• Introduction
• Requirements
• Installation
• Getting Started
• Compiling your Program
• Creating the Java Program
• Changing Compiler Options
• Changing ClassPath
• Running your Program
• Notes
• ToDo
• Change Log
• FeedBack

The "NetRexxJe" plugin provides a quick and easy way to compile and run your NetRexx or Java programs from within the jEdit environment.

The minimum requirements are

• JDK 1.3
• jEdit 2.6pre6
• NetRexx 2.00 (included with the plugin)
• EditBus Plugin 0.9.4
• ErrorList Plugin 0.11
  ErrorList Plugin is not mandatory but highly recommended. It makes the task of tracking and correcting compiler errors very easy.

jEdit can install the plugin for you or you can install it manually.

To let jEdit install the plugin

• Goto the jEdit menu and select Plugins.
• From the drop down menu select Plugin manager and follow the instructions.

• Download the NetRexxJe-0.04.jar / .tgz / .zip file
• Extract NetRexxJe.jar and NetRexxC.jar file from it.
• Copy both the files to jEdit/jars directory
  or
  to the <users home directory>/.jedit/jars directory.
  On windows the home directory could be c:\windows\profiles\<userid>\
  On linux it could be /home/<userid>/
  (See jEdit documentation for more help on this)

To start the plugin

• Go to the jEdit menubar and select "Plugins".
• On the Plugins drop down Menu select "NetRexxJe" to start NetRexxJe. (Select it again to stop the Plugin.)

But if a message box pops up asking you to set some paths or you are having problem later on while using NetrexxJe then read on.

Every time NetRexxJe is started it checks to see if certain paths are set and that they are valid.
If a path is not set it will try to set it by itself.
If a path is set then it will check to see if the path is valid i.e. if it exits.
If it is unable set a path or if it finds that a path is invalid it will pop up a message box warning you of that and will ask you to set it manually.

To set/check/change the paths set by NetRexxJe -

• Go to the jEdit menubar and select "Utilities".
• From the "Utilities" drop down menu select "Global Options..."
  This will bring up the Global options dialog box.
• In the Global options dialog box select "Plugin Options" on the left pane
• Select "NetRexxJe" from the Plugin Options Branch
  This should bring up the NetRexxJe option panel on the right.
• You should see three fields to set the paths. These are
  • Path to JVM.
    This should be set to where your java program is.
    On windows this might be c:\jdk1.3\bin\javaw.exe.
    On linux this might be /usr/local/java/jdk1.3/bin/java.
  • Path to NetRexxC.jar.
    This should be set to where the NetRexx compiler & runtime library file viz NetRexxC.jar file is. Because the NetRexxC.jar file is included in the plugin this path will be set to point to the plugin directory.
    You can change this to point to another version of NetRexxC.jar file.
    NB: In version 0.03 this pointed to NetRexxJe.jar file. If you are upgrading from version 0.03 then change NetRexxJe.jar to NetRexxC.jar or delete the path completely and the plugin will try to set this correctly for you.
  • Path to tools.jar.
    This should be set to where the java compiler file viz tools.jar file is.
    On windows this might be c:\jdk1.3\lib\tools.jar.
    On linux it might be /usr/local/java/jdk1.3/lib/tools.jar
    NB:Linux users
    On Linux for some reason NetRexx ignores this path during compilation.
    If you get the error message "java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:sun/tools/javac/Main" everytime you try to compile your program then either copy the tools.jar to your java's jre/lib/ext directory or create a link to tools.jar in your java's jre/lib/ext directory.

• After changing the paths click OK to save the paths and come out.(The values are saved across jEdit Sessions.) If you had cleared a field or had left it blank NetRexxJe will try to set it again. If it fails then it would leave the field blank and warn you of that.

To Compile the NetRexx or Java program you are editing press the Compile button.

The compile button is a toggle button and will remain pressed during the compile process. To abort the compile process anytime press the Compile button again.

If the compile process was error free then a class file would be created in the same directory as that of the source file.

Any warning or error messages reported by the compiler will be passed on to the EditBus.
If you have installed the ErrorList Plugin then these messages will be displayed in the ErrorList plugin panel. Clicking a message on the ErrorList panel will highlight the erring phrase in your source code. Holding the mouse over the phrase would pop up a tool tip containing the message.

If the file type of the program is 'java' then the plugin would invoke the java compiler otherwise it would invoke the NetRexx compiler.

If you are compiling a java program you can add/change compile options by typing them in the 'Args/Stdin' text box. For example to compile the java program with the 'verbose' option just type -verbose in the 'Args/Stdin' text box and press the Compile button.

NB: While compiling netrexx program the plugin uses the NetRexx compiler's "compact" option to make it display the messages in particular format. If this option is overridden, using the option keyword in your source program, then the plugin willnot be able to capture the messages.

To Create and see the equivalent Java program press the Java button .

Like the compile button the Java button is also a toggle button and will remain pressed during the whole process. To abort the Java process anytime press the Java button again.

Pressing the Java button also invokes the NetRexx compiler. But this time the compiler merely parses the source file and creates the equivalent java file. It doesnot create the class file.

At the end of the process if there were no errors a java file is created in the same directory as your source file and is also displayed in another edit pane.

By default the file is given the name of your program and an extension of "JAVA.KEEP". This can be overridden to give an extension of "JAVA". To do this go the Global Option dialog box and select the NetRexxJe option "Change file type from JAVA.KEEP to JAVA after the java Processing". Changing file ext to "JAVA" can be helpfull because then you can use other Java Plugins like JBrowse etc to analyse your code.

Error messages are handled in the same manner as the Compile process described above.

To change the NetRexx compiler options press the Option button.

Pressing the Options button will replace the NetRexx console panel by the compiler option panel. Pressing the Options button again will restore the console panel.

The compiler option panel contains a list of the DEFAULT options used by the compiler. To override an option just go and select it. The selections made are saved across jEdit sessions.

You can change the classpath used by the NetRexx & Java compiler by typing in a new classpath in the ClassPath field. The last five ClassPath typed in by you are retained by the plugin across jEdit sessions. To select a previous classpath click the drop down box and pick one from the drop down list. The plugin adds the following paths to what you selected

• the path to the source file viz '.'
• the system classpath which is basically the classpath found when jEdit was started
• path to NetRexxC.jar
• path to tools.jar

To run your NetRexx or Java program press the Run button .

This is a toggle button and will remain pressed during the run. To abort the run anytime press the Run button again.

To pass any arguments to your program type in those arguments in the Args/Stdin field before running the pgm.

Your program will run with the classpath set as described above and with the arguments typed in the Args/Stdin field

If your program reads from the STDIN during it's run ie. if it uses ask or readln etc then you can pass data to it by typing the data into the Args/Stdin field and pressing the ENTER key on the keyboard.

• The compile and create java process uses the NetRexx compiler -prompt option.
  The compiler runs in a seperate thread and doesnot stop after a compilation or parsing is completed. It just keeps waiting in the background. As a result of this subsequent compilations are quite fast.
  The compiler restarts only if the file to be compiled or parsed is in a directory which is different from the directory of the file last compiled or if the classpath was changed.
• During Compile, Java or Run process the source code directory is made the current working directory. The reason for this is the way netrexx compiler handles default packages. This might change in the future. (This is the main reason for using JDK1.3. JDK1.3 provides a simple way to change working directory)
• If the "change JAVA.KEEP to JAVA" option was choosen in the Global Options dialog box then remember to also override the noreplace compiler options. Normally the compiler complains if it finds a JAVA file already there.

These are the additional features that are being considered:

• Add a compiler option panel for changing Java Compiler options.
• Add online help for NetRexx keywords.
• Add a Class file browser.

Version 0.04 (March 2001)

• Added code to compile Java Programs too.
  Now both NetRexx & Java programs can be compiled from within the plugin.
• The NetRexx compiler & run time library file 'NetRexxC.jar' is included separately in the plugin package.
  In the previous version it was included as a part of the plugin file 'NetRexxJe.jar'.
  The new way is the standard way of including external packages in a plugin package.

Version 0.03 (March 2001)

• Added NetRexxC.jar file to the plugin.
  This avoids installing NetRexx seperately.
• Added code to automatically set various paths.

Version 0.02 (Nov. 2000)

• bugs fixed
• gui revamped
• minor optimizations for speed

Version 0.01 (Oct. 2000)

• First version released

Please send any bug reports or feedback to me at the following address
srivastava.satguru@mcleodusa.net

Thanks
Satguru Srivastava