If you're planning to upgrade to NetWare 4.0, you're probably wondering
whether an investment in NetWare API programming is going to burn 
you.  The answer is, it depends.

Novell has done much to insure that NetWare 4.0 will remain backward
compatible with 3.x and 2.x.  However, it isn't clear yet how clean 
this compatibility will be for programmers.

For example, to access a NetWare 4.x server from a DOS workstation,
you must use the NetWare Requester (VLM.EXE) which replaces the NetWare
shell (NETX and its counterparts).  Fortunately, you can use this same
requestor to access a NetWare 3.x or 2.x server (providing what is called
a "bindery connection").  VLM.EXE loads a number of modules depending on
how it is configured by the user or system adminstrator.  Much of the 
backward compatibility is provided by a module called NETX.VLM.

So far, so good.  NETX.VLM will provide a "shell" interface for you, 
so most (if not all) of the NETTO APIs should work.  However, if the user
or system administrator decides that they don't want to use NETX.VLM
(and they eventually will, because NETX.VLM exacts a performance and 
memory penalty) then your NetWare APIs may not work, and you'll have
to recode or update to some new APIs.

Will NETTO be updated to reflect the new APIs?  I would certainly like
to do it, and certainly plan on learning what they are, but with a 
public domain library, there's no guarantee.  So it's your decision.