CompuServe Messages

Michael, FinalCopy has no "command window" for "power keyboard users" like myself, though this was rectified in FinalWriter. For users of FinalCopy it is easy to write a simple ARexx program to open up a small console and accept a command string, and then give that command to FinalCopy to execute (and your hands never have to leave the keyboard). Also, "macros" can be written to group together a bunch of commands that are often used, but these are not features lacking in any program. I have a FinalCopy macro which puts in a "signature block", with the proper justification, at the bottom of whatever FinalCopy document I am working on, so _I_ didn't have to do it manually. BTW – there is NO "bottom" command (or menu selection, if I remember correctly) in FinalCopy. FinalCopy also has no help function, so I wrote a simple raw console display of often used commands, invoked by function key. Not elegant, but it suffices. I did the same thing for TxED (an old but very useful text editor that I still use). I have a number of FinalCopy and TxED "macros", some of which have been uploaded to one or more of the Amiga forum libraries here, if you are interested. I am sure that there are many others who also have macros that they have written, that they would be willing to share with you. AmiTCP (the coordinated effort on TCP/IP development for Amiga's) has a "start" command, but no "quit" command – not very convenient. To terminate the components of AmiTCP, one has to send a BREAK signal to each program. I wrote a simple ARexx program to scan the current SHELL task list, find the AmiTCP programs, and send them the appropriate BREAK signal, thereby terminating them. I and others have written ARexx "utility" programs for use with the AutoPilot, CIS "front end", program. The list goes on and on, and YES – SOME of these programs require some programming knowledge, but many things can be done quite simply. Textra (another text editor) and MegaD (a very sophisticated file manager program) are extendible via ARExx, which really, is one of the MAIN rasions d'etre for ARexx – program extensions. Perhaps your book could illustrate the simple utility programs as a good reason to use and learn ARexx (eg; how to write a macro to insert your mailing address in whatever program). One last thing: ARexx can be used as an easy and simple calculator. Sometimes it is easier to enter rx "say 14*0.325", than to pull up a calculator program and then enter the same data, and then close the calculator. Real World:southern Illinois,USA Internet:ca0008 at siucvmb.siu.edu