Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 beta 3/9/83; site microsoft.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!qantel!hplabs!tektronix!uw-beaver!microsoft!gordonl
From: gordonl@microsoft.UUCP (Gordon Letwin)
Newsgroups: net.arch
Subject: 286 stack overflow
Message-ID: <8780@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 6-Sep-85 11:02:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: microsof.8780
Posted: Fri Sep  6 11:02:18 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Sep-85 02:10:39 EDT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Lines: 17


      From: brownc@utah-cs.UUCP (Eric C. Brown)

      At the risk of being flamed by all the 68K lovers, I must point
      out that the Intel 286 has stack overflow detection "for free"
      as part of their segment management (and may also have dedicated
      stack overflow/underflow detection); it can be used by setting
      the stack limit <64K, and when the stack overflows to 64K, you
      get an segment limit exception.

At the risk of being flamed at by all the 86 lovers, I must point out
that the 286 does have stack overflow detection iff you put the stack
in a seperate segment (a very expensive proposition if you're
programming in C), but you can't expand the stack segment when it
overflows.  Bottom line, the good news is that you can tell the stack
overflowed, the bad news is that you must now abort the program.

	Gordon Letwin