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KOLT: Kernel Object Library for Threads

Written by .

• Targets Visual Eiffel
• 9 November 1999.
• Copyrighted Eiffel Forum Freeware License.

kolt.zip (171 kbytes) source code

KOLT: Kernel Object Library for Threads

What's KOLT

KOLT stands for Kernel Object Library for Threads. It is about programming multithreaded applications with Visual Eiffel on Windows 9x/NT. It consists of the following parts:

• a small library of classes which make use of the Windows Kernel Objects
• tutorial eiffel examples which describe how threads and Windows Kernel Objects work
• documentation to the tutorial examples in HTML form

Required Software

To compile the examples in this tutorial and the kernel objects library KOLT following software it is required.

• Visual Eiffel 3.1 with prolib extension
• The Kolt Library from the Eiffel Forum Archive

It is possible to use an older version of VE like version 2.6 but then you have to apply some modifications to the source yourself.

Installation

• unzip kolt.zip in an empty directory
• run setup.bat (this adds kolt clusters to the repository

Usage

• compile_all.bat compiles all the examples coming with KOLT
• clean.bat removes (vec /dc...) all examples, KOLT-libs and removes the added clusters from the repository again.

Documentation

• folder doc contains the tutorial and other information in HTML format. (NB: this available online here )

Getting Started

One of the most interesting and powerful areas in software engineering is multithreading. Multithreading, which is a fairly recent construct in the computer science world, is a very powerful means of enhancing and controlling program execution. In this introduction I want to take a look at how Visual Eiffel supports multithreading.

KOLT consists of three parts:

1. The first part is a small tutorial for beginners in the multithreading area of Windows. It was established by my first experiments with which I wanted to find out how exactly threads work.
   
2. The second part is about the library with classes that directly map to Windows' so called Kernel Objects. The library currently is only at the beginning of it's development and has great potential for enhancements and extensions. Any help is welcome :-).
   
3. The third part is about Monitors which belong to the library but do not map to any Windows Kernel Objects.

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