I find that documenting a new subject helps me learn that subject. So, to better understand THINGs, I'm working on some THING documentation aimed at the general user.
I'm reading the THING documentation from TT and the THING articles by Jochen. I've run into a number of terms and issues that I don't quite understand. I thought I would ask the list to see if I can get these questions resolved. 1 - What is a Forced Free? I know that you FREE a THING when an application stops using it, but I can't find an explanation for FORCED FREE. 2 - What is a Forced Zap? The TT docs talk about ZAP and use the term FORCED ZAP in defining the THING table. It looks like a FORCED ZAP is just another word for ZAP. Is this correct? 3 - Pointer to "close" routine vs. Pointer to code In the THING table, TH_FRFRE is defined as a Pointer to "close" routine for Forced Free, and TH_FFREE is defined as a Pointer to code to Force Free a THING. What's the difference between the "close" routine and code for Forced Free. Would these two pointers point to the same code or are they two unique pieces of code that do two different operations? To me it looks like the two pointers are redudant. 4 - How long is a THING name? TH_NAME in the THING table does not seem to have a definition of how long it should be. It is defined as a QDOS string which has a terminating character? Is there any limitation on size? 5 - THING Header I'm guessing that the THING Header (as defined by TT) is part of the THING code itself (as pointed to by TH_THING) and not part of the THING table. If so, is the header the first bit of code in the THING? Hopefully someone will know the answers to these questions and take the time to enlighten me. Thanks, Tim Swenson _______________________________________________________________________ Free Domain Name Registration with Web Hosting at Lanset Communications. 56k Dialup, Web Design, and Colocation at http://www.lanset.net
