universal thunk

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

universal thunk

   <programming, operating system> A software mechanism allowing
   a {Windows 3.1} {application} to call a {32-bit} {dynamically
   linked library} (DLL) under {Win32s}.

   The {Windows 3.1} {application} which wants to call an entry
   in a 32-bit DLL instead calls a corresponding entry in a
   {16-bit} DLL.  The programmer must also include {code} to
   detect whether the {32-bit} DLL is loaded.  A {32-bit} {EXE}
   loads the {32-bit} DLL.

   See also {Generic Thunk}, {Flat Thunk}.

   ["Calling a Win32 DLL from a Windows 3.1 Application", Win32
   SDK Knowledge Base, Article ID Q97785].

   [Better explanation?]

   (1997-10-11)