From: Ron Grunwald <RGRUNWAL AT wasp DOT cs DOT cowan DOT edu DOT au>
Organization: Edith Cowan University
To: eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il (Eli Zaretskii)
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 13:06:34 GMT+800
Subject: Re: Gnu Assembler Question
Reply-To: r DOT grunwald AT cowan DOT edu DOT au
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu

Eli replied to the following:

> > > 2)  I don't suppose that there is a converter for Intel format to GAS 
> > > format, is there?
> >
> > I have actually been working on such a piece of software for some 
> > time now. Currently I am roughly through developing about half of it, 
> > and it seems to be working pretty well so far. Mind you it only does 
> > simple translations at the moment.
> 
> Please consider contributing this software to DJGPP users when you're
> done.  The DJGPP FAQ list asks for this explicitly:

I do intend doing that once it's become reasonably stable.

>  
> 17.2  Q: Where can I find an automated conversion tool to convert my
>          Intel-style assembly code into a code acceptable by Gas?
>       A: Unfortunately, such a tool is unknown to us; if you see one, hear
>          about one, or write one yourself, be sure to tell us.  In the
>          meantime, here is what you can do to convert your code:
>  
>            * For a small number of relatively short files, consider
>              converting them with a smart editor (like Emacs or its
>              work-alikes).
>  
>            * Obtain a copy of Microsoft MASM 6.11. It has ``-coff'' option
>              to generate object code in COFF format which can be submitted
>              to gcc, so you can compile your original source.  You can
>              also use LIB32 librarian from Microsoft C8 to convert object
>              files to COFF by putting them into a .lib library, then
>              extracting them as COFF files.
>  
>          Keep in mind that syntax is only one of the aspects of converting
>          code written for DOS to DJGPP.  You should also make sure your
>          code doesn't violate any rules for protected-mode programming
>          (next question).

Now that's pretty tricky. I hadn't considered checking for compatible 
protected mode assembly, as I assumed that should be the programmer's 
responsibility. The first release won't have such a feature, but 
later releases might.

I am currently spending a lot of time implementing detailed error 
handling for any unusual (erroneous) situations that the translator 
might be faced with.
>  
> 
> 

Regards, Ron.

 ********************************************************************
 | Author.............. Ron Grunwald                                | 
 | Internet............ r DOT grunwald AT cowan DOT edu DOT au                     |
 | Phone............... (09)273 8027 or (09)273 8468                |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | Department.......... Computer Operations and Systems Management  |
 | Division/Faculty.... Information Technology                      | 
 | Institute........... Edith Cowan University, Churchlands         | 
 | Location............ Perth, Western Australia                    |
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 "I don't have any solution but I certainly admire the problem!"