Title:			OSLIB
Author:			Jonathan Coxhead
Version:		5.1
Title From:		Documentation
Author From:		Documentation
Version From:		Documentation
Supplier:		Jonathan Coxhead (jcoxhead@acorn.co.uk)
Date:			20/09/95
Keywords:		Subroutine libraries ; C
Shareware:		No
Machine:		Archimedes
Operating system:	RISCOS
Memory requirements:	
Peripherals needed:	
Other s/ware needed:	C compiler
Directory:		micros/arch/riscos/c029
Date mounted/updated:	21/09/95
File names:		oslib.arc
			examples.arc
			stronghelp.arc
Unarchived files:	315
Unarchived size:	6428 kbytes
Omissions:		
See also:		DESKLIB (a129), SPIRIT (b187)

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Acquiring the package:

Download the archive file(s) and extract using SparkPlug 2
(see the "tools_help" file in micros/arch/riscos/tools for further info).


Description:

OSLib is a set of functions and C headers to provide complete coverage
of the RISC OS application programmer's interface in C. It provides access
from C code to all SWI calls which is:
* efficient: often, memory access is completely avoided;
* type-safe: every argument can be type-checked by the compiler;
* obvious: a SWI is called by the "obvious" syntax;
* complete: every SWI is covered;
* register-safe: hides (often idiosyncratic) register allocation;
* language-independent: although the headers are specific to C, the library
  is not - any APCS-conformant language can call it.

It also provides names for all the data structures and reason codes used by
the API. Code that uses it is superior to same code using _kernel_swi() or
_swix(), both in terms of the compile-time checking that is available, and
the size and speed of the code generated.