home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
OS/2 Shareware BBS: 18 REXX
/
18-REXX.zip
/
orexx.zip
/
READ.ME
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1998-03-25
|
14KB
|
313 lines
OBJECT REXX FOR OS/2 - READ.ME
This READ.ME file provides instructions on how to install Object REXX for
OS/2 and describes requirements and important information on using Object
REXX. Please read this document before installing Object REXX.
The information covered in this document includes:
-- ENHANCEMENTS TO OBJECT REXX
-- INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING OBJECT REXX ON OS/2
-- MATERIALS
-- DOCUMENTATION
-- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-- INSTALLATION OF OBJECT REXX
-- SOLVING PROBLEMS USING OBJECT REXX
-- EXPLORING OBJECT REXX
-- SWITCHING REXX INTERPRETERS
-- NOTES ON RUNNING YOUR EXISTING REXX PROGRAMS
-- USING OBJECT REXX WITH THE OS/2 WORKPLACE SHELL
-- NOTES ON RUNNING OBJECT REXX WPS PROGRAMS
-- NOTES ON OPENDOC
ENHANCEMENTS TO OBJECT REXX
The following enhancements have been made to this Object REXX level:
- Corrected several bugs:
* SysFileTree error when using the 'O' option
* Speed up processing of LINES() built-in function
* Stream Query Size returns wrong value for not existing files
* Memory problems with objects larger than 16 MB
* CHARS() built-in function returned -1 for certain files
* Memory leak when working with many files
* LINES() method and built-in function didn't recognize a single
character after CR/LF
* Line count wrong for files ending in CR-LF-EOF
* WPS support not persistent between reboots
INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING OBJECT REXX ON OS/2
MATERIALS:
This directory contains the materials needed to install Object REXX
on OS/2. No installation diskette images are provided with this level
of Object REXX.
DOCUMENTATION:
REXXPG.INF
This on-line reference file is the latest Object REXX Programming
Guide for OS/2. This file contains information on how to use Object
REXX to develop object-oriented programs. To view this file, issue
the command 'VIEW REXXPG.INF' at an OS/2 command prompt.
REXX.INF
This on-line reference file is the latest Object REXX Reference
information which describes Object REXX for OS/2. To view this file,
issue the command 'VIEW REXX.INF' at an OS/2 command prompt.
SOMREQ.DOC
This text file discusses the requirements for building and using a
SOM class in Object REXX. This file is installed with the Object REXX
samples.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
(1) OS/2 WARP 3.0 or later (with REXX installed)
(2) 2.8MB of hard disk space for the entire Object REXX package
which includes the following components (all components will
be installed automatically):
- executables
- online documentation
- sample programs
(3) IBM System Object Model (SOM) 2.1
This level of Object REXX requires SOM 2.1. Make sure you have
the required level of SOM installed BEFORE installing Object REXX.
If running OS/2 WARP 3.0, the SOM 2.1 runtime is already included,
so you do not need to install SOM 2.1.
NOTE: If you are planning to create your own DSOM classes you have to
make sure that SOM is at least at fix level CSD211 since
earlier versions of SOM toolkits have a bug that will cause
Object REXX programs to trap if they access DSOM classes built
with a previous level of the SOM toolkit.
INSTALLATION OF OBJECT REXX:
The Object REXX install program will take you through the installation
of Object REXX for OS/2. If you have installed a previous version of
Object REXX you need to select the 'Delete and reinstall' option.
Most of the files will be installed to your OS/2 directory for the
switching mechanism between classic REXX and Object REXX. You will only
be able to select the drive and directory for the Object REXX sample
files. The default directory used by the install program is 'C:\OREXX'.
The installation process makes backup copies of your existing REXX files
and activates Object REXX for the next reboot of your system. If you
want to switch back to the classic REXX interpreter see the description
in chapter "SWITCHING REXX INTERPRETERS".
NOTE: If you are installing this version of Object REXX on OS/2 WARP 4.0
it will overwrite the version of Object REXX included with it. If
you later decide to remove Object REXX from your system you will
not be able to restore the original Object REXX from OS/2 WARP 4.0.
Also this installation will not be supported by OS/2 WARP 4.0
FixPacks.
(1) Run the Object REXX install program:
'INSTALL'
If you have installed a previous level of Object REXX, the install
program will allow you to delete the previous level and reinstall or
update the previous level of Object REXX you have installed. You
have to select the option 'Delete and reinstall' at this point. After
the current files have been deleted you will be asked to reboot your
system to activate the changes of the deletion. After the reboot you
will be able to install Object REXX by running the install program
again.
If you encounter problems deleting the currently installed version
of Object REXX it may be related to the information Software Installer
remembers for installed products. A small utility is provided that
helps you removing the old information of Object REXX from the
Software Installer database. The utility is called ZAPINI.CMD and
must be called with the drive letter where the EPFIS.INI file is
located as the first parameter. Normally this would be the boot drive
of your system. If you have installed OS/2 on drive E: you would
invoke the utility with:
'ZAPINI E:'
SOLVING PROBLEMS USING OBJECT REXX
If you encounter problems after installing Object REXX, here are some hints:
(1) After running WPSINST.CMD you get an error popup with the message
'SYS2070 - A program encountered a problem and cannot continue'
Please select the 'Display register information' radiobutton and
look at the additional information displayed. Most likely you will
see the message
'The system could not demand load the applications's segment. ...'
This means that Object REXX is not installed as the default REXX on
your system. Please follow the steps described in "SWITCHING REXX
INTERPRETERS" below.
EXPLORING OBJECT REXX
Once you have installed the Object REXX files, you can immediately run
Object REXX programs.
For example, you can run the REXXTRY program shipped with Object REXX.
Enter:
'REXXTRY'
Within REXXTRY, you can try out the new Object REXX syntax,
for instance:
say .object /* displays 'The Object class' */
myarray=.array~of(4,3,2,1) /* creates a 4 element array */
do i over myarray; say i; end /* displays all 4 array elements */
To help you explore programming in Object REXX, the following sample
source programs and class definitions are provided:
- animal: interacts with SOM class ANIMAL
- ccreply: concurrent program using REPLY
- complex: complex number class
- factor: factorial program
- greply: concurrent program using WAIT and NOWAIT
- guess: a guessing game
- ktguard: concurrent program using START and GUARD
- month: displays days of the month of January
- pipe: a pipeline implementation
- qdate: date query program
- qtime: time query program
- semcls: semaphore class
- stack: program which uses a stack class
- usecomp: program which uses complex number class
- usepipe: program which uses pipeline implementation
SWITCHING REXX INTERPRETERS
A small utility has been added to allow you to switch between the two
flavours of the REXX interpreters. After installation Object REXX will
be your system default REXX. If you want to switch back to classic REXX
or from classic REXX to Object REXX, enter the following on your OS/2
command prompt:
'SWITCHRX'
You will be prompted to confirm the switching mechanism. At this point
enter "Y" to proceed with the switching algorithm or any other value to
abort the operation. If you have confirmed the switching operation the
operation continues. In order to activate the changes you will have to
reboot the system.
If you have installed WPS support for Object REXX it will be removed
when switching from Object REXX to classic REXX. After switching back
to Object REXX you have to activate WPS support again manually. See
section "USING OBJECT REXX WITH THE OS/2 WORKPLACE SHELL" below.
NOTES ON RUNNING YOUR EXISTING REXX PROGRAMS:
For the most part, any existing REXX programs you have should
work with Object REXX. There are, however, some differences.
- Some error codes have changed and some have been added. Also,
for most errors you will now receive 2 error messages. The
first should be similar (if not identical) to the message you
would have seen previously. The second provides additional
and more detailed information. So, for example, where you formerly
received "Invalid Call to Routine", you will now get further
information on what is wrong with the call.
- Some errors are now detected earlier. Formerly, REXX would wait
until it encountered an error during execution to report it
to you. Now, some errors will be reported before the first
instruction in your REXX script is run. In particular, syntax
errors which indicate your program is not well-formed REXX
(there is a missing END or an unmatched parenthesis, for example)
will be reported after you have invoked the program but before it
begins executing. The REXXC utility can be used to perform only
the syntax checking.
- The SEEK command used with the STREAM function will require an
option (READ, WRITE, etc) when used to set the position within
a stream that is opened for both reading and writing.
- The parameters "//T" and "//t" used with a REXX program are the only
"//" parameters reserved by REXX. All other "//" parameters can now be
used with REXX programs.
If you encounter problems running existing REXX programs you can always
switch back to the classic REXX interpreter. See chapter "SWITCHING REXX
INTERPRETERS" above.
USING OBJECT REXX WITH THE OS/2 WORKPLACE SHELL
OS/2 WARP 3.0 is required in order to use the WorkPlace Shell support.
If you would like to use Object REXX with WorkPlace Shell objects, you
need to first make sure you are running Object REXX as the default REXX
on your system (see "SWITCHING REXX INTERPRETERS" above).
Then, follow these steps:
(1) Run the Object REXX class install program which will register the
necessary WorkPlace Shell classes used with Object REXX.
Enter the following at the OS/2 command prompt:
'WPSINST'
The WPSINST.CMD program will register Object REXX classes with the
WorkPlace Shell. You can also use this program at any time to query
these Object REXX classes, and to register and deregister them.
If at any time you need to back off using Object REXX with the OS/2
WorkPlace Shell, deregister the Object REXX classes by entering the
following command at the OS/2 command prompt:
'WPSINST -'
To help you use Object REXX with the OS/2 Workplace Shell, the following
sample source programs and class definitions are provided:
- wpsorxcl: Workplace Shell example using OREXX classes
- wpsorxfl: Workplace Shell folder example
NOTES ON RUNNING OBJECT REXX WPS PROGRAMS:
- Section 'REXX and the Workplace Shell' in the online Object REXX
reference refers you to the OS/2 Technical Library for documentation
of the workplace classes and methods. You can find this information
in the OS/2 WARP Toolkit provided as part of this volume of The
Developer Connection for OS/2. See the following online books,
"Workplace Shell Programming Guide" (file WPSGUIDE.INF) and
"WorkPlace Shell Reference" (files WPS1.INF, WPS2.INF, and WPS3.INF)
for information on OS/2 Workplace Shell programming interfaces.
- Use caution if you are deleting WPS objects (via wpDelete method).
Drop the WPS object variable after a wpDelete to ensure all references
have been removed.
- Use of WPPort, WPPdr, WPQdr classes are currently not supported.
NOTES ON OPENDOC:
This level of Object REXX is an updated level compared to the one shipped
with the OpenDoc Pack on DevCon 9 Special Edition. If you want to use the
updated version you have to make sure that the directories in LIBPATH,
PATH, DPATH and HELP pointing to the Object REXX interpreter included in
the OpenDoc Pack are removed from CONFIG.SYS.