Top Navigational Bar

Explanation Of What The DOS Kernel Does
DocumentID: 659263
Revision Date: 29-Feb-96 8:29:48 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

Symptoms: What is the DOS Kernel responsible for? Solutions: File Management
      (creation, deletion, or modification of the DOS files)
Directory Management
      (creation, deletion, or modification of directories and directory entries)
Application interface to DOS services

Many DOS users refer to this section of DOS as the "program section." During system startup, the file IBMDOS.COM (PC-DOS) or MSDOS.SYS (MS-DOS) is read into memory to create the DOS kernel.

The most important fact to remember about the DOS kernel is that it provides the link between your programs and DOS. When a program writes to the screen, disk, or printer, it utilizes the services provided by the DOS kernel.

The DOS kernel in the IBMDOS.COM or MSDOS.SYS file is usually invisible to the user. It contains file access routine handles, character input and output, and more. It immediately follows file IBMIO.SYS or IO.SYS. Both sets of files are assigned the System, Hidden, and Read-Only file attributes. These attributes indicate that these files directly affect the system. These files contain the various DOS-API functions, which are called using interrupt 21h. The routines operate independent of the hardware and use the device drivers of DOS-BIOS for keyboard, screen, and disk access. The module can be used by different PCs without being limited to one machine. User programs can access these functions in the same way as the ROM-BIOS functions; every function can be called with a software interrupt. The processor registers pass the function number and the parameters.

Answer:

Details:


Product specifications, packaging, technical support and information (*Specifications*) refer to theUnited States retail English version only. Specifications for other versions may vary. All Specifications, claims, features, representations, and/or comparisons provided are correct to the best of our knowledge of the date of publication, but are subject to change without notice.OUR MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU AND THAT OF OUR DEALERS AND SUPPLIERS IS LIMITED. IT SHALL NOTEXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO ACCESS THE INFORMATION. SEE LEGAL DISCLAIMER.