[Oberon] ThisCommand, semi missing

[eas lab]

Re. resource wasting on syntax details.
Isn't it time to extend the Oberon paradigm, which has proved so successful:
instead of needing to remember the often-arbitrary spelling of commands, we
just RECOGNISE and pick them off the relevant menu?

You've seen auto-syntax-colouring.
Why can't we extend that to just filling in the <parameters> to eg. [nested
per block] templates/forms? And the 'tool' can be used some of the other
languages which we use?

No!! You don't loses control. Control lost, is an editor which can't switch
off auto-indent, or automatic variable typing.

The other massively powerfull facility, which ETHO partially achieves is the
<unix piping/functional> method [which I want to discuss in details later].

ETHO can already do eg.
 show me all files in ./ named *.pdf and dated after 2012,
 AND use the names to select same-dated files in dir <2>,
 AND of those, list all sentences: separated by "." which contain <string>;
by delivering each-stage to a TextFrame, and then proceeding by <marked frame>
being the input to the next stage.

Which is nice, because you can see and confirm each stage.
But like in *nix, once you're confirmed the syntax, you may want the whole
chain of transformations to be automated.

As an example of what I'm currently using, and must be KWIK.
wily [the ETHO copy for *nix] does, with 1 klux:
 take selected text-stretch and pass through TextToSpeech,
 AND save on <device> as <name which was previously stored in <file> by
     previous select & klux>.wav

Once you've confirmed that it works [theoreticl proof would be better],
you don't want to handle the details every time. Life is too short.

And related to this: ETHO coding examples are much too unfactorised.
Which is good for students who must be drilled in the details.
Eg. the details are spelled-out a zillion times, instead of just
<GetTheFile which is either marked or selected^ ..or whatever>.

== Chris Glur.