Re: [netrexx-pipelines] Migrate OS/2 pipelines to NetRexx Pipes

[René J. <rvj...@xs...>]

Hi Mike,

> On 2 Jun 2022, at 17:21, hp...@we... wrote:
> 
> Following append bounced,
> 
>> reason: 550 Blacklisted file extension detected
> 
> So once more without the ZIP -- René, IMO you got it in your
> personal mail, holler if not.
> /M.
> 
I have it.

> Am 02.06.2022 um 14:58 schrieb hp...@we...:
>> Hello René!
>> 
>> In chapter 3.4 of the NetRexx QuickStart Guide the shown subdir
>> separator is a "normal" slash (/) while Windows uses instead the
>> backslash (\). Must I convert it to slash or may it stay as is?
>> 

Windows normally uses a backslash and it is safe to use a backslash. In lots of circumstances a normal slash can be used (Cygwin, m2sys, Git bash etc), but standard operating procedure is using ‘\' and ‘;’ where the Unix/Linux/Mac separators are ‘/‘ and ‘:’. The slash is mentioned in note 12 on page 21. The semicolon/colon issue is already mentioned in read.me <http://read.me/>.first, line 45. 

>> Step 3 in same chapter advices to add another path+fileID to the
>> CLASSPATH variable. Alas it does not mention if and if yes how to
>> separate the two data, by blank, by semicolon, or something else?
>> 

In the read.me <http://read.me/>.first, line 45. I can add it one more time to the installation chapter.

>> There is no file [...]/lib/tools.jar in lib subdir. There is no
>> file tools.jar in any subdir of NetRexx. There is no such file in
>> the "Java tree" (assumed this is the installation folder). So
>> chapter 3.4 step 3 remains undone (until further advice).

You have a point there, as this used to be correct but in modern java versions it is optional, or better put: obsolete. I have removed it but left it in the ’Troubleshooting’ chapter.

>> 
>> NetRexx QuickStart Guide chapter 3.5, Installing just the NetREXX
>> Runtime, second paragraph states "To do this, follow the
>> appropriate instructions for installing the compiler, ..." Where
>> do I find the appropriate instructions for installing the
>> compiler? Under 3 "Installation" there is just 3.4 "Installing the
>> NetREXX Translator" and 3.5 "Installing just the NetREXX Runtime",
>> but nothing like "Installing the Compiler". Or was the compiler
>> renamed to "translator"? Pls advice.
>> 
>> NetRexx QuickStart Guide chapter 3.7 "Testing the NetREXX
>> Installation", step 1, the command
>> 

This is what happened: ’Translator’ is the supertype of ‘Compiler’ and ‘Interpreter’ here. NetRexx started out being a translator that also did compiling to .class files after translation (NetRexx source to Java source). Later an interpreter was added. (The 'nrc -exec’ or ‘-args’ part). You can also use the NetRexx runtime in any Java program (if you like substr() and pos() and value() like we do). In this case you want to instal only the runtime (well, 20 years ago on much smaller systems you would have wanted that. Nowadays really nobody cares). So you could have skipped the whole paragraph. 


>>> java org.netrexx.process.NetRexxC hello
>> 
>> fails. Closing the cmd window and starting a new one cures it.
>> Seems changing the CLASSPATH variable needs kind of power-cycle.
>> Alas...
>> 

That is a platform thing. I always just ’source’ my zshrc but then again I am on macOS, Linux or z/OS USS most of the day.

>>> Program hello.nrx
>>>  1 +++ say ?hello, world?
>>>    +++     ^
>>>    +++ Error: Unexpected character found in source: '?'
>>> (hexadecimal encoding: 2
>>> 019)
>>> Compilation of 'hello.nrx' failed [one error]
>> 
>> Again a 'nonconformance' by edit-copy/edit-paste from Adobe. (BTW,
>> there are some places in the QuickStart Guide where it works.)
>> 
Is this in the new version of the manual also?

>> Same chapter. After step 1 worked, at least last line showed
>> 
>>> Compilation of 'hello.nrx' successful
>> 
>> and there is now a file hello.class in the subdir, step 2 fails:
>> 
>>> Fehler: Hauptklasse hello konnte nicht gefunden oder geladen werden


>> Chapter 13 "Troubleshooting" reveals, CLASSPATH variable must
>> contain a point. I prefix its content by '.;' (w/o quotes)
>> _assuming_ the semicolon could be the correct delimiter. Closing
>> the cmd window, starting a new one, now step 2 of chapter 3.7
>> works right away.
>> 
>> Recently you said,
>> 

That is correct, and only for classes that are not in a package. Glad you found the ’troubleshooting’ chapter, but the examples on pages 20 and 21 have the dot in them.


>>> NetRexx does not have an ‘installation procedure’ as such...
>> 
>> Well, since the NetRexx 'installation' seems a bit more than just
>> to unpack a zip file, it could help a lot. Frankly, at the moment
>> I have some trouble to stay polite. This kind of installation
>> instruction with its widely distributed information is quite
>> unpleasant. For sure not a smooth cakewalk.

I appreciate the effort. Still, it is true that NetRexx does not have an installation procedure; it just follows the platform and java conventions. Sometimes you have to edit a profile exec, sometimes you need to concatenate a library to ISPLLIB, sometimes a PATH must be added. In Java most of the time a CLASSPATH must be there. Although, you can set it in scripts etc. Sun has transmitted mixed signals about this. We used to have this big problem that Java could not find its own compiler classes (the obsolete step 3) but we countered that by packaging a java compiler with NetRexxF.jar. And the compiler (the translator actually) does a lot of searching while trying to find which java compiler to use.

I have thought about an approach where we use the layout of the distribution to set CLASSPATH in the scripts: nrc, NetRexxC.sh, nrc.bat etcetera. In my opinion, this would shift the trouble spot to the first time someone needs to add a jar, tries to compile a program in a package, etc. 

It might have been less than pleasant, but you got it to run! I’ll try to address some of the things in your remarks to the documentation to be on the safe side.

>> 
>> Ok, I now made my way through chapter 3 of the QuickStart Guide.
>> Is there more in it I need to know/install/observe for running
>> pipelines? I continue with next "little setup", chapter 3.1 of
>> NetRexx Pipelines Guide and Reference.
>> 
>> Seems as Windows user I should read this bottom-up, then I have to
>> do nothing since NetREXXF.jar is prefixed to the CLASSPATH content
>> in pipe.bat as in pipc.bat too. Both are in the bin subdir which I
>> added to the path yesterday. But (!) I renamed PIPE.BAT to
>> HIPE.BAT to avoid interference with OS/2 Pipelines (which I
>> currently _do not_ uninstall). Do you see more pitfalls in this
>> respect?
>> 
>> Test:
>> 
>>> C:\prgm\NetRexx>hipe "gen 100 | dup 999 | count words | console
>>> 100000
>> 
>> Works :)
>> 

Yes, good result. And if you have the dot in CLASSPATH, you can at least run your own stages from their own directory. 
I would suggest to use ’nrws’ (the Netrexx Workspace) for experiments with pipes. You can leave out the quotes there, and it is a lot faster after it load the pipes machinery for the first time.

>> So it seems I have done all preparations (at last) to start our
>> experiment. Did I miss something? Yes, up to now you only have the
>> source file and a description in brief. There are few more files
>> you need to run VilMA. Find attached a ZIP with all you need in
>> case you have OS/2 Pipelines. It also contains (besides a compiled
>> ooRexx) a more detailed description about what to do with VilMA.
>> 
>> I suggest I copy my program to a new directory and replace
>> pipeline by pipeline according your advice until all are done.
>> Because I renamed pipe.bat a coexistence of NetRexx- and OS/2
>> Pipelines might be possible and therefore also an incomplete
>> migration could work as usual.
>> 
Seems like an excellent plan.


>> /M.
> 

René.