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PRESS RELEASE: Announcing The REXX Cookbook and THE REXX FILES

DATE: February 14, 1995

ATTN: REXX users and developers

CONTACT: MERRILL CALLAWAY

Today, Merrill Callaway announced his forthcoming book, The REXX
Cookbook.  He said his latest REXX book, to be published by
WHITESTONE and available by mid-March, 1995, "...is a unique
tutorial designed to teach anyone, even non-programmers, to
program in REXX by presenting detailed explanations of useful
REXX programs.  Those who have experienced the frustration of
trying to write real world code after finding only fragmentary
examples in reference books will appreciate the programs in my
book. Reference books on programming have too high a degree of
abstraction and generalization to be tutorials, since they
attempt to cover every case for every instruction.  Learners must
decipher templates and syntax diagrams rather than view explicit
code in the context of a complete, concrete program.  My book
makes learning REXX far easier than ever before, because readers
can see actual code used and explained in context.  It is a bonus
that the book's programs are so useful in their own right.  There
was as much software development as there was writing to produce
this book.  For instance one example project is an Inter-Process
Control REXX program that combines VX-REXX by WATCOM, REXX and
DB2/2 by IBM, and AmiPro by Lotus Development.  The program,
complete with its own Graphic User Interface, allows the user to
find any database on the system, look at all its tables and
columns, create a custom SQL statement to view any assortment of
the data, and then put the formatted results into an AmiPro
document at the cursor position, all with no typing involved!
This is just one of the programs in the book, which is 100%
tutorial.  Another unique program uses REXX and PostScript
together to print envelopes quickly without needing to open a
word processor.  It even keeps a database of your personal
addresses handy.  There are some essential system utility
programs to back up your .INI files, some EPM and TSPF editor
macros, and even a program to teach you how to use the parse
instruction. The level of difficulty is graduated so the book is
suitable for beginners and experts alike.  Everyone will find
useful REXX code in The REXX Cookbook.  Combined with any standard
REXX reference, it rounds out a complete course in REXX fluency.
The REXX Cookbook is the very book I wished I had when I was
learning to program in REXX." Concurrently with the book, Mr.
Callaway is planning to release a companion disk with all the
programs in the book and several more.  The disk is to be
called THE REXX FILES.  The REXX Cookbook will have an MSRP of
$27.95 and THE REXX FILES will have an MSRP of $14.95.
Individuals who wish to order the book and/or disk *BEFORE
April 30, 1995* will receive an introductory discount of 25% off
retail price, and WHITESTONE will even pay the postage.