char FAR * and char *

Hi,
I started learn socket api and found this in book:

Code:

---

struct protoent {
        char FAR *        p_name;
        char FAR * FAR *p_aliases;
        short                p_proto;
};

---

I've never seen this: FAR

What that means?

I have win XP, Visual c++ .net

I experimented and determined that it is practically same to use
char FAR* and char*.
What is purpose of FAR?

FAR is a relic from when M$ thought DOS was still a good idea.
You can ignore it

So, for example when I see:

Code:

---


struct hostent FAR * PASCAL FAR gethostbyname ( const char FAR * name);

---

I can interpret it as:

Code:

---

struct hostent * gethostbyname ( const char * name);

---

Right?

Pretty much. Pointers are pointers and functions are functions as far as we're concerned (pun... haha! :D). PASCAL is just a different calling convention (ooo, big words), which still doesn't concern us as long as we're just using the function. :)