[comp.windows.ms.programmer] Communicating between Win and Non-win apps

rob@pcad.UUCP (Ralph Brown) (04/05/91)

I vaguely remember some earlier postings about this, but I don't have
them anymore.

Has anyone got any ideas on communicating between a non-windows app
running in background (386 enhanced mode only) and a windows app? What
I'm trying to do is run a compute bound task as a non-windows app to
get it time sliced, yet allow it to send messages from time to time
to a windows task which will then put information onto a window to
keep the user informed of what's going on.

Thanks,
Ralph

goodearl@world.std.com (Robert Goodearl) (04/06/91)

In article <499@pcad.UUCP> rob@pcad.UUCP (Ralph Brown) writes:
>
>I vaguely remember some earlier postings about this, but I don't have
>them anymore.
>
>Has anyone got any ideas on communicating between a non-windows app
>running in background (386 enhanced mode only) and a windows app?
...

I posted a reqest for information here and several other places a while back.
The only response I got was from Microsoft Online.  It was a disclaimer that
the only way to do it was if Windows was running in enhanced mode and that
it involved a fair amount of assembler.  I've since gotten the assembler
code and it looks quite messy.  (Requires a TSR among other things.)

I'm not at liberty to distribute the source and you may find that the only
way MS will distribute it is via Online.

There is documentation in the Windows 2.x SDK for communicating via the
clipboard.  This may still work.  (I've seen a sample app that used the
clipboard to start a windows program from command.com.)  This may be
of use for prototyping communication, but it's a hack that should not 
-- 
Bob Goodearl -- goodearl@world.std.com
Principal Software Engineer, Easel Corporation