You are likely to have problems if you include some character variables in the data structure, as in Example 2.20. This is because a lot of words are misaligned.

StartOfData     EQU     0x1000
EndOfData       EQU     0x2000
                MAP     StartOfData
Char            FIELD   1
Char2           FIELD   1
Char3           FIELD   1
Integer         FIELD   4       ; alignment = 3
Integer2        FIELD   4
String          FIELD   MaxStrLen
Array           FIELD   ArrayLen*8
BitMask         FIELD   4
EndOfUsedData   FIELD   0
                ASSERT  EndOfUsedData <= EndOfData

You cannot use the ALIGN directive, because the ALIGN directive aligns the current location within memory. MAP and FIELD directives do not allocate any memory for the structures they define.

You could insert a dummy FIELD 1 after Char3 FIELD 1. However, this makes maintenance difficult if you change the number of character variables. You must recalculate the right amount of padding each time.

Example 2.21 shows a better way of adjusting the padding. The example uses a FIELD directive with a 0 operand to label the end of the character data. A second FIELD directive inserts the correct amount of padding based on the value of the label. An :AND: operator is used to calculate the correct value.

The (-EndOfChars):AND:3 expression calculates the correct amount of padding:

This automatically adjusts the amount of padding used whenever character variables are added or removed.

StartOfData     EQU     0x1000
EndOfData       EQU     0x2000
                MAP     StartOfData
Char            FIELD   1
Char2           FIELD   1
Char3           FIELD   1
EndOfChars      FIELD   0
Padding         FIELD   (-EndOfChars):AND:3
Integer         FIELD   4
Integer2        FIELD   4
String          FIELD   MaxStrLen
Array           FIELD   ArrayLen*8
BitMask         FIELD   4
EndOfUsedData   FIELD   0
                ASSERT  EndOfUsedData <= EndOfData