Subj : PL/I v 2.1 FixPak 6
To : Murray Lesser
From : Andy Roberts
Date : Tue Jul 25 2000 05:24 pm
Murray Lesser,
25-Jul-00 21:48:32, Vitus Jensen wrote to Murray Lesser
VJ> 24.07.2000, Murray Lesser wrote a message to David Noon:
Subject: PL/I v 2.1 FixPak 6
ML>> "On OS/2, all 16-bit support has been dropped."
ML>> I read this as meaning that there is no longer access to the
ML>> 16-bit OS/2 API calls :-(. My needs are for KBD and VIO calls,
ML>> since there are things that I wish to do in interactive text-mode
ML>> applications that cannot be done in "native" PL/I.
VJ> ...
ML>> Two questions: What could have led the PL/I perpetrators to do
ML>> such a dirty deed? More important, can you think of any other
ML>> workaround than the one I used (restored the previously installed
ML>> version)?
VJ> I don't know. But remember that 1) IBM always discouraged
VJ> developers to use 16-bit APIs and 2) they dropped 16-bit support
VJ> in the C++ part of VAC++ 4.0
VJ> JdBP coded a DLL to supply 32-bit counterparts of Vio, Kbd and Mou
VJ> (with or w/o unicode support). AFAIR he annouced the package in
VJ> OS2PROG. Look for this
VJ> conapi.zip
--- FWUTILS ---
Conapi.Zip 02-11-100 64,787
JdeBP's 32-bit Unicode Console API, with Developers' Toolkit, which
allows one to eliminate one more 16-bit vestige from OS/2: the 16-bit
thunking code that has to be included in any otherwise 32-bit
application that uses the existing 16-bit Console API that is supplied
with IBM OS/2 (a.k.a. the VIO, MOU, and KBD subsystems) even in the very
latest versions. By using the 32-bit Unicode Console API, applications
can be made purely 32-bit (as long as they don't call any other 16-bit
APIs and don't use the 16-bit Console API internally within their
compiler's runtime libraries, of course). Also included is an
entrypoint-compatible replacement for the broken 32TEXT package from IBM
that used to be on the DevCon CD-ROMs. Instructions are in README.TXT.
(c) Copyright 1999-2000 Jonathan de Boyne Pollard. All Rights reserved.