Chapter 9: Win32 Code Conversion

Introduction

This chapter describes how you can modify the source code for your UNIX application so that it will compile on the Microsoft Windows operating system. You need to modify your code due to the differences between the UNIX and Windows application and coding environments described earlier in this guide.

The potential coding differences that need to be addressed are described in the following categories:

• Processes

• Signals and signal handling

• Threads

• Memory management

• Users, groups, and security

• File and data access

• Interprocess communication

• Sockets and networking

• Process environment

• Multiprocessor considerations

• Daemons and services

For each of these categories, this chapter:

• Describes the coding differences.

• Outlines options for converting the code.

• Illustrates the options with source code examples.

You can then choose the solution appropriate to your application and use these examples as a basis for constructing your Windows code.

This guide gives you sufficient information so that you can choose the best method of converting the code. Once you have made your choice, you can refer to the standard documentation to ensure that you understand the details of the Microsoft Win32 application programming interface functions and application program interfaces (APIs).Throughout this chapter, there are references for further infor-mation on the recommended coding changes. In particular, references to the detailof the function calls and libraries are given.