On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 9:50 AM, Oliver Sims <
oliver.s...@simsassociates.co.uk> wrote:
> The other day I was enthusing about the advantages of ooRexx to a chap
> who was well-versed in computer languages.
>
I'm not at all trying to discourage you from coming up with a better intro,
but this sort of reminds me of the saying: you can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink.
> The next time we spoke, he said,
> "Well, I downloaded ooRexx and nothing happened. No icon on the desktop,
> no nothing.
>
Well that's simply not true. It is correct that no desktop icon is
created, but to say nothing happens is fallacious. The installer outputs a
couple of hundred lines showing exactly what is happening. It creates a
program group in the Start Menu for ooRexx with links to the documentation
and menu items to execute a number of sample programs.
> Waste of time imho."
> I did try to convince him to look at "Try Rexx", but he couldn't be
> bothered: "Nah", he said, "If it's any good it would have told me about
> when I installed it."
>
Again, that's not true, the installer did tell him about it:
Create folder: C:\Rexx\ooRexx
Extract: rexxtry.rex... 100%
Extract: ooRexxTry.rex... 100%
Output folder: C:\Rexx\ooRexx\samples\oodialog\ooRexxTry
Extract: ooRexxTry.rex... 100%
Output folder: C:\Rexx\ooRexx\samples\oodialog\ooRexxTry\doc
Extract: ooRexxTry.pdf... 100%
Extract: ooRexxTry.pdf... 100%
Create shortcut: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Open
Object Rexx\Documentation\ooRexxTry Reference.lnk
>
> This reaction has lead me to believe that, if we want to spread the ooRexx
> word, we need a better way of showing people its advantages. For example,
> put an icon on the desktop that fires up "Try Rexx". (But why not "Try
> ooRexx?")
>
The installer could certainly put an icon on the desktop, but I fail to see
why that is any better than the current entries in the Open Object Rexx
Start Menu Group. Your friend would still need to bother himself to double
click on it.
But, again, I'm not arguing against adding a desktop icon.
>
> Btw, I tried "Try Rexx (GUI)" and typed "dir" as suggested in the command
> prompt, but when I ran it I got an error.
>
Hmm, if it didn't work that would be a bug and you should open a bug and
we'll fix it. However it works fine for me in 4.2.0. You have to type
"dir" in the code window and then you have to click the Run button. The
program itself includes help that explains this, so I think it is actually
a pretty good Rexx program. If you install Excel, you can't expect to be
able to use it without a little research.
--
Mark Miesfeld
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