AREXX CONTRIBUTIONS by Ron Upton :-) 40 :^) 40 :) 40 8) 40 8-) 40 B-) 40 :-O 40 8*)  Diary.rexx I have been particularly interested in the various diary programs which have appeared in recent editions of MD. Even though DateList (MD 36), CalendarDiary (MD 38) and Diary.rexx (MD 39) have fine features, each falls short a little short of what I have been looking for. What features would I like to have in a diary? 1. A calendar capable of showing both the dates and days on which an entry has been made. 2. A means of both entering data and reading data for a given day (or week) directly from the calendar. 3. A means of reading the above-mentioned data for a given period (a month or year) in chronological order. This would probably be carried out by means of a pull-down menu. Other readers who share my interest will have noted that each of the above-mentioned programs has gone part of the way to satisfying me. On reading the contents of the ARexx drawer on MD 39, I decided to attempt to combine 'Diary.rexx', by John Collett, with 'Dates&Notes' (UT 393), the latest incarnation of 'DateList" by Trevor Parker, in order that I could have a package which would go very close to meeting my criteria. I am pleased to report that the exercise was successful. With this arrangement, I am able to have both the calendar of 'Diary.rexx' and the window of 'Dates&Notes' on the screen together. As a result, data can be read via the calendar and data can be both entered and read via the window of 'Dates&Notes'. The 'Notes.txt' file of 'Dates&Notes' is unaffected. Also, by giving each of the data files an icon with Fullview as the tool, the contents can be read, searched and printed as required. If you are interested in the procedure I adopted, read on.  Procedure: 1. I moved 'Diary.rexx' to the 'Dates&Notes' drawer. 2. I gave both 'Date.txt' and 'Notes.txt' icons and entered ':c/fullview' as the 'Default Tool' in each case. 3. I used the 'Find and Replace' on my text editor (EdWordPro) to replace 'DateList' with 'Dates.txt' in the 'Diary.rexx' script. I found that this occurred on lines 23, 214, 215, 256 and 280. After saving, I checked Icon>Information to see that entries for 'Default Tool' and 'Tool Types' were correct. 4. I arranged the data in 'Date.txt' file to conform to the requirements for 'Diary.rexx'. Unless this is done, data in the 'Date.txt' file cannot be read from the calendar. A major weakness is that it is necessary to run 'Dates&Notes' and 'Diary.rexx' individually. Even though the window for entering data is smaller than that of your text editor, it is direct and can be iconified. After weighing up the relative strengths and weaknesses, I think it is a reasonable compromise. I hope that neither Trevor nor John regard my actions as being unethical and/or offensive.  DIY_Doc Like John Collett, I was very interested in what 'AmiDock' offered but could not get it to run. Given the excellent information regarding John's approach to the problem of creating a similar type of program, I took up his invitation to create a utility which would suit my needs. Generally, I am happy with the result. If any readers see the task as being too daunting I would strongly recommend that they give it a go. If you are able to get the demo to run and you can follow John's explanation, you only need to add and delete, as required, to build a program which will suit your needs. The major factors to be considered are the images for the buttons, the position of the buttons on the screen and the appropriate commands to include in the script.  Images I made my images in IconEdit. I thought they looked better at 32 x 18 pixels as this brought them right to the edge both top and bottom. As John points out, it is necessary to save them as IFF images (Images> Save IFF Brush) - I made a collection of them and stored them in a subdirectory of DPaint. Instead of giving them numbers (Pic1 etc.), I gave them names so that I could readily identify them when it came to placing them in the order which corresponded with the numbers in the script - I used DOpus to both copy and change the names. It must be kept in mind that the 'exit' button is the last in line.  Position of Buttons on Screen I used 'MouseXY' (BofF 82) to help me find the most suitable location for the buttons on the screen; 'l' being the 'x' reading and 't' being the 'y' reading.  Commands This was where I encountered difficulties. I had no trouble with 'Shell', 'Fullview', 'IconEdit', 'DPaint', 'EdWordPro' (text editor) and 'DirectoryOpus'. 'Imagine' began to appear on the screen then disappeared. Some other programs simply did not respond. I suspect that I have a problem relating to lack of memory.  General Comments I placed the program and all the images in the WBStartup drawer so that my line of buttons appears each time the machine is booted. My disappointment relates to my inability to run a number of the programs at the same time. If these same programs are run in the conventional way, that is, from icon or cli, this problem does not exist. Once again, I presume it is a problem relating to my lack of memory.  Remarks I have found the ARexx drawer of Megadisc to be of great interest and informative. As a novice in the area of computing, I have great admiration for those contributors who are not only highly skilled but also prepared to share, and even explain, the fruits of their endeavours. 'SadCat' (MD 33) and 'sum.rexx' (MD 31) are two programs I use on a regular basis. :-) 40 :^) 40 :) 40 8) 40 8-) 40 B-) 40 :-O 40 8*)