home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
OS/2 Shareware BBS: 18 REXX
/
18-REXX.zip
/
rexxeval.zip
/
README.INF
(
.txt
)
< prev
next >
Wrap
OS/2 Help File
|
1995-10-27
|
99KB
|
761 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. VisPro/REXX Version 3.0 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Get Serious OS/2 Development Power With VisPro/REXX!
VisPro/REXX is an easy-to-use visual programming environment that gives you the
power to create your own OS/2 GUI applications. Fast. Whether you want to build
a time-saving utility program or a client/server application, VisPro/REXX is
the right tool for the job. VisPro/REXX is packed with features that allow you
to instantly begin building powerful OS/2 GUI applications.
Quickly develop OS/2 CUA '91 applications, from simple utilities to robust
client/server programs, and generate a single .EXE file of your application for
royalty-free distribution.
Both VisPro/REXX Bronze and VisPro/REXX Gold :
Provide an easy-to-use visual programming environment that gives you the
power to quickly create your own OS/2 GUI applications.
Increase your programming productivity with drag and drop programming,
which automatically generates the REXX code for you.
Are fully integrated into the OS/2 WorkPlace Shell so you can begin using
VisPro/REXX immediately, without having to learn the idiosyncrasies of an
unfamiliar user interface.
Ease debugging because you make on-the-fly modifications without ever
leaving the development area.
Provide an open development environment with support for REXX APIs
including DB2/2, APPC and EHLLAPI.
Provide a complete development environment with multiple CUA '91 views
such as a List view, Event Tree view, and Layout view, each of which is
tailored to specific development tasks.
With VisPro/REXX, you use the Layout view to design the layout of your form.
The Layout view consists of forms, a canvas, and a tool bar. You use forms to
create your projects; each form represents a window that the user of your
application will see. The objects that you use to create your applications are
represented graphically on a tool bar. You simply select the objects you want
to use in your application and then copy them to the canvas, which is the area
in which you lay out or design your applications.
Just Like the Workplace Shell
VisPro/REXX Bronze and VisPro/REXX Gold are fully integrated into the
Workplace Shell so they look and feel natural and instinctive. Both employ
pop-up menus, direct editing, multiple views, and settings notebooks. The
products support the OS/2 font and color palettes, so you can easily change
the font or color of your objects. An example of a notebook is the Menu page.
The Menu page allows you to design the menus for your application. To add a
menu, simply select the Add menu push button. A Menu Bar icon appears,
representing the menu. You can assign a name to the menu using direct editing.
To add menu items for the menu you created, simply select the Add item push
button once for each menu item you want to add. Then use direct editing to
assign a name to each menu item.
Drag and Drop Programming
VisPro/REXX Bronze and VisPro/REXX Gold provide drag and drop capabilities
throughout the products. The most distinctive of these capabilities is drag
and drop programming. You begin by specifying an event for an object (for
example, the user selects a push button). Select the object and drag it to the
Event window. In the Event window, a window appears, allowing you to select
the action you want to perform. The choices are presented in simple terms, and
you do not need to know the REXX statement for the action you select;
VisPro/REXX generates it for you.
Achieving the CUA '91 Ideal
The objective of the common user access (CUA) '91 standard is to make all OS/2
products share the same look and feel. HockWare understands the CUA '91
standards thoroughly, and we put this ideal into practice for VisPro/REXX
Bronze and VisPro/REXX Gold. Because both are truly CUA '91 conforming
products, they are themselves exemplary OS/2 applications.
VisPro/REXX comes in two editions -- Bronze and Gold. Both products provide
productive programming features at very attractive prices.
VisPro/REXX Bronze:
Easiest-to-use visual programming environment
First tool with Workplace Shell-enabled drag and drop programming
More CUA '91 objects than similar programs
Open environment with available SOM Toolkit for building your own objects
Animated graphical debugger for easier debugging
OS/2-style help and information line tips for your programs
Access to DB2/2 and Watcom SQL via OS/2 REXX
Suggested Retail Price: $59
VisPro/REXX Gold includes all of the powerful features of Bronze PLUS:
Visual database designer for creating Client-Server applications with
ODBC-enabled databases
The most CUA '91 objects of any tool in its class
Three-dimensional business graphics for displaying application data
MMPM/2 Video Window and Circular Slider object for full-motion multimedia
capabilities
Ability to add Workplace Shell drag and drop and pop-up menus to your
programs
VisPro Team administrator for group development, with automatic change
logging
Also comes in a LAN version for even more savings
Suggested Retail Price: $299
System Requirements: OS/2 2.x or OS/2 Warp, 5Mb memory and 3 Mb hard disk
space
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Getting Started ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Once you install your Evaluation version of VisPro/REXX, you can use the online
help to get information about how to use the product. Instructions for
installing the Evaluation version, opening a project, and using the online help
are provided in the following sections.
Installing the Evaluation Version
Creating a VisPro/REXX Project
Opening the Main form
Using the VisPro/REXX Online Help
Using the REXX Information Online Reference
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. Installing the Evaluation Version ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To use VisPro/REXX, you must have OS/2 2.x or any later version (including OS/2
WARP) installed on your system. VisPro/REXX requires approximately 2.5
megabytes of free disk space. If you are installing on OS/2 2.x, be sure that
REXX has been installed on your workstation.
NOTE: No version of VisPro/REXX should be running when you install the
Evaluation version. If this occurs, close all VisPro/REXX windows, reboot and
then start the installation over.
To install the VisPro/REXX Evaluation version, complete the following steps:
1. Place the Evaluation diskette in the drive you wish to install from.
2. Press the right mouse button to get a pop-up menu on the diskette drive
you are using.
3. Select the arrow on the Open menu item.
4. Select Icon View.
5. Double-click on the SETUP.EXE program.
6. Select the drive where you want to install the Evaluation version beside
'Install on drive'.
7. If you want to change the path you are installing on, type the path name
in the Install path field.
8. Select Install.
9. When the installation is complete, the Installation Complete window
appears. It will prompt you for additional input if modifications to your
CONFIG.SYS file are necessary.
10. If changes are required for your CONFIG.SYS file, select Continue. Since
VisPro/REXX requires a path be specified to its required files, you must
shutdown and reboot before using the product.
11. Select Exit to end the installation process.
After Rebooting, the VisPro/REXX folder appears on the OS/2 desktop.
12. Double Click on the VisPro/REXX folder.
You will see the VisPro/REXX Icon View window appear. This window
contains the following:
Mixed Color Palette: Allows you to change colors on your form.
Font palette: Allows you to change the font on your form.
REXX Information: The online reference for the REXX language.
Samples folder: Sample programs you can run.
Projects folder: Where you will create new projects.
Read Me: This Read Me File.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. Creating a VisPro/REXX Project ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When you open the VisPro/REXX folder you created during installation, you see a
template called Project. You can drag a new folder off the Project template and
use it as your new project, which will become your application.
To open your new project, complete the following steps:
1. Open the VisPro/REXX folder on your desktop. To do so, double-click on
the folder.
2. Open the Projects folder in the VisPro/REXX folders Icon view. To do so,
double-click on the folder.
3. Create a new Project folder. To do so, press the right mouse button and
drag a folder off the Project template in the PROJECTS - Icon View
window, 'dropping' the folder inside an unused area of the PROJECTS
folder.
A Project folder appears.
4. Rename your Project folder. To do so, select the Project folder and press
Alt while you click the left mouse button. Type the name you want to
assign to your new application.
Click outside of the folder.
5. Open your Project folder. To do so, double-click on the folder.
The icon view for your new application appears. You will see a Main icon.
The Main icon is the form you use to begin designing your application.
After your application is complete, do not delete, move, or rename the
Main form.
The next section details the ways in which a form may be accessed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. Opening the Main Form ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To begin creating your application, you can open the Main form in one of two
ways:
METHOD A:
Double-click on the Main icon. The form appears in the Layout view,
presenting the tool bar and the canvas. This view allows you to easily
design your form.
METHOD B:
Select the Main icon, and then click the right mouse button to get the
pop-up menu for the Main icon. Select Open. A cascading menu appears,
allowing you to select the view you want to begin working with. The
Layout view is recommended for designing the layout of your form.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. Using VisPro/REXX's Online Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
VisPro/REXX includes an extensive online help system that you can use if you
have questions while you are working. To get information about how the online
help works, select the Help menu. A cascading menu appears, presenting the
following menu item
Help Index....
General Help....
Using Help....
Product information....
You can select any of these items. To find out what information each of these
items provides, highlight the item (use the arrow keys), and then press F1.
Note: You can browse the help using the online help Contents. To use the
Contents, select the OPTIONS menu from within any help window, and then select
CONTENTS.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.5. Using the REXX Information Online Reference ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you require information about REXX, you can use the excellent REXX
Information online reference that comes with OS/2. If you did not include this
reference when you installed OS/ 2 on your workstation, you will have to do a
selective install. To use the reference, double click on the REXX Information
icon in the VisPro/REXX-Icon View window.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Creating a Simple Application ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Creating Your First VisPro/REXX Application
You will get a quick overview of how to use VisPro/REXX when you create this
simple application. To complete the application, you will start a new project,
open a form, and add two objects to the form: a push button and an entry
field. You will provide behavior for the objects by visually programming the
entry field to say "Hello, world!" when the push button is selected. You will
run your application to make sure it works the way you want it to, and then run
it to see the results of your programming. Your finished application will look
like this:
To create the application, complete the steps in the following sections.
1. Start Your Project
2. Open the Main Form
3. Change the Title Bar Name
4. Add Objects
5. Size and Align Objects
6. Provide Behavior
7. Run Your Project
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. Start Your Project ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To start your project, complete the following steps:
1. Open the VisPro/REXX folder that was created on your desktop during
installation. To do so, double-click on the folder.
The VisPro/REXX - Icon View window appears.
2. Double-click on the Projects folder.
3. Create a new Project.
To do so, press the right mouse button and drag a folder off the Project
template.
A new Project folder appears. This folder is assigned a default name.
4. Rename your Project folder using direct editing. To do so, select the
Project folder and press Alt while you click the left mouse button. Type
your name over the existing name, and then select the pointer tool.
5. Double-click the folder you just created and named.
The icon view for your new application appears. You will see the
following icons:
Main form, which is the form you use to begin designing your
application. After your application is complete, do not delete,
move, or rename the Main form.
Form template, which allows you to drag off additional forms if you
want your application to have more than one window.
SubProcs folder, which allows you to incorporate existing REXX code
into your application or to group commonly used code segments so
they can be called anywhere in your program.
Threads folder, where you can add REXX CMD files to be used as
threads within your project (see the THREADS sample in your Samples
directory).
VpBackup folder, where VisPro/REXX automatically saves a copy of
each change made to your project. These files can be accessed by
clicking on the LOG.VPL file, which is created after the first
change to a project. This invokes the VisPro Team Administrator,
which is used in team development and change logging.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. Open the Main Form ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To open the Main form, double-click on Main.
The Main form opens to the Layout view, which you use to easily design your
application. The Layout view is shown as follows:
The form is the environment in which you design the window that your user will
perform tasks with. For each window your user works with, you create a form.
This application consists of a single form.
The form consists of two main parts: the Tool Bar and Canvas.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2.1. The Tool Bar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The VisPro/REXX (Evaluation Version) Tool Bar
The tool bar consists of a series of icons. Each icon represents a tool. Each
tool is used to place a certain kind of object on the canvas. For example, the
push button tool places a push button object on the canvas. An object is a
graphical item that can be used to perform tasks. Radio buttons and list boxes
are examples of objects.
The difference between a tool and an object is that a tool is a graphical
representation of something that can be added to the canvas. Once added, it
becomes an object that can be used to perform tasks.
You can turn off the tool bar by selecting Open and then Settings from the Form
menu. Select the Options page and deselect Show tool bar. If you select Save
defaults, all the defaults you have set for the form are saved, including
fonts, grid spacing, etc. Saving defaults affects the defaults for every other
project you create. If you do not select Save defaults, your changes will
affect only the project the change was made in.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2.2. The Canvas ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
About the Canvas
The canvas is the open, gridded area below the tool bar. This is the area in
which you will design (or lay out) your form. You select the tools you need
from the tool bar and add them to the canvas. Once objects are added to the
canvas, you can customize their appearance and provide behavior for them.
You can turn off the grid lines in the canvas by selecting Open and then
Settings from the Form menu. Select the Options page and deselect Show grid. If
you select Save defaults, all the defaults you have set for the form are saved,
including fonts, gridspacing, etc. Saving defaults affects the defaults for
every other project you create. If you do not select Save defaults, your
changes will affect only the project the change was made in.
Note: Snap to grid forces the object to align with the nearest grid line. If
you do not want to use this feature, deselect it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3. Change the Title Bar Name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Change the name on the title bar of your application to say "Hello, World
Project." To do so, complete the following steps:
1. From the Form menu, select Open, and then Settings.
A notebook appears.
2. Select the General tab.
3. Type Hello, World Application in the field beside Title bar text.
4. Double-click the system menu icon (in the upper left corner) to close the
settings view.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.4. The VisPro Team Administrator ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
With the new releases, all products (except VisPro/REXX Bronze) feature the
VisPro Team Administrator, which takes the error-prone guesswork out of team
development.
The Team Administrator allows programmers to clearly and easily compare change
levels and project versions, to rollback changes, and monitor development
progress. All changes are automatically logged and forms can be locked to
ensure that only one programmer makes changes at a time. Other features include
read-only viewing and the ability to create a form shadow for easy
accessibility in a distributed system environment.
All changes to your forms are saved to the VPBACKUP folder inside your Project
directory. These backups are logged to a file called LOG.VPL, which is created
after the first change to a form. Double-clicking on the LOG.VPL file invokes
the VisPro Team Administrator.
As part of team development, VisPro introduces Form Shadows.
Form shadows are similar to OS/2 Workplace Shell shadow objects. They allow you
to include a VisPro form in a project that actually exists in another project
folder. The source project folder can be on the local machine or remotely on a
server. This allows you to share commonly-used forms in several projects.
Form Shadows are created the same way as a Workplace Shell shadow. You can
either drag a form from a source project folder to the target while holding the
CTRL and SHIFT keys, or you can get a pop-up menu on a form icon and select
Create Shadow.
VisPro form shadows differ from OS/2 Workplace Shell shadows in a very
fundamental way. OS/2 Workplace Shell shadows are not visible on your hard
drive because they actually exist in the OS/2 INI configuration files. VisPro
form shadows are actual directories within a project. A file named !!LINK
exists inside the directory that contains the fully-qualified path of the
original form's location.
This prevents the loss of project structure due to changes in the OS/2 system
files and improves reliability over OS/2 shadow implementation.
Note: Shadows are created as read-only objects by default. To override this
attribute, select Read only from a form's pop-up menu.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.5. Add Your Objects ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can now add your objects to the canvas of the Layout view. For this
application, you will add a push button and an entry field.
To add the push button object, complete the following steps:
1. Select the push button tool on the tool bar.
2. Click anywhere on the left portion of the canvas.
3. Use direct editing to rename your push button "OK." To do so, click the
push button while you hold down the Alt key. Type over the existing text,
then select the pointer tool.
To add the entry field object, complete the following steps:
1. Select the entry field tool on the tool bar.
2. Click anywhere on the right portion of the canvas.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.6. Size and Align Your Objects ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To size your entry field so that the text fits, select the entry field, then
position the mouse pointer over the left or right side until you see a double
arrow. Drag the edge of the field until the entry field is about twice as long
as it was.
To align your two objects so the canvas looks tidy, use the Arrange feature.
Complete the following steps:
1. Select both the push button object and the entry field object (one way to
do this is to hold down the Ctrl key and click on each object).
2. From the Selected menu, select Arrange.
3. Select Align bottom.
The objects are aligned with the bottommost object.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.7. Provide Behavior For Your Application ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Now program your objects so that when the user selects the push button, the
entry field says "Hello, World!" To do this, complete the following steps:
1. Select the push button.
2. Click the right mouse button to get a pop-up menu for the push button.
3. Select When, and then Clicked/selected.
An Event window appears with the statement Arg window self at the top.
Move the Event window so you can see both the Main form and the Event
window at the same time.
4. Holding down the right mouse button, drag from your entry field object in
the canvas to the Event window. Release the mouse when the focus point is
anywhere below the Arg window self statement.
The Create Link window appears, presenting an alphabetical list of
choices.
5. Scroll down and select Set item value. Then select OK.
A REXX statement appears in the Event window.
6. Change value to 'Hello, World!' (include the single quotes). The Event
window should look like this:
Arg window self
/* Set item value Entry Field */
CALL VpSetItemValue window,1001,'Hello, World!'
It is not necessary to close any of your windows before you go on to the next
step.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.8. Run Your Application ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can test your application to see how it works. To test your application
without starting the debugger, complete the following steps:
1. Select the Form menu on the Main form.
2. Select Run....
Your application appears. If you select the OK push button, the entry
field displays the text "Hello, World!"
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Limitations of the Evaluation Version ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Evaluation Version of VisPro/REXX differs from the full product in several
key aspects:
1. The Evaluation version does not allow you to build your application to
create a stand-alone executable file. The production version allows you
to create stand-alone or small(with a DLL) executables, which can be
tokenized or encrypted.
________________________________________________________
The VisPro/REXX Build Options
2. The Evaluation version of VisPro/REXX allows you to create single-form
applications only. The product version of VisPro/REXX allows you to
create multiple-form applications.
3. The Database Designer is not included in the Evaluation version. This
feature allows you to design client/server applications or reverse
engineer existing database structures from ODBC-enabled databases to
create entity/relationship (E/R) diagrams. These can then be used to
create visual SQL statements or to automatically generate the code used
to access the database. Using the Database Designer you can construct a
form accessing multiple database tables with a single drag and drop
operation.
________________________________________________________
The VisPro Database Designer
4. Support for Threads, as well as Event and Mutual Exclusion Semaphores is
not included in this Evaluation version. VisPro/REXX Gold allows creation
and use of Threads and Semaphores to develop powerful multithreaded
projects.
5. VisPro/REXX Gold allows you to debug multiple threads of execution (the
only product in its class that allow this). Variables in multiple threads
can be traced in the Variable Watch window.
________________________________________________________
The VisPro/REXX Debugger, with Conditional Break
6. The Notebook control is disabled, since Notebooks require secondary
forms. Recall that secondary forms are not allowed in the Evaluation
version.
7. Embedded resources cannot be used in the evaluation version, since these
resources are embedded in executable files. The VisPro Resource Editor
allows you to add Icons, Bitmaps, and Strings as embedded resources
within your executable files (the Resource Editor is included with the
evaluation version for your review)..
________________________________________________________
The VisPro/Resource Editor
8. The DDE Client and Multimedia objects are not included in the Evaluation
version. In the production version of the product we have used the System
Object Module (SOM) to add the DDE Client and Multimedia Presentation
Manager/2 (MMPM/2) controls to our tool box. Users of VisPro/REXX can
request the free SOM toolkit to add additional controls to their toolbar.
________________________________________________________
The DDE Client and Multimedia Objects
9. Simple report capabilities are not offered in the Evaluation version. In
VisPro/REXX Gold there are three ways to print the information from a
form:
Print a list from a stem variable
Print a tabular report from a stem variable
Print a rendering of a FORM window to the printer, including
Business Graphics and Container Details views.
Along with graphics, your reports can include headings, subtitles, and
page numbers to make your off screen presentation as impressive as your
final executable code.
HockWare also offers VisPro/Reports, a REXX-enabled programmable report
writer for OS/2. Contact HockWare for more information on this product.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Company background ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In April of 1993, HockWare introduced VisPro/REXX--the first OS/2 visual REXX
programming tool as well as the first REXX programming tool to include drag and
drop programming.
VisPro/REXX fully exploits OS/2 2.x, OS/2 Warp, the Workplace Shell, CUA '91
objects, SOM and the REXX language. There are three commercially available
products developed with VisPro/REXX:
Performance Plus by Clear and Simple
A CPU performance monitoring tool
WatchIt by Client Server Networking
A LAN performance analysis and management tool for IBM LAN Server
CS-Edit/2 by Multitask Consulting
A system configuration editor
These are just a few of the products that exemplify the robustness and
stability of the VisPro development environment.
HockWare has headquarters in Cary, North Carolina (USA).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. How To Order VisPro/REXX ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
VisPro/REXX is available directly from HockWare or from your favorite software
reseller.
We provide several ways you can reach us for product support and questions.
These include:
Phone: Our technical support number is
(919) 380-0616
Fax: Our FAX number is
(919) 380-0757
Compuserve: Mail can be sent directly to us at
71333,3226
Technical questions can be directed to our forum. You can access the
HOCKWARE forum by using the GO command in this form:
GO HOCKWARE
Internet: Our Internet address is:
hockware@vnet.net
World Wide Web: General sales information, product announcements, and
patches are available from our site on the world wide web. The URL is:
http://www.hockware.com/hockware
The next section contains an online order form, which you may print out to use
when mailing or faxing your order to us.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. Order Form for VisPro/REXX ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SHIPPING ADDRESS: BILLING ADDRESS:
Name: ____________________________ Name: ____________________________
Company: _________________________ Company: _________________________
Address: _________________________ Address: _________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
City: ____________________________ City: ____________________________
State: ___________________________ State: ___________________________
Country: _________________________ Country: _________________________
Zip: _____________________________ Zip: _____________________________
Phone: ___________________________ Phone: ___________________________
FAX: _____________________________ FAX: _____________________________
PAYMENT METHOD: (Circle)
Check Purchase Order(Include copy of PO) Credit Card: Visa Amex MC
Wire Transfer Account Number:
______________________________
Expiration Date: _____________
UPS SHIPPING and HANDLING FEES: (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Intnl.
shipping fees vary. Please call.)
Ground: 1-3 Copies $7.00 each additional copy: $2.00
2nd day air: 1 copy 15.00 each additional copy: 4.00
Next day air: 1 copy 25.00 each additional copy: 6.00
ITEM QUANTITY UNIT PRICE TOTAL
VisPro/REXX Gold __________ $299.00 _____________
VisPro/REXX BRONZE __________ $59.00 _____________
VisPro/Reports __________ $199.00 _____________
VisPro/C __________ $299.00 _____________
VisPro/C++ __________ $299.00 _____________
Development Suite
(VisPro/REXX, C, C++) __________ $499.00 _____________
SUBTOTAL _____________
Sales Tax (residents of NC only, 6% subtotal) _____________
Shipping _____________
TOTAL _____________
Where did you hear about us?
HockWare, Inc. Telephone (919) 380-0616 FAX (919) 380-0757