Short: ARexx For Beginners (& Others) .guide Author: bunton@acay.com.au (Frank Bunton) Uploader: bunton acay com au (Frank Bunton) Type: docs/help Version: 2.11 Replaces: docs/help/arexxbegn.lha Requires: Amigaguide or Multiview (See note for WB1.x below) Architecture: generic Distribution: * Commercial Magazines and CDs must request permission from author to include demo version. * Non commercially, the Demo version can be distributed anywhere. * Aminet CDs & Fish CDs may include Demo version. Update Information: ------------------- No changes to actual contents from v2.1 ARexx For Beginners is now copyright FREEWARE The reason for this is that it is that I do not know if any changes were made to it with the release of AmigaDOS v3.5 and I have no intention of updating at this stage or in the foreseeable future. I never thought I would reach this stage but I feel that the Amiga has well and truly "missed the boat" and is too far behind other computer technology to be realistically usable in the ever changing world of computers and the internet. Maybe one day the present owners will change all this but I cannot afford to wait and see and I am not willing to spend any more time or money on my Amiga until the unbelievable happens and a new Amiga emerges that can really compete with modern computers. So, in the meantime, use it freely for non-profit purposes and enjoy! Description: ------------ This is a set of Amigaguide documents containing (approximately):- 54 Articles 3 Appendices 1 Glossary 230 Example ARexx scripts There is about 1.24 megabyte of data so a HARD DRIVE will be required. It is aimed at the beginner in ARexx but can also be used by more experienced programmers as a reference. The articles and glossary are heavily cross referenced making it easy to jump from the article to an explanation of terminology or to another article for further information. This Aminet release (Demo Version) has a lot of the articles ENCRYPTED. Those paying the SHAREWARE fee will receive instructions for accessing the encrypted parts. NOTE for users of Workbench 1.3 and earlier. An earlier version of ARexx For Beginners that uses a hypertext program that is NOT Amigaguide or Multiview is available on request for users of Workbench 1.3 and earlier. This is on 2 disks so it can be managed without a hard drive What "ARexx For Beginners" is NOT:- (See below for what it IS) --------------------------------- * It is NOT a replacement for the ARexx manual. While every ARexx instruction and function is covered, "ARexx For Beginners" is not intended to be a full and definitive description of the format of all these instructions and functions. If you want that sort of thing then read the ARexx manual. * It is NOT a description of how to use the ARexx commands that are available in other programs. The format of those commands is not a part of ARexx but a part of those other programs To try to describe how to use commands available in all the programs that use ARexx would be an impossible task. There are just too many of them! So, if you want to know how to use, say, Directory Opus commands for ARexx scripts then you will have to read the Directory Opus manual. If you already know how to use ARexx itself and want to know how to use commands specific to other programs, then "ARexx For Beginners" is NOT for you!! What "ARexx For Beginners" IS:- ------------------------------- What "ARexx For Beginners" DOES attempt to do is to provide the beginner with an introduction to the use of ARexx by providing information and examples of the ARexx instructions and functions in a way that takes the user through various instructions and functions and their main options without getting too tied up in their format. In my experience, most beginners cannot quickly understand the formats given in texts about ARexx. By following through these notes, it is hoped that the beginner can become familiar with the main options of most instructions and functions without needing to worry about formats. So... whereas I may not always give you the FULL story about an ARexx instruction or function all in the one article I WILL attempt to cover it all by the time you have read through to the last article. However, if you want the full story all at once, all you need to do is double click on the highlighted references to follow through to later articles and read the whole story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frank Bunton bunton@acay.com.au http://www.acay.com.au/~bunton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~