"ExternalMan, The One-Stop Shop for the Ultimate Externals Menu"
What is ExternalMan?
ExternalMan lets you setup an ANSI external menu that allows up to three hierarchical sub-menus, with descriptions for each external.
How do I use it?
Just drop it in your Externals folder and go! ALSO, make sure to put the Descriptions folder in your Externals folder as well!
How do I set it up?
Press '.' at the Main Menu in Hermes II. ExternalMan! will load up and then bring the SysOp into the Menu Configuration setup. You have three menus you can configure, each with it's own set of externals inside. To setup a menu, select the number of the menu, enter the name of the menu, and then the file prefix. IMPORTANT: The menus are selected based on the first character in the name, so make sure the first character is different for each menu.
What is a file prefix? Well, ExternalMan figures out which externals go in which menu by looking at the prefix for each external. For example, on my system I have a "Games" menu with a prefix of "<GAME> ". Any external that starts out with "<GAME> " will be put in the Games menu. The prefix is stripped during the display of the menu.
If you don't want to use a menu, just type in a fake name and then hit return at the file prefix prompt.
To add descriptions for the externals, make a file for each external named *exactly* like the external name *without* the prefix and add a '.desc' to the end of the text file. For example, if I have Merchant! on PUMA like this: "<GAME> Merchant! v0.48b1", then the description would be "Merchant! v0.48b1.desc". LIMIT your descriptions to 50 characters, and make sure to put a return at the end of the description. Put these descriptions in the "Descriptions" folder that you put in the "Externals" folder.
Wow, that's really cool, but can I get my BBS name on it???
Of course! Just go into the "S"ysOp menu and hit the "E"nter BBS Name command. Type in your BBS's name and it will appear atop the ExternalMan menu!
Okay, sounds good! Do I have to pay for it?
No! ExternalMan if freeware! It's my way of saying "Thank you" to all of the Hermes SysOps out there for supporting other shareware authors! Now, because my external is free, please go out and register some one else's external!
