🚀 go-pugleaf

Organization: Staff of IBM Fellow - IBM Personal/370
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not those of IBM
News-Software: UReply 3.0
X-X-From: KENKAHN@PKSMRVM.VNET.IBM.COM (Ken Kahn)
References: <9209080106.AA19548@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
            <715981801snx@sugs.tware.com>

In <715981801snx@sugs.tware.com> Hale Landis writes:
>In article <9209080106.AA19548@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> KENKAHN@PKSMRVM.VNET.IBM.COM writes:
>
>  > In <715895337snx@sugs.tware.com> Hale Landis writes:
>  > >Has anyone found the (missing) documentation for the KBD, MOU and
>  > >VIO functions in the OS/2 2.0 manuals?
>  >
>  > These APIs are not documented in any 2.0 technical manual because they are
>  > not supported in 32-bit mode.  They are supported in 16-bit mode which is
>  > what thunking is all about.  This is mentioned in one or two of the ToolKit
>  > Manuals for 2.0 but I forget which right now.  The actual description and
>  > syntax for these APis however must be looked up in the 1.x technical manuals.
>
>Sorry, but I think that is the wrong answer:  I don't have the
>1.x technical manuals and I bet few other people have them!  If
>these are supported, even if for backward compatibility, I should
>be able to find some reference to them in the 2.0 manuals.  Also,
>if they are considered 'old', then what replaces them?  How about
>some documentation to aid us old (read non-GUI) programmers that
>have programs that use these functions?
>
>My bet is that there are far more non-GUI (not PM) programs
>than there are GUI (PM) programs for OS/2.  I also would bet
>that a lot of these will get 'upgraded' to 2.0 without being
>converted to PM programs.  By not including any documentation
>(not even the slightest reference) that I can find in the 2.0
>manuals, IBM is not making life easy out here.
>


First off, there is no *wrong* answer; just answers that you might not like.
By definition (granted IBM's definition) the OS/2 V2.0 platform is a 32-bit
environment that uses PM as it's interface.  The manuals that support this
environment describe the functions (e.g. APIs) that you need to program and
use this environment.  Right or wrong, IBM's position (and I would think that
of MS and others that support GUI environments) is that all progams written
to this environment must use the supported GUI for I/O.  The fact that you
can use 'older' interfaces like VIO and KBD is besides the point.  They are
not part of the 'official' 32-bit PM platform and thus are not documented as
such.

The question you should really be asking, as have a number of IBMers, is why
the decision was made to not support 32-bit versions of the Kbd, Vio and Mou
APIs.  I myself have a number of important programs that use these APIs that
I must convert if I want to stay strictly 32-bit.

There are a few manuals that come with the 2.0 Technical Libary that describe
how to convert the non-GUI calls to 32-bit compatible GUI APIs (I forget which
right now).

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I hope this at least explains
why it's the way it is.