The DSECT2C Utility

typedefs and Macros

This section discusses the C typedefs and macro definitions that are generated along with the structure definition.

Converting Assembler Language Types to C Language Types

Assembler language supports a much larger variety of types than does the C language. In addition, the best representation of a specific assembler language type often depends on how the data are accessed or modified. Therefore, conversion of assembler language types to C types is not always straightforward. For this reason, DSECT2C constructs typedefs for some types. This allows a clearer definition of some types, as well as making it easier for the programmer to choose a different C type if necessary. CL8 and AL3 , shown in Sample DSECT2C Output File, are examples of such typedefs .

Since the typedef name can only be declared once, DSECT2C encloses each typedef in preprocessor statements to prevent multiple declarations of the typedef name from occurring when two or more structures are included in the same source file.

Using Symbol Macros

As part of the conversion, DSECT2C generates a macro for each symbol in the DSECT. The replacement list for each macro is the member identifier associated with the symbol. Using these macros to refer to the member is usually easier (and more readable) than coding the member identifier itself. Sample DSECT2C Output File shows examples of such macros.

For example, given the structure SAMPLECB defined in Sample DSECT2C Output File, you can code the following:

#include "samplecb.h"
int f(struct SAMPLECB *s)
   {
   return s->NUMBER; /* better than 's->_s0.number' */
   }

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