Assembly: compile a COM program

Question

Hi! Can COM program be 32 bit?

How can I compile COM program? I have TLINK32 and TASM32.

tasm32 \t alex_7.asm
pause
tlink32 alex_7.obj 
pause
td32 main.exe

I ve got following error:

Fatal: 16 bit segments not supported in module alex_7.asm

I have DOSBOX and I'am running Windows 7 x64

I got same when I try to compile my program inside DOSBOX

Answer 1

COM objects can most definitely be 32 bit, the problem you're having is that you're using 16bit code on a 64 bit system. You can only run 32bit and 64bit programs under a 64 bit system (but you can't mix them up together under most scenarios).

Answer 2

No, .com files are small (max. 64kb) DOS/16-bit-era executable files, with a segmented memory model. In MASM, you'd use .MODEL TINY, ORG 100h and fit everything into the code segment. As far as I know, there are no 32-bit .com files.