Break the 640K Barrier and Get GUI Power for your 32-Bit DOS Applications

Phar Lap’s TNT DOS Extender lets you build a Windows graphical user interface (GUI) for your 32-bit DOS extended applications without having to rewrite the entire program! Using Microsoft’s Visual Basic, you can quickly and easily create a Windows front end while keeping your 32-bit extended DOS engine. For developers with "legacy" programs or for those who want the look of Windows without the time-consuming effort of writing a new API, Phar Lap’s TNT is the answer!

TNT lets you use Borland C++ 4.0 or Microsoft Visual C++ 32-Bit Edition to bring unprecedented power to 32-bit DOS! Break the 640K DOS barrier, build multi-megabyte applications, and take advantage of powerful Windows NT features like threads, DLLs, and multitasking. You can do all this with TNT DOS-Extender. Just use TNT DOS-Extender under DOS with Borland C++ 4.0 or Visual C++—your standard, familiar compilers—to create 32-bit DOS programs with cutting-edge NT power. The future of 32-bit DOS is finally here!

TNT DOS-Extender supports a subset of Win32 API under DOS, so you can write native Windows NT character-based programs that run with no changes under DOS. Because TNT DOS-Extender runs the Visual C++ compiler under DOS as well, you do not even need an NT system to build 32-bit TNT applications. You can debug with the 32-bit version of Microsoft’s CodeView included in the TNT DOS-Extender Software Development Kit (SDK) or with Borland’s Turbo Debugger. With these tools, you can build applications that access all the memory available in your machine—up to four gigabytes!—and run with 32-bit speed and power.

DLLs

TNT DOS-Extender supports dynamic link libraries (DLLs), a technique for dividing large applications into smaller modules. Programs built with TNT DOS-Extender can be distributed as DLLs, which can then be loaded by other applications. DLLs provide a simple way to write add-on products for existing applications.

Threads

TNT DOS-Extender supports threads, allowing multitasking within an application. The capability to use threads to perform multiple tasks, such as carrying out user command while running time-consuming calculations in the background, enables developers to write more responsive applications. Threads have previously been available only under high-end 32-bit environments such as OS/2 2.0 and Windows NT.

32-bit CodeView and Turbo Debugger Support

The TNT DOS-Extender SDK supports Borland’s Turbo Debugger and includes a 32-bit version of Microsoft’s popular CodeView debugger. Finally your familiar, powerful debuggers are available for 32-bit DOS programs.

Virtual Memory

Phar Lap’s 386|VMM virtual memory manager enables programs to access more memory than is physically available. 386|VMM is an add-in driver for TNT DOS-Extender that provides demand-paged virtual memory capabilities to Extended-DOS applications. When the size of the program exceeds physical memory, unused code and data are swapped to the hard disk as necessary.

TNT DOS-Extender lets you use Visual Basic to quickly and easily create a user-friendly Windows front end. Phar Lap’s WinPipe VxD (virtual device driver) is a collection of routines that allows a Windows GUI program to communicate with a TNT DOS-Extended application.

TNT DOS-Extender runs your program in protected mode, turning DOS into a true 32-bit operating system with a flat, unsegmented address space. Your programs can access all the memory in the machine—up to 4 gigabytes! TNT DOS-Extender functions as a layer between your program in protected mode and DOS in real mode, automatically handling system calls, switching modes and moving data between the real and protected mode address spaces. Applications use the normal DOS or NT system calls, which are caught and handled by the DOS extender, making TNT DOS-Extender transparent to the Extended-DOS application.

TNT DOS-Extender is only present while your application runs. In this way, it creates no overhead, and allows all your other programs to run undisturbed. Because DOS continues to operate normally in its natural environment—entirely in real mode—both TNT DOS-Extender and your Extended-DOS application are completely compatible with every DOS-based program.

TNT DOS-Extender is fully compatible with terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) utilities and network managers. In addition, it is fully compatible with Microsoft Windows 3.1 Standard and Enhanced modes, Windows NT, OS/2 2.1, Quarterdeck’s DESQview 386, and all EMS emulators that support the Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI), including Quarterdeck’s QEMM-386, Qualitas’ 386MAX, Microsoft’s EMM386, and Compaq’s CEMM.

TNT DOS-Extender runs on any DOS-based 80386, i486 or Pentium PC and supports DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) standard, which allows your Extended-DOS applications to run in multitasking environments such as Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows NT, and OS/2 2.1

TNT DOS-Extender offers several flexible options for 32-bit DOS programming. It is the only DOS extender to support the Win32 API, making it possible for application developers to utilize NT features and NT DLLs under DOS, and for tools developers to make DOS versions of NT tools. Phar Lap offers two ways to build programs with TNT DOS-Extender; developers determine the desired Style at link time.

DOS Style

This mode is completely backwards compatible with previous versions of Phar Lap’s 386|DOS-Extender. Programs can make DOS calls using the standard INT 21h API. All libraries, utilities and other products that support 386|DOS-Extender are also compatible with TNT DOS-Extender for DOS Style programming. A wide range of 32-bit compilers, including Borland C++ 4.0, Microsoft Visual C++ 32-Bit Edition, MetaWare High C/C++, and Watcom C/C++32 are supported. Dynamic link libraries can be implemented with any compiler that supports DLLs.

NTStyle

This mode enables programmers to call the KERNEL32 subset of the Win32 API, and implement threads, DLLs, and multitasking. TNT DOS-Extender loads the Windows NT PE (protected-mode executable) files produced by the Visual C++ 32-Bit Edition compiler, allowing developers to use a familiar Microsoft compiler for 32-bit NTStyle DOS development.

No matter which style API best suits your development needs, your TNT DOS-Extender program runs in 32-bit protected mode with access to all the memory available in your PC.

Memory

With 32-bit addressing, 386, 486, or Pentium hardware is physically capable of accessing 2³² = 4GB of RAM. 16-bit addresses can access only 2¹⁶ = 64KB in one segment.

Speed

Using 32-bit registers and a flat-memory model can dramatically improve program speed. A 32-bit program often runs many times faster than a 16-bit version of the same program. Developers typically see a 20% reduction in code size and a 50% increase in speed when moving from 16-bit to 32-bit programming.

Flat address space

A 32-bit environment uses a workstation-like flat memory model, providing access to one four-gigabyte block of extended memory. This greatly simplifies porting workstation products to the PC. A 16-bit environment can only provide access to memory in 64KB segments, slowing program execution and making PC versions of workstation programs impractical.

32-bit math

32-bit calculations will greatly improve the performance of math-intensive applications. The 32-bit environment on a 386 or higher PC is fast enough to handle heavy-duty number crunching as efficiently as a workstation.

The TNT|DOS-Extender Run-Time Kit enables developers to ship a product containing TNT DOS-Extender. The RTK is distributed with a binder utility which is used to embed the DOS-Extender in a protected mode application, resulting in a "bound application," which can be run directly under DOS.

Quantity Distributed Fees

First 1000 copies $1995.00

*Special RTKs are available for high volume applications. 386|VMM Run-Time Kit also available. Please call Phar Lap for details.

The Dini Group La Jolla, Inc. High Speed Digital Design products

Phar Lap Software, founded in 1986, is also the developer of the award-winning 286|DOS-Extender, which enables customers to develop multi-megabyte 16-bit protected mode DOS applications using their standard Microsoft C/C++, Borland C++, or Microsoft Fortran compilers. As an industry leader, Phar Lap is actively involved in designing and implementing DOS extender technology standards. Phar Lap is the co-author of the award-winning VCPI standard and is a member of the committee that designed the DPMI standard.