Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!percy!data!kend
From: kend@data.UUCP (Ken Dickey)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms.programmer
Subject: Task/Window Dispatch question: a technical challange
Message-ID: <487@data.UUCP>
Date: 4 May 91 04:41:44 GMT
Organization: Microcosm, Beaverton, OR
Lines: 29



Greetings.  I have an interesting problem.  I am designing a fairly
large Windows application which will consist of a number of tasks
("applications").  I have written a DDE library which implements an
asynchronous protocol {standard Windows dispatch-loop stuff}.  

My problem is that my "clients" (er, the guys I work with--same company)
want a *synchronous* protocol.  They want to have the request-reply
totally hidden within a single procedure call.

Now my model of Windows has all windows within an "application" (task)
sharing the same stack.  If I "block" by doing a GetMessage() within
the library (and throwing out interesting messages not to me), then
either I lock up the entire task (all its windows), or I take only
messages for 'my' hidden DDE Port window and run the risk of violating
the LIFO stack requirement  (window 1 blocks, then window 2 blocks,
then window 1 wakes up then ...Ka BOOM!).

The Windows testing I have done and the (poor) SDK documentation lead
me to believe that I can't reasonably "follow the synchronous model".

My question is "Is there someone out there with an idea on how to
present a synchronous model to a Windows application which really uses
DDEs?".


Thanks,
-Ken Dickey					kend@data.uucp