MINSD} compares the low-order double-precision FP numbers from
9965 xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the minimum value in xmm1. If the
9966 values being compared are both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m64) would
9967 be returned. If source2 (xmm2/m64) is an SNaN, this SNaN is
9968 forwarded unchanged to the destination (i.e., a QNaN version of
9969 the SNaN is not returned). The high quadword of the destination
9973 \S{insMINSS} \i\c{MINSS}: Return Scalar Single-Precision FP Minimum
9975 \c MINSS xmm1,xmm2/m32 ; F3 0F 5D /r [KATMAI,SSE]
9977 \c{MINSS} compares the low-order single-precision FP numbers from
9978 xmm1 and xmm2/mem, and stores the minimum value in xmm1. If the
9979 values being compared are both zeroes, source2 (xmm2/m32) would
9980 be returned. If source2 (xmm2/m32) is an SNaN, this SNaN is
9981 forwarded unchanged to the destination (i.e., a QNaN version of
9982 the SNaN is not returned). The high three doublewords of the
9983 destination are left unchanged.
9986 \S{insMOV} \i\c{MOV}: Move Data
9988 \c MOV r/m8,reg8 ; 88 /r [8086]
9989 \c MOV r/m16,reg16 ; o16 89 /r [8086]
9990 \c MOV r/m32,reg32 ; o32 89 /r [386]
9991 \c MOV reg8,r/m8 ; 8A /r [8086]
9992 \c MOV reg16,r/m16 ; o16 8B /r [8086]
9993 \c MOV reg32,r/m32 ; o32 8B /r [386]
9995 \c MOV reg8,imm8 ; B0+r ib [8086]
9996 \c MOV reg16,imm16 ; o16 B8+r iw [8086]
9997 \c MOV reg32,imm32 ; o32 B8+r id [386]
9998 \c MOV r/m8,imm8 ; C6 /0 ib [8086]
9999 \c MOV r/m16,imm16 ; o16 C7 /0 iw [8086]
10000 \c MOV r/m32,imm32 ; o32 C7 /0 id [386]
10002 \c MOV AL,memoffs8 ; A0 ow/od [8086]
10003 \c MOV AX,memoffs16 ; o16 A1 ow/od [8086]
10004 \c MOV EAX,memoffs32 ; o32 A1 ow/od [386]
10005 \c MOV memoffs8,AL ; A2 ow/od [8086]
10006 \c MOV memoffs16,AX ; o16 A3 ow/od [8086]
10007 \c MOV memoffs32,EAX ; o32 A3 ow/od [386]
10009 \c MOV r/m16,segreg ; o16 8C /r [8086]
10010 \c MOV r/m32,segreg ; o32 8C /r [386]
10011 \c MOV segreg,r/m16 ; o16 8E /r [8086]
10012 \c MOV segreg,r/m32 ; o32 8E /r [386]
10014 \c MOV reg32,CR0/2/3/4 ; 0F 20 /r [386]
10015 \c MOV reg32,DR0/1/2/3/6/7 ; 0F 21 /r [386]
10016 \c MOV reg32,TR3/4/5/6/7 ; 0F 24 /r [386]
10017 \c MOV CR0/2/3/4,reg32 ; 0F 22 /r [386]
10018 \c MOV DR0/1/2/3/6/7,reg32 ; 0F 23 /r [386]
10019 \c MOV TR3/4/5/6/7,reg32 ; 0F 26 /r [386]
10021 \c{MOV} copies the contents of its source (second) operand into its
10022 destination (first) operand.
10024 In all forms of the \c{MOV} instruction, the two operands are the
10025 same size, except for moving between a segment register and an
10026 \c{r/m32} operand. These instructions are treated exactly like the
10027 corresponding 16-bit equivalent (so that, for example, \c{MOV
10028 DS,EAX} functions identically to \c{MOV DS,AX} but saves a prefix
10029 when in 32-bit mode), except that when a segment register is moved
10030 into a 32-bit destination, the top two bytes of the result are
10033 \c{MOV} may not use \c{CS} as a destination.
10035 \c{CR4} is only a supported register on the Pentium and above.
10037 Test registers are supported on 386/486 processors and on some
10038 non-Intel Pentium class processors.
10041 \S{insMOVAPD} \i\c{MOVAPD}: Move Aligned Packed Double-Precision FP Values
10043 \c MOVAPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 28 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10044 \c MOVAPD xmm1/mem128,xmm2 ; 66 0F 29 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10046 \c{MOVAPD} moves a double quadword containing 2 packed double-precision
10047 FP values from the source operand to the destination. When the source
10048 or destination operand is a memory location, it must be aligned on a
10051 To move data in and out of memory locations that are not known to be on
10052 16-byte boundaries, use the \c{MOVUPD} instruction (\k{insMOVUPD}).
10055 \S{insMOVAPS} \i\c{MOVAPS}: Move Aligned Packed Single-Precision FP Values
10057 \c MOVAPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 28 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10058 \c MOVAPS xmm1/mem128,xmm2 ; 0F 29 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10060 \c{MOVAPS} moves a double quadword containing 4 packed single-precision
10061 FP values from the source operand to the destination. When the source
10062 or destination operand is a memory location, it must be aligned on a
10065 To move data in and out of memory locations that are not known to be on
10066 16-byte boundaries, use the \c{MOVUPS} instruction (\k{insMOVUPS}).
10069 \S{insMOVD} \i\c{MOVD}: Move Doubleword to/from MMX Register
10071 \c MOVD mm,r/m32 ; 0F 6E /r [PENT,MMX]
10072 \c MOVD r/m32,mm ; 0F 7E /r [PENT,MMX]
10073 \c MOVD xmm,r/m32 ; 66 0F 6E /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10074 \c MOVD r/m32,xmm ; 66 0F 7E /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10076 \c{MOVD} copies 32 bits from its source (second) operand into its
10077 destination (first) operand. When the destination is a 64-bit \c{MMX}
10078 register or a 128-bit \c{XMM} register, the input value is zero-extended
10079 to fill the destination register.
10082 \S{insMOVDQ2Q} \i\c{MOVDQ2Q}: Move Quadword from XMM to MMX register.
10084 \c MOVDQ2Q mm,xmm ; F2 OF D6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10086 \c{MOVDQ2Q} moves the low quadword from the source operand to the
10087 destination operand.
10090 \S{insMOVDQA} \i\c{MOVDQA}: Move Aligned Double Quadword
10092 \c MOVDQA xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 OF 6F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10093 \c MOVDQA xmm1/m128,xmm2 ; 66 OF 7F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10095 \c{MOVDQA} moves a double quadword from the source operand to the
10096 destination operand. When the source or destination operand is a
10097 memory location, it must be aligned to a 16-byte boundary.
10099 To move a double quadword to or from unaligned memory locations,
10100 use the \c{MOVDQU} instruction (\k{insMOVDQU}).
10103 \S{insMOVDQU} \i\c{MOVDQU}: Move Unaligned Double Quadword
10105 \c MOVDQU xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F3 OF 6F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10106 \c MOVDQU xmm1/m128,xmm2 ; F3 OF 7F /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10108 \c{MOVDQU} moves a double quadword from the source operand to the
10109 destination operand. When the source or destination operand is a
10110 memory location, the memory may be unaligned.
10112 To move a double quadword to or from known aligned memory locations,
10113 use the \c{MOVDQA} instruction (\k{insMOVDQA}).
10116 \S{insMOVHLPS} \i\c{MOVHLPS}: Move Packed Single-Precision FP High to Low
10118 \c MOVHLPS xmm1,xmm2 ; OF 12 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10120 \c{MOVHLPS} moves the two packed single-precision FP values from the
10121 high quadword of the source register xmm2 to the low quadword of the
10122 destination register, xmm2. The upper quadword of xmm1 is left unchanged.
10124 The operation of this instruction is:
10126 \c dst[0-63] := src[64-127],
10127 \c dst[64-127] remains unchanged.
10130 \S{insMOVHPD} \i\c{MOVHPD}: Move High Packed Double-Precision FP
10132 \c MOVHPD xmm,m64 ; 66 OF 16 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10133 \c MOVHPD m64,xmm ; 66 OF 17 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10135 \c{MOVHPD} moves a double-precision FP value between the source and
10136 destination operands. One of the operands is a 64-bit memory location,
10137 the other is the high quadword of an \c{XMM} register.
10139 The operation of this instruction is:
10141 \c mem[0-63] := xmm[64-127];
10145 \c xmm[0-63] remains unchanged;
10146 \c xmm[64-127] := mem[0-63].
10149 \S{insMOVHPS} \i\c{MOVHPS}: Move High Packed Single-Precision FP
10151 \c MOVHPS xmm,m64 ; 0F 16 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10152 \c MOVHPS m64,xmm ; 0F 17 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10154 \c{MOVHPS} moves two packed single-precision FP values between the source
10155 and destination operands. One of the operands is a 64-bit memory location,
10156 the other is the high quadword of an \c{XMM} register.
10158 The operation of this instruction is:
10160 \c mem[0-63] := xmm[64-127];
10164 \c xmm[0-63] remains unchanged;
10165 \c xmm[64-127] := mem[0-63].
10168 \S{insMOVLHPS} \i\c{MOVLHPS}: Move Packed Single-Precision FP Low to High
10170 \c MOVLHPS xmm1,xmm2 ; OF 16 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10172 \c{MOVLHPS} moves the two packed single-precision FP values from the
10173 low quadword of the source register xmm2 to the high quadword of the
10174 destination register, xmm2. The low quadword of xmm1 is left unchanged.
10176 The operation of this instruction is:
10178 \c dst[0-63] remains unchanged;
10179 \c dst[64-127] := src[0-63].
10181 \S{insMOVLPD} \i\c{MOVLPD}: Move Low Packed Double-Precision FP
10183 \c MOVLPD xmm,m64 ; 66 OF 12 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10184 \c MOVLPD m64,xmm ; 66 OF 13 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10186 \c{MOVLPD} moves a double-precision FP value between the source and
10187 destination operands. One of the operands is a 64-bit memory location,
10188 the other is the low quadword of an \c{XMM} register.
10190 The operation of this instruction is:
10192 \c mem(0-63) := xmm(0-63);
10196 \c xmm(0-63) := mem(0-63);
10197 \c xmm(64-127) remains unchanged.
10199 \S{insMOVLPS} \i\c{MOVLPS}: Move Low Packed Single-Precision FP
10201 \c MOVLPS xmm,m64 ; OF 12 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10202 \c MOVLPS m64,xmm ; OF 13 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10204 \c{MOVLPS} moves two packed single-precision FP values between the source
10205 and destination operands. One of the operands is a 64-bit memory location,
10206 the other is the low quadword of an \c{XMM} register.
10208 The operation of this instruction is:
10210 \c mem(0-63) := xmm(0-63);
10214 \c xmm(0-63) := mem(0-63);
10215 \c xmm(64-127) remains unchanged.
10218 \S{insMOVMSKPD} \i\c{MOVMSKPD}: Extract Packed Double-Precision FP Sign Mask
10220 \c MOVMSKPD reg32,xmm ; 66 0F 50 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10222 \c{MOVMSKPD} inserts a 2-bit mask in r32, formed of the most significant
10223 bits of each double-precision FP number of the source operand.
10226 \S{insMOVMSKPS} \i\c{MOVMSKPS}: Extract Packed Single-Precision FP Sign Mask
10228 \c MOVMSKPS reg32,xmm ; 0F 50 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10230 \c{MOVMSKPS} inserts a 4-bit mask in r32, formed of the most significant
10231 bits of each single-precision FP number of the source operand.
10234 \S{insMOVNTDQ} \i\c{MOVNTDQ}: Move Double Quadword Non Temporal
10236 \c MOVNTDQ m128,xmm ; 66 0F E7 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10238 \c{MOVNTDQ} moves the double quadword from the \c{XMM} source
10239 register to the destination memory location, using a non-temporal
10240 hint. This store instruction minimizes cache pollution.
10243 \S{insMOVNTI} \i\c{MOVNTI}: Move Doubleword Non Temporal
10245 \c MOVNTI m32,reg32 ; 0F C3 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10247 \c{MOVNTI} moves the doubleword in the source register
10248 to the destination memory location, using a non-temporal
10249 hint. This store instruction minimizes cache pollution.
10252 \S{insMOVNTPD} \i\c{MOVNTPD}: Move Aligned Four Packed Single-Precision
10253 FP Values Non Temporal
10255 \c MOVNTPD m128,xmm ; 66 0F 2B /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10257 \c{MOVNTPD} moves the double quadword from the \c{XMM} source
10258 register to the destination memory location, using a non-temporal
10259 hint. This store instruction minimizes cache pollution. The memory
10260 location must be aligned to a 16-byte boundary.
10263 \S{insMOVNTPS} \i\c{MOVNTPS}: Move Aligned Four Packed Single-Precision
10264 FP Values Non Temporal
10266 \c MOVNTPS m128,xmm ; 0F 2B /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10268 \c{MOVNTPS} moves the double quadword from the \c{XMM} source
10269 register to the destination memory location, using a non-temporal
10270 hint. This store instruction minimizes cache pollution. The memory
10271 location must be aligned to a 16-byte boundary.
10274 \S{insMOVNTQ} \i\c{MOVNTQ}: Move Quadword Non Temporal
10276 \c MOVNTQ m64,mm ; 0F E7 /r [KATMAI,MMX]
10278 \c{MOVNTQ} moves the quadword in the \c{MMX} source register
10279 to the destination memory location, using a non-temporal
10280 hint. This store instruction minimizes cache pollution.
10283 \S{insMOVQ} \i\c{MOVQ}: Move Quadword to/from MMX Register
10285 \c MOVQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 6F /r [PENT,MMX]
10286 \c MOVQ mm1/m64,mm2 ; 0F 7F /r [PENT,MMX]
10288 \c MOVQ xmm1,xmm2/m64 ; F3 0F 7E /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10289 \c MOVQ xmm1/m64,xmm2 ; 66 0F D6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10291 \c{MOVQ} copies 64 bits from its source (second) operand into its
10292 destination (first) operand. When the source is an \c{XMM} register,
10293 the low quadword is moved. When the destination is an \c{XMM} register,
10294 the destination is the low quadword, and the high quadword is cleared.
10297 \S{insMOVQ2DQ} \i\c{MOVQ2DQ}: Move Quadword from MMX to XMM register.
10299 \c MOVQ2DQ xmm,mm ; F3 OF D6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10301 \c{MOVQ2DQ} moves the quadword from the source operand to the low
10302 quadword of the destination operand, and clears the high quadword.
10305 \S{insMOVSB} \i\c{MOVSB}, \i\c{MOVSW}, \i\c{MOVSD}: Move String
10307 \c MOVSB ; A4 [8086]
10308 \c MOVSW ; o16 A5 [8086]
10309 \c MOVSD ; o32 A5 [386]
10311 \c{MOVSB} copies the byte at \c{[DS:SI]} or \c{[DS:ESI]} to
10312 \c{[ES:DI]} or \c{[ES:EDI]}. It then increments or decrements
10313 (depending on the direction flag: increments if the flag is clear,
10314 decrements if it is set) \c{SI} and \c{DI} (or \c{ESI} and \c{EDI}).
10316 The registers used are \c{SI} and \c{DI} if the address size is 16
10317 bits, and \c{ESI} and \c{EDI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use
10318 an address size not equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can
10319 use an explicit \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
10321 The segment register used to load from \c{[SI]} or \c{[ESI]} can be
10322 overridden by using a segment register name as a prefix (for
10323 example, \c{es movsb}). The use of \c{ES} for the store to \c{[DI]}
10324 or \c{[EDI]} cannot be overridden.
10326 \c{MOVSW} and \c{MOVSD} work in the same way, but they copy a word
10327 or a doubleword instead of a byte, and increment or decrement the
10328 addressing registers by 2 or 4 instead of 1.
10330 The \c{REP} prefix may be used to repeat the instruction \c{CX} (or
10331 \c{ECX} - again, the address size chooses which) times.
10334 \S{insMOVSD} \i\c{MOVSD}: Move Scalar Double-Precision FP Value
10336 \c MOVSD xmm1,xmm2/m64 ; F2 0F 10 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10337 \c MOVSD xmm1/m64,xmm2 ; F2 0F 11 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10339 \c{MOVSD} moves a double-precision FP value from the source operand
10340 to the destination operand. When the source or destination is a
10341 register, the low-order FP value is read or written.
10344 \S{insMOVSS} \i\c{MOVSS}: Move Scalar Single-Precision FP Value
10346 \c MOVSS xmm1,xmm2/m32 ; F3 0F 10 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10347 \c MOVSS xmm1/m32,xmm2 ; F3 0F 11 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10349 \c{MOVSS} moves a single-precision FP value from the source operand
10350 to the destination operand. When the source or destination is a
10351 register, the low-order FP value is read or written.
10354 \S{insMOVSX} \i\c{MOVSX}, \i\c{MOVZX}: Move Data with Sign or Zero Extend
10356 \c MOVSX reg16,r/m8 ; o16 0F BE /r [386]
10357 \c MOVSX reg32,r/m8 ; o32 0F BE /r [386]
10358 \c MOVSX reg32,r/m16 ; o32 0F BF /r [386]
10360 \c MOVZX reg16,r/m8 ; o16 0F B6 /r [386]
10361 \c MOVZX reg32,r/m8 ; o32 0F B6 /r [386]
10362 \c MOVZX reg32,r/m16 ; o32 0F B7 /r [386]
10364 \c{MOVSX} sign-extends its source (second) operand to the length of
10365 its destination (first) operand, and copies the result into the
10366 destination operand. \c{MOVZX} does the same, but zero-extends
10367 rather than sign-extending.
10370 \S{insMOVUPD} \i\c{MOVUPD}: Move Unaligned Packed Double-Precision FP Values
10372 \c MOVUPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 10 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10373 \c MOVUPD xmm1/mem128,xmm2 ; 66 0F 11 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10375 \c{MOVUPD} moves a double quadword containing 2 packed double-precision
10376 FP values from the source operand to the destination. This instruction
10377 makes no assumptions about alignment of memory operands.
10379 To move data in and out of memory locations that are known to be on 16-byte
10380 boundaries, use the \c{MOVAPD} instruction (\k{insMOVAPD}).
10383 \S{insMOVUPS} \i\c{MOVUPS}: Move Unaligned Packed Single-Precision FP Values
10385 \c MOVUPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 10 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10386 \c MOVUPS xmm1/mem128,xmm2 ; 0F 11 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10388 \c{MOVUPS} moves a double quadword containing 4 packed single-precision
10389 FP values from the source operand to the destination. This instruction
10390 makes no assumptions about alignment of memory operands.
10392 To move data in and out of memory locations that are known to be on 16-byte
10393 boundaries, use the \c{MOVAPS} instruction (\k{insMOVAPS}).
10396 \S{insMUL} \i\c{MUL}: Unsigned Integer Multiply
10398 \c MUL r/m8 ; F6 /4 [8086]
10399 \c MUL r/m16 ; o16 F7 /4 [8086]
10400 \c MUL r/m32 ; o32 F7 /4 [386]
10402 \c{MUL} performs unsigned integer multiplication. The other operand
10403 to the multiplication, and the destination operand, are implicit, in
10406 \b For \c{MUL r/m8}, \c{AL} is multiplied by the given operand; the
10407 product is stored in \c{AX}.
10409 \b For \c{MUL r/m16}, \c{AX} is multiplied by the given operand;
10410 the product is stored in \c{DX:AX}.
10412 \b For \c{MUL r/m32}, \c{EAX} is multiplied by the given operand;
10413 the product is stored in \c{EDX:EAX}.
10415 Signed integer multiplication is performed by the \c{IMUL}
10416 instruction: see \k{insIMUL}.
10419 \S{insMULPD} \i\c{MULPD}: Packed Single-FP Multiply
10421 \c MULPD xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 66 0F 59 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10423 \c{MULPD} performs a SIMD multiply of the packed double-precision FP
10424 values in both operands, and stores the results in the destination register.
10427 \S{insMULPS} \i\c{MULPS}: Packed Single-FP Multiply
10429 \c MULPS xmm1,xmm2/mem128 ; 0F 59 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10431 \c{MULPS} performs a SIMD multiply of the packed single-precision FP
10432 values in both operands, and stores the results in the destination register.
10435 \S{insMULSD} \i\c{MULSD}: Scalar Single-FP Multiply
10437 \c MULSD xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F2 0F 59 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10439 \c{MULSD} multiplies the lowest double-precision FP values of both
10440 operands, and stores the result in the low quadword of xmm1.
10443 \S{insMULSS} \i\c{MULSS}: Scalar Single-FP Multiply
10445 \c MULSS xmm1,xmm2/mem32 ; F3 0F 59 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10447 \c{MULSS} multiplies the lowest single-precision FP values of both
10448 operands, and stores the result in the low doubleword of xmm1.
10451 \S{insNEG} \i\c{NEG}, \i\c{NOT}: Two's and One's Complement
10453 \c NEG r/m8 ; F6 /3 [8086]
10454 \c NEG r/m16 ; o16 F7 /3 [8086]
10455 \c NEG r/m32 ; o32 F7 /3 [386]
10457 \c NOT r/m8 ; F6 /2 [8086]
10458 \c NOT r/m16 ; o16 F7 /2 [8086]
10459 \c NOT r/m32 ; o32 F7 /2 [386]
10461 \c{NEG} replaces the contents of its operand by the two's complement
10462 negation (invert all the bits and then add one) of the original
10463 value. \c{NOT}, similarly, performs one's complement (inverts all
10467 \S{insNOP} \i\c{NOP}: No Operation
10471 \c{NOP} performs no operation. Its opcode is the same as that
10472 generated by \c{XCHG AX,AX} or \c{XCHG EAX,EAX} (depending on the
10473 processor mode; see \k{insXCHG}).
10476 \S{insOR} \i\c{OR}: Bitwise OR
10478 \c OR r/m8,reg8 ; 08 /r [8086]
10479 \c OR r/m16,reg16 ; o16 09 /r [8086]
10480 \c OR r/m32,reg32 ; o32 09 /r [386]
10482 \c OR reg8,r/m8 ; 0A /r [8086]
10483 \c OR reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0B /r [8086]
10484 \c OR reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0B /r [386]
10486 \c OR r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /1 ib [8086]
10487 \c OR r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /1 iw [8086]
10488 \c OR r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /1 id [386]
10490 \c OR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /1 ib [8086]
10491 \c OR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /1 ib [386]
10493 \c OR AL,imm8 ; 0C ib [8086]
10494 \c OR AX,imm16 ; o16 0D iw [8086]
10495 \c OR EAX,imm32 ; o32 0D id [386]
10497 \c{OR} performs a bitwise OR operation between its two operands
10498 (i.e. each bit of the result is 1 if and only if at least one of the
10499 corresponding bits of the two inputs was 1), and stores the result
10500 in the destination (first) operand.
10502 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
10503 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
10504 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
10505 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
10506 form of the instruction.
10508 The MMX instruction \c{POR} (see \k{insPOR}) performs the same
10509 operation on the 64-bit MMX registers.
10512 \S{insORPD} \i\c{ORPD}: Bit-wise Logical OR of Double-Precision FP Data
10514 \c ORPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 56 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10516 \c{ORPD} return a bit-wise logical OR between xmm1 and xmm2/mem,
10517 and stores the result in xmm1. If the source operand is a memory
10518 location, it must be aligned to a 16-byte boundary.
10521 \S{insORPS} \i\c{ORPS}: Bit-wise Logical OR of Single-Precision FP Data
10523 \c ORPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 56 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
10525 \c{ORPS} return a bit-wise logical OR between xmm1 and xmm2/mem,
10526 and stores the result in xmm1. If the source operand is a memory
10527 location, it must be aligned to a 16-byte boundary.
10530 \S{insOUT} \i\c{OUT}: Output Data to I/O Port
10532 \c OUT imm8,AL ; E6 ib [8086]
10533 \c OUT imm8,AX ; o16 E7 ib [8086]
10534 \c OUT imm8,EAX ; o32 E7 ib [386]
10535 \c OUT DX,AL ; EE [8086]
10536 \c OUT DX,AX ; o16 EF [8086]
10537 \c OUT DX,EAX ; o32 EF [386]
10539 \c{OUT} writes the contents of the given source register to the
10540 specified I/O port. The port number may be specified as an immediate
10541 value if it is between 0 and 255, and otherwise must be stored in
10542 \c{DX}. See also \c{IN} (\k{insIN}).
10545 \S{insOUTSB} \i\c{OUTSB}, \i\c{OUTSW}, \i\c{OUTSD}: Output String to I/O Port
10547 \c OUTSB ; 6E [186]
10548 \c OUTSW ; o16 6F [186]
10549 \c OUTSD ; o32 6F [386]
10551 \c{OUTSB} loads a byte from \c{[DS:SI]} or \c{[DS:ESI]} and writes
10552 it to the I/O port specified in \c{DX}. It then increments or
10553 decrements (depending on the direction flag: increments if the flag
10554 is clear, decrements if it is set) \c{SI} or \c{ESI}.
10556 The register used is \c{SI} if the address size is 16 bits, and
10557 \c{ESI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use an address size not
10558 equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can use an explicit
10559 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
10561 The segment register used to load from \c{[SI]} or \c{[ESI]} can be
10562 overridden by using a segment register name as a prefix (for
10563 example, \c{es outsb}).
10565 \c{OUTSW} and \c{OUTSD} work in the same way, but they output a
10566 word or a doubleword instead of a byte, and increment or decrement
10567 the addressing registers by 2 or 4 instead of 1.
10569 The \c{REP} prefix may be used to repeat the instruction \c{CX} (or
10570 \c{ECX} - again, the address size chooses which) times.
10573 \S{insPACKSSDW} \i\c{PACKSSDW}, \i\c{PACKSSWB}, \i\c{PACKUSWB}: Pack Data
10575 \c PACKSSDW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 6B /r [PENT,MMX]
10576 \c PACKSSWB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 63 /r [PENT,MMX]
10577 \c PACKUSWB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 67 /r [PENT,MMX]
10579 \c PACKSSDW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 6B /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10580 \c PACKSSWB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 63 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10581 \c PACKUSWB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 67 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10583 All these instructions start by combining the source and destination
10584 operands, and then splitting the result in smaller sections which it
10585 then packs into the destination register. The \c{MMX} versions pack
10586 two 64-bit operands into one 64-bit register, while the \c{SSE}
10587 versions pack two 128-bit operands into one 128-bit register.
10589 \b \c{PACKSSWB} splits the combined value into words, and then reduces
10590 the words to bytes, using signed saturation. It then packs the bytes
10591 into the destination register in the same order the words were in.
10593 \b \c{PACKSSDW} performs the same operation as \c{PACKSSWB}, except that
10594 it reduces doublewords to words, then packs them into the destination
10597 \b \c{PACKUSWB} performs the same operation as \c{PACKSSWB}, except that
10598 it uses unsigned saturation when reducing the size of the elements.
10600 To perform signed saturation on a number, it is replaced by the largest
10601 signed number (\c{7FFFh} or \c{7Fh}) that \e{will} fit, and if it is too
10602 small it is replaced by the smallest signed number (\c{8000h} or
10603 \c{80h}) that will fit. To perform unsigned saturation, the input is
10604 treated as unsigned, and the input is replaced by the largest unsigned
10605 number that will fit.
10608 \S{insPADDB} \i\c{PADDB}, \i\c{PADDW}, \i\c{PADDD}: Add Packed Integers
10610 \c PADDB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F FC /r [PENT,MMX]
10611 \c PADDW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F FD /r [PENT,MMX]
10612 \c PADDD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F FE /r [PENT,MMX]
10614 \c PADDB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F FC /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10615 \c PADDW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F FD /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10616 \c PADDD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F FE /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10618 \c{PADDx} performs packed addition of the two operands, storing the
10619 result in the destination (first) operand.
10621 \b \c{PADDB} treats the operands as packed bytes, and adds each byte
10624 \b \c{PADDW} treats the operands as packed words;
10626 \b \c{PADDD} treats its operands as packed doublewords.
10628 When an individual result is too large to fit in its destination, it
10629 is wrapped around and the low bits are stored, with the carry bit
10633 \S{insPADDQ} \i\c{PADDQ}: Add Packed Quadword Integers
10635 \c PADDQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D4 /r [PENT,MMX]
10637 \c PADDQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D4 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10639 \c{PADDQ} adds the quadwords in the source and destination operands, and
10640 stores the result in the destination register.
10642 When an individual result is too large to fit in its destination, it
10643 is wrapped around and the low bits are stored, with the carry bit
10647 \S{insPADDSB} \i\c{PADDSB}, \i\c{PADDSW}: Add Packed Signed Integers With Saturation
10649 \c PADDSB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F EC /r [PENT,MMX]
10650 \c PADDSW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F ED /r [PENT,MMX]
10652 \c PADDSB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F EC /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10653 \c PADDSW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F ED /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10655 \c{PADDSx} performs packed addition of the two operands, storing the
10656 result in the destination (first) operand.
10657 \c{PADDSB} treats the operands as packed bytes, and adds each byte
10658 individually; and \c{PADDSW} treats the operands as packed words.
10660 When an individual result is too large to fit in its destination, a
10661 saturated value is stored. The resulting value is the value with the
10662 largest magnitude of the same sign as the result which will fit in
10663 the available space.
10666 \S{insPADDSIW} \i\c{PADDSIW}: MMX Packed Addition to Implicit Destination
10668 \c PADDSIW mmxreg,r/m64 ; 0F 51 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
10670 \c{PADDSIW}, specific to the Cyrix extensions to the MMX instruction
10671 set, performs the same function as \c{PADDSW}, except that the result
10672 is placed in an implied register.
10674 To work out the implied register, invert the lowest bit in the register
10675 number. So \c{PADDSIW MM0,MM2} would put the result in \c{MM1}, but
10676 \c{PADDSIW MM1,MM2} would put the result in \c{MM0}.
10679 \S{insPADDUSB} \i\c{PADDUSB}, \i\c{PADDUSW}: Add Packed Unsigned Integers With Saturation
10681 \c PADDUSB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F DC /r [PENT,MMX]
10682 \c PADDUSW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F DD /r [PENT,MMX]
10684 \c PADDUSB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F DC /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10685 \c PADDUSW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F DD /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10687 \c{PADDUSx} performs packed addition of the two operands, storing the
10688 result in the destination (first) operand.
10689 \c{PADDUSB} treats the operands as packed bytes, and adds each byte
10690 individually; and \c{PADDUSW} treats the operands as packed words.
10692 When an individual result is too large to fit in its destination, a
10693 saturated value is stored. The resulting value is the maximum value
10694 that will fit in the available space.
10697 \S{insPAND} \i\c{PAND}, \i\c{PANDN}: MMX Bitwise AND and AND-NOT
10699 \c PAND mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F DB /r [PENT,MMX]
10700 \c PANDN mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F DF /r [PENT,MMX]
10702 \c PAND xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F DB /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10703 \c PANDN xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F DF /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10706 \c{PAND} performs a bitwise AND operation between its two operands
10707 (i.e. each bit of the result is 1 if and only if the corresponding
10708 bits of the two inputs were both 1), and stores the result in the
10709 destination (first) operand.
10711 \c{PANDN} performs the same operation, but performs a one's
10712 complement operation on the destination (first) operand first.
10715 \S{insPAUSE} \i\c{PAUSE}: Spin Loop Hint
10717 \c PAUSE ; F3 90 [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10719 \c{PAUSE} provides a hint to the processor that the following code
10720 is a spin loop. This improves processor performance by bypassing
10721 possible memory order violations. On older processors, this instruction
10722 operates as a \c{NOP}.
10725 \S{insPAVEB} \i\c{PAVEB}: MMX Packed Average
10727 \c PAVEB mmxreg,r/m64 ; 0F 50 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
10729 \c{PAVEB}, specific to the Cyrix MMX extensions, treats its two
10730 operands as vectors of eight unsigned bytes, and calculates the
10731 average of the corresponding bytes in the operands. The resulting
10732 vector of eight averages is stored in the first operand.
10734 This opcode maps to \c{MOVMSKPS r32, xmm} on processors that support
10735 the SSE instruction set.
10738 \S{insPAVGB} \i\c{PAVGB} \i\c{PAVGW}: Average Packed Integers
10740 \c PAVGB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E0 /r [KATMAI,MMX]
10741 \c PAVGW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E3 /r [KATMAI,MMX,SM]
10743 \c PAVGB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E0 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10744 \c PAVGW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E3 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10746 \c{PAVGB} and \c{PAVGW} add the unsigned data elements of the source
10747 operand to the unsigned data elements of the destination register,
10748 then adds 1 to the temporary results. The results of the add are then
10749 each independently right-shifted by one bit position. The high order
10750 bits of each element are filled with the carry bits of the corresponding
10753 \b \c{PAVGB} operates on packed unsigned bytes, and
10755 \b \c{PAVGW} operates on packed unsigned words.
10758 \S{insPAVGUSB} \i\c{PAVGUSB}: Average of unsigned packed 8-bit values
10760 \c PAVGUSB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r BF [PENT,3DNOW]
10762 \c{PAVGUSB} adds the unsigned data elements of the source operand to
10763 the unsigned data elements of the destination register, then adds 1
10764 to the temporary results. The results of the add are then each
10765 independently right-shifted by one bit position. The high order bits
10766 of each element are filled with the carry bits of the corresponding
10769 This instruction performs exactly the same operations as the \c{PAVGB}
10770 \c{MMX} instruction (\k{insPAVGB}).
10773 \S{insPCMPEQB} \i\c{PCMPxx}: Compare Packed Integers.
10775 \c PCMPEQB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 74 /r [PENT,MMX]
10776 \c PCMPEQW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 75 /r [PENT,MMX]
10777 \c PCMPEQD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 76 /r [PENT,MMX]
10779 \c PCMPGTB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 64 /r [PENT,MMX]
10780 \c PCMPGTW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 65 /r [PENT,MMX]
10781 \c PCMPGTD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 66 /r [PENT,MMX]
10783 \c PCMPEQB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 74 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10784 \c PCMPEQW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 75 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10785 \c PCMPEQD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 76 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10787 \c PCMPGTB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 64 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10788 \c PCMPGTW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 65 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10789 \c PCMPGTD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 66 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10791 The \c{PCMPxx} instructions all treat their operands as vectors of
10792 bytes, words, or doublewords; corresponding elements of the source
10793 and destination are compared, and the corresponding element of the
10794 destination (first) operand is set to all zeros or all ones
10795 depending on the result of the comparison.
10797 \b \c{PCMPxxB} treats the operands as vectors of bytes;
10799 \b \c{PCMPxxW} treats the operands as vectors of words;
10801 \b \c{PCMPxxD} treats the operands as vectors of doublewords;
10803 \b \c{PCMPEQx} sets the corresponding element of the destination
10804 operand to all ones if the two elements compared are equal;
10806 \b \c{PCMPGTx} sets the destination element to all ones if the element
10807 of the first (destination) operand is greater (treated as a signed
10808 integer) than that of the second (source) operand.
10811 \S{insPDISTIB} \i\c{PDISTIB}: MMX Packed Distance and Accumulate
10812 with Implied Register
10814 \c PDISTIB mm,m64 ; 0F 54 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
10816 \c{PDISTIB}, specific to the Cyrix MMX extensions, treats its two
10817 input operands as vectors of eight unsigned bytes. For each byte
10818 position, it finds the absolute difference between the bytes in that
10819 position in the two input operands, and adds that value to the byte
10820 in the same position in the implied output register. The addition is
10821 saturated to an unsigned byte in the same way as \c{PADDUSB}.
10823 To work out the implied register, invert the lowest bit in the register
10824 number. So \c{PDISTIB MM0,M64} would put the result in \c{MM1}, but
10825 \c{PDISTIB MM1,M64} would put the result in \c{MM0}.
10827 Note that \c{PDISTIB} cannot take a register as its second source
10832 \c dstI[0-7] := dstI[0-7] + ABS(src0[0-7] - src1[0-7]),
10833 \c dstI[8-15] := dstI[8-15] + ABS(src0[8-15] - src1[8-15]),
10836 \c dstI[56-63] := dstI[56-63] + ABS(src0[56-63] - src1[56-63]).
10839 \S{insPEXTRW} \i\c{PEXTRW}: Extract Word
10841 \c PEXTRW reg32,mm,imm8 ; 0F C5 /r ib [KATMAI,MMX]
10842 \c PEXTRW reg32,xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F C5 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
10844 \c{PEXTRW} moves the word in the source register (second operand)
10845 that is pointed to by the count operand (third operand), into the
10846 lower half of a 32-bit general purpose register. The upper half of
10847 the register is cleared to all 0s.
10849 When the source operand is an \c{MMX} register, the two least
10850 significant bits of the count specify the source word. When it is
10851 an \c{SSE} register, the three least significant bits specify the
10855 \S{insPF2ID} \i\c{PF2ID}: Packed Single-Precision FP to Integer Convert
10857 \c PF2ID mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 1D [PENT,3DNOW]
10859 \c{PF2ID} converts two single-precision FP values in the source operand
10860 to signed 32-bit integers, using truncation, and stores them in the
10861 destination operand. Source values that are outside the range supported
10862 by the destination are saturated to the largest absolute value of the
10866 \S{insPF2IW} \i\c{PF2IW}: Packed Single-Precision FP to Integer Word Convert
10868 \c PF2IW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 1C [PENT,3DNOW]
10870 \c{PF2IW} converts two single-precision FP values in the source operand
10871 to signed 16-bit integers, using truncation, and stores them in the
10872 destination operand. Source values that are outside the range supported
10873 by the destination are saturated to the largest absolute value of the
10876 \b In the K6-2 and K6-III, the 16-bit value is zero-extended to 32-bits
10879 \b In the K6-2+, K6-III+ and Athlon processors, the value is sign-extended
10880 to 32-bits before storing.
10883 \S{insPFACC} \i\c{PFACC}: Packed Single-Precision FP Accumulate
10885 \c PFACC mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r AE [PENT,3DNOW]
10887 \c{PFACC} adds the two single-precision FP values from the destination
10888 operand together, then adds the two single-precision FP values from the
10889 source operand, and places the results in the low and high doublewords
10890 of the destination operand.
10894 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] + dst[32-63],
10895 \c dst[32-63] := src[0-31] + src[32-63].
10898 \S{insPFADD} \i\c{PFADD}: Packed Single-Precision FP Addition
10900 \c PFADD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 9E [PENT,3DNOW]
10902 \c{PFADD} performs addition on each of two packed single-precision
10905 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] + src[0-31],
10906 \c dst[32-63] := dst[32-63] + src[32-63].
10909 \S{insPFCMP} \i\c{PFCMPxx}: Packed Single-Precision FP Compare
10910 \I\c{PFCMPEQ} \I\c{PFCMPGE} \I\c{PFCMPGT}
10912 \c PFCMPEQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r B0 [PENT,3DNOW]
10913 \c PFCMPGE mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 90 [PENT,3DNOW]
10914 \c PFCMPGT mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r A0 [PENT,3DNOW]
10916 The \c{PFCMPxx} instructions compare the packed single-point FP values
10917 in the source and destination operands, and set the destination
10918 according to the result. If the condition is true, the destination is
10919 set to all 1s, otherwise it's set to all 0s.
10921 \b \c{PFCMPEQ} tests whether dst == src;
10923 \b \c{PFCMPGE} tests whether dst >= src;
10925 \b \c{PFCMPGT} tests whether dst > src.
10928 \S{insPFMAX} \i\c{PFMAX}: Packed Single-Precision FP Maximum
10930 \c PFMAX mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r A4 [PENT,3DNOW]
10932 \c{PFMAX} returns the higher of each pair of single-precision FP values.
10933 If the higher value is zero, it is returned as positive zero.
10936 \S{insPFMIN} \i\c{PFMIN}: Packed Single-Precision FP Minimum
10938 \c PFMIN mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 94 [PENT,3DNOW]
10940 \c{PFMIN} returns the lower of each pair of single-precision FP values.
10941 If the lower value is zero, it is returned as positive zero.
10944 \S{insPFMUL} \i\c{PFMUL}: Packed Single-Precision FP Multiply
10946 \c PFMUL mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r B4 [PENT,3DNOW]
10948 \c{PFMUL} returns the product of each pair of single-precision FP values.
10950 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] * src[0-31],
10951 \c dst[32-63] := dst[32-63] * src[32-63].
10954 \S{insPFNACC} \i\c{PFNACC}: Packed Single-Precision FP Negative Accumulate
10956 \c PFNACC mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 8A [PENT,3DNOW]
10958 \c{PFNACC} performs a negative accumulate of the two single-precision
10959 FP values in the source and destination registers. The result of the
10960 accumulate from the destination register is stored in the low doubleword
10961 of the destination, and the result of the source accumulate is stored in
10962 the high doubleword of the destination register.
10966 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] - dst[32-63],
10967 \c dst[32-63] := src[0-31] - src[32-63].
10970 \S{insPFPNACC} \i\c{PFPNACC}: Packed Single-Precision FP Mixed Accumulate
10972 \c PFPNACC mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 8E [PENT,3DNOW]
10974 \c{PFPNACC} performs a positive accumulate of the two single-precision
10975 FP values in the source register and a negative accumulate of the
10976 destination register. The result of the accumulate from the destination
10977 register is stored in the low doubleword of the destination, and the
10978 result of the source accumulate is stored in the high doubleword of the
10979 destination register.
10983 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] - dst[32-63],
10984 \c dst[32-63] := src[0-31] + src[32-63].
10987 \S{insPFRCP} \i\c{PFRCP}: Packed Single-Precision FP Reciprocal Approximation
10989 \c PFRCP mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 96 [PENT,3DNOW]
10991 \c{PFRCP} performs a low precision estimate of the reciprocal of the
10992 low-order single-precision FP value in the source operand, storing the
10993 result in both halves of the destination register. The result is accurate
10996 For higher precision reciprocals, this instruction should be followed by
10997 two more instructions: \c{PFRCPIT1} (\k{insPFRCPIT1}) and \c{PFRCPIT2}
10998 (\k{insPFRCPIT1}). This will result in a 24-bit accuracy. For more details,
10999 see the AMD 3DNow! technology manual.
11002 \S{insPFRCPIT1} \i\c{PFRCPIT1}: Packed Single-Precision FP Reciprocal,
11003 First Iteration Step
11005 \c PFRCPIT1 mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r A6 [PENT,3DNOW]
11007 \c{PFRCPIT1} performs the first intermediate step in the calculation of
11008 the reciprocal of a single-precision FP value. The first source value
11009 (\c{mm1} is the original value, and the second source value (\c{mm2/m64}
11010 is the result of a \c{PFRCP} instruction.
11012 For the final step in a reciprocal, returning the full 24-bit accuracy
11013 of a single-precision FP value, see \c{PFRCPIT2} (\k{insPFRCPIT2}). For
11014 more details, see the AMD 3DNow! technology manual.
11017 \S{insPFRCPIT2} \i\c{PFRCPIT2}: Packed Single-Precision FP
11018 Reciprocal/ Reciprocal Square Root, Second Iteration Step
11020 \c PFRCPIT2 mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r B6 [PENT,3DNOW]
11022 \c{PFRCPIT2} performs the second and final intermediate step in the
11023 calculation of a reciprocal or reciprocal square root, refining the
11024 values returned by the \c{PFRCP} and \c{PFRSQRT} instructions,
11027 The first source value (\c{mm1}) is the output of either a \c{PFRCPIT1}
11028 or a \c{PFRSQIT1} instruction, and the second source is the output of
11029 either the \c{PFRCP} or the \c{PFRSQRT} instruction. For more details,
11030 see the AMD 3DNow! technology manual.
11033 \S{insPFRSQIT1} \i\c{PFRSQIT1}: Packed Single-Precision FP Reciprocal
11034 Square Root, First Iteration Step
11036 \c PFRSQIT1 mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r A7 [PENT,3DNOW]
11038 \c{PFRSQIT1} performs the first intermediate step in the calculation of
11039 the reciprocal square root of a single-precision FP value. The first
11040 source value (\c{mm1} is the square of the result of a \c{PFRSQRT}
11041 instruction, and the second source value (\c{mm2/m64} is the original
11044 For the final step in a calculation, returning the full 24-bit accuracy
11045 of a single-precision FP value, see \c{PFRCPIT2} (\k{insPFRCPIT2}). For
11046 more details, see the AMD 3DNow! technology manual.
11049 \S{insPFRSQRT} \i\c{PFRSQRT}: Packed Single-Precision FP Reciprocal
11050 Square Root Approximation
11052 \c PFRSQRT mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 97 [PENT,3DNOW]
11054 \c{PFRSQRT} performs a low precision estimate of the reciprocal square
11055 root of the low-order single-precision FP value in the source operand,
11056 storing the result in both halves of the destination register. The result
11057 is accurate to 15 bits.
11059 For higher precision reciprocals, this instruction should be followed by
11060 two more instructions: \c{PFRSQIT1} (\k{insPFRSQIT1}) and \c{PFRCPIT2}
11061 (\k{insPFRCPIT1}). This will result in a 24-bit accuracy. For more details,
11062 see the AMD 3DNow! technology manual.
11065 \S{insPFSUB} \i\c{PFSUB}: Packed Single-Precision FP Subtract
11067 \c PFSUB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 9A [PENT,3DNOW]
11069 \c{PFSUB} subtracts the single-precision FP values in the source from
11070 those in the destination, and stores the result in the destination
11073 \c dst[0-31] := dst[0-31] - src[0-31],
11074 \c dst[32-63] := dst[32-63] - src[32-63].
11077 \S{insPFSUBR} \i\c{PFSUBR}: Packed Single-Precision FP Reverse Subtract
11079 \c PFSUBR mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r AA [PENT,3DNOW]
11081 \c{PFSUBR} subtracts the single-precision FP values in the destination
11082 from those in the source, and stores the result in the destination
11085 \c dst[0-31] := src[0-31] - dst[0-31],
11086 \c dst[32-63] := src[32-63] - dst[32-63].
11089 \S{insPI2FD} \i\c{PI2FD}: Packed Doubleword Integer to Single-Precision FP Convert
11091 \c PI2FD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 0D [PENT,3DNOW]
11093 \c{PF2ID} converts two signed 32-bit integers in the source operand
11094 to single-precision FP values, using truncation of significant digits,
11095 and stores them in the destination operand.
11098 \S{insPF2IW} \i\c{PF2IW}: Packed Word Integer to Single-Precision FP Convert
11100 \c PI2FW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r 0C [PENT,3DNOW]
11102 \c{PF2IW} converts two signed 16-bit integers in the source operand
11103 to single-precision FP values, and stores them in the destination
11104 operand. The input values are in the low word of each doubleword.
11107 \S{insPINSRW} \i\c{PINSRW}: Insert Word
11109 \c PINSRW mm,r16/r32/m16,imm8 ;0F C4 /r ib [KATMAI,MMX]
11110 \c PINSRW xmm,r16/r32/m16,imm8 ;66 0F C4 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11112 \c{PINSRW} loads a word from a 16-bit register (or the low half of a
11113 32-bit register), or from memory, and loads it to the word position
11114 in the destination register, pointed at by the count operand (third
11115 operand). If the destination is an \c{MMX} register, the low two bits
11116 of the count byte are used, if it is an \c{XMM} register the low 3
11117 bits are used. The insertion is done in such a way that the other
11118 words from the destination register are left untouched.
11121 \S{insPMACHRIW} \i\c{PMACHRIW}: Packed Multiply and Accumulate with Rounding
11123 \c PMACHRIW mm,m64 ; 0F 5E /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11125 \c{PMACHRIW} takes two packed 16-bit integer inputs, multiplies the
11126 values in the inputs, rounds on bit 15 of each result, then adds bits
11127 15-30 of each result to the corresponding position of the \e{implied}
11128 destination register.
11130 The operation of this instruction is:
11132 \c dstI[0-15] := dstI[0-15] + (mm[0-15] *m64[0-15]
11133 \c + 0x00004000)[15-30],
11134 \c dstI[16-31] := dstI[16-31] + (mm[16-31]*m64[16-31]
11135 \c + 0x00004000)[15-30],
11136 \c dstI[32-47] := dstI[32-47] + (mm[32-47]*m64[32-47]
11137 \c + 0x00004000)[15-30],
11138 \c dstI[48-63] := dstI[48-63] + (mm[48-63]*m64[48-63]
11139 \c + 0x00004000)[15-30].
11141 Note that \c{PMACHRIW} cannot take a register as its second source
11145 \S{insPMADDWD} \i\c{PMADDWD}: MMX Packed Multiply and Add
11147 \c PMADDWD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F5 /r [PENT,MMX]
11148 \c PMADDWD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F5 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11150 \c{PMADDWD} treats its two inputs as vectors of signed words. It
11151 multiplies corresponding elements of the two operands, giving doubleword
11152 results. These are then added together in pairs and stored in the
11153 destination operand.
11155 The operation of this instruction is:
11157 \c dst[0-31] := (dst[0-15] * src[0-15])
11158 \c + (dst[16-31] * src[16-31]);
11159 \c dst[32-63] := (dst[32-47] * src[32-47])
11160 \c + (dst[48-63] * src[48-63]);
11162 The following apply to the \c{SSE} version of the instruction:
11164 \c dst[64-95] := (dst[64-79] * src[64-79])
11165 \c + (dst[80-95] * src[80-95]);
11166 \c dst[96-127] := (dst[96-111] * src[96-111])
11167 \c + (dst[112-127] * src[112-127]).
11170 \S{insPMAGW} \i\c{PMAGW}: MMX Packed Magnitude
11172 \c PMAGW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 52 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11174 \c{PMAGW}, specific to the Cyrix MMX extensions, treats both its
11175 operands as vectors of four signed words. It compares the absolute
11176 values of the words in corresponding positions, and sets each word
11177 of the destination (first) operand to whichever of the two words in
11178 that position had the larger absolute value.
11181 \S{insPMAXSW} \i\c{PMAXSW}: Packed Signed Integer Word Maximum
11183 \c PMAXSW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F EE /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11184 \c PMAXSW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F EE /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11186 \c{PMAXSW} compares each pair of words in the two source operands, and
11187 for each pair it stores the maximum value in the destination register.
11190 \S{insPMAXUB} \i\c{PMAXUB}: Packed Unsigned Integer Byte Maximum
11192 \c PMAXUB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F DE /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11193 \c PMAXUB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F DE /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11195 \c{PMAXUB} compares each pair of bytes in the two source operands, and
11196 for each pair it stores the maximum value in the destination register.
11199 \S{insPMINSW} \i\c{PMINSW}: Packed Signed Integer Word Minimum
11201 \c PMINSW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F EA /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11202 \c PMINSW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F EA /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11204 \c{PMINSW} compares each pair of words in the two source operands, and
11205 for each pair it stores the minimum value in the destination register.
11208 \S{insPMINUB} \i\c{PMINUB}: Packed Unsigned Integer Byte Minimum
11210 \c PMINUB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F DA /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11211 \c PMINUB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F DA /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11213 \c{PMINUB} compares each pair of bytes in the two source operands, and
11214 for each pair it stores the minimum value in the destination register.
11217 \S{insPMOVMSKB} \i\c{PMOVMSKB}: Move Byte Mask To Integer
11219 \c PMOVMSKB reg32,mm ; 0F D7 /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11220 \c PMOVMSKB reg32,xmm ; 66 0F D7 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11222 \c{PMOVMSKB} returns an 8-bit or 16-bit mask formed of the most
11223 significant bits of each byte of source operand (8-bits for an
11224 \c{MMX} register, 16-bits for an \c{XMM} register).
11227 \S{insPMULHRW} \i\c{PMULHRWC}, \i\c{PMULHRIW}: Multiply Packed 16-bit Integers
11228 With Rounding, and Store High Word
11230 \c PMULHRWC mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 59 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11231 \c PMULHRIW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 5D /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11233 These instructions take two packed 16-bit integer inputs, multiply the
11234 values in the inputs, round on bit 15 of each result, then store bits
11235 15-30 of each result to the corresponding position of the destination
11238 \b For \c{PMULHRWC}, the destination is the first source operand.
11240 \b For \c{PMULHRIW}, the destination is an implied register (worked out
11241 as described for \c{PADDSIW} (\k{insPADDSIW})).
11243 The operation of this instruction is:
11245 \c dst[0-15] := (src1[0-15] *src2[0-15] + 0x00004000)[15-30]
11246 \c dst[16-31] := (src1[16-31]*src2[16-31] + 0x00004000)[15-30]
11247 \c dst[32-47] := (src1[32-47]*src2[32-47] + 0x00004000)[15-30]
11248 \c dst[48-63] := (src1[48-63]*src2[48-63] + 0x00004000)[15-30]
11250 See also \c{PMULHRWA} (\k{insPMULHRWA}) for a 3DNow! version of this
11254 \S{insPMULHRWA} \i\c{PMULHRWA}: Multiply Packed 16-bit Integers
11255 With Rounding, and Store High Word
11257 \c PMULHRWA mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r B7 [PENT,3DNOW]
11259 \c{PMULHRWA} takes two packed 16-bit integer inputs, multiplies
11260 the values in the inputs, rounds on bit 16 of each result, then
11261 stores bits 16-31 of each result to the corresponding position
11262 of the destination register.
11264 The operation of this instruction is:
11266 \c dst[0-15] := (src1[0-15] *src2[0-15] + 0x00008000)[16-31];
11267 \c dst[16-31] := (src1[16-31]*src2[16-31] + 0x00008000)[16-31];
11268 \c dst[32-47] := (src1[32-47]*src2[32-47] + 0x00008000)[16-31];
11269 \c dst[48-63] := (src1[48-63]*src2[48-63] + 0x00008000)[16-31].
11271 See also \c{PMULHRWC} (\k{insPMULHRW}) for a Cyrix version of this
11275 \S{insPMULHUW} \i\c{PMULHUW}: Multiply Packed 16-bit Integers,
11276 and Store High Word
11278 \c PMULHUW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E4 /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11279 \c PMULHUW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E4 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11281 \c{PMULHUW} takes two packed unsigned 16-bit integer inputs, multiplies
11282 the values in the inputs, then stores bits 16-31 of each result to the
11283 corresponding position of the destination register.
11286 \S{insPMULHW} \i\c{PMULHW}, \i\c{PMULLW}: Multiply Packed 16-bit Integers,
11289 \c PMULHW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E5 /r [PENT,MMX]
11290 \c PMULLW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D5 /r [PENT,MMX]
11292 \c PMULHW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E5 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11293 \c PMULLW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D5 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11295 \c{PMULxW} takes two packed unsigned 16-bit integer inputs, and
11296 multiplies the values in the inputs, forming doubleword results.
11298 \b \c{PMULHW} then stores the top 16 bits of each doubleword in the
11299 destination (first) operand;
11301 \b \c{PMULLW} stores the bottom 16 bits of each doubleword in the
11302 destination operand.
11305 \S{insPMULUDQ} \i\c{PMULUDQ}: Multiply Packed Unsigned
11306 32-bit Integers, and Store.
11308 \c PMULUDQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F4 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11309 \c PMULUDQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F4 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11311 \c{PMULUDQ} takes two packed unsigned 32-bit integer inputs, and
11312 multiplies the values in the inputs, forming quadword results. The
11313 source is either an unsigned doubleword in the low doubleword of a
11314 64-bit operand, or it's two unsigned doublewords in the first and
11315 third doublewords of a 128-bit operand. This produces either one or
11316 two 64-bit results, which are stored in the respective quadword
11317 locations of the destination register.
11321 \c dst[0-63] := dst[0-31] * src[0-31];
11322 \c dst[64-127] := dst[64-95] * src[64-95].
11325 \S{insPMVccZB} \i\c{PMVccZB}: MMX Packed Conditional Move
11327 \c PMVZB mmxreg,mem64 ; 0F 58 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11328 \c PMVNZB mmxreg,mem64 ; 0F 5A /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11329 \c PMVLZB mmxreg,mem64 ; 0F 5B /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11330 \c PMVGEZB mmxreg,mem64 ; 0F 5C /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11332 These instructions, specific to the Cyrix MMX extensions, perform
11333 parallel conditional moves. The two input operands are treated as
11334 vectors of eight bytes. Each byte of the destination (first) operand
11335 is either written from the corresponding byte of the source (second)
11336 operand, or left alone, depending on the value of the byte in the
11337 \e{implied} operand (specified in the same way as \c{PADDSIW}, in
11340 \b \c{PMVZB} performs each move if the corresponding byte in the
11341 implied operand is zero;
11343 \b \c{PMVNZB} moves if the byte is non-zero;
11345 \b \c{PMVLZB} moves if the byte is less than zero;
11347 \b \c{PMVGEZB} moves if the byte is greater than or equal to zero.
11349 Note that these instructions cannot take a register as their second
11353 \S{insPOP} \i\c{POP}: Pop Data from Stack
11355 \c POP reg16 ; o16 58+r [8086]
11356 \c POP reg32 ; o32 58+r [386]
11358 \c POP r/m16 ; o16 8F /0 [8086]
11359 \c POP r/m32 ; o32 8F /0 [386]
11361 \c POP CS ; 0F [8086,UNDOC]
11362 \c POP DS ; 1F [8086]
11363 \c POP ES ; 07 [8086]
11364 \c POP SS ; 17 [8086]
11365 \c POP FS ; 0F A1 [386]
11366 \c POP GS ; 0F A9 [386]
11368 \c{POP} loads a value from the stack (from \c{[SS:SP]} or
11369 \c{[SS:ESP]}) and then increments the stack pointer.
11371 The address-size attribute of the instruction determines whether
11372 \c{SP} or \c{ESP} is used as the stack pointer: to deliberately
11373 override the default given by the \c{BITS} setting, you can use an
11374 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
11376 The operand-size attribute of the instruction determines whether the
11377 stack pointer is incremented by 2 or 4: this means that segment
11378 register pops in \c{BITS 32} mode will pop 4 bytes off the stack and
11379 discard the upper two of them. If you need to override that, you can
11380 use an \i\c{o16} or \i\c{o32} prefix.
11382 The above opcode listings give two forms for general-purpose
11383 register pop instructions: for example, \c{POP BX} has the two forms
11384 \c{5B} and \c{8F C3}. NASM will always generate the shorter form
11385 when given \c{POP BX}. NDISASM will disassemble both.
11387 \c{POP CS} is not a documented instruction, and is not supported on
11388 any processor above the 8086 (since they use \c{0Fh} as an opcode
11389 prefix for instruction set extensions). However, at least some 8086
11390 processors do support it, and so NASM generates it for completeness.
11393 \S{insPOPA} \i\c{POPAx}: Pop All General-Purpose Registers
11396 \c POPAW ; o16 61 [186]
11397 \c POPAD ; o32 61 [386]
11399 \b \c{POPAW} pops a word from the stack into each of, successively,
11400 \c{DI}, \c{SI}, \c{BP}, nothing (it discards a word from the stack
11401 which was a placeholder for \c{SP}), \c{BX}, \c{DX}, \c{CX} and
11402 \c{AX}. It is intended to reverse the operation of \c{PUSHAW} (see
11403 \k{insPUSHA}), but it ignores the value for \c{SP} that was pushed
11404 on the stack by \c{PUSHAW}.
11406 \b \c{POPAD} pops twice as much data, and places the results in
11407 \c{EDI}, \c{ESI}, \c{EBP}, nothing (placeholder for \c{ESP}),
11408 \c{EBX}, \c{EDX}, \c{ECX} and \c{EAX}. It reverses the operation of
11411 \c{POPA} is an alias mnemonic for either \c{POPAW} or \c{POPAD},
11412 depending on the current \c{BITS} setting.
11414 Note that the registers are popped in reverse order of their numeric
11415 values in opcodes (see \k{iref-rv}).
11418 \S{insPOPF} \i\c{POPFx}: Pop Flags Register
11420 \c POPF ; 9D [8086]
11421 \c POPFW ; o16 9D [8086]
11422 \c POPFD ; o32 9D [386]
11424 \b \c{POPFW} pops a word from the stack and stores it in the bottom 16
11425 bits of the flags register (or the whole flags register, on
11426 processors below a 386).
11428 \b \c{POPFD} pops a doubleword and stores it in the entire flags register.
11430 \c{POPF} is an alias mnemonic for either \c{POPFW} or \c{POPFD},
11431 depending on the current \c{BITS} setting.
11433 See also \c{PUSHF} (\k{insPUSHF}).
11436 \S{insPOR} \i\c{POR}: MMX Bitwise OR
11438 \c POR mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F EB /r [PENT,MMX]
11439 \c POR xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F EB /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11441 \c{POR} performs a bitwise OR operation between its two operands
11442 (i.e. each bit of the result is 1 if and only if at least one of the
11443 corresponding bits of the two inputs was 1), and stores the result
11444 in the destination (first) operand.
11447 \S{insPREFETCH} \i\c{PREFETCH}: Prefetch Data Into Caches
11449 \c PREFETCH mem8 ; 0F 0D /0 [PENT,3DNOW]
11450 \c PREFETCHW mem8 ; 0F 0D /1 [PENT,3DNOW]
11452 \c{PREFETCH} and \c{PREFETCHW} fetch the line of data from memory that
11453 contains the specified byte. \c{PREFETCHW} performs differently on the
11454 Athlon to earlier processors.
11456 For more details, see the 3DNow! Technology Manual.
11459 \S{insPREFETCHh} \i\c{PREFETCHh}: Prefetch Data Into Caches
11460 \I\c{PREFETCHNTA} \I\c{PREFETCHT0} \I\c{PREFETCHT1} \I\c{PREFETCHT2}
11462 \c PREFETCHNTA m8 ; 0F 18 /0 [KATMAI]
11463 \c PREFETCHT0 m8 ; 0F 18 /1 [KATMAI]
11464 \c PREFETCHT1 m8 ; 0F 18 /2 [KATMAI]
11465 \c PREFETCHT2 m8 ; 0F 18 /3 [KATMAI]
11467 The \c{PREFETCHh} instructions fetch the line of data from memory
11468 that contains the specified byte. It is placed in the cache
11469 according to rules specified by locality hints \c{h}:
11473 \b \c{T0} (temporal data) - prefetch data into all levels of the
11476 \b \c{T1} (temporal data with respect to first level cache) -
11477 prefetch data into level 2 cache and higher.
11479 \b \c{T2} (temporal data with respect to second level cache) -
11480 prefetch data into level 2 cache and higher.
11482 \b \c{NTA} (non-temporal data with respect to all cache levels) -
11483 prefetch data into non-temporal cache structure and into a
11484 location close to the processor, minimizing cache pollution.
11486 Note that this group of instructions doesn't provide a guarantee
11487 that the data will be in the cache when it is needed. For more
11488 details, see the Intel IA32 Software Developer Manual, Volume 2.
11491 \S{insPSADBW} \i\c{PSADBW}: Packed Sum of Absolute Differences
11493 \c PSADBW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F6 /r [KATMAI,MMX]
11494 \c PSADBW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F6 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11496 \c{PSADBW} The PSADBW instruction computes the absolute value of the
11497 difference of the packed unsigned bytes in the two source operands.
11498 These differences are then summed to produce a word result in the lower
11499 16-bit field of the destination register; the rest of the register is
11500 cleared. The destination operand is an \c{MMX} or an \c{XMM} register.
11501 The source operand can either be a register or a memory operand.
11504 \S{insPSHUFD} \i\c{PSHUFD}: Shuffle Packed Doublewords
11506 \c PSHUFD xmm1,xmm2/m128,imm8 ; 66 0F 70 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11508 \c{PSHUFD} shuffles the doublewords in the source (second) operand
11509 according to the encoding specified by imm8, and stores the result
11510 in the destination (first) operand.
11512 Bits 0 and 1 of imm8 encode the source position of the doubleword to
11513 be copied to position 0 in the destination operand. Bits 2 and 3
11514 encode for position 1, bits 4 and 5 encode for position 2, and bits
11515 6 and 7 encode for position 3. For example, an encoding of 10 in
11516 bits 0 and 1 of imm8 indicates that the doubleword at bits 64-95 of
11517 the source operand will be copied to bits 0-31 of the destination.
11520 \S{insPSHUFHW} \i\c{PSHUFHW}: Shuffle Packed High Words
11522 \c PSHUFHW xmm1,xmm2/m128,imm8 ; F3 0F 70 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11524 \c{PSHUFW} shuffles the words in the high quadword of the source
11525 (second) operand according to the encoding specified by imm8, and
11526 stores the result in the high quadword of the destination (first)
11529 The operation of this instruction is similar to the \c{PSHUFW}
11530 instruction, except that the source and destination are the top
11531 quadword of a 128-bit operand, instead of being 64-bit operands.
11532 The low quadword is copied from the source to the destination
11533 without any changes.
11536 \S{insPSHUFLW} \i\c{PSHUFLW}: Shuffle Packed Low Words
11538 \c PSHUFLW xmm1,xmm2/m128,imm8 ; F2 0F 70 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11540 \c{PSHUFLW} shuffles the words in the low quadword of the source
11541 (second) operand according to the encoding specified by imm8, and
11542 stores the result in the low quadword of the destination (first)
11545 The operation of this instruction is similar to the \c{PSHUFW}
11546 instruction, except that the source and destination are the low
11547 quadword of a 128-bit operand, instead of being 64-bit operands.
11548 The high quadword is copied from the source to the destination
11549 without any changes.
11552 \S{insPSHUFW} \i\c{PSHUFW}: Shuffle Packed Words
11554 \c PSHUFW mm1,mm2/m64,imm8 ; 0F 70 /r ib [KATMAI,MMX]
11556 \c{PSHUFW} shuffles the words in the source (second) operand
11557 according to the encoding specified by imm8, and stores the result
11558 in the destination (first) operand.
11560 Bits 0 and 1 of imm8 encode the source position of the word to be
11561 copied to position 0 in the destination operand. Bits 2 and 3 encode
11562 for position 1, bits 4 and 5 encode for position 2, and bits 6 and 7
11563 encode for position 3. For example, an encoding of 10 in bits 0 and 1
11564 of imm8 indicates that the word at bits 32-47 of the source operand
11565 will be copied to bits 0-15 of the destination.
11568 \S{insPSLLD} \i\c{PSLLx}: Packed Data Bit Shift Left Logical
11570 \c PSLLW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F1 /r [PENT,MMX]
11571 \c PSLLW mm,imm8 ; 0F 71 /6 ib [PENT,MMX]
11573 \c PSLLW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F1 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11574 \c PSLLW xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 71 /6 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11576 \c PSLLD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F2 /r [PENT,MMX]
11577 \c PSLLD mm,imm8 ; 0F 72 /6 ib [PENT,MMX]
11579 \c PSLLD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F2 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11580 \c PSLLD xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 72 /6 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11582 \c PSLLQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F3 /r [PENT,MMX]
11583 \c PSLLQ mm,imm8 ; 0F 73 /6 ib [PENT,MMX]
11585 \c PSLLQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F3 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11586 \c PSLLQ xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 73 /6 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11588 \c PSLLDQ xmm1,imm8 ; 66 0F 73 /7 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11590 \c{PSLLx} performs logical left shifts of the data elements in the
11591 destination (first) operand, moving each bit in the separate elements
11592 left by the number of bits specified in the source (second) operand,
11593 clearing the low-order bits as they are vacated. \c{PSLLDQ}
11594 shifts bytes, not bits.
11596 \b \c{PSLLW} shifts word sized elements.
11598 \b \c{PSLLD} shifts doubleword sized elements.
11600 \b \c{PSLLQ} shifts quadword sized elements.
11602 \b \c{PSLLDQ} shifts double quadword sized elements.
11605 \S{insPSRAD} \i\c{PSRAx}: Packed Data Bit Shift Right Arithmetic
11607 \c PSRAW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E1 /r [PENT,MMX]
11608 \c PSRAW mm,imm8 ; 0F 71 /4 ib [PENT,MMX]
11610 \c PSRAW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E1 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11611 \c PSRAW xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 71 /4 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11613 \c PSRAD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E2 /r [PENT,MMX]
11614 \c PSRAD mm,imm8 ; 0F 72 /4 ib [PENT,MMX]
11616 \c PSRAD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E2 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11617 \c PSRAD xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 72 /4 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11619 \c{PSRAx} performs arithmetic right shifts of the data elements in the
11620 destination (first) operand, moving each bit in the separate elements
11621 right by the number of bits specified in the source (second) operand,
11622 setting the high-order bits to the value of the original sign bit.
11624 \b \c{PSRAW} shifts word sized elements.
11626 \b \c{PSRAD} shifts doubleword sized elements.
11629 \S{insPSRLD} \i\c{PSRLx}: Packed Data Bit Shift Right Logical
11631 \c PSRLW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D1 /r [PENT,MMX]
11632 \c PSRLW mm,imm8 ; 0F 71 /2 ib [PENT,MMX]
11634 \c PSRLW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D1 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11635 \c PSRLW xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 71 /2 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11637 \c PSRLD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D2 /r [PENT,MMX]
11638 \c PSRLD mm,imm8 ; 0F 72 /2 ib [PENT,MMX]
11640 \c PSRLD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D2 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11641 \c PSRLD xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 72 /2 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11643 \c PSRLQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D3 /r [PENT,MMX]
11644 \c PSRLQ mm,imm8 ; 0F 73 /2 ib [PENT,MMX]
11646 \c PSRLQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D3 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11647 \c PSRLQ xmm,imm8 ; 66 0F 73 /2 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11649 \c PSRLDQ xmm1,imm8 ; 66 0F 73 /3 ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11651 \c{PSRLx} performs logical right shifts of the data elements in the
11652 destination (first) operand, moving each bit in the separate elements
11653 right by the number of bits specified in the source (second) operand,
11654 clearing the high-order bits as they are vacated. \c{PSRLDQ}
11655 shifts bytes, not bits.
11657 \b \c{PSRLW} shifts word sized elements.
11659 \b \c{PSRLD} shifts doubleword sized elements.
11661 \b \c{PSRLQ} shifts quadword sized elements.
11663 \b \c{PSRLDQ} shifts double quadword sized elements.
11666 \S{insPSUBB} \i\c{PSUBx}: Subtract Packed Integers
11668 \c PSUBB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F8 /r [PENT,MMX]
11669 \c PSUBW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F F9 /r [PENT,MMX]
11670 \c PSUBD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F FA /r [PENT,MMX]
11671 \c PSUBQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F FB /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11673 \c PSUBB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F8 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11674 \c PSUBW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F F9 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11675 \c PSUBD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F FA /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11676 \c PSUBQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F FB /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11678 \c{PSUBx} subtracts packed integers in the source operand from those
11679 in the destination operand. It doesn't differentiate between signed
11680 and unsigned integers, and doesn't set any of the flags.
11682 \b \c{PSUBB} operates on byte sized elements.
11684 \b \c{PSUBW} operates on word sized elements.
11686 \b \c{PSUBD} operates on doubleword sized elements.
11688 \b \c{PSUBQ} operates on quadword sized elements.
11691 \S{insPSUBSB} \i\c{PSUBSxx}, \i\c{PSUBUSx}: Subtract Packed Integers With Saturation
11693 \c PSUBSB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E8 /r [PENT,MMX]
11694 \c PSUBSW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F E9 /r [PENT,MMX]
11696 \c PSUBSB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E8 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11697 \c PSUBSW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F E9 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11699 \c PSUBUSB mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D8 /r [PENT,MMX]
11700 \c PSUBUSW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F D9 /r [PENT,MMX]
11702 \c PSUBUSB xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D8 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11703 \c PSUBUSW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F D9 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11705 \c{PSUBSx} and \c{PSUBUSx} subtracts packed integers in the source
11706 operand from those in the destination operand, and use saturation for
11707 results that are outside the range supported by the destination operand.
11709 \b \c{PSUBSB} operates on signed bytes, and uses signed saturation on the
11712 \b \c{PSUBSW} operates on signed words, and uses signed saturation on the
11715 \b \c{PSUBUSB} operates on unsigned bytes, and uses signed saturation on
11718 \b \c{PSUBUSW} operates on unsigned words, and uses signed saturation on
11722 \S{insPSUBSIW} \i\c{PSUBSIW}: MMX Packed Subtract with Saturation to
11723 Implied Destination
11725 \c PSUBSIW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 55 /r [CYRIX,MMX]
11727 \c{PSUBSIW}, specific to the Cyrix extensions to the MMX instruction
11728 set, performs the same function as \c{PSUBSW}, except that the
11729 result is not placed in the register specified by the first operand,
11730 but instead in the implied destination register, specified as for
11731 \c{PADDSIW} (\k{insPADDSIW}).
11734 \S{insPSWAPD} \i\c{PSWAPD}: Swap Packed Data
11737 \c PSWAPD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 0F /r BB [PENT,3DNOW]
11739 \c{PSWAPD} swaps the packed doublewords in the source operand, and
11740 stores the result in the destination operand.
11742 In the \c{K6-2} and \c{K6-III} processors, this opcode uses the
11743 mnemonic \c{PSWAPW}, and it swaps the order of words when copying
11744 from the source to the destination.
11746 The operation in the \c{K6-2} and \c{K6-III} processors is
11748 \c dst[0-15] = src[48-63];
11749 \c dst[16-31] = src[32-47];
11750 \c dst[32-47] = src[16-31];
11751 \c dst[48-63] = src[0-15].
11753 The operation in the \c{K6-x+}, \c{ATHLON} and later processors is:
11755 \c dst[0-31] = src[32-63];
11756 \c dst[32-63] = src[0-31].
11759 \S{insPUNPCKHBW} \i\c{PUNPCKxxx}: Unpack and Interleave Data
11761 \c PUNPCKHBW mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 68 /r [PENT,MMX]
11762 \c PUNPCKHWD mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 69 /r [PENT,MMX]
11763 \c PUNPCKHDQ mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F 6A /r [PENT,MMX]
11765 \c PUNPCKHBW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 68 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11766 \c PUNPCKHWD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 69 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11767 \c PUNPCKHDQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 6A /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11768 \c PUNPCKHQDQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 6D /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11770 \c PUNPCKLBW mm1,mm2/m32 ; 0F 60 /r [PENT,MMX]
11771 \c PUNPCKLWD mm1,mm2/m32 ; 0F 61 /r [PENT,MMX]
11772 \c PUNPCKLDQ mm1,mm2/m32 ; 0F 62 /r [PENT,MMX]
11774 \c PUNPCKLBW xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 60 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11775 \c PUNPCKLWD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 61 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11776 \c PUNPCKLDQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 62 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11777 \c PUNPCKLQDQ xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 6C /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11779 \c{PUNPCKxx} all treat their operands as vectors, and produce a new
11780 vector generated by interleaving elements from the two inputs. The
11781 \c{PUNPCKHxx} instructions start by throwing away the bottom half of
11782 each input operand, and the \c{PUNPCKLxx} instructions throw away
11785 The remaining elements, are then interleaved into the destination,
11786 alternating elements from the second (source) operand and the first
11787 (destination) operand: so the leftmost part of each element in the
11788 result always comes from the second operand, and the rightmost from
11791 \b \c{PUNPCKxBW} works a byte at a time, producing word sized output
11794 \b \c{PUNPCKxWD} works a word at a time, producing doubleword sized
11797 \b \c{PUNPCKxDQ} works a doubleword at a time, producing quadword sized
11800 \b \c{PUNPCKxQDQ} works a quadword at a time, producing double quadword
11801 sized output elements.
11803 So, for example, for \c{MMX} operands, if the first operand held
11804 \c{0x7A6A5A4A3A2A1A0A} and the second held \c{0x7B6B5B4B3B2B1B0B},
11807 \b \c{PUNPCKHBW} would return \c{0x7B7A6B6A5B5A4B4A}.
11809 \b \c{PUNPCKHWD} would return \c{0x7B6B7A6A5B4B5A4A}.
11811 \b \c{PUNPCKHDQ} would return \c{0x7B6B5B4B7A6A5A4A}.
11813 \b \c{PUNPCKLBW} would return \c{0x3B3A2B2A1B1A0B0A}.
11815 \b \c{PUNPCKLWD} would return \c{0x3B2B3A2A1B0B1A0A}.
11817 \b \c{PUNPCKLDQ} would return \c{0x3B2B1B0B3A2A1A0A}.
11820 \S{insPUSH} \i\c{PUSH}: Push Data on Stack
11822 \c PUSH reg16 ; o16 50+r [8086]
11823 \c PUSH reg32 ; o32 50+r [386]
11825 \c PUSH r/m16 ; o16 FF /6 [8086]
11826 \c PUSH r/m32 ; o32 FF /6 [386]
11828 \c PUSH CS ; 0E [8086]
11829 \c PUSH DS ; 1E [8086]
11830 \c PUSH ES ; 06 [8086]
11831 \c PUSH SS ; 16 [8086]
11832 \c PUSH FS ; 0F A0 [386]
11833 \c PUSH GS ; 0F A8 [386]
11835 \c PUSH imm8 ; 6A ib [186]
11836 \c PUSH imm16 ; o16 68 iw [186]
11837 \c PUSH imm32 ; o32 68 id [386]
11839 \c{PUSH} decrements the stack pointer (\c{SP} or \c{ESP}) by 2 or 4,
11840 and then stores the given value at \c{[SS:SP]} or \c{[SS:ESP]}.
11842 The address-size attribute of the instruction determines whether
11843 \c{SP} or \c{ESP} is used as the stack pointer: to deliberately
11844 override the default given by the \c{BITS} setting, you can use an
11845 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
11847 The operand-size attribute of the instruction determines whether the
11848 stack pointer is decremented by 2 or 4: this means that segment
11849 register pushes in \c{BITS 32} mode will push 4 bytes on the stack,
11850 of which the upper two are undefined. If you need to override that,
11851 you can use an \i\c{o16} or \i\c{o32} prefix.
11853 The above opcode listings give two forms for general-purpose
11854 \i{register push} instructions: for example, \c{PUSH BX} has the two
11855 forms \c{53} and \c{FF F3}. NASM will always generate the shorter
11856 form when given \c{PUSH BX}. NDISASM will disassemble both.
11858 Unlike the undocumented and barely supported \c{POP CS}, \c{PUSH CS}
11859 is a perfectly valid and sensible instruction, supported on all
11862 The instruction \c{PUSH SP} may be used to distinguish an 8086 from
11863 later processors: on an 8086, the value of \c{SP} stored is the
11864 value it has \e{after} the push instruction, whereas on later
11865 processors it is the value \e{before} the push instruction.
11868 \S{insPUSHA} \i\c{PUSHAx}: Push All General-Purpose Registers
11870 \c PUSHA ; 60 [186]
11871 \c PUSHAD ; o32 60 [386]
11872 \c PUSHAW ; o16 60 [186]
11874 \c{PUSHAW} pushes, in succession, \c{AX}, \c{CX}, \c{DX}, \c{BX},
11875 \c{SP}, \c{BP}, \c{SI} and \c{DI} on the stack, decrementing the
11876 stack pointer by a total of 16.
11878 \c{PUSHAD} pushes, in succession, \c{EAX}, \c{ECX}, \c{EDX},
11879 \c{EBX}, \c{ESP}, \c{EBP}, \c{ESI} and \c{EDI} on the stack,
11880 decrementing the stack pointer by a total of 32.
11882 In both cases, the value of \c{SP} or \c{ESP} pushed is its
11883 \e{original} value, as it had before the instruction was executed.
11885 \c{PUSHA} is an alias mnemonic for either \c{PUSHAW} or \c{PUSHAD},
11886 depending on the current \c{BITS} setting.
11888 Note that the registers are pushed in order of their numeric values
11889 in opcodes (see \k{iref-rv}).
11891 See also \c{POPA} (\k{insPOPA}).
11894 \S{insPUSHF} \i\c{PUSHFx}: Push Flags Register
11896 \c PUSHF ; 9C [8086]
11897 \c PUSHFD ; o32 9C [386]
11898 \c PUSHFW ; o16 9C [8086]
11900 \b \c{PUSHFW} pushes the bottom 16 bits of the flags register
11901 (or the whole flags register, on processors below a 386) onto
11904 \b \c{PUSHFD} pushes the entire flags register onto the stack.
11906 \c{PUSHF} is an alias mnemonic for either \c{PUSHFW} or \c{PUSHFD},
11907 depending on the current \c{BITS} setting.
11909 See also \c{POPF} (\k{insPOPF}).
11912 \S{insPXOR} \i\c{PXOR}: MMX Bitwise XOR
11914 \c PXOR mm1,mm2/m64 ; 0F EF /r [PENT,MMX]
11915 \c PXOR xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F EF /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
11917 \c{PXOR} performs a bitwise XOR operation between its two operands
11918 (i.e. each bit of the result is 1 if and only if exactly one of the
11919 corresponding bits of the two inputs was 1), and stores the result
11920 in the destination (first) operand.
11923 \S{insRCL} \i\c{RCL}, \i\c{RCR}: Bitwise Rotate through Carry Bit
11925 \c RCL r/m8,1 ; D0 /2 [8086]
11926 \c RCL r/m8,CL ; D2 /2 [8086]
11927 \c RCL r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /2 ib [186]
11928 \c RCL r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /2 [8086]
11929 \c RCL r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /2 [8086]
11930 \c RCL r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /2 ib [186]
11931 \c RCL r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /2 [386]
11932 \c RCL r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /2 [386]
11933 \c RCL r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /2 ib [386]
11935 \c RCR r/m8,1 ; D0 /3 [8086]
11936 \c RCR r/m8,CL ; D2 /3 [8086]
11937 \c RCR r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /3 ib [186]
11938 \c RCR r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /3 [8086]
11939 \c RCR r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /3 [8086]
11940 \c RCR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /3 ib [186]
11941 \c RCR r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /3 [386]
11942 \c RCR r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /3 [386]
11943 \c RCR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /3 ib [386]
11945 \c{RCL} and \c{RCR} perform a 9-bit, 17-bit or 33-bit bitwise
11946 rotation operation, involving the given source/destination (first)
11947 operand and the carry bit. Thus, for example, in the operation
11948 \c{RCL AL,1}, a 9-bit rotation is performed in which \c{AL} is
11949 shifted left by 1, the top bit of \c{AL} moves into the carry flag,
11950 and the original value of the carry flag is placed in the low bit of
11953 The number of bits to rotate by is given by the second operand. Only
11954 the bottom five bits of the rotation count are considered by
11955 processors above the 8086.
11957 You can force the longer (286 and upwards, beginning with a \c{C1}
11958 byte) form of \c{RCL foo,1} by using a \c{BYTE} prefix: \c{RCL
11959 foo,BYTE 1}. Similarly with \c{RCR}.
11962 \S{insRCPPS} \i\c{RCPPS}: Packed Single-Precision FP Reciprocal
11964 \c RCPPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 53 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
11966 \c{RCPPS} returns an approximation of the reciprocal of the packed
11967 single-precision FP values from xmm2/m128. The maximum error for this
11968 approximation is: |Error| <= 1.5 x 2^-12
11971 \S{insRCPSS} \i\c{RCPSS}: Scalar Single-Precision FP Reciprocal
11973 \c RCPSS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F3 0F 53 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
11975 \c{RCPSS} returns an approximation of the reciprocal of the lower
11976 single-precision FP value from xmm2/m32; the upper three fields are
11977 passed through from xmm1. The maximum error for this approximation is:
11978 |Error| <= 1.5 x 2^-12
11981 \S{insRDMSR} \i\c{RDMSR}: Read Model-Specific Registers
11983 \c RDMSR ; 0F 32 [PENT,PRIV]
11985 \c{RDMSR} reads the processor Model-Specific Register (MSR) whose
11986 index is stored in \c{ECX}, and stores the result in \c{EDX:EAX}.
11987 See also \c{WRMSR} (\k{insWRMSR}).
11990 \S{insRDPMC} \i\c{RDPMC}: Read Performance-Monitoring Counters
11992 \c RDPMC ; 0F 33 [P6]
11994 \c{RDPMC} reads the processor performance-monitoring counter whose
11995 index is stored in \c{ECX}, and stores the result in \c{EDX:EAX}.
11997 This instruction is available on P6 and later processors and on MMX
12001 \S{insRDSHR} \i\c{RDSHR}: Read SMM Header Pointer Register
12003 \c RDSHR r/m32 ; 0F 36 /0 [386,CYRIX,SMM]
12005 \c{RDSHR} reads the contents of the SMM header pointer register and
12006 saves it to the destination operand, which can be either a 32 bit
12007 memory location or a 32 bit register.
12009 See also \c{WRSHR} (\k{insWRSHR}).
12012 \S{insRDTSC} \i\c{RDTSC}: Read Time-Stamp Counter
12014 \c RDTSC ; 0F 31 [PENT]
12016 \c{RDTSC} reads the processor's time-stamp counter into \c{EDX:EAX}.
12019 \S{insRET} \i\c{RET}, \i\c{RETF}, \i\c{RETN}: Return from Procedure Call
12022 \c RET imm16 ; C2 iw [8086]
12024 \c RETF ; CB [8086]
12025 \c RETF imm16 ; CA iw [8086]
12027 \c RETN ; C3 [8086]
12028 \c RETN imm16 ; C2 iw [8086]
12030 \b \c{RET}, and its exact synonym \c{RETN}, pop \c{IP} or \c{EIP} from
12031 the stack and transfer control to the new address. Optionally, if a
12032 numeric second operand is provided, they increment the stack pointer
12033 by a further \c{imm16} bytes after popping the return address.
12035 \b \c{RETF} executes a far return: after popping \c{IP}/\c{EIP}, it
12036 then pops \c{CS}, and \e{then} increments the stack pointer by the
12037 optional argument if present.
12040 \S{insROL} \i\c{ROL}, \i\c{ROR}: Bitwise Rotate
12042 \c ROL r/m8,1 ; D0 /0 [8086]
12043 \c ROL r/m8,CL ; D2 /0 [8086]
12044 \c ROL r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /0 ib [186]
12045 \c ROL r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /0 [8086]
12046 \c ROL r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /0 [8086]
12047 \c ROL r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /0 ib [186]
12048 \c ROL r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /0 [386]
12049 \c ROL r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /0 [386]
12050 \c ROL r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /0 ib [386]
12052 \c ROR r/m8,1 ; D0 /1 [8086]
12053 \c ROR r/m8,CL ; D2 /1 [8086]
12054 \c ROR r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /1 ib [186]
12055 \c ROR r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /1 [8086]
12056 \c ROR r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /1 [8086]
12057 \c ROR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /1 ib [186]
12058 \c ROR r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /1 [386]
12059 \c ROR r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /1 [386]
12060 \c ROR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /1 ib [386]
12062 \c{ROL} and \c{ROR} perform a bitwise rotation operation on the given
12063 source/destination (first) operand. Thus, for example, in the
12064 operation \c{ROL AL,1}, an 8-bit rotation is performed in which
12065 \c{AL} is shifted left by 1 and the original top bit of \c{AL} moves
12066 round into the low bit.
12068 The number of bits to rotate by is given by the second operand. Only
12069 the bottom five bits of the rotation count are considered by processors
12072 You can force the longer (286 and upwards, beginning with a \c{C1}
12073 byte) form of \c{ROL foo,1} by using a \c{BYTE} prefix: \c{ROL
12074 foo,BYTE 1}. Similarly with \c{ROR}.
12077 \S{insRSDC} \i\c{RSDC}: Restore Segment Register and Descriptor
12079 \c RSDC segreg,m80 ; 0F 79 /r [486,CYRIX,SMM]
12081 \c{RSDC} restores a segment register (DS, ES, FS, GS, or SS) from mem80,
12082 and sets up its descriptor.
12085 \S{insRSLDT} \i\c{RSLDT}: Restore Segment Register and Descriptor
12087 \c RSLDT m80 ; 0F 7B /0 [486,CYRIX,SMM]
12089 \c{RSLDT} restores the Local Descriptor Table (LDTR) from mem80.
12092 \S{insRSM} \i\c{RSM}: Resume from System-Management Mode
12094 \c RSM ; 0F AA [PENT]
12096 \c{RSM} returns the processor to its normal operating mode when it
12097 was in System-Management Mode.
12100 \S{insRSQRTPS} \i\c{RSQRTPS}: Packed Single-Precision FP Square Root Reciprocal
12102 \c RSQRTPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 52 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12104 \c{RSQRTPS} computes the approximate reciprocals of the square
12105 roots of the packed single-precision floating-point values in the
12106 source and stores the results in xmm1. The maximum error for this
12107 approximation is: |Error| <= 1.5 x 2^-12
12110 \S{insRSQRTSS} \i\c{RSQRTSS}: Scalar Single-Precision FP Square Root Reciprocal
12112 \c RSQRTSS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F3 0F 52 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12114 \c{RSQRTSS} returns an approximation of the reciprocal of the
12115 square root of the lowest order single-precision FP value from
12116 the source, and stores it in the low doubleword of the destination
12117 register. The upper three fields of xmm1 are preserved. The maximum
12118 error for this approximation is: |Error| <= 1.5 x 2^-12
12121 \S{insRSTS} \i\c{RSTS}: Restore TSR and Descriptor
12123 \c RSTS m80 ; 0F 7D /0 [486,CYRIX,SMM]
12125 \c{RSTS} restores Task State Register (TSR) from mem80.
12128 \S{insSAHF} \i\c{SAHF}: Store AH to Flags
12130 \c SAHF ; 9E [8086]
12132 \c{SAHF} sets the low byte of the flags word according to the
12133 contents of the \c{AH} register.
12135 The operation of \c{SAHF} is:
12137 \c AH --> SF:ZF:0:AF:0:PF:1:CF
12139 See also \c{LAHF} (\k{insLAHF}).
12142 \S{insSAL} \i\c{SAL}, \i\c{SAR}: Bitwise Arithmetic Shifts
12144 \c SAL r/m8,1 ; D0 /4 [8086]
12145 \c SAL r/m8,CL ; D2 /4 [8086]
12146 \c SAL r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /4 ib [186]
12147 \c SAL r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /4 [8086]
12148 \c SAL r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /4 [8086]
12149 \c SAL r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /4 ib [186]
12150 \c SAL r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /4 [386]
12151 \c SAL r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /4 [386]
12152 \c SAL r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /4 ib [386]
12154 \c SAR r/m8,1 ; D0 /7 [8086]
12155 \c SAR r/m8,CL ; D2 /7 [8086]
12156 \c SAR r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /7 ib [186]
12157 \c SAR r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /7 [8086]
12158 \c SAR r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /7 [8086]
12159 \c SAR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /7 ib [186]
12160 \c SAR r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /7 [386]
12161 \c SAR r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /7 [386]
12162 \c SAR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /7 ib [386]
12164 \c{SAL} and \c{SAR} perform an arithmetic shift operation on the given
12165 source/destination (first) operand. The vacated bits are filled with
12166 zero for \c{SAL}, and with copies of the original high bit of the
12167 source operand for \c{SAR}.
12169 \c{SAL} is a synonym for \c{SHL} (see \k{insSHL}). NASM will
12170 assemble either one to the same code, but NDISASM will always
12171 disassemble that code as \c{SHL}.
12173 The number of bits to shift by is given by the second operand. Only
12174 the bottom five bits of the shift count are considered by processors
12177 You can force the longer (286 and upwards, beginning with a \c{C1}
12178 byte) form of \c{SAL foo,1} by using a \c{BYTE} prefix: \c{SAL
12179 foo,BYTE 1}. Similarly with \c{SAR}.
12182 \S{insSALC} \i\c{SALC}: Set AL from Carry Flag
12184 \c SALC ; D6 [8086,UNDOC]
12186 \c{SALC} is an early undocumented instruction similar in concept to
12187 \c{SETcc} (\k{insSETcc}). Its function is to set \c{AL} to zero if
12188 the carry flag is clear, or to \c{0xFF} if it is set.
12191 \S{insSBB} \i\c{SBB}: Subtract with Borrow
12193 \c SBB r/m8,reg8 ; 18 /r [8086]
12194 \c SBB r/m16,reg16 ; o16 19 /r [8086]
12195 \c SBB r/m32,reg32 ; o32 19 /r [386]
12197 \c SBB reg8,r/m8 ; 1A /r [8086]
12198 \c SBB reg16,r/m16 ; o16 1B /r [8086]
12199 \c SBB reg32,r/m32 ; o32 1B /r [386]
12201 \c SBB r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /3 ib [8086]
12202 \c SBB r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /3 iw [8086]
12203 \c SBB r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /3 id [386]
12205 \c SBB r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /3 ib [8086]
12206 \c SBB r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /3 ib [386]
12208 \c SBB AL,imm8 ; 1C ib [8086]
12209 \c SBB AX,imm16 ; o16 1D iw [8086]
12210 \c SBB EAX,imm32 ; o32 1D id [386]
12212 \c{SBB} performs integer subtraction: it subtracts its second
12213 operand, plus the value of the carry flag, from its first, and
12214 leaves the result in its destination (first) operand. The flags are
12215 set according to the result of the operation: in particular, the
12216 carry flag is affected and can be used by a subsequent \c{SBB}
12219 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
12220 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
12221 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
12222 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
12223 form of the instruction.
12225 To subtract one number from another without also subtracting the
12226 contents of the carry flag, use \c{SUB} (\k{insSUB}).
12229 \S{insSCASB} \i\c{SCASB}, \i\c{SCASW}, \i\c{SCASD}: Scan String
12231 \c SCASB ; AE [8086]
12232 \c SCASW ; o16 AF [8086]
12233 \c SCASD ; o32 AF [386]
12235 \c{SCASB} compares the byte in \c{AL} with the byte at \c{[ES:DI]}
12236 or \c{[ES:EDI]}, and sets the flags accordingly. It then increments
12237 or decrements (depending on the direction flag: increments if the
12238 flag is clear, decrements if it is set) \c{DI} (or \c{EDI}).
12240 The register used is \c{DI} if the address size is 16 bits, and
12241 \c{EDI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use an address size not
12242 equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can use an explicit
12243 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
12245 Segment override prefixes have no effect for this instruction: the
12246 use of \c{ES} for the load from \c{[DI]} or \c{[EDI]} cannot be
12249 \c{SCASW} and \c{SCASD} work in the same way, but they compare a
12250 word to \c{AX} or a doubleword to \c{EAX} instead of a byte to
12251 \c{AL}, and increment or decrement the addressing registers by 2 or
12254 The \c{REPE} and \c{REPNE} prefixes (equivalently, \c{REPZ} and
12255 \c{REPNZ}) may be used to repeat the instruction up to \c{CX} (or
12256 \c{ECX} - again, the address size chooses which) times until the
12257 first unequal or equal byte is found.
12260 \S{insSETcc} \i\c{SETcc}: Set Register from Condition
12262 \c SETcc r/m8 ; 0F 90+cc /2 [386]
12264 \c{SETcc} sets the given 8-bit operand to zero if its condition is
12265 not satisfied, and to 1 if it is.
12268 \S{insSFENCE} \i\c{SFENCE}: Store Fence
12270 \c SFENCE ; 0F AE /7 [KATMAI]
12272 \c{SFENCE} performs a serialising operation on all writes to memory
12273 that were issued before the \c{SFENCE} instruction. This guarantees that
12274 all memory writes before the \c{SFENCE} instruction are visible before any
12275 writes after the \c{SFENCE} instruction.
12277 \c{SFENCE} is ordered respective to other \c{SFENCE} instruction, \c{MFENCE},
12278 any memory write and any other serialising instruction (such as \c{CPUID}).
12280 Weakly ordered memory types can be used to achieve higher processor
12281 performance through such techniques as out-of-order issue,
12282 write-combining, and write-collapsing. The degree to which a consumer
12283 of data recognizes or knows that the data is weakly ordered varies
12284 among applications and may be unknown to the producer of this data.
12285 The \c{SFENCE} instruction provides a performance-efficient way of
12286 insuring store ordering between routines that produce weakly-ordered
12287 results and routines that consume this data.
12289 \c{SFENCE} uses the following ModRM encoding:
12292 \c Reg/Opcode (5:3) = 111B
12293 \c R/M (2:0) = 000B
12295 All other ModRM encodings are defined to be reserved, and use
12296 of these encodings risks incompatibility with future processors.
12298 See also \c{LFENCE} (\k{insLFENCE}) and \c{MFENCE} (\k{insMFENCE}).
12301 \S{insSGDT} \i\c{SGDT}, \i\c{SIDT}, \i\c{SLDT}: Store Descriptor Table Pointers
12303 \c SGDT mem ; 0F 01 /0 [286,PRIV]
12304 \c SIDT mem ; 0F 01 /1 [286,PRIV]
12305 \c SLDT r/m16 ; 0F 00 /0 [286,PRIV]
12307 \c{SGDT} and \c{SIDT} both take a 6-byte memory area as an operand:
12308 they store the contents of the GDTR (global descriptor table
12309 register) or IDTR (interrupt descriptor table register) into that
12310 area as a 32-bit linear address and a 16-bit size limit from that
12311 area (in that order). These are the only instructions which directly
12312 use \e{linear} addresses, rather than segment/offset pairs.
12314 \c{SLDT} stores the segment selector corresponding to the LDT (local
12315 descriptor table) into the given operand.
12317 See also \c{LGDT}, \c{LIDT} and \c{LLDT} (\k{insLGDT}).
12320 \S{insSHL} \i\c{SHL}, \i\c{SHR}: Bitwise Logical Shifts
12322 \c SHL r/m8,1 ; D0 /4 [8086]
12323 \c SHL r/m8,CL ; D2 /4 [8086]
12324 \c SHL r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /4 ib [186]
12325 \c SHL r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /4 [8086]
12326 \c SHL r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /4 [8086]
12327 \c SHL r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /4 ib [186]
12328 \c SHL r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /4 [386]
12329 \c SHL r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /4 [386]
12330 \c SHL r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /4 ib [386]
12332 \c SHR r/m8,1 ; D0 /5 [8086]
12333 \c SHR r/m8,CL ; D2 /5 [8086]
12334 \c SHR r/m8,imm8 ; C0 /5 ib [186]
12335 \c SHR r/m16,1 ; o16 D1 /5 [8086]
12336 \c SHR r/m16,CL ; o16 D3 /5 [8086]
12337 \c SHR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 C1 /5 ib [186]
12338 \c SHR r/m32,1 ; o32 D1 /5 [386]
12339 \c SHR r/m32,CL ; o32 D3 /5 [386]
12340 \c SHR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 C1 /5 ib [386]
12342 \c{SHL} and \c{SHR} perform a logical shift operation on the given
12343 source/destination (first) operand. The vacated bits are filled with
12346 A synonym for \c{SHL} is \c{SAL} (see \k{insSAL}). NASM will
12347 assemble either one to the same code, but NDISASM will always
12348 disassemble that code as \c{SHL}.
12350 The number of bits to shift by is given by the second operand. Only
12351 the bottom five bits of the shift count are considered by processors
12354 You can force the longer (286 and upwards, beginning with a \c{C1}
12355 byte) form of \c{SHL foo,1} by using a \c{BYTE} prefix: \c{SHL
12356 foo,BYTE 1}. Similarly with \c{SHR}.
12359 \S{insSHLD} \i\c{SHLD}, \i\c{SHRD}: Bitwise Double-Precision Shifts
12361 \c SHLD r/m16,reg16,imm8 ; o16 0F A4 /r ib [386]
12362 \c SHLD r/m16,reg32,imm8 ; o32 0F A4 /r ib [386]
12363 \c SHLD r/m16,reg16,CL ; o16 0F A5 /r [386]
12364 \c SHLD r/m16,reg32,CL ; o32 0F A5 /r [386]
12366 \c SHRD r/m16,reg16,imm8 ; o16 0F AC /r ib [386]
12367 \c SHRD r/m32,reg32,imm8 ; o32 0F AC /r ib [386]
12368 \c SHRD r/m16,reg16,CL ; o16 0F AD /r [386]
12369 \c SHRD r/m32,reg32,CL ; o32 0F AD /r [386]
12371 \b \c{SHLD} performs a double-precision left shift. It notionally
12372 places its second operand to the right of its first, then shifts
12373 the entire bit string thus generated to the left by a number of
12374 bits specified in the third operand. It then updates only the
12375 \e{first} operand according to the result of this. The second
12376 operand is not modified.
12378 \b \c{SHRD} performs the corresponding right shift: it notionally
12379 places the second operand to the \e{left} of the first, shifts the
12380 whole bit string right, and updates only the first operand.
12382 For example, if \c{EAX} holds \c{0x01234567} and \c{EBX} holds
12383 \c{0x89ABCDEF}, then the instruction \c{SHLD EAX,EBX,4} would update
12384 \c{EAX} to hold \c{0x12345678}. Under the same conditions, \c{SHRD
12385 EAX,EBX,4} would update \c{EAX} to hold \c{0xF0123456}.
12387 The number of bits to shift by is given by the third operand. Only
12388 the bottom five bits of the shift count are considered.
12391 \S{insSHUFPD} \i\c{SHUFPD}: Shuffle Packed Double-Precision FP Values
12393 \c SHUFPD xmm1,xmm2/m128,imm8 ; 66 0F C6 /r ib [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12395 \c{SHUFPD} moves one of the packed double-precision FP values from
12396 the destination operand into the low quadword of the destination
12397 operand; the upper quadword is generated by moving one of the
12398 double-precision FP values from the source operand into the
12399 destination. The select (third) operand selects which of the values
12400 are moved to the destination register.
12402 The select operand is an 8-bit immediate: bit 0 selects which value
12403 is moved from the destination operand to the result (where 0 selects
12404 the low quadword and 1 selects the high quadword) and bit 1 selects
12405 which value is moved from the source operand to the result.
12406 Bits 2 through 7 of the shuffle operand are reserved.
12409 \S{insSHUFPS} \i\c{SHUFPS}: Shuffle Packed Single-Precision FP Values
12411 \c SHUFPS xmm1,xmm2/m128,imm8 ; 0F C6 /r ib [KATMAI,SSE]
12413 \c{SHUFPS} moves two of the packed single-precision FP values from
12414 the destination operand into the low quadword of the destination
12415 operand; the upper quadword is generated by moving two of the
12416 single-precision FP values from the source operand into the
12417 destination. The select (third) operand selects which of the
12418 values are moved to the destination register.
12420 The select operand is an 8-bit immediate: bits 0 and 1 select the
12421 value to be moved from the destination operand the low doubleword of
12422 the result, bits 2 and 3 select the value to be moved from the
12423 destination operand the second doubleword of the result, bits 4 and
12424 5 select the value to be moved from the source operand the third
12425 doubleword of the result, and bits 6 and 7 select the value to be
12426 moved from the source operand to the high doubleword of the result.
12429 \S{insSMI} \i\c{SMI}: System Management Interrupt
12431 \c SMI ; F1 [386,UNDOC]
12433 \c{SMI} puts some AMD processors into SMM mode. It is available on some
12434 386 and 486 processors, and is only available when DR7 bit 12 is set,
12435 otherwise it generates an Int 1.
12438 \S{insSMINT} \i\c{SMINT}, \i\c{SMINTOLD}: Software SMM Entry (CYRIX)
12440 \c SMINT ; 0F 38 [PENT,CYRIX]
12441 \c SMINTOLD ; 0F 7E [486,CYRIX]
12443 \c{SMINT} puts the processor into SMM mode. The CPU state information is
12444 saved in the SMM memory header, and then execution begins at the SMM base
12447 \c{SMINTOLD} is the same as \c{SMINT}, but was the opcode used on the 486.
12449 This pair of opcodes are specific to the Cyrix and compatible range of
12450 processors (Cyrix, IBM, Via).
12453 \S{insSMSW} \i\c{SMSW}: Store Machine Status Word
12455 \c SMSW r/m16 ; 0F 01 /4 [286,PRIV]
12457 \c{SMSW} stores the bottom half of the \c{CR0} control register (or
12458 the Machine Status Word, on 286 processors) into the destination
12459 operand. See also \c{LMSW} (\k{insLMSW}).
12461 For 32-bit code, this would store all of \c{CR0} in the specified
12462 register (or the bottom 16 bits if the destination is a memory location),
12463 without needing an operand size override byte.
12466 \S{insSQRTPD} \i\c{SQRTPD}: Packed Double-Precision FP Square Root
12468 \c SQRTPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 51 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12470 \c{SQRTPD} calculates the square root of the packed double-precision
12471 FP value from the source operand, and stores the double-precision
12472 results in the destination register.
12475 \S{insSQRTPS} \i\c{SQRTPS}: Packed Single-Precision FP Square Root
12477 \c SQRTPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 51 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12479 \c{SQRTPS} calculates the square root of the packed single-precision
12480 FP value from the source operand, and stores the single-precision
12481 results in the destination register.
12484 \S{insSQRTSD} \i\c{SQRTSD}: Scalar Double-Precision FP Square Root
12486 \c SQRTSD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F2 0F 51 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12488 \c{SQRTSD} calculates the square root of the low-order double-precision
12489 FP value from the source operand, and stores the double-precision
12490 result in the destination register. The high-quadword remains unchanged.
12493 \S{insSQRTSS} \i\c{SQRTSS}: Scalar Single-Precision FP Square Root
12495 \c SQRTSS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F3 0F 51 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12497 \c{SQRTSS} calculates the square root of the low-order single-precision
12498 FP value from the source operand, and stores the single-precision
12499 result in the destination register. The three high doublewords remain
12503 \S{insSTC} \i\c{STC}, \i\c{STD}, \i\c{STI}: Set Flags
12509 These instructions set various flags. \c{STC} sets the carry flag;
12510 \c{STD} sets the direction flag; and \c{STI} sets the interrupt flag
12511 (thus enabling interrupts).
12513 To clear the carry, direction, or interrupt flags, use the \c{CLC},
12514 \c{CLD} and \c{CLI} instructions (\k{insCLC}). To invert the carry
12515 flag, use \c{CMC} (\k{insCMC}).
12518 \S{insSTMXCSR} \i\c{STMXCSR}: Store Streaming SIMD Extension
12521 \c STMXCSR m32 ; 0F AE /3 [KATMAI,SSE]
12523 \c{STMXCSR} stores the contents of the \c{MXCSR} control/status
12524 register to the specified memory location. \c{MXCSR} is used to
12525 enable masked/unmasked exception handling, to set rounding modes,
12526 to set flush-to-zero mode, and to view exception status flags.
12527 The reserved bits in the \c{MXCSR} register are stored as 0s.
12529 For details of the \c{MXCSR} register, see the Intel processor docs.
12531 See also \c{LDMXCSR} (\k{insLDMXCSR}).
12534 \S{insSTOSB} \i\c{STOSB}, \i\c{STOSW}, \i\c{STOSD}: Store Byte to String
12536 \c STOSB ; AA [8086]
12537 \c STOSW ; o16 AB [8086]
12538 \c STOSD ; o32 AB [386]
12540 \c{STOSB} stores the byte in \c{AL} at \c{[ES:DI]} or \c{[ES:EDI]},
12541 and sets the flags accordingly. It then increments or decrements
12542 (depending on the direction flag: increments if the flag is clear,
12543 decrements if it is set) \c{DI} (or \c{EDI}).
12545 The register used is \c{DI} if the address size is 16 bits, and
12546 \c{EDI} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use an address size not
12547 equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can use an explicit
12548 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
12550 Segment override prefixes have no effect for this instruction: the
12551 use of \c{ES} for the store to \c{[DI]} or \c{[EDI]} cannot be
12554 \c{STOSW} and \c{STOSD} work in the same way, but they store the
12555 word in \c{AX} or the doubleword in \c{EAX} instead of the byte in
12556 \c{AL}, and increment or decrement the addressing registers by 2 or
12559 The \c{REP} prefix may be used to repeat the instruction \c{CX} (or
12560 \c{ECX} - again, the address size chooses which) times.
12563 \S{insSTR} \i\c{STR}: Store Task Register
12565 \c STR r/m16 ; 0F 00 /1 [286,PRIV]
12567 \c{STR} stores the segment selector corresponding to the contents of
12568 the Task Register into its operand. When the operand size is 32 bit and
12569 the destination is a register, the upper 16-bits are cleared to 0s.
12570 When the destination operand is a memory location, 16 bits are
12571 written regardless of the operand size.
12574 \S{insSUB} \i\c{SUB}: Subtract Integers
12576 \c SUB r/m8,reg8 ; 28 /r [8086]
12577 \c SUB r/m16,reg16 ; o16 29 /r [8086]
12578 \c SUB r/m32,reg32 ; o32 29 /r [386]
12580 \c SUB reg8,r/m8 ; 2A /r [8086]
12581 \c SUB reg16,r/m16 ; o16 2B /r [8086]
12582 \c SUB reg32,r/m32 ; o32 2B /r [386]
12584 \c SUB r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /5 ib [8086]
12585 \c SUB r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /5 iw [8086]
12586 \c SUB r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /5 id [386]
12588 \c SUB r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /5 ib [8086]
12589 \c SUB r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /5 ib [386]
12591 \c SUB AL,imm8 ; 2C ib [8086]
12592 \c SUB AX,imm16 ; o16 2D iw [8086]
12593 \c SUB EAX,imm32 ; o32 2D id [386]
12595 \c{SUB} performs integer subtraction: it subtracts its second
12596 operand from its first, and leaves the result in its destination
12597 (first) operand. The flags are set according to the result of the
12598 operation: in particular, the carry flag is affected and can be used
12599 by a subsequent \c{SBB} instruction (\k{insSBB}).
12601 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
12602 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
12603 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
12604 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
12605 form of the instruction.
12608 \S{insSUBPD} \i\c{SUBPD}: Packed Double-Precision FP Subtract
12610 \c SUBPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 5C /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12612 \c{SUBPD} subtracts the packed double-precision FP values of
12613 the source operand from those of the destination operand, and
12614 stores the result in the destination operation.
12617 \S{insSUBPS} \i\c{SUBPS}: Packed Single-Precision FP Subtract
12619 \c SUBPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 5C /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12621 \c{SUBPS} subtracts the packed single-precision FP values of
12622 the source operand from those of the destination operand, and
12623 stores the result in the destination operation.
12626 \S{insSUBSD} \i\c{SUBSD}: Scalar Single-FP Subtract
12628 \c SUBSD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F2 0F 5C /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12630 \c{SUBSD} subtracts the low-order double-precision FP value of
12631 the source operand from that of the destination operand, and
12632 stores the result in the destination operation. The high
12633 quadword is unchanged.
12636 \S{insSUBSS} \i\c{SUBSS}: Scalar Single-FP Subtract
12638 \c SUBSS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; F3 0F 5C /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12640 \c{SUBSS} subtracts the low-order single-precision FP value of
12641 the source operand from that of the destination operand, and
12642 stores the result in the destination operation. The three high
12643 doublewords are unchanged.
12646 \S{insSVDC} \i\c{SVDC}: Save Segment Register and Descriptor
12648 \c SVDC m80,segreg ; 0F 78 /r [486,CYRIX,SMM]
12650 \c{SVDC} saves a segment register (DS, ES, FS, GS, or SS) and its
12651 descriptor to mem80.
12654 \S{insSVLDT} \i\c{SVLDT}: Save LDTR and Descriptor
12656 \c SVLDT m80 ; 0F 7A /0 [486,CYRIX,SMM]
12658 \c{SVLDT} saves the Local Descriptor Table (LDTR) to mem80.
12661 \S{insSVTS} \i\c{SVTS}: Save TSR and Descriptor
12663 \c SVTS m80 ; 0F 7C /0 [486,CYRIX,SMM]
12665 \c{SVTS} saves the Task State Register (TSR) to mem80.
12668 \S{insSYSCALL} \i\c{SYSCALL}: Call Operating System
12670 \c SYSCALL ; 0F 05 [P6,AMD]
12672 \c{SYSCALL} provides a fast method of transferring control to a fixed
12673 entry point in an operating system.
12675 \b The \c{EIP} register is copied into the \c{ECX} register.
12677 \b Bits [31-0] of the 64-bit SYSCALL/SYSRET Target Address Register
12678 (\c{STAR}) are copied into the \c{EIP} register.
12680 \b Bits [47-32] of the \c{STAR} register specify the selector that is
12681 copied into the \c{CS} register.
12683 \b Bits [47-32]+1000b of the \c{STAR} register specify the selector that
12684 is copied into the SS register.
12686 The \c{CS} and \c{SS} registers should not be modified by the operating
12687 system between the execution of the \c{SYSCALL} instruction and its
12688 corresponding \c{SYSRET} instruction.
12690 For more information, see the \c{SYSCALL and SYSRET Instruction Specification}
12691 (AMD document number 21086.pdf).
12694 \S{insSYSENTER} \i\c{SYSENTER}: Fast System Call
12696 \c SYSENTER ; 0F 34 [P6]
12698 \c{SYSENTER} executes a fast call to a level 0 system procedure or
12699 routine. Before using this instruction, various MSRs need to be set
12702 \b \c{SYSENTER_CS_MSR} contains the 32-bit segment selector for the
12703 privilege level 0 code segment. (This value is also used to compute
12704 the segment selector of the privilege level 0 stack segment.)
12706 \b \c{SYSENTER_EIP_MSR} contains the 32-bit offset into the privilege
12707 level 0 code segment to the first instruction of the selected operating
12708 procedure or routine.
12710 \b \c{SYSENTER_ESP_MSR} contains the 32-bit stack pointer for the
12711 privilege level 0 stack.
12713 \c{SYSENTER} performs the following sequence of operations:
12715 \b Loads the segment selector from the \c{SYSENTER_CS_MSR} into the
12718 \b Loads the instruction pointer from the \c{SYSENTER_EIP_MSR} into
12719 the \c{EIP} register.
12721 \b Adds 8 to the value in \c{SYSENTER_CS_MSR} and loads it into the
12724 \b Loads the stack pointer from the \c{SYSENTER_ESP_MSR} into the
12727 \b Switches to privilege level 0.
12729 \b Clears the \c{VM} flag in the \c{EFLAGS} register, if the flag
12732 \b Begins executing the selected system procedure.
12734 In particular, note that this instruction des not save the values of
12735 \c{CS} or \c{(E)IP}. If you need to return to the calling code, you
12736 need to write your code to cater for this.
12738 For more information, see the Intel Architecture Software Developer's
12742 \S{insSYSEXIT} \i\c{SYSEXIT}: Fast Return From System Call
12744 \c SYSEXIT ; 0F 35 [P6,PRIV]
12746 \c{SYSEXIT} executes a fast return to privilege level 3 user code.
12747 This instruction is a companion instruction to the \c{SYSENTER}
12748 instruction, and can only be executed by privilege level 0 code.
12749 Various registers need to be set up before calling this instruction:
12751 \b \c{SYSENTER_CS_MSR} contains the 32-bit segment selector for the
12752 privilege level 0 code segment in which the processor is currently
12753 executing. (This value is used to compute the segment selectors for
12754 the privilege level 3 code and stack segments.)
12756 \b \c{EDX} contains the 32-bit offset into the privilege level 3 code
12757 segment to the first instruction to be executed in the user code.
12759 \b \c{ECX} contains the 32-bit stack pointer for the privilege level 3
12762 \c{SYSEXIT} performs the following sequence of operations:
12764 \b Adds 16 to the value in \c{SYSENTER_CS_MSR} and loads the sum into
12765 the \c{CS} selector register.
12767 \b Loads the instruction pointer from the \c{EDX} register into the
12770 \b Adds 24 to the value in \c{SYSENTER_CS_MSR} and loads the sum
12771 into the \c{SS} selector register.
12773 \b Loads the stack pointer from the \c{ECX} register into the \c{ESP}
12776 \b Switches to privilege level 3.
12778 \b Begins executing the user code at the \c{EIP} address.
12780 For more information on the use of the \c{SYSENTER} and \c{SYSEXIT}
12781 instructions, see the Intel Architecture Software Developer's
12785 \S{insSYSRET} \i\c{SYSRET}: Return From Operating System
12787 \c SYSRET ; 0F 07 [P6,AMD,PRIV]
12789 \c{SYSRET} is the return instruction used in conjunction with the
12790 \c{SYSCALL} instruction to provide fast entry/exit to an operating system.
12792 \b The \c{ECX} register, which points to the next sequential instruction
12793 after the corresponding \c{SYSCALL} instruction, is copied into the \c{EIP}
12796 \b Bits [63-48] of the \c{STAR} register specify the selector that is copied
12797 into the \c{CS} register.
12799 \b Bits [63-48]+1000b of the \c{STAR} register specify the selector that is
12800 copied into the \c{SS} register.
12802 \b Bits [1-0] of the \c{SS} register are set to 11b (RPL of 3) regardless of
12803 the value of bits [49-48] of the \c{STAR} register.
12805 The \c{CS} and \c{SS} registers should not be modified by the operating
12806 system between the execution of the \c{SYSCALL} instruction and its
12807 corresponding \c{SYSRET} instruction.
12809 For more information, see the \c{SYSCALL and SYSRET Instruction Specification}
12810 (AMD document number 21086.pdf).
12813 \S{insTEST} \i\c{TEST}: Test Bits (notional bitwise AND)
12815 \c TEST r/m8,reg8 ; 84 /r [8086]
12816 \c TEST r/m16,reg16 ; o16 85 /r [8086]
12817 \c TEST r/m32,reg32 ; o32 85 /r [386]
12819 \c TEST r/m8,imm8 ; F6 /0 ib [8086]
12820 \c TEST r/m16,imm16 ; o16 F7 /0 iw [8086]
12821 \c TEST r/m32,imm32 ; o32 F7 /0 id [386]
12823 \c TEST AL,imm8 ; A8 ib [8086]
12824 \c TEST AX,imm16 ; o16 A9 iw [8086]
12825 \c TEST EAX,imm32 ; o32 A9 id [386]
12827 \c{TEST} performs a `mental' bitwise AND of its two operands, and
12828 affects the flags as if the operation had taken place, but does not
12829 store the result of the operation anywhere.
12832 \S{insUCOMISD} \i\c{UCOMISD}: Unordered Scalar Double-Precision FP
12833 compare and set EFLAGS
12835 \c UCOMISD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 2E /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12837 \c{UCOMISD} compares the low-order double-precision FP numbers in the
12838 two operands, and sets the \c{ZF}, \c{PF} and \c{CF} bits in the
12839 \c{EFLAGS} register. In addition, the \c{OF}, \c{SF} and \c{AF} bits
12840 in the \c{EFLAGS} register are zeroed out. The unordered predicate
12841 (\c{ZF}, \c{PF} and \c{CF} all set) is returned if either source
12842 operand is a \c{NaN} (\c{qNaN} or \c{sNaN}).
12845 \S{insUCOMISS} \i\c{UCOMISS}: Unordered Scalar Single-Precision FP
12846 compare and set EFLAGS
12848 \c UCOMISS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 2E /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12850 \c{UCOMISS} compares the low-order single-precision FP numbers in the
12851 two operands, and sets the \c{ZF}, \c{PF} and \c{CF} bits in the
12852 \c{EFLAGS} register. In addition, the \c{OF}, \c{SF} and \c{AF} bits
12853 in the \c{EFLAGS} register are zeroed out. The unordered predicate
12854 (\c{ZF}, \c{PF} and \c{CF} all set) is returned if either source
12855 operand is a \c{NaN} (\c{qNaN} or \c{sNaN}).
12858 \S{insUD2} \i\c{UD0}, \i\c{UD1}, \i\c{UD2}: Undefined Instruction
12860 \c UD0 ; 0F FF [186,UNDOC]
12861 \c UD1 ; 0F B9 [186,UNDOC]
12862 \c UD2 ; 0F 0B [186]
12864 \c{UDx} can be used to generate an invalid opcode exception, for testing
12867 \c{UD0} is specifically documented by AMD as being reserved for this
12870 \c{UD1} is documented by Intel as being available for this purpose.
12872 \c{UD2} is specifically documented by Intel as being reserved for this
12873 purpose. Intel document this as the preferred method of generating an
12874 invalid opcode exception.
12876 All these opcodes can be used to generate invalid opcode exceptions on
12877 all currently available processors.
12880 \S{insUMOV} \i\c{UMOV}: User Move Data
12882 \c UMOV r/m8,reg8 ; 0F 10 /r [386,UNDOC]
12883 \c UMOV r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F 11 /r [386,UNDOC]
12884 \c UMOV r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F 11 /r [386,UNDOC]
12886 \c UMOV reg8,r/m8 ; 0F 12 /r [386,UNDOC]
12887 \c UMOV reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F 13 /r [386,UNDOC]
12888 \c UMOV reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F 13 /r [386,UNDOC]
12890 This undocumented instruction is used by in-circuit emulators to
12891 access user memory (as opposed to host memory). It is used just like
12892 an ordinary memory/register or register/register \c{MOV}
12893 instruction, but accesses user space.
12895 This instruction is only available on some AMD and IBM 386 and 486
12899 \S{insUNPCKHPD} \i\c{UNPCKHPD}: Unpack and Interleave High Packed
12900 Double-Precision FP Values
12902 \c UNPCKHPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 15 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12904 \c{UNPCKHPD} performs an interleaved unpack of the high-order data
12905 elements of the source and destination operands, saving the result
12906 in \c{xmm1}. It ignores the lower half of the sources.
12908 The operation of this instruction is:
12910 \c dst[63-0] := dst[127-64];
12911 \c dst[127-64] := src[127-64].
12914 \S{insUNPCKHPS} \i\c{UNPCKHPS}: Unpack and Interleave High Packed
12915 Single-Precision FP Values
12917 \c UNPCKHPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 15 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12919 \c{UNPCKHPS} performs an interleaved unpack of the high-order data
12920 elements of the source and destination operands, saving the result
12921 in \c{xmm1}. It ignores the lower half of the sources.
12923 The operation of this instruction is:
12925 \c dst[31-0] := dst[95-64];
12926 \c dst[63-32] := src[95-64];
12927 \c dst[95-64] := dst[127-96];
12928 \c dst[127-96] := src[127-96].
12931 \S{insUNPCKLPD} \i\c{UNPCKLPD}: Unpack and Interleave Low Packed
12932 Double-Precision FP Data
12934 \c UNPCKLPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 14 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
12936 \c{UNPCKLPD} performs an interleaved unpack of the low-order data
12937 elements of the source and destination operands, saving the result
12938 in \c{xmm1}. It ignores the lower half of the sources.
12940 The operation of this instruction is:
12942 \c dst[63-0] := dst[63-0];
12943 \c dst[127-64] := src[63-0].
12946 \S{insUNPCKLPS} \i\c{UNPCKLPS}: Unpack and Interleave Low Packed
12947 Single-Precision FP Data
12949 \c UNPCKLPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 14 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
12951 \c{UNPCKLPS} performs an interleaved unpack of the low-order data
12952 elements of the source and destination operands, saving the result
12953 in \c{xmm1}. It ignores the lower half of the sources.
12955 The operation of this instruction is:
12957 \c dst[31-0] := dst[31-0];
12958 \c dst[63-32] := src[31-0];
12959 \c dst[95-64] := dst[63-32];
12960 \c dst[127-96] := src[63-32].
12963 \S{insVERR} \i\c{VERR}, \i\c{VERW}: Verify Segment Readability/Writability
12965 \c VERR r/m16 ; 0F 00 /4 [286,PRIV]
12967 \c VERW r/m16 ; 0F 00 /5 [286,PRIV]
12969 \b \c{VERR} sets the zero flag if the segment specified by the selector
12970 in its operand can be read from at the current privilege level.
12971 Otherwise it is cleared.
12973 \b \c{VERW} sets the zero flag if the segment can be written.
12976 \S{insWAIT} \i\c{WAIT}: Wait for Floating-Point Processor
12978 \c WAIT ; 9B [8086]
12979 \c FWAIT ; 9B [8086]
12981 \c{WAIT}, on 8086 systems with a separate 8087 FPU, waits for the
12982 FPU to have finished any operation it is engaged in before
12983 continuing main processor operations, so that (for example) an FPU
12984 store to main memory can be guaranteed to have completed before the
12985 CPU tries to read the result back out.
12987 On higher processors, \c{WAIT} is unnecessary for this purpose, and
12988 it has the alternative purpose of ensuring that any pending unmasked
12989 FPU exceptions have happened before execution continues.
12992 \S{insWBINVD} \i\c{WBINVD}: Write Back and Invalidate Cache
12994 \c WBINVD ; 0F 09 [486]
12996 \c{WBINVD} invalidates and empties the processor's internal caches,
12997 and causes the processor to instruct external caches to do the same.
12998 It writes the contents of the caches back to memory first, so no
12999 data is lost. To flush the caches quickly without bothering to write
13000 the data back first, use \c{INVD} (\k{insINVD}).
13003 \S{insWRMSR} \i\c{WRMSR}: Write Model-Specific Registers
13005 \c WRMSR ; 0F 30 [PENT]
13007 \c{WRMSR} writes the value in \c{EDX:EAX} to the processor
13008 Model-Specific Register (MSR) whose index is stored in \c{ECX}.
13009 See also \c{RDMSR} (\k{insRDMSR}).
13012 \S{insWRSHR} \i\c{WRSHR}: Write SMM Header Pointer Register
13014 \c WRSHR r/m32 ; 0F 37 /0 [386,CYRIX,SMM]
13016 \c{WRSHR} loads the contents of either a 32-bit memory location or a
13017 32-bit register into the SMM header pointer register.
13019 See also \c{RDSHR} (\k{insRDSHR}).
13022 \S{insXADD} \i\c{XADD}: Exchange and Add
13024 \c XADD r/m8,reg8 ; 0F C0 /r [486]
13025 \c XADD r/m16,reg16 ; o16 0F C1 /r [486]
13026 \c XADD r/m32,reg32 ; o32 0F C1 /r [486]
13028 \c{XADD} exchanges the values in its two operands, and then adds
13029 them together and writes the result into the destination (first)
13030 operand. This instruction can be used with a \c{LOCK} prefix for
13031 multi-processor synchronisation purposes.
13034 \S{insXBTS} \i\c{XBTS}: Extract Bit String
13036 \c XBTS reg16,r/m16 ; o16 0F A6 /r [386,UNDOC]
13037 \c XBTS reg32,r/m32 ; o32 0F A6 /r [386,UNDOC]
13039 The implied operation of this instruction is:
13041 \c XBTS r/m16,reg16,AX,CL
13042 \c XBTS r/m32,reg32,EAX,CL
13044 Writes a bit string from the source operand to the destination. \c{CL}
13045 indicates the number of bits to be copied, and \c{(E)AX} indicates the
13046 low order bit offset in the source. The bits are written to the low
13047 order bits of the destination register. For example, if \c{CL} is set
13048 to 4 and \c{AX} (for 16-bit code) is set to 5, bits 5-8 of \c{src} will
13049 be copied to bits 0-3 of \c{dst}. This instruction is very poorly
13050 documented, and I have been unable to find any official source of
13051 documentation on it.
13053 \c{XBTS} is supported only on the early Intel 386s, and conflicts with
13054 the opcodes for \c{CMPXCHG486} (on early Intel 486s). NASM supports it
13055 only for completeness. Its counterpart is \c{IBTS} (see \k{insIBTS}).
13058 \S{insXCHG} \i\c{XCHG}: Exchange
13060 \c XCHG reg8,r/m8 ; 86 /r [8086]
13061 \c XCHG reg16,r/m8 ; o16 87 /r [8086]
13062 \c XCHG reg32,r/m32 ; o32 87 /r [386]
13064 \c XCHG r/m8,reg8 ; 86 /r [8086]
13065 \c XCHG r/m16,reg16 ; o16 87 /r [8086]
13066 \c XCHG r/m32,reg32 ; o32 87 /r [386]
13068 \c XCHG AX,reg16 ; o16 90+r [8086]
13069 \c XCHG EAX,reg32 ; o32 90+r [386]
13070 \c XCHG reg16,AX ; o16 90+r [8086]
13071 \c XCHG reg32,EAX ; o32 90+r [386]
13073 \c{XCHG} exchanges the values in its two operands. It can be used
13074 with a \c{LOCK} prefix for purposes of multi-processor
13077 \c{XCHG AX,AX} or \c{XCHG EAX,EAX} (depending on the \c{BITS}
13078 setting) generates the opcode \c{90h}, and so is a synonym for
13079 \c{NOP} (\k{insNOP}).
13082 \S{insXLATB} \i\c{XLATB}: Translate Byte in Lookup Table
13084 \c XLAT ; D7 [8086]
13085 \c XLATB ; D7 [8086]
13087 \c{XLATB} adds the value in \c{AL}, treated as an unsigned byte, to
13088 \c{BX} or \c{EBX}, and loads the byte from the resulting address (in
13089 the segment specified by \c{DS}) back into \c{AL}.
13091 The base register used is \c{BX} if the address size is 16 bits, and
13092 \c{EBX} if it is 32 bits. If you need to use an address size not
13093 equal to the current \c{BITS} setting, you can use an explicit
13094 \i\c{a16} or \i\c{a32} prefix.
13096 The segment register used to load from \c{[BX+AL]} or \c{[EBX+AL]}
13097 can be overridden by using a segment register name as a prefix (for
13098 example, \c{es xlatb}).
13101 \S{insXOR} \i\c{XOR}: Bitwise Exclusive OR
13103 \c XOR r/m8,reg8 ; 30 /r [8086]
13104 \c XOR r/m16,reg16 ; o16 31 /r [8086]
13105 \c XOR r/m32,reg32 ; o32 31 /r [386]
13107 \c XOR reg8,r/m8 ; 32 /r [8086]
13108 \c XOR reg16,r/m16 ; o16 33 /r [8086]
13109 \c XOR reg32,r/m32 ; o32 33 /r [386]
13111 \c XOR r/m8,imm8 ; 80 /6 ib [8086]
13112 \c XOR r/m16,imm16 ; o16 81 /6 iw [8086]
13113 \c XOR r/m32,imm32 ; o32 81 /6 id [386]
13115 \c XOR r/m16,imm8 ; o16 83 /6 ib [8086]
13116 \c XOR r/m32,imm8 ; o32 83 /6 ib [386]
13118 \c XOR AL,imm8 ; 34 ib [8086]
13119 \c XOR AX,imm16 ; o16 35 iw [8086]
13120 \c XOR EAX,imm32 ; o32 35 id [386]
13122 \c{XOR} performs a bitwise XOR operation between its two operands
13123 (i.e. each bit of the result is 1 if and only if exactly one of the
13124 corresponding bits of the two inputs was 1), and stores the result
13125 in the destination (first) operand.
13127 In the forms with an 8-bit immediate second operand and a longer
13128 first operand, the second operand is considered to be signed, and is
13129 sign-extended to the length of the first operand. In these cases,
13130 the \c{BYTE} qualifier is necessary to force NASM to generate this
13131 form of the instruction.
13133 The \c{MMX} instruction \c{PXOR} (see \k{insPXOR}) performs the same
13134 operation on the 64-bit \c{MMX} registers.
13137 \S{insXORPD} \i\c{XORPD}: Bitwise Logical XOR of Double-Precision FP Values
13139 \c XORPD xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 66 0F 57 /r [WILLAMETTE,SSE2]
13141 \c{XORPD} returns a bit-wise logical XOR between the source and
13142 destination operands, storing the result in the destination operand.
13145 \S{insXORPS} \i\c{XORPS}: Bitwise Logical XOR of Single-Precision FP Values
13147 \c XORPS xmm1,xmm2/m128 ; 0F 57 /r [KATMAI,SSE]
13149 \c{XORPS} returns a bit-wise logical XOR between the source and
13150 destination operands, storing the result in the destination operand.