Category : File Managers
Archive   : MENUMGR.ZIP
Filename : USRGUIDE.DOC

MENU MANAGER
MENU MANAGER
USER'S GUIDE
USER'S GUIDE

Version 1.1.0
December 6, 1988



Copyright (c) 1989 Creative Software Solutions
All Rights Reserved.



4824 Walnut Drive
4824 Walnut Drive
Des Moines, Iowa 50317
Des Moines, Iowa 50317
Creative Software Solutions
Creative Software Solutions

































TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.........................................1
FEATURES.........................................1
USING THIS MANUAL................................1
TYPE CONVENTIONS.................................2
REGISTRATION.....................................2
OBTAINING HELP...................................2

INSTALLING MENU MANAGER..............................3
USING THE INSTALL PROGRAM........................3
MANUAL INSTALLATION..............................4

LEARNING MENU MANAGER................................5
STARTING MENU MANAGER............................5
THE STARTUP SCREEN...............................6
THE MAIN MENU SCREEN.............................6
WORKING WITH MENUS...............................6
HOW TO ADD, DELETE, OR MODIFY AN OPTION..........8
HOW TO CHANGE COLORS.............................11
SPECIAL COMMANDS AND FEATURES....................13

TECHNICAL INFORMATION................................15
GENERAL INFORMATION..............................15
MENUFILE.DAT - MENU STRUCTURE....................15
MENUENV.DAT - ENVIRONMENT STRUCTURE..............17
MISCELLANEOUS....................................20



































MENU MANAGER USER'S GUIDE
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Welcome to Menu Manager!

Congratulations on obtaining the best DOS Shell available for IBM
PC and PC Compatible computers. Menu Manager was designed for
the PC User who doesn't want to bother with DOS commands,
directories, subdirectories, command line parameters or program
names.

FEATURES
FEATURES
Menu Manger has many features and capabilities that will enable
you to custom fit it to your particular needs. Among the major
features you will discover are:

* USER-FRIENDLINESS
* USER-FRIENDLINESS
At the touch of a key (the [F1] key) instant help is
available anywhere in Menu Manager.
* USER-DEFINABLE COLORS
* USER-DEFINABLE COLORS
You can customize all the colors displayed by Menu
Manager.
* PASSWORD PROTECTION
* PASSWORD PROTECTION
You can assign passwords to menus and applications.
* MENUS
* MENUS
You can have as many menus as will fit in memory.
* RE-LOCATABLE MENUS
* RE-LOCATABLE MENUS
You can move the menus anywhere on the screen you wish.
* DOS ACCESS
* DOS ACCESS
For those user's who need it, an exit to DOS is
available.
* FAST - LOW MEMORY OVERHEAD
* FAST - LOW MEMORY OVERHEAD
Depending on the number of menus you need, Menu Manager
plus one menu will only occupy 80K of RAM. All screen
I/O is controlled by assembler language routines that
automatically detect the hardware in use.
* EASY MENU EDITING
* EASY MENU EDITING
All the menu options and environment data is stored in
simple ascii files that can be edited with any word
processor.
* WORKS WITH EXISTING BATCH FILES
* WORKS WITH EXISTING BATCH FILES
Menu Manager can create batch files for you, or you can
use your existing batch files.
* NOT RAM RESIDENT
* NOT RAM RESIDENT
Unlike some DOS Shell programs, Menu Manager is not ram
not
resident and works strictly with batch files to
accomplish it's capabilities.

USING THIS MANUAL
USING THIS MANUAL
This User's Guide is distributed on disk so you can search for a
topic of interest with any browse or search utility. You can
also make a printed copy of this guide - refer to the READ.ME
file on the distribution disk for details. At the present time,
no bound manual is being offered with registration.



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If you are new to computers or to DOS, you may have trouble
understanding certain terms and concepts used in this guide.
There are many excellent reference books available as well as
your own DOS User's Guide that came with your computer. You may
want to have a general understanding of DOS before proceeding.

If you are already knowledgeable about DOS you may want to
proceed directly to the next section, INSTALLING MENU MANAGER.
INSTALLING MENU MANAGER
This section will cover the installation of Menu Manager by
either manual or automatic methods.

TYPE CONVENTIONS
TYPE CONVENTIONS
[] Press the key or keys in the brackets

REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION
Menu Manager and it's associated documentation have been released
for distribution as Shareware. Shareware products are not public
Shareware
_________
domain! If you find that Menu Manager is a valuable tool, then
you are expected to register. Menu Manager only costs $20.00 per
machine to register. All registered users will receive the fully
documented Turbo Pascal 4.0 -or- 5.0 source code when the signed
registration agreement is returned. Also included with
registration is an enlarged and expanded User's Guide.

OBTAINING HELP
OBTAINING HELP
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, Creative
Software Solutions (CSS) can be contacted by the following
methods:

COMPUSERVE
COMPUSERVE
__________
The best (and perhaps easiest) way to contact CSS is through
CompuServe. John Cisar is the author of Menu Manager. You
can contact him on the Borland Forum by typing GO BPROGA
from the CompuServe Main Menu. John's CIS number is
71121,2653. Messages can also be left through EasyPlex.

TELEPHONE
TELEPHONE
_________
John can also be reached by phone at (515) 266-5351 on
weekdays from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm CST.

MAIL
MAIL
____
For registration or other problems, the mailing address is:

CREATIVE SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
CREATIVE SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
4824 Walnut Drive
4824 Walnut Drive
Des Moines, Iowa 50317
Des Moines, Iowa 50317

Please include with your letter the following items:

* description of problem and what you were trying to do
* Menu Manager version number
* contents of your MENUFILE.DAT and MENUENV.DAT files
* your computer make, model, and associated hardware
* contents of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files



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INSTALLING MENU MANAGER
INSTALLING MENU MANAGER
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

You can install Menu Manager with the INSTALL.EXE program bundled
with this archived file or you can manually install it using
basic DOS commands. These two methods are described in the
following sub-sections.

USING THE INSTALL PROGRAM
USING THE INSTALL PROGRAM
The INSTALL program that comes bundled in the archived file can
be used to install Menu Manager on any system. To install:

1. Insert the distribution disk in Drive A:

2. Type: A: [Enter] to log onto the A: drive

3. Type: INSTALL #: [Enter] (the # must be a drive
letter such as C for hard drives, or B for floppy
drives)

That's it! The Menu Manager Installation program needs no
further information from you. It will determine what kind of
hardware you're using and copy all pertinent files to your hard
disk.

When finished, you will see a message telling you the outcome of
the installation. If for some reason, an error occurs during
installation, you will receive a message with appropriate
instructions. However, in most cases, if the INSTALL program
fails, you can still use the Manual Installation method described
below.

The INSTALL program performs the following tasks:

* makes a directory called MENUMGR

* copies the MENUMGR program to the MENUMGR directory.

* determines what kind of monitor and card are installed
and copies an appropriate MENUENV.DAT (environment
table) file.

* copies the sample menus, MENUFILE.DAT

* creates an AUTOEXEC.BAT in the root directory if one
doesn't already exist with the appropriate PATH
statement and startup information.

* if AUTOEXEC.BAT already exists, the PATH statement is
modified or added (if it didn't exist).







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MANUAL INSTALLATION
MANUAL INSTALLATION
To manually install Menu Manager you must perform the following
steps:

1. Create a directory on your hard disk to place the Menu
Manager files in: MD C:\MENUMGR [Enter] (in this
example the hard drive is assumed to be the C: drive,
and the directory name is assumed to be MENUMGR)

NOTE: You can use any directory name you want - also,
NOTE:
you can place it anywhere in your directory structure
(i.e. C:\APPLICATIONS\MENUMGR).

2. Copy all the files on the distribution disk to the
MENUMGR directory: COPY A:\*.* C:\MENUMGR [Enter] (in
this example the distribution disk has been inserted in
drive A:)

3. Modify the AUTOEXEC.BAT file such that the PATH
statement has an entry for the MENUMGR directory and
there is a call to the MM.BAT file (which was copied
from the distribution disk). The MM.BAT file is the
correct method to start Menu Manager. A minimal
AUTOEXEC.BAT file would be:

ECHO OFF
PROMPT=$p$g
PATH=C:\MENUMGR;
MM




























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LEARNING MENU MANAGER
LEARNING MENU MANAGER
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Menu Manager is a batch oriented DOS Shell. Because of this
design characteristic it depends quite heavily on batch files to
fulfill it's capabilities. In order to fully explain the
operation of Menu Manager some of the following sections and sub-
sections assume you have some familiarity with batch files and
their operation. It is not necessary for you to fully understand
all aspects of Menu Manager (after all, it was designed so you
wouldn't have to bother with these types of details), however,
the information is presented here for completeness.

If you would like more information about batch files and their
uses, the DOS user's guide contains an in-depth discussion of
them.

STARTING MENU MANAGER
STARTING MENU MANAGER
Menu Manager can be started in several ways. For most of you, it
will be started from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file so the first screen
you will see after turning on your computer (or booting) would be
the Menu Manager Start Up Screen. If you examine the
Start Up Screen
AUTOEXEC.BAT file carefully you'll see the following line towards
the bottom of the file:

MM

This is a command telling DOS to execute the MM.BAT file wherever
it can find it. DOS will first look in the root directory for
this batch file, then search the directories contained in the
PATH statement (if it's present in AUTOEXEC.BAT).

The MM command is the proper way to start Menu Manager whether in
a batch file (like AUTOEXEC.BAT) or at a DOS prompt.

The MM.BAT file contains several key steps that are an integral
part of executing Menu Manager correctly. The first step is to
CHDIR to the Menu Manager directory (i.e. CD \MENUMGR). The next
step is to execute the Menu Manager program, MENUMGR.EXE. The
final step is to call the batch file created by Menu Manager,
GO.BAT.

GO.BAT is created dynamically by Menu Manager and contains
information about the option you selected for execution (i.e.
directory name, program name, program parameters, etc.).

If you did not execute MM and simply called Menu Manager as a
normal program (i.e. entering MENUMGR [Enter] at the DOS prompt),
you would not be able to execute the option you selected since
the file GO.BAT would never get called.







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THE STARTUP SCREEN
THE STARTUP SCREEN
The first screen you will see after starting Menu Manager is the
Startup Screen. It will contain a box describing the Version
Number and Date, Copyright Notice and the hardware detected at
startup.

The top line of the screen is the Header Line and contains the
Header Line
___________
Program Name, Date, and Time (you can turn the date and time off
or the entire Header Line off with the [F5] and [F4] keys
respectively). The remainder of the screen is called the Desktop
Desktop
_______
and will be used to display the Menus, Help Information, Option
Editor, and all other displays.

The Startup Screen will be displayed for 5 seconds and then the
Main Menu Screen will be shown. You can bypass this 5 second
delay by hitting any key.

One final note: you will only see the Startup Screen when you
start Menu Manager. You will not see the Startup Screen when
returning from an option executed from one of the menus -
instead, you will go directly into the Main Menu Screen
Main Menu Screen
(described next).

THE MAIN MENU SCREEN
THE MAIN MENU SCREEN
The next screen you will see after the Startup Screen will be the
Main Menu Screen. You will always have at least one menu, which
is known as the Main Menu. The default name of the Main Menu is
Main Menu (you can rename any menu - including the Main Menu - at
Main Menu
any time with the [Alt/R] command).

The desktop will now contain the Main Menu and the Help Box. The
Help Box
________
Help Box can be turned off and on repeatedly with the [F1] key.
Once you turn the Help Box off, it will remain off until you
press the [F1] key again. This is known as a toggle key, and is
toggle key
__________
a concept that other function keys use. The Help Box is context
sensitive. It will display help information (usually a summary
of the commands available) in relation to where you are in the
Menu Manager program. Help boxes use the carat symbol "^" to
stand for the [Ctrl] key. All other keys are spelled as they are
printed on the keyboard (i.e. the Alternate key is Alt, the Enter
key is Enter, the Escape key is Esc, etc.).

WORKING WITH MENUS
WORKING WITH MENUS
All menus look and operate in a similar manner. At the top of
each menu is the Title Line. This is simply the title or name of
Title Line
__________
each menu. Below the Title Line are the options for each menu.
Currently, you can assign up to 13 options per menu (but
remember, you can have an unlimited number of menus). On the
default sample Main Menu, the black bar located under the Title
Line is the Highlight Bar. You select options with the Highlight
Highlight Bar
_____________
Bar. The Highlight Bar is always a black bar with white
lettering.





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To select an option use the [up-arrow] and [down-arrow] keys (as
shown in the fifth column of the Help Box) to move the Highlight
Bar to an option. For example, press the [down-arrow] key to
move the Highlight Bar to the first option, MISCELLANEOUS MENU.
Alternately, you could have pressed the [up-arrow] key twice to
select the last option, System Shut Down. You can also select an
option by pressing an option's Quick Key. The Quick Key is the
Quick Key
_________
letter to the left of each option. For example, you could have
pressed the [L] key to select the option, LANGUAGES MENU. Use
the arrow keys and Quick Keys to get a feel for moving the
Highlight Bar to select options. Once you have selected an
option, you press the [Enter] key to execute it. In the case of
the sample menus supplied with Menu Manager, the first four
options are other menus that will be displayed if the option is
executed.

You can change the position of a menu by pressing the
[Ctrl/Right-Arrow], [Ctrl/Left-Arrow], [Ctrl/PgUp], and
[Ctrl/PgDn] keys (as summarized in the sixth column of the Help
Box). These keys will move the current menu right, left, up or
down respectively. As you move a menu, the Help Box (if
currently toggled on) will be adjusted such that it will always
be visible. Once you move a menu to a new position, that
position will be saved so that the menu will always appear in the
same location whenever it is displayed.

If you are not at the Main Menu, you can press the [F3] key to
exit to the previous menu. For example, if you select and
execute option L, the LANGUAGES MENU from the sample menus,
you'll get a second menu displayed on the screen (titled
LANGUAGES MENU). At this point, you can select and execute one
of the options on this menu, or you can press the [F3] key to
exit back to the Main Menu (that is, the menu you came from). No
matter how many menus you have on the screen, you can always
press the [F3] key to exit back to the menu you came from. The
[Esc] key performs the exact same function as the [F3] key. You
can use either key interchangeable. If you are at the Main Menu
and you press the [F3] or [Esc] key you will get a Dialog Box,
Dialog Box
__________
asking if you want to exit Menu Manager. A Dialog Box is simply
a fancy term for a question or prompt generated by Menu Manager.
In this case, Menu Manager wants to know if you really want to
quit the program and exit to DOS. You are given two options, YES
and NO contained in square brackets. Whenever you see options
contained in brackets like this you must first select one of the
options (just like you select options from a menu). To select an
option, you can use the right or left arrow keys or the first
letter of the option (this will highlight it - note however that
highlights in Dialog Boxes are black letters on white
backgrounds). To accept or execute the option, you must press
the [Enter] key (again, in concept, this is how you use an option
from a menu). You can also press the [F3] or [Esc] keys to abort
the Dialog and return to wherever you were in Menu Manager (in
effect, this is the same as selecting and executing the NO option
for this particular Dialog). If you have the Help Box toggled



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on, you'll notice it has changed to reflect the commands
available at this point in the Dialog. When you finish with the
Dialog, the Help Box will change back to what it was before you
got the Dialog.

You can rename a menu at any time with the [Alt/R] command (as
shown in the second column of the Menu Help Box). When you press
In this case, Menu Manager is waiting for you to enter the new
name of the current menu. Whenever you see a single pair of
brackets like this, Menu Manager is expecting a string of
characters followed by [Enter]. Usually a default string is
supplied (in this case, the default is the current name of the
menu). To enter a new string, just type the name and press
[Enter]. If you just press [Enter], the default string will be
used (in effect, no change). If you press [F3] or [Esc] no
changes will be made (you are "aborting" the Dialog). If you
have the Help Box toggled on, you'll notice it has changed to
reflect the commands available at this point for the Dialog.
Notice that by pressing the [Ins] key you go into EDIT MODE.
EDIT MODE
_________
This mode allows you a great deal of flexibility in entering or
editing the string Menu Manger is expecting. These EDIT commands
allow you to edit the default name so you don't have to type the
entire name over if you only have one or two letters to change.
Experiment with the keys shown in the help box. The basic EDIT
commands are the [left-arrow], [right-arrow], and [Del] keys.
These three keys provide you with the capability to change almost
any default string by any degree. The remaining EDIT commands
are defined in the Help Box; you can experiment with their usage
at your leisure.

Finally, notice what happens to the Help Box when you finish with
the Dialog: It changes back to what it was before you got the
Dialog.

HOW TO ADD, DELETE, OR MODIFY AN OPTION
HOW TO ADD, DELETE, OR MODIFY AN OPTION
Menu Manager has commands available that allow you to add new
options, delete or modify existing options, and cut or copy
options from one menu to another.

The [Ins] key allows you to add or modify options on a menu. To
add an option, select a blank option (that is, move the highlight
bar to a blank option) and press the [Ins] key. To modify an
option, select any option and press the [Ins] key. you will get
the Option Editor screen. If you selected a blank option, all
the fields will be empty. If you selected an existing option,
some or all of the fields will have default values.

The fields, their expected input, and their meanings are as
follows:

Option Type ? BATCH, LINE, and MENU are the valid choices -
Option Type ?
these are the three types of options you can
define to Menu Manager. Their meanings are:




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BATCH
BATCH
This is the default. A BATCH type defines a program (i.e.
Lotus 1-2-3) or a DOS command (i.e. FORMAT). When you
select an option defined as a BATCH type and execute it, you
are telling Menu Manager to execute a program or DOS
command.

LINE
LINE
The LINE type allows you to have a delimiter line within a
delimiter line
______________
menu. Sometimes it is desirable to separate options with a
line or phrase for clarity. A delimiter line gives you this
capability.

MENU
MENU
A MENU type allows you to define other Menus. You can
define an unlimited number of menus. Any option on any menu
can be defined as a MENU type. For example, you could
define every option on the Main Menu as a MENU type - this
would give you 13 sub-menus.

Select Key Any valid character - this becomes the Quick Key
Select Key
for the option.

Option Name Any valid string - this becomes the option
Option Name
description in the menu. If this is a LINE type
option, this becomes the delimiter line (centered
within a horizontal line). Also, the label changes
from Option Name to Delimiter. If this is a MENU
type option, this becomes the sub-menu name.
Also, the label changes from Option Name to Menu
Name.

Directory Name A valid directory - this should be the name of the
Directory Name
directory where the program is located. If the
program to be executed is in a directory contained
in the PATH statement, you don't need to specify a
directory name (i.e. usually DOS commands are in a
PATH).

Program Name Any valid DOS program name - the name of the
Program Name
program to execute.

Parameters Any valid command line parameters - parameters
Parameters
include switches, options, and redirection. Any
valid parameters for the program selected can be
specified here.

Batch Filename Any valid DOS program name - if you specify a name
Batch Filename
here, Menu Manager will do one of two things: If
the filename you specify already exists, Menu
Manager will execute it; irregardless of what it
contains. If the filename does not exist, a batch
file will be created containing the commands
necessary to start the program you specified (and



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subsequently treat it as an existing batch file
the next time you execute this option).

Password Any valid string - if you specify a password for
Password
an option, you will have to enter the password
every time you try to modify (in any way) the
option.

Pause/Return ? YES or NO - if you specify YES, you will get a DOS
Pause/Return ?
PAUSE message before returning to Menu Manager.

Prompt/Parms ? YES or NO - if you specify YES, you will get a
Prompt/Parms ?
dialog box every time you execute the option,
allowing you to override the Parameters field.

Depending on the type of option being added or modified, not all
of the fields are applicable: If you are adding or modifying a
BATCH type option, you can enter data in any of the fields. If
you are adding or modifying a LINE type option, you only need to
enter the Option Name field (which will be renamed to Delimiter).
If you are adding or modifying a MENU type option, you only need
to enter the Select Key, Option Name (which will be renamed to
Menu Name), and Password fields.

There are also two additional commands displayed in the third
column of the Help Box. These are the [Home] and [End] keys.
These keys are simply shortcuts for jumping to the first and last
fields of the editor, respectively. You also have EDIT MODE
available on all the fields except Option Type ?, Pause/Return?,
and Prompt/Parms ?.

When you are finished entering or modifying the option fields,
press the [Esc] or [F3] key to save your additions or changes and
exit the Option Editor. You will return to the option line on
the menu where you pressed the [Ins] key.

You can also cut, copy, and paste options. This is desirable at
times when you want to move an option from one menu to another,
or you want to make room on an existing menu. When you cut an
option, you are completely removing it from a menu and placing it
in a storage area in the Menu Manager program. When you copy an
option, you are only placing a copy of the option in the storage
area in Menu Manager; the option still remains on the menu.
Once you have an option in the storage area, you can then paste
it anywhere you like. To cut an option, use the [Alt/X] or [Del]
keys. Both keys perform the same function. To copy an option,
use the [Alt/C] key combination. To paste an option, use the
[Alt/V] key combination. Before you paste an option, you must
make sure you have selected a blank option. You will get an
error if you try to paste an option on top of an already existing
one. You will also get an error if you try to paste before
copying or cutting.





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Another command that you might find useful is the Swap command.
Swap allows you to exchange two options on the same menu. To
perform a swap, simply select an option you want to swap with
another, and press the [Alt/S] key combination. You will see two
arrowheads appear on either side of the option. Now move the
option to the one you want to swap it with (using the arrow keys)
and hit the [Enter] key. The two options will now be swapped.
As you move the highlight bar, you will see options flashing in
the original option's location. This is to let you know what the
swap will look like when complete. Note that you can swap any
two options, including blank ones, but they must be on the same
menu. You will have to use Cut and Paste commands to effect a
swap between two menus.

HOW TO CHANGE COLORS
HOW TO CHANGE COLORS
Menu Manager fully supports color displays as well as monochrome
displays. To adjust the colors (or shades, for monochrome),
press the [F2] key. You will get the Settings Editor screen.
The Settings Editor consists of three columns of color attributes
for various Menu Manager displays (that is, Help Boxes, Error
Boxes, Note Boxes, Menus, Menu Titles, etc.). Highlight Locaters
tell you which display is currently selected. Highlight Locaters
are the Right and Left Arrowheads on either side of a display.
For example, when you first press the [F2] key and enter the
Settings Editor, the Highlight Locaters are on the first display,
MAIN. To change an attribute you must first select a display by
using the arrow keys to move the highlight locaters to the
display desired. Once selected, you can use the [+], [>], or [I]
keys to increment the foreground color; the [_], [<], or [D] keys
to decrement the foreground color; the [=], [.], or [i] keys to
increment the background color; or the [-], [,], or [d] keys to
decrement the background color. To understand the concept of
incrementing and decrementing colors, you must first understand
how colors are used. Altogether, there are 16 colors that can be
displayed on the screen numbered 0 thru 15 which are assigned the
following colors:





















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NUMBER COLOR
-------- --------------
0 Black
1 Blue
2 Green
3 Cyan
4 Red
5 Magenta
6 Brown
7 LightGray
8 DarkGray
9 LightBlue
10 LightGreen
11 LightCyan
12 LightRed
13 LightMagenta
14 Yellow
15 White

Each character displayed on the screen consists of a foreground
color and a background color. The foreground color can be any of
the 16, whereas the background color can be any of the first 8.
The colors are preset by Menu Manager to specific values, but can
be changed by adding or subtracting to that value (incrementing
or decrementing). When incrementing or decrementing the colors,
the value will wrap if you reach an upper or lower limit. That
is, if you increment a foreground color to 15 (White) and try to
increment again, the value will become 0 (Black). Conversely, if
you decrement a foreground color to 0 and try to decrement again,
the value will become 15 (White).

Monochrome displays interpret colors in a slightly different way:
When used as foreground colors, 0 is treated as Black; 1 thru 14
are treated as LightGray, and 15 is treated as White. When used
as background colors, 1 is treated as an underline; 0,2,3,4,5,
and 6 are treated as Black, and 7 is treated as LightGray.

Columns two and three of the Settings Editor control the color
attributes for the menus and their associated Title Lines.
Although you can have as many menus as will fit in memory, only
16 are displayed on the Settings Editor. This allows you to set
the color attributes for the first 16 menus. If you have more
than 16 menus, the color attributes will wrap to the beginning
(much like the incrementing and decrementing functions). For
example, menu 17 will have the same color attributes as menu 1,
menu 18 the same as menu 2, etc.











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Column one of the Settings Editor contains the color attributes
for the remainder of Menu Manager's displays. Those displays
are:

MAIN The Desktop.
MAIN

NAME The Program Name in the Header Line.
NAME

OPTION HIGHLIGHTS The Highlight Bar.
OPTION HIGHLIGHTS

OPTION SELECT KEYS Not currently used.
OPTION SELECT KEYS

HELP All Help Boxes.
HELP

ERRORS All Error Boxes.
ERRORS

NOTES All Note Boxes.
NOTES

FATAL ERRORS All Fatal Error Boxes.
FATAL ERRORS

WARNINGS All Warning Boxes.
WARNINGS

INPUT FIELDS All Input Fields.
INPUT FIELDS

When you are finished entering or modifying the attributes, press
the [Esc] or [F3] key to save your changes and exit the Settings
Editor. You will return to the option line on the menu where you
pressed the [F2] key. If you changed any of the settings, Menu
Manager will redraw the entire screen to make sure all of the
changes are displayed.

SPECIAL COMMANDS AND FEATURES
SPECIAL COMMANDS AND FEATURES
There are several special commands and features that allow you to
further customize Menu Manager, and ease your day-to-day use:

Change The System Time
Change The System Time
The [Alt/T] key combination will give you the Change System Time
dialog box. You can then enter a new time. Note that the time
must be in military format: HH:MM:SS where HH is hours (0-23); MM
hours
is minutes (0-59); and SS is seconds (0-59). You must also enter
minutes seconds
the colons ":". If you enter an invalid time you will get an
error message. This function performs the same service as the
DOS command TIME.

Change The System Date
Change The System Date
The [Alt/D] key combination will give you the Change System Date
dialog box. You can then enter a new date. Note that the date
must be in the format: MM/DD/YY where MM is the month (1-12); DD
month
is the day (1-31); and YY is the year (0-99). You must also
day year
enter the slashes "/". If you enter an invalid date you will get
an error message. This function performs the same service as the
DOS command DATE.





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Toggle The Header Line
Toggle The Header Line
The [F4] key toggles the Header Line on and off. Whenever the
Header Line is toggled on, the Date and Time displays are
automatically toggled on. This means that if you toggled the
Date and Time displays off, then toggled the Header Line off and
back on again, the Date and Time displays would toggle back on as
well.

Toggle The Date & Time
Toggle The Date & Time
The [F5] key toggles the Date and Time displays contained in the
Header Line. If you hit the [F5] key and the Header Line is off,
you will get an error.













































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TECHNICAL INFORMATION
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Menu Manager is written in Turbo Pascal 5.0. It uses QWIK 4.2b
screen utilities available from Eagle Performance Software to
perform all screen I/O.

GENERAL INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
The minimum hardware requirements to run Menu Manager are:

Any IBM personal computer or compatible
1 floppy disk drive
128K RAM (Menu Manager only requires about 80K)
PC/MS-DOS 2.1 or greater
Any 80-column monitor

MENUFILE.DAT - MENU STRUCTURE
MENUFILE.DAT - MENU STRUCTURE
MENUFILE.DAT is an ascii file that contains the menus and options
built by Menu Manager. This file is simply read in by Menu
Manager one line at a time at program start-up. You can create
this file independent of Menu Manager with any word processor
that handles ascii files. However, you must follow the structure
outlined below or you will get errors when loading the file or
incorrectly loaded menus.

There are two types of lines in this file: MENU and OPTION. MENU
lines contain information about a particular menu. OPTION lines
contain information about a particular option. For every MENU
line, there must be immediately following it one or more OPTION
lines. The first line of the file will always be a MENU line and
it will be immediately followed by it's OPTION lines. Following
the OPTION lines can be another MENU line followed by it's OPTION
lines, and so on. This pattern is repeated for every menu
defined in the system. The first menu will always be the MAIN
MENU.






















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MENU lines consist of 3 fields separated by semi-colons ";". You
You
must have the semi-colons even for blank or empty values. The
must have the semi-colons even for blank or empty values.
format is:

MENU-NAME;MENU-ROW;MENU-COL

MENU-NAME is the name of the menu; maximum 35 characters.
MENU-NAME
MENU-ROW is the starting row of the menu; (1-11).
MENU-ROW
MENU-COL is the starting column of the menu; (1-40).
MENU-COL

OPTION lines consist of 10 fields separated by commas ",". You
You
must have the commas even for blank or empty values. The format
must have the commas even for blank or empty values.
is:

TYPE,QUICKKEY,NAME,DIRECTORY,PROGRAM,PARAMS,BATCHNAME,PASSWORD,PAUSE,PROMPT

TYPE is Option Type; can be BATCH, LINE, or MENU.
TYPE
QUICKKEY is Select Key; can be any character.
QUICKKEY
NAME is Option Name; can be any valid string; max. 35 chrs.
NAME
DIRECTORY is Directory Name; any valid directory; max. 55 chrs.
DIRECTORY
PARAMS is Parameters; any valid parameters; max. 55 chrs.
PARAMS
BATCHNAME is Batch Filename; can be any valid batch filename.
BATCHNAME
(Note that the ".BAT" suffix is not entered.)
PASSWORD is Password; can be any valid string; max. 8 chrs.
PASSWORD
PAUSE is Pause/Return ?; can be TRUE or FALSE (YES or NO).
PAUSE
(Note that no entry is considered FALSE as well.)
PROMPT is Prompt/Parms ?; can be TRUE or FALSE (YES or NO).
PROMPT
(Note that no entry is considered FALSE as well.)

A typical menu entry would be as follows:

Main Menu;3;3
BATCH, ,,,,,,,,
MENU,M,MISCELLANEOUS MENU,,,,,,TRUE,
BATCH, ,,,,,,,,
MENU,U,UTILITIES MENU,,,,,,TRUE,
BATCH,,,,,,,,,
MENU,L,LANGUAGES MENU,,,,,,,
BATCH, ,,,,,,,,
MENU,A,APPLICATIONS MENU,,,,,,,
BATCH, ,,,,,,,,
BATCH, ,,,,,,,,
BATCH,X,Exit to DOS,,,,,,,
BATCH,Q,System Shut Down,C:\BATCH,QUIT.BAT,,,,,
BATCH,,,,,,,,,

Menus are built as a doubly-linked list in memory. Attached to
each node in the doubly-linked list is a singly-linked list
containing the options for each menu. They are read in and built
at program start-up. Menu Manager maintains this file with a
recursive procedure.






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MENUENV.DAT - ENVIRONMENT STRUCTURE
MENUENV.DAT - ENVIRONMENT STRUCTURE
MENUENV.DAT is an ascii file that contains the toggle settings
and color attributes for Menu Manager. This file is simply read
in by Menu Manager one line at a time at program start-up. You
can create this file independent of Menu Manager with any word
processor that handles ascii files. However, you must follow the
structure outlined below or you will get errors when loading the
file or incorrectly set toggles or color attributes.

Each line of this file must contain an equals character "="
somewhere on the line. Everything to the left of the equals
character is ignored (that is, it's treated as comments). The
first three lines are the toggle settings, the remainder of the
file consists of color attribute settings for the fields
displayed in the Settings Editor.

Line 1 is the initial setting of the [F4] Header Line toggle;
Line 2 is the initial setting of the [F5] Date & Time toggle; and
Line 3 is the initial setting of the [F1] Help toggle. Somewhere
to the right of the equals character, the word TRUE or FALSE must
appear. If TRUE is encountered, the toggle is considered ON, if
neither word is encountered or the word FALSE is encountered, the
toggle is considered OFF.

The remainder of the file consists of color attributes for each
of the fields listed in the Settings Editor. Each field is
defined by a Foreground color and a Background color. These
colors are assigned values 0 thru 15 and are defined on separate
lines. Somewhere to the right of the equals character, a numeric
value between 0 and 15 must appear. All other characters are
ignored.

The following two pages contain the default environment table for
a color monitor (the comments are all generated by Menu Manager).
Note that the fields must appear in the order they are listed:
Note that the fields must appear in the order they are listed:






















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Header Toggle = TRUE
Date & Time Toggle = TRUE
Help Toggle = TRUE
Foreground Color-MAIN = 15 (White)
Background Color-MAIN = 3 (Cyan)
Foreground Color-COMMAND = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-COMMAND = 1 (Blue)
Foreground Color-NAME = 14 (Yellow)
Background Color-NAME = 6 (Brown)
Foreground Color-OPTION HIGHLIGHTS = 15 (White)
Background Color-OPTION HIGHLIGHTS = 0 (Black)
Foreground Color-OPTION SELECT KEYS = 15 (White)
Background Color-OPTION SELECT KEYS = 4 (Red)
Foreground Color-HELP = 15 (White)
Background Color-HELP = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-ERRORS = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-ERRORS = 4 (Red)
Foreground Color-NOTES = 14 (Yellow)
Background Color-NOTES = 1 (Blue)
Foreground Color-FATAL ERRORS = 12 (LightRed)
Background Color-FATAL ERRORS = 0 (Black)
Foreground Color-WARNINGS = 10 (LightGreen)
Background Color-WARNINGS = 6 (Brown)
Foreground Color-INPUT FIELDS = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-INPUT FIELDS = 7 (LightGray)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 1 = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-MENU BOX 1 = 5 (Magenta)
Foreground Color-MENU 1 TITLE = 15 (White)
Background Color-MENU 1 TITLE = 4 (Red)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 2 = 14 (Yellow)
Background Color-MENU BOX 2 = 1 (Blue)
Foreground Color-MENU 2 TITLE = 13 (LightMagenta)
Background Color-MENU 2 TITLE = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 3 = 0 (Black)
Background Color-MENU BOX 3 = 7 (LightGray)
Foreground Color-MENU 3 TITLE = 0 (Black)
Background Color-MENU 3 TITLE = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 4 = 10 (LightGreen)
Background Color-MENU BOX 4 = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-MENU 4 TITLE = 10 (LightGreen)
Background Color-MENU 4 TITLE = 3 (Cyan)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 5 = 13 (LightMagenta)
Background Color-MENU BOX 5 = 1 (Blue)
Foreground Color-MENU 5 TITLE = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-MENU 5 TITLE = 5 (Magenta)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 6 = 0 (Black)
Background Color-MENU BOX 6 = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-MENU 6 TITLE = 1 (Blue)
Background Color-MENU 6 TITLE = 6 (Brown)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 7 = 10 (LightGreen)
Background Color-MENU BOX 7 = 3 (Cyan)
Foreground Color-MENU 7 TITLE = 14 (Yellow)
Background Color-MENU 7 TITLE = 7 (LightGray)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 8 = 5 (Magenta)



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Background Color-MENU BOX 8 = 4 (Red)
Foreground Color-MENU 8 TITLE = 6 (Brown)
Background Color-MENU 8 TITLE = 3 (Cyan)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 9 = 6 (Brown)
Background Color-MENU BOX 9 = 5 (Magenta)
Foreground Color-MENU 9 TITLE = 7 (LightGray)
Background Color-MENU 9 TITLE = 4 (Red)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 10 = 7 (LightGray)
Background Color-MENU BOX 10 = 6 (Brown)
Foreground Color-MENU 10 TITLE = 8 (DarkGray)
Background Color-MENU 10 TITLE = 5 (Magenta)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 11 = 0 (Black)
Background Color-MENU BOX 11 = 7 (LightGray)
Foreground Color-MENU 11 TITLE = 9 (LightBlue)
Background Color-MENU 11 TITLE = 6 (Brown)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 12 = 9 (LightBlue)
Background Color-MENU BOX 12 = 0 (Black)
Foreground Color-MENU 12 TITLE = 10 (LightGreen)
Background Color-MENU 12 TITLE = 7 (LightGray)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 13 = 10 (LightGreen)
Background Color-MENU BOX 13 = 1 (Blue)
Foreground Color-MENU 13 TITLE = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-MENU 13 TITLE = 0 (Black)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 14 = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-MENU BOX 14 = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-MENU 14 TITLE = 12 (LightRed)
Background Color-MENU 14 TITLE = 1 (Blue)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 15 = 12 (LightRed)
Background Color-MENU BOX 15 = 3 (Cyan)
Foreground Color-MENU 15 TITLE = 13 (LightMagenta)
Background Color-MENU 15 TITLE = 2 (Green)
Foreground Color-MENU BOX 16 = 14 (Yellow)
Background Color-MENU BOX 16 = 7 (LightGray)
Foreground Color-MENU 16 TITLE = 11 (LightCyan)
Background Color-MENU 16 TITLE = 3 (Cyan)






















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MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
If there is sufficient interest, future enhancements may include
some or all of the following: mouse support, encrypted passwords,
a return to the exact option you executed, a built-in editor for
adding unique help boxes for individual options, options to
specify directories for the environment table and menu data,
flags to specify skipping of LINE option types, a toggle for
displaying menus in the least amount of room necessary, a toggle
for the error beeps, and a graphics (possibly Windows) version.
















































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