Workbench ARexx Port

ARexx Interface

Workbench acts as an ARexx host under the name of WORKBENCH. It supports a number of commands as will be described below. Note that for the ARexx interface to work, rexxsyslib.library must be installed (this library is part of a regular Workbench installation) and the RexxMast program must have been started.

Command	Description
ACTIVATEWINDOW WINDOW	This command will attempt to make a window the active one.
CHANGEWINDOW WINDOW,LEFTEDGE/N,TOPEDGE/N,WIDTH/N,HEIGHT/N	This command will attempt to change the size and the position of a window.
DELETE NAME/A,ALL/S	This command is for deleting files and drawers (and their contents).
FAULT CODE/A/N	This command will return a human readable explanation corresponding to an error code.
GETATTR OBJECT/A,NAME/K,STEM/K,VAR/K	This command will retrieve information from the Workbench database, such the names of the drawers currently open and the icons currently selected.
HELP COMMAND/K,MENUS/S,PROMPT/S	This command can be used to open the online help and to obtain information on the supported menus, commands and command parameters.
ICON WINDOW,NAMES/M,OPEN/S,MAKEVISIBLE/S,SELECT/S,UNSELECT/S, UP/N,DOWN/N,LEFT/N,RIGHT/N,X/N,Y/N,ACTIVATE/K,CYCLE/K, MOVE/K	This command is for manipulating the icons displayed in a window.
INFO NAME/A	This command is for opening the Workbench icon information requester.
KEYBOARD NAME/A,ADD/S,REMOVE/S,KEY,CMD/F	This command can be used to bind ARexx commands to key combinations.
LOCKGUI	This command will block access to all Workbench drawer windows.
MENU WINDOW/K,INVOKE,NAME/K,TITLE/K,SHORTCUT/K,ADD/S,REMOVE/S,CMD/K/F	This command is for invoking items of the Workbench menu, as if the user had selected them with the mouse and for adding/removing user menus.
MOVEWINDOW WINDOW,LEFTEDGE/N,TOPEDGE/N	This command will attempt to change the position of a window.
NEWDRAWER NAME/A	This command is for creating new drawers.
RENAME OLDNAME/A,NEWNAME/A	This command is for renaming files, drawers and volumes.
RX CONSOLE/S,ASYNC/S,CMD/A/F	This command is for executing ARexx scripts and commands.
SIZEWINDOW WINDOW,WIDTH/N,HEIGHT/N	This command will attempt to change the size of a window.
UNLOCKGUI	This command will allow access to all Workbench drawer windows locked with the LOCKGUI command.
UNZOOMWINDOW WINDOW	This command will attempt to return a window to its original position and dimensions.
VIEW WINDOW,PAGE/S,PIXEL/S,UP/S,DOWN/S,LEFT/S,RIGHT/S	This command will change the position of the viewable display area of a window.
WINDOW WINDOWS/M/A,OPEN/S,CLOSE/S,SNAPSHOT/S,ACTIVATE/S,MIN/S,MAX/S, FRONT/S,BACK/S,CYCLE/K	This command will change, open, close or snapshot windows.
WINDOWTOBACK WINDOW	This command will push a window into the background.
WINDOWTOFRONT WINDOW	This command will bring a window to the foreground.
ZOOMWINDOW WINDOW	This command will change a window to alternate position and dimensions.

ACTIVATEWINDOW command

Purpose

This command will attempt to make a window the active one.

Format

ACTIVATEWINDOW [WINDOW] <ROOT|Drawer name>

Template

ACTIVATEWINDOW WINDOW

Parameters

WINDOW

Either "ROOT" to activate the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live) or the fully qualified name of a drawer window to activate. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be activated. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window activated that is not the root window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Activate the root window. */
ADDRESS workbench
ACTIVATEWINDOW root
 
/* Activate the "Work:" partition's window. */
ACTIVATEWINDOW 'Work:'

CHANGEWINDOW command

Purpose

This command will attempt to change the size and the position of a window.

Format

CHANGEWINDOW [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name> [[LEFTEDGE] <new left edge position>][[TOPEDGE] <new top edge position>][[WIDTH] <new window width>][[HEIGHT] <new window height>]

Template

CHANGEWINDOW WINDOW,LEFTEDGE/N,TOPEDGE/N,WIDTH/N,HEIGHT/N

Parameter

WINDOW

Either "ROOT" to resize/move the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" to change the currently active Workbench window or the fully qualified name of a drawer window to change. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

LEFTEDGE

New left edge window position.

TOPEDGE

New top edge window position.

WIDTH

New window width.

HEIGHT

New window height.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be changed; this can also happen if you specified "ACTIVE" as the window name and none of the Workbench windows is currently active. The error code will be placed in the WORBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window changed that is neither the root nor the active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Change the root window; move it to position 10,30 and change its size to 200x100 pixels. */
ADDRESS workbench
CHANGEWINDOW root LEFTEDGE 10 TOPEDGE 30 WIDTH 200 HEIGHT 100
 
/* Change the currently active window. */
CHANGEWINDOW active 20 40 200 100

DELETE command

Purpose

This command is for deleting files and drawers (and their contents).

Format

DELETE [NAME] <File or drawer name> [ALL]

Template

DELETE NAME/A,ALL/S

Parameters

NAME

Name of the file or drawer or volume to delete.

ALL

If the object in question is a drawer, attempt to delete the contents of the drawer as well as the drawer itself. If this option is not specified, the DELETE command will only attempt to delete the drawer itself, which may fail if the drawer is not yet empty.

Errors

10 - If the named file, drawer or volume could not be found or could not be deleted.

Result

-

Notes

The file name given must be an absolute path, such as in "RAM:Empty". A relative path, such as "/fred/barney" will not work.

Example

/* Delete the contents of the drawer RAM:Empty". */
 
ADDRESS workbench
DELETE 'RAM:Empty' ALL

FAULT command

Purpose

This command will return a human readable explanation corresponding to an error code.

Format

FAULT [CODE] <Error code>

Template

FAULT CODE/A/N

Parameters

CODE

Error code to return a human readable explanation for.

Errors

-

Result

-

Example

/* Query the error message corresponding to error code #205. */
ADDRESS workbench
OPTIONS RESULTS
FAULT 205
SAY result

GETATTR command

Purpose

This command will retrieve information from the Workbench database, such the names of the drawers currently open and the icons currently selected.

Format

GETATTR [OBJECT] <Object name> [NAME <Item name>][STEM <Name of stem variable>] [VAR <Variable name>]

Template

GETATTR OBJECT/A,NAME/K,STEM/K,VAR/K

Parameters

OBJECT

Name of the database entry to retrieve. For a list of valid entries see below.

NAME

For some datatabase entries further information is required to identify the data to retrieve. This is when you will need to provide a name.

STEM

If you request more than one database entry you will need to provide a variable to store the information in. For an example of its use, see below.

VAR

If you want the queried information to be stored in a specific variable (other than the RESULT variable), this is where you provide its name.

Attributes

You can obtain information on the following attributes:

APPLICATION.VERSION

Version number of workbench.library.

APPLICATION.SCREEN

Name of the public screen Workbench uses.

APPLICATION.AREXX

Name of the Workbench ARexx port.

APPLICATION.LASTERROR

Number of the last error caused by the ARexx interface.

APPLICATION.ICONBORDER

Sizes of the icon borders, returned as four numbers separated by blank spaces, e.g. "6 26 12 6". The four numbers represent the left border width, the top border height, the right border width and the bottom border height (in exactly that order).

APPLICATION.FONT.SCREEN.NAME

Name of the Workbench screen font.

APPLICATION.FONT.SCREEN.WIDTH APPLICATION.FONT.SCREEN.HEIGHT

Size of a single character of the Workbench screen font. Please note that since the font in question may be proportionally spaced the width information may be of little value. To measure the accurate pixel width of a text in reference to the font, use the .SIZE attribute.

APPLICATION.FONT.SCREEN.SIZE

Size of a text, measured in pixels, in reference to the screen font. The text to measure must be provided with the NAME parameter of the GETATTR command.

APPLICATION.FONT.ICON.NAME

Name of the Workbench icon font.

APPLICATION.FONT.ICON.WIDTH APPLICATION.FONT.ICON.HEIGHT

Size of a single character of the Workbench icon font. Please note that since the font in question may be proportionally spaced the width information may be of little value. To measure the accurate pixel width of a text in reference to the font, use the .SIZE attribute.

APPLICATION.FONT.ICON.SIZE

Size of a text, measured in pixels, in reference to the icon font. The text to measure must be provided with the NAME parameter of the GETATTR command.

APPLICATION.FONT.SYSTEM.NAME

Name of the system font.

APPLICATION.FONT.SYSTEM.WIDTH

APPLICATION.FONT.SYSTEM.HEIGHT

Size of a single character of the system font.

APPLICATION.FONT.SYSTEM.SIZE

Size of a text, measured in pixels, in reference to the system font. The text to measure must be provided with the NAME parameter of the GETATTR command.

WINDOWS.COUNT

Number of the drawer windows currently open. This can be 0.

WINDOWS.0 .. WINDOWS.N

Names of the windows currently open.

WINDOWS.ACTIVE

Name of the currently active Workbench window; this will be ' ' if none of Workbench's windows is currently active.

KEYCOMMANDS.COUNT

Number of keyboard commands assigned. This can be 0.

KEYCOMMANDS.0 .. KEYCOMMANDS.N

Information on all the keyboard commands assigned.

KEYCOMMANDS.<n>.NAME

Name of the keyboard command.

KEYCOMMANDS.<n>.KEY

The key combination assigned to this keyboard command.

KEYCOMMANDS.<n>.COMMAND

The ARexx command assigned to this key combination.

MENUCOMMANDS.COUNT

Number of menu commands assigned (through the "MENU ADD .." command). This can be 0.

MENUCOMMANDS.0 .. MENUCOMMANDS.N

Information on all the menu commands assigned.

MENUCOMMANDS.<n>.NAME

Name of this menu item.

MENUCOMMANDS.<n>.TITLE

Title of this menu item.

MENUCOMMANDS.<n>.SHORTCUT

The keyboard shortcut assigned to this menu item.

MENUCOMMANDS.<n>.COMMAND

The ARexx command assigned to this menu item.

The following attributes require the name of the window to obtain information.

WINDOW.LEFT

Left edge of the window.

WINDOW.TOP

Top edge of the window.

WINDOW.WIDTH

Width of the window.

WINDOW.HEIGHT

Height of the window.

WINDOW.MIN.WIDTH

Minimum width of the window.

WINDOW.MIN.HEIGHT

Minimum height of the window.

WINDOW.MAX.WIDTH

Maximum width of the window.

WINDOW.MAX.HEIGHT

Maximum height of the window.

WINDOW.VIEW.LEFT

Horizontal offset of the drawer contents; this value corresponds to the horizontal window scroller position.

WINDOW.VIEW.TOP

Vertical offset of the drawer contents; this value corresponds to the vertical window scroller position.

WINDOW.SCREEN.NAME

Name of the public screen the window was opened on.

WINDOW.SCREEN.WIDTH WINDOW.SCREEN.HEIGHT

Size of the public screen the window was opened on.

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.COUNT

Number of the icons displayed in the window. This can be 0.

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.0 .. WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.N

Information on all the icons displayed in the window:

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.NAME

Name of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.LEFT WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.TOP

Position of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.WIDTH WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.HEIGHT

Size of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.TYPE

Type of the icon; one of DISK, DRAWER, TOOL, PROJECT,GARBAGE, DEVICE, KICK or APPICON.

WINDOW.ICONS.ALL.<n>.STATUS

Whether the icon is selected and (if the icon is a drawer-like object, such as a disk, drawer or trashcan icon) whether the corresponding drawer is currently open or closed. This attribute is returned in the form of a string, such as "SELECTED OPEN" which means that the icon is selected and the corresponding drawer is currently open. The other options include "UNSELECTED" and "CLOSED".

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.COUNT

Number of the selected icons displayed in the window. This can be 0.

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.0 .. WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.N

Information on all selected the icons in the window:

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.NAME

Name of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.LEFT WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.TOP

Position of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.WIDTH WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.HEIGHT

Size of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.TYPE

Type of the icon; one of DISK, DRAWER, TOOL, PROJECT,GARBAGE, DEVICE, KICK or APPICON.

WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED.<n>.STATUS

Whether the icon is selected and (if the icon is a drawer-like object, such as a disk, drawer or trashcan icon) whether the corresponding drawer is currently open or closed. This attribute is returned in the form of a string, such as "SELECTED OPEN" which means that the icon is selected and the corresponding drawer is currently open. The other options include "UNSELECTED" and CLOSED". Of course, for the WINDOW.ICONS.SELECTED stem the icon status will always be reported as "SELECTED".

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.COUNT

Number of the unselected icons displayed in the window. This can be 0.

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.0 .. WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.N

Information on all selected the icons in the window:

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.NAME

Name of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.LEFT WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.TOP

Position of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.WIDTH WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.HEIGHT

Size of the icon in question.

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.TYPE

Type of the icon; one of DISK, DRAWER, TOOL, PROJECT, GARBAGE, DEVICE, KICK or APPICON.

WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED.<n>.STATUS

Whether the icon is selected and (if the icon is a drawer-like object, such as a disk, drawer or trashcan icon) whether the corresponding drawer is currently open or closed. This attribute is returned in the form of a string, such as "UNSELECTED OPEN" which means that the icon is selected and the corresponding drawer is currently open. The other options include "SELECTED" and CLOSED". Of course, for the WINDOW.ICONS.UNSELECTED stem the icon status will always be reported as "UNSELECTED".

Errors

10 - If the requester information could not be retrieved, you requested more than one database entry and did not provide a stem variable or if you provided a stem variable but did not request more than one database entry. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

RESULT - The information retrieved from the database.

Example

/* Query the Workbench version. */
ADDRESS workbench
OPTIONS RESULTS
 
GETATTR application.version
SAY result
 
/* Query the Workbench version and store it in the * variable 'version_number'. */
GETATTR application.version
VAR version_number
SAY version_number
 
/* Query the names of all currently open windows, * then print them. */
GETATTR windows
STEM window_list
 
DO i = 0 TO ( window_list.count - 1 )
   SAY window_list.i
END
 
/* Query name, position and size of the first icon * shown in the root window. */
GETATTR window.icons.all.0
NAME root
STEM root
 
SAY root.name
SAY root.left
SAY root.top
SAY root.width
SAY root.height
SAY root.type
 
/* Query the width and height of the root window. */
GETATTR window.width
NAME root
SAY result
 
GETATTR window.height
NAME root
SAY result
 
/* Query the length of a text (in pixels) with reference * to the icon font. */
GETATTR application.font.icon.size
NAME 'Text to measure'
SAY result

HELP command

Purpose

This command can be used to open the online help and to obtain information on the supported menus, commands and command parameters.

Format

HELP [COMMAND <Command name>] [MENUS] [PROMPT]

Template

HELP COMMAND/K,MENUS/S,PROMPT/S

Parameters

COMMAND

Name of the command whose command template should be retrieved.

MENUS

Specify this parameter to retrieve a list of menu items currently available.

PROMPT

Specify this parameter to invoke the online help system.

If no parameter is provided, a list of supported commands will be returned.

Errors

10 - If the named command is not supported by the ARexx interface. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

RESULT

The command template, list of menu items or commands, as specified in the command parameters.

Example

/* Retrieve the list of supported commands. */
ADDRESS workbench
OPTIONS results
 
HELP
SAY result
 
/* Retrieve the command template of the 'GETATTR' command. */
HELP COMMAND getattr
SAY result
 
/* Retrieve the list of available menu items. */
HELP MENUS
SAY result

ICON command

Purpose

This command is for manipulating the icons displayed in a window.

Format

ICON [WINDOW] <Window name> <Icon name> .. <Icon name> [OPEN] [MAKEVISIBLE] [SELECT] [UNSELECT] [UP <Pixels>] [DOWN <Pixels>] [LEFT <Pixels>] [RIGHT <Pixels>] [X <Horizontal position>] [Y <Vertical position>] [ACTIVATE UP|DOWN|LEFT|RIGHT] [CYCLE PREVIOUS|NEXT] [MOVE IN|OUT]

Template

ICON WINDOW,NAMES/M,OPEN/S,MAKEVISIBLE/S,SELECT/S,UNSELECT/S, UP/N,DOWN/N,LEFT/N,RIGHT/N,X/N,Y/N,ACTIVATE/K,CYCLE/K, MOVE/K

Parameters

WINDOW

Name of the window whose icons should be manipulated. This can be "ROOT" to work on the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" to work on the currently active Workbench window or the fully qualified name of a drawer window. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

NAMES

Names of the icons to manipulate.

OPEN

Specifies that the named icons should be opened.

MAKEVISIBLE

Specifies that the named icons should be made visible. This generally works well for the first icon in a list but does not always work for a whole list.

SELECT

Select the named icons.

UNSELECT

Unselect the named icons.

UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT

Move the named icons by the specified number of pixels.

X, Y

Move the named icons to the specified position.

ACTIVATE

This command is for activating the icon closest to the currently selected icon in the window. "Activating" in this context means selecting an icon, whilst at the same time unselecting all others. Thus, the "active" icon is the only selected icon in the window.

You can indicate which direction the next icon to be activated should be searched for, relative to the currently active icon. "UP" searches upwards, "DOWN" searches downwards, "LEFT" searches to the left and "RIGHT" searches to the right.

CYCLE

This command is for cycling through all icons in a window, making each one the active one in turn (for a description of what "active" means in this context, see the "ACTIVATE" description above). You must indicate in which direction you want to cycle through the icons: you can either specify "PREVIOUS" or "NEXT".

MOVE

This command is not for moving icons but for moving through a file system hierarchy. Thus, moving "in" will open a drawer and moving "out" will open the drawer's parent directory. The "IN" parameter will cause the drawer represented by the active icon to be opened. Please note that an icon must be selected and it must be a drawer. The "OUT" parameter will open the drawer's parent directory, and it also requires that in the drawer there is an icon selected. This may sound strange, but this feature is not meant as a replacement for the "Open Parent" menu item.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be found, none of the Workbench windows are currently active and the command was set to work on the currently active Workbench window. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Example

/* Select the icons of the "Workbench" and "Work" volumes displayed in the root window. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
ICON WINDOW root
NAMES Workbench Work SELECT
 
/* Open the "Workbench" volume icon displayed in the root window. */
ICON WINDOW root
NAMES Workbench OPEN

INFO command

Purpose

This command is for opening the Workbench icon information requester.

Format

INFO [NAME] <File, drawer or volume name>

Template

INFO NAME/A

Parameters 

NAME

Name of the file, drawer or volume to open the information window for.

Errors

10 - If the named file, drawer or volume could not be found. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Example

/* Open the information window for SYS:". */
ADDRESS workbench
 
INFO NAME 'SYS:'

KEYBOARD command

Purpose

This command can be used to bind ARexx commands to key combinations.

Format

KEYBOARD [NAME] <Name of key combination> ADD|REMOVE [KEY <Key combination>] [CMD <ARexx command>]

Template

KEYBOARD NAME/A,ADD/S,REMOVE/S,KEY,CMD/F

Parameters

NAME

Name of the key combination to add or remove. Each key combination must have a name with which it is associated. The name must be unique.

ADD

This tells the KEYBOARD command to add a new keyboard combination. You will also need to specify the KEY and CMD parameters.

REMOVE

This tells the KEYBOARD command to remove an existing keyboard combination.

KEY

The keyboard combination to add; this must be in the same format as used by the Commodities programs.

CMD

This is the ARexx command to bind to the keyboard combination. The command can either be the name of an ARexx script to execute or a short ARexx program in a single line.

Errors

10 - The command will fail if you tried to add a duplicate of an existing key combination or if the key combination to remove does not exist. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Example

/* Bind an ARexx script to the [Control]+A key combination.
 * When pressed, this will cause the ARexx script by the name 
 * "test.wb" to be executed. ARexx will search for that program 
 * in the "REXX:" directory. If no "test.wb" file can be found, ARexx will attempt to execute a script 
 * by the name of "test.rexx". */
 
ADDRESS workbench
 
KEYBOARD ADD NAME test1 KEY ,"ctrl a", CMD ,'test'
 
/* Bind an ARexx script to the [Alt]+[F1] key combination. 
 * When pressed, this will cause a short inline program to be 
 * executed. */
KEYBOARD ADD NAME test2 KEY ,"alt f1", CMD "say 42"
 
/* Bind an ARexx script to the [Shift]+[Help] key combination. 
 * When pressed, this will cause the "Workbench About" menu item to be invoked. */
KEYBOARD ADD NAME test3 KEY ,"shift help", CMD "MENU INVOKE WORKBENCH.ABOUT"
 
/* Remove the first key combination we added above. */
KEYBOARD REMOVE NAME test1

LOCKGUI command

Purpose

This command will block access to all Workbench drawer windows.

Format

LOCKGUI

Template

LOCKGUI

Parameters

-

Errors

-

Result

-

Notes

It takes as many UNLOCKGUI commands as there were LOCKGUI commands to make the Workbench drawer windows usable again. In other words, the LOCKGUI command "nests".

Example

/* Block access to all Workbench drawer windows. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
LOCKGUI

MENU command

Purpose

This command is for invoking items of the Workbench menu, as if the user had selected them with the mouse and for adding/removing user menus.

Format

MENU [WINDOW <Window name>] [INVOKE] <Menu name> [NAME <Menu name>] [TITLE <Menu title>] [SHORTCUT <Menu shortcut>] [ADD|REMOVE] [CMD <ARexx command>]

Template

MENU WINDOW/K,INVOKE,NAME/K,TITLE/K,SHORTCUT/K,ADD/S,REMOVE/S,CMD/K/F

Parameters

The following set of parameters can be used solely for invoking menu items.

WINDOW

Name of the window whose menu should be invoked. This can be "ROOT" to work on the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" to work on the currently active Workbench window or the fully qualified name of a drawer window. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

INVOKE

Name of the menu to invoke. See below for a list of available menu items.

The following set of parameters are for adding and removing menu items.

NAME

Name of the menu item to add or remove. Each menu item must have a name with which it is associated. The name must be unique and has nothing to do with the title of the item, as shown in the "Tools" menu.

TITLE

This is the text that will be used as the menu item title, as it will appear in the "Tools" menu. This parameter is required if you ADD a new menu item.

SHORTCUT

When adding a new menu item, this will be the menu shortcut associated with the item. Please note that the shortcut cannot be longer than a single character and that it will be ignored if there already is an item in any of the menus which uses this shortcut. This parameter is optional.

ADD

This tells the MENU command to add a new item to the "Tools" menu. When adding a menu item you will also need to specify the NAME, TITLE and CMD parameters.

REMOVE

This tells the MENU command to remove a menu item previously added via the ARexx interface. When removing a menu item you will also need to specify the NAME parameter.

CMD

This is the ARexx command to bind to the new menu item. The command can either be the name of an ARexx script to execute or a short ARexx program in a single line.

Menu items:

WORKBENCH.BACKDROP

Toggles the Workbench "Backdrop" window switch.

WORKBENCH.EXECUTE

Invokes the Workbench "Execute Command" requester. The user will be prompted to enter the command to be executed.

WORKBENCH.REDRAWALL

Invokes the Workbench "Redraw All" function.

WORKBENCH.UPDATEALL

Invokes the Workbench "Update All" function.

WORKBENCH.LASTMESSAGE

Redisplays the last Workbench error message.

WORKBENCH.ABOUT

Displays the "Workbench About..." requester.

WORKBENCH.QUIT

Attempts to close Workbench; this may bring up a requester the user will have to answer.

WINDOW.NEWDRAWER

Prompts the user to enter the name of a new drawer to be created.

WINDOW.OPENPARENT

If possible, this will open the parent directory of the drawer the command operates on.

WINDOW.CLOSE

If possible, this will close the drawer the command operates on.

WINDOW.UPDATE

This will update the drawer the command operates on, i.e. the contents will be reread.

WINDOW.SELECTCONTENTS

This will select the contents of the drawer the command operates on.

WINDOW.CLEARSELECTION

This unselects all icons selected in the drawer the command operates on.

WINDOW.CLEANUPBY.COLUMN

This will sort the contents of the drawer and place the icons in columns.

WINDOW.CLEANUPBY.NAME

This will sort the contents of the drawer by name and place the icons in rows.

WINDOW.CLEANUPBY.DATE

This will sort the contents of the drawer by date and place the icons in rows.

WINDOW.CLEANUPBY.SIZE

This will sort the contents of the drawer by size and place the icons in rows.

WINDOW.CLEANUPBY.TYPE

This will sort the contents of the drawer by type and place the icons in rows.

WINDOW.RESIZETOFIT

This will resize the drawer window, trying to make it just as large as to allow all its icons to fit.

WINDOW.SNAPSHOT.WINDOW

This will snapshot the drawer window, but none of its contents.

WINDOW.SNAPSHOT.ALL

This will snapshot the drawer window and its contents.

WINDOW.SHOW.ONLYICONS

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show only files and drawers which have icons attached.

WINDOW.SHOW.ALLFILES

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show all files and drawers, regardless of whether they have icons attached or not.

WINDOW.VIEWBY.ICON

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show its contents as icons.

WINDOW.VIEWBY.NAME

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show its contents in textual format, sorted by name.

WINDOW.VIEWBY.DATE

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show its contents in textual format, sorted by date.

WINDOW.VIEWBY.SIZE

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show its contents in textual format, sorted by size.

WINDOW.VIEWBY.TYPE

This will change the display mode of the drawer to show its contents in textual format, sorted by type.

ICONS.OPEN

This will open the currently selected icons. Workbench may bring up a requester in case project icons are found which lack a default tool.

ICONS.COPY

This will duplicate the currently selected icons.

ICONS.RENAME

This will prompt the user to choose a new name for each currently selected icon.

ICONS.INFORMATION

This will open the information window for every currently selected icon.

ICONS.SNAPSHOT

This will lock the position of every currently selected icon.

ICONS.UNSNAPSHOT

This will unlock the position of every currently selected icon.

ICONS.LEAVEOUT

This will permanently put all currently selected icons on the Workbench root window.

ICONS.PUTAWAY

This will move all currently selected icons out of the root window and put them back into the drawers they belong.

ICONS.DELETE

This will cause all currently selected files to be deleted, provided the user confirms this action first.

ICONS.FORMATDISK

This will invoke the "Format" command on every currently selected disk icon. This will not format the disks immediately. The user will have to confirm this action first.

ICONS.EMPTYTRASH

With a trashcan icon selected, this will empty it.

TOOLS.RESETWB

This will close and reopen all Workbench windows.

The HELP command will provide a complete list of menu items that can be invoked. Depending on the state of each menu item (e.g. the "Open" menu item will be disabled if no icon is currently selected) the MENU command can silently fail to invoke the item you had in mind.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be found, none of the Workbench windows is currently active and the command was set to work on the currently active Workbench window. The command can also fail if you tried to add a duplicate of an existing menu item or if the menu item to remove does not exist. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Example

/* Invoke the "About" menu. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
MENU WINDOW root INVOKE WORKBENCH.ABOUT
 
/* Add an item to the "Tools" menu; selecting it
 * will cause the ARexx script by the name "test.wb"
 * to be executed. ARexx will search for that program
 * in the "REXX:" directory. If no "test.wb" file can
 * be found, ARexx will attempt to execute a script
 * by the name of "test.rexx". */
MENU ADD NAME test1 TITLE ,"Execute a script", SHORTCUT ,'!' CMD ,'test'
 
/* Add an item to the "Tools" menu; selecting it
 * will cause a short inline program to be executed. */
MENU ADD NAME test2 TITLE ,"Short inline program", CMD "say 42"
 
/* Add an item to the "Tools" menu; selecting it
 * will cause the Workbench "About" menu item to be invoked. */
MENU ADD NAME test3 TITLE ,"About...", CMD "MENU INVOKE WORKBENCH.ABOUT"
 
/* Remove the first menu item we added above. */
MENU REMOVE NAME test1

MOVEWINDOW command

Purpose

This command will attempt to change the position of a window.

Format

MOVEWINDOW [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name> [[LEFTEDGE] <new left edge position>] [[TOPEDGE] <new top edge position>]

Template

MOVEWINDOW WINDOW,LEFTEDGE/N,TOPEDGE/N

Parameters

WINDOW

Either "ROOT" to move the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" to move the currently active Workbench window or the fully qualified name of a drawer window to change. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

LEFTEDGE

New left edge window position.

TOPEDGE

New top edge window position.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be moved; this can also happen if you specified "ACTIVE" as the window name and none of the Workbench windows is currently active. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window changed that is neither the root nor the active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Move the root window to position 10,30. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
MOVEWINDOW root LEFTEDGE 10 TOPEDGE 30
 
/* Move the currently active window. */
MOVEWINDOW active 20 40

NEWDRAWER command

Purpose

This command is for creating new drawers.

Format

NEWDRAWER [NAME] <Name of drawer to create>

Template

NEWDRAWER NAME/A

Parameters

NAME

Name of the drawer to be created.

Errors

10 - If the named drawer could not be created.

Result

-

Notes

The drawer name given must be an absolute path, such as in "RAM:Empty". A relative path, such as "/fred/barney" will not work.

Example 

/* Create a drawer by the name of "Empty" in the RAM disk. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
NEWDRAWER 'RAM:Empty'

RENAME command

Purpose

This command is for renaming files, drawers and volumes.

Format

RENAME [OLDNAME] <Name of file/drawer/volume to rename> [NEWNAME] <New name of the file/drawer/volume>

Template

RENAME OLDNAME/A,NEWNAME/A

Parameters

OLDNAME

Name of the file/drawer/volume to be renamed. This must be an absolute path, such as in "RAM:Empty". A relative path, such as "/fred/barney", will not work.

NEWNAME

The new name to assign to the file/drawer/volume. This must not be an absolute or relative path. For example, "wilma" is valid new name, "/wilma" or "wilma:" would be invalid names.

Errors

10 - If the object cannot be renamed.

Result

-

Notes

The RENAME command does not work like for example the AmigaDOS "Rename" command. For example, RENAME 'ram:empty' ,'newname' will rename the file 'RAM:empty' to 'RAM:newname'.

Example

/* Rename a drawer by the name of "Old" in the RAM disk to "New". */
ADDRESS workbench
 
RENAME 'RAM:Old' 'New'

RX command

Purpose

This command is for executing ARexx scripts and commands.

Format

RX [CONSOLE] [ASYNC] [CMD] <Command to execute>

Template

RX CONSOLE/S,ASYNC/S,CMD/A/F

Parameters

CONSOLE

This switch indicates that a console (for default I/O) is needed.

ASYNC

This switch indicates that the command should be run asynchronously, i.e. the "RX" command will return as soon as ARexx has been instructed to run the command you specified. Otherwise, the "RX" command will wait for the specified ARexx command to complete execution.

COMMAND

This is the name of the ARexx program to execute.

Errors

10 - If the given ARexx program could not be executed.

Result

-

Example

/* Execute an ARexx program by the name of 'test.wb';
 * its output should be sent to a console window. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
RX CONSOLE CMD 'test.wb'

SIZEWINDOW command

Purpose

This command will attempt to change the size of a window.

Format

SIZEWINDOW [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name> [[WIDTH] <new window width>] [[HEIGHT] <new window height>]

Template

SIZEWINDOW WINDOW,WIDTH/N,HEIGHT/N

Parameters

WINDOW

Either "ROOT" to resize the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" to resize the currently active Workbench window or the fully qualified name of a drawer window to change. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

WIDTH

New window width.

HEIGHT

New window height.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be resized; this can also happen if you specified "ACTIVE" as the window name and none of the Workbench windows is currently active. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window resized that is neither the root nor the active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Change the root window size to 200x100 pixels. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
SIZEWINDOW root 30 WIDTH 200 HEIGHT 100
 
/* Resize the currently active window. */
SIZEWINDOW active 200 100

UNLOCKGUI command

Purpose

This command will allow access to all Workbench drawer windows locked with the LOCKGUI command.

Format

UNLOCKGUI

Template

UNLOCKGUI

Parameters

-

Errors

-

Result

-

Notes

It takes as many UNLOCKGUI commands as there were LOCKGUI commands to make the Workbench drawer windows usable again. In other words, the LOCKGUI command "nests".

Example

/* Reallow access to all Workbench drawer windows. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
UNLOCKGUI

UNZOOMWINDOW command

Purpose

This command will attempt to return a window to its original position and dimensions.

Format

UNZOOMWINDOW [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name>

Template

UNZOOMWINDOW WINDOW

Parameters

WINDOW

Name of the window to operate on. "ROOT" will use the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" will use the currently active Workbench window. Any other fully qualified path name will use the drawer window corresponding to the path.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be found. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Example

/* Change the root window. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
UNZOOMWINDOW root

VIEW command

Purpose

This command will change the position of the viewable display area of a window.

Format

VIEW [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name> [PAGE|PIXEL] [UP|DOWN|LEFT|RIGHT]

Template

VIEW WINDOW,PAGE/S,PIXEL/S,UP/S,DOWN/S,LEFT/S,RIGHT/S

Parameters

WINDOW

Either "ROOT" to change the Workbench root window view (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" to change the currently active Workbench window view or the fully qualified name of a drawer window to change. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

UP

Moves the view up by about 1/8 of the window height. If PAGE is specified, moves the view up by a whole page. If PIXEL is specified, moves the view up by a single pixel.

DOWN

Moves the view down by about 1/8 of the window height. If PAGE is specified, moves the view down by a whole page. If PIXEL is specified, moves the view down by a single pixel.

LEFT

Moves the view left by about 1/8 of the window width. If PAGE is specified, moves the view left by a whole page. If PIXEL is specified, moves the view left by a single pixel.

RIGHT

Moves the view right by about 1/8 of the window width. If PAGE is specified, moves the view right by a whole page. If PIXEL is specified, moves the view right by a single pixel.

Errors

10 - If the named window view cannot be changed; this can also happen if you specified "ACTIVE" as the window name and none of the Workbench windows is currently active. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window view changed that is neither the root nor the active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

To find out about a window's current view position, use the GETATTR command and query the window's WINDOW.VIEW.LEFT and WINDOW.VIEW.TOP attributes.

Example

/* Change the root window view; move it up by a whole page. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
VIEW root PAGE UP

WINDOW command

Purpose

This command will change, open, close or snapshot windows.

Format

WINDOW [WINDOWS] <Window name> .. <Window name> [OPEN|CLOSE] [SNAPSHOT] [ACTIVATE] [MIN|MAX] [FRONT|BACK] [CYCLE PREVIOUS|NEXT]

Template

WINDOW WINDOWS/M/A,OPEN/S,CLOSE/S,SNAPSHOT/S,ACTIVATE/S,MIN/S,MAX/S, FRONT/S,BACK/S,CYCLE/K

Parameters

WINDOWS

Names of the windows to operate on. This can be "ROOT" for the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" for the currently active Workbench window or the fully qualified name of a drawer window.

OPEN

Attempt to open the specified windows.

CLOSE

Close the specified windows. Note that if a window is closed no further operations (such as SNAPSHOT, ACTIVATE, etc.) can be performed on it.

SNAPSHOT

Snapshot the sizes and positions of the specified windows.

ACTIVATE

Activate the specified windows. With multiple windows to activate, only one window will wind up as the active one. Commonly, this will be the last window in the list.

MIN

Resize the windows to their minimum dimensions.

MAX

Resize the windows to their maximum dimensions.

FRONT

Move the windows into the foreground.

BACK

Move the windows into the background.

CYCLE

This command operates on the currently active drawer window. You can specify either "PREVIOUS", to activate the previous drawer window in the list, or "NEXT", to activate the next following drawer window in the list.

Errors

10 - If the named windows cannot be opened or operated on; this can also happen if you specified "ACTIVE" as a window name and none of the Workbench windows is currently active. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window operated on that is neither the root nor the active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Open the "Work:" drawer. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
WINDOW 'Work:' OPEN
 
/* Activate the root window. */
WINDOW root ACTIVATE

WINDOWTOBACK command

Purpose

This command will push a window into the background.

Format

WINDOWTOBACK [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name>

Template

WINDOWTOBACK WINDOW

Parameters

WINDOW

"ROOT" to push the the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live) into to the background, "ACTIVE" to push the currently active Workbench window into the background or the fully qualified name of a drawer window. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be found. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window pushed into the background that is not the root window or the currently active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Push the root window into the background. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
WINDOWTOBACK root

WINDOWTOFRONT command

Purpose

This command will bring a window to the foreground.

Format

WINDOWTOFRONT [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name>

Template

WINDOWTOFRONT WINDOW

Parameters

WINDOW

"ROOT" to bring the the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live) to the foreground, "ACTIVE" to bring the currently active Workbench window to the foreground or the fully qualified name of a drawer window. Note that the drawer window must already be open.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be found. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Notes

If you choose to have a window brought to the foreground that is not the root window or the currently active window you must make sure that the window name is given as a fully qualified path name. For example "Work:" is a fully qualified name, and so is "SYS:Utilities". "Devs/Printers" would not be a fully qualified name. A fully qualified name always contains the name of an assignment, a volume or a device.

Example

/* Bring the root window to the foreground. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
WINDOWTOFRONT root

ZOOMWINDOW command

Purpose

This command will change a window to alternate position and dimensions.

Format

ZOOMWINDOW [WINDOW] <ROOT|ACTIVE|Drawer name>

Template

ZOOMWINDOW WINDOW

Parameters

WINDOW

Name of the window to operate on. "ROOT" will use the Workbench root window (where volume icons and AppIcons live), "ACTIVE" will use the currently active Workbench window. Any other fully qualified path name will use the drawer window corresponding to the path.

If no WINDOW parameter is specified, this command will try to operate on the currently active Workbench window.

Errors

10 - If the named window cannot be found. The error code will be placed in the WORKBENCH.LASTERROR variable.

Result

-

Example

/* Change the root window. */
ADDRESS workbench
 
ZOOMWINDOW root