Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!oliveb!pyramid!voder!kontron!optilink!cramer
From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: How to Trap Runtime System Error under MSC?
Message-ID: <1854@optilink.UUCP>
Date: 19 Jan 88 18:56:59 GMT
References: <11279@brl-adm.ARPA>
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA
Lines: 25

> Michael Harris asks,
> 
> >Can anyone tell me how to trap Microsoft C "serious runtime errors", e.g.,
> >"Error 2000 Stack Overflow", before they print to the terminal screen?
> 
> The answer to this is somewhat complex.
> 
> Microsoft C uses a subroutine called "__chkstk" to allocate space for
> temporaries on the stack.  This routine also checks to determine whether the SP
> register would be decremented below its lowest safe value, and prints the cited
> error message if it is.  Thus, there is no direct way to "trap" this in the
> parent program.
> 
> There is, however, light at the end of this tunnel.  You could rewrite __chkstk
> (use MASM, of course) to provide the kind of communication between the child and
> the parent that you want, and rebuild your child program(s) using the __chkstk
> object module to override inclusion of the Microsoft version of the routine.
> 
> 	- Al

You might find out if the $150 Microsoft charges for runtime library
routine sources includes __chkstk.  If not, take a look at the disassembled
code from CodeView -- it's tiny.

Clayton E. Cramer