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RexxArpLib.Library Version 2.1 ============================== Copyright (C) 1988 by W.G.J. Langeveld Version 2.1: ------------ New in version 2.1 are the general function ScreenColor, and the CreateHost-related functions ReadHost, SetGadget and IFFImage. The allowed flag for AddItem and AddSubItem is now a specific one (this is an "incompatible" change). CloseWindow now allows the host to stay around through a second argument. The window flag DELTAMOVE was added for OpenWindow, and the window location is now available in reports (%e and %f). The function IFFImage needs some explanation. It allows you to display (a portion of) an IFF image in your CreateHost window. For the time being, this function makes use of the iff.library written by Christian Weber. However, there is a suspicion that this library may cause the occasional system crash, and it is known that DPaint-style brushes are not supported. Only straight IFF picture files are known to work more or less reliably. At some point I intend to use something else. Version 2.0: ------------ Originally, this library was supposed to be an ARexx interface to the ARP library. However, although it indeed interfaces to some of the ARP functions, it has become much more of an interface to various Intuition functions. I have considered renaming the library to something else, but by now everyone refers to it by this name, so I'll leave it like it is. Version 2.0 is pretty much the final version. The library has grown considerably since the first release, and it is about as big as a library should ever get. If I find the need for a lot of other functions, they'll have to go into a different library. The library contains over 50 functions now. One is Charlie's famous ARP file requester, another is a simple combination string/boolean requester that does auto-everything. All you have to do is specify the strings you want it to display. Then there are environment variable things, and a simple message window you can keep hanging around. On popular request, there is now a wildcard expander (not to be confused with a 'directory' function!) that uses the new Rexx Variables Interface (RVI). The major new things though, are the interface routines to Intuition. You can now open screens and windows, add boolean and string gadgets to them as well as menus, draw lines and areas and circles and whatever. You can make your gadgets, menus, and windows send messages to wherever you like and you can format those messages, though they have to ARexx messages, in any way you like, using any information that's currently available. All this is rather hard to explain. You'll really have to play with it and look at some examples. As usual, this stuff is NOT public domain, but freely distributable. So have fun! Willy. The functions are listed below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GetFile ======= Calling sequence: result = GetFile(x, y, pathname, filename, hailstring, publicscreen) x = x coordinate of top-left corner of requester. y = y coordinate of top-left corner of requester. pathname = Default path name, first path name to be searched. filename = Default file name. hailstring = User instruction string. result = The selected path/file name publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). All arguments are optional, but the order is fixed. Therefore if only the second or third argument is specified, it needs to be prefixed by sufficient commas. The selected path concatenated with the selected file name are returned as 'result'. Notice, that the result is not necessarily an existing file. It is up to the user to ascertain that the result is suitable for his purposes. If the user hits "CANCEL", the result is an empty string. Notice that another way the result comes out to be empty is when the user leaves the requester hitting "OKAY" when both the path and file string gadgets are empty. If 'publicscreen' is specified, the function will try to find the screen of that name. If it is set up properly, the requester will open on that screen. If not, the requester will appear on the Workbench. The mechanism that is currently used for this is subject to change. Request ======= Calling sequence: result = Request(x, y, prompts, string, okaytext, canceltext, publicscreen) x = x coordinate of top-left corner of requester. y = y coordinate of top-left corner of requester. prompts = A string which will be displayed above any gadgets. Any embedded '\' characters will be treated as a line break. string = The default string to be displayed in a string gadget. If omitted, no string gadget will be provided. okaytext = The text to be used for an Okay gadget. If omitted, no okay gadget will be provided. canceltext = The text to be used for a Cancel gadget. If omitted, no cancel gadget will be provided. publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). All arguments are optional, but the order is fixed. Therefore if only the second or third argument is specified, it needs to be prefixed by sufficient commas. If a string gadget is present, but no okay gadget, the string will be returned after modification by the user in result when the user hits <return>. If both a string gadget and an okay gadget are present, the string will be returned in result only when the user clicks on the okay gadget. If no string gadget is present, clicking of the okay gadget (if present) will cause the return in result of the string "OKAY". In any case, if the user clicks either the cancel gadget or the close gadget, an empty string will be returned. Notice that another way the result comes out to be empty is when the user leaves the requester hitting "OKAY" when the string gadget is empty. If 'publicscreen' is specified, the function will try to find the screen of that name. If it is set up properly, the requester will open on that screen. If not, the requester will appear on the Workbench. The mechanism that is currently used for this is subject to change. PostMsg ======= This function sets up a window with text. It returns immediately to the caller. Subsequent calls will erase lines and fill them with new text. If a line has zero length, the line will NOT be erased. This has the advantage that you can change the text in a line without redisplaying text in another line. It has the disadvantage that in order to erase lines, you have to specify at least a single space for each line you want to erase. The window will remain open, until a call is made with too few arguments. This is NOT a reentrant function: there is only one window pointer, and subsequent calls by ANY REXX process will affect the window. Calling sequence: result = PostMsg(x, y, strings, publicscreen) x = x coordinate of top-left corner of requester. y = y coordinate of top-left corner of requester. string = A string which will be displayed above any gadgets. Any embedded '\' characters will be treated as a line break. result = 1 for success, 0 otherwise. publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). All arguments are optional, but the order is fixed. Therefore if only the second or third argument is specified, it needs to be prefixed by sufficient commas. Examples: Postmsg(50, 50, "This is line 1\This is line 2") will cause a window to appear with two lines of text. A subsequent call Postmsg(50, 50, "\This is a new line 2") will cause the second line of the window to be replaced by the new text. The construct: PostMsg(50, 50, " \") will erase the first line but leave the second one alone (notice the space). If too few arguments are specified, this function will cause the window to be closed. If 'publicscreen' is specified, the function will try to find the screen of that name. If it is set up properly, the requester will open on that screen. If not, the requester will appear on the Workbench. The mechanism that is currently used for this is subject to change. Getenv ====== Calling sequence: result = Getenv(variable) variable = Environment variable. result = The value of the environment variable. This function gets the value of an environment variable. If the variable does not exist, an empty string will be returned. Setenv ====== Calling sequence: result = Setenv(variable, valuestring) variable = Environment variable. valuestring = The new value for the environment variable. result = Always 1. This function (creates and) sets the environment variable to a a (new) value. If 'valuestring' is missing, the function will remove the environment variable. ScreenToBack, ScreenToFront =========================== These functions depth arrange screens. If no argument is specified, the screen operated on is the Workbench screen. If the name of a public screen is specified, it will be affected. Calling sequence: result = screentoback(publicscreen) result = screentofront(publicscreen) publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). The argument is optional. If 'publicscreen' is specified, the function will try to find the screen of that name. If it is set up properly, the screen will be moved to the back/front. If not, the function will operate on the Workbench screen. The mechanism that is currently used for this is subject to change. ScreenRows, ScreenCols, ScreenLace, ScreenColor =============================================== These functions retrieve info about screens. If no argument is specified, the screen operated on is the Workbench screen. If the name of a public screen is specified, it will be used. Calling sequences: result = ScreenRows(publicscreen) /* return number of rows */ result = ScreenCols(publicscreen) /* return number of columns */ result = ScreenLace(publicscreen) /* return interlace */ result = ScreenColor(publicscreen, n) /* return color n */ publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). ScreenRows and ScreenCols retrieve the number of rows and columns in pixels. The function ScreenLace() returns 0 if the screen is not interlaced, and 1 if it is. The function returns -1 if the information could not be found. ScreenColor retrieves the RGB values of the selected color in the format: <red><space><green><space><blue>, e.g: 15 0 0 for an all red screen. Except with ScreenColor, the first argument is optional. If 'publicscreen' is specified, the function will try to find the screen of that name. If it is set up properly, information about the screen will be returned. If not, the function will operate on the Workbench screen. The mechanism that is currently used for this is subject to change. ScreenColor only operates on public screens. OpenScreen, CloseScreen ======================= These functions allow you to open public custom screens. Calling sequence: result = OpenScreen(topedge, depth, modes, defaulttitle, publicscreen) result = CloseScreen(publicscreen) topedge = Y coordinate of top edge of the screen. depth = Number of bitplanes. modes = Viewmodes and type of screen. The currently supported viewmodes are "HIRES", "LACE", and "HAM". The one currently supported type is "SCREENBEHIND". defaulttitle = Default title for the screen title bar. publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). result = 0 on failure, 1 on success. The last argument is required, therefore you must supply sufficient commas and a name for the public screen to be created/closed. With openscreen, leaving out any of the other arguments will cause defaults to be used. They are topedge = 0, depth = 2, modes = 0 (meaning LORES, no LACE), and no default title. This is equivalent to specifying 0 for all arguments (a depth of 0 is illegal and will be changed to 2). All created screens are CUSTOM screens. The mechanism that is currently used for public screens is subject to change. ***NOTE: It is perfectly possible to apply closescreen() to another application's custom screen (if it is public, using the same conventions as used here). If you attempt this, a software failure is almost guaranteed. Only use closescreen() on screens you created using openscreen()! FileList ======== This function does ARP pattern matching. Given a pattern, it will return all files and/or directories matching the pattern. Calling sequence: number = FileList(pattern, files, flags) pattern = a search pattern using ARP wildcards. files = the NAME of a stem variable to be created. flags = Directories - directories only. Files - files only. number = the number of files matching the pattern. When files with names matching the pattern are found, a stem variable with the name given by 'files' is created in the current Rexx context. It has fields 1, 2, ...., <number> containing the names of the files. The last argument is optional: when an F is specified, only files are listed. When a D is specified only directories are listed. Example: a simple directory program looks like /* Directory program, list everything */ arg pattern if pattern = "" then pattern = "*" numfils = FileList(pattern, myfilelist) do i = 1 to numfils; say myfilelist.i; end exit CreateHost ========== This function allows you to create a single window with gadgets, menus, text, graphics, etc. Of course, multiple copies of the function may be started up to create more windows, but each must have a unique 'controlport'. This function should be started up asynchronously, using runwsh, and one should wait for the 'controlport' to appear using e.g. WaitForPort. Calling sequence: runwsh 'call CreateHost(controlport, notifyport, publicscreen)' controlport = Name of the message port this window should listen to. notifyport = Name of the message port that should be notified when an IDCMP event occurs. publicscreen = Name of a public screen (optional). When the function is first called, it will open a message port with the name given by "controlport". The function will then wait for commands coming in through this port. This may be accomplished using one of many intuition functions, as explained later. One of the first commands should be to open the associated window by calling OpenWindow (see later). It will then open a window as specified in the OpenWindow call. If any message arrives through the IDCMP of this window, a REXX message will be sent to the port specified as "notifyport" which either you should set up in your rexx macro for this purpose, or should be an otherwise existing rexx message port belonging to another process. In the case you set up your own port, make sure the message is replied to after having been retrieved and examined. If the notifyport does not exist, no message will be sent. The window can be closed by the rexx macro by calling the function CloseWindow (see later). On startup, the notify port is the same for all classes of messages. This can be changed using the SetNotify() function, see later. The last argument is optional. If 'publicscreen' is specified, the function will try to find the screen of that name. If it is set up properly, the window will be opened on it. If not, the window will be opened on the Workbench screen. The mechanism that is currently used for this is subject to change. Supported Intuition (and other) functions with createhost ========================================================= The following functions are implemented as CreateHost functions. The first argument is always the name of the control port of the host that is supposed to execute the command. A little secret: you can send commands *directly* to the controlport also by constructs like "Address controlport commandname". However, this only works for commands without further arguments. For example, from WShell, "address controlport CloseWindow" is equivalent to "call CloseWindow(controlport)". This can come in incredibly handy at times. For example, when you want command hosts to send message to themselves: you can tell a host to send IDCMP events of class CLOSEWINDOW to itself... Boggles the mind yet? Read on... call ActivateGadget(controlport, gadgetid) Tries to activate a string gadget with id 'gadgetid'. call ActivateWindow(controlport) call AreaCircle(controlport, xcenter, ycenter, radius) call AreaDraw(controlport, x, y) Only 100 vertices are currently allowed before each AreaEnd(). call AreaEllipse(controlport, xcenter, ycenter, radius1, radius2) call AreaEnd(controlport) Only 100 vertices are currently allowed before each AreaEnd(). call AreaMove(controlport, x, y) Only 100 vertices are currently allowed before each AreaEnd(). call AddGadget(controlport, x, y, gadgetid, gadgettext, messagetext, hsize) If hsize is specified, this call creates a string gadget of that horizontal size and gadgettext is the default string. If hsize is not specified, this call creates an autosizing boolean gadget, where the text in gadgettext is displayed. In both cases, the string in messagetext is sent to controlport (see also under OpenWindow). As usual, the gadgettext for boolean gadgets may contain \ characters to cause multiple lines of text (See e.g. PostMsg()). call AddItem(controlport, itemname, message, commandchar, mutualexclude, flag) Add a new item with name 'itemname'. Optionally, you may specify a command key abbreviation (right-Amiga 'commandchar') and a mutual exclude mask. See Intuition manual. A special value of the mutual exclude mask is -1: this means that the item will be toggle selectable. If the flag argument is "SAMELINE", the item will be on the same line as the previous item, otherwise, or if the argument is not present, it will be on the next line. See also AddMenu(), AddSubItem(), FreeMenu(), SetItem(). call AddMenu(controlport, menuname) Add a new menu with name 'menuname'. See also AddItem(), AddSubItem(), FreeMenu(), SetItem(). call AddSubItem(controlport,itemname,message,commandchar,mutualexclude,flag) Add a new subitem with name 'itemname'. Optionally, you may specify a command key abbreviation (right-Amiga 'commandchar') and a mutual exclude mask. See Intuition manual. A special value of the mutual exclude mask is -1: this means that the item will be toggle selectable. If the flag argument is "SAMELINE", the item will be on the same line as the previous item, otherwise, or if the argument is not present, it will be on the next line. See also AddMenu(), AddItem(), FreeMenu(), SetItem(). call BackFill(controlport) This is not an intuition function. See OpenWindow(). call CloseWindow(controlport, flag) This function closes the window and deallocates all resources. The 'flag' argument is optional. If present, and if the flag is equal to "CONTINUE", the host will remain active. Otherwise, the host will exit. call Draw(controlport, x, y) call DrawCircle(controlport, xcenter, ycenter, radius) call DrawEllipse(controlport, xcenter, ycenter, radius1, radius2) call Exit(controlport) This function closes the window, deallocates all resources and causes the host to exit. Exit(), Quit() and Stop() are identical. call Flood(controlport, mode, x, y) If mode is 0, the flood continues until pixels of the outline pen color are found. If the mode is 1, the flood continues until pixels of a different color than the pixel at x, y are found. call FreeMenu(controlport) Gets rid of any attached menu. call IFFImage(controlport, filename, x, y, width, height) Displays a chunk of size 'width', 'height' of an IFF ILBM file named 'filename' at x, y in the window. If x, y, width, and/or height are omitted, suitable defaults are chosen. The colormap of the IFF file, if any, is NOT used on the Workbench, but IS used on custom screens. call ModifyHost(controlport, IDCMPclass, messagestring) This function allows you to set the message string that is sent to the notifyport for a particular class of IDCMP events. See OpenWindow. call Move(controlport, x, y) call OpenWindow(controlport, leftedge, topedge, width, height, idcmp, flags, title) width and height may be set to 0 to get the maximum size of the window. idcmp is a string that specifies the IDCMP for the window. Supported are: IDCMP message | default arg[0] --------------------+------------------- "CLOSEWINDOW" | "%l" "MOUSEBUTTONS" | "%l" "GADGETUP" | <its string> "GADGETDOWN" | <its string> "MENUPICK" | "%l" "NEWSIZE" | "%l" "VANILLAKEY" | "%l" "RAWKEY" | "%l" "NEWPREFS" | "%l" "DISKINSERTED" | "%l" "DISKREMOVED" | "%l" "ACTIVEWINDOW" | "%l" "INACTIVEWINDOW" | "%l" "REFRESHWINDOW" | "%l" "MOUSEMOVE" | "%l" "DELTAMOVE" | "%l" Any number of these may be specified in the OpenWindow call, by conca- tenation. When any of these messages arrives at the IDCMP, a REXX message is created with a particular string in Arg[0]. This string is by default the one given in the table above, after substitution has taken place for any two-character sequence starting with '%'. The following substitutions will be made: Sequence: | Typical Use: | Meaning: ----------+--------------+--------------- %% | | A single % sign %a | Vanillakeys | 'Code' is interpreted as an ASCII character. %b | Buttons | SELECTDOWN, SELECTUP, MENUDOWN, MENUUP. %c | | 'Code' is given as an integer. %d | Gadgets | the gadget id. %e | Window | the TopEdge of the window %f | Window | the LeftEdge of the window %g | Gadgets | the string inside a string gadget goes here. %h | Newsize | the window height. %i | Menus | the item number. %l | Any | the name of the IDCMP class. %m | Menus | the menu number. %q | | 'Qualifier' is given as an integer. %s | Menus | the sub-item number. %t | Time | the number of seconds since January 1 1980. %w | Newsize | the window width. %x | Mouse | the X position of the mouse pointer. %y | Mouse | the Y position of the mouse pointer. %0-%15 | | which Arg to use. For example, if the message string of some gadget is "Mouse is %x, %y%3gadget string is %g" the following might be sent to the notifyport in Arg[0] when someone hits return in that gadget, after typing "This is a test": Mouse is 320, 200 while Arg[3] of the Rexx message would contain the string: gadget string is This is a test The default string for non-gadgets/menus is "%l", which means that they only report their name. For example, if one would click in the window, one would only receive a message with "MOUSEBUTTONS" in Arg[0]. However, all arguments of the message that will be sent to the notifyport may be changed using the ModifyHost() call, see there. Any of the escape sequences above may be used in any string. Obviously, sometimes particular sequences may not be very appropriate for certain uses. 'flags' specifies the various window flags. Currently supported are: "WINDOWCLOSE", "WINDOWSIZING" (and "SIZEBRIGHT", "SIZEBBOTTOM"), "WINDOWDEPTH", "WINDOWDRAG", "BORDERLESS", "ACTIVATE" and "NOCAREREFRESH". A special flag can be set: "BACKFILL". It implies a call to BackFill() after opening the window. It sets the window's background to the current requester-style background color. call Quit(controlport) This function closes the window, deallocates all resources and causes the host to exit. Exit(), Quit() and Stop() are identical. call ReadGadget(controlport, gadgetid) This function will cause the gadget 'gadgetid' to send its message text (after substitutions, of course). call ReadHost(controlport, notifyport, messagetext) This function will cause the message text (after substitutions, of course) to be sent to the notifyport. call RectFill(controlport, xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax) call RefreshGadgets(controlport) call RemoveGadget(controlport, gadgetid) call SetAPen(controlport, pennumber) call SetBPen(controlport, pennumber) call SetDrMd(controlport, mode) mode can be any of JAM1, JAM2, INVERSVID or COMPLEMENT. call SetDrPt(controlport, pattern) pattern is interpreted as a long integer of which the bits form the pattern. call SetFont(controlport, FontName, FontSize) call SetGadget(controlport, gadgetid, action) Given a gadget id, perform action on the gadget. Supported are ON and OFF, to set or clear the highlighting state of the gadget. call SetItem(controlport, menunumber, itemnuber, subitemnumber, action) Given menu, item (and optionally subitem) numbers, perform action on the menu item. Supported are ON and OFF, to set or clear the check mark. call SetNotify(controlport, IDCMPclass, newnotifyport) This function allows you to change the name of the NotifyPort that message strings are sent to for a particular class of IDCMP events. call SetReqColor(controlport, pentype, colornumber) This function allows you to change the color number assigned to one of the various pentypes. Currently the pentypes are: BLOCKPEN, DETAILPEN, BACKGROUNDPEN, PROMPTPEN, BOXPEN, SHADOWPEN, OKAYPEN, and CANCELPEN. call SetOPen(controlport, pennumber) call SetRGB4(controlport, pennumber, red, green, blue) red, green and blue are values for the RGB content of the color to be assigned to the pen. The values are taken mod 16. call Stop(controlport) This function closes the window, deallocates all resources and causes the host to exit. Exit(), Quit() and Stop() are identical. call Text(controlport, string) call WindowText(controlport, text) The string in text may contain \'s to indicate multiple lines of text. call WindowToBack(controlport) call WindowToFront(controlport) call WritePixel(controlport, x, y)