Shell power
Reused from…
I first learnt to programme on a Commodore C64, and the way I used that computer was through what I now know is a command line interface or CLI. This interface is a shell between me and the fundamental operating system which allows me, the user, to read data off the storage and put them into the computer’s memory or RAM: when this data forms instructions, this shell allows me to run a programme.
I was taking my first steps in the 1980’s at home. In the commercial world, Mike Cowlishaw of IBM was producing a language which could be used in a command shell to run other programmes as if a human were using them through the command interface. This language was called REXX, if you’ve used macros in Excel or Word, REXX was the granddaddy of macro languages because you could run a REXX script outside of the programme and indeed link the output and functions of many programmes together to achieve your goal. I encountered REXX in 1995, in a port on the Amiga 1200. That was when I finally moved away from using the mouse as my main interface with computers by preference.
In Windows 7, 2008, 2012 and finally 8, everyone gets use of PowerShell (in various guises) which has this REXX capability. You have the ability to manipulate programmes in Windows to perform repetitive tasks quickly, easily and safely. The normal DOS shell lacked this, so it was with interest that I first looked at using Powershell at the recommendation of a friend.
I have successfully used Powershell to get Excel reports out of hundreds of Word documents, convert 100’s of Word, Powerpoint, Visio and Excel documents to other formats (typically png and pdf), complete templates from data held in Excel documents and run testing schedules for web programmes.
It’s very good: multi-threading is built in to get through tasks quickly and I’m not even using it to it’s fill extent. If you are learning to programme, this may be a useful first step 🙂
Posted: February 4th, 2014 under Work.