Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 14:01:52 +0200 (IST)
From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
To: Weiqi Gao <weiqigao AT a DOT crl DOT com>
cc: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: DJGPP under WinNT?
In-Reply-To: <3468E1F0.E84BBBED@a.crl.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.971112140133.20379B-100000@is>
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On Tue, 11 Nov 1997, Weiqi Gao wrote:

> How hard would it be to make the "long filename API" available in
> NT?

I'd guess it's not easy, otherwise somebody would have done it by
now.

> Can someone outside Microsoft do it?

With a lot of work, probably.

> I'll start by begging the DJGPP masters.  I'm also perfectly willing to
> volunteer my time, if it has to come to that.  I'll have to learn about
> all the issues involved, which I understand is not a trivial task.

I don't think you need a lot of DJGPP knowledge at this stage.  The
easiest way to accomplish this would be to write a Win32 VxD that
will handle the LFN API functions of Interrupt 21h.  I don't know
whether RSXNT allows to write VxDs, but if it does, you need to know
how to write a VxD, which calls for a Win32 device-driver guru, not
for a DJGPP guru.

Failing that, you will need to find an NT VxD or service that can be
called to provide LFNs, and then find a way for a DOS program to call
that service.  Again, this requires a lot of WinNT-specific knowledge.