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   Файловые Утилиты    >>    zobj
   
 
 ZObj v1.0 - Binary to Object Converter (like BinObj)   David N.Dubois 06.08.1989

ZObj - утилита для конвертирования файлов данных в объектный вид (.OBJ). По принципу действия аналогична широко известной борландовской утилите BINOBJ.EXE, но имеет некотрые отличия:
- упрощен доступ к подключенным данным
- выше скорость обработки
- меньше объем созданных файлов
- удобнее интерфейс
ZObj is very similar to Borland's BinOBJ utility. It converts a binary data file into an object file that can be linked into your Turbo Pascal program. I call this OBJitizing data. It has a couple of advantages over BinOBJ: - It eliminates the need for complex programming to find the address of your data in an overlaid unit. - The program interface makes more sense, or least it does to me. - It's much faster. - It may produce smaller object files.



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ZObj, version 1.00 by David Neal Dubois THE OBJECT FILE CREATED BY ZOBJ HAS A DIFFERENT PROGRAMM INTERFACE THAN THAT OF BINOBJ. YOU MUST READ THE FULL DOCUMENTATION BEFORE USING IT. This program is hereby donated to the public domain. Donations are accepted. Normally, when distributing a program like this, I add enough comments so that someone who knows nothing about what I'm doing will be able learn all the pertinent details. I like to think that that is a major component of the value of the programs I distribute here. Unfortunately, in this case, I simply haven't had the time to invest. I am putting together this documentation in hurry. I would have liked to, for example, added comments so that someone who was entirely unfamiliar with the format of .OBJ files, would be able to understand exactly what is being done and why. There are also a few features that I would like to add. If you find this program useful and would like to encourage me to add such documentation, or encourage me to add some more features, or encourage me to publish more useful programs like these in the future, I will accept donations. Please send these to: David Neal Dubois Zelkop Software P.O. Box 5177 Armdale, Nova Scotia Canada, B3L 4M7 If I actually receive enough money from anyone to pay for a diskette and a stamp, I'll be sure to send them any updates. (Please, make cheques payable to David Dubois). --------------------------------------------------------------- ZObj is very similar to Borland's BinOBJ utility. It converts a binary data file into an object file that can be linked into your Turbo Pascal program. I call this OBJitizing data. It has a couple of advantages over BinOBJ: [1] It eliminates the need for complex programming to find the address of your data in an overlaid unit. [2] The program interface makes more sense, or least it does to me. [3] It's much faster. [4] It may produce smaller object files. Running ZObj is similar to running BinOBJ. The command line syntax looks like this: ZObj <binary file> <object file> <link identifier> [MaxLEDATA] (The last parameter is optional, and will be explained later.) Note that ZObj does not automatically add any default extensions to your file names. (One of those features I would have liked to time to add, and may be added if I receive any donations.) For example, if you have a binary file called Screen1.DAT, and you want to make an object file called Screen1.OBJ, at the DOS prompt, type: ZObj Screen1.DAT Screen1.OBJ Screen1Link ZObj requires a somewhat different interface in your program than BinOBJ. BinOBJ requires you to define a procedure in your code. The problem is, it really isn't a procedure because it can't be called. I think this doesn't make sense. Then, with BinOBJ you have to find the address of your data using the @ operator on the procedure, which is still a little towards left field if you ask me. Besides, it doesn't work if the data is overlaid. On the other hand, ZObj requires you to define a function in your program. This is a real for true function that you can call. All the function does is return the address of your data. This will work whether or not your data has been overlaid. Also, it uses no undocumented features (unlike the methods described in my write up in PC Magazine.) It should therefore be fully portable to old versions of Turbo Pascal as well as future versions. Let's say for example, the binary data you have OBJitized is of a type called ScreenDataType. You may write: type ScreenDataType = array [ 1 .. 4000 ] of byte; ScreenDataPtr = ^ ScreenDataType; Then you can declare your function as follows: function Screen1Link : ScreenDataPtr; external; {$L Screen1.OBJ} Personally, I think makes a lot more sense whether or not your data is overlaid. When you call function Screen1Link, you get a pointer that you can dereference to find your data. If you have a procedure called DisplayScreen which takes one parameter of type ScreenData, you may write: DisplayScreen ( Screen1Link ^ ); Remember, just because it gives you the correct address for overlaid OBJitized data, doesn't mean that it can keep your data from being shifted in and out of memory. If DisplayScreen, for example, was in another overlaid unit, your data might be swapped out before it had a chance to be displayed. As ZObj works now, you must declare your function to be a FAR function. I did that because I always declare everything as FAR. (This might become an option if I receive any donations.) That means that you can either add the {$F+} compiler option to the function declaration, or choose "Force FAR calls" from the Options/Compile menu. Alternately, you can change the source code. I marked the appropriate place in the code. You have to change the RETF, which is $CB to a RETN, which is $C3. I'll tell you now about that last command line option, MaxLEDATA. Normally, in an object file, an LEDATA record is limited to 1024 bytes. (If you don't know what an LEDATA record is, don't worry, it's not really very important. Please read on.) You can create one that is larger though. If you run TDump on it, or TLink, it will tell you that you are up a tree, but Turbo Pascal will still handle it just fine. The upside of all this, to those who don't know what I'm talking about, is that if you are OBJitizing a large file, say about 50K, and your LEDATA record is larger than 1024 bytes, then your .OBJ file will turn out to be smaller. This is because there is several bytes overhead associated with each LEDATA record. (Incidently, BinOBJ doesn't even use the legal maximum of 1024, but a number somewhat smaller than this.) With an extremely large file, say over 60K, this can make the difference between whether or not Turbo Pascal can actually link in your data. The TP linker will not work with an .OBJ file of larger than 64K bytes, regardless of how much code it would generate. If you specify MaxLEDATA to be a large number, say 65000, ZObj wastes no bytes in creating the .OBJ file, so you can in fact link in more data than BinOBJ will possibly allow. On the command line, type: ZObj LotsO.DAT LotsO.OBJ LotsOLink 65000 That's all I have time for now. If you have any questions or comments you can send them to the address above, or you can usually find me on CompuServe's BPROGA forum, User ID 71401,747. You can leave a message, or EasyPlex me. (Of course, questions accompanied with a donation will find their way to the top of my list.) Oh, incidentally, one of the features I was planning on adding was the ability to create an .OBJ file suitable for a C program. Is any one is looking for such a thing?