how to run REXX file on mac?

Question

I am studying on how to use REXX programming language, but I face some difficulties while doing so. First of all, I am using macbook pro. Secondly, i have downloaded the interpreter from sourceforge and somehow i cant manage it to work, there's no dmg file that i could run. I would be glad if someone provided a solution. I've tried to run rexx file via the terminal, but after that I get an error - access denied or command not found.

  P*******-MacBook-Pro:Desktop P******$ animal.rexx
  -bash: animal.rexx: command not found

In order to install the Regina Rexx interpreter you will need to use the tar command. Documentation is available at a command prompt. Open Terminal and type "man tar" without the quotes and hit return. — cschneid, Nov 04 '15 at 00:20
None of the available REXX distributions for UNIX/Linux and its brethren have a OS X-specific installation package. However, because OS X is essentially UNIX underneath the pretty GUI, all of them can be installed using the build-from-source path. As @cshneid implied above, you will have to use commands through Terminal. I recommend you Google to find the experiences of those who have already done this. Both REXX projects have active user communities; links can be found at the respective home pages, as well as via Google. — zarchasmpgmr, Nov 04 '15 at 23:23

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 17 '18 at 16:18

Install the "Brew" package manager in your Mac — go to http://brew.sh/ and just follow the simple instructions there. Now you can type brew install regina-rexx to install Regina, and can run any ANSI REXX program using regina program.rexx on the command line.

To make REXX programs run as any program, you can add the line #! /usr/local/bin/regina (or wherever Regina has been installed, you may check this using which regina) as the first line in your program.

For ease of use in developing, use Sublime Text and its package manager to install the REXX syntax package.

...or `#!/usr/bin/env regina` – Polluks Apr 21 '20 at 08:38 — Polluks, Apr 21 '20 at 08:38

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 12 '17 at 04:47

I understand your frustration. I was struggling to install oorexx on my Mac.

Download: http://www.oorexx.org/download.html

Read: http://rexxla.org/events/2007/presentations/renej2.pdf

I just recently got ooRexx installed on my Mac after going through the pdf mentioned above. You really want to do the following specifically:

Run the .dmg installer on SourceForge link above. This will place it in /usr/bin

Run the following script from pdf link above to create symbolics by using "sudo /usr/bin/rexx":

"cd /opt/ooRexx/lib/ooRexx"
"ls | rxqueue"
do queued()
  parse pull line
  do i=1 to line~words()
    say "sudoln-s/opt/ooRexx/lib/ooRexx/"line~word(i)"/usr/lib/"line~word(i)
  end
end
"cd /opt/ooRexx/bin"
"ls | rxqueue"
do queued()
  parse pull line
  do i=1 to line~words()
    say "sudo ln -s /opt/ooRexx/bin/"line~word(i) "/usr/bin/"line~word(i)
  end
end

Give permission to /opt/ and /opt/ooRexx

sudo chmod 755 /opt/ooRexx
sudo chmod 755 /opt/ooRexx

Add to the /System/Library/Automator/Run Shell Script.action/ Contents/Resources/Shells.plist

<key>/usr/bin/rexx</key>
<dict>
 <key>args</key>
 <array>
  <string>-e</string>
  <string>%</string>
  <string>--</string>
 </array>
<key>script</key>
 <array>
  <string>do while lines()&#10;say linein()&#10;end</string>
  <string>parse arg arg1 arg2 arg3</string>
 </array>

how to run REXX file on mac?

2 Answers2