************************************************************************** - THE LEGENDARY >> SUBSOFTWARE << IN 90 !!! =========================================== - CONTACT US - BP: 36 - - 1380 REBECK - - BELGIUM - - DON'T SEND ANY DISKS - ************************************************************************** UPDATE DOCUMENTATION FOR DSM This diskette contains DSM Version 1.0d. At this time I would like to remind you to fill out the registration/warranty and license agreement forms. If you don't return these forms to us, you won't be entered into our user database. This means that we won't be able to contact you to provide information about product updates, or to provide technical support should you need it. So, *** PLEASE FILL OUT THESE FORMS AND RETURN THEM TO US *** The following changes were recently made to DSM, and are not documented in the DSM User's Manual: I) ENHANCEMENTS DSM Version 1.0d now utilizes Wack-readable symbol information if it is contained in the executable program. Symbol information is placed into a program at compilation (or assembly) time to assist in debugging. For example, the Amiga assembler, assem, places symbol information into a file if the "-c s" option is selected. If the program that you disassemble contains symbol information, DSM will use symbol names when creating the assembly language source code listing. Software developers should find this enhancement extremely valuable. DSM can now be used to generate assembly language source code listings which contain the names of functions/subroutines used in a program. These listings, especially when used in conjunction with a symbolic debugger, can greatly assist in program debugging. The inclusion of symbol names into source code listings, greatly improves a programmer's ability to understand - at a glance - what a program is doing. To gain an appreciation for this, we recommend that you disassemble the program "speaktime.sym" which is now included in the "examples" directory. "speaktime.sym" is the same program as "speaktime", except that the former includes symbol information. II) REVISED WARNING MESSAGES In connection with the enhancement described above, several warning messages were revised/added in Version 1.0d. These changes are described below. Warning 0. Symbol "x" at same location as symbol "y" in segment n. Symbol "x" discarded. This warning is issued whenever DSM detects that two symbols, "x" and "y" have the same value. When Warning 0 is issued, DSM discards the symbol whose name has the least characters in it. Warning 7. Symbol "x" located outside bounds of segment n. Symbol discarded. If 32 bit relocation is performed on a symbol, the current Version of DSM requires that the relocated value fall within the bounds of the segment with respect to which relocation was performed. If relocation results in a value that is outside the bounds of this segment, DSM issues Warning 7 and discards the symbol. NOTE: THIS WARNING REPLACES THE OLD WARNING 7. CONSEQUENTLY, DSM WILL NOT ISSUE A WARNING WHEN AN EXISTING VERIFICATION FILE IS ABOUT TO BE OVERWRITTEN. Warning 9. Symbol "x" truncated in segment n. The maximum length that DSM will accept for a symbol name is 35 characters. If a symbol name is encountered that exceeds this limit, DSM will truncate the name to 35 characters. Warning 10. Symbol name conflict. Symbol "x" in segment n discarded. Symbol names must be unique; two symbols with different values cannot have the same name. Additionally, symbol names of the form E#, L#, or seg# are reserved for use by DSM. Warning 10 will be issued whenever DSM detects that two symbols have the same name, or that a symbol has the form E#, L#, or seg#. For example, the symbol name "L22" is reserved for use by DSM since it is of the form, L#. If the name "L22" appeared in a program's symbol block, DSM would issue Warning 10 and discard the symbol. III) NEW ERROR MESSAGE The following new non-fatal error message was added in Version 1.0d: Error 20. Code alignment error. If DSM detects that an instruction overlaps into a previously disassembled code fragment, Error 20 will be issued. This error should not arise during the disassembly of normal, properly-functioning, executable programs. This error could occur if the program being disassembled utilizes self-modifying code, or if the program contains a bug. IV) TECHNICAL SUPPORT OTG Software will attempt to provide technical support to registered users of DSM. If you need technical support you can either write to us at OTG Software Attention: Tech Support 200 West 7th Street Suite 618 Fort Worth, TX 76102 or you can try to contact us online on Compuserve (76515,1650), BIX (dhankins), or PeopleLink (OCS378). We welcome any comments or questions you might have. V) BUG FIXES 09/01/88 Release 1) This diskette contains an updated version of DSM. The 09/01/88 release fixes the bug which sometimes caused DSM to crash when disassembling programs having many Wack-readable symbols. 2) The 09/01/88 release was also updated to automatically rename illegal symbol names. Legal symbol names must start with an alphabetic character, or with "." or "_". If DSM encounters an illegal symbol name, the name will be prepended with the letter "I". Then, any illegal characters in the name will be replaced with ".". For example, if DSM encounters the name "1$413" in a program, it will rename this symbol as "I1.413" and then issue Warning 41. Finally, DSM will issue Warning 41 to let you know what has transpired. Illegal symbol names may be generated by the Amiga assembler, assem, when local labels of the $nnn variety are used in the assembly source file. By renaming illegal symbol names, DSM allows you to reassemble the ".dsm" files without post-editing. 11/01/88 Release 1) The 11/01/88 release fixes the bug which caused DSM to crash when disassembling programs which use overlays - note that overlays are not yet supported by DSM. 2) The diagnostic corresponding to Warning 2 would occasionally list incorrect segment and address numbers. This bug has been fixed. 3) Pc relative addresses for the movem instruction were, in some instances, calculated incorrectly. This bug has been fixed. 12/01/88 Release 1) The 12/01/88 release fixes the bug which caused DSM to go into a nearly endless loop when it encountered files containing a long sequence of text containing a large number of punctuation characters.