TEST (x86 instruction)

In the x86 assembly language, the TEST instruction performs a bitwise AND on two operands. The flags SF, ZF, PF, CF, OF and AF are modified while the result of the AND is discarded. There are 9 different opcodes for the TEST instruction depending on the type and size of the operands. It can compare 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit or 64-bit values. It can also compare registers, immediate values and register indirect values.^[1]

TEST opcode variations

The TEST operation sets the flags CF and OF to zero. The SF is set to the MSB of the result of the AND. If the result of the AND is 0, the ZF is set to 1, otherwise set to 0. The parity flag is set to the bitwise XNOR of the result of the AND. The value of AF is undefined.

Examples

; Conditional Jump
test cl, cl   ; set ZF to 1 if cl == 0
je 0x804f430  ; jump if ZF ==1
 
;or
test eax,eax  ; set SF to 1 if eax < 0 (negative)
js error      ; jump if SF == 1

References