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-
-
- MenuBar - Version 2.09 - 7 January 1997
-
- by Graham Crow
-
- Copyright (c) Crow Associates 1995,1996,1997
-
- *** THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE ***
- *** IT HAS BEEN TESTED ON RISC OS 3.7 AND STRONGARM ***
-
-
- CONTENTS PAGE
-
-
- 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
- 2. What is MenuBar? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
- 3. Getting started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
- 4. Building a Menu Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
- 5. MenuBar menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
- 6. Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
- 7. Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
- 8. Sprites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
- 9. System Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 10. Choices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 11. Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- 12. Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- 13. Data Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
- 14. Miscellaneous. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
- 15. Changes since version 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
-
- Registration form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
-
-
- 1. Introduction
- ----------------
-
- The first version of MenuBar was published by Beebug Limited in
- October 1995.
-
- What they said about Version 1.00
- ---------------------------------
-
- Archimedes World, January 1996
- "a winner...a thoroughly professional and genuinely useful utility
- that no user should be without". Peter Bellamy
-
- Acorn User, April 1996
- "great for organising...worth every penny." Karen Peach
-
- Archive, May 1996
- "..a first class program and I shall keep it and use it on my
- desktop." John Laski
-
- Users of Version 1 can easily import their existing MenuData file
- into Version 2.
-
- The current version is issued as Shareware, which allows you to 'try
- before you buy'. Anyone who continues to use the program after a
- brief trial period must register with the author. To register, send
- a cheque for 15.00 pounds payable to Graham Crow to the address
- given at the end of this document. If you are already a user of
- MenuBar 1 you may upgrade for 7.50 pounds by sending your original
- program disc with your cheque. Registration entitles you a full
- copy of the program plus support and upgrades.
-
-
-
- Page 2
-
- No warranty, express or implied, is made about the suitability of
- MenuBar for any purpose. The author cannot be held responsible for
- any damage to or loss of data which may occur whilst using this
- program.
-
- My thanks to Paul Ashmore (Beebug), Mike Williams, and John Laski
- for constructive criticisms and helpful suggestions, and in
- particular to Keith Vernon for his support and practical assistance.
-
- Note: To avoid confusion, this User Guide has a capital 'M' for
- Menus on the MenuBar, while the application's conventional menu is
- in lower-case.
-
-
- 2. What is MenuBar?
- --------------------
-
- MenuBar is a multi-tasking desktop utility for the Acorn Archimedes
- and RISC PC range of computers running under RISC OS. It requires
- RISC OS 3.1 or later, at least 1mb of RAM, and a hard disc. It is
- StrongARM compatible.
-
- MenuBar provides a convenient way of accessing often-used
- directories, applications and files. In operation it is similar to
- the Filer and the Pinboard, but is presented as a slim bar of
- pull-down menus at the top of the screen, complementing the icon bar
- at the bottom. Menus may be dragged or clicked open and shut. A
- Bar may contain up to ten menus, each with up to 30 objects (ie
- directories, applications or files). It is very simple to add,
- reposition and remove objects or Menus.
-
- Up to 30 separate Bars may be created and saved in a Library for
- loading as required.
-
- MenuBar allows you to organise files to suit the way you work -
- regardless of the way they are stored on disc. Each Menu may be
- given a name so that, for example, you could arrange for 'DTP' to
- hold !Printers, !Style, !MultiChrs and a data directory. Or you
- might have 'Tools' containing !Measure, !CloseFile, !WimpAid,
- !Pointer, !Flags, !Magnifier, etc. A third might contain 'WIP' -
- work in progress. It's up to you! The important point is that all
- these objects can be run from within MenuBar by double-clicking or
- dragging.
-
- Moreover, the Menus are instantly available: no frustrating delays
- while you dig deep into the filer hierarchy waiting for all the
- icons to be read. By including MenuBar in your Boot sequence your
- most important files are available from the MenuBar on start-up, and
- no need for any more cluttered backdrops with windows obscuring the
- icons you want!
-
- MenuBar is economical on space because all it stores is basic
- information about the objects you drag onto it - just enough to
- display them and to allow them to be retrieved from their source
- (normally your hard disc) when required.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 3
-
- 3. Getting started
- -------------------
-
- Copy the !MenuBar application from the supplied floppy disc to any
- directory on your hard disc, and run the program by double-clicking
- on the !MenuBar icon.
-
- Demonstration version
-
- The demonstration version is restricted to five Bars, and each Bar
- is limited to five Menus containing up to three Objects. It is
- complete in all other respects. Each time you run the program a
- window appears informing you of the restrictions which apply to the
- demonstration version, and how you can order the full version.
-
- Full version
-
- When you place an order, you are supplied with the latest version,
- pre-registered to you. The 'Library' directory contains a special
- 'Register' file, encrypted with your name. The Library directory is
- your personal property, and when in future you obtain upgrades
- from the PD Library, you simply copy your Library directory to the
- new version.
-
- You are encouraged to pass on unregistered copies of the program,
- and to do this, you simply copy the MenuBar to a floppy disc
- and then delete the entire Library directory. This ensures that
- your personal property is safeguarded, and that the version you pass
- on behaved as an unregistered demo version.
-
- Users of MenuBar 1 can transfer their existing data to MenuBar 2 by
- simply dropping their existing application '!MenuBar' onto the
- button. If you wish to retain data you have created using the demo
- version, you will need to run each data file through !Convert first
- (see Section 1).
-
- Both versions
-
- When you run MenuBar the initial Bar appears at the top of the
- screen with a button and five (empty) Menus. The button is instead
- of the usual icon bar icon.
-
- It is recommended that you include in your Boot sequence an
- instruction to Run !MenuBar so that the program is launched
- automatically each time you switch on the computer. If you are
- unsure how to do this please refer to the RISC OS 3 User Guide.
-
-
- 4. Building a Menu Bar
- -----------------------
-
- Suppose you want to use the first Menu to hold some favourite
- applications. To give the Menu a more meaningful name click the
- middle mouse button while the pointer is over the title bar of 'Menu
- 1'. Now slide off 'Menu 1 - Rename' and replace the current name
- with 'Applications'. The new name remains in white to indicate that
- the Menu is still empty.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 4
-
- To add some applications to the Menu simply drag them from a Filer
- window, singly or as a selection. (If you try to add more than the
- maximum permitted, a buzz sounds.) The Menu name changes to black
- and the Menu may be opened by simply dragging the 'handle' or
- double-clicking on it with Select. As with the Filer, the items may
- be double-clicked to execute them or dragged to any relevant place
- on the desktop.
-
- Continue to build the other Menus in the same way and when you are
- satisfied save the data by the following short-cut. If the button
- to the left of the Menus is not already coloured cream then click
- Select on it to give MenuBar the 'input focus'. Then press F3 to
- save the data. Next time you run MenuBar the data will
- automatically be loaded.
-
- The objects in a Menu (ie. directories, applications or files) may
- be treated in a variety of ways and these are detailed in Section 6.
- Similarly, the actions which may be performed on the Menus are
- accounted for in Section 7. Additional Bars may be created and added
- to the Library as described in Section 11. First, however, MenuBar's
- own menus are described.
-
-
- 5. MenuBar menus
- -----------------
-
- MenuBar has two menus - the main menu and the button menu.
-
- The main menu
-
- Click the menu button anywhere on a Menu to display the main menu.
- There are three menu items, one for the current Bar, one for the
- current Menu, and one for the current Object. The text of the
- second two depends on the pointer position when you click the menu
- button. If the pointer is not over an Object the third item is
- greyed out.
-
- The button menu
-
- Click menu on the button icon to display the button menu. Below the
- dotted line are the usual Info and Quit, and above are five items -
- 'Library', 'Sprites', 'SysVars', 'Choices' and 'Help'.
-
- The submenu functions are described in the sections that follow. If
- changes have been made an asterisk appears in the title of both
- menus, and if you attempt to quit with unsaved data a warning is
- issued.
-
-
- 6. Objects (directories, applications or files)
- -----------------------------------------------
-
- 6.1 Add objects
-
- To add objects (directories, applications or files) to a Menu, drag
- them from a Filer window, either individually or as a selection. If
- you attempt to exceed the maximum number of objects per menu a
- warning buzz sounds. The same object may be added to more than one
- Menu, though it is naturally not possible to have the same object
- twice in the same Menu. Dropping an object on the Menu's handle
- sends it to the top, otherwise the new object is positioned
- immediately below the one on which it is dropped.
-
-
- Page 5
-
- 6.2 Select objects
-
- As with the Filer, clicking Select on an object selects it and
- clicking Adjust allows additional objects to be selected/deselected.
- Alternatively, use drag with Select or Adjust on the background
- (left edge of object name) to select/deselect a group of objects.
- All the objects in a Menu may be selected and cleared in one go from
- the menu by choosing 'Menu - Alter' followed by 'Select' or 'Clear'.
- Providing MenuBar has the input focus the same result can be
- achieved (for the most-recently active Menu) by Shift+S or Shift+Z.
-
- Making selections is useful if you want to execute several objects
- at once. For example, you might select all the objects in your DTP
- Menu in order to run them all with a single drag to the icon bar.
- Or you might want to remove several objects from a Menu.
-
- 6.3 Remove objects
-
- To remove an object (or a selection) click menu on it and choose
- 'Remove' from the object menu. This does not, of course, delete the
- object from your disc.
-
- 6.4 Move objects
-
- To reposition an object (or a selection) within a Menu drag the
- source object and drop it on the destination object. Moved
- object(s) are inserted below the object at pointer position and any
- intermediate objects are shunted up or down to make space.
-
- 6.5 Drag objects
-
- A single object or a selection of objects may be dragged:
-
- - to a Filer window (objects are copied)
- - to a compatible Application (window or icon bar icon)
- - to the Pinboard (objects are pinned)
- - to the Icon Bar (objects are executed)
-
- Dragging with Shift held down removes the object from the Menu after
- the drag is completed (but never deletes the source). Dragging with
- Adjust closes the Menu when the operation is complete.
-
- 6.6 Execute objects by double-clicking
-
- Double-clicking Select on an object opens directories and runs files
- or applications, as with the Filer. To open an application
- directory, hold down shift and double-click Select. Double-clicking
- with Adjust closes the Menu afterwards.
-
- 6.7 Object information
-
- To find out more about an object click the menu button on it and
- slide off the object name. You can then slide off 'Pathname' or
- 'Info'.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 6
-
- 6.8 Find objects
-
- Slide off 'Bar - Find' followed by 'Leaf' or 'Path' and enter the
- search string. Press Return and a search will be made of all the
- Menus for any objects containing the search string. Depending on
- the menu choice the search will include the whole pathname or be
- confined to the leafname. The search ignores case. Any matching
- objects are highlighted and their Menus fully opened. At the end of
- the search a beep sounds if the string is found or a buzz if not.
-
- 6.9 Object not found
-
- If, having placed an object in a Menu, you subsequently move, delete
- or rename that object, then MenuBar will be unable to locate it. In
- this case the drag icon will be replaced by a red cross. If you
- subsequently re-launch MenuBar then the file icon will also be
- replaced by a red cross. Executing such an object produces a
- warning buzz.
-
- 6.10 Disc not found
-
- In the unlikely event of a disc not being found, perhaps because you
- have included an object which resides on an absent floppy disc, or
- renamed your hard disc and not stripped the HD4 name from the data
- file, then the Filer will issue a 'Please insert disc...' message.
- Respond by either inserting the disc or pressing 'Cancel'. In the
- latter case MenuBar will offer you the option of re-loading the
- previous Bar or quitting. This is to prevent a situation where the
- Filer could issue a 'Disc not found...' message for every single
- object on the Bar.
-
- 6.11 Open Filer
-
- To open the Filer window of the directory containing a Menu object,
- click the menu button on it and slide off the object name. Then
- choose 'Open Parent'.
-
- 6.12 Launch Applications and load data file simultaneously
-
- When you double-click on a file, MenuBar broadcasts a message to all
- the active tasks to see whether any of them wishes to load it. For
- example, double-clicking on a Sprite file will probably load it into
- Paint. If Paint is not active, then it will be installed before the
- data is loaded. Sometimes, however, you specifically want to load
- the file into a different Application. You may, for instance, wish
- to load the Sprite file into Ovation.
-
- You can achieve this with MenuBar by holding down Alt and dragging a
- suitable file to an Application on a Menu. The file may be dragged
- from another Menu or from a Filer window.
-
- Note that this feature depends on MenuBar being able to identify the
- task name (as displayed in the task window) from the application's
- filename. Normally these are the same, but if not (for example a
- taskname has a space in it or is longer than 10 characters) then
- Alt-dragging will not work as intended. To overcome this, each time
- MenuBar is launched it looks in its application directory for a file
- called AppNames and builds a name translation table. By editing
- this textfile you can add items to the names translation table, up
- to a maximum of 30 names. The format is <filename>:<taskname><LF>.
-
-
-
-
- Page 7
-
- Note also that before the Risc PC (RO 3.5), the name in the task
- manager had a maximum of 19 characters, eg Publisher would be
- 'Impression Publishe', but from the Risc PC onwards the name can be
- longer (ie 'Impression Publisher'). This AppNames file is currently
- set up for use on a Risc PC.
-
-
- 7. Menus
- --------
-
- 7.1 Add Menus
-
- Choose 'Bar - Add Menu' and an empty menu will be added at the right
- of the Menu Bar. The Bar is re-centred. If you have already added
- the maximum number of Menus, this option is greyed out.
-
- 7.2 Scroll Menus
-
- If the screen resolution is such that the Menus will not all fit
- then the whole Bar can be scrolled by holding down Ctrl and moving
- the pointer to the extreme left or right of the Bar. Alternatively,
- you can use the left or right cursor keys provided MenuBar has the
- input focus.
-
- 7.3 Open/Close/Front/Back Menus
-
- The Menus may be opened, closed, moved to the front or moved to the
- back in a variety of ways. The operation may be applied to the
- whole Menu Bar or just a single Menu.
-
- Whole Bar: The simplest method is to click on the button with
- Select+Shift to open the Bar and Select+Adjust to close it.
- Select+Ctrl brings the Bar to the front and Adjust+Ctrl sends it to
- the back. Alternatively, from the menu choose 'Menu - Alter'
- followed by 'Open', 'Close', 'Front' or 'Back'. If MenuBar has the
- input focus the same results can be achieved by Ctrl+O, Ctrl+C,
- Ctrl+F, or Ctrl+B. The first method is probably the best since it
- is not necessary for MenuBar to have the input focus. A quick way
- to send the Bar to the back if it is obscuring a window's title bar
- is to click menu with the pointer at the very top of the screen.
-
- Single Menu: A single Menu may be opened by double-clicking Select
- on its handle, or closed by double-clicking Adjust. Or you can
- simply drag the handle. In case the handle is obscured, you can
- also drag the Menu by placing the pointer close to its right-hand
- edge. Clicking Select on a Menu's handle (or on its extreme right
- edge) brings it to the front. Alternatively, from the menu choose
- 'Bar - Alter' followed by 'Open', or 'Close'. If MenuBar has the
- input focus the same results can be achieved by Shift+O, or Shift+C.
-
- 7.4 Name Menus
-
- Each Menu can be given a more meaningful name. Click the menu
- button on the appropriate Menu and slide off the Menu name. Then
- slide off the 'Rename' item on the submenu to reveal a writable icon
- where you can edit the existing name, using up to twelve characters.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 8
-
- 7.5 Remove Menus
-
- Choose 'Remove Menu' from the appropriate menu and the Menu will be
- removed from the Bar. Any gaps are closed and the Menu Bar is
- re-centred. After saving, only those Menus which remain will be
- loaded on the next occasion. It is not possible to remove the last
- Menu.
-
- 7.6 Move Menus
-
- To reposition a Menu on the Bar, hold down Alt and drag the source
- Menu handle, dropping the drag icon on the destination Menu. Any
- intermediate Menus are shunted along to make space. In case the
- handle is obscured, you can also drag the Menu by doing an Alt-drag
- starting with the pointer close to the its right-hand edge.
-
- 7.7 Save Menus
-
- Choose 'Bar - Save', and a data file and text file are saved in
- sub-directories within the 'Library' directory. The text file is a
- readable listing of the pathnames of all the objects in each Menu -
- very useful if you ever need to re-create your Menus see Section
- 12).
-
- 7.8 Sort Menus
-
- You can sort objects by name or by type, for all Menus or just one,
- by clicking the menu button and making the appropriate choice. As
- with the Filer, sorting by name is alphabetical and sorting by type
- is in the order directories-applications-files. Under 'Choices' you
- can set an option to cause automatic sorting whenever an object is
- added. Alternatively, you can arrange the objects in any order you
- choose by dragging (see 'Move object').
-
-
- 8. Sprites
- -----------
-
- If your Menus include applications which have not been seen by the
- Filer, the generic Application icon sprite will be shown. This does
- not adversely affect the operation of MenuBar, but displaying the
- applications' own icons does look more attractive. There are
- several ways of doing this.
-
- For a single object double-clicking or clicking-and-holding (ie
- starting a drag) performs a Filer_Boot on the application to display
- the correct sprite.
-
- For a whole Menu, the same result may be obtained by choosing 'Menu
- - FilerBoot', and for the whole Bar by choosing 'Bar - FilerBoot'.
- Note that the FilerBoot operation, which can be quite lengthy, may
- be aborted by pressing Escape.
-
- However, the best method is to save the required sprites by choosing
- 'Sprites - Save' from the button menu. In order to do this you must
- first perform a FilerBoot on the whole Bar (and indeed every Bar if
- you have more than one - see the section on Library). This places
- the required sprites in the Wimp Pool. 'Sprites - Save' does a
- selective save, keeping only the required sprites and discarding the
- large version when a small one exists. It thus keeps the extra
- storage requirements to a minimum.
-
-
-
- Page 9
-
- When MenuBar is next launched, the Sprites file (which is located in
- the Library directory) is automatically merged into the Wimp Pool so
- that the correct sprites are displayed in the Menus. This is very
- fast provided the Wimp Pool is not already fairly full, which is
- another good reason for launching MenuBar in your Boot sequence.
- You can force the Sprites file to load at any time by choosing
- 'Sprites - Load' but this should not normally be necessary.
-
- Once you have created the Sprites file all you need to do when you
- add other applications which show a generic icon sprite is to click
- and hold to get the correct sprite then do a 'Sprites - Save'.
-
-
- 9. System Variables
- --------------------
-
- System variables are used to store various pieces of information
- which affect the way in which the computer works. For example, a
- system variable can tell the computer which application should load
- a particular type of file; another contains details of the date
- format. A set of default system variables is present when the
- computer is first turned on, but the list is added to by many
- applications, typically when their !Boot file is run.
-
- Double-clicking a file which does not have an appropriate system
- variable set results in the common error message 'An application
- that loads a file of this type has not been seen by the Filer...'.
-
- MenuBar provides the means of saving and re-loading all current
- system variables. Before saving the system variables for the first
- time you should perform a FilerBoot on the whole Bar (and indeed
- every Bar if you have more than one) in order to set the required
- system variables. Then choose 'SysVars - Save' from the button menu.
- This saves an Obey file 'SysVars' in the Library directory and when
- MenuBar is next launched this file is automatically run, thus
- overcoming problems such as the one mentioned above.
-
- To update the 'SysVars' file you can either re-save it from the
- menu, or (if you know what you are doing!) amend it by hand. The
- file may be re-loaded at any time from the menu.
-
-
- 10. Choices
- ------------
-
- 'Choices' is available from the button menu and leads to a window in
- which you can choose colours and other options.
-
- To change the colours first select the colour you want by clicking
- on the palette. The currently-selected colour is shown below the
- palette. Then click on the appropriate place in the small replica
- of MenuBar below the palette. You can set the background/foreground
- of the Menu and its handle, and (separately) the foreground colour
- of an empty menu. Note that each Bar can have its own colours.
-
- Automatic sorting, either by name or by type may be set and causes
- the menu items to be sorted each time an object is added.
-
- You may set MenuBar's drag sprite to be either solid or dithered.
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 10
-
- Click 'Set' to activate any changes with immediate effect or 'Save'
- to save the settings in a Choices file for future use. 'Cancel'
- closes the window leaving the previous settings intact. Clicking on
- Choices from the top level menu opens the window and closes the menu
- so that the dialogue box remains in place until you explicitly close
- it by clicking on one of the action buttons.
-
-
- 11. Library
- ------------
-
- Up to 30 separate Bars may be created and saved in a Library for
- loading as required.
-
- The Library is controlled from the button menu. Sliding off
- 'Library' opens a sub menu listing all the available Bars, with the
- active one shown in red. Below this, in grey, is a count of the
- number of actual and maximum Bars. This is followed by the
- remaining two entries - 'Open Lib.' and 'Create'.
-
- To create a new Bar slide off 'Create', enter a name for the Bar,
- and click Select. A new Bar appears, comprising five empty Menus,
- and you can proceed to build the Menu Bar as described in Section 4.
-
- By sliding off the name of any Bar you open a sub-menu with five
- items:
-
- 'Load' replaces the active Bar with the new one. A warning is
- issued if the active Bar contains unsaved data. A quick way of
- loading a Bar is just to click on its name in the menu.
-
- 'Default' establishes the active Bar as the default, so that it is
- loaded when MenuBar is launched. The default Bar is ticked.
- Choosing the default name again de-selects it. If no default Bar is
- selected then a NewBar is offered on start-up.
- 'Delete' prompts for confirmation then deletes the Bar from the
- disc. Note that if you delete the current Bar, it remains 'active'
- in memory (and can be re-saved) until it is replaced by another Bar.
- 'Rename' changes the Bar name.
- 'Copy as' copies a Bar under a new name for further editing, which
- may be quicker than creating a new Bar.
-
- Finally, you can open the Library directory by clicking on 'Open
- Lib.' where you will see the data and text files stored in separate
- sub-directories. A text file 'Default' records the name of the
- default Bar, if any. If you need to force MenuBar to re-read the
- library data you can achieve this by clicking on 'Library' in the
- menu.
-
-
- 12. Passwords
- --------------
-
- With schools in mind, it is possible to protect each Bar with a
- password. The idea is that the teacher retains control of a separate
- Password application, secretly entering each child's chosen
- password, after which it is not possible to open the Bar without
- typing in the correct password.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 11
-
- In the 'Utils' directory is an application called '!Password'.
- Running this installs its icon on the icon bar and opens its window.
- Just drag the '....Library.Data' directory on to the application and
- all the Bar names are displayed. You can now enter a password for
- each Bar and click the option button to make it active. Clicking on
- 'Save' encrypts the data files with the password. Passwords can be
- changed or rendered inactive by the same process.
-
- Now, when you try to load a protected Bar a window pops up prompting
- for the password. If an incorrect password is entered a buzz
- sounds, and the user is forced to click on 'Cancel'. Note that
- passwords are case-sensitive.
-
-
- 13. Data conversion
- --------------------
-
- In the 'Utils' directory is an application called '!Convert', which
- changes MenuBar text files to data files, and vice-versa. You will
- not normally need to use this but it could be invaluable if by some
- mischance a data file is lost or corrupted, or to convert a file
- created using the demo version for use with the full version.
- Providing you still have the corresponding text file you can
- re-create the data file.
-
- Running the program installs its icon on the icon bar and opens its
- window. Locate the source file in the 'Library' directory and drag
- it onto the application. The message shows 'Text-to-Data' or
- 'Data-to-Text' as appropriate, and the save icon becomes type Data
- or type Text. Drag the save icon to the appropriate sub-directory
- in the 'Library' directory, click on 'Library', and it will appear
- on the Library menu.
-
-
- 14. Miscellaneous
- ------------------
-
- (1) Note that copying is interactive if this is configured (use the
- RISC OS !Configure), and that the options (Confirm etc.) will be
- according to your settings. Also note that solid sprite dragging
- applies if your CMOS is appropriately configured (ie. bit 1 of byte
- 28 is set); otherwise 'rotating boxes' apply. A separate utility
- 'SolidDrag' is included in the 'Utils' directory to simplify the
- setting/unsetting of solid sprite dragging.
-
- (2) A summary of the shortcuts may be obtained by choosing 'Help...'
- from the button menu.
-
- (3) You are prevented from inadvertently running more than one copy
- of MenuBar at the same time.
- (4)
- MenuBar's own error/message window may be dragged with Select or
- Adjust when the pointer is on the body of the window.
-
- (5) There is a Public Domain program called !LongFiles by Jason
- Tribbeck which allows filenames of up to 55 characters to be
- created. MenuBar is compatible with this utility, though naturally
- the filenames are truncated to fit into the Menus.
-
- (6) Clicking Adjust on the button loses the input focus. This is
- useful to allow other tasks to process 'hot keys'
-
-
-
- Page 12
-
- (7) MenuBar can usefully contain Command/Obey files to carry out
- prescribed actions when you double-click them. For example the
- following lines will get rid of a stuck Hourglass:
-
- BASIC
- SYS "Hourglass_Smash"
- *DeskTop
-
-
- 15. Changes since version 1.00
- -------------------------------
-
- 1.00 (15 Oct 1995)
- ------------------
- First release for Acorn World show (27-29 Oct 1995)
-
- 2.00 (11 Sep 1996)
- ------------------
- Major new release as shareware for Acorn World show (4-6 Nov 1996)
-
- New button to left of Bar to act as 'icon bar icon'. Menus
- simplified, and count added where relevant. Can drag the version 1
- '!MenuData' application to button to add to Library and load it
- (especially useful when upgrading).
-
- New Library system to allow up to 30 Bars for loading as needed.
-
- Sprites may be saved/loaded (button menu option). Saving only saves
- our sprites from the Wimp pool.
-
- New colour picker and other options in Choices window. Colour
- choices saved separately with data for each Menu.
-
- Use of virtual memory techniques makes it possible for MenuBar to
- run in a smaller Wimp Slot.
-
- Object(s) dragged onto a Menu or moved within it are inserted below
- the object at the pointer position, whether moved up or down. If
- dropped on handle then go to top. Menu no longer opens fully when
- adding or removing item.
-
- When App is double-clicked/dragged Filer_Boot is done and sprite
- updated (a bit array keeps track of Filer_Booted icons so they are
- not done twice).
-
- New design of message window allowing longer action button strings.
-
- Can now Alt-drag multiple objects to App on Menu (formerly just
- one).
-
- Can now press Esc to abort lengthy Filer_boot.
-
- Much faster sorting (using OS_HeapSort).
-
- Password protection available on each Bar - separate App controls
- it.
-
- Oversize Bar now scrolls instead of being telescoped.
-
- OpenWindow event in the wimp poll loop confined to non-Menu windows
- thus allowing the Bar to remain in place whichever area of the
- virtual desktop is selected in Julian Smith's excellent PD program
- MultiDesk.
-
- Page 13
-
- 2.01 (12 Oct 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Improved multi-file loading to App (can release Alt). Ensure task is
- active before trying to load files (allows for Ovation Plus which is
- actually TWO tasks).
-
- 2.02 (17 Oct 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Disabled overlays. Removed rootpath-stripping.
-
- 2.03 (23 Oct 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Overlays re-enabled.
-
- 2.04 (24 Oct 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Bug fixed in DEFPROCencrypt (was overwriting max bars, menus,
- items).
-
- 2.05 (4 Nov 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Menu at top of screen sends MB to back.
- Horizontal line in message window now icon, not sprite.
- F3 in bar menu moved further to right.
-
- 2.06 (24 Nov 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Added facility to save/load System Variables.
-
- 2.07 (1 Dec 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Removed need for user to register. Done in advance.
- 'User' file renamed 'Register' and moved to Library dir.
- Select click on button toggles input focus.
- Adjust click pops op misc info window.
-
- 2.08 (12 Dec 1996)
- ------------------
-
- Fixed bug whereby wouldn't run in Boot sequence on A5000.
- Improved handling of 'notfound' objects. (No single drags, etc).
-
- 2.09 (7 Jan 1997)
- ----------------
-
- Tried again to fix bug whereby wouldn't run in Boot sequence on
- A5000, this time by rewriting DEFFNname. Highly bizarre!
- Fixed bug whereby clicking menu at top of screen failed to back the
- Bar on A5000.
-
-
-
-
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- I hope you find MenuBar useful and satisfying, and shall be pleased
- to receive any comments, criticisms or suggestions.
-
-
-
- Graham Crow
- Crow Associates, Manor Lodge, Llangattock, Monmouth, Gwent NP5 4NG
- Telephone and Fax: Monmouth (01600) 772532
- e-mail: gmcrow@argonet.co.uk
-
-
- Copyright (c) Crow Associates 1995,1996,1997
-
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
- Page 14
-
-
-
-
- MenuBar Registration Document
- =============================
-
- Name:
-
-
- Address:
-
-
-
-
-
- Postcode:
-
- Telephone:
-
- Fax:
-
- E-mail:
-
- I obtained my evaluation copy of MenuBar from:
-
-
-
- Register as: (e.g. your name or your organisation's name)
-
-
-
-
- I enclose 15.00 pounds (new users)
-
- I enclose 7.50 pounds and my MenuBar 1 program disc (existing users)
-
- (No credit cards: cheques payable to Graham Crow)
-
-
- Comments on Demo version:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Signed:
-
-
-
- Date:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
-