CompuServe Thread

#ARexx…Where Are Ports?

7 messages in this thread
#68448From: Will EstesOct 6, 1989 2:27 AM
I'm curious what others think about ARexx. Is it really a general purpose solution to the problem of IPC between applications, or does it have any major short-comings? What are the applications that have the best ARexx ports? Are there any public domain programs on-line here with ARexx ports? What are some typical combinations of applications that users here use ARexx to integrate?
#68479From: Art SteinmetzOct 6, 1989 11:28 AM
I use AREXX all the time, as do many others here. I think the majority of folks use it more as a superdooper script language or a macro language for just one program. The IPC aspects have not been fully exploited. I have made some minor forays into IPC. I have one invocation of TxEd controlling another is a Whap-like thingy for other BBS's. Same thing for the M2Sprint Modula 2 editor running a context sensitive online reference. I have Microfiche Filer and DOS working together a lot (does that count?). You do not need AREXX to conform and use the AREXX standard of IPC in your programs. You could use it privately between your applications. In what I consider to be a bizarre move, Mindware plans to release a version of PageRender3D with NO user interface, just an AREXX port. Another Mindware product, TASS (a hypercard-y thing for AREXX), can optionally be used to "roll your own" interface – or not. Good AREXX interfaces. If you can do *everything* with AREXX you can do with a mouse and keyboard the AREXX interface is perfect, most programs need some work. Of the programs I've seen TxEd+, WShell and Digipaint3 come closest to that ideal. Microfiche Filer+ is good. The M2Sprint Editor is good. VLT is poor (otherwise outstanding comm program). I can't comment on others. — Art
#68570From: John DraperOct 6, 1989 9:35 PM
Will, Well, it is currently a general solution to a lot of things, and at least a partial solution to IPC. I say partial, because not all programs that could benefit from ARexx IPC have ARexx ports. I use CEDpro a lot, and have quite a few scripts that I can run from it to do a variety of operations. My main use is for reading Usenet mail and articles, replying to them, archiving them, and so on. With a few relatively simple scripts, I can easily do thse things, invoking both ARexx scripts and other programs that have no idea they were invoked by ARexx. When 1.4 comes out, I expect ARexx to end up being THE solution to IPC, since it will be part of the software bundled with the Amiga. -larry
#69545From: Will EstesOct 13, 1989 6:18 PM
Thanks for the info on AREXX, Larry. What are some of the things besides IPC that you see AREXX as a solution to? Regarding CEDpro: is that a comm package? Who makes it and what does it cost? Do you know of any user groups in the San Francisco Bay Area that have an AREXX SIG? What about bulletin boards with a large number of AREXX scripts? Thanks, Will
#69575From: ASDGOct 13, 1989 9:49 PM
CEDPro is a high performance text editor for programmers and writers. Its second release is due out real soon now. CEDPro is rated as being among the finest editors for any computer.
#69606From: Don Curtis/SYSOPOct 14, 1989 12:29 AM
Perry, Are you going to mail notices to registered users about the second release? If so, could you check to see if I'm in your database…I sure think I sent the registration card in….but it also may be sitting in this stack of papers around here. Don
#68585From: Ray LewisOct 6, 1989 9:49 PM
Will: You might also want to check out scripit, an IPC option written by one of our members that can control ANY properly written Amiga program, whether or not it has an AREXX port. AND — scripit itself has an AREXX port, so the two together are dynamite. I think the file for scripit is XIT12.lhz, or something close to that. Ray Lewis