New Keywords Near16, Near32, Far16 and Far32 in MASM

SUMMARY

In MASM 6.1 there are four new distance specifiers: near16, near32, far16, and far32.

A near pointer consists of an offset. A near16 pointer is a near pointer that consists of a 16 bit offset. A near32 pointer is a near pointer consisting of a 32 bit offset. A far pointer is a pointer that consists of both a segment and an offset. A far16 pointer is a far pointer that consists of a segment and a 16 bit offset. A far32 pointer is a far pointer consisting of a segment and a 32 bit offset. Segments are always 16 bits. Note: near32 and far32 pointers are only available on 386 and successive processors.

  pointer    size in bits        contain            example
  -------    ------------    -----------------    -----------
  near16       16 bits           offset_16            IP
  near32       32 bits           offset_32            EIP
  far16        32 bits       segment:offset_16       CS:IP
  far32        48 bits       segment:offset_32       CS:EIP