|
Table of Content | Chapter Thirteen (Part 10) |
|
Table of Content | Chapter Thirteen (Part 10) |
| CHAPTER THIRTEEN: MS-DOS PC-BIOS AND FILE I/O (Part 9) |
| 13.3.12 -
Accessing Command Line Parameters 13.3.13 - ARGC and ARGV |
Most programs like MASM and LINK allow you to specify command line parameters when the program is executed. For example by typing
ML MYPGM.ASM
you can instruct MASM to assemble MYPGM without any further intervention from the keyboard. "MYPGM.ASM;" is a good example of a command line parameter.
When DOS' COMMAND.COM command interpreter parses your command line it copies most of the text following the program name to location 80h in the PSP as described in the previous section. For example the command line above will store the following at PSP:80h
11 " MYPGM.ASM" 0Dh
The text stored in the command line tail storage area in the PSP is usually an exact copy of the data appearing on the command line. There are however a couple of exceptions. First of all I/O redirection parameters are not stored in the input buffer. Neither are command tails following the pipe operator ("|"). The other thing appearing on the command line which is absent from the data at PSP:80h is the program name. This is rather unfortunate since having the program name available would allow you to determine the directory containing the program. Nevertheless there is lots of useful information present on the command line.
The information on the command line can be used for almost any purpose you see fit. However most programs expect two types of parameters in the command line parameter buffer-- filenames and switches. The purpose of a filename is rather obvious it allows a program to access a file without having to prompt the user for the filename. Switches on the other hand are arbitrary parameters to the program. By convention switches are preceded by a slash or hyphen on the command line.
Figuring out what to do with the information on the command line is called parsing the command line. Clearly if your programs are to manipulate data on the command line you've got to parse the command line within your code.
Before a command line can be parsed each item on the command line has to be separated out apart from the others. That is each word (or more properly lexeme[7]) has to be identified in the command line. Separation of lexemes on a command line is relatively easy all you've got to do is look for sequences of delimiters on the command line. Delimiters are special symbols used to separate tokens on the command line. DOS supports six different delimiter characters: space comma semicolon equal sign tab or carriage return.
Generally any number of delimiter characters may appear between two tokens on a command line. Therefore all such occurrences must be skipped when scanning the command line. The following assembly language code scans the entire command line and prints all of the tokens that appear thereon:
include stdlib.a includelib stdlib.lib cseg segment byte public 'CODE' assume cs:cseg ds:dseg es:dseg ss:sseg ; Equates into command line- CmdLnLen equ byte ptr es:[80h] ;Command line length CmdLn equ byte ptr es:[81h] ;Command line data tab equ 09h MainPgm proc far ; Properly set up the segment registers: push ds ;Save PSP mov ax seg dseg mov ds ax pop PSP ;--------------------------------------------------------------- print byte cr lf byte 'Items on this line:' cr lf lf 0 mov es PSP ;Point ES at PSP lea bx CmdLn ;Point at command line PrintLoop: print byte cr lf 'Item: ' 0 call SkipDelimiters ;Skip over leading delimiters PrtLoop2: mov al es:[bx] ;Get next character call TestDelimiter ;Is it a delimiter? jz EndOfToken ;Quit this loop if it is putc ;Print char if not. inc bx ;Move on to next character jmp PrtLoop2 EndOfToken: cmp al cr ;Carriage return? jne PrintLoop ;Repeat if not end of line print byte cr lf lf byte 'End of command line' cr lf lf 0 ExitPgm MainPgm endp ; The following subroutine sets the zero flag if the character in ; the AL register is one of DOS' six delimiter characters ; otherwise the zero flag is returned clear. This allows us to use ; the JE/JNE instructions afterwards to test for a delimiter. TestDelimiter proc near cmp al ' ' jz ItsOne cmp al ' ' jz ItsOne cmp al Tab jz ItsOne cmp al ';' jz ItsOne cmp al '=' jz ItsOne cmp al cr ItsOne: ret TestDelimiter endp ; SkipDelimiters skips over leading delimiters on the command ; line. It does not however skip the carriage return at the end ; of a line since this character is used as the terminator in the ; main program. SkipDelimiters proc near dec bx ;To offset INC BX below SDLoop: inc bx ;Move on to next character. mov al es:[bx] ;Get next character cmp al 0dh ;Don't skip if CR. jz QuitSD call TestDelimiter ;See if it's some other jz SDLoop ; delimiter and repeat. QuitSD: ret SkipDelimiters endp cseg ends dseg segment byte public 'data' PSP word ? ;Program segment prefix dseg ends sseg segment byte stack 'stack' stk word 0ffh dup (?) sseg ends zzzzzzseg segment para public 'zzzzzz' LastBytes byte 16 dup (?) zzzzzzseg ends end MainPgm
Once you can scan the command line (that is separate out the lexemes) the next step is to parse it. For most programs parsing the command line is an extremely trivial process. If the program accepts only a single filename all you've got to do is grab the first lexeme on the command line slap a zero byte onto the end of it (perhaps moving it into your data segment) and use it as a filename. The following assembly language example modifies the hex dump routine presented earlier so that it gets its filename from the command line rather than hard-coding the filename into the program:
include stdlib.a includelib stdlib.lib cseg segment byte public 'CODE' assume cs:cseg ds:dseg es:dseg ss:sseg ; Note CR and LF are already defined in STDLIB.A tab equ 09h MainPgm proc far ; Properly set up the segment registers: mov ax seg dseg mov es ax ;Leave DS pointing at PSP ;--------------------------------------------------------------- ; ; First parse the command line to get the filename: mov si 81h ;Pointer to command line lea di FileName ;Pointer to FileName buffer SkipDelimiters: lodsb ;Get next character call TestDelimiter je SkipDelimiters ; Assume that what follows is an actual filename dec si ;Point at 1st char of name GetFName: lodsb cmp al 0dh je GotName call TestDelimiter je GotName stosb ;Save character in file name jmp GetFName ; We're at the end of the filename so zero-terminate it as ; required by DOS. GotName: mov byte ptr es:[di] 0 mov ax es ;Point DS at DSEG mov ds ax ; Now process the file mov ah 3dh mov al 0 ;Open file for reading lea dx Filename ;File to open int 21h jnc GoodOpen print byte 'Cannot open file aborting program...' cr 0 jmp PgmExit GoodOpen: mov FileHandle ax ;Save file handle mov Position 0 ;Initialize file position ReadFileLp: mov al byte ptr Position and al 0Fh ;Compute (Position MOD 16) jnz NotNewLn ;Every 16 bytes start a line putcr mov ax Position ;Print offset into file xchg al ah puth xchg al ah puth print byte ': ' 0 NotNewLn: inc Position ;Increment character count mov bx FileHandle mov cx 1 ;Read one byte lea dx buffer ;Place to store that byte mov ah 3Fh ;Read operation int 21h jc BadRead cmp ax 1 ;Reached EOF? jnz AtEOF mov al Buffer ;Get the character read and puth ; print it in hex mov al ' ' ;Print a space between values putc jmp ReadFileLp BadRead: print byte cr lf byte 'Error reading data from file aborting.' byte cr lf 0 AtEOF: mov bx FileHandle ;Close the file mov ah 3Eh int 21h ;--------------------------------------------------------------- PgmExit: ExitPgm MainPgm endp TestDelimiter proc near cmp al ' ' je xit cmp al ' ' je xit cmp al Tab je xit cmp al ';' je xit cmp al '=' xit: ret TestDelimiter endp cseg ends dseg segment byte public 'data' PSP word ? Filename byte 64 dup (0) ;Filename to dump FileHandle word ? Buffer byte ? Position word 0 dseg ends sseg segment byte stack 'stack' stk word 0ffh dup (?) sseg ends zzzzzzseg segment para public 'zzzzzz' LastBytes byte 16 dup (?) zzzzzzseg ends end MainPgm
The following example demonstrates several concepts dealing with command line parameters. This program copies one file to another. If the "/U" switch is supplied (somewhere) on the command line all of the lower case characters in the file are converted to upper case before being written to the destination file. Another feature of this code is that it will prompt the user for any missing filenames much like the MASM and LINK programs will prompt you for filename if you haven't supplied any.
include stdlib.a includelib stdlib.lib cseg segment byte public 'CODE' assume cs:cseg ds:nothing es:dseg ss:sseg ; Note: The constants CR (0dh) and LF (0ah) appear within the ; stdlib.a include file. tab equ 09h MainPgm proc far ; Properly set up the segment registers: mov ax seg dseg mov es ax ;Leave DS pointing at PSP ;--------------------------------------------------------------- ; First parse the command line to get the filename: mov es:GotName1 0 ;Init flags that tell us if mov es:GotName2 0 ; we've parsed the filenames mov es:ConvertLC 0 ; and the "/U" switch. ; Okay begin scanning and parsing the command line mov si 81h ;Pointer to command line SkipDelimiters: lodsb ;Get next character call TestDelimiter je SkipDelimiters ; Determine if this is a filename or the /U switch cmp al '/' jnz MustBeFN ; See if it's "/U" here- lodsb and al 5fh ;Convert "u" to "U" cmp al 'U' jnz NotGoodSwitch lodsb ;Make sure next char is cmp al cr ; a delimiter of some sort jz GoodSwitch call TestDelimiter jne NotGoodSwitch ; Okay it's "/U" here. GoodSwitch: mov es:ConvertLC 1 ;Convert LC to UC dec si ;Back up in case it's CR jmp SkipDelimiters ;Move on to next item. ; If a bad switch was found on the command line print an error ; message and abort- NotGoodSwitch: print byte cr lf byte 'Illegal switch only "/U" is allowed!' cr lf byte 'Aborting program execution.' cr lf 0 jmp PgmExit ; If it's not a switch assume that it's a valid filename and ; handle it down here- MustBeFN: cmp al cr ;See if at end of cmd line je EndOfCmdLn ; See if it's filename one two or if too many filenames have been ; specified- cmp es:GotName1 0 jz Is1stName cmp es:GotName2 0 jz Is2ndName ; More than two filenames have been entered print an error message ; and abort. print byte cr lf byte 'Too many filenames specified.' cr lf byte 'Program aborting...' cr lf lf 0 jmp PgmExit ; Jump down here if this is the first filename to be processed- Is1stName: lea di FileName1 mov es:GotName1 1 jmp ProcessName Is2ndName: lea di FileName2 mov es:GotName2 1 ProcessName: stosb ;Store away character in name lodsb ;Get next char from cmd line cmp al cr je NameIsDone call TestDelimiter jne ProcessName NameIsDone: mov al 0 ;Zero terminate filename stosb dec si ;Point back at previous char jmp SkipDelimiters ;Try again. ; When the end of the command line is reached come down here and ; see if both filenames were specified. assume ds:dseg EndOfCmdLn: mov ax es ;Point DS at DSEG mov ds ax ; We're at the end of the filename so zero-terminate it as ; required by DOS. GotName: mov ax es ;Point DS at DSEG mov ds ax ; See if the names were supplied on the command line. ; If not prompt the user and read them from the keyboard cmp GotName1 0 ;Was filename #1 supplied? jnz HasName1 mov al '1' ;Filename #1 lea si Filename1 call GetName ;Get filename #1 HasName1: cmp GotName2 0 ;Was filename #2 supplied? jnz HasName2 mov al '2' ;If not read it from kbd. lea si FileName2 call GetName ; Okay we've got the filenames now open the files and copy the ; source file to the destination file. HasName2 mov ah 3dh mov al 0 ;Open file for reading lea dx Filename1 ;File to open int 21h jnc GoodOpen1 print byte 'Cannot open file aborting program...' cr lf 0 jmp PgmExit ; If the source file was opened successfully save the file handle. GoodOpen1: mov FileHandle1 ax ;Save file handle ; Open (CREATE actually) the second file here. mov ah 3ch ;Create file mov cx 0 ;Standard attributes lea dx Filename2 ;File to open int 21h jnc GoodCreate ; Note: the following error code relies on the fact that DOS ; automatically closes any open source files when the program ; terminates. print byte cr lf byte 'Cannot create new file aborting operation' byte cr lf lf 0 jmp PgmExit GoodCreate: mov FileHandle2 ax ;Save file handle ; Now process the files CopyLoop: mov ah 3Fh ;DOS read opcode mov bx FileHandle1 ;Read from file #1 mov cx 512 ;Read 512 bytes lea dx buffer ;Buffer for storage int 21h jc BadRead mov bp ax ;Save # of bytes read cmp ConvertLC 0 ;Conversion option active? jz NoConversion ; Convert all LC in buffer to UC- mov cx 512 lea si Buffer mov di si ConvertLC2UC: lodsb cmp al 'a' jb NoConv cmp al 'z' ja NoConv and al 5fh NoConv: stosb loop ConvertLC2UC NoConversion: mov ah 40h ;DOS write opcode mov bx FileHandle2 ;Write to file #2 mov cx bp ;Write however many bytes lea dx buffer ;Buffer for storage int 21h jc BadWrite cmp ax bp ;Did we write all of the jnz jDiskFull ; bytes? cmp bp 512 ;Were there 512 bytes read? jz CopyLoop jmp AtEOF jDiskFull: jmp DiskFull ; Various error messages: BadRead: print byte cr lf byte 'Error while reading source file aborting ' byte 'operation.' cr lf 0 jmp AtEOF BadWrite: print byte cr lf byte 'Error while writing destination file aborting' byte ' operation.' cr lf 0 jmp AtEOF DiskFull: print byte cr lf byte 'Error disk full. Aborting operation.' cr lf 0 AtEOF: mov bx FileHandle1 ;Close the first file mov ah 3Eh int 21h mov bx FileHandle2 ;Close the second file mov ah 3Eh int 21h PgmExit: ExitPgm MainPgm endp TestDelimiter proc near cmp al ' ' je xit cmp al ' ' je xit cmp al Tab je xit cmp al ';' je xit cmp al '=' xit: ret TestDelimiter endp ; GetName- Reads a filename from the keyboard. On entry AL ; contains the filename number and DI points at the buffer in ES ; where the zero-terminated filename must be stored. GetName proc near print byte 'Enter filename #' 0 putc mov al ':' putc gets ret GetName endp cseg ends dseg segment byte public 'data' PSP word ? Filename1 byte 128 dup (?) ;Source filename Filename2 byte 128 dup (?) ;Destination filename FileHandle1 word ? FileHandle2 word ? GotName1 byte ? GotName2 byte ? ConvertLC byte ? Buffer byte 512 dup (?) dseg ends sseg segment byte stack 'stack' stk word 0ffh dup (?) sseg ends zzzzzzseg segment para public 'zzzzzz' LastBytes byte 16 dup (?) zzzzzzseg ends end MainPgm
As you can see there is more effort expended processing the command line parameters than actually copying the files!
The UCR Standard Library provides two routines
argc
and argv
which provide easy access to command line parameters. Argc
(argument count) returns the number of items on the command line. Argv
(argument vector) returns a pointer to a specific item in the command line.
These routines break up the command line into lexemes using the standard delimiters. As per MS-DOS convention argc and argv treat any string surrounded by quotation marks on the command line as a single command line item.
Argc will return in cx the number
of command line items. Since MS-DOS does not include the program name on the command line
this count does not include the program name either. Furthermore
redirection operands
(">filename" and "<filename") and items to the right of a pipe
("| command") do not appear on the command line either. As such
argc does not
count these
either.
Argv returns a pointer to a string (allocated
on the heap) of a specified command line item. To use argv you simply load ax
with a value between one and the number returned by argc and execute
the argv routine. On return
es:di points at a string containing
the specified command line option. If the number in ax is greater than the
number of command line arguments
then argv returns a pointer to an empty
string (i.e.
a zero byte). Since argv calls malloc to allocate
storage on the heap
there is the possibility that a memory allocation error will occur. Argv
returns the carry set if a memory allocation error occurs. Remember to free the storage
allocated to a command line parameter after you are through with it.
Example: The following code echoes the command line parameters to the screen.
include stdlib.a
includelib stdlib.lib
dseg segment para public 'data'
ArgCnt word 0
dseg ends
cseg segment para public 'code'
assume cs:cseg
ds:dseg
Main proc
mov ax
dseg
mov ds
ax
mov es
ax
; Must call the memory manager initialization routine if you use
; any routine which calls malloc! ARGV is a good example of a
; routine which calls malloc.
meminit
argc ;Get the command line arg count.
jcxz Quit ;Quit if no cmd ln args.
mov ArgCnt
1 ;Init Cmd Ln count.
PrintCmds: printf ;Print the item.
byte "\n%2d: "
0
dword ArgCnt
mov ax
ArgCnt ;Get the next command line guy.
argv
puts
inc ArgCnt ;Move on to next arg.
loop PrintCmds ;Repeat for each arg.
putcr
Quit: ExitPgm ;DOS macro to quit program.
Main endp
cseg ends
sseg segment para stack 'stack'
stk byte 1024 dup ("stack ")
sseg ends
;zzzzzzseg is required by the standard library routines.
zzzzzzseg segment para public 'zzzzzz'
LastBytes byte 16 dup (?)
zzzzzzseg ends
end Main
[7] Many programmers use the term "token" rather than lexeme. Technically a token is a different entity.
|
Table of Content | Chapter Thirteen (Part 10) |
Chapter Thirteen: MS-DOS
PC-BIOS and
File I/O (Part 9)
28 SEP 1996