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    Assembly - Variables

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    michal hana
    Assembly - Variables

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    Assembly - Variables

    Uploaded by

    michal hana
    7 views4 pages
    Assembly - Variables

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

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    Assembly - Variables

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    7 views4 pages

    Assembly - Variables

    Uploaded by

    michal hana
    Assembly - Variables

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    6/15/24, 3:49 PM Assembly - Variables

    Assembly - Variables
    NASM provides various define directives for reserving storage space for variables.
    The define assembler directive is used for allocation of storage space. It can be used
    to reserve as well as initialize one or more bytes.

    Allocating Storage Space for Initialized Data


    The syntax for storage allocation statement for initialized data is −

    [variable-name] define-directive initial-value [,initial-value]...

    Where, variable-name is the identifier for each storage space. The assembler
    associates an offset value for each variable name defined in the data segment.

    There are five basic forms of the define directive −

    Directive Purpose Storage Space

    DB Define Byte allocates 1 byte

    DW Define Word allocates 2 bytes

    DD Define Doubleword allocates 4 bytes

    DQ Define Quadword allocates 8 bytes

    DT Define Ten Bytes allocates 10 bytes

    Following are some examples of using define directives −

    choice DB 'y'
    number DW 12345
    neg_number DW -12345
    big_number DQ 123456789
    real_number1 DD 1.234
    real_number2 DQ 123.456

    Please note that −

    https://www.tutorialspoint.com/assembly_programming/assembly_variables.htm 1/4
    6/15/24, 3:49 PM Assembly - Variables

    Each byte of character is stored as its ASCII value in hexadecimal.


    Each decimal value is automatically converted to its 16-bit binary equivalent
    and stored as a hexadecimal number.
    Processor uses the little-endian byte ordering.
    Negative numbers are converted to its 2's complement representation.
    Short and long floating-point numbers are represented using 32 or 64 bits,
    respectively.

    The following program shows the use of define directive −

    section .text Live Demo


    global _start ;must be declared for linker (gcc)

    _start: ;tell linker entry point


    mov edx,1 ;message length
    mov ecx,choice ;message to write
    mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
    mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
    int 0x80 ;call kernel

    mov eax,1 ;system call number (sys_exit)


    int 0x80 ;call kernel

    section .data
    choice DB 'y'

    When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

    Allocating Storage Space for Uninitialized Data


    The reserve directives are used for reserving space for uninitialized data. The reserve
    directives take a single operand that specifies the number of units of space to be
    reserved. Each define directive has a related reserve directive.

    There are five basic forms of the reserve directive −

    https://www.tutorialspoint.com/assembly_programming/assembly_variables.htm 2/4
    6/15/24, 3:49 PM Assembly - Variables

    Directive Purpose

    RESB Reserve a Byte

    RESW Reserve a Word

    RESD Reserve a Doubleword

    RESQ Reserve a Quadword

    REST Reserve a Ten Bytes

    Multiple Definitions
    You can have multiple data definition statements in a program. For example −

    choice DB 'Y' ;ASCII of y = 79H


    number1 DW 12345 ;12345D = 3039H
    number2 DD 12345679 ;123456789D = 75BCD15H

    The assembler allocates contiguous memory for multiple variable definitions.

    Multiple Initializations
    The TIMES directive allows multiple initializations to the same value. For example, an
    array named marks of size 9 can be defined and initialized to zero using the
    following statement −

    marks TIMES 9 DW 0

    The TIMES directive is useful in defining arrays and tables. The following program
    displays 9 asterisks on the screen −

    section .text Live Demo


    global _start ;must be declared for linker (ld)

    _start: ;tell linker entry point


    mov edx,9 ;message length
    mov ecx, stars ;message to write
    mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)

    https://www.tutorialspoint.com/assembly_programming/assembly_variables.htm 3/4
    6/15/24, 3:49 PM Assembly - Variables

    mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)


    int 0x80 ;call kernel

    mov eax,1 ;system call number (sys_exit)


    int 0x80 ;call kernel

    section .data
    stars times 9 db '*'

    When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

    *********

    https://www.tutorialspoint.com/assembly_programming/assembly_variables.htm 4/4

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