Assembly Language for x86 Processors

6th Edition
Kip R. Irvine

Chapter 6: Conditional Processing

Slides prepared by the author

Revision date: 2/15/2010

(c) Pearson Education, 2010. All rights reserved. You may modify and copy this slide show for your personal use, or
for use in the classroom, as long as this copyright statement, the author's name, and the title are not changed.
Chapter Overview

• Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• Conditional Jumps
• Conditional Loop Instructions
• Conditional Structures
• Application: Finite-State Machines
• Conditional Control Flow Directives

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Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• CPU Status Flags

• AND Instruction
• OR Instruction
• XOR Instruction
• NOT Instruction
• Applications
• TEST Instruction
• CMP Instruction

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Status Flags - Review
• The Zero flag is set when the result of an operation equals zero.
• The Carry flag is set when an instruction generates a result that is
too large (or too small) for the destination operand.
• The Sign flag is set if the destination operand is negative, and it is
clear if the destination operand is positive.
• The Overflow flag is set when an instruction generates an invalid
signed result (bit 7 carry is XORed with bit 6 Carry).
• The Parity flag is set when an instruction generates an even
number of 1 bits in the low byte of the destination operand.
• The Auxiliary Carry flag is set when an operation produces a carry
out from bit 3 to bit 4

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AND Instruction
• Performs a Boolean AND operation between each
pair of matching bits in two operands
• Syntax:
AND destination, source
AND
(same operand types as MOV)

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OR Instruction
• Performs a Boolean OR operation between each pair
of matching bits in two operands
• Syntax:
OR destination, source
OR

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XOR Instruction
• Performs a Boolean exclusive-OR operation between
each pair of matching bits in two operands
• Syntax:
XOR
XOR destination, source

00111011
XOR 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1

unchanged 00110100 inverted

XOR is a useful way to toggle (invert) the bits in an operand.

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NOT Instruction
• Performs a Boolean NOT operation on a single
destination operand
• Syntax:
NOT
NOT destination

NOT 00111011
11000100 inverted

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Bit-Mapped Sets
• Binary bits indicate set membership
• Efficient use of storage
• Also known as bit vectors

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Bit-Mapped Set Operations
• Set Complement
mov eax,SetX
not eax

• Set Intersection
mov eax,setX
and eax,setY

• Set Union
mov eax,setX
or eax,setY

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Applications (1 of 5)

• Task: Convert the character in AL to upper case.

• Solution: Use the AND instruction to clear bit 5.

mov al,'a' ; AL = 01100001b

and al,11011111b ; AL = 01000001b

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Applications (2 of 5)

• Task: Convert a binary decimal byte into its equivalent

ASCII decimal digit.
• Solution: Use the OR instruction to set bits 4 and 5.

mov al,6 ; AL = 00000110b

or al,00110000b ; AL = 00110110b

The ASCII digit '6' = 00110110b

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Applications (3 of 5)

• Task: Turn on the keyboard CapsLock key

• Solution: Use the OR instruction to set bit 6 in the keyboard
flag byte at 0040:0017h in the BIOS data area.

mov ax,40h ; BIOS segment

mov ds,ax
mov bx,17h ; keyboard flag byte
or BYTE PTR [bx],01000000b ; CapsLock on

This code only runs in Real-address mode, and it does not

work under Windows NT, 2000, or XP.

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Applications (4 of 5)

• Task: Jump to a label if an integer is even.

• Solution: AND the lowest bit with a 1. If the result is Zero,
the number was even.

mov ax,wordVal
and ax,1 ; low bit set?
jz EvenValue ; jump if Zero flag set

JZ (jump if Zero) is covered in Section 6.3.

Your turn: Write code that jumps to a label if an integer is

negative.

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Applications (5 of 5)

• Task: Jump to a label if the value in AL is not zero.

• Solution: OR the byte with itself, then use the JNZ (jump
if not zero) instruction.

or al,al
jnz IsNotZero ; jump if not zero

ORing any number with itself does not change its value.

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TEST Instruction
• Performs a nondestructive AND operation between each pair of
matching bits in two operands
• No operands are modified, but the Zero flag is affected.
• Example: jump to a label if either bit 0 or bit 1 in AL is set.

test al,00000011b
jnz ValueFound

• Example: jump to a label if neither bit 0 nor bit 1 in AL is set.

test al,00000011b
jz ValueNotFound

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CMP Instruction (1 of 3)

• Compares the destination operand to the source operand

• Nondestructive subtraction of source from destination (destination
operand is not changed)
• Syntax: CMP destination, source
• Example: destination == source

mov al,5
cmp al,5 ; Zero flag set

• Example: destination < source

mov al,4
cmp al,5 ; Carry flag set

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CMP Instruction (2 of 3)

• Example: destination > source

mov al,6
cmp al,5 ; ZF = 0, CF = 0

(both the Zero and Carry flags are clear)

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CMP Instruction (3 of 3)

The comparisons shown here are performed with signed

integers.

• Example: destination > source

mov al,5
cmp al,-2 ; Sign flag == Overflow flag

• Example: destination < source

mov al,-1
cmp al,5 ; Sign flag != Overflow flag

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What's Next

• Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• Conditional Jumps
• Conditional Loop Instructions
• Conditional Structures
• Application: Finite-State Machines
• Conditional Control Flow Directives

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Conditional Jumps

• Jumps Based On . . .
• Specific flags
• Equality
• Unsigned comparisons
• Signed Comparisons
• Applications
• Encrypting a String
• Bit Test (BT) Instruction

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Jcond Instruction
• A conditional jump instruction branches to a label
when specific register or flag conditions are met

• Specific jumps:
JB, JC - jump to a label if the Carry flag is set
JE, JZ - jump to a label if the Zero flag is set
JS - jump to a label if the Sign flag is set
JNE, JNZ - jump to a label if the Zero flag is clear
JECXZ - jump to a label if ECX = 0

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Jcond Ranges
• Prior to the 386:
• jump must be within –128 to +127 bytes from current
location counter
• x86 processors:
• 32-bit offset permits jump anywhere in memory

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Jumps Based on Specific Flags

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Jumps Based on Equality

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Jumps Based on Unsigned Comparisons

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Jumps Based on Signed Comparisons

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Applications (1 of 5)

• Task: Jump to a label if unsigned EAX is greater than EBX

• Solution: Use CMP, followed by JA

cmp eax,ebx
ja Larger

• Task: Jump to a label if signed EAX is greater than EBX

• Solution: Use CMP, followed by JG

cmp eax,ebx
jg Greater

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Applications (2 of 5)

• Jump to label L1 if unsigned EAX is less than or equal to Val1

cmp eax,Val1
jbe L1 ; below or equal

• Jump to label L1 if signed EAX is less than or equal to Val1

cmp eax,Val1
jle L1

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Applications (3 of 5)
• Compare unsigned AX to BX, and copy the larger of the two
into a variable named Large
mov Large,bx
cmp ax,bx
jna Next
mov Large,ax
Next:

• Compare signed AX to BX, and copy the smaller of the two

into a variable named Small
mov Small,ax
cmp bx,ax
jnl Next
mov Small,bx
Next:

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Applications (4 of 5)
• Jump to label L1 if the memory word pointed to by ESI equals
Zero
cmp WORD PTR [esi],0
je L1

• Jump to label L2 if the doubleword in memory pointed to by

EDI is even

test DWORD PTR [edi],1

jz L2

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Applications (5 of 5)

• Task: Jump to label L1 if bits 0, 1, and 3 in AL are all set.

• Solution: Clear all bits except bits 0, 1,and 3. Then
compare the result with 00001011 binary.

and al,00001011b ; clear unwanted bits

cmp al,00001011b ; check remaining bits
je L1 ; all set? jump to L1

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Your turn . . .

• Write code that jumps to label L1 if either bit 4, 5, or 6

is set in the BL register.
• Write code that jumps to label L1 if bits 4, 5, and 6
are all set in the BL register.
• Write code that jumps to label L2 if AL has even
parity.
• Write code that jumps to label L3 if EAX is negative.
• Write code that jumps to label L4 if the expression
(EBX – ECX) is greater than zero.

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Encrypting a String
The following loop uses the XOR instruction to transform every
character in a string into a new value.

KEY = 239 ; can be any byte value

BUFMAX = 128
.data
buffer BYTE BUFMAX+1 DUP(0)
bufSize DWORD BUFMAX

.code
mov ecx,bufSize ; loop counter
mov esi,0 ; index 0 in buffer
L1:
xor buffer[esi],KEY ; translate a byte
inc esi ; point to next byte
loop L1

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String Encryption Program
• Tasks:
• Input a message (string) from the user
• Encrypt the message
• Display the encrypted message
• Decrypt the message
• Display the decrypted message

View the Encrypt.asm program's source code. Sample output:

Enter the plain text: Attack at dawn.

Cipher text: «¢¢Äîä-Ä¢-ïÄÿü-Gs
Decrypted: Attack at dawn.

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BT (Bit Test) Instruction

• Copies bit n from an operand into the Carry flag

• Syntax: BT bitBase, n
• bitBase may be r/m16 or r/m32
• n may be r16, r32, or imm8
• Example: jump to label L1 if bit 9 is set in the AX
register:

bt AX,9 ; CF = bit 9
jc L1 ; jump if Carry

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What's Next

• Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• Conditional Jumps
• Conditional Loop Instructions
• Conditional Structures
• Application: Finite-State Machines
• Conditional Control Flow Directives

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Conditional Loop Instructions

• LOOPZ and LOOPE

• LOOPNZ and LOOPNE

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LOOPZ and LOOPE
• Syntax:
LOOPE destination
LOOPZ destination
• Logic:
• ECX  ECX – 1
• if ECX > 0 and ZF=1, jump to destination
• Useful when scanning an array for the first element
that does not match a given value.

In 32-bit mode, ECX is the loop counter register. In 16-bit real-

address mode, CX is the counter, and in 64-bit mode, RCX is the
counter.

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LOOPNZ and LOOPNE
• LOOPNZ (LOOPNE) is a conditional loop instruction
• Syntax:
LOOPNZ destination
LOOPNE destination
• Logic:
• ECX  ECX – 1;
• if ECX > 0 and ZF=0, jump to destination
• Useful when scanning an array for the first element
that matches a given value.

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LOOPNZ Example
The following code finds the first positive value in an array:

.data
array SWORD -3,-6,-1,-10,10,30,40,4
sentinel SWORD 0
.code
mov esi,OFFSET array
mov ecx,LENGTHOF array
next:
test WORD PTR [esi],8000h ; test sign bit
pushfd ; push flags on stack
add esi,TYPE array
popfd ; pop flags from stack
loopnz next ; continue loop
jnz quit ; none found
sub esi,TYPE array ; ESI points to value
quit:

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Your turn . . .
Locate the first nonzero value in the array. If none is found, let
ESI point to the sentinel value:

.data
array SWORD 50 DUP(?)
sentinel SWORD 0FFFFh
.code
mov esi,OFFSET array
mov ecx,LENGTHOF array
L1: cmp WORD PTR [esi],0 ; check for zero

(fill in your code here)

quit:

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. . . (solution)

.data
array SWORD 50 DUP(?)
sentinel SWORD 0FFFFh
.code
mov esi,OFFSET array
mov ecx,LENGTHOF array
L1: cmp WORD PTR [esi],0 ; check for zero
pushfd ; push flags on stack
add esi,TYPE array
popfd ; pop flags from stack
loope L1 ; continue loop
jz quit ; none found
sub esi,TYPE array ; ESI points to value
quit:

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What's Next

• Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• Conditional Jumps
• Conditional Loop Instructions
• Conditional Structures
• Application: Finite-State Machines
• Conditional Control Flow Directives

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Conditional Structures

• Block-Structured IF Statements
• Compound Expressions with AND
• Compound Expressions with OR
• WHILE Loops
• Table-Driven Selection

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Block-Structured IF Statements
Assembly language programmers can easily translate logical
statements written in C++/Java into assembly language. For
example:

if( op1 == op2 ) mov eax,op1

X = 1; cmp eax,op2
jne L1
else
mov X,1
X = 2;
jmp L2
L1: mov X,2
L2:

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Your turn . . .

Implement the following pseudocode in assembly

language. All values are unsigned:

if( ebx <= ecx ) cmp ebx,ecx

{ ja next
mov eax,5
eax = 5;
mov edx,6
edx = 6;
next:
}

(There are multiple correct solutions to this problem.)

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Your turn . . .

Implement the following pseudocode in assembly

language. All values are 32-bit signed integers:

if( var1 <= var2 ) mov eax,var1

var3 = 10; cmp eax,var2
jle L1
else
mov var3,6
{
mov var4,7
var3 = 6; jmp L2
var4 = 7; L1: mov var3,10
} L2:

(There are multiple correct solutions to this problem.)

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Compound Expression with AND (1 of 3)

• When implementing the logical AND operator, consider that HLLs

use short-circuit evaluation
• In the following example, if the first expression is false, the second
expression is skipped:

if (al > bl) AND (bl > cl)

X = 1;

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Compound Expression with AND (2 of 3)

if (al > bl) AND (bl > cl)

X = 1;

This is one possible implementation . . .

cmp al,bl ; first expression...

ja L1
jmp next
L1:
cmp bl,cl ; second expression...
ja L2
jmp next
L2: ; both are true
mov X,1 ; set X to 1
next:

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Compound Expression with AND (3 of 3)

if (al > bl) AND (bl > cl)

X = 1;

But the following implementation uses 29% less code by

reversing the first relational operator. We allow the program to
"fall through" to the second expression:

cmp al,bl ; first expression...

jbe next ; quit if false
cmp bl,cl ; second expression...
jbe next ; quit if false
mov X,1 ; both are true
next:

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Your turn . . .

Implement the following pseudocode in assembly

language. All values are unsigned:

if( ebx <= ecx cmp ebx,ecx

&& ecx > edx ) ja next
cmp ecx,edx
{
jbe next
eax = 5;
mov eax,5
edx = 6; mov edx,6
} next:

(There are multiple correct solutions to this problem.)

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Compound Expression with OR (1 of 2)

• When implementing the logical OR operator, consider that HLLs

use short-circuit evaluation
• In the following example, if the first expression is true, the second
expression is skipped:

if (al > bl) OR (bl > cl)

X = 1;

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Compound Expression with OR (2 of 2)

if (al > bl) OR (bl > cl)

X = 1;

We can use "fall-through" logic to keep the code as short as

possible:

cmp al,bl ; is AL > BL?

ja L1 ; yes
cmp bl,cl ; no: is BL > CL?
jbe next ; no: skip next statement
L1: mov X,1 ; set X to 1
next:

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WHILE Loops
A WHILE loop is really an IF statement followed by the body
of the loop, followed by an unconditional jump to the top of
the loop. Consider the following example:

while( eax < ebx)

eax = eax + 1;

This is a possible implementation:

top: cmp eax,ebx ; check loop condition
jae next ; false? exit loop
inc eax ; body of loop
jmp top ; repeat the loop
next:

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Your turn . . .
Implement the following loop, using unsigned 32-bit integers:

while( ebx <= val1)

{
ebx = ebx + 5;
val1 = val1 - 1
}

top:cmp ebx,val1 ; check loop condition

ja next ; false? exit loop
add ebx,5 ; body of loop
dec val1
jmp top ; repeat the loop
next:

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Table-Driven Selection (1 of 4)

• Table-driven selection uses a table lookup to

replace a multiway selection structure
• Create a table containing lookup values and the
offsets of labels or procedures
• Use a loop to search the table
• Suited to a large number of comparisons

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Table-Driven Selection (2 of 4)

Step 1: create a table containing lookup values and procedure

offsets:

.data
CaseTable BYTE 'A' ; lookup value
DWORD Process_A ; address of procedure
EntrySize = ($ - CaseTable)
BYTE 'B'
DWORD Process_B
BYTE 'C'
DWORD Process_C
BYTE 'D'
DWORD Process_D

NumberOfEntries = ($ - CaseTable) / EntrySize

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Table-Driven Selection (3 of 4)

Table of Procedure Offsets:

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Table-Driven Selection (4 of 4)

Step 2: Use a loop to search the table. When a match is found,

call the procedure offset stored in the current table entry:

mov ebx,OFFSET CaseTable ; point EBX to the table

mov ecx,NumberOfEntries ; loop counter

L1: cmp al,[ebx] ; match found?

jne L2 ; no: continue
call NEAR PTR [ebx + 1] ; yes: call the procedure
call WriteString ; display message
call Crlf
jmp L3 ; and exit the loop
L2: add ebx,EntrySize ; point to next entry
loop L1 ; repeat until ECX = 0

L3: required for

procedure pointers

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What's Next

• Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• Conditional Jumps
• Conditional Loop Instructions
• Conditional Structures
• Application: Finite-State Machines
• Conditional Control Flow Directives

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Application: Finite-State Machines

• A finite-state machine (FSM) is a graph structure

that changes state based on some input. Also called
a state-transition diagram.
• We use a graph to represent an FSM, with squares
or circles called nodes, and lines with arrows
between the circles called edges.

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Application: Finite-State Machines

• A FSM is a specific instance of a more general

structure called a directed graph.
• Three basic states, represented by nodes:
• Start state
• Terminal state(s)
• Nonterminal state(s)

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Finite-State Machine

• Accepts any sequence of symbols that puts it into

an accepting (final) state
• Can be used to recognize, or validate a sequence of
characters that is governed by language rules
(called a regular expression)
• Advantages:
• Provides visual tracking of program's flow of control
• Easy to modify
• Easily implemented in assembly language

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Finite-State Machine Examples
• FSM that recognizes strings beginning with 'x', followed by
letters 'a'..'y', ending with 'z':

• FSM that recognizes signed integers:

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Your Turn . . .
• Explain why the following FSM does not work as well
for signed integers as the one shown on the previous
slide:

digit
digit
start +,-
A B

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Implementing an FSM

The following is code from State A in the Integer FSM:

StateA:
call Getnext ; read next char into AL
cmp al,'+' ; leading + sign?
je StateB ; go to State B
cmp al,'-' ; leading - sign?
je StateB ; go to State B
call IsDigit ; ZF = 1 if AL = digit
jz StateC ; go to State C
call DisplayErrorMsg ; invalid input found
jmp Quit

View the Finite.asm source code.

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IsDigit Procedure

Receives a character in AL. Sets the Zero flag if the character

is a decimal digit.

IsDigit PROC
cmp al,'0' ; ZF = 0
jb ID1
cmp al,'9' ; ZF = 0
ja ID1
test ax,0 ; ZF = 1
ID1: ret
IsDigit ENDP

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Flowchart of State A

State A accepts a plus or

minus sign, or a decimal
digit.

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Your Turn . . .

• Draw a FSM diagram for hexadecimal integer

constant that conforms to MASM syntax.
• Draw a flowchart for one of the states in your FSM.
• Implement your FSM in assembly language. Let the
user input a hexadecimal constant from the
keyboard.

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What's Next

• Boolean and Comparison Instructions

• Conditional Jumps
• Conditional Loop Instructions
• Conditional Structures
• Application: Finite-State Machines
• Conditional Control Flow Directives

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Creating IF Statements

• Runtime Expressions
• Relational and Logical Operators
• MASM-Generated Code
• .REPEAT Directive
• .WHILE Directive

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Runtime Expressions
• .IF, .ELSE, .ELSEIF, and .ENDIF can be used to evaluate
runtime expressions and create block-structured IF
statements.
• Examples:
.IF eax > ebx .IF eax > ebx && eax > ecx
mov edx,1 mov edx,1
.ELSE .ELSE
mov edx,2 mov edx,2
.ENDIF .ENDIF

• MASM generates "hidden" code for you, consisting of

code labels, CMP and conditional jump instructions.

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Relational and Logical Operators

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Signed and Unsigned Comparisons

.data
val1 DWORD 5
result DWORD ? Generated code:
.code
mov eax,6
mov eax,6 cmp eax,val1
.IF eax > val1 jbe @C0001
mov result,1 mov result,1
@C0001:
.ENDIF

MASM automatically generates an unsigned jump (JBE)

because val1 is unsigned.

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Signed and Unsigned Comparisons

.data
val1 SDWORD 5
result SDWORD ? Generated code:
.code
mov eax,6
mov eax,6 cmp eax,val1
.IF eax > val1 jle @C0001
mov result,1 mov result,1
@C0001:
.ENDIF

MASM automatically generates a signed jump (JLE) because

val1 is signed.

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Signed and Unsigned Comparisons

.data
result DWORD ? Generated code:
.code
mov ebx,5
mov ebx,5 mov eax,6
mov eax,6 cmp eax,ebx
.IF eax > ebx jbe @C0001
mov result,1
mov result,1
@C0001:
.ENDIF

MASM automatically generates an unsigned jump (JBE) when

both operands are registers . . .

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Signed and Unsigned Comparisons

.data
result SDWORD ? Generated code:
.code
mov ebx,5
mov ebx,5 mov eax,6
mov eax,6 cmp eax,ebx
.IF SDWORD PTR eax > ebx jle @C0001
mov result,1
mov result,1
@C0001:
.ENDIF

. . . unless you prefix one of the register operands with the

SDWORD PTR operator. Then a signed jump is generated.

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010. 78

.REPEAT Directive
Executes the loop body before testing the loop condition
associated with the .UNTIL directive.
Example:

; Display integers 1 – 10:

mov eax,0
.REPEAT
inc eax
call WriteDec
call Crlf
.UNTIL eax == 10

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010. 79

.WHILE Directive
Tests the loop condition before executing the loop body The
.ENDW directive marks the end of the loop.
Example:

; Display integers 1 – 10:

mov eax,0
.WHILE eax < 10
inc eax
call WriteDec
call Crlf
.ENDW

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010. 80

Summary
• Bitwise instructions (AND, OR, XOR, NOT, TEST)
• manipulate individual bits in operands
• CMP – compares operands using implied subtraction
• sets condition flags
• Conditional Jumps & Loops
• equality: JE, JNE
• flag values: JC, JZ, JNC, JP, ...
• signed: JG, JL, JNG, ...
• unsigned: JA, JB, JNA, ...
• LOOPZ, LOOPNZ, LOOPE, LOOPNE
• Flowcharts – logic diagramming tool
• Finite-state machine – tracks state changes at runtime

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010. 81

4C 6F 70 70 75 75 6E

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010. 82