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- RxShell 2.1 - An ARexx based graphic shell substitute for CLI
- by
- Steven D. Kapplin
- CIS 70055,1021
-
- RxShell is a simple graphic shell replacement for the CLI and
- WorkBench. You can operate on various files based upon its
- filetype, which RxShell identifies. RxShell currently recognizes
- 16 different filetypes. They are:
-
- Executable File
- IFF Picture File
- Excellence! File
- ProWrite File
- Advantage Worksheet
- MaxiPlan Worksheet
- CanDo Deck
- LHarc Archive
- Arc Archive
- Zoo Archive
- 8SVX Sound File
- Professional Page 1.3 File
- PageStream 1.8 File
- ARexx macro
- Anim File
-
- and AmigaDos script files if the 's' protection bit is set.
-
-
- Start program with '?' for help; if a path follows, then
- RxShell logs into that path or defaults to VD0:. A selected file
- is checked for its type. If the filetype can be be identified,
- then the appropriate command is generated for that file. An
- executable is 'run', whereas other files are acted on according
- to their type. You can change the filenames of your viewer,
- typer, and archivers to suit your desires. The default directory
- for de-archiving is VD0:. This, too, can be changed to the dir
- of choice. At the beginning of RxShell you will find the
- variables which are initialized with the path/filename for your
- utilities. You can configure the following variables in RxShell:
-
- textviewer (currently Sys:Tools/Type)
- pictureviewer (currently Sys:Tools/Superview)
- unzoo (currently C:archivers/Zoo)
- unarc (currently C:archivers/Arc)
- unlzh (currently C:archivers/LHarc)
- arcdir (directory receiving unarc'd files
- currently VD0:)
- playsound (8SVX sound player; currently blank)
- player (movie player; currently Dpaint:Play)
-
- To change any of these simply edit RxShell and place the desired
- path and filename in quotes similar to what you will find in
- RxShell as it's presently configured.
-
- RxShell may be executed by simply entering RxShell on the
- command line (or 'Running' it; RxShell will not detach unless it
- is 'Run') or it may be run by clicking on its icon. You must
- have ARexx running. The icon has c:extc/rx as the default tool.
- You should change this to reflect the location of 'rx' on your
- system. If you start RxShell from the icon, then a Shell window
- will open at 0,11 with a width of 400 and height of 120. This
- window will receive any output from RxShell and will close when
- RxShell is closed. If RxShell is run from the CLI, then the
- CLI's window is used for output instead of the Shell window
- opened by RxShell's icon.
-
- When operating on arc'd files (ZOO, LZH, or ARC) RxShell
- will put up a requestor below the file requestor. If you want to
- list the contents of the archive, then click on the List gadget.
- If you wish to de-archive then click on the Unarc gadget. This
- gives you some flexibility for working with archives. The
- command strings for each of the archivers is set to permit
- dearcing into sub directories, if the archiver permits it.
- Presently, only Zoo and LHarc permit this. I have not included a
- special file type for .ZIP files because PKaZip exists as a
- standalone application for handling such files. If the need
- arises, I could add this facility provided .ZIP files can be
- uniquely identified.
-
- Although I have configured RxShell for my system, most of it
- can be changed. If you can program in ARexx, then you can modify
- this macro to your heart's content. My system runs on a
- non-interlaced hi-res screen, so the file requestor and requestor
- are positioned according to my setup. You can change this if you
- want to repostion them or set them for running on an interlaced
- hi-res screen.
-