BUG: Macro Expansion May Occur Before Macro Call in Listing File (73036)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) 6.0
  • Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) 6.0a
  • Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) 6.0b
  • Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) 6.1
  • Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) 6.1a
  • Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) 6.11
This article was previously published under Q73036

SYMPTOMS

With the Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM), if the .NOLIST directive is the first statement in a file and it is later followed by a .LISTALL directive, then the macro expansion in the listing file will occur before the macro call instead of after it.

RESOLUTION

This problem can be eliminated by placing either a blank line or a comment before the .NOLIST directive, so that .NOLIST is not on the first line of the file.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in MASM version 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0b, 6.1, 6.1a, and 6.11. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

The .NOLIST directive prevents the macro expansion of all macro calls in the listing file. This option shows the macro call, but it does not display the corresponding code. The .NOLIST directive also prevents a complete listing of every macro in each file that is included with the .INCLUDE directive. The .LISTALL directive lists all source lines, including false conditionals and generated code for each macro.

In the sample code below, the placement of the .NOLIST directive before the .INCLUDE directive prevents a general listing of every macro in that include file. Placing the .LISTALL after the .INCLUDE directive should cause the corresponding code for each macro to be listed after that macro appears in the source code. For example, the correct listing for TEST_MACRO should appear as follows: 
                  TEST_MACRO
   0000  55              1       PUSH  BP
   0001  8B EC           1       MOV   BP, SP
However, if .NOLIST is the first statement on the first line in the file, then this order is reversed and the macro expansion appears before the macro call. The incorrect macro expansion actually appears as follows: 
   0000  55              1       PUSH  BP
   0001  8B EC           1       MOV   BP, SP
                  TEST_MACRO

Sample Code

TEST.ASM

; Assemble options needed: /Fl

.NOLIST
INCLUDE test.inc
.LISTALL

.MODEL small
.STACK 4096

.CODE
start:
   test_macro
   mov ax, 4C00h
   int 21h
END start

TEST.INC

; Include file for TEST.ASM

test_macro MACRO
   push bp
   mov bp, sp
ENDM
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/20/2003
Keywords:KB73036
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.