The RXU Rexx Preprocessor for Unicode
/******************************************************************************
* This file is part of The Unicode Tools Of Rexx (TUTOR) *
* See https://rexx.epbcn.com/TUTOR/ *
* and https://github.com/JosepMariaBlasco/TUTOR *
* Copyright © 2023-2025 Josep Maria Blasco <josep.maria.blasco@epbcn.com> *
* License: Apache License 2.0 (https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) *
******************************************************************************/Description
The RXU Rexx Preprocessor for Unicode is implemented
by a set of Rexx programs. The most visible one is a new command called
rxu.rex.
RXU reads a .rxu program and attempts
to translate it to standard .rex code (RXU needs the
Unicode library, Unicode.cls, and will automatically use
it). If no errors are found in the translation pass, the resulting
.rex program is then executed, after which it is deleted.
RXU programs can be written using an extended Rexx syntax that
implements a set of Unicode and non-Unicode literals, several new BIFs
and BIMs, and a system of polymorphic BIFs that allow the programmer to
continue using the same concepts and BIFs that in Classic Rexx, and at
the same time take advantage of the power and novelties of the Unicode
world.
The RXU command
RXU filename converts a file named
filename.ext (default extension: .rxu) into a
.rex file, and then interprets this .rex file.
By default, the .rex file is deleted at the end of the
process-
Format:
[rexx] rxu [options] filename [arguments]Options:
-help, -h : display help for the RXU command
-keep, -k : do not delete the generated .rex file
-nokeep : delete the generated .rex file (the default)
-warnbif : warn when using not-yet-migrated to Unicode BIFs
-nowarnbif : don't warn when using not-yet-migrated to Unicode BIFs (the default)What we do and what we don't do
RXU is a work-in-progress, not a finished product. Some parts of Rexx have been made to appear as "Unicode-ready", and some others have not. This can produce all kind of unexpected results. Use at your own risk!
The major focus of the translator is to implement Unicode-aware Classic Rexx: in this sense, priority is given, for example, to the implementation of Built-in Functions (BIFs) over Built-in Methods (BIMs). For instance, currently you will find a Unicode-aware implementation of several stream i/o BIFs, but no reimplementation of the Stream I/O classes.