CIS-77 Home http://www.c-jump.com/CIS77/CIS77syllabus.htm

Microsoft Visual C++ Development Environment

1. Creating New Project
2. Project Type, Name, and Location
3. Project Wizard Dialog
4. Project Wizard Application Settings
5. Empty Project Directory Structure
6. Download M1.ASM source File
7. Solution Explorer
8. Adding .ASM Source File to the Project
9. Matching Custom Build Rules
10. Adding Sample Code
11. Building Program
12. Project Directory Structure
13. Changing Project Options
14. Assembling and Linking From the Command Line
15. OllyDbg Debugger for Microsoft Windows
16. Debugging M1.EXE with OllyDbg
17. Debugging M1.EXE with OllyDbg, Cont.

1. Creating New Project

• To use Microsoft Macro Assembler MASM and Visual Studio user-mode debugger, we can create and configure a Visual Studio C++ project:

  • Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

  • From the top menu, select File -> New -> Project...

   

   

2. Project Type, Name, and Location

• Click Project Type -> Visual C++

• Click Templates -> Win32 Console Application

• Type Name: M1

• Type Location: C:\CIS77\Labs

• Uncheck Create directory for solution check box -  we don't need this! 

• Click OK.

   

   

3. Project Wizard Dialog

• Project Wizard Dialog Opens. Click Next.

   

   

4. Project Wizard Application Settings

•  Important!  Make sure to do these steps in order:

  1. Uncheck Precompiled header checkbox -  we don't need this! 

  2. Check Empty project checkbox.

• Click OK.

   

   

5. Empty Project Directory Structure

• Empty project structure on the harddrive might look like this:

   

   

6. Download M1.ASM source File

• Download assembly program source file M1.ASM and save it into the project directory:

      C:\CIS77\Labs\M1\M1.ASM
  

   

7. Solution Explorer

• Go back to Visual Studio.

• Click Solution Explorer icon on the standard toolbar, or click View menu -> Solution Explorer:

   

   

8. Adding .ASM Source File to the Project

• Inside Solution Explorer, right-click Source Files folder, Add... -> Existing Item.

• Select M1.ASM file and click Add button:

9. Matching Custom Build Rules

• Once you add an .ASM file to the project, the Custom Build Rules dialog opens.

• Simply accept the default MASM rule by selecting it and clicking OK button.

• Note: if you checked Do not show this again checkbox by accident, you can re-enable this dialog by Tools menu -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> Show Build Rule Dialog.

   

   

10. Adding Sample Code

• In Solution Explorer, double-click the M1.ASM to open the M1.ASM source file.

• This is a skeleton Assembly program:

   ; CIS-77
   ; your_program_name.asm
   ; Brief description of what the program does
  
   .386                ; Tells MASM to use Intel 80386 instruction set.
   .MODEL FLAT         ; Flat memory model
   option casemap:none ; Treat labels as case-sensitive
  
   .CONST          ; Constant data segment
  
   .STACK 100h     ; (default is 1-kilobyte stack)
  
   .DATA           ; Begin initialized data segment
      
   .CODE           ; Begin code segment
   _main PROC      ; Beginning of code
  
      ret
      
   _main ENDP
   END _main       ; Marks the end of the module and sets the program entry point label
  

   

11. Building Program

• You should now be able to build the program:

  • Click Build menu -> Build Solution.

  • Press F11 key to start the program in Debug mode. Console window will open, and debugging session will stop at the NOP instruction.

  • Right-click the nop instruction and select Go To Disassembly.

  • Press F10 key to step over to the next instruction, RET.

  • Press F5 key to continue. The program will finish and return back to the design mode.

• Congratulations, you can now edit, assemble, link, and debug your assembly programs!

   

12. Project Directory Structure

• Once program is built, the directory structure looks like this:

   

   

13. Changing Project Options

• By default, Microsoft IDE instructs the linker to generate and embed a .NET manifest into our program.

  • (Manifest is a text file containing metadata about .NET assemblies, which have nothing to do with MASM Assembler!

  • Manifest describes the relationship and dependencies between .NET application components, versioning information, scope information, and the security permissions.)

•  We don't need  any manifests in our executable!

• To remove the manifest, click
  Project menu -> M1 Properties -> Configuration Properties, then

  • -> Linker -> Manifest File -> Generate Manifest -> No.

  • -> Manifest Tool -> Input and Output -> Embed Manifest -> No.

  Click OK.

   

  Note that there are also Microsoft Macro Assembler property pages at the bottom of the Configuration Properties. Those options we can change later as necessary.

   

14. Assembling and Linking From the Command Line

• Start command line window on your system: Start -> Run, type cmd, then hit the Enter key.

• Command window will open.

• To build the M1.EXE program from the command window, execute the following commands:

  "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\Tools\vsvars32.bat"
  cd C:\CIS77\Labs\M1\Debug
  ML /coff /c /Fl ..\M1.ASM
  LINK /debug /subsystem:console /entry:main /out:M1.exe M1.obj
  

• Note: on 64-bit systems the location of Visual Studio may be different:

  "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\Tools\vsvars32.bat"
  

• To execute your program, type

  m1.exe
  

  at the command prompt.

   

15. OllyDbg Debugger for Microsoft Windows

•   OllyDbg is a debugger that emphasizes binary code analysis.

• Version 1.10 is the final 1.x release; Version 2.0 is in development.

• Download OllyDbg 1.10 (final version).

• OllyDbg does not require installation; unzip the files in any place on your harddrive and you are ready to go!

   

16. Debugging M1.EXE with OllyDbg

• Start OLLYDBG.EXE.

• Note: on Vista you should right-click and select Run as administrator, otherwise some debugging features may not work correctly.

• Click File menu -> Open, and point to

      C:\CIS77\Labs\M1\Debug\M1.exe
  

• Debugging session begins immediately:

   

   

17. Debugging M1.EXE with OllyDbg, Cont.

• Click Debug menu -> Execute till user code (ALT+F9).

• Debugging mode should stop at the NOP instruction.

• Press F8 key to step over to the next instruction, RET.

• To restart the program, press CTRL+F2 (or use Debug menu).

• To stop and close M1.exe, press ALT+F2 (or use Debug menu).

• Congratulations, you can now assemble and link on the command line, as well as debug with OllyDbg!