HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tierney@nevada.edu (TIM TIERNEY)
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Organization: University of Nevada System Computing Services
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 23:48:36 GMT

In article <9!2H6buq6@cs.psu.edu> dsbarr@cs.psu.edu writes:
>	Please, EXECIO does NOT have ANYTHING to do with Rexx.  Please
>everyone say this to yourself 10 times.  EXECIO is not a Rexx fuction,
>it is a CMS command, in the case of VM/CMS, particular implementations
>may do otherwise.  You can type EXECIO from the command line without
>touching Rexx.  If EXECIO were Rexx, you would say execio('...') or
>call execio '...', not 'EXECIO ...'.  
>	Rexx has no concept of files or a filesystem, they must be
>handled by external routines that pass variables (or the system stack)
>back into Rexx.  In the case of VM/CMS this routine can be EXECIO,
>PIPE, or many other programs.  In DOS's Rexx, there is an EXECIO,
>in other implementations it may not be true.
>
>--Dave
>-- 
>Dave Barr            | -- NewsGrazer, a NeXTstep(tm) news reader, posting --
>dsbarr@cs.psu.edu    | NOT!

BUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!  WRONG ANSWER!!!  YOU LOSE!!!  CONSOLATION PRIZE
IS ENROLLMENT IN THE "GET A CLUE" COURSE FOR REXX.  :-)

See IBM manual SC28-1882-1  TSO/E Extensions Version 2, Procedures Language
MVS/REXX User's Guide.  Page 183, Under second bullet:
	
	"Processing information to and from data sets

	The TSO/E REXX EXECIO command in an exec reads information from
	a data set to the data stack (or a list of variables) and writes
	information from the data stack (or list of variables) back to
	a data set."

Also see page 184 through 191 for a complete description of the service.
EXECIO is indeed a REXX function that should be present in ALL REXX
emulators regardless of platform and operating system.  It is NOT unique
to CMS.  It DOES have something to do with REXX.  REXX DOES have a concept
of files and file systems.  Please say this to yourself 10 times:

	"I'll RTFM before I give definitive answers"

;-)

And to all a good night.

Tim
From: dinda@cae.wisc.edu (Dinda Peter)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Exponent Function?
Date: 13 Apr 92 03:24:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: doug.1992Apr12.222441.24618
Organization: College of Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison

I am in need of a f(x)=e^x function for OS/2 Rexx.  Preferably with as much
precision in the x=[0,ln 2) range as arbitrary precision allows.  Oddly 
enough, I need to it to double check a high precision (64 bit!) hardware
exponent implementation.  Thanks.

Peter A. Dinda
From: jimd@watson.ibm.com (Jim Doherty)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Date: 15 Apr 92 23:53:51 GMT
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM


   I believe that linein, linout, charin, charout were defined in the REXX language
for I/O, but I don't have a language reference handy and I haven't used REXX
much in the last 2 years.

In article <1992Apr15.214416.27123@cs.ubc.ca>, mueller@cs.ubc.ca (Stephan Mueller) writes:
|> In article <167CAA3D1.MCMASTER@LSTC2VM.stortek.com> MCMASTER@LSTC2VM.stortek.com (Jim McMaster) writes:
|> >Cowlishaw designed native REXX I/O facilities into the language, but
|> >CMS Development declined to implement them, because they already had
|> >EXECIO.  So now all other REXX implementations have to carry this
|> >piece of baggage along in order to maintain compatibility.
|> 
|> Sigh.  For what it's worth, ARexx does support I/O facilities; does
|> anyone know if these are what Cowlishaw intended?  Specifically, ARexx
|> supports Open(), Close(), Read() and Write() in its built-in function
|> library.  The "Limits and Compatibility" chapter in the manual says
|> nothing about these functions being extensions, so I had assumed they
|> were standard.
|> 
|> Even with these functions, I appreciate the functionality of EXECIO,
|> since it does more than simple reading and writing.  The ARexx
|> supplied version can function as a simple grep, and also has the
|> ability to extract particular columns from the input file, for
|> example.
|> 
|> >Arrgghhh!  Thanks a lot IBM.
|> 
|> Interesting how often this sentiment is expressed.
|> 
|> >Jim McMaster
|> 
|> stephan(mueller);

-- 
Jim Doherty
____________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the day:
            "You've got to be careful about getting locked into open systems"
From: ewilts@mr.gov.bc.ca (Ed Wilts)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: REXX: A de facto Standard ??
Date: 7 Apr 92 16:43:10 -700
Organization: BC Systems Corporation

In article <nv4Hyffk6@cs.psu.edu>, dsbarr@modula.cs.psu.edu (Dave Barr) writes:
> In article <10222@cernvax.cern.ch> perretg@cernvax.cern.ch (denis perret-gallix) writes:
>>
>>It would be useful  to maintain a list of platforms and OS supporting
>>REXX.
>>					  Cheers
> 
> VM/CMS  (The "home" of Rexx)
> Amiga
> DOS
> OS/2
> MVS/TSO
> Unix

I've heard of a VMS version but don't know who puts it out.

> Dave Barr            | One is the loneliest number.
-- 
Ed Wilts, BC Systems Corp., 4000 Seymour Place, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8X 4S8
EWilts@MR.Gov.BC.CA   |   Ed.Wilts@BCSystems.Gov.BC.CA   |   (604) 389-3430
From: dege@cs.umn.edu (Dege Jeffrey Charles)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Date: 11 Apr 92 03:44:33 GMT
Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, CSci dept.

In <1992Apr10.231246.9928@techbook.com> lowell@techbook.com (Lowell Brunson) writes:

>I have been looking through some AREXX scripts and find a
>command (function, atom, whatever they call them in REXX) 
>called execio.  It appears to call an amigados routine in
>some cases.  Anyway, I can`t find any docs on it.  Would 
>someone mind giving a novice REXXer a hint?

>Thanks.  Lowell (lowell@techbook.com)

>-- 
   execio is a program distributed with Bill Hawes' WShell.  It's a filter
(reads from stdin, writes to stdout, etc.) that is designed to provide a
connection between the shell and ARexx.
 
   It's most interesting capability is the ability to pipe the output of
a program directly into an ARexx variable.  If you place a line like
 
  'myprog | execio stem L.'
 
   into an ARexx script, the output of "myprog" will be placed in the
stem variable L., the first line in L.1, the second in L.2, and the number
of lines in L.0.  Of course, this requires that you are using WShell as
your default shell.
 
   WShell's execio takes its name from a similar program available with
mainframe REXX systems.  I don't know much about the details of that one,
but you were asking about ARexx, anyway.
 
   There's a lot of useful stuff in WShell.  Give it a ponder...
 
===============================
From: rcook@wimpy.helios.nd.edu (robert cook)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: REXX: A de facto Standard ??
Date: 7 Apr 92 22:17:34 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.1992Apr7.221734.7230
Reply-To: Cook.14@nd.edu (R. Kelley Cook)
Organization: Univ. of Notre Dame

In article <nv4Hyffk6@cs.psu.edu>, dsbarr@modula.cs.psu.edu (Dave Barr) writes:
|> In article <10222@cernvax.cern.ch> perretg@cernvax.cern.ch (denis perret-gallix) writes:
|> >
|> >It would be useful  to maintain a list of platforms and OS supporting
|> >REXX.
|> >					  Cheers
|> 
|> VM/CMS  (The "home" of Rexx)
|> Amiga
|> DOS
|> OS/2
   ****  It comes standard with OS/2 versions 1.3 and 2.0 BTW,
         so IMHO, REXX will become quite popular soon.  (Wow 4 
         abrev. in one sentence)  I just subscribed to this group 
         for that very reason.

|> MVS/TSO
|> Unix
|> 
|> Hm, that's all I can think of for now.  Someone have an FAQ for this
|> group?
|> 


-- 
Robert Kelley Cook     << Cook.14@nd.edu >>
Univ. of Notre Dame     The future for Intel computers arrived March 31!
Physics Dept.            Long Live the new OS/2!  Time to close the Windows!
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Tuesday, 14 Apr 1992 12:26:29 CDT
From: Roger Deschner <U52983@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: ARexx rx question

In article <1918.imc@uk.ac.ox.prg> imc@prg.ox.ac.uk (Ian Collier) writes:
>Why not just put in the program
>
> parse arg x y z               or      parse arg x ',' y ',' z
>
>and on the command line
>
> prog foo bar bletch                   prog foo,bar,bletch
>
>and in the call instruction
>
> call function 'string' var (expr)     call function 'string,'var','(expr)
>

Because it won't work all of the time, that's why. But it
can work just enough of the time to fool you. See Cowlishaw "Rexx Lang."
second edition, page 43 "The CALL Instruction" and page 125 "Parsing
Multiple Strings" (The same text appears in all IBM-published "VM REXX
Reference" manuals.)

CMS COMMAND: prog foo bar bletch   OR
REXX INSTRUCTION: call prog foo bar bletch OR x=prog(foo bar bletch)
     results in ONE string being passed: 'foo bar bletch'.
parse arg x y z .   <---- NOTE important dot at end !!! avoid 'bletch   '
     will, as expected, result in x='foo' y='bar' z='bletch'

CMS COMMAND: prog foo,bar,bletch     OR
REXX INSTRUCTION: call prog foo','bar','bletch   OR
                  x=prog(foo','bar','bletch)
     results in ONE string being passed: 'foo,bar,bletch'.
parse arg x ',' y ',' z .
     will, also as expected, result in x='foo' y='bar' z='bletch'

REXX INSTRUCTION: call prog foo,bar,bletch OR x=prog(foo,bar,bletch)
     results in *THREE* strings being passed: 'foo','bar', and 'bletch'
     (or whatever their values were, if they were defined REXX variables)
parse arg x y z .
     will result in x='foo' y=<null string> z=<null string>
parse arg x ',' y ',' z .
     will *ALSO* result in x='foo' y=<null string> z=<null string>
parse arg x, y, z .
     will result in x='foo' y='bar' z='bletch' - as likely intended.
     (or whatever their values were, if they were defined REXX variables)

Roger Deschner, University of Illinois at Chicago
From: lowell@techbook.com (Lowell Brunson)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: what/where is execio
Date: 10 Apr 92 23:12:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: techbook.1992Apr10.231246.9928
Organization: TECHbooks of Beaverton Oregon - Public Access Unix

I have been looking through some AREXX scripts and find a
command (function, atom, whatever they call them in REXX) 
called execio.  It appears to call an amigados routine in
some cases.  Anyway, I can`t find any docs on it.  Would 
someone mind giving a novice REXXer a hint?

Thanks.  Lowell (lowell@techbook.com)

-- 

Lowell Brunson
KC7DX @ N7PWF.OR.USA.NA (Packet Radio Only!)
lowell@techbook.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
From: bigbrd!ersys!thomasw@cs.alberta.ca (Thomas Wilkinson)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Free Rexx
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 92 16:47:06 MDT
Organization: Edmonton Remote Systems #3, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Although it is not quite free, the rexx that comes with OS2 is pretty 
nice. You may want to consider that if you get to the point where you 
want a Rexx in a multitasking operating system. 


Thomas Wilkinson              bigbrd!ersys!thomasw@cs.alberta.ca
Edmonton Remote Systems:  Celebrating 10 years of service to Northern Alberta
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
From: dsbarr@modula.cs.psu.edu (Dave Barr)
Subject: Re: REXX: A de facto Standard ??
Reply-To: dsbarr@cs.psu.edu
Organization: Penn State Computer Science
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 20:29:41 GMT

In article <10222@cernvax.cern.ch> perretg@cernvax.cern.ch (denis perret-gallix) writes:
>
>It would be useful  to maintain a list of platforms and OS supporting
>REXX.
>					  Cheers

VM/CMS  (The "home" of Rexx)
Amiga
DOS
OS/2
MVS/TSO
Unix

Hm, that's all I can think of for now.  Someone have an FAQ for this
group?

--Dave
-- 
Dave Barr            | One is the loneliest number.
dsbarr@cs.psu.edu    | Two is as lonely as one, just shifted to the left.
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
From: mueller@cs.ubc.ca (Stephan Mueller)
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Organization: Computer Science, University of B.C., Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 21:44:16 GMT

In article <167CAA3D1.MCMASTER@LSTC2VM.stortek.com> MCMASTER@LSTC2VM.stortek.com (Jim McMaster) writes:
>Cowlishaw designed native REXX I/O facilities into the language, but
>CMS Development declined to implement them, because they already had
>EXECIO.  So now all other REXX implementations have to carry this
>piece of baggage along in order to maintain compatibility.

Sigh.  For what it's worth, ARexx does support I/O facilities; does
anyone know if these are what Cowlishaw intended?  Specifically, ARexx
supports Open(), Close(), Read() and Write() in its built-in function
library.  The "Limits and Compatibility" chapter in the manual says
nothing about these functions being extensions, so I had assumed they
were standard.

Even with these functions, I appreciate the functionality of EXECIO,
since it does more than simple reading and writing.  The ARexx
supplied version can function as a simple grep, and also has the
ability to extract particular columns from the input file, for
example.

>Arrgghhh!  Thanks a lot IBM.

Interesting how often this sentiment is expressed.

>Jim McMaster

stephan(mueller);

Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
From: giguere@csg.uwaterloo.ca (Eric Giguere)
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 12:54:14 GMT

Also note that EXECIO is not described in the Red Book, which is "the" definition
of REXX until the ANSI committee says otherwise, and is what we're following
in implementing our REXX.  It is up to the REXX implementors to provide either
built-in functions or external utilities for filesystem manipulation, and these
will necessarily be system-dependent.  The question isn't "does the system provide
an EXECIO?" but rather "can I manipulate the filesystem?".

-- 
Eric Giguere                                       giguere@csg.UWaterloo.CA
           Unlike the cleaning lady, I have to do Windows.
From: NIV@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: Help me| PUSH and QUEUE won't work in ARexx
Date: 16 Apr 92 18:05:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: SLACVM.92107.100511NIV
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Such are the joys of a truly multi-threaded application.
The command PUSH ...  is being sent to a shell all right,
just not the one you launched the application from.  it
is a question of who the default host of the application
is.  If you are running WShell and you launch an ARexx application
then the default host is the shell from which you launched the
application, so things work as you expect.  If you are using
the Amiga Shell, then the default host is REXX.  In this case
REXX runs the command in a background shell, it cd's to foo:
then exits. **poof** some invisible and now defunct shell
cd'd where you told it to.  If you want to do stuff like
this then run, don't walk, to your nearest dealer and
buy WShell 2.0, it blows away anything that exists for the
Amiga.
    marvin
From: perretg@cernvax.cern.ch (denis perret-gallix)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: REXX: A de facto Standard ??
Date: 7 Apr 92 14:03:39 GMT
Organization: CERN, European Laboratory for Particle Physics


It would be useful  to maintain a list of platforms and OS supporting
REXX.
					  Cheers
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
From: klassen@sol.UVic.CA (Melvin Klassen)
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. CANADA
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 19:24:02 GMT

In article <*> tierney@nevada.edu (TIM TIERNEY) writes:
>
>EXECIO is indeed a REXX function that should be present in ALL REXX
>emulators regardless of platform and operating system.  

Who needs EXECIO, when page 86 of "The REXX Language, A Practical Approach to
Programming, Second Edition" by Michael Cowlishaw (published by Prentice Hall)
states:
  
  CHARIN([name] [,[start],[,length]])

  returns a string of up to "length" characters read from the character
  input stream "name". (See page 139 for a discussion of the REXX input/output
  model.)  The form of the "name" is implementation-dependent.

REXX already has an implementation-independent method of I/O.
It has no need for a **second** method!
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
From: MCMASTER@LSTC2VM.stortek.com (Jim McMaster)
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Organization: StorageTek SW Engineering
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 17:38:57 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.214224.20673@techbook.com>
lowell@techbook.com (Lowell Brunson) writes:
 
>--- here is one of the many replies I received.  This gentleman asked that
>I post this for him.  Thank you all for your help. Lowell
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I would have posted this to the news group, but I'm having trouble with that
>function (I'm new to the newsgroups).  The REXX EXECIO function is the way
>that REXX handles all of its file I/O.  All my REXX work has been under
>VM/CMS and MVS/TSO, so some of what I say will probably be a tad different
>in the AREXX environment, but it's mostly the same.
>
>EXECIO Syntax:
>
>EXECIO {lines | *} {DISKR | DISKRU} file-identifier {linenum}
>       ( {{LIFO | FIFO | SKIP} | {STEM varname} } {FINIS}
>  -- Reads data from the specified file into the STACK or into the
>     named stemmed variable.  if FINIS is specified the file is closed
>     when the operation is complete.  DISKR is a normal disk read.
>     DISKRU is a read-update operation; it leaves the record pointer
>     at the same record rater than advancing after the read, this is
>     so a subsequent DISKW can update the record.
>
>EXECIO {lines | *} DISKW file-identifier {( STEM varname { FINIS } }
>  -- Writes data to the specified file from the STACK or from the named
>     stemmed variable.  Again, FINIS will close the file when specified.
>
>This method of file I/O is very different from that of any other language
>I have encountered, and it is one of the hardest things for most new REXX
>users to comprehend.
>
>I would appreciate it if you could post this for me on the REXX news group,
>since I can't seem to get RRN to allow me to post a Followup article.
>Thanks, and good luck!
>
>--Scott
>
>--
>
>Lowell Brunson
>KC7DX @ N7PWF.OR.USA.NA (Packet Radio Only!)
>lowell@techbook.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
 
EXECIO is foreign to CMS users, too.  The VM community believes it was
programmed by someone who knew nothing about CMS, because it is so
dissimilar to the traditional CMS command structure and syntax.  As an
aside, the performance of EXECIO in MCS is horrible.
 
Cowlishaw designed native REXX I/O facilities into the language, but
CMS Development declined to implement them, because they already had
EXECIO.  So now all other REXX implementations have to carry this
piece of baggage along in order to maintain compatibility.
 
Arrgghhh!  Thanks a lot IBM.
 
Jim McMaster
From: jhw@cup.portal.com (Jim - Weissman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: REXX: A de facto Standard ??
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 18:17:20 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world

In prior articles...
>
> It would be useful  to maintain a list of platforms and OS supporting
> REXX.
>
> VM/CMS  (The "home" of Rexx)
> Amiga
> DOS
> OS/2
> MVS/TSO
> Unix
> OS/400

Add to your list: TANDEM (a version by Keith Watts of Kilowatt Software)

--Jim Weissman
jhw@cup.portal.com

--------------------------------------------------------
See you in Annapolis for the REXX Symposium on May 3-5!
--------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
From: CPLS13@comm.mot.com (Steven_Cohn)
Subject: Re: REXX: A de facto Standard ??
Organization: Motorola_CoveragePLUS
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:18:40 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.221734.7230@news.nd.edu>, rcook@wimpy.helios.nd.edu (robert cook) writes:
> 
> In article <nv4Hyffk6@cs.psu.edu>, dsbarr@modula.cs.psu.edu (Dave Barr) writes:
> |> In article <10222@cernvax.cern.ch> perretg@cernvax.cern.ch (denis perret-gallix) writes:
> |> >
> |> >It would be useful  to maintain a list of platforms and OS supporting
> |> >REXX.
> |> >					  Cheers
> |> 
> |> VM/CMS  (The "home" of Rexx)
> |> Amiga
> |> DOS
> |> OS/2
>    ****  It comes standard with OS/2 versions 1.3 and 2.0 BTW,
>          so IMHO, REXX will become quite popular soon.  (Wow 4 
>          abrev. in one sentence)  I just subscribed to this group 
>          for that very reason.
> 
> |> MVS/TSO
> |> Unix
> |> 
> |> Hm, that's all I can think of for now.  Someone have an FAQ for this
> |> group?
> |> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Robert Kelley Cook     << Cook.14@nd.edu >>
> Univ. of Notre Dame     The future for Intel computers arrived March 31!
> Physics Dept.            Long Live the new OS/2!  Time to close the Windows! 
> 
> 

Also OS/400 !!!!!!
From: mks@cbmvax.commodore.com (Michael Sinz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: Free Rexx
Date: 13 Apr 92 13:19:23 GMT
Reply-To: mks@cbmvax.commodore.com (Michael Sinz)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

bigbrd!ersys!thomasw@cs.alberta.ca (Thomas Wilkinson) writes:
>Although it is not quite free, the rexx that comes with OS2 is pretty
>nice. You may want to consider that if you get to the point where you
>want a Rexx in a multitasking operating system.

Do you mean AmigaOS2 (Release 2 of AmigaOS?)  ;^)

Yes, ARexx (Rexx on the Amiga) is very nice and is a good example
of how well Rexx is suited to a multitasking enviroment.

OS/2 (IBM) REXX for OS/2 2.0 is also rather nice.

(I am partial to real multitasking systems...)

/----------------------------------------------------------------------\
|      /// Michael Sinz  -  Senior Amiga Software Engineer             |
|     ///                   Operating System Development Group         |
|    ///   BIX:  msinz      UUNET:  rutgers!cbmvax!mks                 |
|\\\///                     When people are free to do as they         |
| \XX/                      please, they usually imitate each other.   |
\----------------------------------------------------------------------/
From: lowell@techbook.com (Lowell Brunson)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: what/where is execio
Date: 13 Apr 92 21:42:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: techbook.1992Apr13.214224.20673
Organization: TECHbooks of Beaverton Oregon - Public Access Unix

--- here is one of the many replies I received.  This gentleman asked that
I post this for him.  Thank you all for your help. Lowell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would have posted this to the news group, but I'm having trouble with that
function (I'm new to the newsgroups).  The REXX EXECIO function is the way
that REXX handles all of its file I/O.  All my REXX work has been under 
VM/CMS and MVS/TSO, so some of what I say will probably be a tad different
in the AREXX environment, but it's mostly the same.

EXECIO Syntax:

EXECIO {lines | *} {DISKR | DISKRU} file-identifier {linenum}
       ( {{LIFO | FIFO | SKIP} | {STEM varname} } {FINIS}
  -- Reads data from the specified file into the STACK or into the 
     named stemmed variable.  if FINIS is specified the file is closed 
     when the operation is complete.  DISKR is a normal disk read.
     DISKRU is a read-update operation; it leaves the record pointer
     at the same record rater than advancing after the read, this is
     so a subsequent DISKW can update the record.

EXECIO {lines | *} DISKW file-identifier {( STEM varname { FINIS } }
  -- Writes data to the specified file from the STACK or from the named 
     stemmed variable.  Again, FINIS will close the file when specified.

This method of file I/O is very different from that of any other language
I have encountered, and it is one of the hardest things for most new REXX
users to comprehend. 

I would appreciate it if you could post this for me on the REXX news group,
since I can't seem to get RRN to allow me to post a Followup article.
Thanks, and good luck!

--Scott

-- 

Lowell Brunson
KC7DX @ N7PWF.OR.USA.NA (Packet Radio Only!)
lowell@techbook.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks