IDE for MASM with Full instruction set help and Code Intellisense

[proton]

Hello all,

I need an IDE for MASM / assembly programming with the following specs,

1.Full context sensitive instaruction set help in .chm or .hlp format
2.Full Code Intellisense
3.With all the features of a standard IDE like VisualStudio.
4.Full Interrupt list,Important Memory addresses...Help.

Is it available,

Please let me know....


Thanks,
proton

[Shell]

Hello proton,

As far as your specs go I can only think of 2 IDEs that fit:

The first is RadAsm and the other is WinASM Studio. I use both but depending whom you ask you'll get different opinions for either. I suggest giving both a try and decide for yourself which one suits your needs ;)

PS. They're both free :dance: and if I'm not mistaken both authors are members of this board  :dazzled:

[edit]
I'm not so sure about the interrupt list - They are useful for DOS programming but not for Win32 ASM programming. Google "Ralph Brown's Interrupt List if you really need it.

Important memory addresses? If its stuff like the keyboard ring buffer, direct video memory access segment A000h, interrupt vectors and such then again those are for DOS and are usually scattered all over the place and rarely seen in one complete package.
[/edit]

[edit 2]
Oops forgot the links  :red
RadAsm - www.radasm.com
WinAsm Studio - www.winasm.net
[/edit 2]

[hutch--]

Proton,

With a specification list of that type you would be best to write your own as nothing will conform to it. There are some very good ones available but you would have to learn how they work.

[proton]

Thanks both of you for your kind info,

I downloaded RadAsm,But i could not make it work for me.Even though it had a lot of menu's.I could not configure it to assemble a simple .asm file.Next i will give WinAsm a try.

Thanks,
proton

[hutch--]

The next problem is you are making assumptions about building 16 bit DOS code which 32 bit systems will not do. It can be done using a 16 bit linker but nothing will come pre-configured for you.

[proton]

Hello mr.Hutch,

I have been able to assemble & link 16 bit code using masm's ml.exe v6.15, and link.exe v5.60.I could make .com and .exe files.I have PWB (Programmer's Work Bench) but it does not look good with windows XP's command console and it is a DOS based software(which i dont like in GUI days).

1.Is there any Windows GUI based one available to subtitute PWB.
2.Is it possible to modify or add the asm sytax and asm code intellisense to VisualC++ IDE.(I assume that microsoft may have an external file (Other than MSDEV.EXE)where these settings are stored)
3.Why did not microsoft develop PWB any further(For windows).Don't they use it for their own.

proton

[hutch--]

proton,

The Microsoft PWB (Prgrammers Work Bench) is ancient and has not been used for about 13 years. The current IDE for VC took its place. For a retail version of the VC IDE apparently it can be configured to handle MASM as well but it not my area so I don't know how its done.

Where you will get into trouble is that no-one would waste their time setting up an IDE for dos software. You need to use a configurable editor / IDE that you can set up yourself to build 16 bit dos files.

You have seen the dedicated assembler IDE so yo kno what is available, just pick what will do the job for you.

[proton]

Thanks,

Just now i have downloaded a copy of SciTE from http://www.scintilla.org which is syntax highlighting many of masm's keywords.And i will try to configure it for my purpose.

Thank you all for the kind help,

proton

[BogdanOntanu]

My best bet would still be RADASM.

It is an ASM IDE that is far better than Visual Studio.
It has code completion, file and project outline in realtime without compilation, syntax highlighting, plugins etc.

Maybe you can try and take the time needed to setup and understand RadASM. I have been using RadASM for huge and complex full ASM projects like HE RTS Game, SOL_OS Operating system, SOL_ASM Assembler and it performs extraordinary.

I do not know for sure if RadASM can be configured for working with DOS 16 bits code but it think it can be done if you take the time.

[MichaelW]

I use SciTE for MASM and 16-bit DOS apps, and for my purposes it works well. I do everything out of one directory and copy ML.EXE, ML.ERR, and the 16-bit linker renamed to LINK16.EXE to the directory. Here are the minimal changes I made to the asm.properties that was included with the editor:

Code Select Expand


#command.compile.$(file.patterns.asm)=masm $(FileNameExt)
command.compile.$(file.patterns.asm)=ml /c $(FileNameExt)

#command.name.0.*.asm=link
#command.0.*.asm=link $(FileName)
command.name.0.*.asm=Link16
command.0.*.asm=link16 $(FileName);

The *.properties files are accessible from within the editor, from the Options menu, and when I need to do something unusual with the ML or LINK command lines I simply edit the file, and back the changes out when I'm finished.

[proton]

I use SciTE for MASM and 16-bit DOS apps, and for my purposes it works well. I do everything out of one directory and copy ML.EXE, ML.ERR, and the 16-bit linker renamed to LINK16.EXE to the directory. Here are the minimal changes I made to the asm.properties that was included with the editor:

Code Select Expand


#command.compile.$(file.patterns.asm)=masm $(FileNameExt)
command.compile.$(file.patterns.asm)=ml /c $(FileNameExt)

#command.name.0.*.asm=link
#command.0.*.asm=link $(FileName)
command.name.0.*.asm=Link16
command.0.*.asm=link16 $(FileName);

The *.properties files are accessible from within the editor, from the Options menu, and when I need to do something unusual with the ML or LINK command lines I simply edit the file, and back the changes out when I’m finished.

Hello mr.MichaelW thanks for that nice reply,

Is it possible to add procedures or WinAPI declaration so that we could get CodeCompletion in SciTE.

proton