Generate is a text preprocessor that I originally wrote to help me write
custom accounting applications based on the Progress database product. I
felt that the built in wasn't useful enough so I designed a new one and
implemented it. It actually started life as a package configuration and
batch file generator for DOS and mutated to a simple script interpreter
to replace shar file distribution. At this point it has almost nothing in
common with that first program.

The basic idea behind generate is to create a script which generates files.
There is some simple flow control constructs but the power lies in its
macro processing. I have shamelessly stolen ideas from cpp, m4, make and
David Tilbrook's dtree.