VisPro/REXX by HockWare Self-Running Demonstration ========================== To run the self-running demonstration, simply copy all the files in this archive into a directory and run the program DEMO.EXE. The demo must be run under OS/2 Version 2.0 or later. ABOUT VISPRO/REXX VisPro/REXX allows you to use the REXX programming language to create powerful applications with a graphical user interface. The applications you create might be for your own use, or they may be distributed to other people free of charge. VisPro/REXX is easy to use because it hides all the complexities of OS/2 2.0 Presentation Manager programming. You use forms to create your projects; each form represents a window that the user of your application will see. The objects that you use to create your applications are represented graphically on a tool bar. You simply select the objects you want to use in your application and then copy them to the canvas, which is the area in which you lay out or design your applications. JUST LIKE THE WORKPLACE SHELL VisPro/REXX is fully integrated into the Workplace Shell. This means that if you are familiar with the Workplace Shell, VisPro/REXX will look and feel natural and instinctive. VisPro/REXX employs such features as drag and drop, direct editing, pop-up menus, multiple views, and settings notebooks. VisPro/REXX supports the OS/2 font and color palettes, so you can easily change the font or color of your objects. DRAG AND DROP PROGRAMMING VisPro/REXX provides drag and drop capabilities throughout the product. The most distinctive of these capabilities is drag and drop programming. You begin by specifying an event for an object (for example, the user selects a push button). Select the object and drag it to the Event window. In the Event window, a window appears, allowing you to select the action you want to perform. The choices are presented in simple terms, and you do not need to know the REXX statement for the action you select; VisPro/REXX generates it for you. THE BUSINESS GRAPHICS BONUS VisPro/REXX comes with its own business graphics capability. These graphics can be used, for example, to monitor your company's financial status. To incorporate business graphics into your application, you simply select the business graphic object from the tool bar and add it to the canvas. The business graphics include pie charts, bar charts, stacked bar charts, line charts, and area charts. THE STORY BEHIND VISPRO/REXX HockWare developed VisPro/REXX with a small team of developers that have highly-developed skills in CUA '91 user interface design, Presentation Manager and OS/2 Workplace Shell programming, object-oriented programming, and data base design. HockWare has an ideal: to create visually appealing, easy to use graphical user interface products that allow you to take advantage of the rich function built into OS/2. At HockWare, we understand the real power of OS/2, and we want to make that power available to you. What better way to open up all the features and flexibility of OS/2 than to create a visual programming tool that allows you to create your own OS/2 applications? The graphical user interface provided by OS/2's Workplace Shell makes it easy for you to exploit the function of OS/2, and VisPro/REXX's interface emulates the Workplace Shell. Because of this consistency in VisPro/REXX's interface, you can begin designing your own Presentation Manager applications for OS/2 in no time at all. ACHIEVING THE CUA '91 IDEAL The objective of the common user access (CUA) '91 standard is to make all OS/2 products share the same look and feel. Once you learn one object-oriented CUA '91 application, you can go to another CUA '91 application and immediately begin using it. HockWare understands the CUA '91 standards thoroughly, and we put this ideal into practice for VisPro/REXX. Because it is a truly CUA '91 conforming product, VisPro/REXX is itself an exemplary OS/2 application. "Either consciously or subconsciously, when using a development tool, the programmer will model parts of their own application after that development tool." -- Dave Hock HockWare takes this belief to heart, and we created an interface to VisPro/REXX that not only makes it easy to create powerful applications, but also serves as a model for what an OS/2 application should be. A PROGRAMMING TOOL ON A SINGLE DISKETTE? VisPro/REXX's small size is a tribute to OS/2 and stands out as an example of what can be achieved when the function of OS/2 is fully exploited. VisPro/REXX ships on a single 720 KB diskette and requires a scant 1.8 MB of disk space. The applications you can create with VisPro/REXX also require a minimum of disk space. AND FINALLY...WHY REXX? HockWare chose REXX as the language for their first visual programming tool because it is popular and easy to learn. It comes with OS/2 and is a strategic language for OS/2, providing support to APPC, HLLAPI, and OS/2 2.0 Database Manager. You do not have to be a REXX expert to use VisPro/REXX. At the same time, programmers who have developed in REXX for years will have more fun than ever when they see the amazing graphical user interface results they can now achieve. WITH VISPRO/REXX YOU GET... * The VisPro/REXX product * A complete, self-running demonstration * Over 250 online help panels containing detailed information * Sample programs that help you learn to use VisPro/REXX and can be used as models for your own applications * A 200-page illustrated guide that includes an overview, conceptual information, task descriptions, trouble-shooting techniques, and instructions for reproducing the sample programs included with VisPro/REXX * A registration card that, when returned to HockWare, Inc., entitles you to product updates and 90 days of free technical support HOCKWARE, Inc. P.O. Box 336 Cary, NC 27512-0336 U.S.A. Sales: (919) 387-7391 FAX: (919) 380-0757