Physical Memory

Memory physically installed in the computer. A combination of extended and conventional memory.

Positional

(response file format)

The default response file (link file) format that WL32 uses, and the same format used by Microsoft Link, Borland's TLink, and WarpLink. In the positional format, the position of file names along with plus signs (+) and commas (,) within the response file determines how a file name is interpreted, e.g. a library file.

Protected Mode

The native operating mode for 80386 and above chips which contains system resource protection features. Protected mode also provides enhanced features for memory addressing and manipulation. Protected mode will not execute some real mode code without modifications.

Real Mode

The operating mode for 8088, 8086, and 80186 CPUs. 80386 chips and above are switched into this mode very soon after they start executing instructions and behave exactly like an 8086 with the exception of additional registers being available to the programmer. Real mode is the mode DOS normally uses.

Selector

When operating in protected mode, segment values do not directly address memory, but rather are an index into a descriptor table. These indices are called selectors because they select the proper entry in the descriptor table. A valid entry must be present in the descriptor table or else loading the segment register with the selector value causes a General Protection Fault, GPF.

VCPI

Virtual Control Program Interface is an API that defines a way for multiple protected mode applications to coexist within the same system. It is mainly used with DOS extenders and not enduser applications.

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