The Contents ofWorkbench
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The CLI and RexxMast Tools The CLI (command line interpreter) is the default tool of the Shell project. The subject of the second part of this book, it accepts typed commands and calls the appropriate programs to execute the command. Through Amiga OS version 1.2, CLI was the name of the Amiga commandoriented interface. In version 1.3 the CLI was joined by the Shell, a more pow erful version of the original CLI program. With Amiga OS 2.0, the CLI and Shell have become synonymous. Because the 2.0 command interface is an outgrowth of the 1.3 Shell program, I will refer to the AmigaDOS 2.0 com mand interface as the Shell.
Double-clicking on the RexxMast (short for Rexx Master) tool loads the ARexx interpreter into memory, where it is available to you and to applications programs that use ARexx. If youVe already loaded ARexx, opening this tool will produce a message that ARexx is already active on your system. Normally, the Startup-sequence file starts ARexx when you boot Workbench2.0 or System2.0.
DiskCopy and Format DiskCopy is the tool that Workbench uses when it copies a disk. If you drag one disk icon onto another or select a disk icon and choose Copy from the Icons menu, Workbench calls this program. You can also copy a disk by select ing a disk icon, and then double-clicking DiskCopy while holding down a Shift key. If you open the DiskCopy icon without selecting a disk icon, the system tells you to access the DiskCopy item in Icons to copy a disk. DiskCopy isn't designed for use with hard disks. Just for fun, I selected the icon for a 30 MB partition on my hard drive and, with a Shift key depressed, double-clicked on DiskCopy. After about a minute, I received a message that the copy would require over 97 million disk swaps. I decided to cancel the copy operation.
Before you can use a disk on your Amiga, you have to set up the electronic signposts that AmigaDOS uses to find and store files on the disk. Called for matting or initialization, this process is the job of the Format tool. Format is the same tool that Workbench accesses when you select the Format Disk item from the Icons menu (see Chapter 3). You open the Format tool by selecting a disk icon and shift double-clicking on the Format icon. Note that you don't have to format a new disk before copying an entire disk to it using