by Joel Hahn
Sponsored and endorsed by OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
If you're intimidated by the thought of editing or even (gasp!) writing your own macros for use with OCLC's Connexion client software, here's one place to start to pick up some of the essentials of programming with the OCLC Macro Language (OML). Writing your own macros can be quite rewarding and even--dare I say--fun, once you get a handle on a few basic concepts and commands.
(Disclaimer/note: For the purposes of teaching the rudiments, I may have left out some details that don't impact much on the concept at hand but might be very important for intermediate or advanced programming. You have to learn to add before you can learn that repeated adding is the same as multiplying.)
Lesson #1: Beginning basics
Lesson #2: Variables
Lesson #3: Variables, continued
Lesson #4: String manipulation
Lesson #5: Commands
Lesson #6: Commands, continued
Lesson #7: Program flow control
Lesson #8: Loops
Lesson #9: Subroutines and functions
Lesson #10: Arrays
Lesson #11: Error trapping & handling
Lesson #12: Dialog boxes
Lesson #12 is quite long in comparison to other lessons. You may
wish to try it in smaller doses: