> My API is written in C code as well. That code is binded to Lua, so all my 
> programming stuff I do in a higher level language (Lua), and I've got access 
> to all API that is from my interest. It's just a matter of make it available 
> to Lua through a simple bind interface. 

your API is C, but, how do you bind the Lua to C? via scripts (parsing)
in real time, or, you have some funky compiling process to make a .prc
or .exe so it runs 100% native?

> > I am just now looking at the Win32 API for the first time <sigh> so I
> > imagine I may not get too far with this until I've written a couple of PPC
> > apps and learned the terrain.  But my initial impression is that the Palm
> > and Win APIs are such different animals that it must be a bit of a trick
> > sometimes to abstract the code in a way that works for both.
> 
> Hehehehe... You bet on that !! :)
> But it's not that hard. That's why DAL has it's own acronym. You have to do 
> some homework to make it work platform-independent. 

it isn't that hard. palm and pocket pc are a piece of cake to get similar.
if you want to do true multi-platform, take a look at that beast symbian.
its the one that has caused the most headaches - and, its going ot be a 
serious platform in the upcoming months.

its already happening here in europe - it'll eventually happen in the USA.

> > I guess I could use some pointers to resources that would give me some
> > background on creating device abstraction layers.
> 
> Programming for emulators is always a good way to leard how to implement a 
> DAL, although it's the inverse way. Well, all the programmers I know are a 
> bit insane, so it could be a start. :) 

lets see, the best way to start? think outside the device. you want
API's to do what - thats all you need to define.

you can use the existing API's you have as a basis - just dont make them
the final 'concrete' :) you need to ensure that the API you define can 
actually be done on all the platforms you need to work with.

---
extern void    _KeySetMask(uint32 mask);
extern uint32  _KeyGetMask();
extern uint32  _KeyCurrentState();

extern void    _PenState(coord *penX, coord *penY, boolean *penDown);
extern boolean _PenDisplayToWindow(coord *penX, coord *penY);
---

any of that look familiar? the KeyMask/State stuff we wrote ourselves
(that model is pretty good with games) however, the PenState stuff was
pretty nasty :) especially to get working on all devices. keep in mind
not every device has a pen! *g*

defining the DAL is easy. doing the implementation is what the 
real hard stuff is. how can you define working with files so that
it works the same in the development code for all the platforms? 
that was also a tricky one to solve on palm - our stuff even supports
non VFS systems - but, you still say "FileOpen()"

we'll be licensing our stuff - and, we have four of the main platforms
ready to go right now. its mainly targeted towards gaming applications
right now, but, we are working on providing more features for enterprise
customers :) 

---
Aaron Ardiri                        [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CEO - CTO                                           +46 70 656 1143
Mobile Wizardry                      http://www.mobilewizardry.com/


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