Need help combining two strings TASM - string

Question

I need help in combining two programs I have and I can't seem to get it working for me. Don't get the desired output.
So here's my problem statement:
Combine Two separate strings in a third string and display it, Where the first String is as it is and the second string is reversed.
Example:
Input:
String 1: 'Hello'
String 2: '.dlroW '
Output:
'Hello World.'
end of Example.
Now there are two ways we can go about this.
First: Use string functions.(Preferred)
Now I am fairly new to learning Assembly Language so I would like to do it using string functions so I can learn something New.
Second: Without using string functions.
Another Approach is if someone can help combining two programs, One for the concatenation of the string and the other for reversal, Note that I have written the two individual programs and they run well without any hiccups, I just can't seem to do it together. How I am going about with this is before concatenating the string I am trying to reverse it, then proceeding with the addition of the second string. But I can't seem to get it working. I've tried to the best of my knowledge.
//Concatenation Code
.model tiny
.data
msg1 db 10,13,"Enter the string 1: $"
cat db 30 DUP('$')
msg2 db 10,13,"Enter the string 2: $"
msg3 db 10,13,"Concatenated string is: $"
.code
mov ax,#data
mov ds,ax
lea dx,msg1
mov ah,09h
int 21h
lea si,cat
up: mov ah,01h
int 21h
mov [si],al
inc si
cmp al,0dh
jnz up
lea dx,msg2
mov ah,09h
int 21h
dec si
up1: mov ah,01h
int 21h
mov [si],al
inc si
cmp al,0dh
jnz up1
lea dx,msg3
mov ah,09h
int 21h
lea dx,cat
mov ah,09h
int 21h
mov ah,4ch
int 21h
end`
Here's Part 2
//Reversal Code
.model tiny
.data
msg1 db 10,13,"enter the string: $"
string db 40 DUP('$')
rev db 40 DUP('$')
msg2 db 10,13,"reverse string is: $"
.code
mov ax,#data
mov ds,ax
lea dx,msg1
mov ah,09h
int 21h
mov ah,0ah
lea dx,string
int 21h
lea si,string
lea di,rev
mov cl,[si+1]
mov ch,00h
add di,cx
inc si
inc si
up: mov al,[si]
mov [di],al
inc si
dec di
loop up
inc di
mov ah,09h
lea dx,msg2
int 21h
mov ah,09h
lea dx,[di]
int 21h
mov ah,4ch
int 21h
end
And Here is the code I came Up with by combining those two.
//That's the code I tried Combining
.model tiny
.data
.model tiny
.data
msg1 db 10,13,"Enter string1: $"
cat db 30 DUP('$')
msg2 db 10,13,"Enter string2: $"
msg3 db 10,13,"Concatenated string is: $"
.code
mov ax, #data
mov ds,ax
lea dx,msg1
mov ah,09h
int 21h
lea si,cat
up: mov ah,01h
int 21h
mov [si],al
inc si
cmp al,0dh
jnz up
lea dx, msg2
mov ah,09h
int 21h
dec si
up2:mov al,[si]
mov [di],al
inc si
dec di
loop up2
inc di
up1:mov ah,01h
int 21h
mov [si],al
inc si
cmp al,0dh
jnz up1
lea dx,msg3
mov ah,09h
int 21h
lea dx,cat
mov ah,09h
int 21h
mov ah,4ch
int 21h
end
My Output
As you can see clearly I have failed at doing either task correctly. So can someone tell me where I am going wrong? Or teach me how to do this using the string Functions?

Answer 1

The up2 loop that tries to do string reversal comes too soon!. You've placed it where the 2nd string (the one that needs reversal) isn't even inputted yet.
If you would have written comments in your program, then you would probably have noticed this yourself.
This up2 loop uses the LOOP instruction that depends on the CX register but your program does not assign any suitable value to CX.
And also your working reversal program is using 2 buffers. Why then do you expect the combo to work from a single buffer?
Define the cat buffer so it can hold both strings.
Define the str buffer so it can hold the second string.
lea dx, msg1
mov ah, 09h ; DOS.PrintString
int 21h
lea di, cat
up: ; Input f i r s t string
mov ah, 01h ; DOS.GetCharacter
int 21h ; -> AL
mov [di], al
inc di
cmp al, 13
jne up
dec di ; Throw out the 13
; This marks the start of the reversed string, VERY IMPORTANT
; So don't change DI while inputting the 2nd string
lea dx, msg2
mov ah, 09h ; DOS.PrintString
int 21h
lea si, str
mov dx, si
up1: ; Input s e c o n d string
mov ah, 01h ; DOS.GetCharacter
int 21h ; -> AL
mov [si], al
inc si
cmp al, 13
jne up1
dec si ; Throw out the 13
cmp si, dx
je done ; Second string was empty. CAN HAPPEN!
up2: ; Reversed copying of s e c o n d string
dec si
mov al, [si]
mov [di], al
inc di
cmp si, dx
ja up2
done:
mov ax, 0A0Dh ; Add a proper carriage return and linefeed to the result
mov [di], ax
mov al, '$' ; Terminate the result with a dollar sign
mov [di+2], al
lea dx, msg3
mov ah, 09h ; DOS.PrintString
int 21h
lea dx, cat
mov ah, 09h ; DOS.PrintString
int 21h
First: Use string functions.(Preferred)
Both in the up loop and in the up2 loop, do you find next pair of instructions:
mov [di], al
inc di
Provided
the direction flag DF is clear so that DI can increment
the ES segment register points to #data
you can replace these 2 instructions by a single STOSB instruction.
This is what needs to go on top of your program:
.code
mov ax, #data
mov ds, ax
mov es, ax
cld
If we allowed ourselves to write a silly sequence of multiple std (set direction flag) and cld (clear direction flag) instructions, we could also replace mov al, [si] with lodsb. Care must be taken to keep a valid SI pointer (*).
dec si ; (*)
up2: ; Reversed copying of s e c o n d string
std
lodsb ; Due to STD, SI will decrement
cld
stosb ; Due to CLD, DI will increment
cmp si, dx
jae up2 ; (*)
done:
mov ax, 0A0Dh ; Add a proper carriage return and linefeed to the result
stosw
mov al, '$' ; Terminate the result with a dollar sign
stosb
In code that sets the direction flag (using std) it is best to end with a cld instruction so the direction flag is in the state we most expect!