Date:  Fri, 03 Jan 2003 08:06:58 -0500
From:  madodelatptdprolog.net
Subject:  [VOICENWS] Net: Odin Application Database

From: tamatgmx.de (Timo Maier) 

About Odin

Odin is the name of the project and software that allows users to run
Win32 (Windows 95 and Windows NT) applications in OS/2 Warp operating
system natively, almost as if they were intended to be OS/2 applications
in the first place. It also makes porting from Win32 to OS/2 easier by
providing a Win32 API implementation in OS/2: the Odin32 API.

Binary compatibility is achieved by converting Windows EXE and DLL files
(applications are made of those) into the format that OS/2 uses.
Conversion can be permanent, or it can be done transparently on runtime,
when an application is started. Conversion and loading of Win32 programs,
basicaly, consists of:

* Converting PE (Portable Executable - Win32 binaries) objects in OS/2's
LX (Linear eXecutable) format.

* Reassembling them in memory in the way OS/2 applications are supposed to
be assembled.

The program that will permanently convert binaries (EXE and DLL files) is
called PE2LX.EXE. However, it's much more flexible to use dynamic,
on-the-fly conversion (via PE.EXE loader) because in that case executable
modules on disk are not changed, and you can use your Win32 programs in
both Windows 95/98/NT and OS/2 from the same space on disk. Both methods
can be automated and made absolutely transparent to users with the use of
the WIN32K.SYS driver that allows OS/2 processes (WPS, command prompt...)
to launch Win32 binaries as any other OS/2 applications, providing
automatic conversion/loading at startup time. Converted/loaded program
will look and behave as any other OS/2 application. There is no emulation
layer, no Windows "sessions" or virtual machines like it was the case with
Win-OS/2 that IBM has provided for running Windows 3.1 applications: the
code is executed directly by CPU with all rights, priviledges and
limitations of normal 32-bit OS/2 programs. In order for program to
operate, it must have access to the same API functions as in Windows
operating system(s). Those functions are called Win32 API (Application
Programming Interface) and Odin provides them, as well. It's the second
part of the project whitch aims at: Providing runtime libraries that
replicate Win32 API functions and that are used by loaded and running
programs. Runtime libraries are supplied as a number of DLL files with the
same names as the ones what are supplied with Windows 95 and Windows NT
because Win32 applications expect to find them under those names. Any name
conflicts (DLLs with same names shipped with OS/2) are resolved during the
conversion/loading process. Odin32 DLLs are pure native OS/2 binaries
which operate in the same way as their Windows counterparts. The set of
API functions that are implemented for Project Odin is called Odin32.

The Odin32 API can also be used (and is used) for native OS/2 development,
primarly for porting software from Windows. Since it replicates the
functionality of the Win32 API closely, a porter can much easier match the
basic functionality and then add OS/2 specific improvements. A very good
example of an application which is using this technology is Opera for
OS/2. It is compiled using Odin32 API and OS/2 specific behaviour was
added as well.

The final goal of the first part of the project is to make every Windows
program load and operate properly, and the goal of the second part of the
project is to create complete OS/2 implementation of Win32 API, which
means that every single API function should be implemented or mapped to
equivalent OS/2 API function via Odin32. Whether those goals will be ever
achieved remains to be seen, but this project gives good results even now,
since no Windows program uses all API functions and very few use even
majority of them. Our projects: Multimedia Sound device driver Programming
Use WarpDriver to write your own device driver on OS/2 System Utilities
Kill your processes with kTaskManager Business mSQL: A free SQL database
system User Interface Reinvent your desktop with XWorkplace Same category:
Operating System Run Linux/Unix applications on your OS/2 PM with EverBlue


http://odin.netlabs.org/

Application database:
http://odin.netlabs.org/?show=appdb

                           

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