PC MENU

by

Plain Jayne Software



The following files should be included on the PJ Menu disk or within the
archived file from which you extracted this .DOC file:

MENUC.EXE the menu config program
MENUR.EXE the menu run program
MENUS.EXE menu run in a smaller model (less memory)
MENU.DOC this file (the one you're reading)
MENU.OPR a sample file of operators
MENU.DAT a sample menu file

If any of these files are missing, contact us at Plain Jayne Software; we
will send you a complete set.

All programs and documentation included with PJ Menu are copyright by
Plain Jayne Software. ALL rights are resevred. 1988/1989

Plain Jayne Software
8408 Greenwood Ave, #3
Takoma Park, MD 20912


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Introduction


Menu is a user programmable DOS menu and shell. Simply, this means that the
user of Menu can program Menu to run DOS commands or other programs. These
commands, once programmed, are presented in a list. The user can then select
a command to run with the cursor keys: the current selection will be brighter
than the others in the list. Pressing ENTER selects the option.

There are three programs provided with Menu: MenuR, MenuC, an MenuS. MenuC
provides access to the programming functions of Menu. MenuR and MenuS only
allow selection of menu options--running the commands selected. Separating the
two functions restricts the size of Menu in memory when in use as a DOS shell,
allowing more room to run your programs. Of course, you could run MenuC
from MenuR or MenuS to change the menu on the fly. MenuS (for Menu Small) is
identical to MenuR with one exception: MenuS does not read the entire menu
into memory at load time. This means that MenuS will take up even less memory
than MenuR (10k). But, MenuR will be faster during execution than MenuS as
MenuR does not have to read the disk every time the menu changes. Which one
you decide to use will probably be determined by the speed of your hard disk
and the extent of your patience.


User Access:

Menu requires that each user identify his- or herself through the
Sign-On screen. The user will then enter initials and a five digit
password. After signing on, the user will be allowed access to only
those options to which access has been granted. Users will hereafter
be referred to as Operators.

Each operator is designated as Pop-up or Stay-up. A Pop-up operator
is automatically signed off after running any of the programmed commands.
A stay-up operator remains the active operator until choosing to sign-off
or until an automatic sign-off.

Automatic sign-off occurs when the keyboard has been inactive for a
user specified interval (measured in seconds). If Menu is set to
Auto Sign Off, any operator will be signed off after the sign-off period
has expired.


Access Groups:

Operators are granted access to menu options by means of access groups.
An access group is simply one of twenty four 'names' entered by the user.
The 24 access groups exist even if none are ever named by the user;
however, naming the groups will make assignment of the groups to menu
options and operators much easier.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Programming Menu

Programming may only be performed in MENUC (Menu - Config).


There are four steps to programming Menu:

1) Setting program Parameters via the Parameters Screen
2) Naming the Access Groups
3) Entering Menu options.
4) Entering Operators


1) Setting program Parameters

To program the Parameters, enter ALT-P (hold ALT while pressing P)
at the MAIN MENU screen. In this screen, you will set the following:

Error Beep: Enter Y if you want Menu to beep on an error;
enter N if you do not want a beep.

Allow Reboot: Enter Y if you want to be able to reboot (CNTL-ALT-DEL)
from Menu;
enter N if you want reboot disabled in Menu.

**This field is required but is not used at this time.

Auto Sign Off: Enter Y if you want ALL operators signed off if the
keyboard is inactive after a period of time;
enter N if you do not want an automatic sign off.

Sign Off Delay: If you entered Y at Auto Sign Off, the number you enter
here will be the period of time (in seconds) that Menu
will wait between keystrokes before signing the operator
off. 10 to 900 range ( ten seconds to 15 minutes)

Menu Directory: Enter the DOS directory where Menu can find its data files.
When you first program MENU, you MUST run MenuC in the same
directory as the data files.

**This field is required but is not used at this time.
Now, MENUR and MENUC get the location of the data files
at program startup. This means that MENUR and MENUC
must be executed from the directory containing the data
files.


2) Naming the Access Groups


Enter ALT-G at the MAIN MENU screen. You will see a screen similar
to the following:


1: 13:
2: 14:
. .
. .
12: 24:


An inverse-video bar will appear at access group #1. Move the
bar to the access group you want to name. Enter names for as many
groups as you can anticipate using. Examples of group names are:

Word Processing Commands
Simple DOS commands
Advanced DOS commands
Norton Commands
Programming Utilities
Communications
Spread Sheet
Payroll Functions

You can move the bar up and down with the arrow keys; move the bar
left and right by holding the CTRL key while pressing the left and
right arrow keys. When you are ready to save the access groups, go
to option #24 and press the down arrow key.


3) Entering Menu options.

There are three functions that you can perform on a menu option:

Add an option: ALT-A
Delete an option: ALT-D
Change an option: ALT-C

Add an option: ALT-A

When you first set up Menu, there will be no programmed options. So,
the only function you will be able to perform is ADD an option. To
Add an option, enter ALT-A. This will add option #1 on the MAIN MENU.
If you have options in your menu, ALT-A will add an option to menu
currently on the screen (to the maximum of nine options per menu).

After selecting ADD, you will enter the following:

Option Type: Enter a type for this option. Option Type instructs
Menu, when the option is selected from the menu, to:

Option
Type Will Do this
---- -----------------------------------------
1 This option will display a sub-menu of options
2 This option will run the command programmed
3 This option will run a command but will first
prompt for a line to pass to DOS. For example,
if the command is to run a word processor, Menu
can prompt for a filename to edit.
4 Exit to DOS. Menu will exit and the DOS prompt
will appear. The user can type EXIT to return
to the menu.
5 This option will be unprogrammed but will still
display in the menu.

Option Name: The name entered here is the name of the option that
will display in the menu.

Access Group: Enter the number of the access group to which this
option belongs. Operators who are also assigned this
access group will have access to run this menu option.

Command: Enter the DOS command you want this option to run.
Enter exactly as you would enter the command at the
DOS prompt. (Option types 2 and 3 only)

Prompt: Enter the message you want displayed when Menu prompts
for input before running a command. (option type 3)


Delete an option: ALT-D

To delete an option, move the bar to the option you want to delete,
then press ALT-D. Menu will ask if you are sure, enter Y if you are.
A deleted option can not be undeleted.


Change an option: ALT-C

To change an option, move the bar to the option you want to change,
then press ALT-C. You will then enter the new values for the fields
(information) discussed under ALT-A.


4) Entering Operators

To access the Operator Menu, enter ALT-O at the MAIN MENU screen.

Within the Operator screen, you can perform three functions:

ADD an operator: ALT-A
Delete an Operator: ALT-D
Change an Operator: ALT-C


ADD an operator: ALT-A

After selecting ALT-A, you will enter the following information for
the new operator:

Name: The new operator's name. This will not be used or
displayed anywhere else in menu; it is for your information
only.
Initials: Enter this operator's three character initials. The
initials are entered by the operator during sign-on and
are displayed in the upper right corner of the screen for
the current operator.
Password: Enter a five digit (number) password for this operator.
The password is entered by the operator at sign-on. The
password WILL appear as you enter it here although it will
not display when entered during sign-on.
Type: Enter P to make this operator a Pop-up operator;
enter S to make this a Stay-up operator.
Access: When you advance to access, the screen will change to a
list of the access groups. Four additional access groups
will display:

Can Exit program: If allowed, this operator can leave
Menu completely. This is not the same as a DOS shell,
Exit means that Menu is ended.
Can Edit Menu Options: If allowed, this operator will be
able to change/add/delete menu options.
Can Edit Operators/Parameters: If allowed, this operator
will be able to edit/change/delete operators and to
change program Parameters.
Can Edit Access Groups: If allowed, this operator will be
able to edit access group names.

Access is allowed or denied by moving the little bar (over
the number of the access groups) to an access group and
pressing RETURN. The same applies to removing access. The
groups to which this operator has access will appear
brighter than the others; if all appear bright (brighter
than the numbers or box graphics), then this operator has
total access.

Remember, if an operator has access to a given group, that
operator will have access to all menu options assigned to
that access group.


Delete an Operator: ALT-D

To delete an operator, enter ALT-D at the Operator Screen.

A box will appear containing the names of current operators. Select
the operator you want to delete.


Change an Operator: ALT-C

To change an operator, enter ALT-C at the Operator Screen.

A box will appear containing the names of current operators. Select
the operator you want to change. You can then change any of the
fields (information) described under ADD an operator (above).



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTES


1) Pop-up operators are generally those people who seldom use the computer
and only then for a few minutes (office managers, etc.). Stay-up
operators would be those who use the computer heavily, such as data
entry personnel, secretaries, etc.

2) Passwords should either be secret or changed regularly.

3) MenuC does NOT utilize auto sign off when not at the MAIN MENU screen.
For this reason, MenuC should ONLY be used to program the data files;
NOT to run as a menu. MenuR will auto sign off from any screen (menu).

4) For maximum use of Menu's capacity, program options in the MAIN MENU only
as type 1 - sub menus.

5) If MenuR is being used on several machines, you could either copy the
data files on all machines or, better still, customize the data files
for each individual machine. In this way, operators will not have access
to another operator's machine.

6) To load MENUR automatically when the computer is turned on, put MENUR
in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file located in the root (top) directory of the
computer. If you don't know what any of this means, just place the
disk containing all of the MENU files (the one from CustomWare) in
the A drive and type A:INSTALL at the DOS prompt.

7) Menu must be run, initially, from the directory that contains the
Menu data files.

8) When Menu is packaged, the only operator (so you'll have access) is
Plain Jayne with initials PJU and password 12345. PJU will remain in
the operator file until deleted.