Subject: DevDrivers vs TSRs

From: Jerry Isdale <[email-masked]>
Date: 15 Aug 92 18:04:19 EDT

> From: cph@@uk.ac.leicp.chris_s (Chris Hand {at home})
> Maybe having "installable" drivers for I/O devices would be a good idea,

Instead of using device drivers, which have to be installed at boot time via
CONFIG.SYS, consider using TSR programs instead. They can do the same thing,
but they can be installed/removed in a batch file used to run your Simulated
Reality program (rend386++).

A collection of TSR's could be provided to support different input/output
devices transparently to the main program. Thus a user with a regular mouse
could use the same program as a user with a PowerGlove or Logitech 3D mouse.

This is the direction we are working towards with the Group 3 (WE/WP) project
on Compuserve's ComArt forum. At present we are only discussing the methods. 

Jerry Isdale

---

From: Dave Stampe-Psy+Eng <dstamp@watserv1>
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 92 22:58:15 -0400

> From [email-masked] Sun Aug 16 19:24:14 1992
> From: Jerry Isdale <[email-masked]>
> To: rend386-list <rend386@sunee>
> Subject: DevDrivers vs TSRs
> 

Actually, it's probably better to use:
- several classes of interface support in REND386: 2D, 3D, 6D, keys, etc.
- a loaded program (tiny model?) loaded at runtime to support the device.
  This will be as good as a TSR, and less problems with removal later.

Now, TSR's will work, of course, but the first thing you have to do is
to make a framework so new drivers are easy to create.  Same with the
runtime-loading (like Borland's BGI) but now you can have a REND386
configuration file, video drivers, and device drivers too.

- Dave Stampe