Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!longway!std-unix From: std-unix@longway.TIC.COM (Moderator, John S. Quarterman) Newsgroups: comp.std.unix Subject: Re: (386) Unix (In)compatibilities Summary Summary: ABI doesn't define modem interface; POSIX 1003.1 does Keywords: V.3, 80386, ABI, 1003.1, POSIX, Mindcraft, Conformance Test Suite Message-ID: <240@longway.TIC.COM> Date: 2 Sep 88 14:09:42 GMT References: <1988Aug26.220549.14910@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> <1061@apt.UUCP> Reply-To: Dominic Dunlop Organization: Sphinx Ltd., Maidenhead, England Lines: 53 Approved: jsq@longway.tic.com (Moderator, John S. Quarterman) >Newsgroups: comp.unix.microport,comp.sys.att,comp.std.unix >Followup-To: comp.unix.microport From: Dominic Dunlop [ I'm not quite sure whether this was already posted to any of the other newsgroups, since I don't follow them, but I'm going to play it safe and just post it on comp.std.unix. Let me know if I guessed wrong, Dominic. -mod ] In article <1061@apt.UUCP> brian@award.UUCP (Brian Litzinger) writes: >> [Material from Greg Woods requesting tales of incompatibilities between >> V.3 ports on 80386-based systems.] > >I'm curious if the following does or does not consitute a compatibility >problem: > >Two different versions of 386 Unix V.3: Brand X and Brand Y >Same Application software >Same Hardware >Brand X can successfully talk to my telebit at 19200 baud rate. >Brand Y cannot. > >The problem is caused by Brand Y's serial port driver. > >Does this mean Brand Y is not compatible? After all, every application >that talks to my telebit fails. This sort of issue is the reason behind the incredibly detailed description of terminal devices in the POSIX 1003.1 standard. (Although I'd feel a little more secure in writing that if I had the standard to hand, rather than having left it at home...) Compliant systems should all agree on whether or not they can talk to a particular type of modem. V.3 is not compliant. Yet. To put it another way, how a system drives a modem is outside the scope of the standard set by an Application Binary Interface. By the way, a company called Mindcraft ((800) LE POSIX/(415) 493-7277) has recently introduced a POSIX Conformance Test Suite (PCTS), which it developed under contract to IBM, and which Mindcraft is authorised to distribute. According to a product description picked up by a colleague at the recent Uniforum show in Washington, the PCTS can be run on a non-conforming system in order to determine what must be done to make the system conformant. Yours for $2,500. Looks useful. Those interested should form an orderly line in Palo Alto. (Usual disclaimers apply, particularly as I haven't perused the product! -- Hi, Bruce!) [ There's a story about Mindcraft in the first issue of UNIX Today. -mod ] -- Dominic Dunlop domo@sphinx.co.uk domo@riddle.uucp Volume-Number: Volume 15, Number 8