Topic       : TOS - The Operating System
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Version     : tos.hyp (December 19, 2008)
Subject     : Programmieren/Atari
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Compiled on : Atari
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View Ref-File13.7  LTL protocol                                                 TOS

With most compilers languages a program has to be first compiled (i.e. 
translated from the source text to machine code) and then linked (i.e. 
joined up with other program portions and library functions and saved 
as a program file) before it can be executed. Load-time linking 
(abbreviated 'LTL') omits the last step until the program is to be 
executed. Only then does the so-called loader assemble the program, 
though without saving it as a program file. Thus the linking process 
takes place in RAM, immediately before the execution of the program.

This text desribes a protocol permitting a shell to communicate with a 
loader (i.e. a program that implements load-time linking). This 
protocol was used for the first time by the development environment 
Chatwin and the Oberon-System STJ-Oberon-2. But the protocol has been 
constructed in such a way that in principle it can also be used by 
other shells and loaders.

13.7.1  The OBNL cookie
13.7.2  The OBNCOMM structure
13.7.3  LTL messages from the shell to the loader
13.7.4  LTL messages from the loader to the shell
13.7.5  Example: Chatwin and STJ-Oberon-2