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Documentation for ParM
ParM stands for Parametrable Menu.
ParM allow you to build your own menus in order to run all the programs you
can have on one ore more disks. This is very usefull for hard disk owners
which have programs deeply enclosed in subdirectories. With ParM, you can
run them without going through directories under either WorkBench or CLI.
With ParM, you can start programs in either WorkBench or CLI mode. The
advantage of WorkBench mode is that the default directory of the program
you run is the one in which the program file is. In the other hand, you
can't leave ParM when workbench processes are running.
Building:
ParM was made using AztecC 5.0a, CygnusEd release 2, and ARexx 1.10.
File headers are done in such a way compilation can be launched from
Ced. I use my own DevKit, completely rewriten since the original 1.2
version of the DevKit wasn't working at all.
ParM needs arp.library version 39. Since linker libraries given with
arp 1.3 are for the 3.6 release of the Manx linker, I wrote prototypes
for all arp functions but Printf(), SPrintf() and FPrintf(). Theses
can't be prototyped because they have a variable number of arguments.
Then, I made a small library which only contain the glues for them,
called a.lib. I make heavy use of Manx precompiled headers facility,
and I use only three headers of my own. They are called
dos_functions.h, dos_pragmas.h, and arpdos_pragmas.h. Of course, I have
removed dos functions prototypes from arpbase.h and functions.h to do
that. I often use arp.library, and then, when I need dos functions, I
prefer arp ones, so I use arpdos_pragmas.h, otherwise, I use
dos_pragmas.h. In both cases, I include dos_functions.h, to have
automatic casts to long for short int parameters. (I allways use 16
bits ints) With this method, when I use dos fuctions, if I forget to
include dos_functions.h the compiler generates warnings telling no
prototypes have been defined for them. Then, I include dos_functions.h
and the pragmas needed. I have even a Ced macro to do that!
Compiling with Lattice should be straight forward since ParM doesn't
use any of the specific Manx library functions. But I didn't try it
anyway.
Installation:
Put ParM with its icon wherever you want, and just put the default
config file "ParM.cfg" in S: if you use it. If you don't, you'll have
to specify the config file in the command line or in the tool types of
the icon, otherwise, you will have to cancel the requester and won't
have any menus.
Running:
It is recommended to run ParM from CLI if you want your programs to
have a default path other than the current directory and C: which is
the case if you start it from WorkBench. ParM can be run in two ways.
1) You can attach ParM to the CLI you are using.
In this case, if you don't specify any of the window options,
the menus will be attached to the CLI window you start it
from. You may then only "Run" it to prevent you from closing
the CLI.
2) ParM can have its own window. This is allways the case when it is
run from WorkBench, but you can also tell it to open it's own
window when run from CLI using "-w" option or any of the
window options. You should then "RunBack" it to be able to
close the CLI later. Don't use arp ARun with NOIO because
some programs don't like it, and those will not run from ParM.
ParM have some options which are available for most either from
WorkBench or from CLI. The only one which is only available from CLI
is "-w" since ParM allways open its own window when run from
WorkBench.
Option list:
CLI WB
-w (CLI only) Tell ParM to open its own window rather than
taking CLI one's.
-x LEFTEDGE left edge of ParM Window (default 0)
-y TOPEDGE top edge of ParM Window (default 0)
-d DETAILPEN detail pen of ParM Window (default 3)
-b BLOCKPEN block pen of ParM Window (default 2)
-c MENUCOLOR color for ParM's main menu (default Window
detail pen)
-f CONFIGFILE Configuration file.
-h or anything wrong to get help when run from CLI.
To use workbench tool types, just use the keyword followed by an "="
and the value needed. For example
DETAILPEN=1
this is equivalent to
RunBack >NIL: ParM -d1 when run from CLI.
if you specify any of the -x,-y,-d,-b options when run from cli, a
window will be open and -w option is useless.
Configuration file:
Configuration file looks like a structured program. You should indent
your lines to make the file as readable as possible.
The default configuration file should be in the S: directory and be
named ParM.cfg.
The configuration file defines the menus you want, and what commands
they will run.
Comments begin with a #, and continue until the end of the line.
Upper and lowercase does not make a difference.
You can also define the command console window.
CMDWIN console_name
This will override the default console used for Command output
which is "CON:0/11/640/100 Command Window" This should be
placed anywhere in the file but better be at top of it.
COLOR n
This will set the foreground pen color for new items. You can
change this as often as you want. The arguments is the pen
number to use. The default is window detail pen. If the color
was window block pen, the item would be invisible, in this
case, ParM replaces the color with window detail pen.
MENU menu_name
Creates a new menu. Each menu must have at least one item or
submenu.
SUBMENU submenu_name
Creates a new submenu. Each submenu must have at least one
item and can't have submenus. Each SUBMENU must end with
an ENDSUBMENU
ENDSUBMENU
See SUBMENU.
ITEM [{command-char}] item_name command_def
Defines a new menu item. Each item definition must have an
item_name and an associated command. Each item is linked to
the current menu or submenu. An ENDSUBMENU statement tells
ParM to attach next items to the current menu rather than to
the current submenu. If any of the menu, submenu and item
names may contain whitespaces. In this case, enclose the name
in double quotes. A command character may be defined for the
menu item by putting the character after the ITEM keyword and
surround it with {}'s. Command syntax is decribed below.
command_def
Programs can be run in three ways: CLI, RB, and WB.
1) CLI syntax
CLI console command [STACK n] [PRI n] [args]
This mode should be used if you want your command to have a
console window for its output. Otherwise, you should use
the RB mode. You must specify a valid console window. For
example, NIL: doesn't work. In such a case, ParM will pop
up a requester telling you it can't open the window. STACK
and PRI are optionnal. If STACK is less than the default
stack specified in ParM.h, STACK will be set to this
default stack. It is currently 4096 bytes. Actually, the
console is immediately closed after the program ends. We
hope to fix this in future release. For example, I use
this mode to Format my floppies, and I see in a little
window the format process.
2) RB syntax
RB command [args]
Execute command in CLI mode with any input/output. You
MUST have the Run command in your C: directory. You can't
use redirection since it is already redirected and
indirected to and from NIL:.
3) WB syntax
WB command
Execute command in WorkBench mode. You must have a .info
file associated with the executable one. You can't leave
ParM until all WB processes aren't finished. No arguments
are allowed in this mode.
For both CLI and RB modes, your command is searched first in arp
resident list and then in CLI Path at time ParM was run. To know the
path in which ParM search its commands, just issue the Path command
in the requester of ParM Command command, or open a newcli or shell
from ParM and issue the Path command.
A config file is given with ParM as an example.
ParM commands:
Open: Pops up a requester asking to select the new
config file.
UpDate: UpDate the menu reloading the config file.
Usefull if you modify the config file while ParM
is running.
Command: Allows you to execute a single CLI command.
Change Dir: Changes ParM current directory. All CLI and RB
commands will inherit ParM current directory.
Quit: Why? You don't like it!
Limitations:
Redirection can not be done for RB programs, since the code already
does redirection to and from NIL:.
Scripts cannot be executed with the CLI option. This problem come from
the arp function ASyncRun(), and not from ParM. Script file stays
locked and nothing happen.
Don't use characters of ascii value over 127 such as characters with
accents, strange things happen.
Syntax of the script file is not completely checked to preserve code
size small. So error analysis shouldn't easy in certain cases. For the
same reason, the position of the error is mentioned as a char number in
the script file. For CygnusEd users, it is easy to jump to it, but for
other text editors, I don't know. Sorry but I don't want to lose my
time counting the line number of the error.
Bugs:
This is not really a ParM bug, but if you start a compressed program in
WorkBench mode and there is not enough memory for decompression, you
will never can quit ParM because WorkBench startup message is never
replied.
Future plans:
-Join the CLI and RB options in only one, making STACK and PRI available
for both, and console window optionnal. The solution may be in
ASyncRun(). The problem is that the documentation for this function is
far from perfect and we couldn't have better results than ParM actually
does. If someone knows or find a solution, please contact us. See
bottom of file.
-Having an option to let user close the console in CLI mode.
-Making Command function asyncronous and having better input handle.
Release notes:
1.0: Internal. Major MyMenu rework.
1.1: First official release.
Old CLI option changed to RB (stands for RunBack).
New CLI option added.
Config file syntax changed. (Old was MyMenu's one).
Acknowledgements:
The first release (internal) of ParM was a major rework of MyMenu by
Darin Johnson. The problem was that it wasn't possible to have MyMenu
without workbench, and program started from MyMenu didn't have a Path.
So, lots of thanks to Darin Johnson for menu allocations and workbench
run. The idea of attaching menus to the CLI and some other ideas came
from a friend who also made a menu but wasn't easy to configure.
Signature:
S.R. & P.C. This is not Status Register and Program Counter but
Sylvain Rougier & Pierre Carrette. We are Frenchies so we hope the
documentation is readable. We put our work in making english language
comments, but it isn't allways easy, so be fair with us.
Donnations:
If you enjoy this program, send donnations and/or bugs report to:
Sylvain Rougier
Coiffure W
39 rue Carnot
86000 Poitiers
France.