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-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 18
Special Menu Commands
There are several special commands available in NORMAL
OPERATING mode. Most of these are viewable either on the
backdrop screen or by pressing a Control Key and holding it down.
ESC - Exit the MSI Menu System
This terminates the program's execution. You will be asked to
verify this command.
ALT-B - Change the Background Color
There are eight different colors available for the menus'
backdrop screen. Pressing ALT-B lets you toggle through all of
of the choices.
F1 - Help
Display a Help window for the current menu. You can define your
own Help Screens inside the Menus Editor.
F2 - Print an Order Form
If you find yourself using MSI after 30 days, here's a convenient
command!
F3 - Set the Screen Blanking Delay
When there has been no activity on the keyboard for the amount of
time set here, the screen will be blanked. Even EGA screens,
over a period of time, can have an image 'burned' into them.
This feature will help extend the life of your monitor's screen.
F5 - Enter the Menus Editor
You MUST be able to see the 'F5 - Menu' window on the left of the
screen for this command key to work. If you don't see the window
the Menu Definitions have been 'locked' to prevent accidental
changes. Unlock the menus by pressing CTRL-F10.
The following commands are all Control Key commands. A special
MSI feature lets you view these on screen by pressing and holding
a Control Key down. See Figure 10.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 19
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ 9:46 April 21, 1991 ║
║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ ║
║ █│ F1 - HELP │ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ MSI Sample Menus ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 1. Lots of Stepped Menus ║ ║
║ █║ A 'Text Only' Option... ║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ F5 - MENU │ █║ 2. Non-Stepped Menus ║ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ ...could be additional help. ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 'Text Only' cannot be selected. ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ ┌─────────────┐ █║ 3. Password Menu (PW = Pass) ║ ║
║ █│ ESC To QUIT │ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ MSI Menus │ █║ 4. Print Document Files...! ║ ║
║ █└─────────────┘ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ ║
║ ██████████████ ████████████████████████████████████████ ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ Directory: C:\15 Free: 7654321 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Figure 11 - CTRL-F2 lets you display the current directory and
free disk space.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 20
CTRL-F1 - Exit Temporarily to DOS
Also known as a DOS Shell command this lets you leave MSI
temporarily to perform DOS functions. When you are ready to
return to the menus type;
EXIT
MSI will remain resident in the computer's memory while you are
in DOS, allowing you to return to the exact location from which
you left.
CTRL-F2 - Current Directory Toggle
The bottom screen line will display the Copyright notice during
normal operation. CTRL-F2 lets you select between this and
displaying the current working disk and directory. The state
will be saved as part of the menus data file so that you will be
able to return from Action commands to the same setting. If you
are displaying the directory, when you return to the program the
Copyright notice will appear briefly then be replaced with the
directory display. See Figure 11.
CTRL-F3 & CTRL-F4
These combinations are reserved for future use.
CTRL-F5 - Lock the Menu Definitions
Locking the current menus makes the Menus Editor unavailable.
However, you will still have access to all the commands given in
this section for use during normal operations. The locking
feature lets you protect your menus from accidental changes.
CTRL-F10 - Unlock the Menu Definitions
Use this command when you want access to the Menus Editor after
locking the menu definitions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 21
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ 9:46 April 21, 1991 ║
║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ ║
║ █│ F1 - HELP │ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ MSI Sample Menus ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 1. Lots of Stepped Menus ║ ║
║ █║ A 'Text Only' Option... ║ ║
║ ┌─────────────┐ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ ESC To QUIT │ █║ 2. Non-Stepped Menus ║ ║
║ █│ MSI Menus │ █║ ...could be additional help. ║ ║
║ █└─────────────┘ █║ ║ ║
║ ██████████████ █║ 'Text Only' cannot be selected. ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 3. Password Menu (PW = Pass) ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 4. Print Document Files...! ║ ║
║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ ║
║ ████████████████████████████████████████ ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ MSI Menu System 1.60 Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 Larry B. Rice ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Figure 12 - Menus are Locked when the F5 window is not showing.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ 9:46 April 21, 1991 ║
║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ ║
║ █│ F1 - HELP │ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ MSI Sample Menus ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 1. Lots of Stepped Menus ║ ║
║ █║ A 'Text Only' Option... ║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ F5 - MENU │ █║ 2. Non-Stepped Menus ║ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ ...could be additional help. ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ 'Text Only' cannot be selected. ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ ┌─────────────┐ █║ 3. Password Menu (PW = Pass) ║ ║
║ █│ ESC To QUIT │ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ MSI Menus │ █║ 4. Print Document Files...! ║ ║
║ █└─────────────┘ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ ║
║ ██████████████ ████████████████████████████████████████ ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ MSI Menu System 1.60 Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 Larry B. Rice ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Figure 13 - Unlocked menus may be edited.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 22
Section III
Creating Menus
The Menus Editor
Hopefully by now you have examined the Sample menus and are ready
to look at the Menus Editor. First though, you will need to make
sure that the Editor has not been 'locked'.
Your initial MSI screen will either look like the one shown in
Figure 12 or the one in Figure 13.
If your screen looks like the one in Figure 12 (only two windows
showing on the left side of the screen) then your menu
definitions have been protected. Locked menus cannot be edited.
To unlock the menus press CTRL-F10 (the Control and F10 keys at
the same time). You will be asked to verify that the menus are
to be unlocked. Press 'Y' to verify.
Once unlocked your screen should look like the one shown in
Figure 13. Press the F5 key to enter the Menus Editor.
NOTE: You can enter the Menus Editor from any of your menus (if
the menus are unlocked, of course). This allows you to make
quick changes and test them without having to first return to
your main menu.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 23
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ║ █║ MSI Sample Menus ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Cursor: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes ║ █║ 1. Lots of Stepped Menus ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ A 'Text Only' Option... ║|
║ █║ Stepped Border: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ No Double ║ █║ 2. Non-Stepped Menus ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ...could be additional help. ║|
║ █║ Menu Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ 'Text Only' cannot be selected. ║|
║ █║ LtGray Blue ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ 3. Password Menu (PW = Pass) ║|
║ █║ Option Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ 4. Print Document Files..! ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ Press ALT-Q to Quit Select F2 Edit F3 Move F4 Define F10 |
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 14 - The initial Menus Editor screen with the Sample
Menus.
Highlight a selection and press RETURN to change
to a sub-menu inside the Menus Editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 24
Figure 14 shows the initial Menus Editor screen. Notice the Menu
Options windows that open to the left and top of the menu window.
Also, notice the Command Assistance Line (CAL) has replaced the
copyright notice on the bottom of the screen. Watch the CAL as
you enter various editing modes or perform editing functions. It
will keep you up-to-date on the commands available at any given
time while you are inside the Menus Editor.
The Menu Options inside the windows are discussed individually in
the next section. These options allow you to define the 'look'
of the menu and how each menu selection will operate.
MSI allows you to see changes in your menus immediately. To
illustrate this, press the 'D' key. This will turn the menu's
shadow on and off. The menu will immediately be redrawn using
the new setting. Watch the 'Shadow' setting in the option window
to the left as you press the key. When the Shadow setting is
'Yes' the menu will be drawn with an underlying shadow for a 3-D
effect. When the setting is 'No' the shadow will not be used,
giving you a flat menu window.
The Shadow setting is an example of a 'Toggled' setting. All of
the following are also toggled settings:
1. (T)ype - Top Window: Normal or Text Only
2. Prompt (L)ine - Yes or No
3. Sha(d)ow - Yes or No
4. (C)ursor (Bar) - Yes or No
5. St(e)pped - Yes or No
Except for the Name, Prompt and Help options at the top of the
left option window, all of the other settings are changed using
the left and right cursor keys. Pressing the red command key
will move the cursor to the black boxed area to the right or
immediately below the setting selected. Use the cursor keys to
change settings and press RETURN. The CAL line will provide on-
screen help for this.
NOTE: To change menus while inside the Editor, place the
highlight bar on an option and press RETURN. Actions will NOT be
executed while inside the Editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 25
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ║ █║ MSI Sample Menus ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Cursor: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes ║ █║ 1. Lots of Stepped Menus ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ > This line is being edited_ ║|
║ █║ Stepped: Border: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ No Double ║ █║ 2. Non-Stepped Menus ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ...could be additional help. ║|
║ █║ Menu Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ 'Text Only' cannot be selected. ║|
║ █║ LtGray Blue ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ 3. Password Menu (PW = Pass) ║|
║ █║ Option Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ 4. Print Document Files..! ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ Press ENTER to Accept or ESC to Cancel Home End Ins Del to Ed|
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 15 - F2 adds or edits the highlighted menu line.
Start the program with RUNMSI...
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ╔══════════╗ Exits to RUNMSI ╔════════════╗ │
│ ║ Action ║ ─────────────────> ║ RUNMSI ║ │
│ ║ Selected ║ <───────────────── ║ Batch File ║ │
│ ╚══════════╝ Returns to DIR ╚════════════╝ │
│ Actions & Calls MSI ^ │ Calls │
│ Written to DOS │ │ DOS │
│ ACT.BAT Done │ v │
│ ╔════════════╗ Executes Your ╔════════════╗ │
│ ║ ACT.BAT ║ <──────────────── ║ DOS ║ │
│ ║ Batch File ║ Action Commands ║ ║ │
│ ╚════════════╝ ╚════════════╝ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 16 - Command Flow for an Action.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 26
A menu may have up to eleven user selectable options defined, if
a Prompt Line is not used. Otherwise it may contain up to nine.
Creating an option is as simple as moving the Cursor Bar to the
menu line that you want to hold the selection and pressing F2.
Enter the option string and press RETURN when it reads the way
you want.
There must be at least one character on the line for MSI to
recognize it as an option. MSI uses the first character of the
string as the option 'command key'; that is, a user selects the
option by pressing the first character of the option string.
(The Cursor Bar may also be used, if activated.) Some or all of
the options on a menu may be defined as 'Text Only'. These
options are NOT selectable. They allow you to enter extended
selection descriptions, notes or help text on the menu itself.
Each selectable menu item will cause some type of action to be
taken. This might display a sub-menu, send one or more commands
to DOS for execution, or both. The 'Selects:' setting determines
how the highlighted selection will behave. Your choices are
Menu, Action, Dual and Rsidnt.
How Actions are executed.
══>> MSI will NOT be Resident for ACTION.
══>> MSI WILL remain Resident for RSIDNT.
There are only two batch files used by MSI; RUNMSI.BAT which is
the program control batch file, and ACT.BAT which is created from
your commands each time an Action option is selected. For each
Action selection made, MSI will make a fresh copy of ACT.BAT by
copying the contents of an 'Action Window' to it. MSI terminates
and RUNMSI calls ACT.BAT which DOS reads and executes. When DOS
has completed all of the commands in ACT.BAT, control is returned
to RUNMSI.BAT, which then executes MSI once more. Figure 16
illustrates this process.
IMPORTANT - For RUNMSI.BAT to operate correctly when Actions are
completed, MSI appends commands to your Action commands to return
to the Home directory when the commands are done. See
'Installing MSI' for details.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 27
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ╔══════════╗ Dual Selected ╔════════════╗ │
│ ║ Dual ║ ─────────────────> ║ DOS ║ │
│ ║ Selected ║ Write 1st Actions ║ executes ║ │
│ ╚══════════╝ to ACT.BAT ║ ACT.BAT ║ │
│ ^ Return to ╚════════════╝ │
│ │ Calling Menu Display │ │
│ ╔════════════╗ Sub-Menu v │
│ ║ DOS ║ ESC Pressed ╔════════════╗ │
│ ║ executes ║ <──────────────── ║ Dual ║ │
│ ║ ACT.BAT ║ Write 2nd Actions ║ Sub-Menu ║ │
│ ╚════════════╝ to ACT.BAT ╚════════════╝ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 17 - Command flow for Dual.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ╔═══════════╗ Change ╔═══════════╗ Change ╔═══════════╗ │
│ ║ MSI ║ ───────> ║ Dual ║ ───────> ║ Dual ║ │
│ ║ Menus ║ Dir ║ Sub-Menu ║ Dir ║ Sub-Menu ║ │
│ ╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝ │
│ │ │ │
│ <Change Back - ESC < <Change Back - ESC < │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 18 - Using Dual options to change working directories.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 28
How Dual is executed.
══>> MSI remains Resident for Dual Actions.
A Dual selection lets you define TWO sets of Action commands and
a sub-menu. MSI will execute the FIRST set of Action commands,
display the sub-menu and wait for further selections. The second
set of Action commands will be executed when the ESC key is
pressed to return to the previous (calling) menu. You are not
required to define both sets of Actions; just leave the window
blank if it is not needed. Figure 17 illustrates the command
flow of Dual.
The Dual Action was specifically designed to help in controlling
the use of 'Terminate and Stay Resident' (TSR) programs. The
first Action can load and/or configure the TSR. The menu would
then provide help with TSR features, hotkeys or control flow
while the TSR is active. The second second set of actions can
then deactivate or unload the TSR. Of course, there are many
variations on this, the only limit being your imagination.
Another application of the Dual action is to change working
directories as you progress to and from your sub-menus. See
Figure 18.
MSI will display a DOS screen when each set of the Dual Action
commands is executed. This allows DOS, or your TSRs, to display
messages. You may want to liberally use the DOS 'Pause' command
in your Actions to allow yourself or others a chance to read the
messages. You can also use the redirect commands ( > and >> ) to
send the messages to a file or other device. Refer to your DOS
manual for more on redirection.
In Defining (F4) a Dual action you will first define the PRE-menu
Action then the POST-menu Action, then the sub-menu itself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 29
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ║ █║ MSI Sample Menus ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Cursor: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes ║ █║ 1. Lots of Stepped Menus ║|
║ █║ ╔═════╩══╩═════════════════════════╗tion... ║|
║ █║ Stepped: Bor║ Define MENU for this option. ║ ║|
║ █║ No Dou║ Continue? (Y/N) _ ║ ║|
║ █║ ╚═════╦══╦═════════════════════════╝ional help. ║|
║ █║ Menu Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ 'Text Only' cannot be selected. ║|
║ █║ LtGray Blue ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ 3. Password Menu (PW = Pass) ║|
║ █║ Option Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ 4. Print Document Files..! ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ Press ALT-Q to Quit Select F2 Edit F3 Move F4 Define F10 |
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 19 - Memory will be allocated for a new menu.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Cursor: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Stepped: Border: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ No Double ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Menu Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Option Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ Press ALT-Q to Quit Select F2 Edit F3 Move F4 Define F10 |
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 20 - The new sub-menu is drawn using default settings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 30
Creating a Sub-Menu
MSI has default settings for menus and option strings. The menu
defaults are shown in Figure 20. These allow you to quickly
define sub-menus and their items. To see how these work, try
defining a new item displaying a sub-menu using the Sample Menus.
Move the Cursor Bar to a blank menu line and press F2. The
familiar blinking underscore cursor will appear on the first
editable space on the line. Enter the following:
New Sub-menu_
and press RETURN (ENTER). This defines a new selectable menu
item.
You can view the selection in normal operation by pressing ALT-Q
to Quit the Menus Editor. Note that the new selection can be
highlighted with the Cursor Bar or by pressing the N key ('N' is
the first letter of the option string). However, since an action
has not yet been defined for this option, nothing will happen
when it is selected.
To define a sub-menu for this new item, press F5 to re-enter the
Menus Editor and move the Cursor Bar to highlight the item (if
it's not already there). Make sure 'Selects:' is set to 'Menu'
in the window directly above the menu, then press F4 to 'Define'
an operation. (Function Keys are shown on CAL.)
You should now be looking at the window shown in Figure 19. The
'..Continue?' window appears any time a new operation is defined
for a menu selection. MSI will require some additional computer
memory for each item defined (see the Technical Note at the end
of this section). This window lets you back out if the Define
key was pressed by mistake, keeping MSI's memory use to a
minimum. Press Y to continue.
The new sub-menu will appear directly atop the previous menu
since the default is non-stepped (Figure 20). The sub-menu
window is now ready for you to add item strings and modify
settings to create the menu you desire.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 31
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ 9:46 April 21, 1991 ║
║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ ║
║ █│ F1 - HELP │ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ ┌───────────┐ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ F5 - MENU │ █║ ║ ║
║ █└───────────┘ █║ ║ ║
║ ████████████ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ █║ ║ ║
║ ┌─────────────┐ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ ESC │ █║ ║ ║
║ █│ Prev Menu │ █║ ║ ║
║ █└─────────────┘ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ ║
║ ██████████████ ████████████████████████████████████████ ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ MSI Menu System 1.60 Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 Larry B. Rice ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Figure 21 - The New Sub-Menu in normal operating mode is a blank
window.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 32
First, though, you might like to see how the new sub-menu
displays in normal operation.
Press ESC to return to the previous menu and press ALT-Q to
return to normal operation. Now select the 'New Sub-menu' option
either by pressing 'N' or by highlighting it with the Cursor Bar
and pressing RETURN (ENTER). Your newly created menu will be
displayed. You can now press F5 to return to the Menus Editor
and finish defining the new menu, or press ESC to return to the
previous menu. See Figure 21.
Technical Note - Memory Allocation
MSI uses a technique known as 'Dynamic Memory Allocation'. This
means that MSI will allocate memory on an 'as-needed' basis,
allowing MSI to reduce memory demands to a minimum, rather than
reserving a large block of memory that will probably never all be
needed. The window in Figure 19, or one similar to it, appears
anytime a new block of memory is about to be allocated. The
individual allocations are:
New Menu - 1131 bytes
New Action - 1020 bytes
New Dual - 3171 bytes
New Rsidnt - 1020 bytes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 33
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ║ █║ Adding a Menu Name_ ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Cursor: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Stepped: Border: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ No Double ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Menu Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Option Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ Press ENTER to Accept or ESC to Cancel Home End Ins Del to Ed|
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 22 - Press N to add or edit a menu Name.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Cursor: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Stepped: Border: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ No Double ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Menu Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Option Colors ║ █║ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore: ║ █║ Adding a Prompt Line_ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ Press ENTER to Accept or ESC to Cancel Home End Ins Del to Ed|
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 23 - Press P to add or edit a menu Prompt Line.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 34
The Menu Settings
This section contains detailed discussions of all the settings
available in the two Menu Option windows. The command key for
each setting will be found immediately to the right of the
setting title. The settings are given in the order that they
appear in each window, beginning with the General Menu Settings
on the left side of the screen.
NOTE: MSI will recognize either upper or lower case command keys.
The General Menu Settings
The General Menu Options window is the larger window located
immediately to the left of the menu window itself.
Name: - N - (Figure 22)
This is the name to print at the top of the menu. Press N to
move the cursor to the first line of the menu window. CAL will
display the editor commands available. Use the left and right
cursor keys, Home, and End to position the cursor on the line and
begin typing. The Insert, Delete and Back Space keys may also be
used. See "Editor Commands" for more information.
Prompt: - P - (Figure 23)
Using Prompt Lines at the bottom of your menus is optional. When
defined, MSI will display the prompt string on the bottom line of
the menu window and place a blinking cursor immediately to the
right of it. Press P to move the cursor to the Prompt Line and
enter a string. The prompt has no functional job other than to
indicate to the user that MSI is waiting for input. If you do
define a prompt you will only have nine selection lines on the
menu. MSI leaves a blank line above the prompt to make it more
distinguishable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 35
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ ╔═══════════════════╗█║ Password: None Selects: Menu Type: |
║ █║ Name Prompt Help ║█╚═════════════════════════════════════════|
║ █║ ║███████████████████████████████████████████|
║ █║ Prompt Line: No ║ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗|
║ █║ ┌───╨──╜─────────────────────────────────┐ ║|
║ █║ Shadow: Curs█│ _ │ ║|
║ █║ Yes Yes █│ Press F5 to enter the Menus Editor. │ ║|
║ █║ █│ │ ║|
║ █║ Stepped: Bord█│ CTRL-F5 'Locks' defined Menus. │ ║|
║ █║ No Doub█│ │ ║|
║ █║ █│ CTRL-F10 'Unlocks' the Menus Editor. │ ║|
║ █║ Menu Color█│ │ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore█│ Press CTRL for additional Control Keys.│ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Blac█│ │ ║|
║ █║ █│ Press F2 to print a Registration Form. │ ║|
║ █║ Option Colo█└────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║|
║ █║ Back: Fore█████████████████████████████████████████ ║|
║ █║ LtGray Black ║ █╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝|
║ █╚═══════════════════╝ ████████████████████████████████████████ |
║ ████████████████████ |
║ |
║ ALT-Q to Quit ESC Cancels Line Changes Home End Ins Del to|
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════|
Figure 24 - Menu's Help screen opened for editing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MSI User's Manual Page 36
Help: - H - (Figure 24)
During normal operation a Help Screen is available for each menu
by pressing F1. The H command allows you to edit the contents of
the Help Screen for the current menu. See the section titled
'Editor Commands' for details on each of the editing commands
available to you.
Prompt Line: - P - (Toggle)
When set to 'Yes' and a prompt string has been defined, MSI will
display the string on the bottom line of the menu, followed by
the familiar blinking underscore cursor. This will reduce the
maximum number of menu selections to nine. When set to 'No' the
prompt string will not be displayed, even if it has been defined.
Both the Cursor Bar and Prompt Line may be used on a menu.
Shadowed: - D - (Toggle)
Shadows beneath the menu windows give the menu a 3-D appearance.
Press D to turn a menu's shadow on or off.
Cursor: - C - (Toggle)
If set to 'Yes' then you will be able to use the up and down
cursor keys to highlight a menu item with a Cursor Bar, and
select it by pressing RETURN. When set to 'No' the Cursor Bar is
disabled for the current menu. Items may be selected by pressing
the first character of the item string, even when the Cursor Bar
is used.
Stepped: - E - (Toggle)
This is a special feature that allows you to layer subsequent
sub-menus slightly offset from each other. Stepped menus give
the viewer 'depth perspective'; an important visual reference as
to location within a set of sub-menus. Press E to Step or un-
Step the current menu.
Border: - R -
Several border options are available to help you individualize
each of your sub-menus. Press R and use the right and left
cursor keys to change the value. When you have located the
border you would like to use, press RETURN.
