Open Object Rexx 3.1.1 released

Open Object Rexx (ooRexx) 3.1.1 Released for Multiple Platforms
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  1.  January 2007, Rexx Language Association (www.RexxLA.org)-- 
  The Rexx Language Association is proud to inform the public that version 
3.1.1 of Open Object Rexx (ooRexx) has been released and may be freely 
downloaded from <http://www.ooRexx.org/download.html>.  For the first time, 
binary versions are available for Mac OSX and AIX.  New binaries for Windows,
Linux and Solaris have been created as well with versions for Solaris
pending.  In addition users can download the source code of Open Object
Rexx and may freely and readily build the programming language themselves.
  IBM donated the source code of its Object REXX product to the Rexx Language
Association in December 2004 for publication and support as an open source
project.  With ooRexx 3.1.1 both the Rexx and open source communities can 
enjoy the numerous enhancements and fixes that have been incorporated into 
ooRexx under RexxLA stewardship.  ooRexx ranks in the top few percent of all 
active project downloads on SourceForge (see
<http://sourceforge.net/search/?type_of_search=soft&wo...>).
  
* The Linux version of ooRexx 3.1.1--  The Linux version of ooRexx has 
been ported to many Linux distributions.  At present an rpm-package is 
supplied that can be used for installing/updating ooRexx on the Linux x86 
platform.  As of October 2006 Open Object Rexx (ooRexx) was incorporated into 
Fedora Core Extras Repository, reflecting the increased support the open 
source version of Object Rexx has gained in the past 18 months.
  * The Windows version of ooRexx 3.1.1--  The version 3.1.1 of ooRexx
supersedes version 3.1 of August 2006 and fixes a few bugs on 
the Windows platform.  Windows users of ooRexx 3.1 are urged to upgrade to
version 3.1.1 as soon as possible.  The Windows implementation of 
ooRexx makes it a WSE (Windows Script Engine) and can be used for interacting
with Windows and Windows COM objects using OLE/ActiveX.  ooRexx can be
deployed on Windows wherever VBScript or JScript can be used e.g.  as a
DHTML scripting language or for ASP serving.  In addition one can 
use Microsoft's WSH (Windows Script Host)to create COM classes
(WSC, Windows Script COMponent) in ooRexx which then can be
instantiated like any other COM class from C++, ooRexx, Visual Basic, 
even via DCOM (distributed COM)!  Just look up the numerous small ("nutshell") 
samples that get installed with ooRexx on the Windows platform in the
downloaded product's folders "%REXX_HOME%\samples\ole" and "%REXX_HOME%\samples\oodialog".
  * The Mac OSX version of ooRexx 3.1.1--  The introduction of a binary
package for MacOSX (PPC, Intel) marks another milestone for the
Rexx/ooRexx community, bringing a powerful and easy to use programming
language to this innovative platform.  Furthermore, ooRexx programs on
MacOSX can directly access Java, automatically making them open-platform
applications.
  * The Solaris version of ooRexx 3.1.1--  The Solaris version of ooRexx 
has been ported to the i386 versions 2.9, 2.10 and SPARC 2.9.  There are 
pkg and tar versions supplied that can be used for installing/updating 
ooRexx on the i386 and SPARC platforms.
  * The AIX version of ooRexx 3.1.1--  The introduction of a binary 
package for IBM's AIX operating system marks a milestone.  It is the 
first open source version of Open Object Rexx for that platform.  IBM has
discontinued its commercial Object REXX for AIX, making ooRexx very
important to professional AIX programmers.
  * Documentation on Open Object Rexx (ooRexx)--  ooRexx is accompanied by
probably the best documentation of any open source project.  The
documentation is freely available via the Internet either in the form 
of nicely formatted PDF books or rendered as HTML:
<http://www.oorexx.org/docs.html>.  Also, a few interesting nutshell
ooRexx examples are always installed with ooRexx , located in the
"samples" directory and its optional subdirectories (depending on the
platform).  The internet newsgroup  and the ooRexx
SourceForge site <http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=119701> are 
two of several sources for help.
  
2.  About Open Object Rexx (ooRexx).  Open Object Rexx (ooRexx) is an
object-oriented scripting language.  The original Rexx language was
designed as a procedural tool for non-programmers, so it is easy to 
learn and easy to use.  Open Object Rexx extends procedural Rexx with
object-oriented features and provides an excellent vehicle to enter the
world of object-oriented programming.  ooRexx allows you to gradually
change your approach to programming problems as you learn more about
objects.  ooRexx is backwards-compatible with Rexx and will run 
procedural and mixed procedural/object-oriented programs as well!  The 
homepage of ooRexx is at: <http://www.ooRexx.org>, which also points to 
the core developer team.
  
3.  About Rexx Language Association (RexxLA).  RexxLA is an 
international, not-for-profit organization based in North Carolina, U.S.A.  
with voluntary officers that span the world (America, Australia, Europe).  
RexxLA organizes the "International Rexx Symposium" every spring
for Rexx enthusiasts.  The upcoming 18th International Rexx Symposium 
is a five-day conference, 29 April - 3 May 2007 (Sunday - Thursday) in 
Tampa, Florida, USA.  The homepage of the RexxLA is at 
<http://www.RexxLA.org/>, which also points to the officers and the 
International Rexx symposia.