Windows Open Service Architecture
MICROSOFT'S CORE SET OF APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES AVAILABLE IN WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS
Win32; Win16; Win64; WinAPI; Windows api; Windows Open Service Architecture; 64-bit Windows; 64bit Windows; 64bit windows; 64-bit windows; Win32 API; Win32 Api; Win32 api; WIN32 api; WIN32 Api; WIN32 API; Win 32; WIN32; Windows.pas; Winapi; Microsoft Windows API; WinApi; Windows api function list; Windows API function list; Win32c; WIN16; 16-bit Windows; WinCE (API); Win32s (API); Common Controls Library; Win32 subsystem
<
architecture, library, microsoft> (WOSA) One of the mainstays
of
Microsoft Windows: the ethos of
abstraction of core
services.
For each extension,
Windows Open Services Architecture
defines an
API and an
SPI, as well as a universal
interface (usually placed in a single
DLL) that both comply
to.
These then
transparently let the
operating system speak to
device drivers,
database managers, and other
low level
entities.
These extensions include, among others,
ODBC (called the
"crowning jewel of WOSA"),
TAPI,
WOSA/XFS,
SAPI and
MAPI, and their supporting
services, as well as the
abstraction of access to
printers,
modems, and {networking
services}, which run identically over
TCP/IP,
IPX/SPX, and
NetBEUI.
(2000-08-16)