diff options
author | James FitzGibbon <jfitz@FreeBSD.org> | 1996-09-23 15:50:11 +0000 |
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committer | James FitzGibbon <jfitz@FreeBSD.org> | 1996-09-23 15:50:11 +0000 |
commit | a7a7948bfaa7e6a89b551dbf8a7238e3e64ba19e (patch) | |
tree | f3febac5ff5a7507af4a5b721318124b25c1523b /lang/rexx-imc/pkg-descr | |
parent | Look on the CDROM for patch files too. (diff) |
Import of REXX/imc, a REXX interpreter for unix.
Reviewed by: matt@bdd.net
Notes
Notes:
svn path=/head/; revision=3847
Diffstat (limited to 'lang/rexx-imc/pkg-descr')
-rw-r--r-- | lang/rexx-imc/pkg-descr | 65 |
1 files changed, 65 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/lang/rexx-imc/pkg-descr b/lang/rexx-imc/pkg-descr new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..89d4fdacbf18 --- /dev/null +++ b/lang/rexx-imc/pkg-descr @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ +What is REXX ? +============== + +REXX is a programming language designed by Michael Cowlishaw +of IBM UK Laboratories. In his own words: "REXX is a +procedural language that allows programs and algorithms to +be written in a clear and structured way." +REXX doesn't look that different from any other procedural +language. Here's a simple REXX program: + + /* Count some numbers */ + + say "Counting..." + do i = 1 to 10 + say "Number" i + end + +What makes REXX different from most other languages is that +it is also designed to be used as a macro language by +arbitrary application programs. The idea is that +application developers don't have to design their own macro +languages and interpreters. Instead they use REXX as the +macro language and support the REXX programming interface. +If a REXX macro comes across an expression or function call +that it cannot resolve, it can ask the application to handle +it instead. The application only has to support the +features that are specific to it, freeing the developer from +handling the mundane (and time-consuming) task of writing a +language interpreter. And if all applications use REXX as +their macro language, the user only has to learn one +language instead of a dozen. + + +Differences between TRL (The REXX Language) and REXX/imc +======================================================== + +The following are all nonstandard features of REXX-imc + + * Rejection of labels ending with dot (in case of confusion between + function.(args) and stem.(tail)) + * Compound variable accesses of the form "stem.'string constant'" and + stem.(expression) + * Acceptance of any non-zero number for logical truth, rather than just 1 + * "SAYN expression" to output lines without carriage return + * "SELECT expression" to switch on a value + * "END SELECT" + * "PARSE VALUE" with multiple strings separated by commas + * "PROCEDURE HIDE" + * The following functions: chdir getcwd getenv putenv system userid + plus these I/O functions: open close fdopen popen pclose fileno ftell + * error messages 80-210, -1 and -3. + + +Good sources of REXX information on the web: +============================================ + +REXX/imc Home page + http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/oucl/users/ian.collier/Rexx/index.html + +IBM's REXX Language Page + http://rexx.hursley.ibm.com/rexx/ + +REXX Tutorials Page + http://www2.hursley.ibm.com/rexxtut/ + |