masm general history

[watlers world]

is there a listing of what program types different masm/link versions can create

what types of outputs can ml/masm and link versions produce?
(dos/win/win32s/win32/win64..etc..)

[xandaz]

    i guess that all those you mentioned. Don't know if i'm missing something but you can link /? and look for subsystem option.

[dedndave]

except the 64-bit versions of masm, i think they all support 16-bit code
i used to use masm v 5.10
it supported 32-bit instructions - not sure how it would fair in win32 world, though  :P
masm v 6.1 or better is desirable, if not required, for windows programming
6.15 supports SSE up to SSE3, i think
you want masm 8, 9, or 10 for later extensions
i don't know what happened to 7 - i don't think i've ever seen a v 7   :P
if you have a 64-bit version, you will know because it's called ml64

the linkers are what seem to be glued to a width
i.e., for 16-bit code, you need a 16-bit linker
for 32-bit code, you need a 32-bit linker
for 64-bit code, you need a 64-bit linker
16-bit linkers create MZ EXE's (and some other obscure formats like those for win3 and os/2 - NE format, i think)
32-bit linkers generally create PE EXE files
can't say about 64-bit - i think it's an upgraded version of PE

the OBJ files are OMF for 16-bit DOS and COFF for win32

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

   Adding to Dave's comments:  Versions 1.x, and maybe 2.x,
only supported the 8088/86.  Version 3.0 added 80186 and 80286
support.  Not sure about version 4.  Version 5.0 had 386 support.
I think 5.1 added some language options and was the stable
version for quite a while.  Version 6,0 was the last DOS executable,
give or take.  Versions 6.1 or  6.11 and later became Windows-32
executable programs.  (IIRC.)

Cheers,

Steve N.

Edit:  I got 5.0 and 6.0 from the IBM site as part of the OS/2
development software.  SRN

[watlers world]

thanks for the help

I see some win32/64 tutorials
and even one or two old win16 examples

any clue how to make a ml/masm win32s app?

[dedndave]

any clue how to make a ml/masm win32s app?

you came to the right place, Walter   :bg

win32 apps are probably the most common subject of discussion, here
sometimes, politics or astrophysics is a close second

in the upper-right corner of the forum, you will find links for all kinds of things
first thing you want to do is to go to the masm32 download page and read it (important info)
then, download and install the masm32 package
it comes with code and macro libraries, include files, help files, utilities, tutorials, and code examples
after that, Iczelion's win32 tutorials is a common starting place for many (you will find the link above, also)
forum discussion is also a great learning tool
you can see what problems others are having and see many working examples, as well
i very often search the forum as a reference

[jj2007]

any clue how to make a ml/masm win32s app?

you came to the right place, Walter   :bg

Dave, have a closer look at the question :bg

[dedndave]

oops   :bg
Steve (FORTRANS), MichaelW, Sinsi may be able to help

i would guess masm v5.10 would do the job

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

   Whatever Win32S stood for, it is a subset of the Windows NT
32-bit API that would allow Win 95/NT programs run on older systems.
Windows 3.1 and the like.  There was an SDK and the like at that
time.  So, if you can find the list of allowed functions, you should
be able to do it.  I looked on Microsoft's site and found some stuff
and discussions.  But that was a long time ago.  There is a Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win32s

But not much is there except some links.

Regards,

Steve N.

[dedndave]

Whatever Win32S stood for, it is a subset

[vanjast]

..sometimes, politics or astrophysics is a close second

NO...!!
Big BooB cheerleaders in tight shorts top the charts here... :green2

[dedndave]

Van....
i said "most common", not "most popular"   :bg

[vanjast]

Just stirring ...in the name of Boobs  :U

[hutch--]

RE: The Win32s app, it was part of a 32 bit emulation layer for the old Win3.1??? 16 bit versions of Windows. Unless you are specifically writing for that emulation layer there is no point in trying to run one as they don't work on normal Win32. From memory of long ago you needed a specialised linker to build a Win32s executable, something from an SDK dated about 1994. It would be a very rare tool these days.

[watlers world]

strange...
you would think that they would work on all win NT versions
they seem to work on XP

as far as I know
its first release was with 3.1(Sparta) 1992
its last with wfwg 3.11(snowball) 1994

and was only released for free after win95

I know there was a special masm5 linker for vxd files (link386)
any clue what version or name the win32s linker had?