There have been a number of silent updates to BSF4ooRexx850, mostly for reflecting the updates to
the new JDOR Rexx command handler which now is regarded to be completed. As a result the simple
JDOR-Rexx example in the JDOR documentation got slightly updated as well demonstrating how easy it
has become to center strings on a drawing; the current JDOR documentation - with an easy to
understand Rexx example at the top - can temporarily be studied from
<https://wi.wu.ac.at/rgf/rexx/misc/jdor_doc.tmp/jdor_doc.html>.
JDOR allows every Rexx programmer to use simple commands (executed by the JDOR Rexx command handler)
to create any type of graphics, so you are able to check that out yourself and take advantage of it
for your own purposes. Just check out the JDOR samples after installing BSF4ooRexx850 which now also
include samples that demonstrate animations with these JDOR commands!
As the JDOR Rexx commands are now regarded to be complete it would be also really great if you could
help out by testing them thoroughly!
---
There has been an additional enhancement to the deployment of BSF4ooRexx850 per se which is meant to
help making accessing any Java class libraries easy for Rexx programmers: at installation time
BSF4ooRexx850 will create an entry in the environment variable CLASSPATH pointing Java to a certain
directory in your home directory where any number of jar-files (Java class library files) can reside
which Java should use.
The subdirectory is named "lib" and should reside in a directory named "BSF4ooRexx" in the user's
home directory (on Windows using the environment variable named USERPROFILE, on Unix the environment
variable HOME) named "%USERPROFILE%\BSF4ooRexx\lib" (Windows) or "$HOME/BSF4ooRexx/lib" (please
note: the case of these directories is significant for Java).
First you need to create these two subdirectories yourself (the installation does not do that on
purpose) in your home directory. Once "BSF4ooRexx/lib" exists in your home directory just copy the
jar-files (Java class library files) that contain the classes your are interested in for using them
in your programs. Once the jar files are there you should be able to access all of them without any
need to change the environment variable CLASSPATH yourself.
E.g. if you wish to use/have NetRexx (a great combination with ooRexx IMHO) you could just copy the
NetRexx jar-files to BSF4ooRexx/lib and could use NetRexx from ooRexx (and NetRexx could use ooRexx
as well) from that moment on.
Here is what you need to take advantage of the new BSF4ooRexx850 which includes
the latest JDOR:
... ooRexx 5.0 (the latest version is available from
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/oorexx/files/oorexx/5.0.0beta/>)
... Java with JavaFX (there are different installation packages, use the
ones that include the
JavaFX class libraries/modules!) from whomever you trust (in alphabetical
order Amazon, IBM,
Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, ...) or e.g. from any of the many places like
<https://bell-sw.com/pages/downloads/> or
<https://www.azul.com/downloads/?package=jdk-fx>
... BSF4ooRexx850 (the latest version is available from
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/bsf4oorexx/files/beta/20221004/> follow
the information on
that page to install it)
---rony
On 18.10.2022 14:01, Rony G. Flatscher wrote:
Since a few minutes there is a new version of BSF4ooRexx850 available from
Sourceforge.
About the update:
BSF4ooRexx850 exploits a Java feature introduced with Java 1.6/6, allowing
to denote an
asterisk (*) in a CLASSPATH path which causes Java to load all
jar-/JAR-files in that
directory to CLASSPATH. As a result one can just copy needed jar files into
that directory and
all their Java classes become available to the ooRexx programs without a
need to adjust CLASSPATH.
If Java gets loaded by Rexx that asterisk needs to be processed by
BSF4ooRexx matching the
Java processing which this new release incorporates and got tested on
Windows, Linux and
Apple/Darwin.
On Windows the jar folder's location is at
"%ProgramFiles%\BSF4ooRexx850\lib" on Unix at
"/opt/BSF4ooRexx850/lib". So adding jar-files for ooRexx, just copy them
into that directory
and you can exploit them immediately thereafter.
---
On Windows the .Net support is now adjusted to take advantage of
"RProgramFiles%\BSF4ooRexx850\lib". Please note: the .Net-support ("clr",
common language
runtime) is currently restricted to Java 8.
(If you need to run newer versions of Java it is still possible to employ
Java 8 - and any
other Java version - in parallel. Just ask if you need help for such a
configuration/setup.)
---
In addition there was a slight correction to the JDOR ("Java Drawing for
ooRexx")
documentation which can be located in menu "BSF4ooRexx850 -> Information",
then double-click
on the folder named "jdor", then double-click on the file "jdor_doc.html".
JDOR ("Java Drawing for ooRexx") turns awt's Java2D into simple to use
Rexx commands! All
such Rexx programs can create any kind of bitmaps that run unchanged on all
platforms where
Java and ooRexx are available, notably Windows, Apple and Linux.
Or with other words: JDOR allows any Rexx programmer to create graphics in
a Rexx'ish way. For
those who are interested (this year's International Rexx symposium had a
presentation about
JDOR, cf.
<https://www.rexxla.org/presentations/2022/202209_JDOR_command_handler.pdf>) to
get
a glimpse at the Rexx commands available, temporarily the current JDOR
documentation is
available from the following link:
<https://wi.wu.ac.at/rgf/rexx/misc/jdor_doc_20221017/jdor_doc.html>. Please
note, any updates
to JDOR get always reflected in new releases of BSF4ooRexx850.
---rony
On 04.10.2022 22:27, Rony Flatscher wrote:
Sorry, forgot the link :
https://sourceforge.net/projects/bsf4oorexx/files/beta/20221004/
Rony G. Flatscher (mobil/e)
Am 04.10.2022 um 20:52 schrieb Rony Flatscher <rony.flatsc...@wu.ac.at>:
This is announcing the very first beta of BSF4ooRexx850. It builds right on top of BSF4ooRexx GA
refresh released yesterday and as such should be as stable. However there are two changes that
affect the installation ("BSF4ooRexx850" instead of "BSF4ooRexx" for directories and dll/shared
object)
Major changes/additions:
* minimum ooRexx: ooRexx 5.0 which can be downloaded from
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/oorexx/files/oorexx/5.0.0beta/>
* minimum Java: Java 8 which can be downlaoded from many different providers.
Windows users
please note: currently the .Net support needs Java 8.
* readjusted the BSF4ooRexx handler infrastructure to ease coding Rexx exit
and Rexx command
handlers in Java, added support for new ooRexx 5.0 APIs,
* added a Rexx command handler named JDOR (Java Drawing for ooRexx) with
numerous samples in
"BSF4ooRexx850/samples" to test with its documentation being in
"BSF4ooRexx850/information/jdor"; in essence this allows easy creation of
bitmaps with Rexx
commands on all platforms.
Here the URL with a brief readme850 to describe how to install on Windows and Linux (includes a
s390x shared object thanks to René Jansen who created a Docker container for s390x and ARM
shared objects thanks to Tony Dycks; had no time yet to test on Apple's Darwin).
If you have any questions and/or feedback than I would prefer the RexxLA e-mail list at
<https://www.RexxLA.org>, such that interested RexxLA members (membership is free) can see from
the fence what is going on.
---rony
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