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Monster Media 1994 #1
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PROBLEMS.FDL
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1994-04-03
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Programs like FileDoor <tm>, MTS <tm>, RFW/RFC <tm> and MTA <tm> (and a
lot of programs from other people) which were written in Borland Pascal
7.0 (and, as far as I can see, those written in TP 6.0 with a special
extender unit for fast calculations, like older FileDoor version),
suddenly worked buggy on some configurations. Thanks to the Pascal
forum and especially D.J. Murdoch, one of the creators of the famous
TP/BP bug-lists), I could finally trap the problem.
BP7.0 (and extender units under TP6, as far as I can see) introduce the
so called 32-bit arithmetic when the compiled program runs on a 80386
or 80486. This will greatly enhance the speed on long integer (LONGINT)
calculations. Now there is a 'slight' problem with these calculations
under BP7.0 when executed in combination with certain operating system
software, like Novell's dedicated file-server version 2.2.
This software has the habit of trashing the extended registers (Novell
2.2 seems to trashes EAX (extended) register at every timer-tick). This
makes long integer calculations (32-bit on a 80386/80486) under Borland
Pascal 7.0 unreliable in these environments. Later Novell versions seem
to have solved the problem.
There are routines available which can help to detect if you have such
a problem (see the BP7BUGS2.xxx file with the Borland Pascal 7.0 bugs).
Also there is an option to ignore 32-bit arithmetic in BP7.0 programs
and to switch back to 16-bit arithmetic. This option is available in
all the new DISP products and will help some users, at the cost of a
little bit of speed, to run these programs EVEN if their environment
contains the bug described above.
In all new DISP-programs, a /8086 (or -8086 which does the same) option
can be coded on the command-line. This option is interpreted AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE when the program comes active. If the option is detected, the
program will switch to 16-bit arithmetic and the calculations will be
correct again.
So far the ONLY problems that were reported, are in FileDoor 3.10 and
earlier versions. It is known as the 'Timeout/Inactivity bug'. When a
user entered FileDoor she/he got an error 'User timeout' or 'User
terminated due to inactivity' and execution of FileDoor was impossible.
Also in RFC/F, MTS and MTA there are 'strange' reports in combination
with Novell 2.2 (and some other software). I imagine that the usage of
the /8086 command-line option will solve at least SOME of these
problems but there can well be other bugs in my programs as well. In
any case, please report these problems !
The usage of the /8086 command-line option has NO meaning when you run
a plain-vanilla DOS environment (with a known memory manager and/or a
multitasking program) or when you have a 8086/80186/80286. Only when
you experience STRANGE problems AND you have a 80386/80486, you can try
to use the /8086 switch.
Currently, the /8086 (or -8086) command-line options are (will be)
available in the following releases of DISP programs:
- RFW 1.30
- MTS 7.81
- FileDoor-LITE 4.10
- MTA 15.58
Based on the result, all other programs will be enhanced with this
option, if there is a need to. The coding will be removed if there is
no need for it anymore. The overhead involved with this coding is
minimal (around 50 bytes of coding).
Thanks. Robert W. van Hoeven