jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (10/16/90)
When a Unix shell starts up a process, the commands to the process are given on the command line. Once the process is started, it is not easy to pass additional commands to it. With REXX (at least on the Amiga), the process is able to accept further commands after it has been started. For instance, a paint program can be told to load a new picture from the disk, make some changes, and display the results. The commands to do this can come from the mouse and keyboard, or they can come from an AREXX script. In fact, two AREXX compatible programs can take turns controlling each other. (A slave can have multiple masters.) This sort of functionality is not found in the standard Unix shells. That's one reason why REXX would be desireable on a Unix system. -- Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: jms@tardis.tymnet.com or jms@gemini.tymnet.com BT Tymnet Tech Services | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms PO Box 49019, MS-C41 | BIX: smithjoe | 12 PDP-10s still running! "POPJ P," San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | humorous dislaimer: "My Amiga 3000 speaks for me."