C/C++ Users Group Library 1997 August

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File Dated: 11/14/95 ****************************************************************************** Quick Start with XLIB ****************************************************************************** The user manual is largely dedicated to cover specifics of XLIB which will not be of concern to many programmers. A few notes are added here to expedite matters for these programmers. If you are not an assembly language programmer, then consider using EASYX rather than XLIB. EASYX does not require use or knowledge of assembly language. The documentation for EASYX is in the file EASYX.DOC. If you are familiar with assembly language, then start by reading the file DONTREAD.ME. This file is for those who don't particularly enjoy reading 60 page user manuals. It is an excellent tutorial. You will probably be ready to program with XLIB after working through the tutorial. If your program is to be written exclusively in assembly language, then examine the files FLAT.INC and FLAT.ASM. FLAT.INC is an include file which enables flat-model programming in DOS. FLAT.ASM illustrates usage of FLAT.INC. ****************************************************************************** Frequently Encountered Problems When Starting XLIB ****************************************************************************** The most frequently reported problem with XLIB is in fact no problem at all. XLIB presents a registration reminder message when terminating. Some interpret this message as meaning that the shareware version of XLIB is disabled. This is not the case. The shareware version is fully functional. You must register XLIB to obtain a copy of the library that does not present the message. The registration reminder message is actually a confirmation that XLIB has been initiated and terminated successfully. If this message doesn't appear in the shareware version, then the main program almost certainly has a bug preventing clean termination. The second most frequently reported problem is by assembly language programmers who find that attempts to initialize XLIB (with INITXLIB) fail for lack of DOS memory. MASM programmers must remember to link with the CPARM:1 parameter. TASM programmers must resize the memory block into which DOS loaded the program (see EXAMP1B.ASM). ****************************************************************************** Improvements in XLIB Version 5.1 Over Version 5.0 ****************************************************************************** 1) FLAT.INC and PMIO.INC contained statements which assumed the presence of a floating point unit. These files have been generalized under version 5.1. 2) PMXLOAD did not limit file loads to the size of the destination memory block. This bug has been fixed in version 5.1. ****************************************************************************** Registering XLIB ****************************************************************************** XLIB may be registered for $50. Registrants will be sent a registered copy of the XLIB archive along with a printed copy of the user manual. Technical support is provided for both registered and unregistered users; however, if you have used technical support or intend to use it, then the registration fee is $70. There are four ways to register XLIB. We prefer that you use one of the first two methods: 1) By email using MasterCard or Visa: Edit the form in the file EMAIL.REG then email the file to TechniLib. 2) By mail to TechniLib: Send check or money order along with return address to: TechniLib Company P.O. Box 6818 Jackson, Ms 39282 USA Please write "XLIB" on check or include an explanatory note. An email address would also be appreciated. 3) By credit card through Public (software) Library: You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library by calling 800-2424-PsL or 713-524-6394 or by FAX to 713-524-6398 or by CIS email to 71355,470. You can also mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705. The product ID for XLIB is 11077. THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY. Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc, should NOT be directed to PsL. Direct all such questions to TechniLib. 4) Through CompuServe: Use GO SWREG (shareware registration). The program identification number is 1778. The program title is XLIB 5.1. XLIB may be registered for $50. Registrants will be sent a registered copy of the XLIB archive along with a printed copy of the user manual. Technical support is provided for both registered and unregistered users; however, if you have used technical support or intend to use it, then the registration fee is $70. ****************************************************************************** Obtaining the Most Recent Version of XLIB ****************************************************************************** The most recent version of XLIB may be downloaded from: 1) CompuServe - GO MSLANG or GO BCPPDOS then choose ASSEMBLER. 2) Internet - oak.oakland.edu under directory \simtel\msdos\c Expect the archive to be named either XLIBvv.ZIP or DXLIBvv.ZIP where vv denotes the version number. Keywords for XLIB include: XMS, DPMI, VCPI, DOS, EXTENDER, PROTECTED MASM, TASM, TECHNILIB. ****************************************************************************** Communicating with TechniLib Via Electronic Mail ****************************************************************************** You can communicate with TechniLib via CompuServe or Internet electronic mail. Direct CompuServe mail to user ID: 74730,167. Internet users should use the address: 74730.167@compuserve.com. Internet users may also send mail to davidpyles@delphi.com. ****************************************************************************** Instructions for Constructing Protected-Mode Libraries for Microsoft ****************************************************************************** The following batch file uses Microsoft LIB to combine an OBJ file with XLIB.LIB to produce a protected-mode library. Call the batch file using the base name of the OBJ file as the argument. This base name will also be given to the library. It is assumed that the OBJ file and XLIB.LIB are in the current directory. LIB.EXE is assumed to be in the ..\BIN directory. @echo on del %1.lib ..\bin\lib %1.lib /noi +%1.obj+xlib.lib; The following batch file uses Microsoft LINK and LIB to combine an OBJ file with XLIB.LIB to produce a protected-mode library and quick library for Microsoft BASIC 7.0. Call the batch file using the base name of the OBJ file as the argument. This base name will also be given to the library and the quick library. It is assumed that all files apart from LINK.EXE and LIB.EXE are in the current directory. The current directory must also contain the file QBXQLB.LIB (included in the BASIC distribution disks). LINK.EXE and LIB.EXE are assumed to be in the ..\BIN directory. @echo on del %1.qlb del %1.lib ..\bin\link /q/nopackf xlib.lib+%1.obj,%1.qlb,,qbxqlb.lib; ..\bin\lib %1.lib +xlib.lib+%1.obj; The following command may be used to create a quick library from EASYX.LIB. The quick library is called EASYX.QLB: ..\bin\link /q/nopackf easyx.lib,easyx.qlb,,qbxqlb.lib; ****************************************************************************** Instructions for Constructing Libraries and Linking with Borland ****************************************************************************** The following batch file uses TLINK to link an OBJ file from TASM with XLIBB.LIB to produce a DOS-extended executable. The base name of the OBJ is supplied as an argument to the batch file. The executable will be given the same base name as the OBJ file. It is assumed that the OBJ file is in the current directory and that TLINK is in the ..\BIN directory. @echo on ..\bin\tlink /3/c %1.obj,,,xlibb.lib The following batch file uses Borland TLIB to combine an OBJ file with XLIBB.LIB to produce a protected-mode library. Call the batch file using the base name of the OBJ file as the argument. This base name will also be given to the library. It is assumed that XLIBB.LIB and the OBJ file are in the current directory. TLIB is assumed to be in the ..\BIN directory. @echo on del %1.lib ..\bin\tlib /C %1.lib +xlibb.lib+%1.obj Borland C and Turbo C users can compile within the IDE; however, they must use the command line linker because an option will be needed which is not included in the IDE linker. In particular, the /3 option will be needed to enable processing of 32-bit segments. The appropriate commands to TLINK will depend upon the memory model being used. The following batch command will link a program called MYPROG with a library call MYLIB under the large memory model. The batch command must be issued from the directory containing MYPROG.OBJ. It is assumed that TLINK is in the ..\BIN directory and that MYLIB.LIB is in the ..\LIB directory. It is also assumed that all of the C link libraries are in the ..\LIB directory. The resulting executable will be called MYPROG.EXE and the map file will be called MYPROG.MAP. The command line is lengthy and is therefore broken into two lines below. --------------------- model specification . ----------------- obj file name . | ---------- exe file name . | | --- map file name . ______ ______ ______ ..\bin\tlink /3/c ..\lib\c0l myprog,myprog,myprog, ..\lib\mylib ..\lib\fp87 ..\lib\mathl ..\lib\cl ----- . . | -------------- model specification ----------------------------------------- lib file name To link under the small memory model, replace "l" with "s" at the model specification characters. Use "m" for the medium model; "c" for the compact model, and "h" for the huge model. ****************************************************************************** NOEMS and Equivalent Options ****************************************************************************** Early versions of XLIB did not initialize properly when the NOEMS or equivalent option was being used on the memory manager. This problem should be corrected under version 4.1, but we suggest avoiding NOEMS. If the upper memory area used by the page is needed, then try FRAME=NONE or equivalent option. When EMS is present, VCPI has control of the machine. This means that XLIB must work cooperatively with VCPI when performing switches to protected mode; otherwise, XLIB would cause a protection violation (exception #13). VCPI is a subset of EMS. When NOEMS is used, it appeared to former versions of XLIB that VCPI was absent. The latter assumption was false, because the memory manager was hiding VCPI behind the NOEMS option. XLIB then proceeded to perform uncooperative mode switches. This then generated the exception. Versions 4.1 and later take measures to detect a deceptive memory manager. ****************************************************************************** General Debugging Instructions ****************************************************************************** See the file SWAT.DOC for instructions toward obtaining a powerful protected-mode debugger. Neither Turbo Debugger nor Codeview will be able to debug protected-mode instructions. However, one should still be able to use the debuggers for real-mode areas of a program. Simply step over calls to protected-mode procedures. Some debuggers tend to have problems when XLIB is initialized for DPMI. Use VCPI instead. This is done by setting bit 0 of IFLAGS. Of course, a VCPI driver needs to be loaded. EMM386, QEMM386, and 386MAX all have VCPI. VCPI cannot run in Windows or OS/2. In the event one can debug under DPMI 1.0, then it must be remembered that XLIBE and XLIBEB attempt to trap exceptions in real mode, including debug exceptions and breakpoints. This probably will not interfere with the debugger; however, if problems occur, these features should be disabled by setting bit 1 of IFLAGS. This disables all exception trapping and prevents remap of hardware interrupts. ****************************************************************************** Instructions for Debugging in the Borland IDE ****************************************************************************** To run the IDE debugger, XLIB should be initialized for VCPI. However, under the default behavior of the IDE, a VCPI program will not be able to allocate extended memory within the IDE. There are potentially two reasons for this. First, the default behavior of the DPMI kernel under which the IDE operates is to claim all EMS memory and convert it to DPMI memory. Since VCPI seeks extended memory through EMS, no extended memory will appear to be available. To limit the memory consumption of the DPMI kernel, include a statement such as the following in the batch file used to invoke the IDE: set dpmimem=maxmem 2000 This statement limits the memory usage of the DPMI kernel to 2000Kb. If EMS memory exceeds this amount, then EMS memory will be available to the IDE. However, EMS memory will not be available to a VCPI program running within the IDE if the IDE has itself consumed all EMS memory. Therefore, one may have to limit EMS memory usage of the IDE. This can be done in the OPTIONS|ENVIRONMENT|STARTUP menu of the IDE. Typically, EMS memory usage should be set to zero here. ****************************************************************************** Known Bugs/Peculiarities in Memory Managers, Operating Systems, and Compilers ****************************************************************************** QEMM and QDPMI: --------------- 1) All versions of QDPMI appear to map physical address spaces incorrectly. The actual mapping call will succeed; however, this call affects QDPMI internally such that subsequent calls to allocate extended memory do not function correctly. This means that MAPIO and PMMAPIO will not work reliably with QDPMI. 2) QDPMI apparently does not function properly when the NOEMS option has been used on QEMM. NOEMS typically should not be used with any memory manager. If you need the space normally allocated to the EMS page frame, then set FRAME=NONE (or equivalent option) instead of using NOEMS. These problems have been reported to Quarterdeck. Corrections are expected in the near future. 386MAX: ------- 1) 386MAX versions 6.X and 7.0 leave interrupts disabled after calls to certain VCPI memory management functions. This means that when VCPI is being used, interrupts will be disabled after calls to PMGETMEM, PMFREEMEM, PMRESETMEM, and PMMAPIO. 2) 386MAX version 7.0 does not properly report the virtual debug status register (virtual DR6) upon debug exceptions. Consequently, the DR6 value presented by the XLIBE exception handler will not be valid. This version also fails to clear debug breakpoints upon termination, as required of DPMI 1.0 hosts. XLIBE corrects the latter problem by clearing breakpoints itself when terminating. 3) 386MAX version 7.0 apparently mismanages exception #13 from real mode. When the XLIBE exception handler attempts to terminate after such exceptions, a second exception #13 occurs. This has not proven to be a major problem. Simply ignore the second exception. 386MAX version 7.01 apparently corrects all of the above problems found in version 7.0. Qualitas has made a patch available to implement these corrections. Download the patch from the Qualitas BBS (301-907-8030). The patch for 386MAX is M701R.ZIP. The patch for BlueMax is B701R.ZIP. OS/2: ----- OS/2 3.0 (Warp) and possibly previous versions do not preserve the high word of EDX upon certain calls to INT 21H function 3DH (open file). XLIB version 5.0 takes corrective action on this bug. Windows 3.1: ------------ Windows DPMI doesn't handle INT 3 properly. The XLIB exception handler never receives control under this interrupt under Windows. TASM 4.0: --------- TASM 4.0 does not necessarily place DGROUP as the last segment if other data segments are defined after the .MODEL statement; consequently, it cannot be assumed that the stack will be located at the end of the program. This creates a problem when it becomes necessary to determine the size of a program for purposes of resizing the memory block in which DOS has placed it. The easiest way to correct this problem is by using FARSTACK in the .MODEL statement. If the stack must be in DGROUP (NEARSTACK), then all data segments should be defined before .MODEL and should be given a combine type of 'FAR_DATA'. This implies that if XLIBB or XLIBEB are to be used with NEARSTACK, then XLIBB.INC should be placed before .MODEL. ****************************************************************************** Real-Mode Exception Trapping with DPMI Version 1.0 ****************************************************************************** DPMI 1.0 enables XLIBE to trap exception in real mode. This makes XLIBE potentially useful to programmers who would otherwise have no interest in protected-mode programming. Simply place a call to INITXLIB early in your program and link with XLIBE.LIB (XLIBEB.LIB for Borland users) to implement this feature. 386MAX version 7.X is the only DPMI 1.0 host of which we are presently aware. Version 7.01 is an outstanding product. ****************************************************************************** Contracted Programming and Consultation ****************************************************************************** TechniLib will perform contract programming at competitive rates. TechniLib will also serve as a consultant to other programmers. Contact TechniLib through the channels presented above. ****************************************************************************** TechniLib Products ****************************************************************************** TechniLib supplies numerous useful libraries to C, C++, and Assembly language programmers. Libraries are also available for BASIC, PASCAL, FORTRAN, and other languages. Most TechniLib libraries are written in assembly code; therefore, they are extremely fast and relatively small. These libraries can typically be found on CompuServe (GO MSLANG or GO BCPPDOS). Do a keyword search for TECHNILIB. Interested parties may also send inquiries directly to TechniLib by email. Library Description --------- ----------- TRAN.LIB High performance random number generators for uniform and normal distributions. Designed for C and C++. TPROB.LIB Density functions, cumulative density functions, and inverse cumulative density functions for many of the major probability distributions (e.g. Normal, Chi-Squared, Gamma, Binomial, etc.). Includes other probability-related functions as well. Designed for C and C++. TXMS.LIB An interface to XMS (HIMEM.SYS) for C and C++. Provides very easy access to extended memory. BSTR.LIB BASIC-style string functions for C and C++. TCIO.LIB IO functions for C and C++. Featuring tprintf(), a function which emulates printf(), but which enables color printing and other formating features. tprintf() is over 15 times faster than printf(). Also featuring editstr(), a powerful string editor. TDAT.LIB Date and time functions for C and C++. MOPS.LIB Matrix operations library. Written in 32-bit protected-mode using the XLIB DOS extender. Extremely fast and accurate. Contact TechniLib for details. ****************************************************************************** Improvements in XLIB Version 2.0 Over Version 1.0 ****************************************************************************** 1) Procedures enabling protected-mode programming in C using inline assembly. 2) Protected-mode file routines which can transfer extended memory to files or files to extended memory. Sequential and random access are supported. 3) Better interrupt management services. 4) User-defined descriptors. 5) More descriptors. 6) More configurability. 7) Minor bug fixes 8) Better documentation. ****************************************************************************** Improvements in XLIB Version 3.0 Over Version 2.0 ****************************************************************************** 1) Files included in Borland formats. 2) EASYX library included for those unfamiliar with assembly language. 3) MAPIO and PMMAPIO procedures added to XLIB for accessing memory-mapped input/output devices. 4) Better documentation ****************************************************************************** Improvements in XLIB Version 4.0 Over Version 3.0 ****************************************************************************** Additions: The principal improvement in version 4.0 is the inclusion of libraries with exception trapping capabilities. XLIB 4.0 can trap all protected-mode exceptions. If DPMI 1.0 is installed, then real-mode exceptions can be trapped as well. These libraries also contain new functions for managing debug watchpoints. XLIB 3.0 was limited in that it did not allow the main program to spawn other processes. This limitation has been corrected. The global descriptor table has been made public in version 4.0. PMPRINT.ASM has been replaced with PMIO.INC. The latter contains better print routines as well as new keyboard and speaker routines. PMIO.INC is designed for either MASM or TASM. The MOVMEM routine in EASYX has been redesigned to be faster and to be reentrant. This routine may now be called in the main thread, in interrupt handlers, or both. Microsoft BASIC 7.0 files have been included to illustrate usage of EASYX. Corrections: Version 4.0 corrects certain bugs and makes accommodations for anomalies in BIOS and common resident software. The most severe bug in version 3.0 was a mistake in the include file XLIB.INC. The combine type on segment DSEG was set to FAR_DATA, whereas it should have been DATA. A second bug caused the machine to crash with a call to INITXLIB when certain memory managers were used with the NOEMS option. Version 3.0 did not preserve the interrupt flag through mode switches. Instead it always enabled interrupts after the switch. This lead to awkward situations when attempting to use SWITCHPM and SWITCHRM in interrupt handlers. Version 4.0 always preserves the interrupt flag through a mode switch. A bug prevented SWITCHPM and SWITCHRM from being reentrant under VCPI. This bug existed in both versions 3.0 and 3.1. This would have caused a problem if nested mode switches were being performed, as would be the case with calls to DEFLECTPM or other mode switches within interrupt handlers. Certain versions of SMARTDRV.EXE do not restore the global descriptor table register. Version 3.0 was not prepared for this Certain BIOS software interrupts return with interrupts enabled. Neither version 3.0 nor version 3.1 were prepared for this anomaly. It caused the machine to hang upon certain hardware interrupts, keypresses in particular. The other bugs were applicable only when running XLIB in the absence of VCPI and DPMI (HIMEM.SYS only or no memory manager at all). Accesses to extended memory failed in some cases. In some cases the machine was left in an unstable state. ****************************************************************************** Improvements in XLIB Version 4.1 Over Version 4.0 ****************************************************************************** Version 4.1 is minor upgrade. The exception handler under version 4.0 did not properly manage keypresses. This problem has been corrected in version 4.1. A minor bug has also been corrected in DONTREAD.ME. ****************************************************************************** Improvements in XLIB Version 5.0 Over Version 4.1 ****************************************************************************** XLIB version 5.0 is a major upgrade. Changes include: 1) Interrupt handlers for INT 23H (CTRL C) and INT 24H (DOS Critical Error) are included in version 5.0. In earlier version, termination under either of these interrupts left the machine in an unstable state. 2) The FPU interrupt handler has been improved. It now optionally presents a report of the FPU exception which includes the cause and location of the exception. 4) Version 5.0 contains new procedures for handling uncommitted memory. This is a very useful feature, but requires DPMI 1.0 (see below). 5) Earlier version of PMIO did not properly handle rounding in some very rare cases. A number such as 5.999999999 could have been printed as 5.0. The new version of PMIO.INC does not assume that DS contains a flat-model selector. PMIO may therefore be used with any segment settings. Also PMIO contains numerous additional procedures. Those presently using PMIO should consult the comments in this file before using the new version. 6) The archive for version 5.0 contains a new include file called FLAT.INC This file enables flat-model programming under DOS. The file is thoroughly documented. FLAT.ASM illustrates usage of FLAT.INC. 7) Example files for TASM programmers have been modified to use the FARSTACK option on the .MODEL statement. See the discussion below about bugs in compilers etc. for an explanation of this change. 8) Extensive changes have been made to documentation. 9) The availability of a protected-mode debugger is announced. See the file SWAT.DOC for details.