Physical Device Driver Reference

Physical Device Driver Reference

Introduction Physical Device Driver Overview Physical Device Driver Architecture and Structure OS/2 Physical Device Driver Operations OS/2 Physical Device Driver Design Issues Character Device Monitors Installation of External Loadable Device Drivers Physical Device Driver Strategy Commands Device Helper (DevHlp) Services Resource Management Linking Resource Manager Services Generic IOCtl Commands Appendixes OS/2 Version Compatibility Considerations Running OS/2 Version 1.3 16-Bit PDDs on OS/2 Using Advanced Bios Notices Glossary

By IBM

Reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation, © International Business Machines Corporation

Description

Device drivers are software modules that act as an interface between OS/2* (or its applications) and physical devices. In DOS, applications are responsible for knowing and managing all the differences between different devices of like types. The device drivers of OS/2 enable applications to focus on the logic of the actual application and treat devices in a device-independent way.

This device-independence is a fundamental benefit of the OS/2 programming environment. For example, drawing a circle on the screen or on a printer is as easy as opening a device context for the correct output device and performing the drawing operations. By placing the drawing operation into the device context, the programmer does not have to be concerned about whether the device is a printer or a display.

API Information

• The OS/2 API Project - Physical Device Driver (DevHlp) API

Links and Editions

• OS/2 Warp 4.5: Physical Device Driver Reference
• OS/2 2.0 Technical Library: Physical Device Driver Reference (March 1992)