[comp.os.msdos.programmer] DOS extender advice

acn@cl.cam.ac.uk (Arthur Norman) (02/27/91)

Is there a FAQ file on this? I have a load of C from a non-DOS
world with about 300Kbytes of code and about 2 Mbytes of data - I can
(with some pain) adjust it so that the data space gets allocated by
lots of calls to malloc each grabbing 64Kbytes per time, but I can
not at all comfortably make my code do anything other than (*p) or
(p->component) to grab the data, and I can not predict in advance which
page of memory I will touch.  It is clear that I could buy an expensive
386 C compiler plus Phar Lap, but (a) I am mean and (b) I would quite
like to be able to ship the code I port to others without a large toll
or hassle with licenses for DOS extension.  Is there a standard route,
and do people have experience to relay about (a) the recently announced
Lattice 286 development package or (b) using the extended memory support
in Windows 3, and what C compilers generate protected mode 286 code to
go with same easily.  I do noy (yet..) feel any need or desire to implement
multi-window mouse driven interfaces, and probably rate reliability of
code generated by a compiler ahead of benchmark performance.  Since the
code to be ported is from a non-DOS world I am not fanatical about specialist
DOS interface libraries either - just about the cheapest way of delivering
2 or 3 mbyte applications to customers who have afforded a 286 not a 386
and who MAY be coaxed into buying an extra megabyte or two of memory, which
they will need for Windows in due course anyway.
Thanks.  Arthur Norman