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From: braner@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: What is GDOS?
Message-ID: <1806@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Date: Sat, 13-Dec-86 00:58:49 EST
Article-I.D.: batcompu.1806
Posted: Sat Dec 13 00:58:49 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Dec-86 22:39:51 EST
References: <8612071541.AA13953@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <344@nyit.UUCP>
Reply-To: braner@batcomputer.UUCP (braner)
Organization: Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Lines: 26
Summary: Files? Drivers? Sizes? Procedures? Calls?

[]

What is still not clear to me about GDOS:

Is is a TOS program?  When do you run it?  Where does it install in RAM?
How big is it?  How big are its scratch areas?
How does it link to GEM?  To device drivers?
Can GDOS functions be called from an existing compiler (e.g. Megamax)?
Where can we get documentation about those functions?
What device drivers are available? Where? How much?
Is it feasible for the weekend hacker to write a device driver?
Where do we get documentation on the format of "metafiles"?
etc.

I would be especially interested in simple ways to draw graphics primitives
(e.g. points, lines, circles, text characters...) to a metafile, using C;
and in obtaining a Postscript driver (and, of course, the elusive GDOS
itself - or as the buyer of a non-dev-pak compiler I'm shut out in the cold?).

BTW: what is the status of the official Atari documentation book?

- Moshe Braner

PS:  Thanks to Neil Harris and Jim Titsler at Atari
for answering former questions about the IBM emulator.
(reminder: 8088, 8087 socket, up to 768K, 3.5" OK)