home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
HPAVC
/
HPAVC CD-ROM.iso
/
SICE-DOC.ZIP
/
DOC-TXT.ZIP
/
CHAP6
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-05-24
|
14KB
|
345 lines
SECTION III - Support Features
CHAPTER 6
Soft-ICE Initialization Options
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Loading from the DOS Prompt
6.3 Loading Soft-ICE as a Loadable Device Driver
6.3.1 Soft-ICE Loading Switches
6.4 The Soft-ICE Initialization File S-ICE.DAT
6.4.1 Configuration Options
6.4.2 Function Key Assignments
6.4.3 Initialization Command Sequence
165
6.1 Introduction
The Soft-ICE program file (S-ICE.EXE) can be loaded as a loadable device
driver in CONFIG.SYS or as a program from the DOS command line. To get the
full power of Soft-ICE, it must be initially loaded as a device driver in
CONFIG.SYS. However, there may be circumstances when you might want to run
Soft-ICE from the DOS prompt or a batch file, such as:
* You do not have extended memory in your system
Soft-ICE can only load as a loadable device driver
if you have extended memory.
* You want to take up ZERO bytes of conventional
memory. When loaded as a device driver,
Soft-ICE occupies approximately 2K of
conventional memory.
* You only need to use Soft-ICE occasionally and
there are no other programs using extended
memory.
In some cases you may need some of the features that require Soft-ICE to
be loaded in CONFIG.SYS but do not want Soft-ICE to be resident all of the
time. In this case Soft-ICE can be loaded in CONFIG.SYS to reserve
extended memory, and then disabled, by using the /UN switch, until Soft-
ICE is required. See section 6.3.1 for more information about the /UN
switch.
6.2 Loading Soft-ICE from the DOS Prompt
You can NOT enable all of Soft-ICE's features when loading from the DOS
prompt. If you will be using Soft-ICE as a stand-alone debugger, it is
recommended you load Soft-ICE in the CONFIG.SYS file.
166
To load Soft-ICE from the DOS prompt type:
S-ICE
In systems with no extended memory present, Soft-ICE loads itself at the
highest memory location possible. The memory used by Soft-ICE is then
'mapped out', making it invisible to DOS programs. Since the total memory
visible to DOS and its programs is less after Soft-ICE loads, it is
recommended that you load Soft-ICE before any TSR's control programs.
In systems with extended memory, you should only load Soft-ICE from the
DOS prompt if you are not using extended memory for anything else (e.g.,
VDISK, CACHE, HIMEM...). When you initially load Soft-ICE from the command
line or from a batch file, Soft-ICE will prompt you with a warning
message. This warning message is just to remind you that Soft-ICE will
overwrite the highest portion of extended memory when it loads. You can
suppress this warning prompt with the EXTENDED option in the Soft-ICE
configuration file S-ICE.DAT. For more information about the EXTENDED
option, see section 6.4.1.
6.3 Loading Soft-ICE as a Loadable Device Driver
In order to use all of the Soft-ICE features, you must first load Soft-ICE
as a loadable device driver in your CONFIG.SYS file. The features this
makes possible are:
* Coexisting with other software that uses extended
memory.
Loading as a device driver allows Soft-ICE to
manage extended memory so you can run Soft-ICE
with programs that use extended memory, such
VDISK, CACHE and HIMEM.
167
* Symbolic and source level debugging
Loading as a device driver allows Soft-ICE to
allocate an extended memory buffer for symbols
and source information.
* Back trace ranges and the SNAP command
Loading as a device driver allows Soft-ICE to
allocate an extended memory buffer for a back
trace buffer. This buffer is also used for the
Soft-ICE SNAP command.
* Enabling Soft-ICE's EMM 4.0 capability
* Running Soft-ICE with MagicCV or MagicCVW
Note :
When loaded as a device driver in CONFIG.SYS, Soft-ICE allocates the
highest portion of extended memory for itself and its associated
components, so there can be no memory conflicts. S-ICE.EXE must be loaded
in CONFIG.SYS before any other driver that allocates extended memory
loaded (e.g., VDISK.SYS, RAMDRIVE.SYS). Generally Soft-ICE works best if
it is the first loadable device driver installed in CONFIG.SYS.
6.3.1 Soft-ICE Loading Switches
One or more loading switches can follow S-ICE.EXE in CONFIG.SYS. These
switches allow you to customize the way extended memory will be reserved
by Soft-ICE. The switches all must begin with a / character. The loading
switches are:
* /EXT XXXX -- Informs S-ICE.EXE to reserve
XXXX Kilobytes of extended memory for other
DOS programs that use extended memory (e.g.,
VDISK, CACHE, HIMEM,...). If the /EXT
168
switch is not present, then any extended memory not used by Soft-ICE and
its associated components will be left as standard extended memory, but
the amount can not be guaranteed. The /EXT switch is useful because it is
sometimes difficult to determine exactly how much memory being used by
Soft-ICE and its associated components. Using the /EXT switch will
guarantee a specified amount is available for other programs that use
extended memory.
* /SYM XXXX -- Informs S-ICE.EXE to reserve
XXXX Kilobytes of extended memory for symbols
and source usage. If XXXX is not specified, then
all remaining extended memory is used for
symbols. Enough memory must be allocated for
your .SYM file and all source files. For more
information about using symbols and source, see
chapter 7.
* /TRA XXXX -- Informs S-ICE.EXE to reserve
XXXX Kilobytes of extended memory for a back
trace history buffer. This buffer is used for back
trace ranges and for the SNAP command. If
XXXX is not specified, then 10K of extended
memory is automatically reserved for the buffer. If
you do not want any memory reserved for a back
trace buffer, use /TRA 0. For more information
about using back trace ranges, see chapter 9.
* /MCV XXX -- Informs S-ICE.EXE to reserve
XXX Kilobytes of extended memory for MagicCV
or MagicCVW. The minimum amount of extended
memory you can specify is 280K and the maximum
is 620K. If XXX is not specified, S-ICE.EXE will
reserve the remaining memory, between 280K and
620K. See chapter 10 for more information about
running Soft-ICE with MagicCV or MagicCVW.
*/EMM XXXX -- Informs S-ICE.EXE to turn
XXXX Kilobytes of extended memory into EMM
169
4.0 conforming expanded memory. If XXXX is
specified, then all remaining memory is used as
expanded. See chapter 8 for more information
about expanded memory support.
* /UN -- Informs S-ICE.EXE to enter protected
mode, reserve any needed extended memory, then
exit protected mode and unload itself. This switch
should be used when you are loading S-ICE.EXE
as a loadable device driver, but you don't want
your system to remain in protected mode. This
switch will reserve memory for Soft-ICE, and you
must execute S-ICE.EXE from the DOS prompt
when you are ready to use Soft-ICE.
Soft-ICE reserves extended memory in the following order, regardless of
the order the switches are specified:
Reserve approximately 120K for S-ICE.EXE.
Reserve memory for the /EXT switch if present.
Reserve memory for the /SYM switch if present.
Reserve memory for the /TRA switch if present.
if it is not present, default to reserve 10K for
the back trace buffer.
Reserve memory for the /MCV switch if present.
Reserve memory for the /EMM switch if present.
If available memory runs out while trying to reserve memory for a switch
in the above sequence, then S-ICE.EXE does the following:
1. The remaining extended memory is allocated to
switch being processed when memory runs out.
2. No memory will be reserved for the remaining
switches.
170
Note:
If the /MCV or /EMM switch is present, a additional 64K of extended memory
is reserved for a DMA holding buffer.
The switches can be placed in any order following DEVICE = S-ICE.EXE.
example is:
DEVICE = S-ICE.EXE /TRA50 /EMM 500 /SYM 2048
If four megabytes of extended memory are available, this example will
reserve approximately 120K for Soft-ICE, 2 megabytes for symbols, 50K for
a back trace history buffer, 500K for expanded memory and leave
approximately 1.3 megabytes for other extended memory programs. Note that
Soft-ICE will load into the highest portion of extended memory, leaving
the remaining memory starting at 100000H (one megabyte mark).
6.4 The Soft-ICE Initialization File S-ICE.DAT
Soft-ICE has several load options. These options are specified by placing
special commands in an initialization file named S-ICE.DAT.
S-ICE.DAT is an ASCII text file that Soft-ICE parses at load time. This
file can contain function key assignment an auto-start string and various
configuration options. The file can be created and edited with any DOS
text editor. When loading Soft-ICE from the command line, S-ICE.DAT must
be placed in the current directory or in a directory that is accessible
through your current PATH. When Soft-ICE is loaded as a device driver in
CONFIG.SYS, S-ICE.DAT must be in the same directory where S-ICE.EXE is
located.
171
There are three categories of commands that can be included in the S-
ICE.DAT initialization file:
* Special configuration options
* Function key assignments
* Initialization command sequence
6.4.1 Special Configuration Options
Any of the following configuration options that are needed should each be
placed on a separate line in the S-ICE.DAT file.
* COMPAQ -- Compaq 386 and 386SX computer
and some Compaq compatible computers
(including computers containing Micronix
motherboards) have 384K of non-contiguous
extended memory. The COMPAQ option is
necessary if you want Soft-ICE to use this memory.
Note that the COMPAQ option is the same as the
/C command line parameter in Soft-ICE 1.X.
* NOLEDS -- The NOLEDS option tells Soft-ICE
not to set and clear the keyboard LEDs while the
Soft-ICE window is up. On some keyboards the
are timing problems that will cause Soft-ICE to
lose synchronization with the keyboard. If
Soft-ICE hangs when you are in the Soft-ICE
window use this option. Note that the NOLEDS
option is the same as the /L command line
parameter in Soft-ICE 1.X.
* NOTVGA -- The NOTVGA option allows
Soft-ICE to run on BIOS compatible VGA cards.
Many VGA cards are not compatible with IBM
VGA at the hardware level. These cards support
VGA at the BIOS level only. Use this switch if you
have one of those video adapters. Note that the
172
NOTVGA option is the same as the /V command
line parameter in Soft-ICE 1.X.
* EXTENDED -- The EXTENDED option causes
Soft-ICE to load directly into extended memory
without prompting the user with a warning
message. It should be used if you are loading
Soft-ICE initially from the DOS prompt and do
want to be prompted, and you know nothing else
using extended memory. Note that the
EXTENDED option is the same as the /E
command line parameter in Soft-ICE 1.X.
6.4.2 Function Key Assignments
One or more Soft-ICE commands can be assigned to any function key at load
time. See the description of the FKEY command in section 5.8 (Debugger
Customization Commands) for a description of assigning function keys from
the Soft-ICE command line.
The syntax for assigning a function key name in S-ICE.DAT is :
function-key-name = "string"
function-key-name -- F1, F2... F12.
string -- The string may consist of any valid
Soft-ICE commands and the special
characters ^ and ;. A ^ is placed in
the string to make a command
invisible. A ; is placed in the string
denote a carriage return. The string
must be enclosed in double quotes.
An example function key assignment in S-ICE.DAT is:
F12 = "D 100;"
173
This will assign the Soft-ICE dump command to function key 12. When F12 is
pressed Soft-ICE will dump at offset 100H in the current data segment. The
semi-colon following the 100 represents the ENTER key.
6.4.3 Initialization Command Sequence
A sequence of commands can be automatically executed when Soft-ICE loads.
This is useful for customizing Soft-ICE to meet your needs. For example,
you might set up windows and change the default hot key sequence.
The syntax for setting up an initialization command sequence in S-ICE.DAT
is:
INIT = "assignment-string"
assignment string -- The string consists of any valid
Soft-ICE commands and the special
characters ^ and ;. A ^ is placed in
the string to make a command
invisible. A; is placed in the string
denote a carriage return. The string
must be enclosed in double quotes.
An example initialization command sequence in S-ICE.DAT is:
INIT = "WIN; WR; WD 1; WC 12; ALTKEY CTRL X;"
This example will put the Soft-ICE window in full screen mode, create a
register window, create a data window one line long, create a code window
12 lines long, and change the hot key sequence to CTRL X.
Sample S-ICE.DAT
A sample S-ICE.DAT initialization file is included on the distribution
diskette. This sample assigns the function keys
174
so they are used in a similar manner as the function keys in Microsoft's
CodeView debugger. This sample S-ICE.DAT should also be used as is for the
tutorial in chapter 3.
175
Page 176 is blank
176