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1989-01-27
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******************************************************
* 1/27/89 - Lotus-like menus for Word Perfect. *
******************************************************
INSTANT MENUS DEMO for Word Perfect 5.0
by Bob Foley
Well, I finally got around to creating a Lotus-like menu
system for Word Perfect. Well actually, they're more like Borland
menus in that selected menu levels stay active until 'Esc' is
pressed, bringing the user back to the previous level. All of the
previous menus that I've created kept the vertical menus open all
of the time (I prefer them that way on a monochrome monitor). The
new arrangement works much better on CGA monitors whose displays
tend to be very slow due to the infamous CGA "snow". When
traversing the menus on a CGA, menus get painted very slowly.
Using the new arrangement, with hot keys on the main menu bar,
you can get where you want much faster.
If you would like to get a hold of the non-Lotus menu demo
for WP (mentioned above), look in the Compuserve WP5.0 area or
some other BBS for WPM.ARC (or something to that effect) dated
after 11/01/88.
The commercial version (The Perfect Menu) now comes with
both styles of menus...see below.
I think you'll agree that the addition of pull down menus to
Word Perfect increases its effectiveness dramatically. In fact,
with the menu installed, Word Perfect has NO user interface...
the menus do it all!
Feel free to give this program to anyone you like ... it's
free, all I ask is that this document accompany the program
wherever it goes.
The files accompanying this document, WPL.EXE and WPL.MNU are
a pull down menu system for Word Perfect 5.0 created with Instant
Menus. Many of the functions will not work properly with
WordPerfect 4.2 (most DO work, though). If you have version 4.2,
and would like to try pull down menus, look on your local
bulletin board for WPMENU4.ARC (or something like that), or give
me a call.
HOW TO USE THE WORD PERFECT MENU DEMO
To run the Word Perfect menu demo, put the WPL.EXE program
and the WP.MNU menu file on your Word Perfect 5.0 directory and
type:
WPL <file name>
The <file name> is optional. WPL will search for WP.EXE on
the current path and, in turn, run it. Once in the editing mode,
you'll notice that Word Perfect hasn't changed a bit! Now press
Alt-Z, and you'll be treated to a pull down menu describing many
of the options familiar to Word Perfect users. Press the UP,
DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT keys until the option that you want is
highlighted. Press ENTER and the function is performed or press
ESC to back out of each menu layer. Pressing ENTER on the main
menu bar opens the menu beneath it. Pressing ESC brings you back
to the main menu bar. Press ESC again to quit the menu altogether
without doing anything. It's that simple. No more remembering
Alt-F7 or any of those other ridiculous key combinations (throw
that keyboard template across the room)! Use WPL just as if it
were WP, including specifying a file name and options on the
command line. WPL is NOT memory resident - once you exit WP the
menu no longer takes up memory! It is important to note, however,
that WPL WILL NOT WORK if you type this:
\WP\WPL <file name>
and '\WP' is not a directory in the current PATH. WP MUST be in
the current directory OR on the current PATH, otherwise WPL will
not be able to find it.
The menu can also be activated by a MicroSoft compatible
mouse. The right button activates and de-activates the menu, and
the left button selects a function. The mouse can also be
employed to move the mouse throughout your text file!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some computers (usually fast ones) don't react
properly when you press Alt-Z because of the keyboard processing
of Word Perfect 5.0. They give the message "ALTZ.WPM not found."
If this is the case with your computer, add the following line to
your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
set wp=/nk
and everything should be fine. If you want to test this theory
first, type:
wpl /nk
when you run the menu program.
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MENU'S COLORS
It has come to my attention that some video displays,
particularly EGA, VGA and laptop LCDs don't show the menu in the
intended color scheme. I am now including PIMCOLOR.EXE which
allows you to change the colors of the menu. To run the program
on WP.MNU type:
PIMCOLOR WP.MNU
You will see a color chart from which to pick numbers that
correspond to the colors in which they are shown. Just type in
color numbers that you think will look nice on your monitor, then
answer 'Y' when asked to save the menu. Your WP menu is now
installed with your colors.
ATTENTION HERCULES' RAM-FONTS USERS: As is, the menu will look
lousy when using Hercules' RamFonts. Sherman Wilcox of
Albuquerque, NM suggests using the following set of colors to
make it look nice: 3,11,11,2. This set of colors (or fonts in
this case) will show the menu in normal type, the current
selection in big type, and the description line in italics.
Brian Jeffery of Carp, Ontario likes these colors on his RamFont
board 3,64,11,112.
WHAT IS INSTANT MENUS?
WPL was created with a software package called Instant Menus
(PIM). What PIM did for Word Perfect, it can do for any program.
There is NO PROGRAMMING and NO CRYPTIC FILES to create (Mouse
Menus users, you know what I mean). Just type the text for each
menu selection in the Instant Menus' menu maker program, press
the actual keys which will perform that function, and that's it
... you've made a menu!
Instant Menus can help you create pull down menus for
virtually any program. It is almost totally configurable, from
the activation key to the 3 colors allowed for EACH menu. Its
hierarchical structure allows the creation of sub-menus, and sub-
sub-sub-menus (see the Retrieve option of WPL). Here is a list of
some of its features:
* Unlimited number of vertical and horizontal menus.
* Unlimited number of menu selections.
* Unlimited length of text for each menu selection.
* Activate up to 20 keys with each menu selection.
* 'Hot' (highlighted) keys everywhere.
* Configure 3 colors for EACH menu.
* Optional, variable length description line for EACH menu
selection.
* Place menus anywhere on the screen (think of it, pull UP
menus?).
* Optional auto-menu display. Allows Lotus-like menus.
* Mouse compatible. Optional mouse cursor movement external
to the menu (try moving the mouse around in your Word
Perfect file!).
* Configurable menu activation key.
* Choose from 5 border styles (including none).
* Test mode for testing menus...while you create them!
* Chain to another menu file, under menu or program control.
* ...and more.
And it comes with ready to use menus for Word Perfect, WordStar,
Procomm and Qmodem.
HOW TO ORDER INSTANT MENUS
Instant menus is available for just $65.00 (check or money
order) from:
Pliable Products
P.O. Box 531
Souderton, PA 18964
(215) 721-7283
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