Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!interlan.InterLan.COM!backman
From: backman@interlan.Interlan.COM (Larry Backman)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2
Subject: Re: NetBIOS and PS/2
Message-ID: <1990Jun14.123357.13692@interlan.Interlan.COM>
Date: 14 Jun 90 12:33:57 GMT
References: <1191@media01.UUCP> <29900004@suna1> <1990Jun12.201544.23943@tvcent.uucp>
Reply-To: backman@interlan.interlan.com.UUCP (Larry Backman)
Organization: Racal InterLan, Inc., Boxborough, MA (1-800-LAN-TALK)
Lines: 58

>>
>>
>>>-Is there in existence a NetBIOS interface for OS/2? (I heard something
>>> about a product called Novell386...)
>>
>>
>>>-Will the NetBIOS interface (I'm using Intel's PCLink2 now) be 100%
>>> compatible if I use MsDOS on the PS/2 machines?
>>

Whoa....here are some facts regarding NETBIOS OS/2 interfaces.  Anyone from
Microsoft or IBM speak up where I am wrong.

1. NETBIOS under OS/2 provides a mechanism of submitting and receiving
   NCB's to and from the network.  There are three NETBIOS implementations
   under OS/2 that I am currently aware of:

	a:  Microsoft/LAN Manager

	    An appication uses LAN Manager API's to look at and open
		NetBiosEnum, NetBiosOpen, NetBiosGetInfo
	    the NETBIOS driver.  Once opened NCB's are handed to NETBIOS
	    via a NetBiosSubmit ( xx,yy,&NCB) function call.

	b.  IBM Lan Server
 
	    an app. has two choices; it can get at the NETBIOS interface
	    from a devie driver via direct Ring 0 --> Ring 0 calls.  Choice
	    2 is the DLL interface. DLL interface has the following doc.

		1. push NCB's selector value on stack
		2. push NCB's offset value on stack.
		3. call far 'NETBIOS'

	    I guess (IBM comments??) that means that somewhere in IBM DLL's
	    lies a NETBIOS API

	c.  Novell

	    I don't have the doc. in front of me but as I recall...
	    An application does a DosOpen of NETBIOS and then uses the
            same NETBIOSSubmit API as LAN manager to send NCB's back &
	    forth.


	There is a major difference in the contents of the NCB's also.
	Microsoft & Novell use the Post field within the NCB to hold a
	system semaphore.  IBM uses the post field for a function address 
	(as in DOS).

	To the poor programmer trying to write a portable NETBIOS program...
	Have fun!


					Larry Backman
					backman@interlan.com
					uunet!interlan!backman
.