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NOTE: The LAN STANDARD Version demo disk will also run in a single-user
environment. If you are not running as a node in a network, you can
still fully-evaluate the product's features and functionality.
EZ-MENU LAN STANDARD Version 1.3
INSTALLATION AND SETUP NOTES
============================
The EZ-MENU standard LAN version functions almost exactly as the
single-user version of the product, but is designed to operate in
a network environment, centrally-located on the file server.
The significant difference between operating EZ-MENU in shared
mode, and its use on a single PC is that in a network
environment, special files will need to be written to a unique
area of the hard drive for each user. Since EZ-MENU is not
memory resident, the program uses batch files to take the user
into and out-of applications. While understanding how this works
is NOT a requirement, it will be discussed at the end of this
document (for people that want to make modifications or special
installations).
Any DOS network that supports mapped drives, or contains nodes
that have a common local storage device can run EZ-MENU in shared
mode. The only additional bit of information the program needs
is a drive and/or path which identifies where these user-specific
batch files will be created. This drive/path is specified in
option "E" in EZ-MENU's configuration. By default this field is
blank so in order for things to work properly, this option must
be set before you plan on having multiple users run EZ-MENU
simultaneously. This file specification, called the "LAN/User
work directory" should point to either:
1. A mapped drive letter that is global on the network, but is
unique for each user. For example, perhaps in your network
you have a common drive M: which corresponds to a unique
area of the hard drive on the file server based on the node
or user who is logged in. Specify this drive in option "E"
in EZ-MENU's configuration.
2. A local, accessible hard drive on every node. If all of the
nodes that are going to use EZ-MENU have a local drive,
specify this drive letter in option "E" in EZ-MENU's
configuration.
NOTE: EZ-MENU's standard LAN version only supports one global
drive or path. The upcoming enhanced LAN version will
offer user-configurable paths and a host of additional
options which will be definable by user and/or node.
Installation of the EZ-MENU LAN version is simple and painless.
The software can be installed onto the file server from any node.
Since, scenarios vary greatly from LAN to LAN, the system
administrator should determine how EZ-MENU is invoked and make
appropriate modifications to a user's login script.
NOTE: In addition to having EZ-MENU run centrally-located on
the file server, companies can also opt (if desired) to
make multiple copies of the EZ-MENU LAN Standard
version and run each locally on any node which is
connected to the file server. The section in the
EZ-MENU documentation entitled "Installing EZ-MENU in a
LAN environment" covers this type of installation,
which is perfectly legal, provided you have a valid
license for the LAN version.
SPECIAL NOTES FOR NOVELL USERS
==============================
For installation of EZ-MENU into a Novell Network, several
additional items need to be addressed. Assuming that Novell's
menu system is still installed on the file-server, you may need
to rename EZ-MENU's default main menu file from MAIN.MNU to
something like EZMAIN.MNU. The reason for this is that you will
get an error message when trying to add items to the menu, if
Novell searches and finds its own MAIN.MNU file (which is set as
read-only).
Likewise, it is recommended that the start-up command be changed
from MENU.BAT to something like EZ.BAT - to avoid conflicts with
Novell's menu system. We recommend that in the server's login
script you set the following drive search and map parameters:
MAP ROOT U:=SYS:WORK\%LOGIN_NAME
This is a sample command which MAPs a directory for each
user as drive U: in the subdirectory from the file server's
root as: \WORK\<username> The actual sub-directory name
corresponds to the user name. NOTE: if the username is
longer than 8 characters, you will have to manually create a
MAP command in the user's individual script file.
MAP ROOT K:=SYS:APPS
This is showing that in this example, all of our
applications are stored on the server in a subdirectory
called \APPS, which will be referenced as drive K:. EZ-MENU
will be installed in this area under the \EZMENU sub-
directory.
Novell Installation Instructions (continued)
MAP ROOT S1:=K:\EZMENU
It is recommended that you put EZ-MENU's path as one of the
first search directories in the system login script - this
will avoid problems & conflicts with existing files.
In each user's individual login script, you should have the last
command be:
EXIT "EZ 0"
(assuming that the start-up command for EZ-MENU was changed to
EZ.BAT).
Please note that the above are only examples. In your particular
network, the drive/subdir assignments might be completely
different - so make changes as appropriate. There are almost
infinite possibilities as to how EZ-MENU can be set up under
Novell, and there are also unusual quirks in the system that have
to do with the way Novell handles things - which sometimes make
it appear to be a problem with EZ-MENU. If you are running a
node with a local hard drive and like to work both on and off the
network, you can also have EZ-MENU installed locally. We have
found that the easiest way to work this is to put the local
EZ-MENU's path in the server's login script also. In such a
case, the start-up command should be different from the one
corresponding to the server-installed copy of EZ-MENU. Under
this scenario, you could type "EZ" to run the LAN EZ-MENU and
something like "EZL" to run the local version of EZ-MENU. Of
course, you are free to have menus on either copy invoke
applications locally or on the file-server.
SPECIAL NOTE: After the mapped drives are in effect, you should
RECONFIGURE EZ-MENU and make sure its default path
and drive are correct, along with option "E" (the
user work directory), the program start-up
command, and anything else that might be of
interest.
FEATURE: If you set the BOTTOM SCREEN MESSAGE option in EZ-MENU's
configuration to say USERNAME (in all caps), then the
Novell username will appear at the bottom of the menu.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR OTHER NETWORK ENVIRONMENTS
The latest version of EZ-MENU LAN Standard (1.3a) adds additional code
to cover a wide variety of types of file access. If you are running
Novell, this won't be a concern, but other environments such as PathWorks
directly modify file attributes to indicate when a user has appropriate
access to a file. As a result, previous versions of EZ-MENU LS reported
problems when trying to access a file that was set as read-only. These
problems have no been corrected. This problem would also surface under
standard DOS, if for example, the MAIN.MNU file was toggled as read-only.
The system will now avoid any fatal error messages when trying to access
a file that has restrictions set in its attributes.
If you are using a LAN operating system that directly modifies standard
file attributes, and plan on having your users have READ-ONLY access to
EZ-MENU's directly, make sure you DISABLE the TIME-STAMPING option
(which is option "Q" in configuration). With this option set to NO,
EZ-MENU will avoid writing to the menu file (to stamp the date and time
a menu item was last executed). If in such a scenario you elect to leave
time-stamping set to YES, you will get a "File Access Error" message when
selecting any option from a menu whose file is set at read-only. The system
will continue to operate properly, but you will not be able to modify the
menu items in any way. By disabling the time-stamping option, you can
avoid this potentially annoying message from displaying during normal
operation.
** If you are evaluating a DEMO VERSION of EZ-MENU LAN STANDARD, you might
have version 1.3 and not 1.3a. If you have problems similar to those
described above, you will want to get a copy of the latest release of
EZ-MENU LAN STANDARD.
RUNNING MAKEMNU IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT
========================================
We advise against running MAKEMNU on a LAN and specifying the "+"
option to search all drives. MAKEMNU cannot tell the difference
between drives that are mapped, and actual physically-addressed
drives. What will happen in this circumstance quite often, will
result in applications being found several times and having
multiple entries on each menu for the same program. In our
example above, we defined drive K: as the global application
drive. Under this scenario, we would run the MAKEMNU program
once, specifying drive K: as the search drive, and then another
time specifying the file- server root (which should also be
mapped - i.e. MAP J:=SYS: ) which in our case is defined as drive
J:. Running MAKEMNU on the root drive of the file server will
allow the recognition of all of Novell's utility programs - and
the subsequent building of a separate Novell menu.
MENU STRUCTURES:
================
EZ-MENU will support a virtually unlimited number of menus and
nested submenus. These menus are each stored in an individual
file with an extension of .MNU and can be located on any
accessible drive/subdirectory. The system is quite flexible in
being able to offer a variety of options on how menus are
structured. The EZ-MENU standard LAN version does not support
any special security or menu options configurable by USER, BUT
this desire can be addressed by a little bit of resourcefulness
on the part of the person setting up the menus. If a standard
sequence of global menus is desirable, the basic system will work
without any special set-ups. If you have applications that
require restricted access, simply assign a password to the
appropriate menu choice. Such applications can also be put in a
separate menu and the menu item which calls up the appropriate
submenu can be assigned a password to protect access to the
entire group of applications.
If you would like to have different menus for each user, there IS
a simple way to implement such an arrangement. Instead of the
main menu having applications (or lists of submenus such as "Word
Processing", etc.), you can set up the main menu to display a
list of user names. Each one of these entries can be password
protected and defined to go to a submenu. In this manner, each
user can have his own unique set of menus. Some of the menus
can be common among users, or they can be unique - it all
depends on how things are set up.
HOW EZ-EZMENU WORKS
===================
This section describes how EZ-MENU invokes applications using
batch files. If you are having problems getting the system to
work, or would like to experiment with special types of
installations & set-ups, this section is worth reading.
EZ-MENU invokes applications by creating a series of batch files
which contain the commands necessary to invoke the selected
application. These batch files also contain the commands to
bring the menu back up after the selection application is
terminated. Here is the batch file structure:
MENU.BAT the main batch file, which invokes EZMENU.EXE;
this is the batch file that should be executed in
order to run EZ-MENU. After EZ-MENU terminates,
this file calls another batch file called
ONE_MOME.BAT.
ONE_MOME.BAT this file is created/overwritten each time an
application is selected from the menu (or a user
exits EZ-MENU). In most cases, this batch file
calls another batch file: USER0.BAT.
USER0.BAT this file is created/overwritten each time an
application is selected from the menu (or a user
exits EZ-MENU). This file contains the commands
which will take the user into the application
selected from the menu, after these commands in
the file, there are additional commands which
switch the current drive and subdirectory to where
EZ-MENU is installed and run MENU.BAT - and the
whole process is repeated.
.
<selected application is run>
.
...execution goes back to MENU.BAT
The batch files specified above should all be designated
shareable read/write access. There should only be one copy of
MENU.BAT, located in EZ-MENU's home drive/subdirectory. The
ONE_MOME.BAT and USER0.BAT files will be written to whatever path
is specified in option "E" in EZ-MENU's configuration. If this
path is blank, the files will be written in EZ-MENU's
subdirectory. If option "E" is left blank, you will encounter
problems (users will not return to EZ-MENU when they exit their
applications and you might also get an error message indicating
the system tried to overwrite a file that was open and in use by
another user.)