ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU

ÂY ×ARD ÓHRAKE

     ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU IS ANOTHER IN AN ONGOING SERIES OF É WONDER IF ... UTILITIES. É ORIGINALLY CREATED IT MORE FOR ITS PROGRAMMING CHALLENGE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, BUT IT HAS BECOME A WORKHORSE IN MY STABLE OF UTILITIES.
     É HAD HEARD A NUMBER OF PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT DISK-MENU PROGRAMS BEING TOO LARGE TO FIT ON THEIR OVER-CROWDED DISKS. ÈERE WAS THE GREAT CHALLENGE: ÈOW TINY COULD THE MENU PROGRAM BE, AND STILL BE USEFUL? É WONDERED ABOUT THIS FOR AWHILE. ÔHEN, WHILE WATCHING A FRIEND LOAD A PROGRAM DIRECTLY FROM A DISK'S DIRECTORY, A SOLUTION HIT ME. ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU IS THE RESULT.

ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU ÏVERVIEW

     ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU IS A STRAIGHT-FORWARD LITTLE PROGRAM. ÆIRST, SELECT A DISK TO MODIFY. ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU LOOKS AT THE DEVICE NUMBER LAST USED, DETERMINING THE DRIVE TYPE AND ADJUSTING ITSELF ACCORDINGLY TO WORK WITH THE 1581, 1571 OR 1541. ÔHEN THE PROGRAM SCANS THE DIRECTORY USING A METHOD THAT CAN EVEN READ MOST PROTECTED OR DAMAGED DISKS. 
     ×HEN THE LIST OF PROGRAMS IS DISPLAYED, SELECT WHICH PROGRAMS TO KEEP ON THE MENU AND WHICH TO IGNORE. ËEEP ONLY THOSE ÂASIC PROGRAMS THAT ARE USED TO LOAD, OR LAUNCH ANOTHER PROGRAM. ÉT DOESN'T DELETE ANYTHING FROM DISK, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT. ÔHIS OPTION MERELY LETS YOU EXCLUDE THE NAMES OF FILES THAT ARE LOADED FROM AN AUTOBOOTER. 
     ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU THEN ASKS YOU HOW TO LOAD EACH PROGRAM ON THE MENU. ÁFTER THAT, YOU CAN ADD A SHORT NOTE TO EACH SELECTION, SUCH AS "USE JOYSTICK PORT 2", AND SO ON. ÔHE PROGRAM DOES THE REST, CREATING A DIRECTORY AND SAVING IT TO YOUR DISK. ÔHEN, THE NEXT TIME YOU WANT TO USE THE DISK, SIMPLY TYPE ÌÏÁÄ "ÍÅÎÕ ÆÉÌÅÎÁÍÅ",8,1 AND THEN TYPE ÒÕÎ. ÍÅÎÕ ÆÉÌÅÎÁÍÅ IS SIMPLY THE NAME OF THE MENU FILE ON YOUR DISK.

ÔIPS ÆOR ÂEST ÕSE

     ÉF YOU'RE MAKING UP A DISK WITH ALL YOUR FAVORITE PROGRAMS ON IT, PUT THE NEWLY-CREATED DISK MENU ON IT FIRST. ÉF IT'S THE FIRST PROGRAM FOUND IN THE DISK'S DIRECTORY, IT CAN BE LOADED USING THE COMMAND ÌÏÁÄ "*" ,8,1. ÔHE MENU WILL APPEAR, FIRST THING, SO ANYONE -- KIDS INCLUDED -- CAN USE YOUR DISK.
      ÉF YOUR DISK IS ALREADY FILLED WITH LOTS OF FILES, YOU CAN PLACE THE DIRECTORY CREATED BY ÇENERIC ÄISKMENU AS THE FIRST FILE BY USING A DIRECTORY EDITOR OR A FILE COPIER. Á DIRECTORY EDITOR IS A PROGRAM THAT LETS YOU MOVE PROGRAMS AROUND ON A DISK. ÙOU CAN SHUFFLE PROGRAM NAMES AROUND ANY WAY YOU LIKE, EVEN SORTING THEM ALPHABETICALLY. Á FILE COPIER COPIES PROGRAMS FROM ONE DISK TO ANOTHER, ONE AT A TIME. ÂY COPYING THE MENU TO THE EMPTY DISK FIRST, THEN COPYING THE OTHER PROGRAMS TO THAT DISK, YOU CHOOSE THE ORDER THEY APPEAR IN THE DIRECTORY.
     ÆINALLY, IF THE PROGRAM YOU'RE LOADING REQUIRES SPECIAL LOADING COMMANDS, SUCH AS ÓÙÓ NUMBERS, CREATE AN AUTOBOOT LOADER USING ÁUTOBOOT ÆACTORY FOUND ON THIS DISK.