🚀 go-pugleaf

brydon@dsn.sinet.slb.com writes:
>
>>>        .dsect  x
>>>flink:  .long
>>>blink:  .long
>>>data:   .blkl   n
>>>bits:   .byte
>>>...
[...]
>For the second case of "BLINK = 4", of course you can do this.  But it is the
>programmer's responsibility to know that a longword is 4 bytes, and to get all
>the offsets correct (trivial for this example, but a bit more hairy in a large
>program).  This is largely a  clerical task that can and should be taken care
>of by the assembler.  Also, a data type change of one variable in the middle
>of your struct/dsect causes all following offset values to change.  This
>currently has to be done manually, should be done by the assembler.
>
Not if you use the $DEFINI macro, found in SYS$LIBRARY:STARLET.MLB.
Of course, $DEFINI does the .PSEC $ABS$ and the resetting of ".".  But
it does it all transparently to the programmer (this is from my
LOGIN.MAR):

;
;  Define symbolic offsets for the 7 word array returned by the system service
;  $NUMTIM.
;
        $DEFINI TIM                             ; Structure for $NUMTIM buffer
$DEF    TIM_W_YEAR      .BLKW   1               ; 7 words:      Year
$DEF    TIM_W_MONTH     .BLKW   1               ; ....          Month
$DEF    TIM_W_DAY       .BLKW   1               ; ....          Day
$DEF    TIM_W_HOUR      .BLKW   1               ; ....          Hour
$DEF    TIM_W_MINUTE    .BLKW   1               ; ....          Minute
$DEF    TIM_W_SECOND    .BLKW   1               ; ....          Second
$DEF    TIM_W_HUNDRED   .BLKW   1               ; ....          Hundredths
        $DEFEND TIM

Any of the .BLKx storage directives can be used; changing one in the
middle automatically causes the others to change.

Unless I'm missing something, this should do what you want.

Hunter
------
Hunter Goatley, VMS Systems Programmer, Western Kentucky University
goathunter@WKUVX1.BITNET, 502-745-5251