Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!motcsd!udc!radium.urbana.mcd.mot.com!dfields
From: dfields@radium.urbana.mcd.mot.com (David Fields)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.amiga
Subject: Re: A3000UX applications
Keywords: What is ABI and are there any for the A3000UX
Message-ID: <2528@urbana.mcd.mot.com>
Date: 10 Apr 91 17:46:16 GMT
References: <1522@ewu.UUCP> <8823@gollum.twg.com>
Sender: netnews@urbana.mcd.mot.com
Reply-To: dfields@urbana.mcd.mot.com
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In article <8823@gollum.twg.com>, david@twg.com (David S. Herron) writes:
|>ABI specifies the `numbers' for the system calls & what system
|>calls are there & what arguments they take & such.  I suppose it
|>also specifies things about shared libraries and who knows what else.

Well not really.  The ABI is split into a generic section and an
architecture specific section.  It specifies among other things,
application packaging and installation, call return sequences,
the memory map for a process and header file information neccessary
for compatability between different vendors shared libraries.

An ABI application must be dynamically linked with a subset of
libc reffered to as libsys.  Libsys contains all of the system
calls available to ABI compliant program.  In other words,
an ABI compliant program cannot contain a direct system call
which means neither system call numbers nor even mechanisms
need be the same on ABI compliant systems.

The ABI's are a great idea but do require alot of work by
the respective companies to find and fix compatability problems.
This can be seen by the amount of work being but into the
88k ABI effort via 88open and it's members.
                            
Dave Fields // Motorola Computer Group // dfields@urbana.mcd.mot.com