Article: Q30379
Product(s): Microsoft Macro Assembler
Version(s): 5.1,5.1a
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s):
Last Modified: 06-MAY-2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM), versions 5.1, 5.1a
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYMPTOMS
========
Variable names in the assembler can begin with the following character:
'.'
Structure references use the character '.' as an add operator. This means the
label '.cat' is different than the element 'cat' in a structure. The assembler
can become confused distinguishing the two uses in a program, and can generate
the following error message:
Error A2028: Operator expected' occurs on 'mov ax,duck.cat'
STATUS
======
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem with MASM versions 5.1 and 5.1a.
This problem was corrected in MASM version 6.0.
MORE INFORMATION
================
Sample Code
-----------
.MODEL SMALL
mouse struc
cat dw 1
dog dw 2
mouse ends
.DATA
duck mouse <>
.CODE
start: mov ax,@data
mov ds,ax
.cat dw 4
mov ax,duck.cat
END start
Additional query words: 5.10 5.10a buglist5.10 buglist5.10a fixlist6.00
======================================================================
Keywords :
Technology : kbMASMsearch kbAudDeveloper kbMASM510 kbMASM510a
Version : :5.1,5.1a
Solution Type : kbfix
=============================================================================