o What is CLImate?

CLImate is a command line interface. It lets you control your 
Macintosh using English commands. You can create or delete files 
and folders, rename them, or move them to different locations on 
your disk. You can also start up applications, format disks, or 
shutdown your machine all from within CLImate. It offers more than 
25 different commands to control you Macintosh. Furthermore, you 
can create double-clickable scripts that combine these sequences 
of commands.

CLImate incorporates some of the most popular commands found in 
other command line systems such as MS-DOS, AmigaDOS, and UNIX. It 
also includes a BASIC interpreter that enables you to script your 
Macintosh without AppleScript.

CLImate does not replace the Macintosh operating system-it 
supplements it by giving the user more and different ways to solve
their computing problems.


o Scripting the Finder

The Finder is what gives you Icons, Windows, and a Mouse. It is 
the means by which you control your Macintosh. To script the 
Finder is to automate the tasks that would usually be done using 
the Mouse within the Finder.

CLImate gives you the power to automate these tasks by providing 
command line access to your Macintosh. It enables you to 
communicate with your Macintosh using English commands and to 
create programs (or scripts) that execute combinations of these 
commands.

CLImate runs in conjunction with the Finder, it does not replace 
or alter it in any way.


o CLImate versus AppleScript

AppleScript is Apple's system scripting language that enables you 
to control your Macintosh by sending it commands via AppleEvents. 
AppleEvents are available only on System 7, so AppleScript will 
work only on System 7. There is no way to script System 6 using 
AppleScript.

CLImate, on the other hand, does not use AppleEvents. It foregoes 
the message passing strategy by implementing the commands 
themselves, thus ensuring system compatibility on System 6 as well 
as on System 7. Not using AppleEvents also gives CLImate a speed 
advantage over AppleScript.

AppleScript is a program-oriented system where the user writes 
scripts and executes them. It lacks an interactive environment 
where the user can execute individual commands or a group of 
commands by entering them one at a time.

CLImate's command line interface provides this interactive 
environment. Simply enter a desired command, hit the return key, 
and your command will be executed.


o The BASIC interpreter

CLImate's scripting language is BASIC, one of the most popular 
programming languages of all time. It includes some well-known 
programming constructs such as: repeat loops, if/then/else 
conditionals, subroutine calls, and others. It does not include 
any graphics commands since CLImate is intended to be a system 
scripting language and not a full-featured programming language.

The following is a small sample BASIC program that demonstrates 
the flexibility and usefulness of this scripting language:


      10 rem *** Sample ***
      20 repeat diskInit
      30    eject #1
      40    print "Initialize another disk (Y/N)? "; : input ans$
      50    if (ans$ = "n") or (ans$ = "N") then exit diskInit
      60    print "Insert a disk and press RETURN"; : input ans$
      70 format #1, "Untitled"
      80 end repeat diskInit


This program will initialize a handful of disks, asking the user 
for each new disk. It shows how operating system commands such as 
"eject" and "format" are integrated within a BASIC script.


o CLImate's Interface

The CLImate console window is the center for communication between 
you and your Macintosh. Simply type in commands at the ">" prompt 
and CLImate will execute them. All results will appear in the 
console window and can be rerouted into a BASIC variable for use 
in your BASIC scripts.

CLImate even lets you customize your command line environment by 
using the "alias" command. For example, you can create an 
environment similar to Unix by aliasing CLImate's commands as 
follows:


      alias ls dir
      alias cp copy
      alias mv rename
      alias rm delete


You can also use this command to shorten redundant sequences of 
commands by grouping them under a single name.


o Wildcards

CLImate supports the use of wildcard characters, so you can match 
a group of files using a pattern of both regular and special 
characters. These special characters can be substituted for one or 
more unknown characters. Two wildcard characters "*" and "?" are 
used to implement this matching method. 

The following are examples of the ways wildcards can match a group 
of files.

<> To list all files that end in "copy", type:

      dir *copy

<> To list all files that contain at least three characters, type:

      dir *???

<> To list all files that start in "T", end in ".bas", and contain 
   at least three more characters in between, type:

      dir T*???.bas        -or-        dir T???*.bas

The flexibility of the wildcard mechanism combined with the BASIC 
scripting system enables you to create powerful and extensive 
system scripts to effectively control your Macintosh environment.


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Sample programs bundled with CLImate include "Backup.bas" which 
backs up an entire hard disk to floppy disks, "WordFind.bas" 
which searches a group of files for a particular string, 
"AppLauncher.bas" which collects a group of applications and 
launches them at the same time, and several others. All sample 
programs are fully documented and offer tips on how to modify or 
reuse the code to create even more powerful programs.

CLImate comes packaged as a single application that occupies less 
than 70K of disk space. Installation is as simple as copying the 
application file and the accompanying example folder onto the 
hard disk.

CLImate is available now from Orchard Software, Inc. for $59.95 
plus $3 shipping (overseas shipping is $6). MA residents add 5% 
sales tax. Send a check or money order made payable to:


	Orchard Software, Inc.
	P.O. Box 380814
	Cambridge, MA 02238-0814
	(617) 876-4608