RECENT EDIT
I am trying to run this floating point Quadratic Equation program on x86 MASM. This code is found in the Kip Irvine x86 textbook and I want to see how it works visually. The following code is below:
include irvine32.inc
.DATA
a REAL4 3.0
b REAL4 7.0
cc REAL4 2.0
posx REAL4 0.0
negx REAL4 0.0
.CODE
main proc
; Solve quadratic equation - no error checking
; The formula is: -b +/- squareroot(b2 - 4ac) / (2a)
fld1 ; Get constants 2 and 4
fadd st,st ; 2 at bottom
fld st ; Copy it
fmul a ; = 2a
fmul st(1),st ; = 4a
fxch ; Exchange
fmul cc ; = 4ac
fld b ; Load b
fmul st,st ; = b2
fsubr ; = b2 - 4ac
; Negative value here produces error
fsqrt ; = square root(b2 - 4ac)
fld b ; Load b
fchs ; Make it negative
fxch ; Exchange
fld st ; Copy square root
fadd st,st(2) ; Plus version = -b + root(b2 - 4ac)
fxch ; Exchange
fsubp st(2),st ; Minus version = -b - root(b2 - 4ac)
fdiv st,st(2) ; Divide plus version
fstp posx ; Store it
fdivr ; Divide minus version
fstp negx ; Store it
call writeint
exit
main endp
end main
So I was able to have my program compile, execute and work completely. However, Whenever I run the program, I get this as the result:
+1694175115
Why is the result so large? Also I tried calling writefloat but it says this procedure is not in the Irvine32.inc or Macros.inc Library. Can someone show me why is it not working and what needs to be fixed? Thanks.
Floating point numbers are processed in special registers in a special processor (FPU) and stored in a special format and cannot be treated as integers (WriteInt). Floating point numbers contain further information about the number like sign and exponent. The number itself is changed to a number between 1 and 2 with an appropriate exponent, where the leading 1 is normally hidden. Take a look here just for the double format: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-precision_floating-point_format. These numbers are unlikely to be precise.
At least since 11 years the Irvine32 library provides the function WriteFloat to show the value of the FPU register ST0 in exponential form. It does not pop or free that register.
Change
call writeint
to
fld posx ; Load floating point number into ST0
call WriteFloat ; Write ST0
ffree st[0] ; Free ST0 - don't forget it!
call Crlf ; New line
fld negx ; Load floating point number into ST0
call WriteFloat ; Write ST0
ffree st[0] ; Free ST0 - don't forget it!
call Crlf ; New line
If your library don't have WriteFloat I suggest to download and install the newest files from Irvine's homepage: http://www.kipirvine.com/asm/examples/index.htm (Example programs and link library source code for the Seventh Edition). You can also use another library, e.g. the C-runtime library (msvcrt.inc and msvcrt.lib) or Raymond Filiatreault's FPU library.
If you can't use a library that provides floating point routines you have to convert the numbers by yourself:
INCLUDE irvine32.inc
.DATA
a REAL4 3.0
b REAL4 7.0
cc REAL4 2.0
posx REAL4 0.0
negx REAL4 0.0
buf BYTE 1024 DUP (?)
.CODE
double2dec PROC C USES edi ; Args: ST(0): FPU-register to convert, EDI: pointer to string
LOCAL CONTROL_WORD:WORD, TEN:WORD, TEMP:WORD, DUMMY:QWORD
; modifying rounding mode
fstcw CONTROL_WORD
mov ax, CONTROL_WORD
or ah, 00001100b ; Set RC=11: truncating rounding mode
mov TEMP, ax
fldcw TEMP ; Load new rounding mode
; Check for negative
ftst ; ST0 negative?
fstsw ax
test ah, 001b
jz @F ; No: skip the next instructions
mov byte ptr [edi], '-' ; Negative sign
add edi, 1
@@:
FABS ; Abs (upper case to differ from C-library)
; Separate integer and fractional part & convert integer part into ASCII
fst st(1) ; Doubling ST(0) - ST(1)=ST(0)
frndint ; ST(0) to integer
fsub st(1), st(0) ; Integral part in ST(0), fractional part in ST(1)
; Move 10 to st(1)
mov TEN, 10
fild TEN
fxch
xor ecx, ecx ; Push/pop counter
@@: ; First loop
fst st(3) ; Preserve ST(0)
fprem ; ST(0) = remainder ST(0)/ST(1)
fistp word ptr TEMP ; ST(3) -> ST(2) !
push word ptr TEMP
inc ecx
fld st(2) ; Restore ST(0)
fdiv st(0), st(1)
frndint ; ST(0) to integer
fxam ; ST0 == 0.0?
fstsw ax
sahf
jnz @B ; No: loop
fxch st(2) ; ST(0) <-> ST(2) (fractional part)
ffree st(2)
ffree st(3)
@@: ; Second loop
pop ax
or al, '0'
mov [edi], al
inc edi
loop @B ; Loop ECX times
mov byte ptr [edi], '.' ; Decimal point
add edi, 1
; Isolate digits of fractional part and store ASCII
get_fractional:
fmul st(0), st(1) ; Multiply by 10 (shift one decimal digit into integer part)
fist word ptr TEMP ; Store digit
fisub word ptr TEMP ; Clear integer part
mov al, byte ptr TEMP ; Load digit
or al, 30h ; Convert digit to ASCII
mov byte ptr [edi], al ; Append it to string
add edi, 1 ; Increment pointer to string
fxam ; ST0 == 0.0?
fstsw ax
sahf
jnz get_fractional ; No: once more
mov byte ptr [edi], 0 ; Null-termination for ASCIIZ
; clean up FPU
ffree st(0) ; Empty ST(0)
ffree st(1) ; Empty ST(1)
fldcw CONTROL_WORD ; Restore old rounding mode
ret ; Return: EDI points to the null-terminated string
double2dec ENDP
main proc
; Solve quadratic equation - no error checking
; The formula is: -b +/- squareroot(b2 - 4ac) / (2a)
fld1 ; Get constants 2 and 4
fadd st,st ; 2 at bottom
fld st ; Copy it
fmul a ; = 2a
fmul st(1),st ; = 4a
fxch ; Exchange
fmul cc ; = 4ac
fld b ; Load b
fmul st,st ; = b2
fsubr ; = b2 - 4ac
; Negative value here produces error
fsqrt ; = square root(b2 - 4ac)
fld b ; Load b
fchs ; Make it negative
fxch ; Exchange
fld st ; Copy square root
fadd st,st(2) ; Plus version = -b + root(b2 - 4ac)
fxch ; Exchange
fsubp st(2),st ; Minus version = -b - root(b2 - 4ac)
fdiv st,st(2) ; Divide plus version
fstp posx ; Store it
fdivr ; Divide minus version
fstp negx ; Store it
; Write the results
fld posx ; Load floating point number into ST0
lea edi, buf ; EDI: pointer to a buffer for a string
call double2dec ; Convert ST0 to buf and pop
mov edx, edi ; EDX: pointer to a null-terminated string
call WriteString ; Irvine32
call Crlf ; Irvine32: New line
fld negx ; Load floating point number into ST0
lea edi, buf ; EDI: pointer to a buffer for a string
call double2dec ; Convert ST0 to buf and pop
mov edx, edi ; EDX: pointer to a null-terminated string
call WriteString ; Irvine32
call Crlf ; Irvine32: New line
exit ; Irvine32: ExitProcess
main ENDP
end main