Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!interlan!backman
From: backman@interlan.UUCP (Larry Backman)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: An attempt to rekindle interface discuissions...
Message-ID: <528@interlan.UUCP>
Date: 7 Mar 88 12:36:09 GMT
References: <8803040730.AA11717@trwind.ind.TRW.COM>
Reply-To: backman@interlan.UUCP (Larry Backman)
Organization: MICOM-Interlan, Boxborough, MA (1-800-LAN-TALK)
Lines: 53

In article <8803040730.AA11717@trwind.ind.TRW.COM> karl@TRWIND.IND.TRW.COM (Karl Auerbach) writes:
>How much recursion do you allow within the asynchronous part of the
>lower level service interface?  It seems important that the
>context of an asynch handler be rich enough to let me do sends/closes/
>aborts/etc.
>
>By-the-way, I think this discussion of interfaces is important.
>Thanks to those of you who are trying to get the ball rolling again.
>
>More by-the-way, is the goal a binary interface or a source code
>interface?  (I prefer the former.)
>

	[]

	A vendors view....
	
	I too was at the BOF for sockets in December, and wondered what had
	happened.  We at Micom - Interlan are currently finishing a 
	C callable socket library for our Netware TCP gateway.  It provides
	your basic Bsd 4.3 interface ala..

		s = socket ( addr_family, socket_type, protocol)

		bind ( s, sockaddr, sizeof (struct sockaddr) );

	and so on.

	This approach necessitates the releaseables to be MSC .lib files
	and accompanying source.  The user can then either link the libraries to
	their application, or if they are using a different development
	environment, recompile the source as needed.

	Since we are a gateway, te TCP code resides on the file server, and
	the application does not see packets, nor does it have to worry
	about asynchronous events (for the most part).

	We also ducked on <select> and <signal> as they don't mix well with
	DOS.  Install your own keyboard handler, and forget about <select>.
	We found this the easiest way of building our apps. (FTP TELNET et.
	al.). Signal is ugly in DOS, there is no clean way that we have found..

	Binary interface is difficult.  How do you define a TSR.  A full socket
	TSR might take 100K.  Is that acceptable?a  Binary may make sense for
	a full TCP implementation in a single machine, but makes no sense as
	for a gateway!

	So anyways, count me in on any socket religious wars that ensue. It
	should be fun..


						larry Backman
						Micom - Interlan