A-Menu System V1.03

Copyright (c) 1986
Ben Lomond Software
September 25, 1986



























Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A-Menu System Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
DOS Command Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
On Line Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Screen Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Interactive User Prompting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Menu Name Passing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Up to 20 Menu Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Versatile Option Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Default Menu Configuration File Name . . . . . . . . . . 7
Fully Novell Network Compatible . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Special Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Using A-Menu System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Option Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Monochrome Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Menu Name Passing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Menu Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Configuring A Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Selecting Menu Colors - Option A . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Naming the Menu - Option B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Naming the Menu Options - Option C . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Insert - [ Alt-I ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Delete - [ Alt-D ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Skip - [ Alt-S ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Option Commands - Option D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Insert - [ Alt-I ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Delete - [ Alt-D ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Next Option - [ Ctrl-return ] . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Menu Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Path Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Dos Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Root Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Exit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Prompting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Additional Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Questions Or Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Preface

----------------------------------------------------------------

A-Menu System has been developed under the Share-Ware

concept. You are encouraged to give copies of the program and

document to your friends. You may not make any modifications to

the program or the document of any kind without written

permission from Ben Lomond Software. If you distribute this

software, you must distribute it in its entirety. A-Menu System

is one of the most versatile menu systems available for the PC

and/or the Novell Networks. If you are using this program and

finding it of value, your contribution ($30.00 suggested) will be

appreciated. In addition, at the end of this document you will

find a registration form that can be used to register your copy

of the menu. This registration form, along with an additional

$10.00 will entitle you to receive free upgrades for one year

from the date of registration, and advance notice of any new

releases in the form of add ons or additional software available

from Ben Lomond Software. Please send your contributions and/or

registration form to:

=== Ben Lomond Software ===
Attn: Bruce A. Tracy
4845 South 3325 West
Roy, UT 84067

Note: Please make checks payable to Bruce A Tracy.


Regardless of whether you make a contribution, you are

encouraged to copy and share this program.


Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 1

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Anyone can request a copy of this program by sending a

diskette and return postage to the above address. The menu

system will be returned to you on the diskette you sent along

with a printed copy of this document.












































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 2

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

License Agreement

A limited license is granted to all users of this program,

to make copies of this program and distribute them to other

users, on the following conditions:


1. The program is not to be modified or distributed to others

in modified form.


2. No fee (or other consideration) is to be charged for coping

or distributing the program without an express written

agreement with Ben Lomond Software.
































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 3

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Introduction

One of the first things you will need to do with A-Menu

System is to load it onto your computer system. Refer to the

section on installation for more information on how to load the

menu system correctly.

The next thing you will need to do is start the menu and

then do a setup of the options that you want to have on the menu.

To do this, at the dos prompt type a-menu, press the return key,

then refer to the section on menu setups. Then you'll be off and

running with A-Menu System!

There are four files that make up the menu system. They

are:

A-MENU.COMMenu system file
MSETUP.COMConfiguration file editor
@MENU.DATDefault configuration file
A-MENU.DOCText file containing this document






















Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 4

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

A-Menu System Features

A-Menu system provides a convenient method of accessing

programs for users who are not familiar with the conventions of

DOS. This is accomplished through creating menu setup files that

hold the menu configuration and the commands the menu system is

to execute when a selection is made. The commands unique to the

menu system are explained in detail in the section titled "Menu

Commands".

There are two versions of the menu system built in, they are

the DOS version and the Network version. The DOS (Disk Operating

System) version is the version that will be selected by users who

have a hard disk in their PC and have no connection to any other

PC. Please note that a hard disk is not required to run the menu

system for the DOS version, but it is recommended. The Network

(Novell Network versions 4.6 through current version of advanced

netware) version will be selected by users who are connected to a

file server (another PC whose function is to manage disk space

and shared printers).The version of the menu system to be used

will be selected by the menu system automatically when the menu

system is loaded into memory.

This version makes full use of the extended file open

capabilities of DOS 3.x without losing compatability with lower

versions of DOS.






Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 5

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



The other features of the menu system are as follows:



DOS Command Entries - The menu system provides a utility that is

accessed by pressing Alt-D.This allows one to enter

DOS commands as they would normally be entered at the

DOS prompt.



On Line Setup - The menu setup can be invoked from DOS, the DOS

command line within the menu system or by pressing

Alt-S. This allows the menu configuration to be

altered while the menu system is currently running.

With the network this requires a special set of file

attributes.More on this in the section dealing

with the menu setup.



Screen Saver - This feature will clear the screen after

approximately 4.5 minutes of inactivity and place a

date and time window in random locations on the screen.

The window will change color as well as position after

approximately 1.5 minutes. The menu can be re-displayed

by pressing any key on the keyboard. This effectively

keeps "Burn in" from occurring on the CRT display.





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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



Interactive User Prompting - This allows prompting the user for

the various parts of the command to be executed. More

on this in the section dealing with user prompting.



Menu Name Passing - The menu system will allow programs or

previous menus to pass names to the other menus (up to

five words).



Up to 20 Menu Levels - The menu system will keep track of up to

20 menu changes which allows back tracking through the

menus.



Versatile Option Layout - The menu options can be laid out on the

screen in just about any fashion. The only restriction

is that each option must have a unique character as the

first character of the option. Upper and lower case

characters are not unique.



Default Menu Configuration File Name - The default configuration

file name is @menu.dat. This is the file that the menu

system looks for if no file name is given when starting

the menu system.






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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



Fully Novell Network Compatible - Compatible with Netware

versions 4.60 - current version of advanced netware.

This gives the menu system multi-user capability.



DOS F3 Key Provided - The F3 key was provided in this version for

the repeat operation of commands while in the DOS

command line. The F1 and F2 keys were not implemented

due to the full line editor available.



































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 8

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Installation

Before you can install A-Menu System, you will need to know

whether you will be installing on a network or a PC with a hard

disk.If you will be installing on a PC with a hard disk, just

copy the two com files and the dat file to the root directory

of the hard disk as follows:


C:\
COPY A:*.COM C:
COPY A:*.DAT C:

The A: indicates the drive letter that you will be coping

the menu system from.



If you will be installing on a network, simply copy the

files to the public directory. If you want to use the menu as a

login type menu, then a copy of the menu.com file and the

@menu.dat file must be copied to the login directory.To do the

installation on the network you must first login to the network

as the system supervisor. This will give you the rights to copy

the files into the named directories.

To copy the files to the public directory do the following

after logging in as the supervisor:



Z:
NCOPY A:*.COM Z:
NCOPY A:*.DAT Z:
FLAG A-MENU.COM SRO
FLAG MSETUP.COM SRO
FLAG @MENU.DAT SRW


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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Again the A: indicates the drive letter that you will be

coping the menu system from. NCOPY & FLAG are network commands

specifically for coping files and setting the file attributes.

If you want to use the menu system as a login menu, copy

the files to the login directory as follows:


NPATH E:=SYS:LOGIN
E:
NCOPY A:*.COM E:
NCOPY A:*.DAT E:
FLAG A-MENU.COM SRO
FLAG MSETUP.COM SRO
FLAG @MENU.DAT SRW


After following the steps outlined above, your menu system

will be properly installed and ready to run. Again NPATH, NCOPY

& FLAG are network commands and are not available to a single

user DOS station.
























Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 10

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Special Considerations

If you are using A-Menu System on a network installation,

you will need to flag menu configuration files as shareable read

write in order for more than one user to access the file at one

time.In this way the menu system becomes multi-user. The only

person who can make changes to the menu will be the person that

has all rights to the directory the configuration file resides

in.




































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 11

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Using A-Menu System



Option Selection

Selecting an option from the menu is done by pressing

the first (highlighted) character of the option or by moving

the highlight bar to the desired option and pressing return.

Movement of the highlight bar is done by pressing the cursor

control keys which indicate the direction of movement

desired.



Compatibility

All dos commands may be executed from within the menu

system as well as any network commands. At this time there

has been no indication of any compatibility problems with

any of the hardware/software the menu system has been run

on/with.



Monochrome Screens

Care should be taken when selecting colors for use with

a monochrome screen. Some colors, when used in conjunction

with each other, will not provide the contrast needed for

the highlight bar and/or the first character highlight. Also

the cursor does not disappear as it should.


Menu Name Passing

A-Menu system will allow up to five words to be passed

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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

as part of the menu name. This is done as follows:



From Dos > a-menu @menu.dat Master Menu

From Menu > \m @menu.dat Master Menu



Where "Master Menu" is the menu name being passed and

@menu.dat is the menu configuration file name.






































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 13

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Menu Setup

This section will give you an understanding of how to

configure a menu. To do this you will need an understanding of

the menu commands, so it is suggested that you become familiar

with the section on menu commands before continuing.



Configuring A Menu

All of the keys that can be pressed to do special

things, or that have special meanings, are displayed on the

screen with the options available to configure a menu. It

should be noted that the Esc key can be pressed at anytime

to exit from the menu set up. The configuration options are

numbered from A to D and they must be followed in that order

for a new set up. There are two ways to configure a menu.

The first method is to type msetup at the dos prompt, and the

second is to start the menu and then press Alt-S. Both

methods will prompt you for the configuration file name to be

edited. An optional method would be to type, from the dos

prompt, msetup [filename] where filename is the name of the

configuration file to be edited.



Selecting Menu Colors - Option A

The default colors will be the colors that appear in

the color windows. The foreground and background colors

will need to be selected for three menu characteristics.


Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 14

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

These three characteristics are text, highlight and

first/unique character. If the default colors are wanted,

just press Esc. If you would like to change the colors you

can do so by pressing the up or down cursor keys to get to

the color wanted and then press the return key. The arrows

to each side of the window show the current color being

defined.


Naming the Menu - Option B

Naming the menu is done by simply typing in the menu

name that you want to use followed by the return key. If no

menu name is wanted, just press Esc.




Naming the Menu Options - Option C

This option is a little more complex and will take some

thinking on your part. This is were you tell the menu what

options to display to the user and how to display them. The

first thing you will be asked is to define how many options

to display on the same line of the menu (Minimum 1, Maximum

5). The default is 1. The next thing is to define how many

characters should be allowed for each option (Minimum 20,

Maximum 70). The default here is 20.

After taking care of the basics you will see the text

entry window, an option list window on the right side of


Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 15

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

your screen, and the special key functions just below the

text entry window. The arrow in the option list window

points to the option currently in the text entry window.If

there are several options defined, the up and down cursor

keys may be used to select the option to change.The other

special keys are explained below. To exit from this option,

press the Escape key or press the return key on a new entry

without entering any text.



Insert - [ Alt-I ]

Use this command to insert a new option between

two other options. The line will be inserted before

the option pointed to by the arrows.



Delete - [ Alt-D ]

Use this command to remove an option from the menu

configuration.



Skip - [ Alt-S ]

This command should only be used following an

insert command. Its use is to provide a blank in

between two options. It is provided to give

versatility to the layout of the options on the menu

screen.




Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 16

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Example:

If we have 3 options per line, with only two options

defined, we can put a blank space between them by doing:


Enter option 1
Enter option 2
Press the up cursor key
Press the insert function
Press the skip function


When the menu is displayed, option 1 will be on the

left side of the screen while option 2 will be on the

right side of the screen.








Option Commands - Option D

It is in this layout option that you will need to know

what actions are to take place when the option is selected

from the menu. This is where the menu commands will be

entered, so you should be thoroughly familiar with the next

section on menu commands. It should be noted that commands

are entered here just as they would be entered at the dos

prompt, with the exception of the menu commands which should

be entered as outlined in the next section. The special

function keys are as follows:



Insert - [ Alt-I ] Used to insert a line.


Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 17

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



Delete - [ Alt-D ] Used to delete a line.



Next Option - [ Ctrl-return ]

This function will take you from the current

option's commands to the next option's commands. When

on the last option and the next option is selected, a

warning message will appear and then return you to the

main setup menu.



Example:

An example command layout for executing

WordPerfect might be as follows:


\p c:\wp [ change directory
wp [ run program
\p [ return to starting directory


The comments to the right of the "[" cannot be

entered in the configuration. They are used here to

help explain what the commands do.














Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 18

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Menu Commands

This section will give you an understanding of the commands

specific to the menu system by explaining each in detail.

Following each command there will be examples showing you how to

use the commands. These commands may only be used within the

menu configuration file, as dos will not be able to recognize

them.



Menu Change:\m [menuname [Title text]]

Purpose:To change from one menu to another.

Parameters:\m - character sequence to invoke the menu change

command of the menu system.



[menuname ...] - [] indicates this is an optional

parameter. Menuname indicates the name of the data

file that contains the menu set up information.

(Created by running the msetup command or by

pressing Alt-S while in the menu system. If

menuname is given the menu will be changed to the

specifications of the named menu file. If no

menuname is given then the menu will be changed

back to the previous menu.



[Title text] - [] indicates this is an optional

parameter and therefore is not necessary. It is


Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 19

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

provided as an easy way to pass a title from one

menu to another. (Note: there is a maximum limit

of five words that can be passed for a title.)


This option may only be use when a menuname is

given.





Examples:\m menu1.fil SubMenu #1



This will change the current menu to the menu

defined by the file menu1.fil and append to the

title "SubMenu #1".



\m @menu.dat



This will change the current menu to the menu

defined by the file @menu.dat.



\m



This will change the current menu back to the

previous menu.








Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 20

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



Path Change:\p [pathname]

Purpose:To change the directory from within the menu.

Parameters:\p - character sequence to invoke the change

directory command.



[pathname] - [] indicates that this is an optional

parameter. If included the directory will be

changed to the directory indicated by the pathname

specified, which must be a valid directory. If not

included, the directory will be changed back to

the previous directory.





Examples:\p c:public/dos3-0



This will change the current directory to

c:public/dos3-0.



\p



This will change the current directory back to the

previous directory.






Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 21

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



DOS Commands:\d

Purpose:This command is provided to give users access to

the DOS commands without having to leave the menu

system. This command has the same effect as

pressing Alt-D while at the menu. All DOS

commands may be executed from the command line

that this command displays. Note also that this

command will show the current path mapping

directly above the command line.

Parameters:\d - character sequence to invoke the DOS command

line from within the menu system.







Root Directory: \r

Purpose:This command is provided to allow returning to the

starting directory (from where the menu system was

called) without having to step back through all

the directory changes that were made.

Parameters:\r - character sequence to change back to the

starting directory.








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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide


Exit Menu:\e

Purpose:This command will exit from the menu system and

return control back to the operating system thus

removing the menu system from memory. This

command has the same effect as pressing Esc at the

menu.

Parameters:\e - character sequence to exit from the menu

system.



































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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide



Prompting:\@ command prompt1 [prompt2 ... + ... prompt-n]

Purpose:Provides a convenient way to prompt the user for

information required to process the command.

Parameters:\@ - character sequence to invoke the interactive

user prompting feature of the menu system.



command - This parameter is required and is the

name of the command to be executed. Such as Copy,

if copying one file to another is wanted.



prompt1 - This is what will be displayed when the

user is to enter data.This and all prompts must

be of the following format:



"prompt1""prompt2"....



Each prompt must be enclosed in quotes and should

be limited to 60 characters or less defined on the

same line with no spaces in between. In other

words, if there is an opening quote on one line,

then there must be a closing quote on that same

line.



+ - This parameter is provided to allow linking


Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 24

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

lines together when prompts are to long to pair

them on the same line.





Examples:To Copy a file -



\@ Copy "Source File Name""Target File Name"



This will display a window on the screen with the

command "Copy" in the upper left corner, then

prompt the user with "Source File Name". It will

then wait for input from the user. This will

continue until all prompts have been entered by

the user, at which time the command will

execute. Pressing Esc will exit this command

without executing it.



\@ Copy "Source File Name -"+

"Target File Name -"



This example shows the same command with the line

linking option.








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A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide


Additional Commands:\f filename

Purpose:The normal limit for each options commands is 25.

This allows you to extend that limit to infinity!

Parameters:\f - menu system command to open the addtional

file and begin reading commands from the file.


filename - Any legal file name that contains

commands for the option for which this command

was executed. Note: filename can also include an

optional path name.
































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 26

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

Questions Or Comments


If you have any questions or comments, please include a self

addressed stamped envelop with your question or comment and send

them to:


Ben Lomond Software
Attn: Bruce A Tracy
4845 South 3325 West
Roy, UT 84067
(801) 825-2923


All questions and comments will be responded to in a timely

manner.































Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 27

A-Menu System V1.03 - Users Guide

R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M



Product A-Menu System V1.03 - 1986

Date __________________________


Name ________________________________________

Company ________________________________________

Address ________________________________________

Address ________________________________________

City __________________________ State ___ Zip ____________



Fill in the indicated information and enclose $10.00

registration fee or enclose $40.00 registration fee and

contribution, if you have not previously contributed and wish to

do so, and send to:


Ben Lomond Software
Attn: Bruce A Tracy
4845 South 3325 West
Roy, UT 84067

Note: Please make checks payable to Bruce A Tracy















Copyright (c) 1986 Ben Lomond Software Page 28