Talk:REXX
From Academic Kids
I think that the /* */ start is only required in OS/2 .CMDs. I guess that in Unix the required start is #!/bin/regina or something similar. -- Error
- ah, didn't know. Will check with the REXX gurus. -- Viajero 09:03 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)
- The "/* ..." is required in VM/CMS (called z/VM these days). VM/CMS systems check the first line of the file to determine which "executor" should be invoked to process the file.
- A first line beginning with "&TRACE" triggers the EXEC2 executor, and a first line with with neither &TRACE nor /* at its start drops through to the original EXEC procesor (a sort of BAT precursor). However, if evoked explictity as a macro, etc., the REXX interpreter does not require that the first line start with /*.
- I can't speak to the OS/2 question, although I can say that Rexx started on VM and that this mechanism is predates the release of Rexx to the VM sites outside IBM. -- RossPatterson 15:53, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- Unix systems require a "#!<something_or_other>" to identify the program that executes the script. In the Regina case, this is typically /usr/bin/rexx, just as in the Perl case it is often /usr/bin/perl. The usage is ancient - shell scripts have begun with "#!/bin/sh" for around 30 years. As to "/* ... */" in Unix, Regina does not require it and neither does Unix. -- RossPatterson 15:53, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)
