REXX Tips & Tricks:Change the WPS with REXX
This section contains hints for using REXX to change the WPS.
WPS class hierarchy
This section contains the class tree for WARP 3 and WARP 4.
To get a list of all registered classes on your system use the function SysQueryClassList().
To get a hierarchical list of the WPS classes registered on your system you can use the Search-Button of the LaunchPad (or the entry Find ... in the WPS context menu) as follows:
- Open the Find dialog
- Push the More ... button in the Find dialog to open the Find Criteria dialog
- Push the Add button in the Find Criteria dialog to open the Add Criteria dialog
- Select Object Class for the field Attribute in the Add Criteria dialog
- Now you can scroll the hierarchical list of the registered classes in the list box Comparison value.
In der deutschen Version von WARP oeffnet mensch hierfuer den Suchen Dialog (ueber den Suchen Button der Klickstartleiste oder ueber den Eintrag Suchen im Kontextmenue der WPS. Dort klickt mensch den Button Weitere und in den daraufhin erscheinenden Dialog den Button Hinzufuegen In diesen Dialog nun setzt mensch das Feld Merkmal auf ObjektKlasse. Nun kann in der Listbox Vergleichswert die hierarchische Liste der registrierten WPS Klassen durch gescrollt werden.
WARP Version 3 Class hierarchy
WPS Class hierarchy for WARP Version 3 (see also the WPS Class hierarchy for WARP 4).
| CLASS NAME | CLASS DEFINITION FILE | |||||
| SOMObject | somobj.idl | |||||
| SOMClass | somcls.idl | |||||
| SOMClassMgr | somcm.idl | |||||
| WPObject | wpobject.idl | |||||
| WPAbstract | wpabs.idl | |||||
| WPClock | wpclock.idl | |||||
| WPCountry | wpctry.idl | |||||
| WPDisk | wpdisk.idl | |||||
| WPKeyboard | wpkeybd.idl.idl | |||||
| WPLaunchPad | wplnchpd.idl | |||||
| WPMouse | wpmouse.idl | |||||
| WPSchemePalette | wppalet.idl | |||||
| WPColorPalette | wpclrpal.idl | |||||
| WPFontPalette | wpfntpal.idl | |||||
| WPSchemePalette | wpscheme.idl | |||||
| WPPower | wppower.idl | |||||
| WPPrinter | wpprint.idl | |||||
| WPRPrinter | wprprint.idl | |||||
| WPProgram | wppgm.idl | |||||
| WPShadow | wpshadow.idl | |||||
| WPNetLink | wpnetlnk.idl | |||||
| WPShredder | wpshred.idl | |||||
| WPSound | wpsound.idl | |||||
| WPSpecialNeeds | wpspneed.idl | |||||
| WPSpool | wpspool.idl | |||||
| WPSystem | wpsystem.idl | |||||
| WPWinConfig | wincfg.idl | |||||
| WPFileSystem | wpfsys.idl | |||||
| WPDataFile | wpdataf.idl | |||||
| WPBitmap | wpbitmap.idl | |||||
| WebExplorer_Url | ||||||
| WPIcon | wpicon.idl | |||||
| WPMet | wpmet.idl | |||||
| WPPif | wppif.idl | |||||
| WPPointer | wpptr.idl | |||||
| WPProgramFile | wppgmf.idl | |||||
| WPCommandFile | wpcmdf.idl | |||||
| WPFolder | wpfolder.idl | |||||
| WPDesktop | wpdesk.idl | |||||
| WPDrives | wpdrives.idl | |||||
| WPMinWinViewer | wpmwv.idl | |||||
| WPNetgrp | wpnetgrp.idl | |||||
| WPNetwork | wpnetwrk.idl | |||||
| WPRootFolder | wprootf.idl | |||||
| WPServer | wpserver.idl | |||||
| WPSharedDir | wpshdir.idl | |||||
| WPStartup | wpstart.idl | |||||
| WPTemplates | wptemps.idl | |||||
| WPTransient | wptrans.idl | |||||
| WPJob | wpjob.idl | |||||
| WPPdr | wppdr.idl | |||||
| WPPort | wpport.idl | |||||
| WPQdr | wpqdr.idl |
(except for the classes marked with *. These are no standard WPS classes.)
WARP Version 4 Class hierarchy
WPS Class hierarchy for WARP Version 4 (see also the WPS Class hierarchy for WARP 3).
CLASS NAME CLASS DEFINITION FILE
SOMObject somobj.idl
ÃÄÄÄSOMClass somcls.idl
ÃÄÄÄSOMClassMgr somcm.idl
³ ÀÄWPClassManager wpclsmgr.idl
ÀÄÄÄWPObject wpobject.idl
ÚÄÄÄÄÄWPAbstract wpabs.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPClock wpclkm.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPCountry wpctry.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDisk wpdisk.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPLaunchPad wplnchpd.idl
³ ³ ÀÄÄSmartCenter
³ ÃÄÄ WPKeyboard wpkeybd.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPMouse wpmouse.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPPalette wppalet.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPColorPalette wpclrpal.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPFontPalette wpfntpal.idl
³ ³ ÀÄÄ WPSchemePalette wpscheme.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPPower wppower.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPPrinter wpprint.idl
³ ³ ÀÄÄ WPRPrinter wprprint.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPProgram wppgm.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPShadow wpshadow.idl
³ ³ ÀÄÄ WPNetLink wpnetlnk.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPShredder wpshred.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPSound wpsound.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPSpecialNeeds wpspneed.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPSpool wpspool.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPSystem wpsystem.idl
³ ÀÄÄ WPWinConfig wincfg.idl
ÃÄÄ WPFileSystem wpfsys.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDataFile wpdataf.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPHtml wphtml.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPIcon wpicon.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPImageFile wpimage.idl
³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄ WPBitmap wpbitmap.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPMet wpmet.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPPif wppif.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPPointer wpptr.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPProgramFile wppgmf.idl
³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄ WPCommandFile wpcmdf.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPUrl wpurl.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPFolder wpfolder.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPDesktop wpdesk.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPDrives wpdrives.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPHost wphost.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPHwManager wphwmgr.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPMinWinViewer wpmwv.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPNetgrp wpnetgrp.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPNetwork wpnetwrk.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPRootFolder wprootf.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPServer wpserver.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPSharedDir wpshdir.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPStartup wpstart.idl
³ ³ ÃÄÄ WPTemplates wptemps.idl
³ ³ ÀÄÄ WPUrlFolder wpurlfdr.idl
ÀÄÄ WPTransient wptrans.idl
ÚÄÄ WPJob wpjob.idl
ÃÄÄ WPDevice wpdevice.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevAudio wpaudio.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevBus wpbus.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevCDRom wpcdrom.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevCPU wpcpu.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevDiskette wpdskett.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevDisplay wpdisply.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevHarddrive wphrddrv.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevKeyboard wpkeybdd.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevMemory wpmem.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevMouse wpmoused.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevParallel wpparal.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevPeriph wpperiph.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevSerial wpserial.idl
³ ÃÄÄ WPDevTape wptape.idl
³ ÀÄÄ WPDevTimer wptimer.idl
ÃÄÄ WPPort wpport.idl
ÃÄÄ WPPdr wppdr.idl
ÀÄÄ WPQdr wpqdr.idl
Note: According to the REXX Reference Summary Handbook the class SmartCenter is a sub class of WPAbstract. I have not been able to verify this.
Extended Attributes used by the WPS
The Workplace Shell uses the following extended attributes:
| Extended Attribute | EA Type | Description |
| ASSOCTABLE | EAT_MVMT | Enables an application to indicate the type, extension, and icon for the data file that it recognizes. |
| .CLASSINFO | EAT_BINARY | the class type of the object. |
| .CODEPAGE | the code page for the file object | |
| .COMMENTS | EAT_MVMT | misc. notes or reminders about the file object |
| .HISTORY | EAT_MVMT | the modification history for a file object (see Maintaine Multi value EAs in REXX for an example for using this EA) |
| .ICON | EAT_ICON | the icon that represents the file or folder object. This EA contains the physical data used to represent the folder object. (see also Extract the icon from the EAs) |
| .ICON1 | EAT_ICON | the animation icon for a folder. This EA contains the physical data used to represent the open folder object. (see also Extract the icon from the EAs) |
| .ICONPOS | EAT_BINARY | the icon positioning information for a folder (WARP 4 only!) |
| .KEYPHRASES | EAT_MVMT | text phrases for the file |
| .LONGNAME | EAT_ASCII | the long name of the file object (necessary for file system that do not support long names) (see Copy a file from HPFS to FAT and vice versa for an usage example) |
| .PREVCLASS | EAT_BINARY | "old class name when the user requests that an object, which is a descendent of WPDataFile, becomes another subclass of WPDataFile" (WARP 4 only!) |
| .SUBJECT | EAT_ASCII | a brief summary of the content or purpose of the file object |
| .TYPE | EAT_MVMT | the file type of the file object, such as plain text (TXT), bitmap (BMP), or executable (EXE). |
| .VERSION | EAT_ASCII or EAT_BINARY | the version of the file object |
See the next section for the possible EA types.
Note: "Standard Extended Attributes (SEAs) have a dot (.) as a prefix. This identifies the extended attribute as a SEA. The leading dot is reserved, so applications should not define extended attributes that start with a dot. Also, extended attributes that start with the characters $, @, &, or + are reserved for system use."
Be aware that the information about the types of the Standard Extended Attributes in the Control Program Guide and Reference is not correct!
Extended Attribute Data Types
The first WORD of an EA specifies the type of the EA. The following EA types are defined (see Maintaining Multi-Value EAs in REXX for example REXX code to handle EAs):
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_ASCII | 'FFFD'x |
Description: This EA contains ASCII text. The first WORD following the data type specifies the length of the data; the next bytes are the data.
Example: EAT_ASCII '0005'x 'Hello'
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_BINARY | 'FFFE'x |
Description: This EA contains binary (non-text) data. The first WORD following the data type specifies the length of the data; the next bytes are the data.
Example: EAT_BINARY '0003'x '01'x '02'x '03'x
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_BITMAP | 'FFFB'x |
Description: This EA contains bit map data. The first WORD following the data type specifies the length of the data; the next bytes are the data.
Example: EAT_BITMAP '0203'x bitmap_data
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_METAFILE | 'FFFA'x |
Description: This EA contains metafile data. The first WORD following the data type specifies the length of the data; the next bytes are the data.
Example: EAT_METAFILE '0203'x metaFile_data
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_ICON | 'FFF9'x |
Description: This EA contains icon data. The first WORD following the data type specifies the length of the data; the next bytes are the data.
Example: EAT_ICON '1BF8'x icon_data
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_EA | 'FFEE'x |
Description: This EA contains the ASCII name of another EA that is associated with the file. The contents of that EA are to be included in the current EA. The first WORD following the data type specifies the length of the name of the other EA; the next bytes are the name of the EA to include.
Example: EAT_EA '0008'x AB.STUFF
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_MVMT | 'FFDF'x |
Description: This EA contains multi-valued, multi-typed data -- two or more consecutive extended attribute values. Each value has an explicitly specified type. The first WORD following the data type specifies the codepage (0000 means default); the second WORD following the data type specifies the number of the following entries. The next bytes specify the EA values in the "normal" EA format (see the description for the other entries). Note that the Code page data is for use by the application; the operating system does not use it.
Example: EA_MVMT '0000'x '0003'x EAT_ASCII '0005'x Hello
EAT_EA '0008'x AB.STUFF
EAT_BINARY '0003'x '01'x '02'x '03'x
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_MVST | FFDE'x |
Description: This EA contains multi-valued, single-typed data-two or more consecutive extended attribute values. All values have the same type. The first WORD following the data type specifies the codepage (0000 means default); the second WORD following the data type specifies the number of the following entries. The next word specifies the data type of the values and after that the data of the values follow.
Example: EAT_MVST 0000 0003 EAT_ASCII 0004 Mark
0005 Ellen
0003 Liz
| Data Type | Value |
| EAT_ASN1 | 'FFDD'x |
Description: This EA contains ANS.1 field data; an ISO standard for describing multivalue data streams.
| Data Type | Value |
| '8000'x and up |
Description: These values are reserved for the Operating System.
| Data Type | Value |
| '0000'x - '7FFF'x |
Description:
These values can be defined by the user. All user-defined data types should be length-preceded, meaning that a WORD indicating the length of the data (in bytes) precedes the data.
Source: Control Program Guide and Reference
Force the WPS to reRead the Extended Attributes
To force the WPS to reread the Extended Attributes (for example after changing the EA .LONGNAME) of a file you can use the following code (Source: Found in a public newsgroup):
/* */
CALL RxFuncAdd 'SysLoadFuncs','RexxUtil','SysLoadFuncs'
CALL SysLoadFuncs
/* create a temporary file in the TEMP directory */
tempDir = value( 'TEMP',, 'OS2ENVIRONMENT' )
tempFile = time('S')
if right( tempDir,1 ) = '\' then
tempFile = tempDir || tempFile
else
tempFile = tempDir || '\' || tempFile
/* now open the folder on the WPS */
call SysSetObjectData tempDir, 'OPEN=DEFAULT;'
say 'Creating a file named "' || tempFile || '" ...'
/* create a temporary file */
'@ECHO. This is a test file ' '>'tempFile
say ' ... done'
say 'Press any key after the file is shown in the folder ...'
'@pause >NUL'
/* new value for the EA .LONGNAME */
NewLongName = 'This is a very looong Name' || '00'x
/* create a valid EA */
typeinfo = 'FDFF'x || d2c(length(NewLongName)) || '00'x || NewLongName
say 'Now changing the EA .LONGNAME of the file to'
say ' "' || newLongName || '" ...'
say '(This should change the title used in the WPS!)'
/* change the EA */
call SysPutEA tempFile, ".LONGNAME", typeinfo
say ' ... done'
say
say 'Press any key to force the WPS to reRead the EAs'
say '(and update the title in the folder) ...'
'@pause >NUL'
/* force the WPS to reread the EAs */
'@attrib -a ' tempFile '2>NUL 1>NUL'
'@attrib +a ' tempFile '2>NUL 1>NUL'
say 'Now the WPS should show the new title for the object.'
say 'Press any key to delete the temporary file ...'
'@pause >NUL'
/* delete the temporary file */
'@DEL ' tempFile '2>NUL 1>NUL'
exit 0
Format of the RC files for MAKEINI
A detailed description of the format of the RC files used by MAKEINI is included in the book OS/2 2.11 Power Techniques. (see also Predefined Object IDs)
Note: see Get the default object settings for an example for parsing an RC file.
Note: In OS/2 WARP, the UPDATE and REPLACE flags in the setup strings of some of the entries in the INI.RC have no effect on the options in the object's pop-up menu of existing objects. To get around this limitation, use �SysSetObjectData to change the object properties (Source: APAR PJ18673).
Contents of the OS/2 INI files
OS/2 saves a big part of its configuration in the files OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI. Therefore, many of the changes you might make to the WPS with REXX will involve changing some entries in these INI files.
The basic structure of OS/2 INI files is hierarchical, consisting of the following elements and order:
Application
Key
Value
Applications are the main entries. Each application must have at least one Key, and each Key must have a Value (Note that a lot of Values - but not all - include a trailing NULL byte ['00'x]). This byte may be needed for certain values to function properly. It should not be discarded when values are modified.)
To read or change INI file entries in REXX programs you can use the REXXUTIL function �SysIni. For example, to read the value of the key PDR_DIR of the application PM_INSTALL in the file OS2.INI you can use the REXX statement
pdr_dir = SysIni( 'USER', 'PM_INSTALL', 'PDR_DIR' )
if pdr_dir = 'ERROR:' then
say 'Error reading the key from the INI file!'
To change the value of this key you can use
newPDR_DIR = 'I:\OS2IMAGE' || '00'x
thisRC = SysIni( 'USER', 'PM_INSTALL', 'PDR_DIR', newPDR_DIR )
if thisRC = 'ERROR:' then
say 'Error reading the key from the INI file!'
(BTW: The key used in the example above holds the name of the directory with the OS/2 image files (I:\OS2IMAGE) from which the system was installed. The value of this key is also the default value for the directory containing the OS/2 image if you do a Selective Install. The drive letter represents the drive that was used when the system was installed; therefore it can differ from one installation to another)
A detailed description of the contents of the OS/2 INI files (including many REXX samples to change the entries) is included in the book OS/2 2.11 Power Techniques. (Don't mind the version 2.11 in the title - the book is also useful for WARP 4).
Some useful entries are described in the next sections.
Note that, unless noted otherwise, all entries below have been tested only with OS/2 WARP Version 3.
You can use the program ConvIni.CMD to convert parts or all of an INI file into a REXX program to recreate the INI file entries.
Sample INI file entries
Following is a list of some useful entries in the OS/2 INI files. Warning:
Be aware that these entries are not documented by IBM! They may change in different releases of OS/2 without notice! (see Changing the Lockup page entries for an example)
Use this information with extreme care! Improper use could lead to unpredictable behavior of the system, possibly including problems booting and starting the WPS. Further Warning:
The names (!) of some keys in the INI files are language dependent! (see Font Size for text (VIO) windows for an example)!
OS2.INI
Country dependent information
File OS2.INI
Application PM_National
Key (various, see below)
Value
Description This application contains the country-dependent information
Created -
Deleted -
Possible keys for this application (copied from the file \OS2\INI.RC. ):
"iCountry" "1" /* Country code (phone ID of country) */
"iDate" "0" /* Date mode (0:MDY, 1:DMY, 2:YMD) */
"iCurrency" "0" /* Currency mode 0: prefix, no sep */
/* 1: suffix, no separation */
/* 2: prefix, 1 CHAR separation */
/* 3: suffix, 1 CHAR separation */
"iDigits" "2" /* Signif Decimal digits in Currency */
"iTime" "0" /* time mode (0=12 hours clock, 1=24) */
"iLzero" "0" /* Leading zeros (0: no, 1: yes) */
"s1159" "AM" /* Trailing string 0:00 to 11:59 */
"s2359" "PM" /* Trailing string 12:00 to 23:59 */
"sCurrency" "$" /* Currency Symbol string */
"sThousand" "," /* Thousands separator string */
"sDecimal" "." /* Decimal separator string */
"sDate" "-" /* Date separator string */
"sTime" ":" /* time separator string */
"sList" "," /* List separator string. */
"iMeasurement" "1" /* 1=English, 2=Metric, 3=Points, 4=Picaa */