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New Member (re: Visual MASM IDE)

Started by ThomasJaeger, March 07, 2015, 03:43:15 AM

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ThomasJaeger

Hello,

I'm a new member and I just joined. I knew about masm32 since 2000 but I have renewed interest in assembly programming. I've been programming for 30 years now starting on a Z80 Amstrad and doing it professionally for 24 years now. I may ask stupid questions, please bare with me. I'm fascinated by the power and absolute control of assembly programming and I wish more people would start learning it. Looking around, I was not impressed with the existing IDE's available especially for beginners whip want to get their feet wet with assembly programming.

So, I created an IDE for MASM called Visual MASM. It supports Win32, Win64, and MS-DOS applications all in one. It's not perfect and it misses some major features but I just released the first version on my site at http://www.visualmasm.com. Please let me know what you think. Visual MASM supports masm32 and the Windows SDK (32 & 64 bit ML64).

Back in the day (2001) I started an IDE project named VASM but I never finished it. Today, I'm proud to say that I created a new IDE and it actually works really well. Let me know if you find any issues with it.

I know Visual MASM is missing the "visual" part but I wanted to release it anyways because you can already be very productive with it. It supports very large assembly projects and you can even mix different types of projects into one group.

Humbly,
Thomas Jaeger
http://www.visualmasm.com
http://www.visualmasm.com - a MASM IDE

jj2007

Looks impressive! Why does an IDE need WriteProcessMemory, a whole bunch of wsock32 functions and the like?

GoneFishing

Looks very nice but be ready for a lots of questions.
First, the size of executable . Which gui framework did you use ?
Tested it a little bit and often got Access violation writing process memory ( or so , didn't remember the exact text) message boxes .
Also, "sticky" tooltips . Your IDE found MASM32 installation but could not build the sample
Win32 project (the screenshot below) . It's interesting that the linker issued an attempt to build "Program" executable at the root of drive C .



ragdog

QuoteWhich gui framework did you use ?

Delphi with a skin libaray (AlphaControls) or other

QuoteI was not impressed with the existing IDE's available especially for beginners whip want to get their feet wet with assembly programming.

Radasm,Winasm not good enough?

But i think a dark gui and theme is to depressed


Vortex

Hi Thomas,

Double clicking the application, the installer starts to download immediately a file named Win32.7z  You should provide an option if the user is desiring to download that file. Canceling the download, the installer gets stuck. OS = XP Sp3

ThomasJaeger

Yup, I used Delphi 7 with AlphaControls.

I does check for a new version when it starts. If a new version is available, it would prompt you and then download it. Also, it offers to download the masm32 and WinSDK ISO file if you wish. This is during the Setup wizard.

Looks like I forgot to include the " for path names with spaces (c:\program files...) hence the c:\program. I will try to fix this later today.

I like the dark theme, that's why I did it. I plan on letting the user change to different themes, though.
http://www.visualmasm.com - a MASM IDE

ragdog

As gui theme use i my own theme from Windows theme
the color syntax of the editor must  decide the user.

But is your project.

greets,

ThomasJaeger

Win32.7z is the win32.hlp file in compressed format. You are right, I'll let the user decide. The thing is that if the win32.hlp can not be found, the F1 help won't work when you try to read more about a WinAPI function. Hmm, maybe I should make it part of the package.
http://www.visualmasm.com - a MASM IDE

dedndave

hi Thomas - welcome to the forum   :t

the project looks great - i know it's a lot of work
these guys will help you iron out the bugs, as you can see   :P

jj2007

Quote from: jj2007 on March 07, 2015, 05:37:33 AM
Looks impressive! Why does an IDE need WriteProcessMemory, a whole bunch of wsock32 functions and the like?

No answer to a simple question?

GoneFishing

@ragdog  and @ThomasJaeger:
   thanks for your  replies

I like the dark color theme , it's eye-friendly and gives  "VS 2012 look and feel" to your IDE. 
Do you plan to add other items to View toolbar menu ? It would be better if we had an opportunity to customize layout , hide output  or project explorer window and switch off the tooltips , for example.

Regards

rrr314159

Hi Thomas, welcome,

I like the dark color also, easier on the eyes. I'm also curious about jj2007's question, undoubtedly there's a good answer but we have a lot of "suspicious minds" (to quote the King - Elvis) around here. You've come to the right place if u want to give your IDE a good workout!
I am NaN ;)

ThomasJaeger

I'm using a third party communications library to download the masm32 or the WinSDK ISO files. I'm also using the same library to check for a new version via a simple http get on my S3 storage. So, I guess it must be using wsock for the communication. The library is made by Eldos, a commercial library (https://www.eldos.com). Does that help?

I can't release the source since I'm using commercial libraries. Hope this helps.
http://www.visualmasm.com - a MASM IDE

rrr314159

Sure, that helps! Personally I don't use IDE's since I'm already confused enuff by Windows, MASM, and Intel - don't need yet another package to get confused by. But I know a lot of people like them. jj2007's the expert; wrote the RichMASM editor, among other things; and if he's satisfied, so am I.

QuoteLooking around, I was not impressed with the existing IDE's available...

If you haven't already, check out EasyCode, RadAsm, WinAsm (not sure if RichMASM qualifies as an "IDE"). There are people here who like these and u could explain what's better/different about your approach. (One thing, they don't all support ML64). Of course u already have lots to do, just a suggestion for the future. But a basic feature comparison would be cool.

But, concerning extra features - I would much rather have a product that does what it does 100% reliably, than one that does 3 times as much 33% of the time

I admire your initiative, good luck!
I am NaN ;)

Siekmanski

Hi Thomas,
Welcome to the forum.
Good luck with your project. Nice dark color theme.  :t

Marinus
Creative coders use backward thinking techniques as a strategy.