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=================================================================== <*> Computer Tyme MarxMenu <*> Reference Manual Copyright 1989 - 1991 by Marc Perkel All Rights Reserved * Version 2.33 * Release Date: 09-30-91 Computer Tyme * 411 North Sherman Suite 300 * Springfield Mo. 65802 (417) 866-1222 voice * (417) 866-1665 bbs Fax: (417) 866-0135 CompuServe 76505,1120 =================================================================== Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 1 _______________________________________________________________ Copyright ......................................... 1 License ........................................... 1 Warranty .......................................... 1 Acknowledgments ................................... 2 Trademarks ........................................ 2 The MarxMenu Name ................................. 2 Technical Support ................................. 3 Installation ...................................... 3 Installing the Network Survival Kit ............... 4 Overview of the MarxMenu System ................... 4 -- What MarxMenu Does ............................. 6 The MARX.BAT File ................................. 7 -- DROPTO.BAT ..................................... 10 -- Support for early DOS versions ................. 11 -- About Environment Variables .................... 11 -- Dealing with Multiple DOS Shells ............... 13 -- MarxMenu and TSR Control ....................... 13 Sample Menus on Disk .............................. 14 Network Users ..................................... 15 -- Network Menu Strategy .......................... 15 -- Novell Users ................................... 16 ---- The Novell Menu Translator ................... 16 ---- Logging out under Menu Control ............... 17 ---- Logging in with MarxMenu ..................... 18 ---- Using Novell's Login ......................... 18 ------ The CONFIG.SYS File ........................ 19 ------ The AUTOEXEC.BAT File ...................... 20 ------ The SHELL.CFG File ......................... 21 ------ Using a Menu File to Log In ................ 22 ------ Novell Search Drives ....................... 22 ---- Setting File Attributes ...................... 23 ---- Novell Semaphores ............................ 24 Running a MarxMenu ................................ 25 Upgrading MarxMenu ................................ 25 Customizing MarxMenu Sample Files ................. 26 Menu Analysis ..................................... 27 Onkey Statements .................................. 27 Popup Menus ....................................... 28 The Console ....................................... 29 Repositioning the Top Window ...................... 29 Mouse Support ..................................... 30 Starting off the Easy Way ......................... 30 About Variables ................................... 30 -- Numeric Variables .............................. 31 -- Boolean Variables .............................. 32 -- String Variables ............................... 32 -- Real Numbers ................................... 32 -- Local Variables ................................ 33 -- Dates .......................................... 34 -- Passing Parameters to Procedures ............... 34 About Constants ................................... 35 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 2 _______________________________________________________________ About Arrays ...................................... 36 About Qualifiers .................................. 37 Pointer Variables ................................. 38 Comments in Menu Files ............................ 39 The MarxMenu Compiler ............................. 39 MarxMenu Language Rules ........................... 40 Compiler Compatibility ............................ 40 A word about DOS versions ......................... 41 A word about BUGS ................................. 42 Tips From the Master .............................. 42 -- Computers do Simple Tasks ...................... 42 -- Complex Tasks are made of Simple Tasks ......... 43 -- Learning Good Programming Habits ............... 43 -- Use Long Names ................................. 44 -- Use Comments Liberally ......................... 45 -- Indent Your code ............................... 46 -- For Duplicate Tasks, Use Procedures ............ 47 -- Don't Program Yourself into a Corner ........... 47 -- For the POWER User ............................. 48 Where MarxMenu is Heading ......................... 49 A word to Writers and Reviewers ................... 49 Using MarxHelp .................................... 50 Printing the Example Files ........................ 51 Security Issues ................................... 51 MarxMenu Commands ................................. 52 -- | .............................................. 52 -- ( .............................................. 53 -- ) .............................................. 53 -- * .............................................. 53 -- + .............................................. 53 -- - .............................................. 53 -- / .............................................. 53 -- < .............................................. 53 -- <= ............................................. 54 -- <> ............................................. 54 -- = .............................................. 54 -- > .............................................. 54 -- >= ............................................. 54 -- %MenuFileName .................................. 54 -- Abs ............................................ 54 -- Actual ......................................... 55 -- Alias .......................................... 55 -- AllowAbort ..................................... 55 -- AllowEsc ....................................... 56 -- And ............................................ 56 -- AppendArray .................................... 56 -- ApplicationMemory .............................. 56 -- ArcTan ......................................... 56 -- BadDate ........................................ 57 -- Bat ............................................ 57 -- BatFileName .................................... 57 -- BigShadow ...................................... 57 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 3 _______________________________________________________________ -- Blanked ........................................ 57 -- BlankMessage ................................... 58 -- BlankScreenProgram ............................. 58 -- BlankTime ...................................... 58 -- Blink .......................................... 59 -- BlockBox ....................................... 59 -- BoxBorderColor ................................. 59 -- BoxHeader ...................................... 59 -- BoxHeaderColor ................................. 60 -- BoxHeaderLeft .................................. 60 -- BoxHeaderRight ................................. 60 -- BoxFooter ...................................... 60 -- BoxFooterLeft .................................. 61 -- BoxFooterRight ................................. 61 -- BoxInsideColor ................................. 61 -- BrightBackground ............................... 61 -- CapsColor ...................................... 62 -- CapsLock ....................................... 62 -- Chain .......................................... 62 -- Char ........................................... 63 -- ChDir .......................................... 63 -- CleanFileName .................................. 63 -- ClearLine ...................................... 63 -- ClearScreen .................................... 64 -- ClearScreenFirst ............................... 64 -- ClearScreenOnExit .............................. 64 -- ClockColor ..................................... 64 -- ClockMode ...................................... 65 -- ClockPos ....................................... 65 -- ClosePrinter ................................... 66 -- ClusterSize .................................... 66 -- CmdLine ........................................ 66 -- ColorScreen .................................... 67 -- Comment ........................................ 67 -- Console ........................................ 67 -- ConsoleBorderColor ............................. 67 -- ConsoleHeaderColor ............................. 68 -- ConsoleInsideColor ............................. 68 -- ConsolePos ..................................... 68 -- Const .......................................... 68 -- Cos ............................................ 68 -- CountryCode .................................... 68 -- CurrentEnvironment ............................. 69 -- CurrentWindow .................................. 69 -- Cursor ......................................... 69 -- CustomBox ...................................... 69 -- DateSeparator .................................. 69 -- DateString ..................................... 70 -- Day ............................................ 70 -- DayOf .......................................... 70 -- DayOfWeek ...................................... 70 -- DayOfWeekOf .................................... 70 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 4 _______________________________________________________________ -- DecimalSeparator ............................... 70 -- Delete ......................................... 71 -- DelFile ........................................ 71 -- DisplayType .................................... 72 -- DirectoriesOnly ................................ 72 -- Dispose ........................................ 72 -- DosVersion ..................................... 73 -- DosVersionString ............................... 73 -- DosWindow ...................................... 73 -- DoubleLineBox .................................. 73 -- DrawBox ........................................ 74 -- Drives ......................................... 74 -- DvAppNumber .................................... 74 -- DvFrame ........................................ 74 -- DvFreeze ....................................... 74 -- DvHide ......................................... 75 -- DvKillTask ..................................... 75 -- DvLastHandle ................................... 75 -- DvLoaded ....................................... 75 -- DvMoveWindow ................................... 75 -- DvMyHandle ..................................... 75 -- DvPifExecute ................................... 76 -- DvResizeWindow ................................. 76 -- DvSetBottom .................................... 76 -- DvSetTop ....................................... 76 -- DvUnFreeze ..................................... 77 -- DvUnHide ....................................... 77 -- Else ........................................... 77 -- ElseIf ......................................... 77 -- EndComment ..................................... 78 -- Endif .......................................... 78 -- EndLoop ........................................ 78 -- EndOfFile ...................................... 78 -- EndProc ........................................ 78 -- EndWhile ....................................... 79 -- EnvFree ........................................ 79 -- EnvSize ........................................ 79 -- EraseTopWindow ................................. 79 -- EraseWindow .................................... 79 -- Execute ........................................ 80 -- ExistDir ....................................... 81 -- ExistFile ...................................... 81 -- ExistOnPath .................................... 81 -- ExitCode ....................................... 81 -- ExitMenu ....................................... 82 -- Exp ............................................ 82 -- Explode ........................................ 82 -- ExplodeDelay ................................... 82 -- Extension ...................................... 82 -- FileAppend ..................................... 82 -- FileAssign ..................................... 83 -- FileAttr ....................................... 83 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 5 _______________________________________________________________ -- FileClose ...................................... 83 -- FileCreate ..................................... 83 -- FileDate ....................................... 83 -- FileFlush ...................................... 83 -- FileLog ........................................ 84 -- FileOpen ....................................... 84 -- FilePart ....................................... 84 -- FilePos ........................................ 84 -- FileReadln ..................................... 85 -- FileRename ..................................... 85 -- FileResult ..................................... 85 -- FileSeek ....................................... 85 -- FileSize ....................................... 85 -- FileTime ....................................... 85 -- FileWrite ...................................... 85 -- FileWriteln .................................... 86 -- FixPath ........................................ 86 -- Floppies ....................................... 86 -- ForceExplosion ................................. 86 -- ForceExtension ................................. 86 -- Fraction ....................................... 86 -- FreeDiskSpace .................................. 87 -- FreeEms ........................................ 87 -- FreeMemory ..................................... 87 -- GotoXY ......................................... 87 -- HiddenAndSystem ................................ 87 -- Hour ........................................... 87 -- HourOf ......................................... 87 -- Hundredth ...................................... 88 -- IdleProgram .................................... 88 -- If ............................................. 89 -- InactiveBox .................................... 89 -- InactiveBoxColor ............................... 90 -- Include ........................................ 90 -- IncludeDirectories ............................. 90 -- InputString .................................... 91 -- Insert ......................................... 91 -- InsertMode ..................................... 91 -- Int ............................................ 91 -- Integer ........................................ 91 -- InverseColor ................................... 91 -- Jump ........................................... 91 -- KbdReady ....................................... 92 -- KeySave ........................................ 92 -- KeyFromMouse ................................... 92 -- KillMusic ...................................... 92 -- LastDrive ...................................... 92 -- LastKey ........................................ 92 -- Left ........................................... 93 -- Length ......................................... 93 -- Ln ............................................. 93 -- Loc ............................................ 93 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 6 _______________________________________________________________ -- LockWord ....................................... 94 -- Logoff ......................................... 95 -- LogoffTime ..................................... 95 -- Loop ........................................... 96 -- LoopIndex ...................................... 97 -- LoopLevel ...................................... 97 -- LoopLimit ...................................... 97 -- MachineName .................................... 97 -- MarxVersion .................................... 97 -- MasterEnvironment .............................. 97 -- Max ............................................ 97 -- Mem ............................................ 98 -- MemL ........................................... 98 -- MemSize ........................................ 98 -- MemW ........................................... 98 -- MenuKeyBuffer .................................. 98 -- Mid ............................................ 99 -- Min ............................................ 99 -- MinorDosVersion ................................ 99 -- Minute ......................................... 99 -- MinuteOf ....................................... 99 -- MkDir .......................................... 99 -- Mod ............................................ 99 -- ModifyPath ..................................... 100 -- Month .......................................... 100 -- MonthOf ........................................ 100 -- Mouse .......................................... 100 -- MouseHorizontal ................................ 101 -- MouseVertical .................................. 101 -- MoveWindow ..................................... 101 -- MxCmd .......................................... 101 -- NamePart ....................................... 101 -- NetworkVersion ................................. 102 -- NextWord ....................................... 102 -- NoBoxBorder .................................... 102 -- NoExit ......................................... 102 -- Not ............................................ 102 -- NotesLeft ...................................... 102 -- NotesPlayed .................................... 102 -- NovAccountExpDate .............................. 103 -- NovAddUserToGroup .............................. 103 -- NovAttach ...................................... 103 -- NovAttachedServers ............................. 103 -- NovBroadcastMode ............................... 103 -- NovChangePassword .............................. 104 -- NovCleanVolumeName ............................. 104 -- NovCloseSemaphore .............................. 104 -- NovConnection .................................. 104 -- NovConnectionsInUse ............................ 104 -- NovConsoleOperator ............................. 104 -- NovDefaultServer ............................... 104 -- NovDeleteObject ................................ 104 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 7 _______________________________________________________________ -- NovDetach ...................................... 105 -- NovFullName .................................... 105 -- NovGetMessage .................................. 105 -- NovGraceLoginReset ............................. 105 -- NovGraceLogins ................................. 105 -- NovGroupMembers ................................ 106 -- NovGroups ...................................... 106 -- NovInGroup ..................................... 106 -- NovLastLoginDate ............................... 106 -- NovLogin ....................................... 106 -- NovLoginName ................................... 107 -- NovLogout ...................................... 107 -- NovMapDrive .................................... 107 -- NovMapRoot ..................................... 107 -- NovMaxConnections .............................. 108 -- NovMinPasswordLength ........................... 108 -- NovMyLoginName ................................. 108 -- NovMyPassword .................................. 108 -- NovObjectID .................................... 108 -- NovObjects ..................................... 109 -- NovOpenSemaphore ............................... 109 -- NovPasswordExpDate ............................. 109 -- NovPreferredServer ............................. 109 -- NovPrimaryServer ............................... 110 -- NovPrintQueues ................................. 110 -- NovPropertyValues .............................. 110 -- NovReadGroups .................................. 110 -- NovReadSecurityEquals .......................... 111 -- NovRemoveUserFromGroup ......................... 111 -- NovResult ...................................... 111 -- NovScanProperties .............................. 111 -- NovSecurityEquals .............................. 112 -- NovServerTime .................................. 112 -- NovSemaphoreTimeOut ............................ 112 -- NovSemaphoreUsers .............................. 112 -- NovSemaphoreValue .............................. 112 -- NovServers ..................................... 112 -- NovSendMessage ................................. 113 -- NovSetPreferredServer .......................... 113 -- NovSetPrimaryServer ............................ 113 -- NovSignalSemaphore ............................. 113 -- NovStationAddress .............................. 114 -- NovUserInGroup ................................. 114 -- NovUsers ....................................... 114 -- NovUsersLoggedIn ............................... 114 -- NovVersionNumber ............................... 114 -- NovVolumes ..................................... 115 -- NovWaitOnSemaphore ............................. 115 -- NumberOfElements ............................... 115 -- Now ............................................ 115 -- NumLock ........................................ 116 -- OnKey .......................................... 116 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 8 _______________________________________________________________ -- OnScreenOnly ................................... 117 -- OpenPrinter .................................... 117 -- OptionSwitch ................................... 117 -- Or ............................................. 117 -- Ord ............................................ 118 -- OverKey ........................................ 118 -- Overlay ........................................ 118 -- ParallelPorts .................................. 118 -- ParamStr ....................................... 119 -- ParentEnvironment .............................. 119 -- Password ....................................... 119 -- Path ........................................... 119 -- PathPart ....................................... 119 -- PauseAfterExecute .............................. 120 -- Pi ............................................. 120 -- PickFile ....................................... 120 -- PickMany ....................................... 121 -- PickOne ........................................ 121 -- PickPosition ................................... 121 -- Port ........................................... 121 -- Pos ............................................ 122 -- PosInList ...................................... 122 -- PosInSortedList ................................ 122 -- Power .......................................... 122 -- Pred ........................................... 123 -- Print .......................................... 123 -- PrinterName .................................... 123 -- Println ........................................ 123 -- PrintScreen .................................... 123 -- Procedure ...................................... 124 -- PullMenu ....................................... 125 -- Qualifier ...................................... 125 -- Random ......................................... 125 -- ReadDirectory .................................. 126 -- ReadEnv ........................................ 126 -- ReadEnvironment ................................ 126 -- ReadKey ........................................ 127 -- Readln ......................................... 127 -- ReadTextFile ................................... 128 -- Real ........................................... 128 -- Reboot ......................................... 128 -- ReleaseDate .................................... 128 -- Repeat ......................................... 129 -- ResizeWindow ................................... 129 -- Return ......................................... 130 -- ReturnCode ..................................... 130 -- Right .......................................... 130 -- RmDir .......................................... 130 -- RollWindow ..................................... 131 -- Run ............................................ 131 -- SavePosition ................................... 132 -- ScreenHeight ................................... 132 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 9 _______________________________________________________________ -- ScreenWidth .................................... 132 -- ScrollLock ..................................... 132 -- ScrollMove ..................................... 132 -- Second ......................................... 133 -- SecondOf ....................................... 133 -- Security ....................................... 133 -- SelectPath ..................................... 133 -- SerialPorts .................................... 133 -- SetArraySize ................................... 133 -- SetEnv ......................................... 134 -- SetTopWindow ................................... 134 -- SetWindowUnder ................................. 134 -- Shadow ......................................... 134 -- ShadowColor .................................... 135 -- ShadowPosition ................................. 135 -- Shared ......................................... 135 -- ShellEnvironment ............................... 135 -- Shl ............................................ 135 -- Shr ............................................ 136 -- Sin ............................................ 136 -- SingleLineBox .................................. 136 -- SmallShadow .................................... 136 -- SortArray ...................................... 136 -- Sound .......................................... 136 -- Sqr ............................................ 136 -- StandardIO ..................................... 137 -- Str ............................................ 137 -- StuffAKey ...................................... 137 -- StuffKBD ....................................... 137 -- StuffKeyboardNow ............................... 137 -- Succ ........................................... 138 -- Suggest ........................................ 138 -- TextBackground ................................. 138 -- TextColor ...................................... 138 -- TextMode ....................................... 138 -- TextPos ........................................ 139 -- TextSeek ....................................... 139 -- Then ........................................... 139 -- TimeOf ......................................... 139 -- Timer .......................................... 139 -- TimeSeparator .................................. 139 -- TimeString ..................................... 140 -- Today .......................................... 140 -- Tomorrow ....................................... 140 -- Tone ........................................... 140 -- TotalDiskSpace ................................. 141 -- TotalEms ....................................... 141 -- Trim ........................................... 141 -- TrueName ....................................... 141 -- UnBlank ........................................ 141 -- UniqueFileName ................................. 142 -- Until .......................................... 142 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 10 _______________________________________________________________ -- UpperCase ...................................... 142 -- UpperCaseOnly .................................. 142 -- UseArrows ...................................... 142 -- UseCommand ..................................... 143 -- UsedDiskSpace .................................. 143 -- UseNovPassword ................................. 143 -- Value .......................................... 143 -- Var ............................................ 144 -- VideoMode ...................................... 144 -- VideoPage ...................................... 144 -- ViewArray ...................................... 144 -- ViewTextFile ................................... 144 -- Volume ......................................... 144 -- Wait ........................................... 144 -- WaitOrKbdReady ................................. 145 -- WhereX ......................................... 145 -- WhereXAbs ...................................... 145 -- WhereY ......................................... 145 -- WhereYAbs ...................................... 145 -- While .......................................... 145 -- WholeFileNames ................................. 145 -- WindowHeight ................................... 146 -- WindowWidth .................................... 146 -- WinX ........................................... 146 -- WinY ........................................... 146 -- Write .......................................... 146 -- WriteCenter .................................... 146 -- Writeln ........................................ 146 -- WriteTextFile .................................. 146 -- WriteVertical .................................. 147 -- Xor ............................................ 147 -- Year ........................................... 147 -- YearOf ......................................... 147 String Constants .................................. 148 Time and Date Constants ........................... 148 Video Constants ................................... 149 Color Constants ................................... 149 Boolean Constants ................................. 149 Conditional Statements ............................ 149 Environment Variables used by MarxMenu ............ 150 Command Categories ................................ 151 -- Misc Commands .................................. 152 -- Math Commands .................................. 152 -- Float Commands ................................. 153 -- String Commands ................................ 154 -- Variable Commands .............................. 155 -- Boolean Commands ............................... 155 -- Array Commands ................................. 155 -- Memory Commands ................................ 156 -- Time Commands .................................. 156 -- Execution Commands ............................. 157 -- Display Commands ............................... 157 Computer Tyme MarxMenu * Table of Contents Page 11 _______________________________________________________________ -- Color Commands ................................. 159 -- System Commands ................................ 159 -- File Commands .................................. 160 -- Ansi Commands .................................. 160 -- Printer Commands ............................... 161 -- International Commands ......................... 161 -- Environment Commands ........................... 161 -- DesqView Commands .............................. 162 -- Conditional Commands ........................... 162 -- Keyboard Commands .............................. 163 -- MouseControl Commands .......................... 163 -- Music Commands ................................. 163 -- Novell Commands ................................ 164 Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 1 _______________________________________________________________ COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT This manual is copyrighted material and all rights are reserved. MarxMenu is a programming language which describes to the computer what it is supposed to do. Even though some of the individual words in MarxMenu are used in other programming languages, I claim a copyright on the collection of words which make up the MarxMenu language. I therefore consider it an infringement of my CopyRight to create a software product which uses the MarxMenu language, or translates MarxMenu source code, without purchasing a license to do so. The combinations of definitions of commands in this manual constitute a copyrighted work. Any publication which describes a computer language for which the MarxMenu command set is a subset is a violation of the copyright of this software and this written manual. In other words, don't try to clone MarxMenu. LICENSE AGREEMENT: LICENSE AGREEMENT: LICENSE AGREEMENT: You are licensed to use this program on a single CPU or workstation. If you are running on a network, you are required to license a separate copy for each workstation or a file server license for each file server. If you are running on a multiuser operating system such as Concurrent DOS, you are required to license a copy for each workstation. Everyone who uses this menu, must license a copy unless several people share the same workstation. This software is licensed and not sold. The license begins when Computer Tyme receives payment in full. You may not transfer, sell, sublease or rent this software without the written consent of Computer Tyme. You are not allowed to distribute MarxMenu in runtime form with software you developed unless it is in combination with a paid for copy of MarxMenu, or you have made special arrangements in writing with Computer Tyme to do so. Use of this product constitutes your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this license and of my copyright and your agreement to abide by these terms and conditions. WARRANTY: WARRANTY: WARRANTY: The warranty is limited to the diskettes to be machine readable for a period of 30 days after purchase. Although we try hard to write perfect software that has no bugs, we do not guarantee that. We also do not guarantee that this product is fit for every purpose and we are not liable for any damages that might occur from use of this product. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Missouri. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 2 _______________________________________________________________ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I would like to thank the following people for making this product possible: Joe Smith and Kevin Moore for helping write this manual. My wife Vicki for being good to me and helping with revisions and editing. The Computer Tyme staff for being the best employees in the world. Borland International for writing Turbo Pascal and keeping it bug free and well supported. TurboPower Software for their very powerful extensions to Turbo Pascal and their well written, well supported product. Semware for TEdit and QEdit, their full screen editors. All users who actually paid for this product so that we may continue to eat. Those of you who have pointed out bugs and made suggestions to improve our product. TRADEMARKS TRADEMARKS TRADEMARKS MarxMenu, DOS ToolBox, Directory Master, and The Network Survival Kit are trademarks of Computer Tyme. QEdit and TEdit are trademarks of SemWare. Lotus is a registered trademark of Lotus Development. Wordstar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International. Smart Software is a trademark of Informix. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft. Concurrent DOS and DR-DOS are trademarks of Digital Research. Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International. OPRO and TPRO are trademarks of TurboPower Software Netware and Novell are trademarks of Novell DesqView and QEMM are trademarks of Quarterdeck IBM and OS/2 are trademarks of International Business Machines Created using Turbo Pascal Copyright 1983-90 by Borland International THE MARXMENU NAME THE MARXMENU NAME THE MARXMENU NAME When I first wrote this program my friends referred to it as Marc's Menu. That's where the name MarxMenu came from. It has nothing to do with either Carl or Groucho Marx. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 3 _______________________________________________________________ TECHNICAL SUPPORT TECHNICAL SUPPORT TECHNICAL SUPPORT Technical support for MarxMenu is provided several ways. The first is by calling our voice line 1-417-866-1222. We would ask that you not call the 800 number as that is for orders and ordering information only. We have several support staff and will try to answer your questions as quickly and efficiently as possible. We at Computer Tyme look at technical support as an opportunity to improve our product. We also have a 24 hour BBS system. This allows users with modems to leave messages about support issues. There are several user uploaded menus here and it serves as a forum for MarxMenu users to share ideas and techniques. Our BBS number is 1-417-866-1665. It supports 2400 baud but is 1200 baud compatible. Use 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1). You will also need to set your terminal emulation mode to ANSI or VT100. Do not try to call my BBS with 7 bits or even parity. It won't work. On our BBS are additional sample menu files that other MarxMenu users like yourself have uploaded. We encourage you to share your work with others so that yet more MarxMenu users can benefit. We are also available on Compuserve ID 76505,1120. We also offer a Fast Update Service which includes regular upgrades sent to you automatically as we come out with them. This doesn't mean every version of MarxMenu, but every so often after making several improvements and the product is at a stable point. The Fast Update Service includes special access to our support BBS. This service is for the very fierce MarxMenu user who has to have the "Latest and Greatest" all the time. INSTALLATION INSTALLATION INSTALLATION You may wish to copy the MarxMenu system into it's own subdirectory called MARX to keep the files better organized. However, this is not necessary. Copy all the disks that come with MarxMenu into a directory on your hard disk or network. If you do put the menu system in a subdirectory, it must be path accessible. That is, you must have a path statement in your autoexec.bat file that includes the directory where the menu system resides. A typical path statement might look like this: PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\MARX; Copy all your Computer Tyme disks to the hard disk or network and type INSTALL. When it gets done, you can run some of the sample menus by typing MARX <menu>. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 4 _______________________________________________________________ -------- V E R Y * I M P O R T A N T -------- MarxMenu requires up to 100 bytes of free environment space. It won't run properly without it. The way you get more environment space is to add a SHELL command to your CONFIG.SYS file. SHELL=COMMAND.COM /P /E:nnn Where NNN is the number of bytes for the environment to reserve. Note that if you are running DOS 3.1 then NNN is the number of 16 byte blocks to allocate for the environment. For DOS 3.2 or later: SHELL=COMMAND.COM /P /E:400 For DOS 3.1: SHELL=COMMAND.COM /P /E:25 If MarxMenu gives you an environment space error, this is where you go to fix it. INSTALLING THE NETWORK SURVIVAL KIT INSTALLING THE NETWORK SURVIVAL KIT INSTALLING THE NETWORK SURVIVAL KIT The Network Survival Kit is installed by copying the distribution disk into a directory on your server and typing INSTALL. It will unpack into about 2.5 megs of programs and documentation. Be sure to print out the DOC files on any programs you are interested in and print out the MARXREAD.ME file. Make sure you do not run the install from the floppy disk. OVERVIEW OF THE MARXMENU SYSTEM OVERVIEW OF THE MARXMENU SYSTEM OVERVIEW OF THE MARXMENU SYSTEM MarxMenu is not just another fill-in-the-blank menu system. It is a menu programming language and job control language. It gives you total freedom to do whatever you want, but total freedom has a price. You will need to know and understand how to use a text editor. This isn't difficult if you are familiar with using a word processor. And you will need to have a basic understanding of DOS and how batch files work. With a text editor you can create a menu file which is a text file with an MNU extension. Or, you can copy and then modify the text file QUICK.MNU which displays the menus you see when MarxMenu is executed. This text file contains a set of instructions for MarxMenu to follow. MarxMenu will then read your menu file and run the instructions. A menu file might look as follows: Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 5 _______________________________________________________________ DrawBox 31 5 18 4 UseArrows Writeln ' W - WordStar' Write ' L - Lotus' OnKey 'W' CD\WORDSTAR WS OnKey 'L' CD\LOTUS LOTUS The above example is a fully working MarxMenu program. Just because MarxMenu has 600 commands doesn't mean you have to use them all. The reason there are so many commands is that people keep calling me up and asking if I can add such and such. Most of the time I do. That's why the manual gets behind sometimes. The instructions must be from the vocabulary of words that MarxMenu understands. These words make up the command list included in this manual. They must be used precisely as the instructions in this manual tell you to use them. This process is called programming. I know that for many of you the word programming is a scary word. Put your fears at ease, MarxMenu is one of the easiest programming languages there is. It is a little harder than writing batch files and a lot easier than Basic. It requires a working knowledge of DOS and an understanding of writing batch files as explained in your DOS manual. The point that I want to make is, do not let the fear of learning and the fear of programming prevent you from learning to write your own menus. If you have never touched a computer before and are sitting down with your first PC, read the manuals first. Become familiar with the MS-DOS operating system. Learn how to write batch files, make subdirectories, copy files, format floppies, etc. If you don't understand something, ask a friend. All of us had to learn sometime, and there is no such thing as a stupid question. After you have mastered some of the basic concepts of the operating system, then learn MarxEdit. This is the text editor included with your MarxMenu program. Use it to write your own batch files. Then attempt to write your own menus by modifying the sample menus (files with a MNU extension) which come with MarxMenu. Print these menus and study them, referring to this manual for help on command definitions. You do not have to completely understand them to start making changes. Programming is a trial and error process. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 6 _______________________________________________________________ A computer, like a musical instrument, is only as good as the player. The more you learn about it the more you'll find it can do. In fact, a computer can help raise your effective IQ as you learn the disciplines of logic and reason. As a hammer is a tool of the hand, enhancing your physical strength, a computer is a tool of the mind, enhancing your mental strength. You will learn that as you develop a relationship with your computer, that you will be able to process information in ways you never dreamed. MarxMenu is an excellent learning tool. By the time you become proficient with the menu language, you will have learned the fundamental concepts behind the MS-DOS operating system. You will find yourself going back and forth between this manual and the DOS manual that came with your computer. When you master the language, you will have enough computing skills to be a real resource in your office environment. In this day and age, knowing how to "make the damn things work" is a key in moving up the corporate ladder. If you have sufficient excess income to afford a personal computer, or are in a job that provides you with a workstation, you are smart enough to learn this program. All it requires is that you take the time. You can do it. It is worth your time, and you will make up the time spent in the results you'll get. Good luck and enjoy. WHAT MARXMENU DOES WHAT MARXMENU DOES WHAT MARXMENU DOES So with hundreds of menus on the market, what makes this one so great. Well, let me tell you about it. MarxMenu is a menu language rather than a fill in the blank kind of menu. MarxMenu gives you total control of your computer system. It is also a job control language allowing you to program processes too difficult to do with batch files. MarxMenu can be used to do anything from overnight batch job processing to generating control scripts for mainframes. Because of it's simple syntax, MarxMenu makes an excellent teaching language putting more programming power in the hands of the student programmer than any other programming language. As a menu, MarxMenu can be as simple or as complex as you want. If you want simple, nothing is easier. If you want POWER, nothing is more powerful. If you want to get really weird, MarxMenu can do really wierd. So if you want the menu to remind you to go vote, MarxMenu knows when the first Teusday after the first Monday in November on even years is. If you are into Astrology, and you want certain menu items to appear only if Mars is in the right place in the sky, MarxMenu can calculate the orbit of Mars for you. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 7 _______________________________________________________________ MarxMenu can be used to program games, write running software demos and online tutorial programs. It can be used to write testing programs. It can be used to write custom software installation programs. It can be used to assist other applications to make other software more network friendly. MarxMenu has a compiler for high speed execution. Even very large menus come up in under 4 seconds on a 4.77mhz IBM XT on an ArcNet lan. The compiler also provides security in that you can keep your source files separate so no one can alter the menu files. THE MARX.BAT FILE THE MARX.BAT FILE THE MARX.BAT FILE In order for MarxMenu to work, a MARX.BAT file must be created. This is done by typing INSTALL. The first thing that INSTALL does is unpack the compressed menu files and documentation files. Then it will bring up the installation menu. The MARX.BAT file looks like this: @ECHO OFF C:\MARX\MARXMENU.EXE %1 %MXCMD% %0 %1 The first line of MARX.BAT turns the echo off. This may be changed to ECHO ON for debugging purposes. PAUSE commands can be inserted to debug a menu. This allows you to see what's going on. The second line of MARX.BAT runs MARXMENU.EXE. The second parameter %1 is the name of the menu file to run. A third parameter can be added to tell MarxMenu to use a specific directory for creating temporary batch files. Otherwise MarxMenu will create temporary batch files in the same directory as MARXMENU.EXE. When the user selects a program to run, MarxMenu writes a temporary batch file which contains within it the commands to run the program. Then MarxMenu writes a command to the environment variable MXCMD to execute the temporary batch file and exits. What it writes depends on the version of DOS you are running. If you are running DOS 3.3 or later, MXCMD is set to CALL <batch>. If you are running an earlier version of DOS then MXCMD is set to COMMAND /C <batch>. Whatever command is written to MXCMD is executed in line 3. This usually calls the temporary batch file that MarxMenu created. This executes your program and returns to MARX.BAT. Line four jumps back to the beginning of the batch file and starts all over. %0 is MARX.BAT and %1 is the name of the menu you are running. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 8 _______________________________________________________________ MARX.BAT -------- +--MarxMenu Creates--+ +----> @ECHO OFF | | | MARXMENU.EXE %1 | | %MXCMD% >--+ +-> $MX00000.BAT | +--> MARX %1 + | ------------ | | | +----------------------> CD\WORDSTAR +-|------<-----+ WS --+ | | +-------------------------------------------<-+ Note: MarxMenu sets MXCMD = CALL $MX00000.BAT You can also tell MarxMenu where to put it's temporary batch files by setting an environment variable TEMP to point to a temporary file directory. Example: SET TEMP=F:\TMPFILES This is compatible with the way DOS 5 and Windows uses temp files. When you exit the menu system. MarxMenu sets MXCMD to MXSTOP. This jumps to a batch file called MXSTOP which gets you out of MARX.BAT. MXSTOP.BAT can be modified to control what happens when MarxMenu is exited. The default MXSTOP.BAT file is as follows. SET MXCMD= SET KSV= REM You can control menu exiting with this file! Note that by adding your own commands to MXSTOP that you can control what happens when you exit. You could loop right back to the menu if you want. Or, you could force a controlled network logoff. I strongly recommend upgrading to DOS 3.3 or later whenever it is possible to do so. The name of the temporary batch file is as follows: $MX00000.BAT |||| Shells--------+|++--------Network Station (Hex) Task Number The 5 zeros are used for single user versions of MarxMenu. On a network they change as follows: Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 9 _______________________________________________________________ The last 2 zeros is the station number on the network. This is either read directly from the shell, if you are using Novell, or from the environment variable STATION if you are on another network. The third zero is the task number if you are running DesqView, or from an environment variable TASK if you are running some other multitasker. The second zero is replaced by one less than the number of COMMAND.COM shells you are running. This way if you run COMMAND.COM under MarxMenu and then run MarxMenu again under that, it doesn't get lost when you exit. The first zero is for future expansion. In case something comes along that I haven't thought of. If you want to do custom tricks, MarxMenu has an internal variable called MxCmd. Setting this to your own command overrides the way MarxMenu would normally use it. But now you ask, does MarxMenu leave a trail of batch files that will clutter up my drive or network? Not at all. MarxMenu keeps using the same names over and over again. If a user crashed his system, it might leave a batch file but it would be overwritten the next time he used the menu. Not only that, all batch files can be kept in the same directory so cleaning up is as simple as typing DEL $MX*.BAT! By writing to the MxCmd variable you can run an EXE or COM file directly without having to create another batch file. Example: OnKey 'M' |MxCmd = 'RAMMAP' This runs RamMap directly from the MARX.BAT file. Another trick is to run another batch file without the CALL statement. This creates a one way jump to another batch file. Another debugging feature. You can change the first line of the MARX.BAT file as follows: @ECHO %MXECHO% This allows you to turn the echo on for debugging purposes by typing: SET MXECHO=ON This way you don't have to change the MARX.BAT file to debug. If you use this, make sure that MXECHO is set to either ON or OFF. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 10 _______________________________________________________________ DROPTO.BAT DROPTO.BAT DROPTO.BAT If you are going to run a shell like COMMAND.COM under MarxMenu it is sometimes better to use DROPTO.BAT which is created during the install process. DropTo allows you to jump from the temporary batch file that MarxMenu creates to DropTo, which deletes the temporary batch file and executes the rest of the command line. Usage: DROPTO %0 COMMAND.COM If you are using DropTo inside a MarxMenu, the %0 is automatically added for you. Example: OnKey 'C' DropTo COMMAND.COM DROPTO.BAT ---------- DEL %1 SET KSV= SET MXCMD= %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 Here's how it works: $MX00000.BAT <------deletes this file--------+ ------------ | DROPTO %0 COMMAND.COM ------------> DEL %1 >-+ SET KSV= SET MXCMD= %2 executes COMMAND.COM--> %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 The advantages are that the temporary batch file is eliminated so if the user never returns to the menu, it leaves no temporary file to clutter up the drive. Also, DROPTO.BAT becomes the pending batch file that is running rather than the temporary file. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 11 _______________________________________________________________ SUPPORT FOR EARLY DOS VERSIONS SUPPORT FOR EARLY DOS VERSIONS SUPPORT FOR EARLY DOS VERSIONS There are two main differences between DOS versions earlier than 3.3 and versions 3.3 and above. One is the CALL command for batch files and the other is the way you specify environment space when using COMMAND.COM. I have enhanced the support for early DOS versions (3.1, 3.2). MarxMenu executes COMMAND /C /E:nn (batchfile) >NUL to have one batch file call another. The first two lines of the batch files created are as follows: ECHO OFF CTTY CON .... This eliminates the ECHO OFF from being seen. Also whenever possible, when MarxMenu loads up a copy of COMMAND.COM, it adds the /E:nnn command to set the environment space to the same as that of the Master Environment. In version 3.1 it is translated to paragraphs instead of bytes. One thing to note in early versions of DOS. If you run a batch file under COMMAND /C and your batch file has SET commands to set environment variables, the changes you make will disappear as soon as you get back to MARX.BAT. Why? Because you loaded another COMMAND.COM and the SET commands set its environment. When this COMMAND.COM ends, it takes its environment with it. Under DOS 3.3 or later, which uses CALL instead of another shell, the SET commands live. (Yet another reason to upgrade). ABOUT ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ABOUT ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ABOUT ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES I've been talking a lot about environment variables. Some of you out there in novice land don't know what an environment variable is. Many others don't know the intricate secrets handed down from the Great DOS Masters who know all the intricate undocumented features of DOS. Your DOS shell, COMMAND.COM owns an area of memory called the Master Environment. It contains strings in the form Name=Value. Included among those strings are your COMSPEC and your PATH. Your COMSPEC tells DOS and other programs where to find COMMAND.COM. Your PATH tells DOS and other programs what directories to search when loading programs. Another common environment variable is your PROMPT. This controls what your DOS prompt will look like. Environment variables are commonly set using the SET command. This is done by typing SET NAME=VALUE. Example: SET COLOR=BLUE Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 12 _______________________________________________________________ So what does this actually do? Actually nothing, unless you have a program that reads the environment variables that is looking for one called COLOR. This way, environment variables can be used to leave messages to other programs and control how they behave. Besides leaving messages, environment variables can be accessed by batch files. If you use %NAME% in a batch file, DOS will substitute the VALUE of the variable for the %NAME% expression. And this feature is important to MarxMenu's operation. MarxMenu uses an environment variable called MXCMD. In the MARX.BAT file the third line is %MXCMD%. So MarxMenu controls MARX.BAT by writing values to MXCMD. In order to do this, there must be enough room in the environment for the command to fit. That is why you need to make sure that you have a SHELL command in your CONFIG.SYS to set space for MarxMenu to use. Now so far I've only talked about the Master Environment. That's the one that the first COMMAND.COM owns. Each program that is loaded, including TSRs, gets a copy of the Master Environment in its own environment. This is called the CURRENT Environment. One interesting feature of the Current Environment is that it is smaller than the Master Environment. DOS only creates enough space to hold a copy of the space used in the Master Environment and a little more to store the name of the program that is running. If one program executes another program, the environment of the parent program is called the Parent Environment. You will probable never need to deal with the Parent Environment but MarxMenu can access it in case you do. Another environment is the SHELL ENVIRONMENT. This is the one that THEY never talk about. The one you'll never read about in any books. The one you'll never learn about in any DOS classes. This is the one your parents never mentioned. The Shell Environment is normally the same as the Master Environment. But, if you are running more than one level of COMMAND.COM, the Shell Environment is the environment of the last COMMAND.COM in memory. This environment is the most important environment to MarxMenu. So why load up two or more COMMAND.COMs? There are several cases where this could occur. One case is when you want to run COMMAND.COM as a program under MarxMenu. This way you can type EXIT to get back to the menu. If you do this and then run MarxMenu again, you have two levels of COMMAND.COM. In this case, the first COMMAND.COM is the Master Environment and the second COMMAND.COM is the Shell Environment. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 13 _______________________________________________________________ Another place where more than one COMMAND.COM is used is if you are running Microsoft Windows 3 or DesqView. Both of these programs are able to run a DOS shell. When you do, this is a second level of COMMAND.COM. What is important is that SET commands and %NAME% commands in batch files deal only with the Shell Environment and not the Master Environment. DEALING WITH MULTIPLE DOS SHELLS DEALING WITH MULTIPLE DOS SHELLS DEALING WITH MULTIPLE DOS SHELLS If you are running more than one level of COMMAND.COM (Shelling from Windows, DesqView, Word Perfect Office) and having environment space problems here's a trick. Before you load up your fancy shells, put this in a batch file like your AUTOEXEC.BAT. SET MXCMD=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This variable will be trashed by MarxMenu thus freeing up the environment space it occupied. This will not only allow MarxMenu to run but may solve problems with other programs you are running that need environment space as well. MARXMENU AND TSR CONTROL MARXMENU AND TSR CONTROL MARXMENU AND TSR CONTROL MarxMenu along with the TSR utilities that come with MarxMenu, can load and unload TSRs under menu control. This is handy when you want to run a big application and need to free up some memory to do it. Since MarxMenu is a 0k menu system, unloading TSRs is possible but it has it's tricks. The problem you run into is that when one batch file calls another batch file, the way MarxMenu normally runs, DOS creates a small batch file control block in memory. This control block stays in memory after the TSR is released creating a region of trapped memory. Although this memory is freed, it isn't usable. The way around it is to jump to the batch file that releases memory instead of calling it. This is done by setting MXCMD to the name of the batch file you want to run. The only problem is that when you jump to the other batch file, it won't automatically return to MARX.BAT. You must therefore end your batch file with a command bringing you back to MARX.BAT. MEMHOG.BAT ----------- Rem UnLoad SideKick RELEASE SK CD\MEMHOG MEMHOG MARK SK SK MARX MAIN Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 14 _______________________________________________________________ In your MAIN menu: OnKey 'H' |MxCmd = MEMHOG See the documentation file on the TSR utilities disk for more information on how to use MARK and RELEASE. SAMPLE MENUS ON DISK SAMPLE MENUS ON DISK SAMPLE MENUS ON DISK The MarxMenu disk contains many sample menus for you to start with. Which one depends on what your needs are. Typically on a single user system you might start with QUICK or LEVEL1 menus. To start with the QUICK menu, copy it to a different name such as MY.MNU as follows: COPY QUICK.MNU MY.MNU Then edit MY.MNU with your favorite editor. You will quickly see how this menu works and will be able to substitute your programs for the ones it is set up for. You can then test and run your menu by typing MARX MY. If you want more of a self configuring menu you might try the LEVEL1 menu. This menu requires no text editor coding and lets you set up menus interactively. On a Novell network you might start with the QUICKNOV menu or translate your existing Novell menus with NOVTRANS. The LOGIN menu requires a lot of customization for your system. I wouldn't start on this menu until your regular menus are written. The examples on disk show a variety of uses for MarxMenu. They can be used like libraries of routines to cut code from and paste into your application. A good way to learn MarxMenu is to print out the example menus and study the code. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 15 _______________________________________________________________ NETWORK USERS: NETWORK USERS: NETWORK USERS: The main thing you have to worry about on a network is to make sure that when MarxMenu creates a temporary batch file, that it is a different one for each user on the network. This is handled several ways. If you are on a Novell network, MarxMenu uses your station number as part of the name for the temporary batch file. If you are not using Novell, then you will need to set an environment variable STATION for each workstation on your net. Each one has to be a different number. Example: SET STATION=5 You must ensure that the user has enough access rights to create temporary batch files in the directory selected for temporary batch files. One solution is to create a batch file directory and give all the users full access rights to it. MarxMenu has been run on about every DOS based network that exists. If the network runs at all it will generally run MarxMenu. Among the networks that come to mind are Novell, Lantastic, Banyan, 3COM, Lan Manager, IBM, DECNET, ConCurrent DOS, PCMOS, and SCO VPIX. MarxMenu is running on networks as small as two users to as large as 20,000 users. In fact, the bigger your network, the more you need MarxMenu. If you are running LANTASTIC and get a "sharing violation" error when two people try running the menu at the same time, try setting MARXMENU.OVR to READ ONLY. NETWORK MENU STRATEGY NETWORK MENU STRATEGY NETWORK MENU STRATEGY One of the main features of MarxMenu is the ability to create "smart" menus. This allows you to have a single menu that everybody runs but each user sees different selections based on what their access rights are, what groups they are in, what kind of hardware is available, or what workstation they are on. The group access feature is a very good example of using the power of MarxMenu. The idea here is that for instance under Novell you would put users in groups and have menu selections appear based on group membership. Thus only the accounting department sees the payroll selection. On non Novell networks you can group users by having them in a text file list of members. Then you can read the list and test if they are in the list. You can also read environment variables and control choices based on the result. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 16 _______________________________________________________________ The rule with networks is to keep things as consistent and simple as possible. A simple well documented network is a happy network, and it can make the difference whether you go home on the weekends or stay at the office. NOVELL USERS: NOVELL USERS: NOVELL USERS: Novell is the most popular network on the market. We have added many enhancements for Novell networks to support things like logging in and logging out, drive mapping, group support, software metering, and status information. Although Novell is a high quality solid product it has its own "Personality" and many undocumented features otherwise known as bugs. Most people who are having trouble with MarxMenu under Novell are really having trouble with Novell. Quite frankly, we do more Novell support than we do MarxMenu support. Having said that, I own two Novell networks. One at the lab and one at home and I love my networks. But, I have spent hundreds of hours learning all the tricks. And to save you a phone call, and me a lot of time, I've decided to share these tricks here in my manual. Some of these tricks are from the Great Network Gurus themselves who are so advanced that they no longer exist in physical form. These people live in another dimension of total mental existence and can only be reached by modem. Some of them hang out on Compuserve. I therefore strongly recommend that if you are a serious Novell user that you join Compuserve and hang out in the Novell section. And just because not everyone on Compuserve is a real person doesn't mean that you should feel uncomfortable asking them any question about your network that you need to ask. THE NOVELL MENU TRANSLATOR THE NOVELL MENU TRANSLATOR THE NOVELL MENU TRANSLATOR One nice bonus with Novell networks is that MarxMenu can translate your Novell menus to MarxMenu. This saves you the time of having to recode your system. What you do is type: MARXMENU NOVTRANS <menu> <- Right Way MARX NOVTRANS <menu> <- Wrong Way This translates your Novell MNU file to a MarxMenu MRX file. Your MNU file is unchanged. MarxMenu creates a TMP file containing the source code for the MRX file. Once you are satisfied with the MarxMenu file, you just delete the MNU file and rename the TMP file to MNU and forget that you ever had a Novell menu. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 17 _______________________________________________________________ Once the menu is translated you run it by typing MARX <menu> instead of MENU <menu>. MarxMenu can run Novell's menu better than Novell runs their own. Sometimes the translator isn't perfect and it takes a little tweaking of the original menu file for the translator to work properly. After you are satisfied with the translation you can then start enhancing your menus by editing the new translated menus. You might want to run QUICKNOV and look at it's features. If you like what you see you can use your editor to cut and paste code from QUICKNOV.MNU into your menus. You can also start adding NovInGroup commands to create conditional menus. Under MarxMenu you can have one single smart menu for everybody instead of a lot of individual menus. LOGGING OUT UNDER MENU CONTROL LOGGING OUT UNDER MENU CONTROL LOGGING OUT UNDER MENU CONTROL Logging out under menu control is one of the trickiest things to do. The problem is that as soon as LOGOUT executes, you no longer have access to the network. This means that if you are in a batch file, you are going to get a "Missing Batch File" error, unless the batch file is in the \LOGIN directory. Another problem with logging out is making sure that your COMSPEC is pointing to a COMMAND.COM that is either on the local drive or in the \LOGIN directory. Otherwise you will get a "Cannot load COMMAND.COM" error. Another problem that you need to deal with is that your PATH command needs to be changed so that it doesn't refer to mapped drives that are no longer accessable. If you are logging off with a batch file, the batch file must be in the login directory or a local drive. If it is in the login directory your current drive must be the first network drive (usually F:) and this drive must not be map rooted to any directory. What you need to do is create a batch file in the \LOGIN directory called OFF.BAT. Example: F:\LOGIN\OFF.BAT SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM LOGOUT C: PATH=C:\DOS To run this file the current directory must be F:\LOGIN. When using the MarxMenu command Logoff, MarxMenu changes to the \LOGIN directory of the first network drive, removes any map roots on this drive, and runs OFF.BAT. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 18 _______________________________________________________________ Setting up an OFF.BAT file is compatible with MarxMenu's automatic network logoff feature. This is where you can set the amount of time to wait at a menu before it automatically logs you off the network. Another way to logout under MarxMenu is to stuff the LOGOUT command into the keyboard buffer and exit MarxMenu. Example: OnKey ESC |StuffKBD 'LOGOUT' + CR |ExitMenu Another logout trick is to use the LOGOFF utility from the Computer Tyme Network Survival Kit. This program automatically fixes your PATH and COMSPEC after the logoff occurs. LOGGING IN WITH MARXMENU LOGGING IN WITH MARXMENU LOGGING IN WITH MARXMENU If there is any one thing that's trickier than logging out of a Novell network, its logging in. I have spent MANY hours struggling with Novell trying to get it right and I have finally figured it out. Much of this comes from the Novell gurus who hang out on Compuserve and know everything there is to know about Novell. The first thing you need to do is make up your mind that you are going to do it right. The technique here might seem somewhat cumbersome, but it works well and will keep you out of trouble. MarxMenu has the ability to log you into a network, map your drives, and set your environment strings without having to touch a Novell utility to do so. MarxMenu can completely eliminate the need for Novell login scripts. The advantage to using MarxMenu in the login is that you have the power of 600 commands to work with instead of just 25 or so. USING NOVELL'S LOGIN USING NOVELL'S LOGIN USING NOVELL'S LOGIN For those of you who want to stay with Novell's login program here's some tips to keep you out of trouble (And my tech support lines open). The last command in your system login script needs to be EXIT "batch name". This batch file will be the continuation of your login logic and end up jumping to the menu system. This is where TSR's can be loaded. Never load a TSR or run the menu from within a login script. Until the login script finishes, LOGIN.EXE is in memory and it uses over 100k. The first rule is don't use personal login scripts unless you have to. The simpler the login, the easier it is to maintain. Try to do as much as possible in the batch file you exit to. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 19 _______________________________________________________________ MarxMenu can be run from this batch file as a post login processor. In this case MarxMenu isn't being used as a menu but as a programming language that is capable of very powerful login logic. The batch file might look as follows: MARXMENU POST.MNU <load TSR's> MARX MAIN In POST.MNU you can set environment variables, test for directories, write batch files, read user lists, map drives, or any number of things that are useful to the login process. THE CONFIG.SYS FILE THE CONFIG.SYS FILE THE CONFIG.SYS FILE The place to start is the place where DOS start when DOS boots. You MUST create a CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk. The CONFIG.SYS tells DOS how many files and buffers to create, what device drivers to load, and the size of the Master Environment. Unless you are using special drivers, BUFFERS=40 and FILES=40 is a good place to start. STACKS 0,0 will gain you an extra 3k of ram. But the most important command is the shell statement. A CONFIG.SYS file might look like this: SHELL=COMMAND.COM /P /E:400 BUFFERS=40 FILES=40 DEVICE=ANSI.SYS This sets up enough environment space to allow MarxMenu and DOS SET commands to work properly. You will also want to load any other device drivers like QEMM386.SYS or 386MAX.SYS to take advantage of other features of your computer. If you don't know about CONFIG.SYS files, read the DOS manual. Network Note: If you don't have a local hard disk and are booting from a floppy drive, set BUFFERS=4. If you are booting from a diskless workstation, set BUFFERS=1. BUFFERS are used for local drives only and have no effect on network drives. You save 1k of memory for every 2 buffers you don't use. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 20 _______________________________________________________________ THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE After the CONFIG.SYS is loaded the AUTOEXEC.BAT runs next. Here you load up your TSRs and network drivers. There are some important tricks to be used here as well. First of all, never load your network shell from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Always have it branch to another batch file called LOADNET to load the network shell. Use the autoexec.bat only to load special TSRs and the IPX. An autoexec.bat might look like this: @Echo Off Cls IPX SET NET=NETX.COM SET COMSPEC=O:COMMAND.COM LOADNET The two SET commands are very important. The first sets a variable called NET to NETX.COM. This will be used later in LOADNET.BAT. By using this variable, you can have users running many different versions of DOS and still use the same LOADNET.BAT file. You could also use a command SET NET=LOADHI EMSNETX.EXE to take advantage of advanced memory manager software. Another trick is to run BESTNET from the Network Survival Kit. BestNet will automatically pick the best network shell and set the NET environment variable for you. You would use the command BESTNET instead of SET NET=NETX.COM in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The SET COMSPEC=O:COMMAND.COM is important if you are booting off of either a floppy drive or a diskless workstation. This assumes that O: will eventually be mapped to a directory on the network that has a valid COMMAND.COM in it. It is important to set the comspec BEFORE loading your NET shell. This prevents a problem where Netware wants to go back to the boot disk even after you change the comspec. I don't know why this works but it does. Trust Me. If you are going to use COMMAND.COM on drive C:, ignore this paragraph. Now we go to the LOADNET.BAT file. @Echo Off %NET% SET NET= F: STARTUP Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 21 _______________________________________________________________ The big concept behind LOADNET is that this file is NEVER CHANGED. You put in on all your workstations and in the LOGIN directory and it is EXACTLY THE SAME for every computer in your network. Any changes to individual computers are made in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. So why is this important. Because if you are running diskless workstations what happens is that while you are booting you have a mythical drive A:. As soon as your NET shell loads this drive dissappears out from under you and you end up in F:\LOGIN. If you are running LOADNET.BAT when this happens you drop out of A:LOADNET.BAT and land in the middle of F:\LOADNET.BAT. And if your LOADNET.BAT is exactly the same file as the LOADNET.BAT in the \LOGIN directory, you take off running like the transition never occured. Even if you are not running on diskless workstations now, you might go to it someday. It also creates good programming habits and helps you boot up cleanly. Lets see what LOADNET does. The first line is @ECHO OFF, that's easy. The second line %NET% executes the network shell that you specified with the SET NET=NETX command. This actually loads the network shell. The third line clears the NET variable freeing up space for other environment variables. F: switches you to drive F if you aren't there already. And finally STARTUP is the name of yet another batch file you jump to. The STARTUP.BAT file controls what happens AFTER LOADNET runs. This file can be freely changed so that LOADNET.BAT can stay the same. This lets you modify what happens AFTER the network shell is loaded. If you are using Novell's login program STARTUP.BAT might look like this: @Echo Off LOGIN THE SHELL.CFG FILE THE SHELL.CFG FILE THE SHELL.CFG FILE The SHELL.CFG file is used by Netware to configure the Netware shell. You should read the manuals on this to see if you need any of the many options available. I suggest you at least have the following commands in your SHELL.CFG file. cache buffers=4 show dots=on The master network gurus tell me that cache buffers are just a waste of memory and do not provide any better performance. Every 2 cache buffers not used saves you 1k of memory. Show dots makes your network compatible with more software utilities and should be set on unless you have some other reason not to. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 22 _______________________________________________________________ USING A MENU FILE TO LOG IN USING A MENU FILE TO LOG IN USING A MENU FILE TO LOG IN If you are going to use MarxMenu to log in instead of Novell's utilities, you will want to print out the sample file LOGIN.MNU on your MarxMenu disk and study it. Your STARTUP.BAT file might look like this: @Echo Off SET BOOTUP=LOGIN MarxMenu Login %BOOTUP% If MarxMenu works correctly, it will change the environment variable %BOOTUP% to point to a file that it creates. If for some reason it fails (you make a mistake in the login), it will execute Novell's login and let you get in and fix it. You will have to modify the LOGIN.MNU for your system. The one that I supply will not work on your system. It is to be used as a sample only and provide ideas for your login menu. One word of caution. After modifying this menu, always run MARXCOMP LOGIN to compile it. Otherwise, if you boot up into it you won't have enough access rights to recompile automatically. NOVELL SEARCH DRIVES NOVELL SEARCH DRIVES NOVELL SEARCH DRIVES MarxMenu and Network Survival Kit files need to be in the search path. You can copy the files into a directory that is already in the search path or create a new directory and add it to the search path. Here is a suggested setup. ---+--- SYSTEM | +--- MAIL | +--- LOGIN | +--- HOME -----+--- FRED | | | +--- BARNEY | +--- PUBLIC ---+--- DOS | +--- UTIL | +--- NSK I would use MAP ROOT and set up the following mapped drives: Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 23 _______________________________________________________________ MAP ROOT H: = \HOME\BARNEY MAP ROOT U: = \PUBLIC\UTIL MAP ROOT N: = \PUBLIC\NSK ;Network Survival Kit MAP ROOT O: = \PUBLIC\DOS MAP ROOT P: = \PUBLIC Set PATH=H:\;U:\;N:\;O:\;P:\; The idea here is that the users home directory is searched first. Then the util directory where various network goodies and batch files are kept. Then the NSK directory where only NSK and menu file are. Then the DOS directory where only your original DOS files are. And finally PUBLIC which contains only Novell utilities. Traditionally, with Novell networks, searches have been set up using the current directories of paths such as: Set PATH=H:.;U:.;N:.;O:.;P:.; I have found that since the addition of the MAP ROOT enhancement that this traditional method is not as flexible. SETTING FILE ATTRIBUTES SETTING FILE ATTRIBUTES SETTING FILE ATTRIBUTES Historically Novell has recommended setting file attributes to Shareable and Read Only. This was to deal with DOS 3.0 and earlier and network dumb programs. This is now an obsolete process and if you are in the habit of doing this it's time to quit (Unless you are still running DOS version 2 on your workstations). I personally flag all my network files Normal as a way of catching network dumb programs. MarxMenu is a network smart product. It therefore isn't recommended that any file flagging be done on Computer Tyme software. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 24 _______________________________________________________________ NOVELL SEMAPHORES NOVELL SEMAPHORES NOVELL SEMAPHORES For a detailed explanation of Novell Semaphores, read the Novell manuals. What I've done is to export these functions to MarxMenu. I have implemented them slightly different than Novell did and have hidden all the nasties from you such as semaphore handles. All semaphores are accessed by name only. Here's a brief overview of semaphores. Semaphores are names of shared resources that the server keeps track of. Semaphores have three properties. They have a name, value and number of users. The name can be anything up to 48 characters long. The value is a number from -128 to 127. If the value is less than 0, the resource the semaphore represents is considered used up. By opening a semaphore, you increase the number of users by one. By closing it, you decrease the number by one. If a single user opens a semaphore many times, it is only counted as one. When you log out, your semaphores are closed. This is also true if you turn your computer off, but it takes 15 minutes for the server to give up on you. The first user to open a semaphore creates it. The last user to close a semaphore deletes it. When a semaphore is created, a value can be assigned. If a semaphore is opened that already exists, the initial value is ignored. When NovWaitOnSemaphore is called by any user, the value is decremented. If the value is not below zero, NovWaitOnSemaphore returns true. Otherwise it returns false and the value is unchanged. The amount of time that NovWaitOnSemaphore will wait is controlled by the variable NovSemaphoreTimeOut. When NovSignalSemaphore is called by any user, the value is incremented. This allows other users to call NovWaitOnSemaphore and get a True value. NovSemaphoreUsers and NovSemaphoreValue are used to read the status of a semaphore without changing it's value. One of the major differences between how MarxMenu uses semaphores and the way Novell uses them is that normally a semaphore dies when the application finishes. This would normally prevent a 0k menu system from being able to use them. MarxMenu uses an interesting trick where it fools Netware into thinking that the semaphore belongs to another task. This allows the semaphore to live. Semaphores can be tracked using FCONSOLE. Some versions of Netware have a bug in FCONSOLE that reports an open count that is 256 times the real count. Just divide by 256 for the right number. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 25 _______________________________________________________________ Semaphores can be used for software metering. This allows MarxMenu to be aware of what other users on the network are doing. Here are the basic tools, what you do with them is only limited by your imagination. RUNNING A MARXMENU RUNNING A MARXMENU RUNNING A MARXMENU MarxMenus are run by typing MARX and the name of a menu file such as QUICK.MNU. As discussed earlier, the menu file is a text file created with a text editor such as TEDIT. Usage: MARX <Menu Filename> Example: MARX QUICK In the above example, if SAMPLE.MRX doesn't exist, or is older than SAMPLE.MNU then MarxMenu will automatically load the complier, MARXCOMP.EXE to create a new SAMPLE.MRX file. In the never ending quest for more speed, MarxMenu is somewhat faster to load if you include the MRX extension. Example: MARX QUICK.MRX By specifying the MRX extension, no test is made to compare the file date with the source file. Thus if you have changed the MNU file, you will still be running the old version. In order to force a recompile, type MARXCOMP QUICK. UPGRADING MARXMENU UPGRADING MARXMENU UPGRADING MARXMENU When installing an upgraded version of MarxMenu be sure to copy the MARXMENU.EXE, MARXMENU.OVR and MARXCOMP.EXE files into your MarxMenu directory. A very common mistake is not copying the MARXMENU.OVR file. If you forget this file MarxMenu will lock up when you try to run it. If you are on a network and anyone on the network is using the menu you won't be able to copy over MARXMENU.OVR. You will have to wait to after hours or chase everyone off the network to install the upgrade. A common mistake occurs when you copy the MarxMenu file into a working directory and someone else has the MARXMENU.OVR file open and you fail to notice that it failed to copy. If MarxMenu starts locking up after an upgrade this is probably why. Make sure the file dates on MARXMENU.EXE and MARXMENU.OVR are the same. After installing the new MarxMenu, all your menu files will have to be recompiled. This should happen automatically, but if you are on a network and the users don't have enough access rights the compile will fail. You can recompile all your network menus as follows: Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 26 _______________________________________________________________ WHEREIS *.MNU|DOLIST MARXCOMP @L If you are using MarxMenu to log into the network then be sure to copy the new MarxMenu files into your LOGIN directory and recompile your LOGIN menu. If you install MarxMenu in one directory and then move it to another you will have to run MARXMENU INST to recreate the batch files for that directory. Make sure that the MarxMenu files are on your PATH. Any time you upgrade MarxMenu should work as well or better that the previous version. Occasionally I make a mistak so you might want to copy your present NSK directory to another temporary directory until the upgrade is complete and tested. This gives you the ability to go back to the old one should the need arise. This procedure should be followed on software upgrades from other vendors as well. CUSTOMIZING MARXMENU SAMPLE FILES CUSTOMIZING MARXMENU SAMPLE FILES CUSTOMIZING MARXMENU SAMPLE FILES Included in the MarxMenu package are menu files which you can easily modify to execute your programs and perform other functions you desire. Using TEdit, the text editor included in this package, you can modify and customize these menu files. Also included to demonstrate the power and versatility of the menu system is a menu labeled NIM.MNU. This is a game written in the menu system that demonstrates some of the logic functions and programmability of the system. Use it for reference. Here's a simple example of a menu file: =================================== ClearScreen DrawBox 30 9 25 8 Writeln ' 1) Lotus' Writeln ' 2) dBase' Writeln ' 3) Wordstar' Writeln Write 'Select: ' OnKey '1' cd\lotus 123 OnKey '2' cd\db3 db3 OnKey '3' cd\wordstar ws Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 27 _______________________________________________________________ ==================================== Notice in looking at the "OnKey" statements that all I have to do is tell MarxMenu how to get to the program. Although, MarxMenu takes care of reloading itself after exiting a selected program, its does not return to its own subdirectory as many other menu programs do. That means that if you execute a program in another subdirectory, when you come back to the menu, you remain in that subdirectory. If you normally run your applications with a batch file, consider having MarxMenu change directories and execute the program for you. This will eliminate debugging problems caused by the actions of your batch files. MENU ANALYSIS MENU ANALYSIS MENU ANALYSIS Let's start a simple analysis of the example menu file shown above. The ClearScreen statement simply clears the screen to give us a fresh workspace for the menu. DrawBox is the command to draw a box on the screen to contain some menu text. The Writeln command writes a line of text to the screen within the box, then positions the cursor on the next line. The menu text shows the available selection keys that the user has access to. ONKEY STATEMENTS ONKEY STATEMENTS ONKEY STATEMENTS The OnKey statements control what is actually executed. OnKey statements also allow you to execute hidden commands when you do not want them to appear on the menu screen. One trick I use is to have an OnKey statement define a key that runs TEDIT on my personal menu file. I don't show this key on the menu to keep others from poking around in the file. For additional security a password can also be set up on this key. Normally you enter a line of text as if you were creating a BAT file to run your application. Like batch files, if one of your commands is a batch file, all the statements after it will not execute. To prevent this you can use the CALL command to call a batch file in DOS 3.3 or later, or COMMAND /C in DOS 3.1 and 3.2. Normally, text displayed under an OnKey statement is the same text as the batch file created by MarxMenu. There are some exceptions. If a line starts with a "|" (vertical bar), the line will be interpreted by MarxMenu instead of being written to a batch file. This allows commands such as "PASSWORD" to be used. String variables can be passed as part of a batch command if the name of the string variable starts with a "%" symbol. The spaces preceding the commands under the OnKey statement are for clarity only. They are not necessary for MarxMenu to function properly. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 28 _______________________________________________________________ POPUP MENUS POPUP MENUS POPUP MENUS If you want to create a popup menu within a menu you can do so by using a "label". A label is a keyword preceded by a colon. To call the popup menu, place the keyword on a line by itself preceded by a carat (Shift 6). The label will precede the popup menu definition. For example if you have a popup menu to load Smart Software, you could name the PopUpMenu Smart. To bring up the Smart PopUpMenu, define a key in your main menu for Smart like this: OnKey 'S' ^Smart The Smart menu itself might look something like this: :Smart BoxHeaderColor ForeColor BackColor BoxBorderColor Yellow Green BoxInsideColor LCyan Green InverseColor Yellow Red BoxHeader = ' Smart Menu ' DrawBox 45 16 20 6 UseArrows 2 2 16 3 ClearLine 205 Writeln Writeln ' Data Base' Writeln ' Spread Sheet' Write ' Word Processor' OnKey 'D' SM D OnKey 'S' |BoxHeaderColor ForeColor BackColor |BoxBorderColor Yellow Green |BoxInsideColor White Green |%1 = PickFile('C:\SMART\SPREAD\*.WS',4,5,17) SM S -ALOAD %1 OnKey 'W' |BoxHeaderColor ForeColor BackColor |BoxBorderColor Yellow Green |BoxInsideColor White Green |%1 = PickFile('C:\SMART\WORD\*.DOC',4,5,17) SM W -ALOAD %1 Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 29 _______________________________________________________________ While developing the menu, program one of the keys to run your favorite editor on the menu file that you are creating. This way, as soon as the change is made, the results will show when you exit your editor. Since MarxMenu allows versatility in creating the look of your menus, a little trial and error will be required to make things look right. THE CONSOLE THE CONSOLE THE CONSOLE +---| Console Functions |---+ | 1 - Blank Screen | | 2 - Set Blank Message | | 3 - Lock Keyboard | | 4 - Set Blank Time | +---------------------------+ The Console is a popup menu of built-in functions. To activate the console, press the TAB key. A menu will pop-up in the upper left hand corner of the screen. You can change the position of this popup menu with the ConsolePos function. The first command on the Console screen is Blank Screen. Enter 1 and the screen will blank immediately. It will remain blanked until a key is pressed. Enter 2 on the Console menu and you can change the message displayed on the Blank Screen display. Enter 3 and you will be prompted for a word to lock the keyboard. After you enter the lock word the screen will blank and the keyboard will be locked until the exact lock word is typed. Enter 4 to set the number of minutes to wait before blanking the screen. The lock word feature is handy for times when you must leave the keyboard but don't want menu commands displayed for all to see. It also effectively locks the keyboard so someone can't escape to DOS and test the format command on your hard disk. We run this menu on a Novell Network and don't want to let everyone have access to the Supervisors' power at the touch of the escape key should we leave the keyboard. REPOSITIONING THE TOP WINDOW REPOSITIONING THE TOP WINDOW REPOSITIONING THE TOP WINDOW One nice feature you can use to get the windows right is to turn on the scroll lock. This lets you move the top window around the screen using the arrow keys so you can see how it looks. Then you can go into your menu code and set it permanently. Set Scroll Lock to "on". On most keyboards, a scroll lock LED will light up. Now use the arrow keys to move the top window to any position on the screen. Neat Huh? Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 30 _______________________________________________________________ MOUSE SUPPORT MOUSE SUPPORT MOUSE SUPPORT If you have a standard mouse driver, MarxMenu will detect it and use it automatically. The left button on the mouse is the same as pressing return. The right button on the mouse is the same as pressing escape. Pressing both buttons on the mouse is the same as pressing the tab key. As of now, I'm not yet using the center button on the mouse for anything. The sensitivity of the mouse can be controlled using the MouseHorizontal and MouseVertical commands or bY setting environment variables MOUSEX and MOUSEY. STARTING OFF THE EASY WAY STARTING OFF THE EASY WAY STARTING OFF THE EASY WAY For those of you who want to just get a menu going and don't want anything complicated we have included a menu called the LEVEL1 menu. This menu is a fill in the blank type of menu that will get you going quickly and easilly. This menu requires no programming and explains itself. You run it by typing the command: MARX LEVEL1 The first thing it does is scan your drive to find the directories. Then you just answer the questions and fill in the menu. This isn't as powerful as programming your own menu, but if you want something quick and dirty, this may be the answer for you. ABOUT VARIABLES ABOUT VARIABLES ABOUT VARIABLES One of the most unusual things about MarxMenu is its variables. MarxMenu handles variables differently than any other programming language. For the experienced programmer, this may require some adjustment since it's like getting used to driving a Cadillac after driving a VW Beetle. All variables in MarxMenu are like an empty box that can contain anything. A variable can be a number, boolean, string, file, array, etc. The type of variable is controlled internally and the user need not declare variable types. Variables are created with the VAR command: Var X Y Z If the word VAR is on a line by itself, the following lines, up to a blank line, are considered variable names. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 31 _______________________________________________________________ Var MyAge YourAge HisAge HerAge Variables are initialized to null values; 0 for Numbers, False for Booleans, and '' for strings. Initial values can be set when the variable is created. Var X = 6 MyName = 'Marc' Programmer = True Variables can change variable types. If you write a number to a string variable, the variable changes to a number. X = '234' X = Value(X) This is valid in MarxMenu. X now is a number and contains the value 234. When choosing variable names, it is good programming practice to choose long meaningful names. This allows yourself and others to be able to read menus and follow the logic more easily. NUMERIC VARIABLES NUMERIC VARIABLES NUMERIC VARIABLES MarxMenu supports two kinds of numbers, 32 bit integers and real (floating point) numbers. Integers are whole numbers in the range of plus or minus 2,147,483,647. This gives you a wide range of numbers but no fractions. With integers the answers to division are always rounded down thus: 7 / 3 = 2 Numbers beginning with a '$' indicate base 16 or hex numbers. Example: $20 is the same as 32 Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 32 _______________________________________________________________ BOOLEAN VARIABLES BOOLEAN VARIABLES BOOLEAN VARIABLES Boolean variables are True or False. For example: var Adult Adult = True if not Adult then Write 'You must be 21 to enter.' Boolean values can be set by computation: Example: Adult = Age >= 21 In this example the result of Age >= 21 is stored in the variable Adult. If you use a boolean variable by itself, MarxMenu assumes you are setting it to on. Thus: ClearScreenOnExit is the same as: ClearScreenOnExit On STRING VARIABLES STRING VARIABLES STRING VARIABLES String variables are limited to 255 characters. In MarxMenu, string literals are delimited by either single or double quotes. "This can't be yogurt!" 'Lincoln said "Four score and seven years ago ..." ' REAL NUMBERS REAL NUMBERS REAL NUMBERS So what's the difference between ordinary numbers and real numbers? Ordinary numbers in MarxMenu are 32 bit integers. These are numbers whose range is about plus or minus two billion. Integers are whole numbers and do not include any fractions. This is why MarxMenu has included REAL numbers (also known as Floating Point numbers). Real numbers in MarxMenu use BCD (Binary Coded Decimal) with 18 digits of accuracy. They have a range of 10 to the plus or minus 63rd power, which means up to 63 zeros either side of the decimal point. This lets you work with very big and very small numbers. MarxMenu has smart rounding algorithms so that 1.0 / 3 * 3 = 1.0 and not 0.999999999999999999 like in most languages. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 33 _______________________________________________________________ Real numbers are specified by using a decimal point. Thus 5.0 specifies a real number. Most normal MarxMenu functions still require the standard 32 bit integers. If you get the error: 'REAL found where INTEGER expected.' You need to use an integer. If an integer is passed where a real is expected, the integer is automatically converted to a real. Thus: 6.0 * 3 = 18.0 The Value function returns real numbers if a decimal point is used in the string. All the relevant math functions will work with reals as well as comparison operators. MarxMenu supports a variety of functions for real numbers. It has trig functions, log functions, and exponential functions. So why do you need real numbers in a menu program? I don't know. I had a library and threw them in. I figure someone will need them someday. With real numbers you can do trigonometry calculations like those discovered by the ancient Indian chief Pythagoras who discovered what is now known as Pythagoras's triangle. Now I know that a lot of you were taught in Math class that Pythagoras was Greek. Well, it's just not so. Let me tell you the real story: Pythagoras was an Indian chief that had three wives. Two of the wives were twins and weighed 120 pounds each. And they sat next to Pythagoras on a pair of twin deer hides. But Pythagoras also had a third wife who was a large fat woman who sat across from Pythagoras on a hippopotamus hide. This wife weighed 240 pounds. What Pythagoras discovered was that the squaw on the hypopotamus was equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides! LOCAL VARIABLES LOCAL VARIABLES LOCAL VARIABLES MarxMenu also supports local variables. Variables declared within procedures become local variables. Local variables are just like global variables in that you can use them as multidimensional arrays. When the procedure finishes, all local variables are disposed. If a local variable has the same name as a global variable, the local variable will be used. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 34 _______________________________________________________________ DATES DATES DATES Dates in MarxMenu are stored as the number of seconds since Junuary 1st 1980. This gives MarxMenu a Date range of 68 years. By subtracting two dates, you get the number of seconds between two peroids of time. MarxMenu has several commands that convert text strings to dates. Here are some examples of how MarxMenu sees text dates. Examples: '4-7-91' ;04-07-1991 00:00:00 'April 7th, 1991 4:35pm' ;04-07-1991 16:35:00 '12:35:23a' ;04-07-1991 00:35:23 '3:15' ;04-07-1991 03:15:00 If the string can't be converted, then the variable BadDate is set to true. MarxMenu can also convert dates to strings by using the DateString and TimeString commands. PASSING PARAMETERS TO PROCEDURES PASSING PARAMETERS TO PROCEDURES PASSING PARAMETERS TO PROCEDURES Procedures can accept parameters by declaring variable names on the same line as the name of the procedure. Procedures can return variables by using the Return command. Return exits the procedure returning the parameters on the same line as the Return statement. Example: Procedure Factorial (X) var Y Z Y = 1 Z = 1 while Y <= X Z = Y * Z Y = Y + 1 endwhile Writeln X ' factorial is ' Z EndProc In this example, if you were to use Factorial (5) you would get: 5 factorial is 120 Another Example: Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 35 _______________________________________________________________ Procedure AskYesNo (Question) var YesNo DrawBox (34 - (Length(Question) / 2)) 21 Length(Question) + 14 3 TextColor LCyan Blue UseArrows Off Write ' ',Question,' (Y/N) ' YesNo = UpperCase(ReadKey) YesNo = YesNo = 'Y' if YesNo Write 'Yes' else Write 'No' endif Wait 50 EraseTopWindow Return (YesNo) EndProc if AskYesNo 'Do you want to continue? ' then Continue In this example, MarxMenu draws a box and asks a question and waits for a Yes or No answer. Arrays can be passed as parameters. Parameters are passed by value not by reference. This means that any changes to the passed parameter do not affect the original value. You can copy an array by assigning it equal to another array. Example: Array1 = Array2 This creates Array1 with a copy of all the elements of Array2. The previous contents of Array1 are overwritten. ABOUT CONSTANTS ABOUT CONSTANTS ABOUT CONSTANTS Constants are used to give values meaningful names. By using constants a value can be assigned once and the constant name used throughout the menu program. This way, if you change the value of the constant, all the places where that constant is used automatically change. This is good programming practice. Examples: Const States = 50 CPU = '80386 SX' WeekEnd = True or Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 36 _______________________________________________________________ Const States = 50 CPU = '80386 SX' WeekEnd = True Using the word STATES is just like using 50. Using CPU is just like using '80386 SX'. But if throughout my menu I use CPU, and then I get a new computer with a 80486, I can just change one line: Const CPU = '80486' And all the places I used CPU changes to '80486'. This is the correct way to program. ABOUT ARRAYS ABOUT ARRAYS ABOUT ARRAYS MarxMenu supports multidimensional arrays up to 31 dimensions. Unlike other programming languages, arrays need not be declared. MarxMenu creates arrays "on the fly" and automatically takes care of the array size and number of dimensions. Another unusual feature of MarxMenu arrays is that they are an array of MarxMenu variables. This means that elements of MarxMenu arrays need not be of the same type. Element 1 can be a number, element 2 can be a string and element 3 can be another array. This type of variable management leads to the easy creation of very powerful data structures as you will see. Var X X[1] = 'Element 1' X[2] = 3 X[3] = True X[4,6] = 9 X[4,7] = 'Ten' These are all valid statements. MarxMenu creates a two dimensional array here. If we now execute the following statement: X[4] = X[4,6] + X[2] X[4] becomes equal to 12 but variables X[4,6] and X[4,7] are lost. This is because we have changed an array into a number. MarxMenu automatically handles the deallocation of memory used by this array and its elements and returns the space the used to the memory pool. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 37 _______________________________________________________________ ABOUT QUALIFIERS ABOUT QUALIFIERS ABOUT QUALIFIERS Qualifiers are named indexes into arrays. They are used to make the source menu file more readable and more organized. Suppose we are creating a data structure to deal with places in the United States. First we will need an array for States. Var States We want to store some facts about the states. Qualifier Population Bird Motto County State[3].Population = 10000000 State[3].Bird = 'Chicken' State[3].Motto = 'Best politicians money can buy!' Now states have counties and counties have county seats, sheriffs, and cities. Qualifer Sheriff Seat City State[3].County[7].Sheriff = 'Buck InBred' State[3].County[7].Seat = 'Possum Trot' Now counties have cities and cities have schools, mayors, churches, and taxes. Qualifier Schools Mayor Churches Taxes State[3].County[7].City[9].Schools = 8 State[3].County[7].City[9].Mayor = 'Virgil Collins' State[3].County[7].City[9].Churches = 120 State[3].County[7].City[9].Taxes = '$100,000,000' The above line is the same as: State[3,4,7,3,9,4] = '$100,000,000' Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 38 _______________________________________________________________ As you can see with qualifiers, it is easy to create multidimensional arrays in a way that is organized and readable. In this example, the qualifier Population became equal to 1. Bird became equal to 2. The variable references, State[3].Bird and State[3,2] are the same. It's just that one is more readable than the other. Qualifiers normally begin by assigning 1 to the first name and 2 to the second etc. This can be modified. Qualifier Color = 7 Size Shape In this case Color becomes the number 7; Size becomes the number 8; and Shape becomes the number 9. POINTER VARIABLES POINTER VARIABLES POINTER VARIABLES In MarxMenu variables can point to other variables allowing parameters to be passed to procedures by referrence as well as by value. A pointer variable stores the location of another variable. Any time a pointer variable is accessed, MarxMenu acts upon the variable that the pointer variable is pointing too. Pointer variables are set using the Loc (location) command. Example: Var A B C A = Loc B MarxMenu supports complex location pointers and pointers to other pointers. MarxMenu will resolve all referrences till real data is found. Example: B = Loc A C = Loc B C[5] = 20 Writeln A[5] ;returns 20 Pointers can also be passed as parameters to procedures. Thus if A is an array of strings we can sort A as follows: Procedure SortTest (TestArray) SortArray(TestArray) EndProc SortTest (Loc A) ;sorts array A Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 39 _______________________________________________________________ COMMENTS IN MENU FILES COMMENTS IN MENU FILES COMMENTS IN MENU FILES MarxMenu has three ways to add comments to a menu file. The first way is with the Comment command. Comment ======================== This is a comment block. ======================== EndComment All lines up to EndComment are ignored. The second way is with a ';'. All text to the right of the ';' (semicolon) is ignored. BlankTime = 20 ;this is where we set the blank time. The third way is using {} or curly braces. Anything inside the curly braces is ignored. Curly braces can be nested. {All of {this} is a comment.} Comments are ignored by the compiler and cost you nothing in execution speed. Comments can save you a lot of time if you have to come back later and work on your menu, or if someone else has to work on it. Therefore, I encourage you to use comments as much as possible. THE MARXMENU COMPILER THE MARXMENU COMPILER THE MARXMENU COMPILER MarxMenu reads your MNU files and creates MRX files. These MRX files are a highly digested form of the MNU file that you created. MRX files are the compiled files. When you run MarxMenu, the interpreter MARXMENU.EXE looks for the menu file with the MRX extension. If it doesn't find it, MARXMENU.EXE will automatically load MARXCOMP.EXE and compile the menu. MARXMENU.EXE also compares the file dates of the MNU and the MRX files. If the MNU file is newer than the MRX file, the compiler will be loaded. MarxMenu will also force a compile if the MRX file was not compiled by the same version and release date of the MarxMenu you are using. MRX files are not compatible from one version of MarxMenu to the next. You can also force a compile from the command line by typing MARXCOMP <menu>. If you are on a network and using MarxMenu to log you in, make sure you run the compiler if you change your login menu file. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 40 _______________________________________________________________ Once your menus are written, you can remove the MNU file and MARXCOMP.EXE from the system. This prevents anyone from modifying your menus. The MRX files are scrambled for security. This prevents probing eyes from reading strings in the MRX files. MARXMENU LANGUAGE RULES MARXMENU LANGUAGE RULES MARXMENU LANGUAGE RULES MarxMenu interpretation is left to right and doesn't have any operator precidence. You can control the order of evaluation by using parentheses. Examples: 2 + 3 * 4 ;returns 20 2 + (3 * 4) ;returns 14 if A > 4 or B < 6 then ... ;error if (A > 4) or (B < 6) then ... ;correct Statements are limited to one line and lines are limited to 200 characters. COMPILER COMPATIBILITY COMPILER COMPATIBILITY COMPILER COMPATIBILITY The MarxMenu compiler is fully compatible with earlier versions of MarxMenu with a few exceptions. The new compiler does a lot more error checking than earlier versions of MarxMenu and will catch errors that you used to get away with. Other than that, the only difference you should notice will be a speed increase. Earlier versions of MarxMenu had separate names for variable types. The names $VAR, BVAR, #VAR, and FILEVAR act the same as typing VAR. Very early versions of MarxMenu had a different form of the USEARROWS command that required 4 to 5 numbers after it. If you run into this error, just get rid of the numbers after USEARROWS and it will work fine. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 41 _______________________________________________________________ A WORD ABOUT DOS VERSIONS ..... A WORD ABOUT DOS VERSIONS ..... A WORD ABOUT DOS VERSIONS ..... Versions of DOS below 3.3 will cause MarxMenu to use 3.5k of ram where 3.3 DOS and above use no memory. 3.2 DOS is very buggy and should be replaced. 3.1 DOS isn't too bad for bugs but if you're using the BACKUP and RESTORE programs that came with it, you're in trouble. They don't work on large files. You'll find that out if you try to restore one of them. MS-DOS 4.01 seems to be pretty clean provided you have the April-89 release or later. To determine if you do, check the file date on COMMAND.COM. Earlier versions of DOS 4.01 have SERIOUS BUGS. If you are running any DOS 4 earlier than April-89 you should upgrade immediately. We are happy to announce that MarxMenu runs under DOS 5.0 with no problems and requiring no modifications. One feature implemented is the Idle Loop call which allows MarxMenu to conserve CPU power when it's not doing anything. This makes it work better under DesqView and Windows. Speaking of Windows, MarxMenu is not a Windows program. It can however be used to start Windows programs and is can be run under Windows. Windows however is an extremely unstable environment. If for some reason you're having trouble with MarxMenu and Windows, it's Windows fault. In spite of glowing reviews that magazine writers seem compelled to write, I reccommend avoiding Windows unless you have a program that requires Windows to run. DR-DOS or EZ-DOS are pretty good also. It is very compatible as long as you don't get too strange with it. I recommend version 3.4 or later. DR-DOS has a nasty COMSPEC bug in versions 5 and 6 when running a second command.com shell started from a network drive. 4DOS is also pretty good but sometimes some of the advanced features in this product can cause it to behave differently than DOS. This requires extra care when writing your menus. MarxMenu should work correctly on 386 type multiuser operating systems such as Digital Research's Concurrent DOS 386 or SCO VPIX DOS emulators and PCMOS. Under these systems you will have to set the TASK environment variable if you are running MarxMenu in multiple tasks. MarxMenu will not run correctly under DesqView 2.26. It will run under 2.25 or 3.21. So if you are running 2.26, it needs to be upgraded. MarxMenu contains several support functions for DesqView including DesqView API calls to control the DesqView environment. Although I haven't tested MarxMenu in the OS/2 1.3 compatibility box, I have had good success with MarxMenu under OS/2 2.0. I have been able not only to run DOS programs but OS/2 programs as well. If set up right MarxMenu can spawn multiple tasks of both DOS and OS/2 applications. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 42 _______________________________________________________________ If you are running under some weird DOS and are having problems, try it under "regular" DOS and see if it goes away. If it does, try to find out what it is about your weird DOS that makes it not work right. I am interested in being compatible with as many systems as I can. Let me know if you are having problems. But also, try to get your weird DOS vendors to clean up their act. A WORD ABOUT BUGS ..... A WORD ABOUT BUGS ..... A WORD ABOUT BUGS ..... Although I try to create perfect bug free software, every now and then even I make a mistak. If you find one, let me know and I'll fix it. My standard is to not only have all the functions of MarxMenu work correctly, but to be as intuitive and full featured as possible. TIPS FROM THE MASTER TIPS FROM THE MASTER TIPS FROM THE MASTER Since MarxMenu is a programming language, I want to talk about what programming is and how it is accomplished. I want to dispel some myths and fears relating to it and introduce you to techniques that will help you write code neatly, quickly, and efficiently. From the outside, programming looks like magic; but once you know a few of the tricks, its really not too hard. Many of us who were raised on 50s and 60s science fiction television learned that it is the brainy types who deal with computers. It almost gives you the impression that the computer is smart and you are dumb. As you use the computer, it is evaluating you, and if it figures out that its smarter than you, it can get your job and replace you. COMPUTERS DO SIMPLE TASKS COMPUTERS DO SIMPLE TASKS COMPUTERS DO SIMPLE TASKS A computer is a simple device. It does simple tasks. It just does them very fast and accurately. Computers don't even know basic things like how to write letters on the screen or how to read the keyboard. These are programs that the computer runs. Someone had to program your computer to do even the simplest of tasks. As you learn to use MarxMenu start with the simple menus. The SAMPLE.MNU is a very easy program. Study it and understand how it works. Make a copy of it and change one selection to run one of your programs. Once you have changed one selection, change several more. Now MarxMenu is running your programs, and you have made it work. Then try something new. Add more selections. Change the size and position of the box to fit your needs. Take the time to play with it. Try new commands. Build up your menu. Be artistic. The more you work with it, the more you will learn. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 43 _______________________________________________________________ COMPLEX TASKS ARE MADE OF SIMPLE TASKS COMPLEX TASKS ARE MADE OF SIMPLE TASKS COMPLEX TASKS ARE MADE OF SIMPLE TASKS As you learn more about MarxMenu, move on to QUICK.MNU. Here we use more of the power of the MarxMenu language. As you study this menu, you will notice something. Even though it looks complex, it is really a collection of simple tasks. Understand how the moving windows work. Understand that the pop-up menus are just like the main menu. You will see that it is really not a complex menu at all. It is a lot of simple processes hooked together. That is one of the main concepts behind programming. Complex tasks are built out of simple tasks. As you learn the simple tasks, you will quickly understand how to connect them to accomplish complex tasks. When one sees a castle, one can't help but to be impressed. But castles are made of stones. And you can't build castles until you understand how stones work. Then you realize that a castle is just a bunch of stones hooked together. Programming is just like that. To successfully understand MarxMenu, start at the bottom and work your way up. Each little trick you learn becomes another building block for the next trick. What you start with becomes the foundation for the work that you will eventually produce. LEARNING GOOD PROGRAMMING HABITS LEARNING GOOD PROGRAMMING HABITS LEARNING GOOD PROGRAMMING HABITS Programming has its pitfalls, here I hope to give you some tips that will help you avoid common mistakes. This, I hope will give you a head start on the road to MarxMenu being done right. The first concept is patience. Rome wasn't built in a day. You may not be able to write grand and glorious menus the first try. In fact, you may have trouble getting the damn thing to work at all. As you have probably already noticed, no program is perfect. Sometimes there are errorrs in the manual. Sometimes it just doesn't work like you expected, or does not work the same way as other programs that are familiar to you. But, once you complete the installation, give it some time and realize that there is a lot of potential here. Approach all challenges with a good attitude. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 44 _______________________________________________________________ USE LONG NAMES USE LONG NAMES USE LONG NAMES I learned computers the hard way. Out on the streets. Hanging around with other computer nerds in the late 70s who never went to college either. I was known as a Bit Wit. My first real computer was an IMSAI kit. Actually, it wasn't all IMSAI, it was a combination of several kits where no two boards came from the same supplier. It was in an IMSAI box, so I call it an IMSAI. It was all supposed to work together the salesman told me the day before they went out of business. And it all did after some redesigning. I was tired of fixing CB radios for a living and decided that computers were here to stay and that I was going to learn about them. With that in mind, everything that went wrong became an opportunity for growth. Not that I looked forward to things not working. I programmed the thing from scratch, loading binary codes into memory from an array of switches on the front panel. The first program I wrote ran the EPROM burner, which was the only storage device I had. After I saved this program on a chip, I used it to load the second program onto the chip. Eventually I wrote enough software to talk to the screen and keyboard. Now I could type hex codes on the screen and save them to a chip. Eventually I wrote a tape driver and could save stuff on tape. Later, I traded for a North Star disk drive and had a disk system. One 90k floppy. I thought I was in heaven. I was intimately familiar with my computer. All my programs were in object code with no documentation whatsoever. At that point, a friend of mine, Rufus, turned me on to a language called FORTH. Being an interesting language and very powerful, I typed in the whole compiler in hex and adapted it to work on my system. Once I got Forth up, I wrote a line editor in it. I then used the line editor to write a screen editor. With the screen editor, I rewrote Forth in Forth. The language compiled itself. From working with Forth (which is as much a religion as a programming language) I learned both good and bad habits. Forth is a write only language and is almost impossible to read even with the best of documentation. On the other hand, it is as close to the machine as you can get in a high level language. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 45 _______________________________________________________________ After opening up a computer store in 1984, it became time to make the jump from CP/M to the DOS world. Turbo Pascal offered an interesting solution. They had both a CP/M and DOS compiler. This meant that programs I wrote would run on both machines. The thing that struck me about Pascal was that I could read it better than Forth, and I didn't even know the language. Not only that, but I could follow the programs that other people wrote and incorporate their code into my programs. The more programs I wrote, the more I came to appreciate a language that was reader friendly. I could manage my programs much easier without having to remember so much. Other people could follow what I was doing easier. The important thing I learned was that readability is very important in a program. The more complex the program, the more important readability becomes. One of the main design factors in the MarxMenu language is readability. I could have used short names for my commands and it's not like I like to type. I'm still on just two fingers here. Its just that descriptive names are so much more meaningful when putting simple processes together to create complex processes. The point (finally) is, when creating variable names, or procedure names, use long meaningful names. It may take more typing, but it takes a lot less thinking and remembering later on. Consider the following example in choosing variable names. Var KlingonsDestroyedInBattle Var K In the above example, it is obvious which one tells you more about what information is stored in the variable. USE COMMENTS LIBERALLY USE COMMENTS LIBERALLY USE COMMENTS LIBERALLY Even though MarxMenu is easy to read, it still should be commented. The examples that come with this disk do not have as many comments as they should. Don't do as I do, do as I say. I'm lazy and a bad example. Comments are not compiled in your MRX files and cost you nothing at execution time. In order to make commenting easy, I have provided three separate comment commands. Learn these commands first. Every menu should include a title comment. This should include the name and phone number of the person who wrote it. If you have a problem with a menu and you send it to me, I expect a title comment. That way I can call you about it. Comment ==================================================================== Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 46 _______________________________________________________________ This comment was created by Marc Perkel 1-417-866-1222 Last Updated: 01-28-90 This form of comment block is better than using ';' because not using ; allows you to turn your word wrap feature on and do some professional looking editing in the comment block. This kind of comment block should be at the beginning of each and every menu you create. The top and bottom bars are for looks only and are not necessary to the comment. I strongly encourage you to use bars and do things for looks in source code. Looks are very important and you should put as much care into your comments as you do in writing a business letter. If you learn MarxMenu well, your source code may be part of your next job interview as you move up the corporate ladder. So you want it to look good. By the way, if you upload your menus to my bulleten board, I expect a comment block at the top of your menu with your phone number so I can get back to you. ==================================================================== EndComment INDENT YOUR CODE INDENT YOUR CODE INDENT YOUR CODE As programs get more complex, it gets harder to match the IFs with the ELSEs and the ENDIFs. This is where indenting comes in. It creates a logical grouping of statements and you can easily see what goes with what. Procedure IfDemo IF <condition> <statement> <statement> ELSEIF <statement> ELSE <statement> <statement> WHILE <condition> <statement> <statement> ENDWHILE <statement> ENDIF <statement> EndProc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 47 _______________________________________________________________ You can easily see how this helps you follow what you are writing. Now here's a new trick. If you are using an IF, and plan to use an ELSE and an ENDIF, on the line under the IF statement, type in your ELSE and ENDIF lines. Then go back and insert your statements in between these lines. This will help you avoid forgetting the ENDIF or getting mixed up as to which IF matches which ELSE. A similar trick can be done with parens and brackets. When typing a left paren, type the matching right paren with it. Then fill in the code you want to put inside the parens or brackets. FOR DUPLICATE TASKS, USE PROCEDURES FOR DUPLICATE TASKS, USE PROCEDURES FOR DUPLICATE TASKS, USE PROCEDURES As menus become longer and more complex, many times you are duplicating a process that you already have written. Although it is easy to copy a block of code, it is better to create a procedure. With procedures, the process is put in one place and is given a name. Preferably a long meaningful name. Once this procedure is defined and named, it can be used as if it were part of the MarxMenu language. This makes menus smaller and easier to read. It is also a way for you to combine small processes into large processes. Procedures can be built using other procedures. Once you have a process figured out and working in a procedure, the whole process becomes a black box with a name that you can use elsewhere. The whole process is reduced down to a name that just works! Another advantage of procedures is that if circumstances change and the procedure needs to be modified, you only make a change one place in your menus, and everything that uses that procedure is automatically changed. This makes menu maintenance easier. DON'T PROGRAM YOURSELF INTO A CORNER DON'T PROGRAM YOURSELF INTO A CORNER DON'T PROGRAM YOURSELF INTO A CORNER Using the above techniques will allow you to write very complex menu systems. Failing to use these techniques can limit what you can accomplish. There is a term called "programming yourself into a corner" which refers to a program that is so poorly written, that it can't be modified to accommodate changes and improvements. The height of your programming abilities depends on the foundation on which they are built. You must avoid rushing to the top without first creating a firm foundation on which to build. Good technique is the foundation for good programming. You will have to learn it eventually, it is more efficient to do it right than it is to do it over. Adopting good programming habits reminds me of my favorite light bulb joke: Q. How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 48 _______________________________________________________________ A. Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change. FOR THE POWER USER: FOR THE POWER USER: FOR THE POWER USER: I originally wrote MarxMenu on a dare. I said that in one afternoon I could write a better menu system than one of the most popular menu systems. I met the challenge and then found that there is a lot of demand for power in a menu system. Friends started asking for this and that feature and this program has gone far beyond what I ever intended. The demand for more features has outpaced my ability to keep up with the documentation standards that I expect from other software packages that I buy. Please bear with me. If you find any errors in the manual, or bugs in the program, please let me know and I'll try to correct any problems. I also appreciate your suggestions for improvements. Many of the features included are a result of requests you have made. Many of you are using this program in ways I never dreamed. The main design philosophy behind this product is POWER and Flexibility. I am also committed to keeping the source code as readable as possible. I am loyal to the concept of using NO RAM. None of MarxMenu stays resident. Because of this I can claim that if you are having some kind of problem, it's not the fault of MarxMenu being resident, because MarxMenu is not resident. Also, using NO RAM allows loading of TSR's (memory resident programs) from the menu. For computer consultants, MarxMenu is an excellent way to make money. You can provide your clients with professional looking menu systems customized (by you) to fit their needs. You can provide complex menu structures not possible with any other menu system. And, because MarxMenu uses NO RAM, you don't have to worry about conflicts between MarxMenu and any other software product. Although MarxMenu is copyrighted, the program is not copy protected. There is nothing to prevent you from making hot copies and giving them away to all your clients. I would like to point out that when you give away something you should be selling you lose respect from your clients and attract those who expect you to work for free. You will make more money if you play by the rules. My best and most profitable clients use no hot software whatsoever. Think about it. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 49 _______________________________________________________________ WHERE MARXMENU IS HEADING WHERE MARXMENU IS HEADING WHERE MARXMENU IS HEADING MarxMenu will continue to grow and develope. Because MarxMenu is an overlaid program I have the ability to add as many features as I want without slowing down load or processing speed. In fact MarxMenu is 10 times as fast today as it was in 1989 and its vocabulary of commands has grown 10 times as well. I'm often asked the question, what other operating systems will I support? Will there be a Windows version? An OS/2 version? Unix? Let me say first that my primary commitment is to the OS that most people actually use, and that is DOS. I am not moved by the industry politics. I focus on the systems that make computers and networks actually work. So for those of you who are asking the question "Will there be a Windows version of MarxMenu?" The answer is no. The reason is in my view, windows is too unstable a platform in which to develop code for. As I see it, Windows is a programmer angry environment and is fatally flawed by design. I consider this path a mistake and a mistake that I am not going to make. Will there be an OS/2 version? Likely. This OS seems to be going in the right direction. I have been able to control both DOS and OS/2 tasks from the VDM. Although the two major OS players are equally arrogant on what OS they are going to force down our throats, at least the one from IBM actually works. A WORD TO WRITERS AND REVIEWERS A WORD TO WRITERS AND REVIEWERS A WORD TO WRITERS AND REVIEWERS MarxMenu is a multi-level product fulfilling the needs of a large variety of computer users. It is difficult to compare this product on a feature to feature basis. This is because MarxMenu has about 10 times as many features as any other menu system. These features allow this product to target a very broad variety of computer users, from the novice user, who will only use the LEVEL1 menu, to large companies with hundreds of file servers controlled through the MarxMenu language. One common mistake that writers make when evaluating MarxMenu, is in the area of ease of use. If you are looking for ease of use, stick with the simple menus and the self-configuring menus such as the LEVEL1 example. By looking at it this way, MarxMenu will be as easy to use as any other menus system out there and can be compared for similar features. Even though MarxMenu supports complex commands, it is not necessary to use them in simple menus. If you are doing a comparative review, please let me know on what basis you are making comparisons. This way I can assist you by providing you accurate information in the area of your interest. If you are looking for simple, I can show you simple; if you are looking for power, I can show you power. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 50 _______________________________________________________________ On the other hand, if you are reviewing power tools and network utilities, you might want to look at the Network Survival Kit and not just MarxMenu. So if you have a copy of only this program, give me a call and I'll get you the latest and greatest. In addition to our software, we also have color prints and color slides available as well as product literature and sample reviews. These are available to make your job easier and help you make those deadlines. MarxMenu tends to be best reviewed as a long article rather than a short one. It is very good if you have a lot of space to fill. With a long article, you can get really in depth with what MarxMenu is able to do. Any publication which reviews any of my products gets a site license to that product whether I like the review or not. Our position is that if you are using MarxMenu yourself, you will get to know it better. So far, as of the date I write this, no writer has written an article about MarxMenu that I feel covered what this product is really capable of doing. Consider this a challenge. Any questions you have about any of my products, feel free to call. The main thing I ask is that you get the product name, price, our address, and our phone number right. USING MARXHELP USING MARXHELP USING MARXHELP MarxHelp is a TSR pop-up help program for MarxMenu. It acts as an online reference guide to all of the MarxMenu commands. MarxHelp only takes 8k of ram and is very useful while writing your MarxMenu applications. To load MarxHelp type MARXHELP at the command line. Then if you want to pop-up an index press Shift-F3. The Shift-F2 key will repeat your last help topic and Shift-F1 will look up the word your cursor is on. To get more help on MarxMenu type MarxHelp /?. If you need to unload MarxHelp from memory, type MarxHelp /U. MarxHelp comes with the Computer Tyme Network Survival Kit. It can also be downloaded from our support BBS. It does not come bundled with the single user version. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 51 _______________________________________________________________ PRINTING THE EXAMPLE FILES PRINTING THE EXAMPLE FILES PRINTING THE EXAMPLE FILES MarxMenu comes with several example programs from simple to complex. The first thing to do is print the sample menus and study them. Start with the easy ones. You may never need to use any of the more complex ones, but if you do, a large variety of advanced techniques are demonstrated. By studying the sample menus, and comparing them to this manual, it should be fairly easy to become productive writing your own menus. SECURITY ISSUES SECURITY ISSUES SECURITY ISSUES Different users have different security needs that range from none to extreme. If you are in the nine category, then you can skip this chapter. But if you need all the security you can get, then read on. First of all, DOS is not a secure operating system. There are various third party programs out there but what I'm going to cover here is how to make DOS secure as possible working with what you get with DOS. The first thing to do is add the command BREAK=OFF to your CONFIG.SYS file. This prevents programs from breaking out of batch files. Avoid using commands that are internal DOS commands like DIR from inside a menu or inside batch files. Use the D.EXE program instead. Use the LockWord option in the screen blanker so that if a menu is left unattended, it will not be accessable to just anyone walking up to a machine. The LockWord command requires the user type a password to release the screen blanker. If you are on a Novell network, you can use the UseNovPassword command. This forces the user to type their Novell password to unblank the screen. If a menu choice accesses sensitive materials, then put a password on it. Also, make sure the SUPERVISOR user has a password. There are many times I've walked up to a server and logged in as supervisor and got right in. Make sure that intruder detection is set on. If you don't know what intruder detection is, read the Novell manuals. You can also use the LogoffTime command to log users off the network after a given amount of inactivity. This also helps kick people off so that you can upgrade MarxMenu from time to time. (MARXMENU.EXE can't be copied over on a network unless all users are out of the menu.) If you have applications that allow you to shell to DOS, you can prevent them from getting to DOS by changing your COMSPEC to point to something other than COMMAND.COM. You could also rename COMMAND.COM in case a program is looking for this file by name. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 52 _______________________________________________________________ Another defense is to lock the door to the computer room at night and teach employees security policies and make sure they use them. Security policies include such rules as not having your password written on a stick-em note stuck on the side of your monitor. If you are on a network, buy diskless workstations. People can't copy files on or off a network that doesn't have a disk drive. It helps keep viruses off your server and lets the network administrators control what is and isn't on the network. MARXMENU COMMANDS MARXMENU COMMANDS MARXMENU COMMANDS MarxMenu contains a rich set of commands. They are listed here alphabetically and by command category. You don't have to learn them all so don't let the size of the list scare you. In the following command list, words contained within ( ) are command parameters that must be included after the menu command. If the parameter is not required, it will be contained in [ ]. The numeric range for the <column> parameter is 1 - 80 decimal, and for the <row> parameter the range is 1 - 25, 43, or 50 decimal depending on how many lines your monitor displays. | (Vertical Bar) | (Vertical Bar) | (Vertical Bar) Forces MarxMenu interpretation under an OnKey Command. If not for the | (Vertical Bar), the command under an OnKey would be written to a batch file. The | is only used under OnKey commands. Example: OnKey 'S' |password 'hello' 3 4 ECHO Type EXIT to return to menu COMMAND.COM OnKey 'X' |if UpperCase(ReadEnv('USERNAME')) = 'SUPERVISOR' SYSCON |else | SecurityBreach('You do not have access to this function!') |endIf Category: Misc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 53 _______________________________________________________________ ( : Operator ( : Operator ( : Operator Starts logical interpreter grouping. Used to force evalution of an expression other than the normal left to right order. Example: 2 * 3 + 2 evaluates to 8 2 * ( 3 + 2 ) evaluates to 10 Category: Misc ) : Operator ) : Operator ) : Operator Ends logical interpreter grouping. See Also: ( Category: Misc * : Operator * : Operator * : Operator Multiplies two numbers. Category: Math, Float + : Operator + : Operator + : Operator Adds two numbers or two strings. Example: "Hello" + " " + "World" = "Hello World" 2 + 2 = 4 Category: Math, String, Float - : Operator - : Operator - : Operator Subtracts two numbers. Category: Math, Float / : Operator / : Operator / : Operator Divides two numbers. Category: Math, Float < : Operator < : Operator < : Operator Less Than - Compares two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 54 _______________________________________________________________ <= : Operator <= : Operator <= : Operator Less Than or Equal - Compares two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float <> : Operator <> : Operator <> : Operator Not Equal - Compares two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float = : Operator = : Operator = : Operator Equal - Compares two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float > : Operator > : Operator > : Operator Greater Than - Compares two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float >= : Operator >= : Operator >= : Operator Greater Than or Equal - Compares two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float %MenuFileName : String %MenuFileName : String %MenuFileName : String This returns the name of the current menu file including the complete path. It can be used under an OnKey statement to edit the current menu as follows: Example: OnKey 'E' EDIT %MenuFileName Category: String Abs : Number Abs : Number Abs : Number Returns the absolute value of a number. The absolute value is the value of the number without the sign. Example: Abs(-6) returns 6 Category: Math, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 55 _______________________________________________________________ Actual Actual Actual If you want to read or write to a variable directly that is referrencing another variable I have provided the command Actual. Actual overrides any pointers set by the command Loc. Example: Dispose Actual B Actual B = 5 See Also: Loc Category: Variable Alias Alias Alias Alias <name> = <string> This is a compiler level text substitution command. When <name> is defined as <string> whenever you use <name> its the same to the compiler as if <string> were typed there. Example: Alias TwoPlusThree = "(2 + 3)" . . . 2 * TwoPlusThree = 10 . Writeln TwoPlusThree Writeln TwoPlusThree is the same as Writeln (2 + 3) Category: Misc AllowAbort (On/Off) AllowAbort (On/Off) AllowAbort (On/Off) MarxMenu was written to allow processes to be aborted and in a very smooth way eliminating the need for the user to deal with complicated error logic. In some cases this has gotten in the way of specific control when the user presses the escape key or other error occurs. If AllowAbort is set to off, MarxMenu will continue on to the next command. You can then test LastKey to see if the escape key was pressed. If the user presses escape a nul string is returned. See Also: AllowEsc Category: Misc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 56 _______________________________________________________________ AllowEsc (On/Off) AllowEsc (On/Off) AllowEsc (On/Off) Several MarxMenu commands such as PickOne, PickMany and PickFile allow you to press escape to abort. If you turn AllowEsc off then the escape key is ignored. This forces the user to make a choice. See Also: AllowAbort Category: Misc And : Operator And : Operator And : Operator Returns logical And if operators are boolean; or bitwise And if operators are numeric. Example: if (Month = Dec) and (Day = 25) then Writeln 'Merry Christmas!' Category: Math, Boolean AppendArray (Array,Value) AppendArray (Array,Value) AppendArray (Array,Value) AppendArray appends Value to the end of an array. The number of elements is increased by one. It is not used to append two arrays "end to end". Example: var X X[1] = 'TEST1' AppendArray(X,'TEST2') Loop X Writeln X[LoopIndex] EndLoop This Prints: TEST1 TEST2 Category: Array ApplicationMemory : Number ApplicationMemory : Number ApplicationMemory : Number Returns the number of bytes of memory available to an application when MarxMenu exits out to the MARX.BAT file. This is the actual amount of ram available to your application. See Also: FreeMemory Category: Memory ArcTan (Radians) : Real ArcTan (Radians) : Real ArcTan (Radians) : Real Returns the ArcTangent of a real. Category: Math, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 57 _______________________________________________________________ BadDate : Boolean BadDate : Boolean BadDate : Boolean Set to true if you try to convert a string to a date and the date is invalid. See Also: TimeOf Category: Time Bat (string) Bat (string) Bat (string) Used to write a line to the batch file the same way OnKey does. All the same rules apply. The batch file is created when the menu exits. MarxMenu exits with ErrorLevel 0 unless some other value has been specified using the ExitCode command. When using Bat under an OnKey statement, be sure to use the vertical bar in front of it. Bat gives you more control over what is sent to the batch file that MARX.BAT executes. Example: OnKey 'D' CLS |BAT "DIR " + HomeDirectory + '\' + UserName PAUSE See Also: OnKey Category: Execution BatFileName : String BatFileName : String BatFileName : String Returns the name of the batch file that MarxMenu would create if MarxMenu were to create a batch file automatically. Category: String BigShadow BigShadow BigShadow Selects big shadow type. This is the default shadow. See Also: SmallShadow, ShadowPosition, ShadowColor Category: Display Blanked : Boolean Blanked : Boolean Blanked : Boolean Returns true if the screen blanker has kicked it. This lets you alter your idle program based on whether the screen blanker is active. See Also: IdleProgram Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 58 _______________________________________________________________ BlankMessage (string) BlankMessage (string) BlankMessage (string) When the screen blanks out, this one line message is displayed. If BlankMessage is not set, the date and time will be displayed. See Also: ConsolePos Category: String BlankScreenProgram : Procedure BlankScreenProgram : Procedure BlankScreenProgram : Procedure This sets the blank screen program to use and overrides MarxMenu's internal screen blanker. It also overrides the IdleProgram so if you are running something in your idle program that you want to continue to run when the screen goes blank, call your idle procedure from the screen blanker procedure. If you exit your screen blanker and MarxMenu thinks the screen should still be blank it will call it again. When MarxMenu decides to blank the screen it calls BlankScreenProgram. When MarxMenu decides it's ready to unblank the screen it sets UnBlank to true. Thus commands like UseNovPassword, LockWord, and BlankTime will work with your screen blanker. To set up a blank screen program: BlankScreenProgram = Loc (Procedure Name) To switch back to normal screen blanking run: Dispose(ScreenBlankProgram) See Also: IdleProgram, UnBlank Category: Display BlankTime (minutes) BlankTime (minutes) BlankTime (minutes) Sets the number of minutes before the screen blanks out to prevent screen burn. Since this is not a resident program, screen blanking is only active while the menu system is active. Setting BlankTime to 0 prevents screen blanking. Example: Set ConsolePos Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 59 _______________________________________________________________ Blink : Boolean Blink : Boolean Blink : Boolean Blink is a boolean variable that when set to true allows you to specify colors that will blink. To make a color that blinks, set the background color to a bright color. A bright color is a color from 8 to 15. Normally, when Blink is off, MarxMenu strips the high bit of the colors. When Blink is on, high bit stripping is disabled. Example: Blink TextColor Green LRed Because the background color is light red, the text will blink. Warning: Blinking characters can cause headaches and eye strain. I resisted adding this feature for a long time because I personally hate excessive blinking characters on the screen. I now recognize that blinking can be very effective when used correctly. Please use blinking sparingly. Category: Color BlockBox BlockBox BlockBox Selects block type box for menu borders. See Also: SingleLineBox, DoubleLineBox, CustomBox, NoBoxBorder Category: Display BoxBorderColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxBorderColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxBorderColor (forecolor,backcolor) Sets colors for box border. Category: Color BoxHeader (string) BoxHeader (string) BoxHeader (string) Sets the center header message for the next box displayed. This command is used before the DrawBox command. Example: BoxHeader ' Main Choices ' DrawBox (25,6,30,9) See Also: BoxHeaderLeft, BoxHeaderRight See Also: BoxFooter, BoxFooterLeft, BoxFooterRight Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 60 _______________________________________________________________ BoxHeaderColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxHeaderColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxHeaderColor (forecolor,backcolor) Sets colors for the box headers and box footers. Category: Color BoxHeaderLeft (string) BoxHeaderLeft (string) BoxHeaderLeft (string) Sets the left header message for the next box displayed. This command is used before the DrawBox command. Example: BoxHeaderLeft ' Main Choices ' DrawBox (25,6,30,9) See Also: BoxHeader, BoxHeaderRight See Also: BoxFooter, BoxFooterLeft, BoxFooterRight Category: Display BoxHeaderRight (string) BoxHeaderRight (string) BoxHeaderRight (string) Sets the right header message for the next box displayed. This command is used before the DrawBox command. Example: BoxHeaderRight ' Main Choices ' DrawBox (25,6,30,9) See Also: BoxHeader, BoxHeaderLeft See Also: BoxFooter, BoxFooterLeft, BoxFooterRight Category: Display BoxFooter (string) BoxFooter (string) BoxFooter (string) Sets the center footer message for the next box displayed. This command is used before the DrawBox command. Example: BoxFooter ' Main Choices ' DrawBox (25,6,30,9) See Also: BoxHeader, BoxHeaderLeft, BoxHeaderRight See Also: BoxFooterLeft, BoxFooterRight Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 61 _______________________________________________________________ BoxFooterLeft (string) BoxFooterLeft (string) BoxFooterLeft (string) Sets the left footer message for the next box displayed. This command is used before the DrawBox command. Example: BoxFooterLeft ' Main Choices ' DrawBox (25,6,30,9) See Also: BoxHeader, BoxHeaderLeft, BoxHeaderRight See Also: BoxFooter, BoxFooterRight Category: Display BoxFooterRight (string) BoxFooterRight (string) BoxFooterRight (string) Sets the right footer message for the next box displayed. This command is used before the DrawBox command. Example: BoxFooterRight ' Main Choices ' DrawBox (25,6,30,9) See Also: BoxHeader, BoxHeaderLeft, BoxHeaderRight See Also: BoxFooter, BoxFooterLeft Category: Display BoxInsideColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxInsideColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxInsideColor (forecolor,backcolor) Sets colors for box interior. Category: Color BrightBackground (On/Off) BrightBackground (On/Off) BrightBackground (On/Off) This command switches between bright background modes and blink modes. I made a most amazing discovery. I found out that there was a way to convert the blink bit to do high intensity background instead. This doubles the number of colors that MarxMenu can produce. This command affects the video controller directly. Thus, it may not work on all computers especially if you are running something weird. Once this is set in MarxMenu it stays set. So if you run another program that has blink in it, it will use 16 background colors instead. The solution is to set BrightBackground Off right before you run a program that requires blinking. Example: OnKey 'X' |BrightBackground Off PROCOMM Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 62 _______________________________________________________________ Warning! This program uses a trick that may not be compatible with some TSR programs. If you can get away with it, fine. But, if you have problems where TSR's cause your screen to blink, then don't use this command. Category: Display CapsColor (forecolor,backcolor) CapsColor (forecolor,backcolor) CapsColor (forecolor,backcolor) Setting CapsColor allows capital letters and numbers to be a different color than the rest of the text. This is used with the UseArrows command to show which character is the one that selects the options in the window. CapsColor is reset after any TextColor command, so be sure to use CapsColor AFTER TextColor commands. For this option the numbers 0 - 9 and some punctuation characters are considered capitals. See Also: DrawBox Category: Color CapsLock : Boolean CapsLock : Boolean CapsLock : Boolean Returns true if Caps Lock is on. This command can also set the Caps Lock on and off. Example: if CapsLock then Write 'CapsLock is On' CapsLock On ;Turns CapsLock On CapsLock Off ;Turns CapsLock Off CapsLock (by itself) turns CapsLock On. See Also: ScrollLock, NumLock Category: System Chain (MenuName) Chain (MenuName) Chain (MenuName) This command will load a new menu. Unlike Jump, MarxMenu stays in memory. The screen is not cleared. If the new menu has exactly the same global variables, the contents of all global variables is retained. Chain allows for a very quick transfer from one menu to another. Example: Chain ('USER') ;Chains to USER.MNU Category: Execution Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 63 _______________________________________________________________ Char (number) : String Char (number) : String Char (number) : String Converts a number into a one character string. Example: Write (Char(65)) ;This will display 'A' Category: String ChDir (string) ChDir (string) ChDir (string) Changes directories. The variable FileResult can be tested to see if it was successful. ChDir can also be used to change drives. Example: ChDir( 'C:\HOME\MARXMENU' ) ChDir( 'B:' ) ; Will make drive B: the current drive Category: File CleanFileName (string) : String CleanFileName (string) : String CleanFileName (string) : String Returns the full path name or directory name of a string. It also removes occurrences of a '\\' in the string if they aren't at the beginning of the string. Thus the command: CleanFileName('a:\' + '\main.mnu') returns 'A:\MAIN.MNU'. CleanFileName also removes extra ending '\' and capitalizes the path. See Also: TrueName Category: String ClearLine [char] ClearLine [char] ClearLine [char] Clears the current line in the current window. The optional parameter is for the decimal number of the IBM graphics character. If [char] is present, the line will be filled with the character. Examples: ClearLine ;Clears screen with blanks ClearLine 205 ;Clears screen with char 205 Category: Display, Ansi Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 64 _______________________________________________________________ ClearScreen [char] ClearScreen [char] ClearScreen [char] Clears the screen. The optional parameter is the decimal number equivalent for an IBM graphics character. If [char] is present, the screen will be filled with [char]. Examples: ClearScreen ;Clears screen with blanks ClearScreen 177 ;Clears screen with char 177 Category: Display, Ansi ClearScreenFirst (on/off) ClearScreenFirst (on/off) ClearScreenFirst (on/off) Used in conjunction with Execute. If on, will clear the screen before running the program. Example: OnKey 'D' |ClearScreenFirst On |Execute 'C:\DM.COM' The default is ON. See Also: Execute Category: Execution ClearScreenOnExit (on/off) ClearScreenOnExit (on/off) ClearScreenOnExit (on/off) Controls whether or not the screen is cleared on menu exit. Default on. See Also: Execute Category: Display ClockColor (forecolor,backcolor) ClockColor (forecolor,backcolor) ClockColor (forecolor,backcolor) Sets colors for the on screen clock. Category: Color Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 65 _______________________________________________________________ ClockMode ClockMode ClockMode ClockMode is a variable whose bits control the format of the on screen clock when it is used. ClockMode Bits: --------------- 0 24 hour mode 1 AmPm On 2 Show Seconds 3 UpperCase 4 3 char month 5 3 char Day of Week 6 Show Day of Week 7 Dash = 0 Slash = 1 MM-DD-YY or MM/DD/YY 8 Long Date Bit 0 on sets hours display to 24 hour mode. Bit 1 turns on the Am/Pm display. Bit 2 on controls if time is shown as HH:MM:SS or just HH:MM. Bit 3 shows date in only upper case. Bit 4 on shows month in 3 characters. Bit 5 shows Day of week as 3 characters. Bit 6 controls if Day of week is displayed. Bit 7 controls if date is shown as MM-DD-YY or MM/DD/YY. Bit 8 shows date in text. (October 3, 1990). The default ClockMode is 326. Category: Display ClockPos (column,row) ClockPos (column,row) ClockPos (column,row) Puts a clock on the screen at location (column,row). The command ClockPos 0 0 turns the clock off. Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 66 _______________________________________________________________ ClosePrinter ClosePrinter ClosePrinter In MarxMenu the printer is just another text file. Closing the printer is not required for ordinary printing. If you are changing printers you need to run ClosePrinter before changing the printer name. The printer is automatically opened by MarxMenu any time you print anything. If you are running Windows or DesqView, closing the printer allows other programs to access the printer. So if you are running under any multitasking shell, be sure to close the printer when you are done with it. If you are using a network like Novell, ClosePrinter will end the print job and send it to the print queue. This avoids the need to wait for print capture timouts to take effect. Closing the printer is good programming practice and will help you stay out of trouble. It's like what your mother taught you. "When you're done with something, put it away." See Also: OpenPrinter, PrinterName Category: Printer ClusterSize <drive> : Number ClusterSize <drive> : Number ClusterSize <drive> : Number Returns cluster size in bytes. Example: Writeln (ClusterSize 'C') ClusterSize only looks at the first character of the string for the drive letter. Example: ClusterSize (Path) ;returns clustersize of current drive. Category: System CmdLine : String CmdLine : String CmdLine : String System string variable that returns the rest of the command line after the menu name. Category: String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 67 _______________________________________________________________ ColorScreen : Boolean ColorScreen : Boolean ColorScreen : Boolean Returns true if screen is a color screen. Note: Running MODE BW80 will cause ColorScreen to return false. Example: If ColorScreen ;Color TextColor( White, Blue ) Else ;Monochrome TextColor( White, Black ) EndIf Category: Display Comment Comment Comment Starts a Comment Block. All text is ignored until EndComment is encountered. Example: Comment ======================================= Everything between Comment and EndComment is ignored. ======================================= EndComment See Also: EndComment Category: Misc Console (On/Off) Console (On/Off) Console (On/Off) The command Console Off will disable access to the console. Category: Display ConsoleBorderColor (Color,Color) ConsoleBorderColor (Color,Color) ConsoleBorderColor (Color,Color) Sets the color of the console border. Example: See Also: ConsolePos Category: Color Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 68 _______________________________________________________________ ConsoleHeaderColor (Color,Color) ConsoleHeaderColor (Color,Color) ConsoleHeaderColor (Color,Color) Sets the color of the console header. See Also: ConsolePos Category: Color ConsoleInsideColor (Color,Color) ConsoleInsideColor (Color,Color) ConsoleInsideColor (Color,Color) Sets the color of the console inside. See Also: ConsolePos Category: Color ConsolePos (column,row) ConsolePos (column,row) ConsolePos (column,row) Sets the coordinates of the pop-up console menu. Example: ConsoleBorderColor( White,Blue ) ConsoleHeaderColor( Yellow,Blue ) ConsoleInsideColor( Yellow,Blue ) ConsolePos( 5,5 ) ; Column 5, Row 5 Category: Display Const Const Const Creates a constant. See Also: Var, Shared, Qualifier Category Variable Cos (Radians) : Real Cos (Radians) : Real Cos (Radians) : Real Returns the CoSine of a real. Category: Math, Float CountryCode : Number CountryCode : Number CountryCode : Number Returns the international country code from DOS. The country code is the same number as the international telephone dialing code prefix. Category: International Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 69 _______________________________________________________________ CurrentEnvironment CurrentEnvironment CurrentEnvironment CurrentEnvironment selects the current environment for use with environment access commands. See Also: ReadEnv SetEnv ReadEnvironment ShellEnvironment See Also: ParentEnvironment MasterEnvironment Category: Environment CurrentWindow : Number CurrentWindow : Number CurrentWindow : Number Returns the number of the current window. All windows are given a unique number. See Also: SetTopWindow Category: Display Cursor (On/Off) Cursor (On/Off) Cursor (On/Off) MarxMenu automatically turns the cursor on for certain kinds of input. Using Cursor Off prevents MarxMenu from turning the cursor on. Cursor On reverses this and allows MarxMenu to turn the cursor on when needed. Category: Display CustomBox (String) CustomBox (String) CustomBox (String) Selects a Box border using an 8 character string to define the sides and the corners. Example: CustomBox ('12345678') ;This will help you figure out what ;position matches which side. See Also: SingleLineBox, DoubleLineBox, BlockBox, NoBoxBorder Category: Display DateSeparator : String DateSeparator : String DateSeparator : String Returns the date separator character from the country information. See Also: TimeSeparator, DecimalSeparator, CountryCode Category: International, Time Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 70 _______________________________________________________________ DateString (Time) : String DateString (Time) : String DateString (Time) : String Returns the date of a time value as text. If no parameter is passed then Now is assumed. Uses international date format rules. Example: Writeln DateString ;returns the date of Now as text Writeln DateString (Tomorrow) ;returns the date of Tomorrow as text Category: Time, String, International Day : Number Day : Number Day : Number Returns the day of the month. Category: Time DayOf (Date) : Number DayOf (Date) : Number DayOf (Date) : Number Returns the day of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time DayOfWeek : Number DayOfWeek : Number DayOfWeek : Number Returns the day of the week. 0=SUNDAY 1=MONDAY 2=TUESDAY 3=WEDNESDAY 4=THURSDAY 5=FRIDAY 6=SATURDAY Category: Time DayOfWeekOf (Date) : Number DayOfWeekOf (Date) : Number DayOfWeekOf (Date) : Number Returns the DayOfWeek of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time DecimalSeparator : String DecimalSeparator : String DecimalSeparator : String Returns the decimal separator character from the country information. See Also: TimeSeparator, DateSeparator, CountryCode Category: International Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 71 _______________________________________________________________ Delete (string,pos,count) Delete (string,pos,count) Delete (string,pos,count) Deletes characters from string starting at pos for count. Example: String = 'ABCDEFGH' Delete(String,2,3) This leaves a String containing 'ABFGH' If count exceeds the length of the string, the string is truncated at pos. Another use of Delete is to delete elements of an array. Delete (Array,Position,Count) This works exactly like the delete command for strings. It delete elements of an array beginning at Position for Count elements. The NumberOfElements is adjusted accordingly. Example: MyArray[1] = "ONE" MyArray[2] = "TWO" MyArray[3] = "THREE" MyArray[4] = "FOUR" Delete( MyArray,2,2 ) ;MyArray now contains.. MyArray[1] = "ONE" MyArray[2] = "FOUR" Category: String, Array DelFile (Name) DelFile (Name) DelFile (Name) Deletes a file by name. FileResult returns a 0 if the file existed and the delete was successful. Example: DelFile( 'C:\NOTES\READ.ME' ) If FileResult = 0 Writeln('C:\NOTES\READ.ME was succesfully deleted!') Else Writeln('C:\NOTES\READ.ME was un-succesfully deleted!') EndIf Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 72 _______________________________________________________________ DisplayType : Number DisplayType : Number DisplayType : Number Returns the current video card type. 0 = HercMono 1 = CGA 2 = MCGA 3 = EGA 4 = VGA 5 = PGC MarxMenu also understands the above constant names. For example, if you want to test for a CGA card: if DisplayType = CGA then .... Category: Display DirectoriesOnly (On/Off) DirectoriesOnly (On/Off) DirectoriesOnly (On/Off) Forces ReadDirectory to read directories instead of file names. See Also: ReadDirectory Category: File Dispose (Variable) Dispose (Variable) Dispose (Variable) This command reclaims memory used by a string variable, file variable, or an array. If you are doing a lot of data manipulation, you might want to reclaim memory space used by arrays you are done with. The disposed variable becomes an untyped variable. Example: Loop( 20 ) MyArray[LoopIndex] = LoopIndex ;Check to See Also: if number is odd or even If (MyArray[LoopIndex] Mod 2) = 0 Writeln('MyArray[' + Str(LoopIndex) + '] is an EVEN number.' ); Else Writeln('MyArray[' + Str(LoopIndex) + '] is an EVEN number.' ); EndIf EndLoop ;We're finished with the array so reclaim its memory space. Dispose(MyArray) Category: Memory, Array Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 73 _______________________________________________________________ DosVersion : Number DosVersion : Number DosVersion : Number Returns the major DOS version number. See Also: DosVersionString, MinorDosVersion Category: System DosVersionString : String DosVersionString : String DosVersionString : String Returns the DOS version number as a 4 character string. This function always returns 2 places past the decimal point. The form of the string is: #.## Example Writeln DosVersionString ;prints 4.01 See Also: DosVersion, MinorDosVersion Category: System, String DosWindow (on/off) DosWindow (on/off) DosWindow (on/off) When you set DosWindow on, MarxMenu will not drop out of the menu system when you use the Execute command. It will give you a display of the DOS screen within the current window. The program you execute must be a well-behaved program like DIR or COPY or some of the other DOS commands that talk to the screen through standard file handles. Category: Execution DoubleLineBox DoubleLineBox DoubleLineBox Selects double line box. See Also: SingleLineBox, BlockBox, CustomBox, NoBoxBorder Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 74 _______________________________________________________________ DrawBox (column,row,width,height) DrawBox (column,row,width,height) DrawBox (column,row,width,height) Draws a box on the screen. The (column) and (row) are the upper left corner, (width) and (height) is the box size. Example: Explode On Shadow On DoubleLineBox BoxHeaderColor( Yellow,Red ) BoxBorderColor( White, Red ) BoxInsideColor( Yellow,Red ) InverseColor( Black, Gray ) CapsColor( Black, Red ) BoxHeader = ' << Main Menu >> ' DrawBox( 30,10,40,8 ) DrawBox also creates a logical layer for several display variables. These variable include TextColor, InverseColor, CapsColor. It is important to use these color control commands AFTER the DrawBox command in order to properly restore the colors of the previous DrawBox. If you call up a box and when it finishes it messes up the colors of the previous box, you probably used color control commands BEFORE the DrawBox instead of AFTER. Category: Display Drives : Number Drives : Number Drives : Number Returns the number of drives. This includes drive names that can be substituted. Most of the time the answer is 5. This relates to your LastDrive = command in your CONFIG.SYS file. Category: System DvAppNumber : Number DvAppNumber : Number DvAppNumber : Number Returns the DesqView application number or window number. Category: DesqView DvFrame (Handle,On/Off) DvFrame (Handle,On/Off) DvFrame (Handle,On/Off) Turns the DesqView border frame on or off. Category: DesqView DvFreeze (Handle) DvFreeze (Handle) DvFreeze (Handle) Freezes a program. The program stops executing. See Also: DvUnFreeze, DvPifExecute, DvLastHandle Category: DesqView Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 75 _______________________________________________________________ DvHide (Handle) DvHide (Handle) DvHide (Handle) Hides all output from program making it invisible. The program still continues to run. See Also: DvUnHide Category: DesqView DvKillTask (Handle) DvKillTask (Handle) DvKillTask (Handle) Kills a program running under DesqView. The handle is the one returned be DvPifExecute in DvLastHandle. See Also: DvPifExecute Category: DesqView DvLastHandle : Number DvLastHandle : Number DvLastHandle : Number Returns a number that is associated with a program running under DesqView. This number is used to control other programs running under DesqView. It is set by DvPifExecute. See Also: DvPifExecute Category: DesqView DvLoaded : Boolean DvLoaded : Boolean DvLoaded : Boolean Returns true if DesqView is loaded. Category: DesqView DvMoveWindow (Handle,X,Y) DvMoveWindow (Handle,X,Y) DvMoveWindow (Handle,X,Y) Moves DesqView window upper left corner to position X,Y. Category: DesqView DvMyHandle : Number DvMyHandle : Number DvMyHandle : Number Returns the DesqView handle of the current process. See Also: DvLastHandle Category: DesqView Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 76 _______________________________________________________________ DvPifExecute (Pif File) DvPifExecute (Pif File) DvPifExecute (Pif File) Executes another program under DesqView in another window. MarxMenu stays resident in its original window. The window executes according to the contents of the DesqView PIF file. The PIF file can be specified by using the full name. If you leave off the extension, MarxMenu assumes the extension DVP. If you pass a two character name, like the two characters in the DesqView menus, then MarxMenu will add -PIF.DVP to the name. If the PIF file is on the path, MarxMenu will find it. Warning! DesqView must be loaded to run this command. Example: DvPifExecute 'BD' DvPifExecute 'BD-PIF' ;These all execute Big DOS DVPifExecute 'BD-PIF.DVP' The task handle is loaded into a variable named DvLastHandle. When the program starts, it becomes the current top program. See Also: DvLoaded, DvLastHandle Category: DesqView DvResizeWindow (Handle,Width,Height) DvResizeWindow (Handle,Width,Height) DvResizeWindow (Handle,Width,Height) Changes the size of a DesqView window. Category: DesqView DvSetBottom (Handle) DvSetBottom (Handle) DvSetBottom (Handle) Sets the program associated with the handle to the bottom of the task stack. See Also: DvSetTop Category: DesqView DvSetTop (Handle) DvSetTop (Handle) DvSetTop (Handle) Sets the program associated with the handle to be the top running task. Using DvMyHandle allows MarxMenu to regain control after starting another task. Example: DvSetTop (DvMyHandle) See Also: DvSetBottom, DvLastHandle Category: DesqView Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 77 _______________________________________________________________ DvUnFreeze (Handle) DvUnFreeze (Handle) DvUnFreeze (Handle) UnFreezes a program. The program starts executing again. See Also: DvFreeze, DvPifExecute, DvLastHandle Category: DesqView DvUnHide (Handle) DvUnHide (Handle) DvUnHide (Handle) Reverses the effect of DvHide making program output visible again. See Also: DvHide Category: DesqView Else Else Else Starts lines executed if a condition is not true. Example: if X = 1 Writeln 'One' else Writeln 'Not One' endif See Also: If Then Endif ElseIf Category: Conditional ElseIf ElseIf ElseIf Used with IF, ELSE, and ENDIF in conditional statements. After one ElseIf is true, execution continues after the endif statement. Example: if X = 1 Writeln 'One' elseif X = 2 Writeln 'Two' elseif X = 3 Writeln 'Three' elseif X = 4 Writeln 'Four' else Writeln 'Other' endif See Also: If Then Endif Else Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 78 _______________________________________________________________ Category: Conditional EndComment EndComment EndComment Ends a comment block. See Also: Comment Category: Misc EndIf EndIf EndIf Ends an if statement. See Also: If Else ElseIf Then Category: Conditional EndLoop EndLoop EndLoop Ends a loop statement. See Also: Loop LoopIndex LoopLimit Category: Conditional EndOfFile (FileVar) : Boolean EndOfFile (FileVar) : Boolean EndOfFile (FileVar) : Boolean Returns True if you are at the end of the file. Example: Var In FileAssign (In,'C:\NOTES\READ.ME') FileOpen (In) While not EndOfFile (In) Writeln (FileReadLn (In)) EndWhile FileClose (In) Category: File EndProc EndProc EndProc Ends a Procedure. See Also: Procedure, Return Category: Misc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 79 _______________________________________________________________ EndWhile EndWhile EndWhile Ends a While statement. See Also: While Category: Conditional EnvFree : Number EnvFree : Number EnvFree : Number Returns the free space in the selected environment. Category: Environment EnvSize : Number EnvSize : Number EnvSize : Number Returns the size of the selected environment. Example: if EnvSize < 20 Writeln ('Your envrionment size is less than 20 bytes!!') endif Category: Environment EraseTopWindow EraseTopWindow EraseTopWindow Erases the last window created with DrawBox. See Also: EraseWindow Category: Display EraseWindow (Number) EraseWindow (Number) EraseWindow (Number) Erases a window by number. This allows you to erase a window that is not the top window. See Also: CurrentWindow, SetTopWindow, EraseTopWindow Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 80 _______________________________________________________________ Execute (command string) Execute (command string) Execute (command string) This allows you to execute a program without dropping out of MarxMenu. MarxMenu remains resident in memory and takes up approximately 50k. No batch file will be created by MarxMenu. This is handy if you have a small program you want to run from the menu but don't want to allow for the time required by MarxMenu to create and run a batch file. You can also execute some programs in a MarxMenu window (See Also: DosWindow). You can also execute a program and examine the return code. This command can be placed in a progression of menu commands without any special handling. Under an OnKey statement, you will need use a vertical bar in front of the command. Example: OnKey 'D' |UseCommand Off |Execute 'C:\DM.COM' ;Note the COM extension is required here. Note: If UseCommand is True or On, MarxMenu will load COMMAND.COM to execute your command. If UseCommand is False, MarxMenu will execute your file directly without COMMAND.COM. Using COMMAND.COM will execute slightly slower, use 3.5k more ram, and allow you to use command lines just like you would from the DOS prompt. If you set UseCommand to off, you will have to include the COM or EXE extension in the name. If you don't include the extension, MarxMenu will automatically override UseCommand and load the command processor. COMMAND.COM is required when running internal DOS commands like COPY or DIR. It is also required to run batch files. When UseCommand is off, MarxMenu will search the PATH for the executable file if it isn't in the current directory. Not using COMMAND.COM allows you to use the ReturnCode variable to get the ERRORLEVEL from the subprogram. If COMMAND.COM is loaded, the ERRORLEVEL of the subprogram is lost. The ClearScreenFirst (On/Off) controls whether MarxMenu will clear the screen before you execute. The PauseAfterExecute (On/Off) allows you to have a pause like the Pause command in batch files. That way you can read the screen before it restores the MarxMenu screen. MarxMenu will display "Press any key to return to MarxMenu." Be sure not to load any TSR programs using the Execute command or MarxMenu will lock up. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 81 _______________________________________________________________ See Also: UseCommand, DosWindow, PauseAfterExecute, ClearScreenFirst Category: Execution ExistDir (directory) : Boolean ExistDir (directory) : Boolean ExistDir (directory) : Boolean Used to test whether or not a DIRECTORY exists. It can also test to see if a disk is inserted in a floppy drive. Example: if not ExistDir 'A:' then Writeln 'Insert disk in drive A:' See Also: ExistFile Category: File ExistFile : Boolean ExistFile : Boolean ExistFile : Boolean Used to test whether or not a FILE exists. See Also: ExistDir Category: File ExistOnPath (string) : String ExistOnPath (string) : String ExistOnPath (string) : String Used to search the existing paths for the command to be executed by Execute or other function. Example: OnKey 'D' |Execute(ExistOnPath('DM.COM')) If the file is not found, a null string is returned. Category: File ExitCode ExitCode ExitCode This can be set so MarxMenu will return an ErrorLevel that can be used in a batch file. Example: ExitCode = 100 When MarxMenu exits it will use ErrorLevel 100. Category: Execution Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 82 _______________________________________________________________ ExitMenu ExitMenu ExitMenu Causes MarxMenu to exit. If the Bat command is used or batch commands are used onder an OnKey statement then MarxMenu will create a batch file and set the environment variable MXCMD to point to it. If no batch file is to be created, and MXCMD hasn't been set to any value then the menu system will exit by setting MXCMD to MXSTOP. Category: Execution Exp (Real) : Real Exp (Real) : Real Exp (Real) : Real Returns the Exponential of a real. Inverse of Ln. Category: Math, Float Explode (on/off) Explode (on/off) Explode (on/off) Turn exploding windows on/off. Category: Display ExplodeDelay (number) ExplodeDelay (number) ExplodeDelay (number) Sets the speed of exploding windows. Use this command to adjust the speed of the exploding windows. Default is 15. Category: Display Extension (String) : String Extension (String) : String Extension (String) : String Returns the Extention of a file name or sets the Extension. Example: Writeln Extension 'MARXMENU.EXE' ;returns 'EXE' Example: var FileName FileName = TEST.MNU Extension (FileName) = 'MRX' Writeln FileName ;this returns 'TEST.MRX See Also: NamePart, PathPart, FilePart Category: String FileAppend (FileVar) FileAppend (FileVar) FileAppend (FileVar) Opens a file for access and moves the file pointer to the end of the file. File writes will start at the end of the file. Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 83 _______________________________________________________________ FileAssign (FileVar,String) FileAssign (FileVar,String) FileAssign (FileVar,String) Assigns a file variable to a file name. Files must be given a name before they can be accessed. Example: FileAssign(BatFile,'MARX.BAT') BatFile is a variable and after the FileAssign, it becomes a file variable. All access to the file is done using the file variable. If an empty string is passed as the file name, MarxMenu will use the standard console file handles. Category: File FileAttr (string) : Number FileAttr (string) : Number FileAttr (string) : Number Returns file attribute. Can be used on directories also. Category: File FileClose (FileVar) FileClose (FileVar) FileClose (FileVar) Closes a file and deallocates the memory space used by the file variable. See Also: FileOpen Category: File FileCreate (FileVar) FileCreate (FileVar) FileCreate (FileVar) Creates a new file. If the file exists, it overwrites the old one. FileCreate opens the file for output. Do not use FileOpen with FileCreate. Category: File FileDate (string) : Number FileDate (string) : Number FileDate (string) : Number Returns file date as 32 bit integer. See Also: DOS manual for date structure. See Also: FileTime Category: File FileFlush (FileVar) FileFlush (FileVar) FileFlush (FileVar) Writes any information that is in the file buffers to disk. Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 84 _______________________________________________________________ FileLog (FileName,String) FileLog (FileName,String) FileLog (FileName,String) FileLog opens the file if it exists, or creates it if it doesn't exist. It then seeks to the end of the file and writes the string to the end. The file is then closed. FileLog is typically used for things such as usage tracking. Example: FileLog('USAGE.LOG','Add This Line!') Category: File FileOpen (FileVar) FileOpen (FileVar) FileOpen (FileVar) Opens a file for access. FileOpen is not needed if you are using the ReadTextFile command. The following example copies a text file. var Inp Out St FileAssign(Inp,'INPUT.TXT') FileOpen(Inp) FileAssign(Out,'OUTPUT.TXT') FileCreate(Out) while not EndOfFile(Inp) FileReadln(Inp,St) FileWriteln(Out,St) endwhile FileClose(Inp) FileClose(Out) Category: File FilePart (String) : String FilePart (String) : String FilePart (String) : String Returns the file part of a file name. Example: NamePart ('C:\MARX\MARXMENU.EXE') ;returns MARXMENU.EXE See Also: Extension, PathPart, NamePart Category: String FilePos (FileVar) : Number FilePos (FileVar) : Number FilePos (FileVar) : Number Returns the current file position in bytes. Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 85 _______________________________________________________________ FileReadln (FileVar) : String FileReadln (FileVar) : String FileReadln (FileVar) : String Reads one line of an open file returning that line as a string. Example: Line3 = FileReadln(BatFile) See Also: FileOpen Category: File FileRename (Old,New) FileRename (Old,New) FileRename (Old,New) Renames a file from old name to new. A file may be moved to a new directory with this command. Category: File FileResult : Number FileResult : Number FileResult : Number Returns result code from last file IO. Result codes are the same as Turbo Pascal IOResult codes. These codes usually match the errors returned in the AX register of DOS commands. 0 indicates no problem. Category: File FileSeek (FileVar,Number) FileSeek (FileVar,Number) FileSeek (FileVar,Number) Moves the file pointer to a specified place in the file. Category: File FileSize (string) : Number FileSize (string) : Number FileSize (string) : Number Returns size of file in bytes. Category: File FileTime (File) : Time FileTime (File) : Time FileTime (File) : Time Returns the time of a file in MarxMenu format. See Also: FileDate Category: File, Time FileWrite (FileVar,String) FileWrite (FileVar,String) FileWrite (FileVar,String) Writes text to a file. Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 86 _______________________________________________________________ FileWriteln (FileVar,String) FileWriteln (FileVar,String) FileWriteln (FileVar,String) Writes text to a file with a carriage return and a line feed. See Also: FileOpen Category: File FixPath FixPath FixPath This command reads your path command and verifies that all the paths are accessable. Any path that isn't accessable is removed from the master environment. This can be used on network drives to eliminate searching paths on fileservers that are no longer accessable. Category: Environment Floppies : Number Floppies : Number Floppies : Number Returns number of floppy drives. Category: System ForceExplosion (On/Off) ForceExplosion (On/Off) ForceExplosion (On/Off) This changes the explosion status of a window that already exists. This allows windows to implode that didn't explode. Category: Display ForceExtension (String,Ext) : String ForceExtension (String,Ext) : String ForceExtension (String,Ext) : String This command forces a file extension on a string. Example: St = ForceExtension('MAIN.MNU','MRX') This sets St equal to MAIN.MRX Category: String Fraction (Real) : Real Fraction (Real) : Real Fraction (Real) : Real Returns the fractional part of a real. Category: Math, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 87 _______________________________________________________________ FreeDiskSpace <drive> : Number FreeDiskSpace <drive> : Number FreeDiskSpace <drive> : Number Returns free disk space in bytes. Example: Writeln (FreeDiskSpace 'C') FreeDiskSpace only looks at the first character of the string for the drive letter. Category: System FreeEMS : Number FreeEMS : Number FreeEMS : Number Returns free EMS memory in bytes. Category: Memory FreeMemory : Number FreeMemory : Number FreeMemory : Number Returns the amount of free memory still available. This is the memory available to MarxMenu or the amount you would have using the Execute command. See Also: ApplicationMemory Category: Memory GotoXY (column,row) GotoXY (column,row) GotoXY (column,row) Move cursor to location column,row in current box. Category: Display, Ansi HiddenAndSystem (On/Off) HiddenAndSystem (On/Off) HiddenAndSystem (On/Off) Controls if ReadDirectory will read hidden and system files. See Also: ReadDirectory Category: File Hour : Number Hour : Number Hour : Number Return the current hour. 24 hour format. Category: Time HourOf (Date) : Number HourOf (Date) : Number HourOf (Date) : Number Returns the hour of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 88 _______________________________________________________________ Hundredth : Number Hundredth : Number Hundredth : Number Returns the 1/100 of a second from the system clock. Note that the system clock timer tick is 1/18 second so don't expect a lot of accuracy here. Category: Time IdleProgram : Procedure IdleProgram : Procedure IdleProgram : Procedure IdleProgram is a variable that when set to the location of a procedure allows the procedure to run while waiting at the keyboard. This is done by writing a procedure that will run while waiting for input. The way you use this is to set an internal variable named IdleProgram to the Loc of the procedure you want to run as follows: Example: IdleProgram = Loc MyProcedure Note: Do not use parentheses around MyProcedure. When writing MyProcedure make it as short and quick as possible. As of now, MyProcedure is called continuosly while there is no keyboard input. You can also use a loop in it as follows. Procedure MyProcedure SetItUp while not KBDReady {do your thing} endwhile PutItBack EndProc MarxMenu doesn't automatically exit your procedure or save and restore anything. If you're writing to the screen you have to put everything back the way it was. If you want to run a program at a specific time, here's how it can be done: Procedure MyProcedure if Now = TimeOf('11:00pm') Bat 'NIGHT' ;run NIGHT.BAT ExitMenu endif if Now = TimeOf('5:00') Bat 'MORNING' ;run MORNING.BAT ExitMenu endif EndProc To disable IdleProgram run: Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 89 _______________________________________________________________ Dispose(IdleProgram) See Also: Run, Loc, BlankScreenProgram Category: Execution If If If Used for conditional program control. Usage: IF (condition) THEN (statement) IF (condition) (statement) (statement) ELSE (statement) (statement) ENDIF Category: Conditional See Also: Else, ElseIf, Then, EndIf InactiveBox (BoxType) InactiveBox (BoxType) InactiveBox (BoxType) This is used to select the type of box border to use when a window is not the current window. If any inactive box type is specified, then when you execute another DrawBox, the old window's border changes to the inactive box type. The inactive window also loses its headers and shadows. Note that InActiveBox must be used BEFORE the DrawBox command. Example: InActiveBox (SingleLineBox) ;switches to single line box if inactive. InactiveBox (NoBoxBorder) ;disables InActive effect. See Also: InactiveBoxColor Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 90 _______________________________________________________________ InactiveBoxColor (foreground,background) InactiveBoxColor (foreground,background) InactiveBoxColor (foreground,background) Selects the color of the inactive box window. If Black on Black is selected, (default), the inactive box color is the same as the active box color. Example: BoxBorderColor Yellow Blue InActiveBoxColor Brown Blue See Also: InactiveBox BoxBorderColor Category: Color Include (MenuName) Include (MenuName) Include (MenuName) This is used to insert the menu code from another file into the menu that you are compiling. Example: Include 'DOS.MNU' This will compile DOS.MNU into your present menu as if that whole file were part of the menu you are working on. This is useful if you have several menus that share common code. By moving this common code to a separate file, and using an Include statement, you can change the common code and update several menus at once. If you are using overlays, it is a good idea to put your shared variables in an include file. This asures that the shared variables will be the same for all overlays. Changing an include file does not cause MarxMenu to recompile automatically like changing the MNU does. You will have to force it to compile your menus. This can be done several ways. You can type MARXCOMP (menu) or you can just type DEL *.MRX which will cause all the menus to recompile the next time they are run. Category: Misc IncludeDirectories (On/Off) IncludeDirectories (On/Off) IncludeDirectories (On/Off) Controls if ReadDirectory will read directories along with file names. See Also: ReadDirectory Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 91 _______________________________________________________________ InputString (String) InputString (String) InputString (String) Preloads a string for the Readln command. The next Readln will have the InputString on the screen for you to edit or accept. Once Readln executes, InputString is cleared to a blank string. Example: InputString = ReadEnv('USERNAME') YourName = Readln Category: Keyboard, String Insert (InsString,OrigString,Pos) Insert (InsString,OrigString,Pos) Insert (InsString,OrigString,Pos) Inserts a string into a string. Example: St = 'ABCDEF' Insert('123',St,3) St will become 'ABC123DEF' Category: String InsertMode (On/Off) InsertMode (On/Off) InsertMode (On/Off) Turns insert mode on and off for Readln commands. Category: Keyboard Int (Real) : Real Int (Real) : Real Int (Real) : Real Returns the integer part of a real as a real. Category: Math, Float Integer (Real) : Number Integer (Real) : Number Integer (Real) : Number Returns the integer part of a real as an integer. The fractional part is truncated. Category: Math, Float InverseColor (forecolor,backcolor) InverseColor (forecolor,backcolor) InverseColor (forecolor,backcolor) Sets colors for inverse bar used with UseArrows command. Category: Color Jump (menu) Jump (menu) Jump (menu) Jumps to another menu and does not return to original menu. Category: Execution Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 92 _______________________________________________________________ KbdReady : Boolean KbdReady : Boolean KbdReady : Boolean Returns true if Key is pressed. Category: Keyboard KeySave : String KeySave : String KeySave : String Stores your keystrokes that you pressed to get to the menu level where you are at. KeySave is passed to DOS using the SET KSV= command to store your position in the menu system. To make this work, you must execute SavePosition On. This variable can be set by you to force MarxMenu to return to a place in the menu other than where you are. This allows MarxMenu to suggest a next step. See Also: SavePosition Category: String, Environment, Execution KeyFromMouse : Boolean KeyFromMouse : Boolean KeyFromMouse : Boolean Normally mouse activity is translated into keystrokes. This variable is set to true if the keystroke came from the mouse. Category: MouseControl KillMusic KillMusic KillMusic This command stops the music and de-allocates the memory used by the music buffer. Category: Music LastDrive : String LastDrive : String LastDrive : String Returns the drive letter of the last local drive in the system as set by CONFIG.SYS. By default, this is drive letter E. On a Novell network the drive after LastDrive is the first network drive. Category: Novell, System LastKey : String LastKey : String LastKey : String LastKey returns the last key that was typed at the keyboard. This can be used after a Readln to determine if the ESC key was pressed or perhaps the up or down arrow keys. Sometimes after the press of an ESC key, MarxMenu wants to exit more levels than you want it to. This can be controlled by setting LastKey = ' ' to stop the abort process. See Also: Readln Category: String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 93 _______________________________________________________________ Left (string,count) : String Left (string,count) : String Left (string,count) : String Returns string starting at the beginning for count characters. Example: Left('ABCDEF',3) returns 'ABC' Category: String Length (string) : Number Length (string) : Number Length (string) : Number Returns the length of the string or sets the length of a string. Example: Length('ABCD') returns 4. Example: var St St = '123456' Length(St) = 3 Writeln St ;this produces '123' If you set the length longer than the original string the string is padded with blanks on the end. Category: String Ln (Real) : Real Ln (Real) : Real Ln (Real) : Real Returns the Natural Logarithm of a real. Category: Math, Float Loc (Procedure or Variable) Loc (Procedure or Variable) Loc (Procedure or Variable) When used with a procedure, Loc returns the location of a procedure for storing in a variable. The variable is later executed using the Run command. When used with a variable, Loc returns the location of a variable rather than it's contents. Thus B = Loc A sets B to point to A. Example: Var A B B = Loc A B = 9 Writeln A ;returns 9 Example: Var A TestLoc (Loc A) Writeln A ;returns 9 Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 94 _______________________________________________________________ Procedure TestLoc (B) B = 9 EndProc The rule is that all indirect location references are resolved in the process of evaluating an expression. Example: Var A B C D B = Loc A C = Loc B D = Loc C D = 9 Writeln A ; Returns 9 As you would expect, qualifiers and multidimensional array addressing works with indirect addressing. Example: var A B C D E A[3] = 12 C = 3 B = Loc C D = Loc E D[7] = 8 TestLoc (Loc A[B]) Writeln A[B,9,E[7]] Procedure TestLoc (X) Writeln X X[9,D[7]] = 6 Writeln X[9,E[7]] EndProc See Also: Run, Actual Category: Variable LockWord (word) LockWord (word) LockWord (word) Sets a default word for the console activated keyboard lock. When the screen goes blank, the user has to type the LockWord to unblank the screen. This is a security feature so that if a user leaves the menu unattended, it prevents others from tampering with the system. See Also: LogoffTime, BlankTime Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 95 _______________________________________________________________ Logoff Logoff Logoff Logoff logs you off the network the same way that LogoffTime does except it does it immediately. See LogoffTime for details as to how. See Also: LogoffTime Category: Execution LogoffTime : Number LogoffTime : Number LogoffTime : Number MarxMenu supports automatic logoff after a number of minutes of inactivity set by LogoffTime. This only has effect while you are in the menu and not while an application is running. It is set as follows: LogoffTime = 5 ;sets time to 5 minutes Setting LogoffTime to 0 disbles this feature. On a Novell network the current drive is changed to the first network drive letter. Any map roots on this drive are removed. Then it changes to the \LOGIN directory. Typically the current directory will be set to F:\LOGIN. MarxMenu will first look for a batch file in the \LOGIN directory called OFF.BAT. If it doesn't find it, MarxMenu will look for OFF.BAT on the PATH. If this isn't found, MarxMenu will look for LOGOFF.EXE. If this isn't found, then MarxMenu will look for LOGOUT.COM. LOGOFF.EXE and LOGOUT.COM are executed by stuffing the keyboard buffer. The best way to use this feature is to create an OFF.BAT file in your \LOGIN directory or on the PATH. Logging off is a tricky process and requires that everything is done right in order for it to work. If strange things happen use ECHO ON and PAUSE in you batch files in order to watch what is happening. See Also: LockWord, Logoff Category: Execution Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 96 _______________________________________________________________ Loop Loop Loop MarxMenu has a looping structure that lets you execute a piece of code a specific number of times. It is used as follows: Example: Loop 8 Writeln 'Pass Number ' LoopIndex EndLoop You start with LOOP (Number) which specifies the number of times to execute the code between LOOP and ENDLOOP. There are 2 variables available here for loop control. LoopIndex starts at 1 and is incremented at each EndLoop. When LoopIndex becomes greater than LoopLimit, the loop exits. LoopIndex and LoopLimit refer to the innermost loop. As loops are nested LoopIndexes and LoopLimits are kept in two arrays; LoopIndexStack and LoopLimitStack. There is also a variable called LoopLevel which points to the current loop parameters. Thus: LoopIndex is the same as LoopIndexStack[LoopLevel] LoopLimit is the same as LoopLimitStack[LoopLevel] You may therefore access outer loop parameters through the loop stacks. For instance LoopIndexStack[LoopLevel - 1] would refer to the second innermost loop index. LoopIndexStack[1] refers to the outermost loop. The loop variables can be read and written to so you can adjust the looping parameters while inside the loop. You can even adjust the parameters of outer loops. You can also pass an array to a loop instead of a number. If an array is passed MarxMenu will loop for the number of elements in that array. Example: Var X ReadTextFile('MARXREAD.ME',X) OpenPrinter ;Loop X is the same as Loop NumberOfElements X Loop X PrintLn X[LoopIndex] EndLoop ClosePrinter See Also: EndLoop, LoopIndex, LoopLimit, LoopLevel Category: Conditional Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 97 _______________________________________________________________ LoopIndex : Number LoopIndex : Number LoopIndex : Number Returns the index of the loop you are in. See Also: Loop, EndLoop, LoopLimit, LoopLevel Category: Conditional LoopLevel : Number LoopLevel : Number LoopLevel : Number Returns the number of nested loops currently running. This includes all nested loops not just the current procedure. See Also: Loop, EndLoop, LoopLimit, LoopIndex Category: Conditional LoopLimit : Number LoopLimit : Number LoopLimit : Number Returns the upper limit of the loop you are in. See Also: Loop, EndLoop, LoopIndex, LoopLevel Category: Conditional MachineName : String MachineName : String MachineName : String This reads or sets the MachineName for NetBios networks. Example: MachineName = IBM ;sets the MachineName Writeln MachineName ;displays the MachineName Category: Novell MarxVersion : String MarxVersion : String MarxVersion : String Returns the version number of the MarxMenu you are running. Category: String MasterEnvironment MasterEnvironment MasterEnvironment MasterEnvironment selects the Master Environment for use with environment access commands. See Also: ReadEnv SetEnv ReadEnvironment ShellEnvironment See Also: CurrentEnvironment ParentEnvironment Category: Environment Max (Num,Num) : Num Max (Num,Num) : Num Max (Num,Num) : Num Returns the largest of two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 98 _______________________________________________________________ Mem (seg,ofs) : Number Mem (seg,ofs) : Number Mem (seg,ofs) : Number Returns the byte at memory location seg:ofs or lets you write to the byte at seg:ofs. Example: X = Mem(40,5) ;reads memory into X Mem(40,5) = X ;writes X into memory Category: Memory MemL (seg,ofs) : Number MemL (seg,ofs) : Number MemL (seg,ofs) : Number Returns the long integer at memory location seg:ofs or lets you write to the byte at seg:ofs. Example: X = MemL(40,5) ;reads memory into X MemL(40,5) = X ;writes X into memory Category: Memory MemSize : Number MemSize : Number MemSize : Number Returns total memory size in K. (640 = 640k) Category: Memory MemW (seg,ofs) : Number MemW (seg,ofs) : Number MemW (seg,ofs) : Number Returns the word at memory location seg:ofs or lets you write to the byte at seg:ofs. Example: X = MemW(40,5) ;reads memory into X MemW(40,5) = X ;writes X into memory Category: Memory MenuKeyBuffer MenuKeyBuffer MenuKeyBuffer This is an internal MarxMenu variable. It is where the environment variable KSV= is read. Characters in this string variable are treated as if someone had typed them from the keyboard. This variable can be set to blank in order to override the effects of SET KSV= or can be set to a different value in order to automatically make selections as if they were typed in. See Also: SavePosition, KeySave Category: Keyboard Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 99 _______________________________________________________________ Mid (string,pos,count) : String Mid (string,pos,count) : String Mid (string,pos,count) : String Returns a string starting at pos for count. Example: Mid('ABCDEFG',2,3) returns 'CDE' Category: String Min (Num,Num) : Num Min (Num,Num) : Num Min (Num,Num) : Num Returns the smallest of two numbers or strings. Category: Math, String, Float MinorDosVersion : Number MinorDosVersion : Number MinorDosVersion : Number Returns the minor DOS version number. See Also: DosVersion, DosVersionString Category: System Minute : Number Minute : Number Minute : Number Returns the current minute. Category: Time MinuteOf (Date) : Number MinuteOf (Date) : Number MinuteOf (Date) : Number Returns the minute of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time MkDir (String) MkDir (String) MkDir (String) Makes a new directory. The FileResult variable returns the dos result error code. A zero in FileResult indicates success. Example: MkDir 'C:\MARX' See Also: ChDir, RmDir Category: File Mod : Operator Mod : Operator Mod : Operator Returns the remainder of the division of two numbers. Category: Math Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 100 _______________________________________________________________ ModifyPath ModifyPath ModifyPath The MarxMenu directory should be in the search path. This is because if you change directories, MarxMenu may not be able to find the menu files. MarxMenu will now test the PATH= environment variable before it writes the batch file to execute a program. If the MarxMenu path is not included, MarxMenu will add the path to the Master Environment if it can. If for some reason you don't want to allow MarxMenu to modify the master environment, use the command: ModifyPath Off Category: Environment Month : Number Month : Number Month : Number Returns current month. Category: Time MonthOf (Date) : Number MonthOf (Date) : Number MonthOf (Date) : Number Returns the month of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time Mouse Mouse Mouse MarxMenu normally uses the mouse if present. If you don't want to use the mouse you can use the command: Mouse Off To turn the mouse back on type: Mouse On The mouse is actually switched on and off at the point when MarxMenu waits at the keyboard for a keypress. Mouse Sensitivity can be set for individual workstations on a network by setting environment variables MouseX and MouseY as follows: Set MouseX=15 Set MouseY=25 See Also: MouseHorizontal, MouseVertical Category: MouseControl Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 101 _______________________________________________________________ MouseHorizontal (Number) MouseHorizontal (Number) MouseHorizontal (Number) Controls the horizontal sensitivity of the mouse. The larger the number, the less sensitive the mouse. Default is 25. See Also: MouseVertical, Mouse Category: MouseControl MouseVertical (Number) MouseVertical (Number) MouseVertical (Number) Controls the vertical sensitivity of the mouse. The larger the number, the less sensitive the mouse. Default is 15. See Also: MouseHorizontal, Mouse Category: MouseControl MoveWindow (Horizontal,Vertical) MoveWindow (Horizontal,Vertical) MoveWindow (Horizontal,Vertical) Moves top window. If (Horizontal) is negative motion is left. If <Vertical> is negative, motion is up. Example: MoveWindow -3 4 ;moves window 3 spaces left and 4 down Category: Display MxCmd : String MxCmd : String MxCmd : String This is an internal string variable that is written to the environment variable MXCMD. This variable can be written to control what MarxMenu will write to the Shell Environment. If this variable is written to, it overrides anything that MarxMenu automatically writes. Example: OnKey 'A' |MxCmd = 'SHUTDOWN.BAT' |ExitMenu Category: Environment, String, Execution NamePart (String) : String NamePart (String) : String NamePart (String) : String Returns the name part of a file name. Example: NamePart ('C:\MARX\MARXMENU.EXE') ;returns MARXMENU See Also: Extension, PathPart, FilePart Category: String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 102 _______________________________________________________________ NetworkVersion : Boolean NetworkVersion : Boolean NetworkVersion : Boolean Returns true if you are running the network version of MarxMenu. Category: Misc NextWord (String) : String NextWord (String) : String NextWord (String) : String This command returns the next logical word of a string variable and removes the string from the original string. Example: StringA = 'one two three' StringB = NextWord(StringA) StringB contains 'one' StringA contains 'two three' Category: String NoBoxBorder NoBoxBorder NoBoxBorder Use this command if you don't want a border around the menus. See Also: SingleLineBox, DoubleLineBox, BlockBox, CustomBox Category: Display NoExit NoExit NoExit Prevents ESC key from allowing you to exit menu. To exit, you must execute the ExitMenu command. This could be password protected. See Also: ExitMenu Category: Execution Not : Operator Not : Operator Not : Operator Returns logical Not if operators are boolean; or bitwise Not if operators are numeric. Category: Math, Boolean NotesLeft : Num NotesLeft : Num NotesLeft : Num NotesLeft returns the number of notes left in the music buffer to play. The music buffer is self adjusting and can store days worth of music. Category: Music NotesPlayed : Num NotesPlayed : Num NotesPlayed : Num Returns the number of notes played. If NotesLeft ever reaches 0, NotesPlayed also is set to 0. Category: Music Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 103 _______________________________________________________________ NovAccountExpDate (UserName) : Date NovAccountExpDate (UserName) : Date NovAccountExpDate (UserName) : Date Returns the Novell account expiration date. You must be logged in to be able to read this. Example: DaysToExpire = NovAccountExpDate(UserName) - Today / SecondsInDay Category: Novell, Time NovAddUserToGroup (User,Group) NovAddUserToGroup (User,Group) NovAddUserToGroup (User,Group) Adds a user to a group and updates GROUPS_I'M_IN, GROUP_MEMBERS, and SECURITY_EQUALS properties. See Also: NovRemoveUserFromGroup Category: Novell NovAttach (Server) NovAttach (Server) NovAttach (Server) NovAttach is used to create a software link between you and a server, usually a second server. It must be followed by a NovLogin command to log you into the server if you want to do anything useful there. See Also: NovDetach Category: Novell NovAttahedServers (Array) NovAttahedServers (Array) NovAttahedServers (Array) Returns a list of servers you are already attached to. See Also: NovServers Category: Novell, Array NovBroadcastMode (Mode) NovBroadcastMode (Mode) NovBroadcastMode (Mode) This reads or sets the message broadcast mode. Example: Writeln NovBroadcastMode BroadcastMode = 3 Modes: 0 - All Messages, same as running CastOn 1 - Server messages only, same as running CastOff 2 - Same as 0 but user has to poll server for messages 3 - Same as 1 but user has to poll server for messages See Also: NovSendMessage, NovGetMessage Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 104 _______________________________________________________________ NovChangePassword (OldPassword,NewPassword) NovChangePassword (OldPassword,NewPassword) NovChangePassword (OldPassword,NewPassword) Changes the novell users password from OldPassword to NewPassword. Category: Novell NovCleanVolumeName (String) : String NovCleanVolumeName (String) : String NovCleanVolumeName (String) : String Returns a string containing the server and volume name of a file name or directory. Example: Writeln NovCleanVolumeName('G:') ;Returns 'MARX/SYS:LOGIN' See Also: CleanFileName Category: Novell NovCloseSemaphore (Name) NovCloseSemaphore (Name) NovCloseSemaphore (Name) This closes semaphore Name. If there are no other users using this semaphore, it is deleted. Category: Novell NovConnection : Number NovConnection : Number NovConnection : Number This returns the logical connection number to the network. A zero indicates that you are not connected. Category: Novell NovConnectionsInUse : Number NovConnectionsInUse : Number NovConnectionsInUse : Number Returns the number of connections in use. Category: Novell NovConsoleOperator : Boolean NovConsoleOperator : Boolean NovConsoleOperator : Boolean This returns true if the user has Console Operator priviledges. This can come in handy when you are trying to determine who gets access to the command line. Category: Novell NovDefaultServer : String NovDefaultServer : String NovDefaultServer : String Returns the name of the default file server. Category: Novell NovDeleteObject (Object,Type) NovDeleteObject (Object,Type) NovDeleteObject (Object,Type) Deletes an object from the bindary. Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 105 _______________________________________________________________ NovDetach (Server) NovDetach (Server) NovDetach (Server) This is used to drop the connection to a server. It also logs you off. See Also: NovAttach Category: Novell NovFullName (User) NovFullName (User) NovFullName (User) Returns the Full Name of the user as set by syscon. If NovFullName is used without a parameter then MyLoginName is assumed. See Also: NovLoginName Category: Novell NovGetMessage : String NovGetMessage : String NovGetMessage : String When in broadcast mode 2 or 3 this polls the server for stored messages and returns them if found. See Also: NovSendMessage, NovBroadcastMode Category: Novell NovGraceLoginReset (User) : Num NovGraceLoginReset (User) : Num NovGraceLoginReset (User) : Num Returns the number of grace logins that Novell resets when the user changes his password. Example: Writeln NovGraceLoginReset (NovMyLoginName) If the User parameter is not included, MarxMenu will assume the current user. See Also: NovGraceLogins Category: Novell NovGraceLogins (User) : Num NovGraceLogins (User) : Num NovGraceLogins (User) : Num Returns the number of grace logins the user has left. Example: Writeln 'You have ' NovGraceLogins (NovMyLoginName) ' left!' If the User parameter is not included, MarxMenu will assume the current user. See Also: NovPasswordExpDate NovGraceLoginReset Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 106 _______________________________________________________________ NovGroupsMembers (Group,Array) NovGroupsMembers (Group,Array) NovGroupsMembers (Group,Array) This reads all the members of Group and puts them into an array. Category: Novell, Array NovGroups (Array) NovGroups (Array) NovGroups (Array) Fills array with list of all groups. See Also: NovUsersLoggedIn, NovUsers, NovPrintQueues, NovServers Category: Novell NovInGroup (Group) : Boolean NovInGroup (Group) : Boolean NovInGroup (Group) : Boolean Returns true if you are in the group. Example: If NovInGroup ('PAYROLL') then Writeln 'Accounting' Category: Novell NovLastLoginDate (User) : Date NovLastLoginDate (User) : Date NovLastLoginDate (User) : Date Returns the date the user last logged in. Example: DaysSinceLogin = NovLastLoginDate(UserName) - Today / SecondsInDay If the User parameter is not included, MarxMenu will assume the current user. Category: Novell, Time NovLogin (Name,Password) NovLogin (Name,Password) NovLogin (Name,Password) This logs you into a file server. It is different than the Novell's login program in that it doesn't execute any login scripts. It merely gets you in. You can include the preferred server with the name. Example: NovLogin ('MARC','PASSWORD') NovLogin ('TYME/MARC','PASSWORD') NovLogin will automatically attach to the file server for you and preserve all default and preferred server settings. The variable NovResult is set to 0 or 223 if successful. The 223 result indicated a grace login. Note: If you are using Netware 3.0 or 3.1 you will have to go to the server console and type: SET ALLOW UNENCRYPTED PASSWORDS = ON Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 107 _______________________________________________________________ See Also: NovDetach Category: Novell NovLoginName (Connection) : String NovLoginName (Connection) : String NovLoginName (Connection) : String This returns the login name of the user at any specified connection. This can also be used to see who else is on the network. See Also: NovFullName Category: Novell NovLogout NovLogout NovLogout This logs you off the server. Warning! Make sure that you are running MarxMenu from a local drive and not the server you are logging out of. MarxMenu needs access to overlays within MARXMENU.EXE and a Logout can cut off access. This command automatically runs FixPath. See Also: FixPath, Logoff, LogoffTime Category: Novell NovMapDrive (Drive,Directory) NovMapDrive (Drive,Directory) NovMapDrive (Drive,Directory) This will map a drive letter to a directory like the Novell MAP command does. You may specify volume names and server names. Example: NovMapDrive ('J','TYME2/SYS:PUBLIC\DOS') Mapping a drive to a nul string ('') deletes the drive map. See Also: NovMapRoot Category: Novell NovMapRoot (Drive,Path) NovMapRoot (Drive,Path) NovMapRoot (Drive,Path) NovMapRoot works like Novell's MAP ROOT command. It allows you to map a drive letter to a subdirectory and make it look like the root directory of that drive. You may specify volume names and server names. Example: NovMapRoot('P','TYME/SYS:PUBLIC') ; P:\ is the same as the TYME/SYS:PUBLIC directory See Also: NovMapDrive Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 108 _______________________________________________________________ NovMaxConnections : Number NovMaxConnections : Number NovMaxConnections : Number Returns the maximum number of connections that your netware will allow. Category: Novell NovMinPasswordLength (User) : Num NovMinPasswordLength (User) : Num NovMinPasswordLength (User) : Num Returns the minimum length of the password that Novell will accept for a new password. Example: Writeln NovGraceLoginReset (NovMyLoginName) If the User parameter is not included, MarxMenu will assume the current user. Category: Novell NovMyLoginName : String NovMyLoginName : String NovMyLoginName : String This returns the login name of the user. Category: Novell NovMyPassword (Password) : Boolean NovMyPassword (Password) : Boolean NovMyPassword (Password) : Boolean Novell won't let you read the password, but it will let you guess and tell you if you're right. This routine returns true if the password passed is the correct password. Category: Novell NovObjectID (User) : String NovObjectID (User) : String NovObjectID (User) : String NovObjectID returns the users novell object identification code. This is the same as the name of the users mail directory. Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 109 _______________________________________________________________ NovObjects (2D Array) NovObjects (2D Array) NovObjects (2D Array) NovObjects reads all objects from the bindary returning a 2 dimensional array containing all object names and object types. Example: NovObjects (X) Loop X Writeln X[LoopIndex,1] ' ' X[LoopIndex,2] EndLoop Common Object Types: 1 - User 2 - Group 3 - Print Queue 4 - File Server 5 - Job Server 6 - Gateway 7 - Print Server See Also: NovScanProperties, NovPropertyValues Category: Novell, Array NovOpenSemaphore (Name,Value) NovOpenSemaphore (Name,Value) NovOpenSemaphore (Name,Value) This opens semaphore Name and assigns it an initial value. If the semaphore already exists, it does nothing. Category: Novell NovPasswordExpDate (UserName) : Date NovPasswordExpDate (UserName) : Date NovPasswordExpDate (UserName) : Date Returns the Novell password expiration date. You must be logged in to be able to read this. Example: DaysToExpire = NovPasswordExpDate(UserName) - Today / SecondsInDay See Also: NovGraceLogins Category: Novell, Time NovPreferredServer : String NovPreferredServer : String NovPreferredServer : String Returns the name of the preferred file server. This is set with the NovSetPreferredServer command. Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 110 _______________________________________________________________ NovPrimaryServer : String NovPrimaryServer : String NovPrimaryServer : String Returns the name of the primary file server. This is the one you first logged into. Category: Novell NovPrintQueues (Array) NovPrintQueues (Array) NovPrintQueues (Array) Fills array with list of all print Queues. See Also: NovUsersLoggedIn, NovUsers, NovGroups, NovServers Category: Novell, Array, Printer NovPropertyValues (Array, Object, Property, Type) NovPropertyValues (Array, Object, Property, Type) NovPropertyValues (Array, Object, Property, Type) Reads property values of object into and array. Note: Some property values are not text. Example: ;shows contents of bindary StandardIO Var Objects, Obj, Prop, Ty, Values Qualifier ObjName ObjType NovObjects (Objects) Loop Objects Obj = Objects[LoopIndex].ObjName Ty = Objects[LoopIndex].ObjType Writeln Obj ' --------- ' Ty NovScanProperties (Prop,Obj,Ty) Loop Prop Writeln ' ' Prop[LoopIndex] NovPropertyValues(Values,Obj,Prop[LoopIndex],Ty) Loop Values Writeln ' ' Values[LoopIndex] EndLoop EndLoop EndLoop See Also: NovObjects, NovScanProperties Category: Novell, Array NovReadGroups (Name,Array) NovReadGroups (Name,Array) NovReadGroups (Name,Array) This reads all the groups that Name belongs to and puts them into an array. Category: Novell, Array Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 111 _______________________________________________________________ NovReadSecurityEquals (Name,Array) NovReadSecurityEquals (Name,Array) NovReadSecurityEquals (Name,Array) This reads all the security equivalences that Name belongs to and puts them into an array. (This includes groups). Category: Novell, Array NovRemoveUserFromGroup (User,Group) NovRemoveUserFromGroup (User,Group) NovRemoveUserFromGroup (User,Group) Removes a user to a group and updates GROUPS_I'M_IN, GROUP_MEMBERS, and SECURITY_EQUALS properties. See Also: NovAddUserToGroup Category: Novell NovResult : Number NovResult : Number NovResult : Number NovResult is a variable like FileResult that returns the success status of the previous Novell system call. A zero generally indicates success. Category: Novell NovScanProperties (Array, Object, ObjectType) NovScanProperties (Array, Object, ObjectType) NovScanProperties (Array, Object, ObjectType) NovScanProperties reads the properties (not the values) into an array. You also have to pass the object type. Novell Object Types: 1 - User 2 - Group 3 - Print Queue 4 - File Server 5 - Job Server 6 - Gateway 7 - Print Server Example: var Properties NovScanProperties (Properties,NovMyLoginName,1) Loop NumberOfElements(Properties) Writeln(Properties[LoopIndex]) EndLoop See Also: NovObjects, NovPropertyValues Category: Novell, Array Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 112 _______________________________________________________________ NovSecurityEquals (Security) : Boolean NovSecurityEquals (Security) : Boolean NovSecurityEquals (Security) : Boolean Returns True if user has the security equivalent of Security. Example: if NovSecurityEquals ('SUPERVISOR') Execute ('SYSCON' endif Category: Novell NovServerTime : Time NovServerTime : Time NovServerTime : Time NovServerTime can read or set the date and time of a Novell file server. To read the server time: X = ServerTime To set the server time: ServerTime = X Category: Novell, Time NovSemaphoreTimeOut NovSemaphoreTimeOut NovSemaphoreTimeOut This variable controls the amount of time (in 1/18 seconds) that MarxMenu will wait for the value of a semaphore to become not negative. The initial value is 50. Category: Novell NovSemaphoreUsers (Name) : Number NovSemaphoreUsers (Name) : Number NovSemaphoreUsers (Name) : Number This returns the number of users that have the semaphore open. Category: Novell NovSemaphoreValue (Name) : Number NovSemaphoreValue (Name) : Number NovSemaphoreValue (Name) : Number This returns the value of a semaphore. Category: Novell NovServers (Array) NovServers (Array) NovServers (Array) This command returns a string array of the file servers you are connected to. Category: Novell, Array Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 113 _______________________________________________________________ NovSendMessage (Message,Connection) NovSendMessage (Message,Connection) NovSendMessage (Message,Connection) Sends a message to the specified connection number just like the novell SEND command. NovResults 0 - Successful 252 - Buffer Full 253 - Invalid Connection Number 255 - Blocked (running CastOff) See Also: NovGetMessage, NovBroadcastMode Category: Novell NovSetPreferredServer (Server) NovSetPreferredServer (Server) NovSetPreferredServer (Server) Sets the preferred file server. Passing a '' will switch you back to the default or primary file server. See Also: NovSetPrimaryServer Category: Novell NovSetPrimaryServer (Server) NovSetPrimaryServer (Server) NovSetPrimaryServer (Server) The primary file server is the one that executes your login scripts. It can also be set using the NovSetPrimaryServer command. See Also: NovSetPreferredServer Category: Novell NovSignalSemaphore (Name) NovSignalSemaphore (Name) NovSignalSemaphore (Name) This increments the value of a semaphore. It is used to indicate that you are done with a resource and makes it available for the next user. Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 114 _______________________________________________________________ NovStationAddress (Connection) : String NovStationAddress (Connection) : String NovStationAddress (Connection) : String This returns the stations internetwork address at connection. Example: NovStationAddress (NovConnection) Returns the address of the users workstation. NovStationAddress (1) Returns the address of station 1. 254:41 where 254 is the network number and 41 is the node number. The second parameter (Connection) is optional. If it is left out, the current connection is assumed. Example: NovStationAddress ;Returns the address of the users workstation. Category: Novell NovUserInGroup (Name,Group) : Boolean NovUserInGroup (Name,Group) : Boolean NovUserInGroup (Name,Group) : Boolean This is used to test if other users are in a group. Returns true is the specified user is in the specified group. Category: Novell NovUsers (Array) NovUsers (Array) NovUsers (Array) Fills array with list of all users. See Also: NovUsersLoggedIn, NovGroups, NovPrintQueues, NovServers Category: Novell, Array NovUsersLoggedIn (Array) NovUsersLoggedIn (Array) NovUsersLoggedIn (Array) Fills array with list of all users that are currently logged in. See Also: NovUsers, NovGroups, NovPrintQueues, NovServers Category: Novell, Array NovVersionNumber : Number NovVersionNumber : Number NovVersionNumber : Number Returns the novell netware version number. Category: Novell Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 115 _______________________________________________________________ NovVolumes (Array) NovVolumes (Array) NovVolumes (Array) Reads volumes on the default server into an array. Example: var X NovVolumes(X) Loop NumberOfElements(X) Writeln X[LoopIndex] EndLoop Category: Novell, Array NovWaitOnSemaphore (Name) : Boolean NovWaitOnSemaphore (Name) : Boolean NovWaitOnSemaphore (Name) : Boolean This decrements the value of a semaphore and if the value is zero or more, returns true. If the value of the semaphore is negative, it returns false. This is used to indicate that you are out of whatever you are testing for. Category: Novell NumberOfElememts (array) : Number NumberOfElememts (array) : Number NumberOfElememts (array) : Number This function returns the number of elements in the array. If the variable is not an array, 0 is returned. Category: Array Now : Time Now : Time Now : Time Returns the current moment or sets the system clock. Read the current moment: X = Now Set the system clock: Now = X See Also: Today, Tomorrow Category: Time Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 116 _______________________________________________________________ NumLock : Boolean NumLock : Boolean NumLock : Boolean Returns true if Num Lock is on. This command can also set the Num Lock on and off. Example: if NumLock then Write 'NumLock is On' NumLock On ;Turns NumLock On NumLock Off ;Turns NumLock Off NumLock (by itself) turns NumLock On. See Also: CapsLock, ScrollLock Category: System OnKey (char) OnKey (char) OnKey (char) When char is selected, the line(s) following are executed up to the next OnKey or end of file. This means that they are written to a BATCH file. Example: Onkey 'W' cd\wordstar ws cd\menu In the above example if 'W' is selected, MarxMenu will create a temporary batch file containing all the lines under the OnKey command. All the lines under an OnKey are written literally to the batch file with few exceptions. All leading and trailing blanks are stripped. String variables are evaluated and their value passed if the name of the string variable name starts with a '%'. If a line begins with a '|' (vertical bar), the line is interpreted rather than written to a batch file. If a '^Label' is used under an OnKey, a jump is made to the 'Label' and interpretation is resumed. This is commonly used to jump to a submenu. Any OnKey statement that causes a batch file to be written to will cause the menu to exit. MarxMenu normally will exit with ErrorLevel 0 unless an ExitCode is set. The first blank line under an OnKey ends what that OnKey command does. See Also: MxCmd Category: Conditional Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 117 _______________________________________________________________ OnScreenOnly (On/Off) OnScreenOnly (On/Off) OnScreenOnly (On/Off) This allows you to restrict selections to only what is actually on the screen. Hidden OnKey commands will not execute if this is set on. This allows you to limit user selection to the choices on the screen. See Also: OnKey Category: Conditional OpenPrinter OpenPrinter OpenPrinter This command opens the printer device. It is not necessary to use this command in that it is done automatically whenever you print. But, if you are running under a multitasking shell like Windows, it will reserve the printer for your task. If the printer is locked, or if you have specified a file name that can't be created, the variable FileResult will contain the DOS error code (usually 5 for access denied). A FileResult of 0 indicates success. See Also: ClosePrinter, FileResult Category: Printer OptionSwitch (String1,String2) : Boolean OptionSwitch (String1,String2) : Boolean OptionSwitch (String1,String2) : Boolean This command tests if String1 contains the option switch String2. If it does, it will remove the switch from String1. Example: String1 = 'Test /A/B/C' HasB = OptionSwitch(String1,'B') HasB will be true. String1 will contain 'Test /A/C' Category: String Or : Operator Or : Operator Or : Operator Returns logical Or if operators are boolean; or bitwise Or if operators are numeric. Example: if (B < 9) or (C > 5) then ..... ;boolean or X or $0F ;bitwise or Category: Math, Boolean Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 118 _______________________________________________________________ Ord (Char) : Number Ord (Char) : Number Ord (Char) : Number Returns the numeric value of an ascii character. Example: Ord('A') ;returns 65 Char(Ord('A') + 1) ;returns 'C' See Also: Char Category: String OverKey : String OverKey : String OverKey : String When using UseArrows, OverKey returns the character that selects the item that the inverse bar is over. This can be used with IdelProgram to display context sensitive help as you move the inverse bar over different selections. See Also: IdleProgram Category: String OverLay (MenuName) OverLay (MenuName) OverLay (MenuName) Overlay loads another menu as if that menu were a procedure of the current menu. After the overlaid menu exits, control is returned to the calling menu at the next line after the overlay command. Like the Chain command, Overlay is very fast and doesn't require MarxMenu to be reloaded. Example: Overlay 'SUBMENU' When using overlays, all variables declared as shared are accessable to the main program and all overlays. The shared variables have to be the same for all overlays. See Also: Shared, Chain Category: Execution ParallelPorts : Number ParallelPorts : Number ParallelPorts : Number Returns number of parallel ports. Category: System Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 119 _______________________________________________________________ ParamStr (Num) : String ParamStr (Num) : String ParamStr (Num) : String Returns the DOS parameter string from the command line. The 0 parameter is MARXMENU.EXE. The 1 parameter is the name of the menu file you are using. This is like the %1 %2 %3 ... in batch file parameters. Category: String ParentEnvironment ParentEnvironment ParentEnvironment ParentEnvironment selects the parent environment for use with environment access commands. See Also: ReadEnv SetEnv ReadEnvironment ShellEnvironment See Also: CurrentEnvironment MasterEnvironment Category: Environment Password (Pswd,column,row) Password (Pswd,column,row) Password (Pswd,column,row) This command opens up a password box at row and column. The user must type the password correctly before the command will execute. The password is case sensitive. Example: OnKey 'X' |PassWord('shell',4,3) COMMAND.COM Category: Conditional Path : String Path : String Path : String Returns the current path. Example: Writeln Path ;returns 'C:\MARX' Category: String PathPart (String) : String PathPart (String) : String PathPart (String) : String Returns the path part of a file name. Example: PathPart ('C:\MARX\MARXMENU.EXE') ;returns C:\MARX See Also: Extension, NamePart, FilePart Category: String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 120 _______________________________________________________________ PauseAfterExecute (On/Off) PauseAfterExecute (On/Off) PauseAfterExecute (On/Off) If on, this command causes the message "Press any key to return to MarxMenu..." to appear after an execute command is executed. See Also: Execute Category: Execution Pi : Real Pi : Real Pi : Real Returns the value of Pi to 18 digits. Category: Math, Float PickFile (FileSpec,column,row,height) : String PickFile (FileSpec,column,row,height) : String PickFile (FileSpec,column,row,height) : String Allows you to display a directory of files on the screen from a menu. Normally used to display a list of files for the user to choose from. Could be used in a command to load a word processor or database. Allows selection of the file to be loaded by the word processor or database program. The filename can be passed to a percent variable placed in the batch file executing the application. See example files on MarxMenu distribution disk. Example: %FileName = PickFile('C:\WORDSTAR\*.DOC',3,4,17) Notice: The use of a variable with a name that starts with a '%' allows the choice to be passed to a batch file for execution. The three numbers represent the column and row of the upper left corner of the box and the height of the box. All DrawBox commands can be used here to control the looks of the PickFile window. This includes the BoxHeader command. Category: String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 121 _______________________________________________________________ PickMany(SourceArray,DestinationArray) PickMany(SourceArray,DestinationArray) PickMany(SourceArray,DestinationArray) PickMany displays a string array in the current window and allows you to choose as many lines as you want. The chosen lines go into DestinationArray. When the window appears, the space bar toggles the marked status of the line. The right arrow sets the marked status and the left arrow resets the marked status. Ctrl-Right-Arrow marks all lines, Ctrl-Left-Arrow unmarks all lines. The return key accepts the selection and exits. The ESC key aborts. If using a mouse, the left button toggles the mark on the current line. The right button accepts and exits. If no selections are made, the DestinationArray is empty. If ESC is pressed, the DestinationArray is left unchanged. You can test LastKey to see what was pressed. Category: String, Array PickOne (Array) : String PickOne (Array) : String PickOne (Array) : String This command displays an array in the current window and lets you pick a line and returns the chosen line. Category: String, Array PickPosition : Number PickPosition : Number PickPosition : Number The variable PickPosition works with the PickOne command. PickPosition returns the number of which element in the array was picked. See Also: PickOne Category: String, Array Port (number) : Number Port (number) : Number Port (number) : Number Returns the value at the port or writes a number to a port. Example: X = Port(20) ;Reads port 20 into X Port(20) = X ;Writes X to Port 20 Category: Memory Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 122 _______________________________________________________________ Pos (substring,string) : Number Pos (substring,string) : Number Pos (substring,string) : Number Finds position of substring in string. If substring isn't found, Pos returns 0. Example: pos('CD','ABCDE') returns 2 Category: String PosInList (String,Array) : Number PosInList (String,Array) : Number PosInList (String,Array) : Number Scans a string array looking for a match on string and returns the array index of the first matched string if found or a zero if not found. Example: X[1] = 'JOE' X[2] = 'KEVIN' X[3] = 'MARC' Writeln PosInList('KEVIN',X) ;returns 2 See Also: PosInSortedList Category: Array PosInSortedList (String,Array) : Number PosInSortedList (String,Array) : Number PosInSortedList (String,Array) : Number Scans a string array looking for a match on string in a sorted array and returns the array index of the first matched string if found or a zero if not found. The array must be in sorted order. A binary search is used to make this command very fast. Example: X[1] = 'JOE' X[2] = 'KEVIN' X[3] = 'MARC' SortArray (X) Writeln PosInList('KEVIN',X) ;returns 2 See Also: PosInList Category: Array Power (Real,Real) : Real Power (Real,Real) : Real Power (Real,Real) : Real Raises a real to a given power. Example: Power(3,4) ;returns 81.0 Category: Math, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 123 _______________________________________________________________ Pred (number) : Number Pred (number) : Number Pred (number) : Number Returns number minus 1. Example: Pred(5) ;returns 4 See Also: Succ Category: Math Print (string) Print (string) Print (string) Prints string to the printer with no CR or LF. If there is an error printing, the error is returned in FileResult. Category: Printer PrinterName (string) PrinterName (string) PrinterName (string) Sets the file name for the printer to use. The default name is PRN. Other common printer names include: LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, and AUX. You can also use filenames to direct printer output to a file. See Also: ClosePrinter Category: Printer Println (String) Println (String) Println (String) Prints string to the printer with CR and LF. See Also: Print Category: Printer PrintScreen (On/Off) PrintScreen (On/Off) PrintScreen (On/Off) Turns the print screen function on and off. Turning the print screen off disables the print screen key. This can be used to prevent a computer from locking up when the user hits the Print Screen key with no printer attached. Category: Printer Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 124 _______________________________________________________________ Procedure (name) Procedure (name) Procedure (name) This word begins the definition of a newly named procedure. A procedure is like a subroutine. Once the procedure is defined, all you have to do to call the procedure is use its name. The procedure definition is terminated by the command EndProc. Example: Procedure SelectFile BoxHeaderColor ForeColor BackColor BoxBorderColor Cyan Mag BoxInsideColor Yellow Mag InverseColor Yellow Red Return PickFile (FileType,4,5,17) EndProc Whenever we use the word SelectFile in the menu, all the lines of the procedure SelectFile will execute. Parameters can be passed to procedures. When a parameter is passed it is normally bassed by value. This mean that a copy of the original is passed. Whatever you do to the copy doesn't affect the original value. Example: var A Procedure Square (X) X = X * X Writeln X EndProc A = 6 Square (A) ;prints 36 Writeln A ;prints 6 In the above example Square (A) will write 36 but Writeln A will write 6. The reason is that Square passes a copy of A to X but the value of X is not returned to A. If you want the original A to be affected you would use the Loc command. A = 6 Square (Loc A) ;prints 36 Writeln A ;prints 36 In this example we pas Loc A to the Square procedure. Thus, instead of X being set to 6, X is set to point to A. As a pointer, any operation performed on X is performed on A instead. See Also: EndProc, Return, Loc Category: Misc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 125 _______________________________________________________________ PullMenu (on/off) PullMenu (on/off) PullMenu (on/off) Controls the behavior of the left and right arrow keys when using pull down menus. Default is Off. See PULL.MNU for example. Category: Display Qualifier Qualifier Qualifier Used to create qualifiers which are named elements of an array. Example: Var Presidents Qualifier FirstName, LastName Presidents[1].FirstName = 'George' Presidents[1].LastName = 'Washington' See Also: Var, Constant, Shared Category: Variable Random : Number Random : Number Random : Number The Random command returns random numbers between 0 and +2,147,483,647. (2^31). The algorithm has been checked for good uniformity and takes advantage of re-seeding itself from random events like the timer interrupt and keyboard input. To get a random number in a specific range, use the Mod command. Example: Write 'Pick a Number from 1 to 10 ' Writeln (Random mod 10 + 1) Category: Math Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 126 _______________________________________________________________ ReadDirectory (Path,Array) ReadDirectory (Path,Array) ReadDirectory (Path,Array) Reads a directory into and array. This command is controlled be several variables that control its behavior. If WholeFileNames is set to true, the names that are returned contain the whole path. If HiddenAndSystem is set to True, then Hidden and System files are also read. If IncludeDirectories is set to true, then directories are also read. If DirectoriesOnly is set to true, then only directory names are read. Example: Var X WholeFileNames Off ReadDirectory('*.MNU',X) Loop X Execute ('COPY ' + X[LoopIndex] + ' A:') EndLoop See Also: WholeFileNames, HiddenAndSystem, IncludeDirectories See Also: DirectoriesOnly Category: Array, File ReadEnv (String) : String ReadEnv (String) : String ReadEnv (String) : String Returns the environment string specified. Example: PathString = ReadEnv('PATH') See Also: SetEnv ReadEnvironment ShellEnvironment See Also: CurrentEnvironment ParentEnvironment MasterEnvironment Category: Environment ReadEnvironment (Array) ReadEnvironment (Array) ReadEnvironment (Array) Reads all environment variables into an array. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 127 _______________________________________________________________ Example: Var Env ReadEnvironment (Env) ;Env[1] will be the first environment string and ;Env[NumberOfElememts(Env)] will be the last. A variable that is ;set is LongestLine. LongestLine contains the length of the ;longest string variable read. Writeln 'Your current environment variables are:' Loop Env Writeln Env[LoopIndex] EndLoop Writeln Writeln('Your Environment Size is :',Str(EnvSize)) Writeln('You are using :',Str(EnvSize-EnvFree),' bytes.') Writeln('You have :,'Str(EnvFree),' bytes free.') See Also: SetEnv ReadEnv ShellEnvironment See Also: CurrentEnvironment ParentEnvironment MasterEnvironment Category: Environment, Array ReadKey : String ReadKey : String ReadKey : String Returns the character that is input from the keyboard. If UseArrows is on then the inverse bar will appear in the current window for selecting a choice. Example: Var Key Repeat Writeln( 'Press the <ESC> key to exit this program.' ) Key = ReadKey Until Key = Esc See Also: UseArrows Category: Keyboard Readln : String Readln : String Readln : String Reads a string from the keyboard. Example: Customer.Name = Readln Customer.Number = Value (Readln) ;Converts to an numerical value Customer.State = UpperCase (ReadLn) Category: Keyboard, String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 128 _______________________________________________________________ ReadTextFile (FileName,Array) ReadTextFile (FileName,Array) ReadTextFile (FileName,Array) This command reads a text file into a string array. It also sets the variable LongestLine to the length of the longest line in the file. Example: Var Docs ReadTextFile('MARXMENU.DOC',Docs) ;After the read, Docs[1] becomes the first line of the file. ;Docs[NumberOfElements(Docs)] becomes the last line. Loop NumberOfElements(Docs) ; Convert each line to its uppercase equivalent Docs[LoopIndex] = UpperCase Docs[LoopIndex] EndLoop ;Save the newly formatted array WriteTextFile ('NEWMM.DOC',Docs) Do not use FileOpen with ReadTextFile. The power of the ReadTextFile and WriteTextFile have expanded. You can now load and save arrays of any variable types, multidimensional arrays, and mixed array types. This includes strings, numbers, and booleans. File variables are also stored. When a file variable is stored and reloaded the FileAssign command is not necessary. Category: File, Array Real (Integer) : Real Real (Integer) : Real Real (Integer) : Real Returns the real equivalent of an integer. Category: Math, Float Reboot Reboot Reboot Causes the computer to do a warm reboot. Category: Execution ReleaseDate : String ReleaseDate : String ReleaseDate : String Returns the MarxMenu Release Date. Category: String Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 129 _______________________________________________________________ Repeat Repeat Repeat Used for program control. Usage: REPEAT (statement) (statement) UNTIL (condition) Example: Var Key Repeat Key = ReadKey If Key = 'A' Bat( 'DOLIST.EXE' ) ExitMenu EndIf If Key = F1 Then Help Until Key = Esc Category: Conditional ResizeWindow (Horizontal Vertical) ResizeWindow (Horizontal Vertical) ResizeWindow (Horizontal Vertical) Changes the size of the top window. The horizontal and vertical numbers are added to the current size. Use negative numbers to shrink the window. The top left corner stays in the same place. Example: DrawBox 15 5 30 15 ResizeWindow 15 5 See Also: MoveWindow Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 130 _______________________________________________________________ Return (param,param,...) Return (param,param,...) Return (param,param,...) Exits a procedure and optionally returns parameters to the calling procedure. It can return as many parameters as you want as long as the calling program uses the same number of parameters. Otherwise, you will get an "Invalid number of parameters" error. Example: Procedure SmallRandomNumber {Returns a random number between 1 and 100} var SmallRand SmallRand = Random mod 100 Return (SmallRand + 1) EndProc See Also: Procedure, EndProc Category: Misc ReturnCode : Number ReturnCode : Number ReturnCode : Number When you use the Execute function, a ReturnCode value is fed into this variable when you return to the menu. The code returned is the same as what the DOS ErrorLevel would be. This will not work if you use the UseCommand On function because COMMAND.COM would have been loaded and the returncode would be lost. See Also: ExitCode Category: Execution Right (string,count) : String Right (string,count) : String Right (string,count) : String Returns right characters of string for length count. Example: Right('ABCDEF',3) returns 'DEF' Category: String RmDir (String) RmDir (String) RmDir (String) Removes a directory. The FileResult variable returns the dos result error code. A zero in FileResult indicates success. You can't remove a directory that contains files. Example: RmDir 'C:\SABER' See Also: ChDir, MkDir Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 131 _______________________________________________________________ RollWindow (number) RollWindow (number) RollWindow (number) Windows can be looked at as a stack. RollWindow will roll a previous window to the top of the stack making the previous window the current window. Example: ;Make the Third window on the stack the active window RollWindow 3 ;Write out message Writeln 'You have mail waiting!' ;Now put the windows back PushBackWindow (3) Procedure PushBackWindow (N) ;Will roll a window back to its original position on the stack ;The parameter should be the same as the parameter for the call ;to RollWindow. If you use RollWindow(3) then use PushBackWindow(3) Loop N RollWindow N EndLoop EndProc ;PushBackWindow See Also: CurrentWindow, SetTopWindow Category: Display Run variable (parameters) Run variable (parameters) Run variable (parameters) This runs a procedure that was stored in a variable. var Y Procedure WriteSquared (X) Writeln (X * X) EndProc Example: Y = Loc(WriteSquared) Run Y(3) ; This will write a 9 on the screen Warning! Don't put the variable you are running in parentheses. Run (Y,3) ; this won't work See Also: Loc Category: Misc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 132 _______________________________________________________________ SavePosition (On/Off) SavePosition (On/Off) SavePosition (On/Off) If SavePosition is On, MarxMenu will return to the last menu selection you made when MarxMenu is re-entered. As you select menu layers your keystrokes are stored in an internal string variable called KeySave. On exit, MarxMenu writes KeySave to an environment variable KSV. On return to MarxMenu, this variable is retrieved. The return point may be altered by using the command KeySave = (string). Another thing this points out is that environment variables can be used to store information and allow MarxMenu to remember things from one selection to another. Since MarxMenu doesn't stay memory resident, this is the only way I have found to store information. Category: Keyboard, Environment ScreenHeight : Number ScreenHeight : Number ScreenHeight : Number Returns number of rows of character on your screen. Normally this is 25. Category: Display ScreenWidth : Number ScreenWidth : Number ScreenWidth : Number Returns number of columns of character on your screen. Normally this is 80. Category: Display ScrollLock : Boolean ScrollLock : Boolean ScrollLock : Boolean Returns true if Scroll Lock is on. This command can also set the Scroll Lock on and off. Example: if ScrollLock then Write 'ScrollLock is On' ScrollLock On ;Turns ScrollLock On ScrollLock Off ;Turns ScrollLock Off ScrollLock (by itself) turns ScrollLock On. See Also: CapsLock, NumLock Category: System ScrollMove (On/Off) ScrollMove (On/Off) ScrollMove (On/Off) This allows you to control whether or not the ScrollLock will allow you to move the top window. Default is On. Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 133 _______________________________________________________________ Second : Number Second : Number Second : Number Returns the current second. Category: Time SecondOf (Date) : Number SecondOf (Date) : Number SecondOf (Date) : Number Returns the second of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time Security (on/off) Security (on/off) Security (on/off) When security is on, Readln echos '*' instead of the letters that are being typed. This is used for such things as entering passwords other than using the password command. Category: String SelectPath : String SelectPath : String SelectPath : String This command uses another program in the Computer Tyme DOS TOOLBOX called Pick Directory to read a text into a variable. You must have Computer Tyme Pick Directory for this feature to work. Example: OnKey 'B' |%BackPath = SelectPath cd %BackPath backup c: a: Category: String SerialPorts : Number SerialPorts : Number SerialPorts : Number Returns number of serial ports. Category: System SetArraySize (Array,Size) SetArraySize (Array,Size) SetArraySize (Array,Size) If the array is larger than Size the array is truncated. If it is smaller, memory is allocated for the array. Category: Array Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 134 _______________________________________________________________ SetEnv (String) SetEnv (String) SetEnv (String) This is used to set environment strings. It can be used on the Current, Parent, Master or Shell environment. Example: SetEnv ('PATH=C:\') SetEnv ('COMSPEC=X:COMMAND.COM') MarxMenu also allows you to select which environment you are working with. This is done with the following commands. CurrentEnvironment ParentEnvironment MasterEnvironment ShellEnvironment See Also: ReadEnv ReadEnvironment ShellEnvironment See Also: CurrentEnvironment ParentEnvironment MasterEnvironment Category: Environment SetTopWindow (Number) SetTopWindow (Number) SetTopWindow (Number) Selects a window by number making it the current window and moves it to the top. Example: DrawBox .... ThisWindow = CurrentWindow DrawBox .... DrawBox .... SetTopWindow (ThisWindow) See Also: CurrentWindow, RollWindow, SetWindowUnder Category: Display SetWindowUnder (Window1,Window2) SetWindowUnder (Window1,Window2) SetWindowUnder (Window1,Window2) This command moves Window1 underneath Window2. This can be used to put a window back in the stack after you use SetTopWindow. See Also: CurrentWindow, SetTopWindow, RollWindow Category: Display Shadow (on/off) Shadow (on/off) Shadow (on/off) Turn window shadows on/off. Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 135 _______________________________________________________________ ShadowColor (ForeColor,BackColor) ShadowColor (ForeColor,BackColor) ShadowColor (ForeColor,BackColor) Sets the color of the shadow. There are actually two shadow colors. MarxMenu stores different values for big shadows and small shadows. See Also: BigShadow, SmallShadow, ShadowPosition, Shadow Category: Color ShadowPosition (number) ShadowPosition (number) ShadowPosition (number) Selects the shadow position around the window. A zero (default) sets the shadow position to the bottom right side. A one sets the shadow position to the bottom left. Using ShadowPosition turns shadowing on so a Shadow On command is not required. See Also: Shadow, ShadowColor, BigShadow, SmallShadow Category: Display Shared Shared Shared The key word SHARED can be used to define variables just like VAR. Any variable defined with SHARED is passed globally to and from overlays. The important thing is that the Shared variables must be defined exactly the same way between the overlays. There is also a pre-defined variable called COMMON. Technically, Shared variables are qualifiers off of COMMON. See Also: Var, Constant, Qualifier Category: Variable ShellEnvironment ShellEnvironment ShellEnvironment ShellEnvironment selects the environment of the last COMMAND.COM in memory for use with environment access commands. This is usually the same as the Master Environment. More than one COMMAND.COM is loaded when you are running a shell under WINDOWS or DESQVIEW. When using these programs, you will want to access the Shell Envoronment instead of the Master Environment. The Shell Environment is the one that will run batch files. See Also: ReadEnv SetEnv ReadEnvironment MasterEnvironment See Also: CurrentEnvironment ParentEnvironment Category: Environment Shl : Operator Shl : Operator Shl : Operator Shift left, does a binary 32 bit shift left. Category: Math Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 136 _______________________________________________________________ Shr : Operator Shr : Operator Shr : Operator Shift right, does a binary 32 bit shift right. Category: Math Sin (Radians) : Real Sin (Radians) : Real Sin (Radians) : Real Returns the Sine of a real. Category: Math, Float SingleLineBox SingleLineBox SingleLineBox Selects single line box for menu borders. See Also: DoubleLineBox, BlockBox, CustomBox, NoBoxBorder Category: Display SmallShadow SmallShadow SmallShadow Selects small shadow type. See Also: BigShadow, ShadowPosition, ShadowColor Category: Display SortArray (Array) SortArray (Array) SortArray (Array) SortArray will do an alphabetical sort on an array of strings. Example: Sort a Text File Usage: DIR|MARXMENU SORT|MORE MARXMENU SORT INFILE OUTFILE SORT.MNU var SortBuf StandardIO ReadTextFile (ParamStr(2),SortBuf) SortArray(SortBuf) WriteTextFile (ParamStr(3),SortBuf) Category: Array Sound (on/off) Sound (on/off) Sound (on/off) Turn sound effects on/off. Category: Display Sqr (Real) : Real Sqr (Real) : Real Sqr (Real) : Real Returns the Square Root of a real. Category: Math, Float Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 137 _______________________________________________________________ StandardIO (on/off) StandardIO (on/off) StandardIO (on/off) This tells MarxMenu to use standard Input and Output file handles for reading the keyboard and writing to the screen when turned on. When turned off, MarxMenu does direct screen writes. When StandardIO is on, several MarxMenu commands will send ANSI escape sequences. The commands that send ANSI sequences are as follows: TextColor TextBackground ClearScreen ClearLine GotoXY Category: Display, Ansi Str (number) : String Str (number) : String Str (number) : String Turns a number into a string. Category: String StuffAKey (String or Number) StuffAKey (String or Number) StuffAKey (String or Number) Stuffs a single key into the DOS keyboard buffer when MarxMenu exits. The limit is 16 characters. Example: StuffAKey($3F00) ;stuff the F5 key StuffAKey F5 ;same thing Do not mix StuffAKey with StuffKBD. Use one or the other. Category: Execution, Keyboard, String StuffKBD (String) StuffKBD (String) StuffKBD (String) Stuffs the string into the DOS keyboard buffer when MarxMenu exits. The limit is 16 characters. Example: StuffKBD 'LOGOUT' + CR Category: Execution, Keyboard, String StuffKeyboardNow StuffKeyboardNow StuffKeyboardNow Normally the keyboard stuffing is done as MarxMenu quits. This forces the keyboard to be stuffed immediately. Category: Keyboard Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 138 _______________________________________________________________ Succ (number) : Number Succ (number) : Number Succ (number) : Number Returns number plus 1. Example: Succ(4) ;returns 5 See Also: Pred Category: Math Suggest (Char) Suggest (Char) Suggest (Char) Normally the UseArrows command will start in the upper left hand corner. By using the Suggest command, you can set it to start on any menu selection. Example: Suggest 'E' Category: Display TextBackground (color) TextBackground (color) TextBackground (color) Sets text background color. Category: Color, Ansi TextColor (forecolor,backcolor) TextColor (forecolor,backcolor) TextColor (forecolor,backcolor) Sets the color of text to be displayed on the screen. TextColor resets the value of CapsColor. Category: Color, Ansi TextMode (num) TextMode (num) TextMode (num) Sets the video text mode. 0 = 40 column BW 1 = 40 column COLOR 2 = 80 column BW 3 = 80 column COLOR 7 = Mono 258 = 43/50 line EGA BW 259 = 43/50 line EGA COLOR Example: TextMode BW80 Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 139 _______________________________________________________________ TextPos : Number TextPos : Number TextPos : Number TextPos returns the current position in a text file. This can be saved so that you can go to the same place using TextSeek. See Also: TextSeek Category: File TextSeek (Number) TextSeek (Number) TextSeek (Number) TextSeek moves to a specific byte in a text file. See Also: TextPos Category: File Then Then Then Conditional control. See Also: If, Else, Endif, ElseIf Category: Conditional TimeOf (String) : Number TimeOf (String) : Number TimeOf (String) : Number Converts a string representing a date to a time number. The number is the number of seconds since 01-01-80. Conversion follows international rules based on the country code. Examples: '4-7-91' ;04-07-1991 00:00:00 'April 7th, 1991 4:35pm' ;04-07-1991 16:35:00 '12:35:23a' ;04-07-1991 00:35:23 '3:15' ;04-07-1991 03:15:00 If the string can't be converted, then BadDate is set to true. Category: International, Time Timer : Number Timer : Number Timer : Number Returns the system timer. Category: Time TimeSeparator : String TimeSeparator : String TimeSeparator : String Returns the time separator character from the country information. See Also: DecimalSeparator, DateSeparator, CountryCode Category: International, Time Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 140 _______________________________________________________________ TimeString (Time) : String TimeString (Time) : String TimeString (Time) : String Returns the time as a string in HH:MM:SS format. 24 hour. If no parameter is passed, Now is assumed. Example: Writeln TimeString ;returns the time of Now as text Writeln TimeString (Now + (5 * SecondsInHour)) ;returns the time of 5 hours from now as text Category: String, Time Today : Date Today : Date Today : Date Returns the current day as a date. The date returned has the time set to midnight or 00:00:00. It can also be used to set the system date. Read the current day; X = Today Set the system clock: Today = TimeOf '08-19-91' See Also: Tomorrow, Now Category: Time Tomorrow : Time Tomorrow : Time Tomorrow : Time Returns the time of the day after today at midnight. See Also: Today, Now Category: Time Tone (Frequency,Duration) Tone (Frequency,Duration) Tone (Frequency,Duration) This command plays a note at Frequency cycles per second for a period of Duration 1/18 of a second. The reason it is in 1/18 seconds is because there is a standard interrupt that gives me that time period. The IBM series computers are not music oriented machines so don't throw away your Compact Disk player. The maximum duration is 255 1/18 of a second. Normally, MarxMenu will create a break in between notes equal to 1/8 of the duration of the note. If you want to eliminate the break and create a 'slur' (music term), add 256 to the duration. This tells MarxMenu to connect the notes without a break. Category: Music Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 141 _______________________________________________________________ TotalDiskSpace <drive> : Number TotalDiskSpace <drive> : Number TotalDiskSpace <drive> : Number Returns total disk space in bytes. Example: Writeln (TotalDiskSpace 'C') TotalDiskSpace only looks at the first character of the string for the drive letter. Category: System TotalEMS : Number TotalEMS : Number TotalEMS : Number Returns total EMS memory in bytes. Category: Memory Trim (string) Trim (string) Trim (string) Trims white space from both ends of a string. White space is blank characters and lower. Category: String TrueName (String) : String TrueName (String) : String TrueName (String) : String There is an undocumented feature of DOS called TRUENAME. It returns the real name of a file or directory looking past such things as drive mappings and Assigned or Substituted drives. On local drives you get the drive and path where the file really is. On networks you get server and volume information where the server name starts with a '\\'. Example: TrueName ('H:') ;returns \\TYME\SYS\HOME\MARC See Also: CleanFileName Category: String, File UnBlank : Boolean UnBlank : Boolean UnBlank : Boolean Unblank returns true if MarxMenu has determined that the screen blanker should finish. Your screen blanker needs to call UnBlank to determine when to unblank the screen. Example: while not UnBlank <your screen blanker> endwhile See Also: BlankScreenProgram Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 142 _______________________________________________________________ UniqueFileName : String UniqueFileName : String UniqueFileName : String Uses the create new file call to get a filename that is different than any other file name. It is tied to the DOS call that is used to create a unique file name according to the rules of your operating system. Category: File, String Until Until Until Conditional control. Example: Repeat <statement> <statement> Until <condition> See Also: Repeat. Category: Conditional UpperCase (String) : String UpperCase (String) : String UpperCase (String) : String Return UpperCase of String including support for international characters. Category: String, International UpperCaseOnly : Boolean UpperCaseOnly : Boolean UpperCaseOnly : Boolean Setting UpperCaseOnly to on forces text entered with Readln or ReadKey to upper case. Category: String UseArrows UseArrows UseArrows UseArrows tells MarxMenu that the selection will be made by moving an inverse video bar over the selections. No parameters are required for this command to work. It will pick the first line with a capital letter as the first menu selection. All text in the window must be indented at least one space and there must be one space between the end of the line and the right wall of the window. Multiple items on the same line must be separated by two or more spaces. The OnKey selection is triggered by either the first capital letter in the selection or by a number from 0 - 9 or some punctuation characters. This number or letter will be a different color if you use the CapsColor command. (See Also: PULL.MNU for an example). UseArrows Off will disable this feature. See Also: ReadKey Category: Display Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 143 _______________________________________________________________ UseCommand (on/off) UseCommand (on/off) UseCommand (on/off) Used with Execute. UseCommand will load COMMAND.COM before running the specified program. Its not as fast, because the system has to find and load COMMAND.COM, then the specified program. The advantage is if COMMAND.COM is loaded, it will allow you to run batch files and internal DOS commands. It also doesn't require you to specify the COM or EXE extension. Example: OnKey 'D' |UseCommand On |Execute 'DM' The default is OFF. See Also: Execute Category: Execution UsedDiskSpace <drive> : Number UsedDiskSpace <drive> : Number UsedDiskSpace <drive> : Number Returns used disk space in bytes. Example: Writeln (UsedDiskSpace 'C') UsedDiskSpace only looks at the first character of the string for the drive letter. Category: System UseNovPassword : Boolean UseNovPassword : Boolean UseNovPassword : Boolean If UseNovPassword is set to true then the screen blanker will require that the user type his Novell password to unblank the screen. Full Novell security and intruder detection is active here. If Novell's intruder detection is active, then if an intruder fails to type in the password after a number of attempts, then Netware will not accept the correct password until intruder detection allows it. If you don't know what intruder detection is, read the Netware manuals on the subject. It is something you should use. Category: Novell Value (string) : Number Value (string) : Number Value (string) : Number Converts String to Number. Leading $ indicates Hex. Category: String, Math Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 144 _______________________________________________________________ Var Var Var Used to create variables. See Also: Constant, Shared, Qualifier Category: Variable VideoMode : Number VideoMode : Number VideoMode : Number Returns Current Video Mode. Category: Display VideoPage : Number VideoPage : Number VideoPage : Number Returns Current Video Page. Category: Display ViewArray (Array) ViewArray (Array) ViewArray (Array) Allows you to view an array of strings in the current window. Works just like ViewTextFile. See Also: ViewTextFile Category: Display, Array ViewTextFile (Name) ViewTextFile (Name) ViewTextFile (Name) This command lets you view a text file in the current window. See Also: ViewArrayFile Category: Display, File Volume (drive) Volume (drive) Volume (drive) Returns the volume label of the specified drive. Category: System Wait (number) Wait (number) Wait (number) Delay for a number of 1/100 seconds. Wait 250 delays 2 1/2 seconds. If you are running a multi-tasker like Windows 3 or DesqView, and the delay is over 1/4 second, MarxMenu will release time slices back to DOS and not bog down the CPU power on long waits. MarxMenu also releases CPU cycles while idel at the keyboard. See Also: WaitOrKbdReady Category: Misc Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 145 _______________________________________________________________ WaitOrKbdReady (Number) WaitOrKbdReady (Number) WaitOrKbdReady (Number) This command is just like the WAIT command except the wait is aborted by pressing any key. Time to wait is in hundredths of a second. This command is useful when using MarxMenu to write a running demo. See Also: Wait Category: Keyboard WhereX : Number WhereX : Number WhereX : Number Returns the horizontal position of the cursor within the current window. Category: Display WhereXAbs : Number WhereXAbs : Number WhereXAbs : Number Returns the horizontal screen position of the cursor. Category: Display WhereY : Number WhereY : Number WhereY : Number Returns the vertical position of the cursor within the current window. WhereYAbs : Number WhereYAbs : Number WhereYAbs : Number Returns the vertical screen position of the cursor. Category: Display While While While Used for program control. Usage: WHILE (condition) (statement) (statement) ENDWHILE Execution stays in the while loop as long as the condition is true. See Also: EndWhile Category: Conditional WholeFileNames (On/Off) WholeFileNames (On/Off) WholeFileNames (On/Off) Controls if ReadDirectory will return the whole name and path or just the filename part. See Also: ReadDirectory Category: File Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 146 _______________________________________________________________ WindowHeight : Number WindowHeight : Number WindowHeight : Number Returns number of rows in current window. Category: Display WindowWidth : Number WindowWidth : Number WindowWidth : Number Returns number of columns in current window. Category: Display WinX : Number WinX : Number WinX : Number Returns the horizontal location of the left hand corner of the window. See Also: WinY Category: Display WinY : Number WinY : Number WinY : Number Returns the vertical location of the left hand corner of the window. See Also: WinX Category: Display Write (string) Write (string) Write (string) Writes (string) on the screen at the current cursor position. Category: Display WriteCenter (string) WriteCenter (string) WriteCenter (string) Writes (string) centered in current window. Category: Display Writeln (string) Writeln (string) Writeln (string) Writes (string) on the screen followed by a CR-LF (carriage return-line feed). Category: Display WriteTextFile (FileName,Array) WriteTextFile (FileName,Array) WriteTextFile (FileName,Array) This command writes a string array to a text file. Do not use FileCreate of any other file commands with this. This command does it all. See Also: ReadTextFile Category: File, Array Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 147 _______________________________________________________________ WriteVertical (string) WriteVertical (string) WriteVertical (string) Writes (string) vertically on the screen from the current cursor position. Example: WriteVertical( 'Hello' ) ;This would display H e l l o Category: Display Xor : Operator Xor : Operator Xor : Operator Returns logical Xor if operators are boolean; or bitwise Xor if operators are numeric. Category: Math, Boolean Year : Number Year : Number Year : Number Returns current Year. Category: Time YearOf (Date) : Number YearOf (Date) : Number YearOf (Date) : Number Returns the year of a date. If Date is passed as a string it is converted automatically. See Also: TimeOf, BadDate Category: Time Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 148 _______________________________________________________________ STRING CONSTANTS STRING CONSTANTS STRING CONSTANTS F1 = #0#59 SF1 = #0#84 CF1 = #0#94 AF1 = #0#104 F2 = #0#60 SF2 = #0#85 CF2 = #0#95 AF2 = #0#105 F3 = #0#61 SF3 = #0#86 CF3 = #0#96 AF3 = #0#106 F4 = #0#62 SF4 = #0#87 CF4 = #0#97 AF4 = #0#107 F5 = #0#63 SF5 = #0#88 CF5 = #0#98 AF5 = #0#108 F6 = #0#64 SF6 = #0#89 CF6 = #0#99 AF6 = #0#109 F7 = #0#65 SF7 = #0#90 CF7 = #0#100 AF7 = #0#110 F8 = #0#66 SF8 = #0#91 CF8 = #0#101 AF8 = #0#111 F9 = #0#67 SF9 = #0#92 CF9 = #0#102 AF9 = #0#112 F10 = #0#68 SF10 = #0#93 CF10 = #0#103 AF10 = #0#113 F11 = #0#133 SF11 = #0#135 CF11 = #0#137 AF11 = #0#139 F12 = #0#134 SF12 = #0#136 CF12 = #0#138 AF12 = #0#140 ALT1 = #0#120 BKSP = #8 ALT2 = #0#121 CR = #13 ALT3 = #0#122 CRLF = #13#10 ALT4 = #0#123 ESC = #27 ALT5 = #0#124 FF = #12 ALT6 = #0#125 LF = #10 ALT7 = #0#126 ALT8 = #0#127 ALT9 = #0#128 ALT0 = #0#129 Category: Constants TIME AND DATE CONSTANTS TIME AND DATE CONSTANTS TIME AND DATE CONSTANTS Jan = 1 Sun = 0 Feb = 2 Mon = 1 Mar = 3 Tue = 2 Apr = 4 Wed = 3 May = 5 Thu = 4 Jun = 6 Fri = 5 Jul = 7 Sat = 6 Aug = 8 Sep = 9 SecondsInHour = 3600 Oct = 10 SecondsInDay = 86400 Nov = 11 Dec = 12 Category: Constants Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 149 _______________________________________________________________ VIDEO CONSTANTS VIDEO CONSTANTS VIDEO CONSTANTS Video Modes: Display Types: BW40 = 0 0 = HercMono CO40 = 1 1 = CGA BW80 = 2 2 = MCGA CO50 = 3 3 = EGA MONO = 7 4 = VGA Category: Constants COLOR CONSTANTS COLOR CONSTANTS COLOR CONSTANTS Black = 0 DGrey = 8 Blue = 1 LBlue = 9 Green = 2 LGreen = 10 Cyan = 3 LCyan = 11 Red = 4 LRed = 12 Magenta = 5 LMagenta = 13 Brown = 6 Yellow = 14 Grey = 7 White = 15 Category: Constants BOOLEAN CONSTANTS BOOLEAN CONSTANTS BOOLEAN CONSTANTS True Yes On False No Off Category: Constants CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS MarxMenu has a full complement of conditional statements. They are as follows: IF->ELSE->ENDIF Where, IF [condition] statement statement ELSE statement statement ENDIF IF->THEN Where, IF [condition] THEN statement Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 150 _______________________________________________________________ IF->ELSE->ELSEIF->ENDIF Where, IF [condition] statement statement ELSEIF [condition] statement statement ELSEIF [condition] statement statement ELSE statement statement ENDIF REPEAT->UNTIL Where, REPEAT statement statement UNTIL [condition] WHILE->ENDWHILE Where, WHILE [conditon] statement statement ENDWHILE PROCEDURE->ENDPROC PROCEDURE (name) statement statement ENDPROC LOOP->ENDLOOP LOOP (number) statement statement ENDLOOP ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES USED BY MARXMENU ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES USED BY MARXMENU ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES USED BY MARXMENU MarxMenu uses a variety of environment variables to control various MarxMenu functions. Many of these variables are optional. Set MouseX=(Number) Sets the horizontal sensitivity of the mouse. Default is 15. Set MouseY=(Number) Sets the vertical sensitivity of the mouse. Default is 25. Set MxEcho=(On/Off) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 151 _______________________________________________________________ If you set the first line of MARX.BAT to @ECHO %MXECHO% then by setting the environment variable MxEcho to ON or OFF, you can control the echo in the MARX.BAT file without having to edit it. This allows you to do diagnostics on a network without messing up other users. Set Temp=(Directory) Normally, MarxMenu creates temporary batch files in the same directory as MARXMENU.EXE. If you set TEMP to a directory, MarxMenu will use this directory instead. This complies with Windows / DOS 5.0 standards. Set MxCmd=(Command) MarxMenu uses MXCMD to control what the MARX.BAT file executes. You must have enough environment space available for MarxMenu to use. Set KSV= MarxMenu stores a series of keystrokes in the KSV variable when SavePosition is On. Set STATION=(Number) If you are on a network that is not Novell, then you should set this variable to a unique number for each station between 0 and 255. Set TASK=(Number) If you are running a multi-tasking operating system other than DesqView, and MarxMenu is running more than one task, then set an environment variable TASK to a unique number for each task. MarxMenu also accesses your COMSPEC variable and your PATH variable when executing programs. COMMAND CATEGORIES COMMAND CATEGORIES COMMAND CATEGORIES Here is a breakdown of MarxMenu commands by command category. Many MarxMenu commands are in several categories. These are the same categories as in the MarxHelp utility. Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 152 _______________________________________________________________ MISC COMMANDS MISC COMMANDS MISC COMMANDS | | (Vertical Bar) ( ( : Operator ) ) : Operator Alias Alias AllowAbort AllowAbort (On/Off) AllowEsc AllowEsc (On/Off) Comment Comment EndComment EndComment EndProc EndProc Include Include (MenuName) NetworkVersion NetworkVersion : Boolean Procedure Procedure (name) Return Return (param,param,...) Run Run variable (parameters) Wait Wait (number) MATH COMMANDS MATH COMMANDS MATH COMMANDS * * : Operator + + : Operator - - : Operator / / : Operator < < : Operator <= <= : Operator <> <> : Operator = = : Operator > > : Operator >= >= : Operator Abs Abs : Number And And : Operator ArcTan ArcTan (Radians) : Real Cos Cos (Radians) : Real Exp Exp (Real) : Real Fraction Fraction (Real) : Real Int Int (Real) : Real Integer Integer (Real) : Number Ln Ln (Real) : Real Max Max (Num,Num) : Num Min Min (Num,Num) : Num Mod Mod : Operator Not Not : Operator Or Or : Operator Pi Pi : Real Power Power (Real,Real) : Real Pred Pred (number) : Number Random Random : Number Real Real (Integer) : Real Shl Shl : Operator Shr Shr : Operator Sin Sin (Radians) : Real Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 153 _______________________________________________________________ Sqr Sqr (Real) : Real Succ Succ (number) : Number Value Value (string) : Number Xor Xor : Operator FLOAT COMMANDS FLOAT COMMANDS FLOAT COMMANDS * * : Operator + + : Operator - - : Operator / / : Operator < < : Operator <= <= : Operator <> <> : Operator = = : Operator > > : Operator >= >= : Operator Abs Abs : Number ArcTan ArcTan (Radians) : Real Cos Cos (Radians) : Real Exp Exp (Real) : Real Fraction Fraction (Real) : Real Int Int (Real) : Real Integer Integer (Real) : Number Ln Ln (Real) : Real Max Max (Num,Num) : Num Min Min (Num,Num) : Num Pi Pi : Real Power Power (Real,Real) : Real Real Real (Integer) : Real Sin Sin (Radians) : Real Sqr Sqr (Real) : Real Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 154 _______________________________________________________________ STRING COMMANDS STRING COMMANDS STRING COMMANDS + + : Operator < < : Operator <= <= : Operator <> <> : Operator = = : Operator > > : Operator >= >= : Operator %MenuFileName %MenuFileName : String BatFileName BatFileName : String BlankMessage BlankMessage (string) Char Char (number) : String CleanFileName CleanFileName (string) : String CmdLine CmdLine : String DateString DateString (Time) : String Delete Delete (string,pos,count) DosVersionString DosVersionString : String Extension Extension (String) : String FilePart FilePart (String) : String ForceExtension ForceExtension (String,Ext) : String InputString InputString (String) Insert Insert (InsString,OrigString,Pos) KeySave KeySave : String LastKey LastKey : String Left Left (string,count) : String Length Length (string) : Number MarxVersion MarxVersion : String Max Max (Num,Num) : Num Mid Mid (string,pos,count) : String Min Min (Num,Num) : Num MxCmd MxCmd : String NamePart NamePart (String) : String NextWord NextWord (String) : String OptionSwitch OptionSwitch (String1,String2) : Boolean Ord Ord (Char) : Number OverKey OverKey : String ParamStr ParamStr (Num) : String Path Path : String PathPart PathPart (String) : String PickFile PickFile (FileSpec,column,row,height) : String PickMany PickMany(SourceArray,DestinationArray) PickOne PickOne (Array) : String PickPosition PickPosition : Number Pos Pos (substring,string) : Number Readln Readln : String ReleaseDate ReleaseDate : String Right Right (string,count) : String Security Security (on/off) SelectPath SelectPath : String Str Str (number) : String StuffAKey StuffAKey (String or Number) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 155 _______________________________________________________________ StuffKBD StuffKBD (String) TimeString TimeString (Time) : String Trim Trim (string) TrueName TrueName (String) : String UniqueFileName UniqueFileName : String UpperCase UpperCase (String) : String UpperCaseOnly UpperCaseOnly : Boolean Value Value (string) : Number VARIABLE COMMANDS VARIABLE COMMANDS VARIABLE COMMANDS Actual Actual Loc Loc (Procedure or Variable) Qualifier Qualifier Shared Shared Var Var BOOLEAN COMMANDS BOOLEAN COMMANDS BOOLEAN COMMANDS And And : Operator Not Not : Operator Or Or : Operator Xor Xor : Operator ARRAY COMMANDS ARRAY COMMANDS ARRAY COMMANDS AppendArray AppendArray (Array,Value) Delete Delete (string,pos,count) Dispose Dispose (Variable) NovAttachedServers NovAttahedServers (Array) NovGroupMembers NovGroupsMembers (Group,Array) NovObjects NovObjects (2D Array) NovPrintQueues NovPrintQueues (Array) NovPropertyValues NovPropertyValues (Array, Object, Property, Type) NovReadGroups NovReadGroups (Name,Array) NovReadSecurityEquals NovReadSecurityEquals (Name,Array) NovScanProperties NovScanProperties (Array, Object, ObjectType) NovServers NovServers (Array) NovUsers NovUsers (Array) NovUsersLoggedIn NovUsersLoggedIn (Array) NovVolumes NovVolumes (Array) NumberOfElements NumberOfElememts (array) : Number PickMany PickMany(SourceArray,DestinationArray) PickOne PickOne (Array) : String PickPosition PickPosition : Number PosInList PosInList (String,Array) : Number PosInSortedList PosInSortedList (String,Array) : Number ReadDirectory ReadDirectory (Path,Array) ReadEnvironment ReadEnvironment (Array) ReadTextFile ReadTextFile (FileName,Array) SetArraySize SetArraySize (Array,Size) SortArray SortArray (Array) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 156 _______________________________________________________________ ViewArray ViewArray (Array) WriteTextFile WriteTextFile (FileName,Array) MEMORY COMMANDS MEMORY COMMANDS MEMORY COMMANDS ApplicationMemory ApplicationMemory : Number Dispose Dispose (Variable) FreeEms FreeEMS : Number FreeMemory FreeMemory : Number Mem Mem (seg,ofs) : Number MemL MemL (seg,ofs) : Number MemSize MemSize : Number MemW MemW (seg,ofs) : Number Port Port (number) : Number TotalEms TotalEMS : Number TIME COMMANDS TIME COMMANDS TIME COMMANDS BadDate BadDate : Boolean DateSeparator DateSeparator : String DateString DateString (Time) : String Day Day : Number DayOf DayOf (Date) : Number DayOfWeek DayOfWeek : Number DayOfWeekOf DayOfWeekOf (Date) : Number FileTime FileTime (File) : Time Hour Hour : Number HourOf HourOf (Date) : Number Hundredth Hundredth : Number Minute Minute : Number MinuteOf MinuteOf (Date) : Number Month Month : Number MonthOf MonthOf (Date) : Number NovAccountExpDate NovAccountExpDate (UserName) : Date NovLastLoginDate NovLastLoginDate (User) : Date NovPasswordExpDate NovPasswordExpDate (UserName) : Date NovServerTime NovServerTime : Time Now Now : Time Second Second : Number SecondOf SecondOf (Date) : Number TimeOf TimeOf (String) : Number Timer Timer : Number TimeSeparator TimeSeparator : String TimeString TimeString (Time) : String Today Today : Date Tomorrow Tomorrow : Time Year Year : Number YearOf YearOf (Date) : Number Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 157 _______________________________________________________________ EXECUTION COMMANDS EXECUTION COMMANDS EXECUTION COMMANDS Bat Bat (string) Chain Chain (MenuName) ClearScreenFirst ClearScreenFirst (on/off) DosWindow DosWindow (on/off) Execute Execute (command string) ExitCode ExitCode ExitMenu ExitMenu IdleProgram IdleProgram : Procedure Jump Jump (menu) KeySave KeySave : String Logoff Logoff LogoffTime LogoffTime : Number MxCmd MxCmd : String NoExit NoExit Overlay OverLay (MenuName) PauseAfterExecute PauseAfterExecute (On/Off) Reboot Reboot ReturnCode ReturnCode : Number StuffAKey StuffAKey (String or Number) StuffKBD StuffKBD (String) UseCommand UseCommand (on/off) DISPLAY COMMANDS DISPLAY COMMANDS DISPLAY COMMANDS BigShadow BigShadow Blanked Blanked : Boolean BlankScreenProgram BlankScreenProgram : Procedure BlankTime BlankTime (minutes) BlockBox BlockBox BoxHeader BoxHeader (string) BoxHeaderLeft BoxHeaderLeft (string) BoxHeaderRight BoxHeaderRight (string) BoxFooter BoxFooter (string) BoxFooterLeft BoxFooterLeft (string) BoxFooterRight BoxFooterRight (string) BrightBackground BrightBackground (On/Off) ClearLine ClearLine [char] ClearScreen ClearScreen [char] ClearScreenOnExit ClearScreenOnExit (on/off) ClockMode ClockMode ClockPos ClockPos (column,row) ColorScreen ColorScreen : Boolean Console Console (On/Off) ConsolePos ConsolePos (column,row) CurrentWindow CurrentWindow : Number Cursor Cursor (On/Off) CustomBox CustomBox (String) DisplayType DisplayType : Number DoubleLineBox DoubleLineBox DrawBox DrawBox (column,row,width,height) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 158 _______________________________________________________________ EraseTopWindow EraseTopWindow EraseWindow EraseWindow (Number) Explode Explode (on/off) ExplodeDelay ExplodeDelay (number) ForceExplosion ForceExplosion (On/Off) GotoXY GotoXY (column,row) InactiveBox InactiveBox (BoxType) LockWord LockWord (word) MoveWindow MoveWindow (Horizontal,Vertical) NoBoxBorder NoBoxBorder PullMenu PullMenu (on/off) ResizeWindow ResizeWindow (Horizontal Vertical) RollWindow RollWindow (number) ScreenHeight ScreenHeight : Number ScreenWidth ScreenWidth : Number ScrollMove ScrollMove (On/Off) SetTopWindow SetTopWindow (Number) SetWindowUnder SetWindowUnder (Window1,Window2) Shadow Shadow (on/off) ShadowPosition ShadowPosition (number) SingleLineBox SingleLineBox SmallShadow SmallShadow Sound Sound (on/off) StandardIO StandardIO (on/off) Suggest Suggest (Char) TextMode TextMode (num) UnBlank UnBlank : Boolean UseArrows UseArrows VideoMode VideoMode : Number VideoPage VideoPage : Number ViewArray ViewArray (Array) ViewTextFile ViewTextFile (Name) WhereX WhereX : Number WhereXAbs WhereXAbs : Number WhereYAbs WhereYAbs : Number WindowHeight WindowHeight : Number WindowWidth WindowWidth : Number WinX WinX : Number WinY WinY : Number Write Write (string) WriteCenter WriteCenter (string) Writeln Writeln (string) WriteVertical WriteVertical (string) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 159 _______________________________________________________________ COLOR COMMANDS COLOR COMMANDS COLOR COMMANDS Blink Blink : Boolean BoxBorderColor BoxBorderColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxHeaderColor BoxHeaderColor (forecolor,backcolor) BoxInsideColor BoxInsideColor (forecolor,backcolor) CapsColor CapsColor (forecolor,backcolor) ClockColor ClockColor (forecolor,backcolor) ConsoleBorderColor ConsoleBorderColor (Color,Color) ConsoleHeaderColor ConsoleHeaderColor (Color,Color) ConsoleInsideColor ConsoleInsideColor (Color,Color) InactiveBoxColor InactiveBoxColor (foreground,background) InverseColor InverseColor (forecolor,backcolor) ShadowColor ShadowColor (ForeColor,BackColor) TextBackground TextBackground (color) TextColor TextColor (forecolor,backcolor) SYSTEM COMMANDS SYSTEM COMMANDS SYSTEM COMMANDS CapsLock CapsLock : Boolean ClusterSize ClusterSize <drive> : Number DosVersion DosVersion : Number DosVersionString DosVersionString : String Drives Drives : Number Floppies Floppies : Number FreeDiskSpace FreeDiskSpace <drive> : Number LastDrive LastDrive : String MinorDosVersion MinorDosVersion : Number NumLock NumLock : Boolean ParallelPorts ParallelPorts : Number ScrollLock ScrollLock : Boolean SerialPorts SerialPorts : Number TotalDiskSpace TotalDiskSpace <drive> : Number UsedDiskSpace UsedDiskSpace <drive> : Number Volume Volume (drive) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 160 _______________________________________________________________ FILE COMMANDS FILE COMMANDS FILE COMMANDS ChDir ChDir (string) DelFile DelFile (Name) DirectoriesOnly DirectoriesOnly (On/Off) EndOfFile EndOfFile (FileVar) : Boolean ExistDir ExistDir (directory) : Boolean ExistFile ExistFile : Boolean ExistOnPath ExistOnPath (string) : String FileAppend FileAppend (FileVar) FileAssign FileAssign (FileVar,String) FileAttr FileAttr (string) : Number FileClose FileClose (FileVar) FileCreate FileCreate (FileVar) FileDate FileDate (string) : Number FileFlush FileFlush (FileVar) FileLog FileLog (FileName,String) FileOpen FileOpen (FileVar) FilePos FilePos (FileVar) : Number FileReadln FileReadln (FileVar) : String FileRename FileRename (Old,New) FileResult FileResult : Number FileSeek FileSeek (FileVar,Number) FileSize FileSize (string) : Number FileTime FileTime (File) : Time FileWrite FileWrite (FileVar,String) FileWriteln FileWriteln (FileVar,String) HiddenAndSystem HiddenAndSystem (On/Off) IncludeDirectories IncludeDirectories (On/Off) MkDir MkDir (String) ReadDirectory ReadDirectory (Path,Array) ReadTextFile ReadTextFile (FileName,Array) RmDir RmDir (String) TextPos TextPos : Number TextSeek TextSeek (Number) TrueName TrueName (String) : String UniqueFileName UniqueFileName : String ViewTextFile ViewTextFile (Name) WholeFileNames WholeFileNames (On/Off) WriteTextFile WriteTextFile (FileName,Array) ANSI COMMANDS ANSI COMMANDS ANSI COMMANDS ClearLine ClearLine [char] ClearScreen ClearScreen [char] GotoXY GotoXY (column,row) StandardIO StandardIO (on/off) TextBackground TextBackground (color) TextColor TextColor (forecolor,backcolor) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 161 _______________________________________________________________ PRINTER COMMANDS PRINTER COMMANDS PRINTER COMMANDS ClosePrinter ClosePrinter NovPrintQueues NovPrintQueues (Array) OpenPrinter OpenPrinter Print Print (string) PrinterName PrinterName (string) Println Println (String) PrintScreen PrintScreen (On/Off) INTERNATIONAL COMMANDS INTERNATIONAL COMMANDS INTERNATIONAL COMMANDS CountryCode CountryCode : Number DateSeparator DateSeparator : String DateString DateString (Time) : String DecimalSeparator DecimalSeparator : String TimeOf TimeOf (String) : Number TimeSeparator TimeSeparator : String UpperCase UpperCase (String) : String ENVIRONMENT COMMANDS ENVIRONMENT COMMANDS ENVIRONMENT COMMANDS CurrentEnvironment CurrentEnvironment EnvFree EnvFree : Number EnvSize EnvSize : Number FixPath FixPath KeySave KeySave : String MasterEnvironment MasterEnvironment ModifyPath ModifyPath MxCmd MxCmd : String ParentEnvironment ParentEnvironment ReadEnv ReadEnv (String) : String ReadEnvironment ReadEnvironment (Array) SavePosition SavePosition (On/Off) SetEnv SetEnv (String) ShellEnvironment ShellEnvironment Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 162 _______________________________________________________________ DESQVIEW COMMANDS DESQVIEW COMMANDS DESQVIEW COMMANDS DvAppNumber DvAppNumber : Number DvFrame DvFrame (Handle,On/Off) DvFreeze DvFreeze (Handle) DvHide DvHide (Handle) DvKillTask DvKillTask (Handle) DvLastHandle DvLastHandle : Number DvLoaded DvLoaded : Boolean DvMoveWindow DvMoveWindow (Handle,X,Y) DvMyHandle DvMyHandle : Number DvPifExecute DvPifExecute (Pif File) DvResizeWindow DvResizeWindow (Handle,Width,Height) DvSetBottom DvSetBottom (Handle) DvSetTop DvSetTop (Handle) DvUnFreeze DvUnFreeze (Handle) DvUnHide DvUnHide (Handle) CONDITIONAL COMMANDS CONDITIONAL COMMANDS CONDITIONAL COMMANDS Else Else ElseIf ElseIf Endif EndIf EndLoop EndLoop EndWhile EndWhile If If Loop Loop LoopIndex LoopIndex : Number LoopLevel LoopLevel : Number LoopLimit LoopLimit : Number OnKey OnKey (char) OnScreenOnly OnScreenOnly (On/Off) Password Password (Pswd,column,row) Repeat Repeat Then Then Until Until While While Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 163 _______________________________________________________________ KEYBOARD COMMANDS KEYBOARD COMMANDS KEYBOARD COMMANDS InputString InputString (String) InsertMode InsertMode (On/Off) KbdReady KbdReady : Boolean MenuKeyBuffer MenuKeyBuffer ReadKey ReadKey : String Readln Readln : String SavePosition SavePosition (On/Off) StuffAKey StuffAKey (String or Number) StuffKBD StuffKBD (String) StuffKeyboardNow StuffKeyboardNow WaitOrKbdReady WaitOrKbdReady (Number) MOUSECONTROL COMMANDS MOUSECONTROL COMMANDS MOUSECONTROL COMMANDS KeyFromMouse KeyFromMouse : Boolean Mouse Mouse MouseHorizontal MouseHorizontal (Number) MouseVertical MouseVertical (Number) MUSIC COMMANDS MUSIC COMMANDS MUSIC COMMANDS KillMusic KillMusic NotesLeft NotesLeft : Num NotesPlayed NotesPlayed : Num Tone Tone (Frequency,Duration) Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 164 _______________________________________________________________ NOVELL COMMANDS NOVELL COMMANDS NOVELL COMMANDS LastDrive LastDrive : String MachineName MachineName : String NovAccountExpDate NovAccountExpDate (UserName) : Date NovAddUserToGroup NovAddUserToGroup (User,Group) NovAttach NovAttach (Server) NovAttachedServers NovAttahedServers (Array) NovBroadcastMode NovBroadcastMode (Mode) NovChangePassword NovChangePassword (OldPassword,NewPassword) NovCleanVolumeName NovCleanVolumeName (String) : String NovCloseSemaphore NovCloseSemaphore (Name) NovConnection NovConnection : Number NovConnectionsInUse NovConnectionsInUse : Number NovConsoleOperator NovConsoleOperator : Boolean NovDefaultServer NovDefaultServer : String NovDeleteObject NovDeleteObject (Object,Type) NovDetach NovDetach (Server) NovFullName NovFullName (User) NovGetMessage NovGetMessage : String NovGraceLoginReset NovGraceLoginReset (User) : Num NovGraceLogins NovGraceLogins (User) : Num NovGroupMembers NovGroupsMembers (Group,Array) NovGroups NovGroups (Array) NovInGroup NovInGroup (Group) : Boolean NovLastLoginDate NovLastLoginDate (User) : Date NovLogin NovLogin (Name,Password) NovLoginName NovLoginName (Connection) : String NovLogout NovLogout NovMapDrive NovMapDrive (Drive,Directory) NovMapRoot NovMapRoot (Drive,Path) NovMaxConnections NovMaxConnections : Number NovMinPasswordLength NovMinPasswordLength (User) : Num NovMyLoginName NovMyLoginName : String NovMyPassword NovMyPassword (Password) : Boolean NovObjectID NovObjectID (User) : String NovObjects NovObjects (2D Array) NovOpenSemaphore NovOpenSemaphore (Name,Value) NovPasswordExpDate NovPasswordExpDate (UserName) : Date NovPreferredServer NovPreferredServer : String NovPrimaryServer NovPrimaryServer : String NovPrintQueues NovPrintQueues (Array) NovPropertyValues NovPropertyValues (Array, Object, Property, Type) NovReadGroups NovReadGroups (Name,Array) NovReadSecurityEquals NovReadSecurityEquals (Name,Array) NovRemoveUserFromGroup NovRemoveUserFromGroup (User,Group) NovResult NovResult : Number NovScanProperties NovScanProperties (Array, Object, ObjectType) NovSecurityEquals NovSecurityEquals (Security) : Boolean NovServerTime NovServerTime : Time NovSemaphoreTimeOut NovSemaphoreTimeOut NovSemaphoreUsers NovSemaphoreUsers (Name) : Number Computer Tyme MarxMenu Users Manual Page 165 _______________________________________________________________ NovSemaphoreValue NovSemaphoreValue (Name) : Number NovServers NovServers (Array) NovSendMessage NovSendMessage (Message,Connection) NovSetPreferredServer NovSetPreferredServer (Server) NovSetPrimaryServer NovSetPrimaryServer (Server) NovSignalSemaphore NovSignalSemaphore (Name) NovStationAddress NovStationAddress (Connection) : String NovUserInGroup NovUserInGroup (Name,Group) : Boolean NovUsers NovUsers (Array) NovUsersLoggedIn NovUsersLoggedIn (Array) NovVersionNumber NovVersionNumber : Number NovVolumes NovVolumes (Array) NovWaitOnSemaphore NovWaitOnSemaphore (Name) : Boolean UseNovPassword UseNovPassword : Boolean Other Computer Tyme Software: ====================================================== The Computer Tyme Dos ToolBox... Makes DOS easier for the novice, more powerful for the professional. DIRECTORY MASTER is a powerful hard disk managment utility. It brings up your hard disk files and allows you to mark selected files so you can copy them, delete them, or move them. It also allows you to rename files, change dates, and change attributes. You can also run programs or set up your function keys to run programs on selected files. DOLIST makes being at DOS easier. It gives you full line editing, like a word processor, for your commands. It also stores commands so that you can re-execute them. It remembers subdirectories and allows you to go back to them by pressing the TAB key. It offers programmable function keys, DOS extensions, multiple execution, and many more features you have got to have. PICK DIRECTORY allows you to move through the directory system by displaying a graphic tree and letting you use your arrow keys to move around. It also lets you create, delete, rename, and hide directories. MARXTSR is a set of memory and TSR management utilities that let you load and unload TSRs (Terminate and stay resident programs) from memory. Utilities to list menory allocation and turn TSR's on and off. And many more ... Also includes is D, a fancy directory listing program; WHEREIS, for finding stuff on you hard disk, SORT, MOVE, FIND, FREE, PIPEDIR, VERSION, and many more. The Dos Toolbox sells for $59.95. ====================================================== We are also selling QEdit from Semware. QEdit is a professional editor from Semware. 1-800-548-5353 Order Line 1-417-866-1222 Voice Line 1-417-866-1665 BBS Data line * 1200/2400 * 8N1 * ANSI or VT100 MarxMenu comes with MarxEdit and MARXTSR manager and a few goodies out of the DOS ToolBox. The Network Survival Kit is a network version of almost every utility I've ever written. It's sold on a per fileserver basis. _______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| APPROVED VENDOR ========================================== Make Check Computer Tyme Order Form 2.32 Payable To: 411 North Sherman Suite 300 Springfield Mo. 65802 (417) 866-1222 (800) 548-5353 Please send me Computer Tyme Software. ============================================================= Name: ________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City/St/Zip: ________________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________ Computer: ________________________________________________ Got From: ________________________________________________ Comments: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Single User Version: ___ Enclosed is $59.95 for MarxMenu. ___ Enclosed is $59.95 for the DOS ToolBox. ___ Enclosed is $99.95 for MarxMenu, the Dos ToolBox and DM3. Network Version (1 per file server): ___ Enclosed is $495 for Network Survival Kit. ___ Add $3.00 for Shipping and Handling. ___ I need 3 1/2 Inch Media. Credit Card Number: _______________ Expiration Date: ________ Signature: __________________________________________________ Master Card __ Visa __ Discover __ * We do not take American Express * =============================================================