Linear Executable

Latest revision as of 16:21, 4 March 2026

Linear Executable is an executable file format in the EXE family. It was used by 32-bit OS/2, by some DOS extenders, and by Microsoft Windows VxD files. It is an extension of MS-DOS EXE, and a successor to NE (New Executable).

There are two main varieties of it: LX (32-bit), and LE (mixed 16/32-bit).

Note that 32-bit LX executables are compatible only with OS/2 2.0 and later versions, incl. OS/2 Warp 4.x.

[edit] Identification

A Linear Executable file begins with the ASCII signature "MZ". At offset 60 is a 4-byte integer pointing to an "extended" header that begins with "LX" or "LE". For more information, see MS-DOS EXE.

[edit] Specifications

• LX Format Description (1992 edition)
  • Another copy of the 1992 edition
• IBM OS/2 16/32-bit Object Module Format (OMF) and Linear executable Module Format (LX) (Revision 8, 1994)
• IBM OS/2 16/32-bit Linear eXecutable Module Format (LX) (Revision 11, 2001)
• (.vxd) LINEAR-EXECUTABLE File Header Layout (LE)

[edit] Software

• An OS/2 font resource extractor reads resources from LX-format executable, including decompressing compressed pages

[edit] Sample files

• http://cd.textfiles.com/hobbesos29411/BIN/ → *.EXE (LX, OS/2 console)
• http://cd.textfiles.com/hobbesos2/2_X/GAMES/ → *.ZIP → *.EXE (LX, OS/2 GUI)
• http://cd.textfiles.com/silvercollection/disc4/DRIVERS/ - The *.386 files inside the archive files (for example, 19GXE.ARJ → VDDS3.386) use MS Windows LE / VxD format.
• DOOM.EXE - Example of the format used by some DOS extenders. Technically this is an MS-DOS EXE file, with an embedded LE file.

[edit] See also

• Dynamic-link library (Windows)
• EXEPACK
• EXEPACK2

[edit] Links

• DOS/4G and DOS/4GW FAQ: Executable File Format(s)
• EXE Explorer utility
• Open Watcom structs with LX/LE differences