DOS and BIOS Interrupts

 DOS and BIOS interrupts are used to

perform some very useful functions, such
as displaying data to the monitor, reading
data from keyboard, etc.
 They are used by identifying the interrupt
option type, which is the value stored in
register AH and providing, whatever extra
information that the specific option
requires.

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Video Programming
When an application program needs to write characters on the screen
in text mode, it can choose between three types of video output:
 MS-DOS-level access:
Any computer running or emulating MS-DOS can use INT 21h to write
text to video display.
 BIOS-level access:
Characters are output using INT 10h function, known as BIOS
services. This executes more quickly than int 21h, and permits the
control of text color.
 Direct video access:
Characters are moved directly to video RAM (screen buffer), so the
execution is instantaneous.

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 Screen features
• 25 rows (0-24) and 80 columns (0-
(0,79)
79)
(0,0)

(24,0) (24,79)
Screen Buffer
 The screen buffer begins at B800:0000
and it has some rows and columns.
 Number of columns is usually 80.
 Number of rows can be 25 or 40 in most
cases.
 Each line on screen takes 160 bytes (80 x
2 byte for CHARACTER + ATTRIBUTE).

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 Display Modes
Monitors can display both text and graphics and have
different techniques and memory requirements for each.
Consequently, video adapters have two display modes:
text and graphics.
 In text mode, the screen is divided into columns and rows, typically 80
columns by 25 rows, and a character is displayed at each screen position
(character cell).
 In graphics mode, the screen is again divided into columns and rows, and
each screen position is called a pixel (short for picture element). A picture
can be displayed by specifying the color of each pixel on the screen.
Text Modes
 Mode Description Adapters
3 80 x 25 16-color text VGA (most frequently used mode for text
display) Graphics Modes
 Mode(hex) Description Adapters
12 640 x 480 4 color VGA 13 320 x 200 256 color VGA

Video Display Addresses

B800:0000h Standard display address for text mode
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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Option 0H – Sets video
mode.
 Registers used:
 AH = 0H
 AL = Video Mode.
 3H - CGA Color text of 80X25
 7H - Monochrome text of 80X25
 Ex:
 MOV AH,0
 MOV AL,7
 INT 10H

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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Option 2H – Sets the cursor to a specific
location.
 Registers used:
 AH = 2H
 BH = 0H selects Page 0.
 DH = Row position.
 DL = Column position.

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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Ex:
 MOV AH,2
 MOV BH,0
 MOV DH,12
 MOV DL,39
 INT 10H

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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Option 6H – Scroll window up. This
interrupt is also used to clear the screen
when you set AL = 0.
 Registers used:
 AH = 6H
 AL = number of lines to scroll.
 BH = display attribute.
 CH = y coordinate of top left.
 CL = x coordinate of top left.
 DH = y coordinate of lower right.
 DL = x coordinate of lower right.

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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Clear Screen Example:
 MOV AH,6
 MOV AL,0
 MOV BH,7
 MOV CH,0
 MOV CL,0
 MOV DH,24
 MOV DL,79
 INT 10H

 The code above may be shortened by

using AX, BX and DX registers to move
word size data instead of byte size data.
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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Option 7H – Scroll window down. This
interrupt is also used to clear the screen
when you set AL = 0.
 Registers used:
 AH = 7H
 AL = number of lines to scroll.
 BH = display attribute.
 CH = y coordinate of top left.
 CL = x coordinate of top left.
 DH = y coordinate of lower right.
 DL = x coordinate of lower right.

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 Practice/Lab
4. Modify your code so that it performs the following
tasks:
- Clear screen
- Set cursor to the middle of screen Display the characters
(5) in: CHAR_TBL DB ‘A’ ,’B’, ’C’, ’D’, ’E’
on the middle of the screen
5. Compile and run your code

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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Option 8H – Read a character and its
attribute at the cursor position.
 Registers used:
 AH = 8H and returned attribute value.
 AL = Returned ASCII value.
 BH = display page.

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BIOS Interrupt 10H
 Option 9H – Write a character and its
attribute at the cursor position.
 Registers used:
 AH = 9H.
 AL = ASCII value.
 BH = display page.
 BL = attribute.
 CX = number of characters to write.

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Attribute Definition
Blinking Background Intensity Foreground
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0

 Monochrome display attributes

 Blinking
 D7 = 0 - Non-blinking
 D7 = 1 - Blinking
 Intensity
 D3=0 - Normal intensity
 D3=1 - Highlighted intensity
 Background and foreground
 D6 D5 D4 and D2 D1 D0
 White = 0 0 0
 Black = 1 1 1
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Attribute Definition
B ackground Fore ground
B linking R G B Inte ns ity R G B
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0

I R G B Color
 Color display attributes 0 0 0 0 B lack
 Blinking 0 0 0 1 B lue
0 0 1 0 Gre e n
 D7 = 0 - Non-blinking 0 0 1 1 Cyan
 D7 = 1 - Blinking 0 1 0 0 Re d
 Intensity 0 1 0 1 M age nta
0 1 1 0 B rown
 D3=0 - Normal intensity
0 1 1 1 White
 D3=1 - Highlighted 1 0 0 0 Gray
intensity 1 0 0 1 Light blue
 Background and 1 0 1 0 Light gre e n
foreground 1 0 1 1 Light cyan
1 1 0 0 Light re d
 D6 D5 D4 and D2 D1 D0 1 1 0 1 Light mage nta
 RGB values defined by 1 1 1 0 Ye llow
the table to the right. 1 1 1 1 High inte nsity white
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20
DOS Interrupt 21H
 Option 1 – Inputs a single character from
keyboard and echoes it to the monitor.
 Registers used:
 AH =1
 AL = the character inputted from keyboard.

 Ex:
 MOV AH,1
 INT 21H

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DOS Interrupt 21H
 Option 2 – Outputs a single character to
the monitor.
 Registers used:
 AH =2
 DL = the character to be displayed.

 Ex:
 MOV AH,2
 MOV DL,’A’
 INT 21H

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INT 21h/ 01H and 02H
• Input a character
– Step 1: Set AH =01H
– Step 2: : Call INT 21H to display the character
– Step 3: The input character is saved in AL
• To display the entered character
– Step 1: Set AH=02H
– Step 2: Load the character from AL to DL
– Step 3 Call INT 21H to display the
character
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Int 21h/1h 2h

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 Example
reading a characterPrompt •

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DOS Interrupt 21H
 Option 9 – Outputs a string of data,
terminated by a $ to the monitor.
 Registers used:
 AH =9
 DX = the offset address of the data to be
displayed.
 Ex:
 MOV AH,09
 MOV DX,OFFSET MESS1
 INT 21H

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DOS Interrupt 21H
 Option 0AH – Inputs a string of data from
the keyboard.
 Registers used:
 AH = 0AH
 DX = the offset address of the location where
string will be stored.
 DOS requires that a buffer be defined in
the data segment. It should be defined as
follows:
 1st byte contains the size of the buffer.
 2nd byte is used by DOS to store the
number of bytes stored. 28
DOS Interrupt 21H
 Ex:
 .DATA
 BUFFER1 DB 15,?,15 DUP (‘$’)
.
.
 MOV AH,0AH
 MOV DX,OFFSET BUFFER1
 INT 21H

 Assume “Go Tigers!” was entered on the

keyboard.
 BUFFER1 = 15,10,’Go Tigers!’,CR,$, $, $, $

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DOS Interrupt 21H
 Option 4CH – Terminates a process, by
returning control to a parent process or to
DOS.
 Registers used:
 AH = 4CH
 AL = binary return code.

 Ex:
 MOV AH,4CH
 INT 21H

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