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Information and Communications
Technology Qualifications
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| Prescription: PR730 (PR330)Programming (Systems) |
| Aim of Module | To enable students to understand and develop system software for an environment involving PCs running DOS, linked together to form a LAN
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| Credits | 14
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| Knowledge Assumed From | CA600(CA200) Computer Architecture & Organisation
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| Student Learning hours | 140
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| Prescription Expiry Date | Nov 2005
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The Student Will
| | | | C | | Explain the basic components of DOS, the facilities they provide and when they are loaded. | | | | | 1.1 | Initialisation procedure (BIO.COM, DOS.COM). | | | | | 1.2 | User level (command.com, internal/external commands, alternative shells, comspec, batch files). | | | | | 1.3 | Application level (com vs exe files, paths, program segmentation, command-line parameters). | | | | | 1.4 | Hardware level (BIOS.in RAM or ROM, EMS) | | |
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| | | | > | Describe the format and use of the DOS data areas that are needed to write the applications covered. These may include the following: | | | | | | C | 2.1 | Program Segment Prefix (PSP) | | | | | File control blocks (FCB) | | | | | Data Transfer area (DTA) | | | | | System file table (SFT) | | | | | Device parameter block (DPB) | | | | | Memory control block (MCB) | | | | | List of lists | | | | | Disk cache blocks | | | | | Current Directory Structure (CDS) | | | | | Environment space and variables | | | | | | A | 2.2 | Write a simple program to obtain a command-line parameter from the PSP. | | |
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| | | | > | Explain in detail the DOS filing system and the facilities provided by DOS for file operations: | | | | | | C | 3.1 | File Allocation Tables (FAT) | | | | | Directory entries and structure | | | | | File types (hidden, system etc) | | | | | Operations on local and network files (open, close, read, | | | | | write, locking and sharing) | | | | | Detecting and recovering lost sectors on the disk | | | | | Recovering deleted files | | | | | Checking disk consistency | | | | | | A | 3.2 | Write a simple application to use the file and record locking facilities provided to shared files. | | |
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| | | | > | Explain the way to control a variety of physical devices using DOS and BIOS functions. | | | | | C | 4.1 | Serial port devices. | | | | | > | The speaker (via oscillator). | | | | | > | The keyboard: | | | | - testing keyboard status | | | | - read without echo | | | | - reading the shift status register and scan codes | | | | | > | Graphics adapters: | | | | - use of video ram | | | | - detecting graphics adapters | | | | - simple graphics operations | | | | - cursor positioning | | | | | > | Serial interface | | | | | A | 4.2 | Write and install a simplified device driver. Typical drivers may be for: | | | | - serial port | | | | - speaker | | | | - graphics card | | |
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| | | | C | | Use the functions provided by DOS to the programmer to allocate and release memory. | | | | | | - expanded vs. extended memory | | | | - allocating and freeing memory | | | | - adjusting block size | | | | - MCB chain | | |
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| | | | > | Use the functions provided by DOS to write a simple TSR which works correctly with other TSRs. | | | | | | C | 6.1 | The re-entrancy problem with DOS | | | | | The DOS busy flag (function 34h) | | | | | Patching into interrupt vectors | | | | | Loading, executing and removing TSRs | | | | | | A | 6.2 | Write a simple TSR. Typical applications may include: | | | | - A resident clock program | | | | - A print screen utility which will not hang the system | | | | - A resident spooler/despooler | | |
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| | | | > | Use the facilities provided to develop an application which handles concurrent update problems to the same file on a LAN. | | | | | C | 7.1 | Process synchronisation. | | | | | | Accessing network status information. | | | | | | Communicating with other network processes | | | | | A | 7.2 | Write a program which controls concurrent update to the same file on a LAN.
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