x86 - Assembly - JG/JNLE/JL/JNGE after CMP

Question

I don't understand the JG/JNLE/JL/JNGE instructions, which come after CMP.

for example, If I have:

CMP al,dl
jg label1

When al=101; dl =200.

On what we ask the jg? Is it on al>dl? or al-dl>0?

Same prolbem on the next code:

test al,dl
jg label1

I don't understand what we compare, and on what we ask the "jg".

In other words, I don't understand when we would jump to label1, and when we wouldn't.

Answer 1

When you do a cmp a,b, the flags are set as if you had calculated a - b.

Then the jmp-type instructions check those flags to see if the jump should be made.

In other words, the first block of code you have (with my comments added):

cmp al,dl     ; set flags based on the comparison
jg label1     ; then jump based on the flags

would jump to label1 if and only if al was greater than dl.

You're probably better off thinking of it as al > dl but the two choices you have there are mathematically equivalent:

al > dl
al - dl > dl - dl (subtract dl from both sides)
al - dl > 0       (cancel the terms on the right hand side)

You need to be careful when using jg inasmuch as it assumes your values were signed. So, if you compare the bytes 101 (101 in two's complement) with 200 (-56 in two's complement), the former will actually be greater. If that's not what was desired, you should use the equivalent unsigned comparison.

See here for more detail on jump selection, reproduced below for completeness. First the ones where signed-ness is not appropriate:

+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
|Instr   | Description                  | signed-ness | Flags              |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JO     | Jump if overflow             |             | OF = 1             |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JNO    | Jump if not overflow         |             | OF = 0             |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JS     | Jump if sign                 |             | SF = 1             |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JNS    | Jump if not sign             |             | SF = 0             |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JE/    | Jump if equal                |             | ZF = 1             |
| JZ     | Jump if zero                 |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JNE/   | Jump if not equal            |             | ZF = 0             |
| JNZ    | Jump if not zero             |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JP/    | Jump if parity               |             | PF = 1             |
| JPE    | Jump if parity even          |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JNP/   | Jump if no parity            |             | PF = 0             |
| JPO    | Jump if parity odd           |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JCXZ/  | Jump if CX is zero           |             | CX = 0             |
| JECXZ  | Jump if ECX is zero          |             | ECX = 0            |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+

Then the unsigned ones:

+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
|Instr   | Description                  | signed-ness | Flags              |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JB/    | Jump if below                | unsigned    | CF = 1             |
| JNAE/  | Jump if not above or equal   |             |                    |
| JC     | Jump if carry                |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JNB/   | Jump if not below            | unsigned    | CF = 0             |
| JAE/   | Jump if above or equal       |             |                    |
| JNC    | Jump if not carry            |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JBE/   | Jump if below or equal       | unsigned    | CF = 1 or ZF = 1   |
| JNA    | Jump if not above            |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JA/    | Jump if above                | unsigned    | CF = 0 and ZF = 0  |
| JNBE   | Jump if not below or equal   |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+

And, finally, the signed ones:

+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
|Instr   | Description                  | signed-ness | Flags              |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JL/    | Jump if less                 | signed      | SF <> OF           |
| JNGE   | Jump if not greater or equal |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JGE/   | Jump if greater or equal     | signed      | SF = OF            |
| JNL    | Jump if not less             |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JLE/   | Jump if less or equal        | signed      | ZF = 1 or SF <> OF |
| JNG    | Jump if not greater          |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+
| JG/    | Jump if greater              | signed      | ZF = 0 and SF = OF |
| JNLE   | Jump if not less or equal    |             |                    |
+--------+------------------------------+-------------+--------------------+