Dead Code

[Biterider]

Hi John
I was wondering if there is a way to remove dead code from a simple asm file, perhaps using one of the UASM features when it analyzes the code on the various passes.
I am fully aware that a solution is to build a library, but I am currently interested in plain files.
Example:

Code Select Expand

C1 = 0
C2 = 0

Code1 proto
Code2 proto

.code

start proc
  C1 = 1
  invoke Code1

  invoke ExitProcess, 0
start endp

if C1 eq 1
Code1 proc
  echo Code1
  C2 = 1
  invoke Code2
  add eax, eax
  ret
Code1 endp
endif

if C2 eq 1
Code2 proc
  echo Code2
  sub eax, eax
  ret
Code2 endp
endif

end

This can work, but it is ugly and error prone
You just have to change the code and it doesn't work anymore...

Biterider

[johnsa]

It's not impossible, but it would be a very large development effort to replicate what you're doing with the equates there. Tracking within a single file might not be the whole picture, if the proc is extern or used after linking. Some code may not be under a proper PROC directive either. I think this sort of feature would be best as a linker/post-linker step to remove unreachable/dead code rather than doing it at assemble/pass time where it may be quite error prone. The equate option seems ok to me, and you'd see similar used in C/C++.

[jj2007]

This can work, but it is ugly and error prone

I use such constructs all the time and am quite happy with it. Indeed, I have a shortcut: if I type if1<space> in my editor, it inserts

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if 1
x
else
endif

It shouldn't be too difficult to write a plugin for QEditor that checks if SomeAlgo proc gets invoked or called in the source. If somebody provides me a big enough source (>5000 lines) that assembles in a standard Masm32 SDK setting and has dead code, I volunteer to write that plugin.

I doubt it's a real problem, though. Even in the 25k lines of my editor's source, there is probably not a single really unused byte. And I assume most of us know what they are doing. It's a different story, of course, if you use large third party libraries...

[Biterider]

Hi Johnsa , JJ
Thanks for the replies.
Plan "B" is something similar to what JJ had in mind, a preprocessor that sets the inclusion flags.
As Johnsa said, there are many considerations to take before disabling a code block.... 

Biterider

[HSE]

Hi

a preprocessor that sets the inclusion flags.

The hard part is to know how macros are expanded. Nidud translated that part of AsmC to assembly. I presume that must be same as UASM.

Some years ago I have an "out of order line" problem, but found the line before assembly AsmC source code was ready 

HSE