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Text File | 1994-07-30 | 150KB | 3,181 lines

███████▒ ██████▒ ███▒ ███▒ ███████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ████▒ ████▒ ██▒ ███▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒██▒██▒██▒ ██▒ ████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ███▒ ██▒ ████▒ ██▒██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ █████▒ ██▒ █▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ███████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ███████▒ ██▒ ███▒ ███████▒ FREEWARE Version 3.0 Copyright 1994 by David Roper JULY 30 ███████▒ ██████▒ ███▒ ███▒ ███████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ████▒ ████▒ ██▒ ███▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒██▒██▒██▒ ██▒ ████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ███▒ ██▒ ████▒ ██▒██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ █████▒ ██▒ █▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ███████▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ██▒ ███████▒ ██▒ ███▒ ███████▒ FREEWARE Version 3.0 Copyright 1994 by David Roper ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │█ │ This Copy Belongs To: │█ │ │█ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ JULY 30 ┌───────────────┐ │ D R M e n u │█ └───────────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ...a DOS menu system COPYRIGHT 1992-94 by David Roper I've got to grab your attention in the first few lines, so here goes...five "grabbers" to cause you to want to use it: 1. First, this is FREEWARE; it costs you nothing to use this program legally, anywhere. "Free" is affordable. 2. DRMenu runs ANY type files, ie. BAT's, COM's, and EXE's. DRMenu does NOT use DOS "ERRORLEVEL" checks. 3. DRMenu has a slight "3-D" look, a moving Highlight Bar for selecting your choices, and a Screen Blanker. 4. DRMenu can have 12 Screens, each with up to 17 Choices. You can have a HELP screen for every Choice. Any VGA or EGA system can have 8 more BRIGHT COLORS for backgrounds. 5. Most important, IT IS EASY TO DEVELOP and MAINTAIN. There is only ONE ASCII file that contains the choices. DRMenu 3.0 gives you an editor, a viewer, and a calculator. This manual has two covers. Use the one that you like the best. Legal "Limits" on the use of DRMenu are spelled out here, so read them carefully. You will be amazed, I'm sure. It's Free. DRMenu is Freeware. DRMenu is NOT Shareware. I do NOT require for you to send me any money if you use it - even at your office. However, DRMenu is NOT Public Domain. I, David Roper, own the Copyright on DRMenu. This means that you can use it as you wish, but that you cannot claim it as your own program. I Repeat, there is NO CHARGE for using this program - ever - even at work. Yes, you are also PERMITTED by me to include this package with any commercial or any other shareware package as long as you include the whole thing, the whole package, not just some of its parts. In other words, you can use it when you install a Network for profit. Yes, you are PERMITTED to put this DRMenu package on any BBS. If you are in the SHAREWARE business, you CAN offer it in your catalog for sale, so long as you state it's FREEWARE in the description of the package. DRMenu is NOT Shareware. Standard Disclaimer: Try DRMenu, and then Use DRMenu at your own risk. If anything happens to your computer, your data, or anything connected, David Roper cannot or will not be held responsible in any way. If the DRMenu menu system doesn't work for you on your computer, simply erase it and be glad that you paid me nothing. CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction............................................Section 1 A Quick Glance - A Demo.................................Section 2 What DRMenu Does........................................Section 3 Operating Systems, Memory, & Hardware Requirements......Section 4 The Files In This Package...............................Section 5 Installation - Uninstall................................Section 6 How To Select The Screens And Choices, the Blind........Section 7 Letter Sensitive Keys...................................Section 8 The Data file - Dot, Choice, and Remark Lines...........Section 9 The Required Dot Lines..................................Section 10 The (Other) Dot Lines Explained.........................Section 11 ALT-key, CTL-key Definitions............................Section 12 The Data File - Some Examples...........................Section 13 Passwords For Choices...................................Section 14 Colors..................................................Section 15 Unhiding "Hidden" Screens...............................Section 16 Help Screens............................................Section 17 The Notebook and Other Features.........................Section 18 The PICture/Logo Screen.................................Section 19 Problems and Solutions..................................Section 20 Exiting DRMenu..........................................Section 21 DRMenu in a LAN Environment.............................Section 22 Registration & The Latest Version.......................Section 90 Future Features, Past Differences.......................Section 91 Upgrading from an Earlier Version of DRMenu.............Section 92 Complaints..............................................Section 99 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ All sections are numbered from 1 to 99, yet │█ │ Not all the possible 99 numbers are used. │█ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ INTRODUCTION Section 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- DRMenu can be pronounced "Doctor Menu" if you want to, although the name DRMenu is actually my initials (DR) and the word MENU. I got the idea from PKZIP and others who do this file marking. DRMENU is NOT affiliated with PKZIP. I'm an MIS Director. Our corporate staff needs a menu system with a screen blanker built in. If we leave our desks, we need to be able to leave an "I'm at ...." message. Our staff needs a menu system that can be easily edited by our MIS people. We can write Batch files, but our secretaries forget batch file names...It's not easy for them to remember. Our management needs any menu system to be FREE, of course. If you ever worked with the Novell .MNU system on your LAN, you should read this document/manual carefully. I had to quit using the "free" Novell MNU file system because it took up so much RAM (it's a TSR) that other programs wouldn't run. You may like DRMenu because it is probably pretty close to what you're already using - if you use batch files. In fact, YOUR BATCH FILES WON'T NEED TO BE CHANGED ONE BIT. Batch files were an integral part of the version 2.1 DRMenu system. And now, you can actually use COM's and EXE's as well. This isn't a "Windows" application, but you can run Windows from one of the batch files if you want to. I run version 3.1 We still use DRMenu by creating batch files to format diskettes and to do daily backups of special, critical subdirectories. It must work on a LAN. LANs can't use TSRs from the LOGIN script. DRMenu is not a TSR. It "acts" like one, however. A MENU system shouldn't use a lot of RAM. Even if you're using DOS 7 (or greater), or a memory manager (like QEMM), RAM-cram always seems to be a problem. Besides, there probably ARE some TSRs that you do want or need to run. I used to use the "TYPE SCREEN.TXT" and then change the prompt to "PROMPT Enter Choice $G" Menu system. If you know what this is all about, you'll like (....or love...) DRMenu. Each batch file will take a cluster on your Hard Drive. Even if you use the current maximum of 194 batch files allowable by DRMenu, that's still less than 400k of disk space. I have a 1.8 Gigabyte SCSI HD with 110 MEG of it partitioned as Drive "C:" so that it falls under the 127MEG "limit" and thus, each of its "allocation units" is only 2K. My drive "C:" holds DOS 7, OS/2 for Windows, and my BATCH files. The rest of the drive is set up as Drive "D:" (1.6+ GIGabytes) and holds WINDOWS 3.1, compilers, and "everything else". I wanted the DRMENU "data" to be simple ASCII text so it could be changed using any editor that was convenient. It's easy to edit this way. With Version 3.0, you get WCED, a small, free ASCII editor. You also get a small VIEWER named VIEW.COM and a replacement for PAUSE, called DRSCROLL. QUICK GLANCE Section 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- To use DRMenu, you need EXISTING batch files. It's easier. The engine (DRM30eng.EXE) reads the lines of the data file (DRM30dat.DAT) each time DRMenu runs and displays the Choices in it. When you press the ENTER key, the engine creates a small batch file with the Choice batch file written into it. So what happens is that DRMenu effectively calls up your batch file, runs the program and then returns to the menu screens. This gives the impression that DRMenu is a TSR. The MAKE-DATA program (DRM30mak.EXE) will make a data file quicker than it took to read this far, but you will need to have all your batch files located in one directory first. DRMenu does NOT search your hard drive for .COM and .EXE files to run. DRMenu uses the batch files that you already have on your system. Since DRMenu is supplied with a small ASCII editor, WCED, you can write your batch files and modify your DRM30dat.DAT file "on the spot." Thanks, Bill, for WCED...from all of us. You can use your own, favorite ASCII editor, instead. I personally use Qedit Advanced v3.0. Yep, it's registered. A DEMO ----------------------------------------------------------------- DRMenu is supplied with a small batch file named DRMDEMO.BAT. Copy the DRMenu files DRMDEMO*.* and, also, DRM30eng.EXE onto a diskette in A: and the DOS prompt set to A:, type DRMDEMO and press enter. All the DEMO files will fit on a 360k disk. This demo uses DRMDEMO.DAT (a fake menu) that allows you to get a quick look and feel of DRMenu. Using the demo on a floppy will be slower than if you were running it from the hard drive, but you'll be able to see how easy it is to run. It's very instintive - if you can use the Arrow Keys and the Enter key. I hope you like the way it "looks and feels". The 6 small, demo Batch files named/numbered DRMDEMO1.BAT, to DRMDEMO6.BAT are used with the DRMDEMO.DAT file in the demo. Please feel free to erase them after the DEMO. Take a look at the Sample ".DAT" file. It's ASCII. Your BATCH files are ASCII, too. ASCII is aka "DOS TEXT." When you're ready to install the "real" system, use the file DRM30mak.EXE and your real data file will be made in seconds. ENJOY DRMenu. Hundreds of people worldwide already do. WHAT DRMenu DOES Section 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------- DRMenu uses your existing .BAT files, the same ones you are using now. Or, you can write new ones. Or, now with Version 3.0, you can use an EXE, COM, or BTM file, if you don't need to write a BATch file. (BTM files are used in 4DOS.) DRM30mak.EXE will create 2 files called DRMENU.BAT and DRM30dat.DAT. It's this main DRMENU.BAT file that runs DRM30eng.EXE, which is the file that reads DRM30dat.DAT. There are three basic kinds of lines in DRM30dat.DAT. "Dot Lines" instruct the engine; they start with a dot, aka full stop or period. An example is ".COLOR Red on White" "Remark" Lines are just that, they are there to assist you to maintain and administer the DRM30dat.DAT file; they start with a colon (:) just like remarks or labels in an ordinary batch file. An example is: ": changed Batch file Feb 23rd 1994" Choice Lines tell the system what to do; they have just a few words, then the file name to be run in curly braces. For the details on all of this, see the pages of this manual with this title: "The Data file, Dot, Choice, and Remark Lines - Section 9" A CHOICE line looks like this: "Run Windows{RUNWIN}" It consists of the words, like "Run Windows" and the batch file name to run if you select this Choice line, RUNWIN.BAT. The Highlight Bar moves over the Choices, then when you get to the Choice you want to run, you press the ENTER key. It is Instinctive to most people. However, you decide. DRM30eng.EXE reads the DRM30dat.DAT file to get the Choices and file names. As well as making the Highlight Bar move, DRM30eng.EXE does other things like store the batch name and Screen number so the system knows where to return to when you finish using the program. When you press ENTER on your Choice, DRMenu creates a batch file to run. Simple and fast, maybe not elegant, but it works. If you use DRM30mak.EXE to install DRMenu, then two of these files will be created quickly for you. It's the best way. The two files are: (1) DRM30dat.DAT and (2) DRMENU.BAT. See Section 6 on Automatic and Manual installation, both. Most of the files in DRMenu have "DRM30" in their titles, and most of the important files used in this version 3.0 have the number "30" in them to tell the difference between this 3.0 version and earlier versions. Future versions will also have the number used, so you can tell them apart from each other. OPERATING SYSTEMS, MEMORY, & HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS Section 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Systems. DRMenu can run using any DOS version from 2.0 to 6.x to 4DOS to Novell's DOS 7.0. You will want to have Version 3.3 (or higher) of DOS because DRMenu needs the "CALL" ability which is part of DOS 3.3 and later versions. If you use DRMenu with a version of DOS that is below version 3.3, then you will have to add ".OLDDOS", a DOT line, to the DATA file DRM30dat.DAT and, also, re-write each batch file so that it returns and runs DRMENU.BAT after the batch file has run. This method is not elegant, but it works. DRM30eng.EXE was written and compiled using PowerBasic 3.0c, then LZEXEv91 was used to reduce it to its current size. You can UnLZEXE the Engine if you want, but its loading time is faster if LZEXE'd. In RAM, the expansion is almost "instant." The 175k of source code took 1.2 seconds to compile on a 90MHz Pentium in the IDE. It used to take 23.2 seconds on a 486DX50. It was compiled with the OP codes for the 8088 CPU, an option to that DRMENU can be used on any machine, an 8088 to a Pentium. Memory Requirements. DRM30eng.EXE needs about 171k of RAM to run, but even that's actually needed only when you have DRMenu's "MENU" on your screen. OTHER THAN THAT, the only real memory needed is 144 bytes, plus whatever is needed for DOS to hold a copy of your environment. So, even if you have only 256k on your machine, DRMenu will run just fine. It's DOS that uses the 144 bytes for each DOS "call". For example, if your DOS environment is 128 bytes, then when you run a program, any program, the total RAM used will be only 128 bytes + 144 bytes, a total of 272 bytes - plus the actual memory requirements of the program to be run. See section 20 for hints on how to increase your ENVIRONMENT if needed. Monitor Type. DRMenu supports mono, color, Hercules, VGA and laptop screens. DRMenu autodetects color monitors. If you have a monochrome screen laptop that "thinks" it's color, DRMenu can be told to display black on white - or white on black. Use a Dot line called .BW or one called .WB The 8 BRIGHT background colors, NEW to version 3.0, are available only if you have a VGA or EGA monitor - 16 in all. If you use CGA you still have all 8 colors for background choices. If you use Monographics, you have Black and White. Version 3.0 of DRMenu will automatically detect EGA, VGA, CGA, and Mono video cards and will try to use the 8 BRIGHT colors whenever possible. If you try to use the 8 BRIGHT colors for background colors and they start blinking... then this software of mine and your system are "incompatible" and you will be stuck with using JUST the original 8 colors. By that, I mean use only the dull color such as GREEN instead of being able to use both GREEN and, also, GRASS (BRIGHT Green). See the section on Colors and then try all the colors using the ALT-C feature if you have "turned on" the "C" somewhere in the .SWITCHON line, such as .SWITCHON DCEFGHABXYZ. ^ THE FILES IN THIS PACKAGE Section 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this package you will find the following files and a few others that DRMenu creates. See the descriptions below. They nearly all begin with "DRM" as the first three letters. The ONLY ones really NEEDED to run the DRMenu system are marked "YES" below. The two marked "NO" are still useful to use, too. The files marked with a star "*" are created automatically by DRMenu when it runs, so that it can perform its functions. The ones marked with "$0", are free Utilities - gifts to you. Filename Needed What it does ============ ====== =================================== DRMENU.BAT YES the BATCH file you actually run to use them all DRM30dat.DAT YES users' Screens, Choices and batch file names. This is "the DATA file" DRM30eng.EXE YES the main engine that uses the DATA file. It creates DRM30run.BAT as well. DRM30pic.DAT NO the opening PICture, aka the LOGO screen. It is seen only once a day. DRM30mak.EXE NO this file "makes" two files for v3.0: the DRM30dat.DAT and DRMENU.BAT files. DRM30pul.EXE NO Used to make a new, smaller Document file by pulling out certain lines and pages. DRM30esc.DAT * DRMenu creates this when you press ESCape DRM30run.BAT * DRMenu creates this when you press ENTER DRM30sel.DAT * Remembers what Choice you SELected DRM30cfg.DAT * It's created so you see LOGO only once a day See .NEWDAY to increase viewing frequency. DRM30err.DAT * A File which tells of the most recent ERRor DRM30not.DAT Your ALT-N NOTebook containing your NOTes DRM30bat.DAT All BATch files; Create it by Pressing ALT-Y DRM30mat.DAT The DoorMAT where the .PWD2 "Key" is hidden DRMENU30.DOC This Documentation file, aka "The Manual" DRMDOTLN.LST A list of Dot Lines used in v3.0 and v2.1 DRMDEMO.BAT A Demo you can run on any diskette or drive. Also, DRMDEMO1 thru 6 are part of the DEMO. DRMDEMO.DAT The data file used for DRMDEMO.BAT above DrSCROLL.EXE $0 a free, DOS Pause replacement (by me) VIEW.COM $0 a free, ASCII viewer (by David Dibble) WCED.COM $0 a free, ASCII editor (by William Cravener) MATH.EXE $0 a free, Calculator (by Greg Kochaniak) INSTALLATION - Automatic Section 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------- DRMenu comes with an "file creator" called DRM30mak.EXE. DRM30mak.EXE asks you some simple questions, such as "What drive to install it to" and "What subdirectory has your BATCH files?" and "Do you want to continue?" It's very easy to use. If it's a new installation and not an upgrade, then DRM30mak.EXE will read your batch file subdirectory and create a DRM30dat.DAT file for you, in seconds, so you can then edit it (or not). If you run this Install on an existing DRMENU system, old or new versions, DRMENU will save your old DATA file....it will be renamed to DRM30dat.DAT for you. DRM30mak.EXE will make a new DRMENU.BAT file for you. If DRM30mak.EXE is used to make a new DAT file, it starts by writing a few default Dot Lines to a new DRM30dat.DAT file and then reads in all your .BAT files. It then builds the DRMENU system based on those .BAT files. It's very fast. However, if you use DRM30mak.EXE on "top" of an old version 2.1 system, it will NOT "stomp" on top of your old DAT file. It will rename it, and not "stomp" on top of it. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ See Section 92 for details on Upgrading from version 2.1. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ....Ahem, let's get back to installing a brand-new system.... DRM30mak.EXE will NOT alter your batch files in any way. Nor will it delete any of them. Remember that DRMenu needs those batch files. See Section 9 for running files with extensions of .EXE, .COM, and .BTM, too. These extensions will be "skipped" in the automatic installation. You can add them back later when you edit your DRM30dat.DAT file. Start DRMENU by using the BATCH files you have, then "venture out" later on. Then, move to the subdirectory where the batch files are and run DRMENU.BAT - that will run the DRMenu system for you. You need only DRMENU.BAT, DRM30dat.DAT, and DRM30eng.EXE to have a system. DRM30mak.EXE writes the BAT and the DAT for you, quickly, literally in 30 seconds or less. Finally there's a simple MENU system for everybody - and best of all, it's absolutely FREE to use. What's the catch? None. It's Absolutely FREE, there is no catch. Enjoy it. INSTALLATION - Manually Section 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------- While DRMenu is easy to install Automatically, you may wish to install it yourself manually, but it's harder. Here's how to: 1. Use your favorite ASCII editor and make a DRM30dat.DAT file. Look at the examples in Section 13 for ideas. 2. Use your favorite ASCII editor and make a DRMENU.BAT file with three lines in it. "Subdirname" will actually be a real subdirectory name, like \BAT\ or \BATCH\. SET DRMENU30_ENVIRMEM=%0 DRM30eng C:\Subdirname\DRM30dat.DAT ~~~~~~~~~~ CALL C:\Subdirname\DRM30run.BAT ~~~~~~~~~~ Of course, you should substitute the appropriate subdirectory name where I've got "Subdirname" in the example above. This might be: CALL C:\BATCH\DRM30run.BAT ~~~~~ The first line sets a "lengthy" environment variable so that DRMenu can find its way back to where it came from. The second line runs DRM30eng with the DRM30dat.DAT data file. The final, third, line calls a file that isn't yet created! DRM30run.BAT will be created only when you make a selection to run a program. If you're running DRMenu on a DOS below 3.3, then you must take the word "CALL" out of the DRMENU.BAT file. See Section 4 for more information. 3. Copy the main program DRM30eng.EXE, DRMENU.BAT and DRM30dat.DAT into the subdirectory where your batch files are located. This is important. You must make sure that DRM30eng.EXE is in the same subdirectory as your batch files (ie C:\BATCH). If would like a Logo screen, copy DRM30pic.DAT into the subdirectory as well. 4. Change the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT so that it includes the subdirectory where DRMenu and your batch files are located. Example: PATH=C:\;C:\BATCH ~~~~~ 5. Finally, run DRMENU.BAT from the DOS prompt, or add it to your LAN script file, or to the bottom of your AUTOEXEC.BAT so that it will run automatically. After you've done this once, try it using DRM30mak.EXE. DRM30mak.EXE does most of these steps for you in seconds. (See also, section 92 in this manual for more help.) UNINSTALLING DRMenu ----------------------------------------------------------------- To uninstall DRMenu (why would you want to?), delete all files that begin with the letters "DRM". The other programs in the package, all FREE, can be used for other purposes. ~~~~~~~~ HOW TO SELECT THE SCREENS AND THE CHOICES Section 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Choices. To find a Choice, press the UP or DOWN ARROW keys until you get to the one you want. Another way to select a Choice is to press the first letter (the UPPERCASE or lowercase) of the Choice line. Another way is to use the SPACEBAR to move down through the Choices. The HOME key chooses the first Choice on the Screen. The END key chooses the last Choice on the Screen. The Choices "wrap around" from last to first to last to first and so on. You press ENTER to RUN the selected Choice. Screens. To select another Screen, press the left or right arrow keys until you find the Screen you want. You can use the function keys, too. Press F4 and you get the 4th Screen. Notice that if you use the Function keys, the Screen must actually exist or you will get an error message. If you have only 10 Function keys, you can still have 12 Screens, but you will need to use the arrow keys for Screens 11 and 12. If you press a Function key for a screen that doesn't exist, you will hear a BADTUNE played (if Sound is enabled). Or...If you use the Arrow keys to select the screen and the Screen doesn't exist, DRMenu will use the next valid Screen it comes to. Screens wrap-around too, from the highest number to the lowest number to the highest number. Twelve are possible. For the Blind ------------------------------------------------------------ DRMenu has been designed for a Blind person to use, also. There are twelve, 12, screens. Each screen can be directly accessed by pressing the proper Function Key, ie, F3 gets #3. On each of those screens, each CHOICE line can begin with a different letter of the alphabet so that the worker can access it directly, by simply touching the corresponding Keyboard key. The first letter of each CHOICE line causes DRMenu to jump to that line. A good friend, Jo Anne Moore, is blind and tested DRMenu for me. Thanks, Jo Anne. Others will thank you, too. Send any mail for her to me and I'll see that she gets your letters. To change the first letter of each CHOICE LINE to another "hot" key instead, see how to in the next section 8. LETTER SENSITIVE KEYS Section 8 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Normally, the first letter of each Choice line is letter sensitive. It's the "hot" key. Press THAT letter and the Highlight Bar jumps to THAT line, press again and it jumps to the next same letter. Nothing happens until you press the ENTER key, so you can't hurt anything. If your menu looked like this: LOWTIS 1-2-3 version 2.01 LOWTIS 1-2-3 version 2.2 LOWTIS 1-2-3 version 2.3 LOWTIS 1-2-3 for Windows the first time you hit "L", the Highlight Bar would go to "LOWTIS 1-2-3 version 2.01". If you then hit "L" again, the Highlight Bar would go to "LOWTIS 1-2-3 version 2.2", and so on. Each of the four choices above begin with the alphabet letter "L" - press "L" four times and you get the next "L" choice - four times. But what if you wanted to use a different key from the first key - the first letter - on the choice line? First, look at this. The first letter of the "choice line" in this example: Graphics Production{CHRT} is the G of "Graphics". If you wanted the P of "Production" to be the sensitive letter instead of the G, then count what "place" the P occupies in the string. It's in the 10th position, INCLUDING the space. Put the position after the batch file name, inside the brackets, and use a comma to separate the two items, like this: Graphics Production{CHRT,10} You should really make the P stand out so the user will know what the sensitive letter is. If you do that you will have to change the position, as in this example: Graphics (P)roduction{CHRT,11} The sensitive letter, such as "P" in this example, will NOT be reversed colored. You must use <P> or (P) to show its difference from the other keys. If you want reverse-colored keys, please write me and tell me. No requests, no changes. THE DATA FILE - DOT, CHOICE, & REMARK LINES Section 9 ----------------------------------------------------------------- DRMenu uses just one file to store all the data used to operate the DRMenu system. That file is DRM30dat.DAT. It is a straight (plain vanilla) ASCII text file. Any ASCII word processor (like PCWrite) or any editor like QEDIT or DOS' EDIT can be used to edit it. Don't use any formatting codes. There are three main types of line used in the DRM30dat.DAT file. These are: Dot Lines; Choice Lines; and Remark Lines. 1. Dot Lines are referred to as Dot Lines because they start with a dot, a period or a full stop (whatever you call it). The dot must be in position #1 of the line. The most important Dot Lines are .SCREEN, .TITLE, and .END. The others are used to customize DRMenu, such as .BARCOLOR, .COLOR, .BEGINWITH, etc., etc. Example: .TITLE My DOS Utilities 2. Choice Lines are what the user sees on each Screen. (See Section 13 - "The Data File - Some Examples") Basically, each Choice Line has two parts: the words seen on the Screen; and, the (batch) file name contained inside {curly braces}. An example here might be: Run WORD PERFECT, Version 5.2{wp52} On the Screen, the user will see ONLY the words before the first curly brace "{" - such as: Run WORD PERFECT, Version 5.2 When selected, this Choice will CALL the file {WP52.BAT}. ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ To run an EXE or COM or BTM file put the whole filespec │ │ inside the curly braces like this: {C:\UTIL\PCUNZIP.EXE} │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If your batch file needs "%" parameters, just add them in your description as part of the Choice Line. If DRMenu sees a "%" or Invisible CHR(255) in the Choice Line, it will pause to allow the parameters to be input first. This feature is needed when you're running editors, etc.. For example: Edit a File %1{RNpcw302} or Edit a~File{RNpcw302} (where the ~ represents an invisible CHR(255) character!) (psssst... it's easiest to hide it BETWEEN two words.) 3. Remark Lines are easy to create. Each Remark Line STARTS with a colon in the first column position like you use in batch files. An example is: :this is a example of a Remark Line Remember, when you run the DRM30mak.EXE program, it will create a DRM30dat.DAT file with three types in it for you. You can then edit the file with your editor to create your own system. Also, look at the DEMO's Data file for fun. THE DATA FILE - More than DOT, CHOICE, & REMARK LINES Section 9 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Three Additional line types have been added with version 3.0. They are the plus-line (+), the percent-line (%), and the question-mark-line (?). The characters (+) and (%) and (?) must be in position #1, or column 1, exactly like you place the dots (.) of dot lines. If you place a plus-line below a normal choice line, then the plus-line phrase will show when you move the CHOICE BAR up and down the screen. It can be used to give additional information to the user about a CHOICE line. Here's an example used after a Choice Line below: Run LOWTIS 1-2-3 Version 2.3{runLv23} +Be sure to load large 15" paper into the printer The percent-line allows you to specify the phrase to use when you need to allow for percent, %, parameters to be added. Note that the ASCII character 255 works as well as the % in the CHOICE line itself. Here, we're talking about the line beneath (under) the CHOICE line in the DATA file. Run LOWTIS 1-2-3 version 2.4 %{RunLv24} %Enter worksheet filename: When somebody presses the "LOWTIS" CHOICE LINE above, the prompt will be a helpful "Enter worksheet filename:". If you have a .HLP file associated with a choice line, put a question mark (?) in column one. DRMenu will alert you that HELP is available when you highlight that choice line. If there is, also, a special name and path for the HELP file or DOC file you can put it after the "?" like this: ? D:\UTIL\DRSCROLL.DOC You can use all three characters, each on a line, after a choice line if you want. Neither the plus-line, nor the percent-line, nor the question mark-line count in the maximum total lines permitted per screen. In other words, you can have 17 CHOICES - each with its own Plus-line. and its own percent-line, and its own question-mark-line if needed. BLANK LINES ------------------------------------------------------------- In the Top part of the data file, ie, DRM30dat.DAT, a blank line will simply be ignored when DRMENU is run. Use these blank lines, if you wish, to separate lines Visually when you're editing the file. However, in the screen definition area, ie, between the ".SCREEN" and ".END" CHOICE lines, if you use a blank line, it will stay as a blank line on the screen. It will count as one of the 17 lines allowed (maximum) per screen in each one of your menus. THE REQUIRED DOT LINES Section 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------ There are two Dot Lines that MUST be included in every DRM30dat.DAT file. The two lines are (in order of usage): .SCREEN .END There is a .TITLE dot line that SHOULD be used or else you get a title of your screen that DRMenu "invents" for you like "This is SCREEN 2", etc, etc. Your description of each Screen could be better using a .TITLE dot line. The use of these, and the use of all the Dot Lines, is explained in Section 13 - "The Data File - Some Examples". ------------------------------------------------------------ .SCREEN x This Dot Line tells DRMenu that you are starting to define a Screen. The number after the word SCREEN signifies the Screen number. An example would be: .SCREEN 9 to begin Screen 9. This must be the first Dot Line of each menu in DRM30dat.DAT. Screen numbers must be in ascending order, 1 to 12, but they do not need to be consecutive numbers. For instance, screen numbers 1,2,3,6,9,11 are okay to use, but the same numbers used for screens such as 1,3,2,9,6,11 are not okay to use.. See also ".SCREEN x" in Section 11 - "The Dot Lines Explained." ------------------------------------------------------------ .TITLE TitleMessage Coming after a .SCREEN Dot Line, this Dot Line specifies the title for that particular Screen. Make sure that this line is no more than 56 characters long. Here's a simple example: .TITLE Word Processing and Editors There should be one of these .TITLE Dot Lines for every Screen in the DRM30dat.DAT file. ------------------------------------------------------------ .END There has to be a way to tell DRMenu when one Screen ends and another one starts. This Dot Line tells DRMenu when one Screen ends. You must have one of these for every .SCREEN x Dot Line you use. The .END Dot Line takes no arguments and no parameters. Any text FOLLOWING and on the same line as ".END" will be disregarded. You could use this to identify easily where one Screen definition finishes and, so, where the next begins. For example: .END ===This=is=the=end=of=Screen 3=== If you get an error when running DRMenu, you might have forgotten to use an ".END". Check the DRM30dat.DAT file. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ All the Dot Lines are listed in this section in alphabetical order. None of these except .SCREEN and .END are required. ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ .ALARMLENGTH nn This command allows you to change the length of alarm that you get when you touch a "no-no" key. If you want the alarm to sound for only 10 seconds, use a line like this: .ALARMLENGTH 10 Default setting is 45. If you don't want any alarm, set this to 0 (zero), such as: .ALARMLENGTH 0 To set it using "MINUTES", add the word "minutes" after the value, such as: .ALARMLENGTH 2 Minutes (in UPPER or lower case) ------------------------------------------------------------ .AVE "AVE" stands for "Append, View, Edit". You can place up to 17 files in "AVE" for safe keeping. You can decide beforehand whether the file can be A-ppended, V-iewed, or E-dited. Separate A,V,E parameters using a space. If you select V-iew only for the CONFIG.SYS file, then your DOT line would be: .AVE 1 C:\CONFIG.SYS V (using just the V) If you wanted #1 choice to allow (E)diting and also (V)iewing the AUTOEXEC.BAT, then your dot line would be the following: .AVE 4 C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT EV (using both E and V) If you wanted to setup a #5 file to add comments to, ie TO APPEND a LINE, you would use the "A" chr. And to V-iew and A-ppend to a file "PHONE-CA.LLS", then this is what you would use as a dot line: .AVE 5 H:\OFFICE\PHONE-CA.LLS AV You could add lines to it and view the file, that's all. Presto, you have a phone call "LOG" for your office personnel. To see your AVE files, you press ALT-A --if the letter A is included in your .SWITCHON dot line defined by you. Then, for example to "V-iew" item "1" from the list, ie. your own C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file defined above, enter "V1" or enter "1V". To be able to Append or Edit, you must also have a "D" or an "E" in .SWITCHON. To be able to View, you must have a "V". ------------------------------------------------------------ .BARCOLOR foreground on background This is the color of the moving Bar. The background colors can be dull or bright colors. Background colors can also be bright. See Section 15 - "Colors" for information on the 16 colors available in this version of DRMenu. The easiest way to change Colors is to use the ALT-C command. An example line would be: .BARCOLOR SNOW on BLUE THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .BATPATH Allows you to use a different path back to the batch files if you don't want to use the one that you specified in the DRMENU.BAT file. Separate it from the path with a space. An example is: .BATPATH Z:\LAN\BATCH ------------------------------------------------------------ .BEEP Causes a short tone instead of Playing "Tunes" - this may sound more professional at work. (see also, .NOSOUND) ------------------------------------------------------------ .BEGINWITH x,y Defines the Screen ("x") and Choice ("y") to start every session with. The default is Screen 1, Choice 1. Use this Dot Line only when want the user to start at a particular Screen and you don't want to do a lot of editing to change the Screens around. For example, to start every session with Choice 5 of Screen 2, use: .BEGINWITH 2,5 You can also use: .BEGINWITH 4 to start with Screen 4 if you don't want to specify the choice number. ------------------------------------------------------------ .BLANKERMESSAGE Message This defines the Screen Blanker's message. Normally it says "DRMenu". In this example .BLANKERMESSAGE JHT's Computer Store the message that will come up when the Screen blanker comes in, is "JHT's Computer Store". Joe "T" gives DRMenu to his customers when they buy a computer from his computer store. That way they can run predefined Format Batch files and CHKDSK batch files, etc. that he loads for new customers. He also gives away a copy of DRMenu to any customer who comes into the store and sees it running, because they are a potential customer. Software sells Hardware. Send me your success stories if you use DRMenu in your business and it helps to sell a computer or a system. Another user, Adrian, used this message: .BLANKERMESSAGE Check the Bathroom ....Now, that takes nerves to do! ------------------------------------------------------------ .BLANKERPROGRAM filespec This Dot Line lets you specify a screen blanker other than the one built into DRMenu. Simply include the full path and file name of the program, like this: .BLANKERPROGRAM c:\util\raindrop.exe THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .BLANKLOCK You must have Z in your .SWITCHON line for this one. It will cause the Blanking routine to "connect" to the ALT-Z lockup routine. Then, if someone tries to get into your computer, the ALT-Z routine will ask for a password. ------------------------------------------------------------ .BOTTOMCLS Puts a CLS line in the bottom of your DRM30run.BAT file ------------------------------------------------------------ .BW Makes Black text on a White background. Mostly for Laptops. See, also, .MONO and .WB ------------------------------------------------------------ .CHANGECOLORS When the screen blanker "kicks in", it will stay on the color that the screen was when it occurred. If you want DRMenu to change the colors every time the message jumps, use this as one of your dot lines in the DRM30dat.DAT file. ------------------------------------------------------------ .CHECK xxx yyy An uncomplicated LAN feature. If you are on a LAN, you might want to be able to tell WHEN you are attached and when you aren't. A way to do this is to look at the PATH and see if there's a drive Z: or drive X: somewhere on it. You'd know you were on the LAN if Drive Z: was in your Path because only on a LAN would a drive Z: exist normally in your PATH. In the .CHECK Dot Line, "xxx" is where to check, "yyy" is what to search for in the xxx. Here's how to use .CHECK to see if the PATH contains a "Z:" in it: Warning! The "Z:" is case sensitive, ie "z:" isn't the same. .CHECK PATH Z: You just have the ".CHECK" followed by a space, followed by the environment variable to check, followed by a space, followed by the character(s) you want to check for in the nominated environment variable. In the example above, the PATH variable is checked to see if "Z:" is there. If you wanted to search for the \BATCH subdirectory on drive X: in the PATH, you would have a line like this: .CHECK PATH X:\BATCH If you wanted to check whether the DOS environment variable "USER" has "DD" (that's UPPER case DD!) in it, you would do this: .CHECK USER DD If the .CHECK condition is true, ie someone had SET USER=DD, then a check mark ("√") will appear in the bottom box at the right side of every Screen. Use your DOS ENVIRONMENT area. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .CHECK2 .CHECK3 .CHECK4 .CHECK5 There are four more Check Environment Dot Lines for you to use which work almost like the original .CHECK line on the previous page. These four Checks allow you, the user, to display whatever symbol you want to display instead of using the same check mark which is CHR(251) used in... .CHECK For instance, if you want to check a Variable called OS2DOS to see if it's equal to OS2, then this is what you use .CHECK3 OS2DOS OS2 115 Use only one space between each of the words on this dot line. DRMenu will display a lowercase "s" in the MENU's bottom box if OS2DOS=OS2 in the DOS environment. "s" is ASCII 115. To set an environment variable, you will remember, it's SET OS2DOS=OS2 done at the DOS prompt or in a BATCH file. The environment variable (here, it's OS2) is sensitive to the uppercase in which it was set. OS2 is not the same as os2. If OS2DOS=OS2 then a small, lowercase "s" will show in the lower box, right side, lowercase "s" is ASCII 115 if you use the .CHECK3 example as above and OS2 is a variable. ----------------------------------------------------------- There are six DOT lines here. They are used to "imitate" the sound of a Westminister Clock Chime. To fully "imitate" the five sounds, ie the sounds being made every fifteen minutes, plus the Hour's number being "GONGED" for you, you must use the first five Dot Lines (of the six here.) .CHIME00 .CHIME15 .CHIME30 .CHIME45 .ONtheHOUR .CHIME ##:##:## Keep reading on the next page.... THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Westminister Chimes visited.... The dot line .CHIME00 will cause the computer to beep on the hour. It will not chime in the middle of a program, because it's not a TSR. The dot line .CHIME30 will cause a chime at thirty minutes past every hour. The dot line .CHIME15 will cause a chime at fifteen minutes past every hour and The dot line .CHIME45 happens to sound at forty-five minutes past every hour. Use all four for chiming every 15 minutes around the clock. Note that there is no space between ".CHIME" and the numbers for these four Dot Lines, ie. .CHIME 45 won't work. Well, it will...but not like you want it to. See the personal Chime below to see what it would do. A special Choice line: .ONTHEHOUR will Chime the number of bells ON THE HOUR, such as 4 bells for 4:00 pm, or 4:00 am, like Westminister Chimes, but only if .CHIME00 is used, too. They belong together naturally. While "gonging" ON THE HOUR, if you need to stop the "gong" just tap the space bar once - or really any key. Then, there's a "personal" Chime that YOU can control... --------------------------------------------------------- If you want the alarm to sound at a particular time every day, use .CHIME with a specific time. For example: .CHIME 14:25:10 will make the alarm sound at 2:25 and 10 seconds in the afternoon (P.M.) *ONLY* if DRMenu happens to be running then. Note that .CHIME 25:10 will chime at :25:10 of each hour. ~~~~~ ~~~~ To remind you at 5 minutes before each hour, it's 55:00 ~~~~ ~~~~~ Note that, UNLIKE the other .CHIME Dot Lines, you MUST have a space between the .CHIME and the first digit of the specified time. You can have only one specific-time Chime. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .COLOR forecolor [TEXT] on backcolor [BACKGROUND] In a Screen definition, a .COLOR Dot Line sets the two colors for the particular Screen. Look at these two examples: .COLOR SKY on WHITE .COLOR SKY TEXT on WHITE background Both tell DRMenu to use bright blue text (SKY) on a white background. The words TEXT and BACKGROUND are ignored and are not required in a .COLOR line. Use them if you want to. The color of the TEXT is the first word after ".COLOR". The color of the BACKGROUND is the first word after "ON". The word "ON" or "on" separates the two sections of colors. If there is no .COLOR Dot Line in a Screen definition, the Screen will use the default colors as defined in the .DEFCOLOR Dot Line. See Section 15 - "Colors" for information on the colors available in DRMenu. You can also press ALT-C while using DRMenu to see and set the color words to use. The NORMAL and SPECIAL colors available for CGA, EGA, and VGA are matched here. The normal colors on the left side and the special colors on the right. With EGA and VGA, you can use all sixteen colors for Background and Text (foreground). Don't worry about remembering these colors, for they are easily selected by utilizing ALT-C while running DRMenu. NORMAL COLORS SPECIAL COLORS (8 and 8) (all 16) ┌──────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────┐ │ When using CGA color │ │ When Using EGA or VGA │ ╞════════════╦═════════╡ ╞════════════════════════╡ │ Background ║ Text │ │ Use any of these words │ │ or Text ║ Only │ │ for Background OR Text │ ├────────────╫─────────┤ ├────────────────────────┤ │ Black ║ Grey │ │ Black Grey │ │ Blue ║ Sky │ │ Blue Sky │ │ Green ║ Grass │ │ Green Grass │ │ Cyan ║ Sea │ │ Cyan Sea │ │ Red ║ Cherry │ │ Red Cherry │ │ Purple ║ Grape │ │ Purple Grape │ │ Brown ║ Yellow │ │ Brown Yellow │ │ White ║ Snow │ │ White Snow │ └────────────╨─────────┘ └────────────────────────┘ In other words, ".COLOR Cherry on White" is okay to use in a CGA system, but ".COLOR Cherry on Snow" is not correct. If you have a VGA system, however, you COULD use "Cherry on Snow" THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .CTLSWITCHON Allows specific CONTROL-Key combinations - in a similar way to the ALT-key dot line .SWITCHON which allows the ALT-key combinations. As with the .SWITCHON dot line, a simple "*" will allow all of the possible CTL key features in this version of DRMENU. See also, section 12 for descriptions of the ALT and, also, the CTL keys. BEGINNER, NORMAL, and EXPERT switch names can be used here as well. Examples: .CTLSWITCHON ABLF or .CTLSWITCHON BEGINNER (same as ABE) .CTLSWITCHON NORMAL (same as ABEFL) .CTLSWITCHON EXPERT (same as ABEFLZ) .CTLSWITCHON * (same as EXPERT) ------------------------------------------------------------ .DEFBARCOLOR forecolor [TEXT] ON backcolor [BACKGROUND] This Dot Line allows you to specify default colors for the Highlight Bar. You can set the colors for the Highlight Bar for each Screen if you wish (see .BARCOLOR) and if you do, that will over-ride the .DEFBARCOLOR setting for that particular Screen only. See Section 15 - "Colors" for information on the colors available in DRMenu. This setting will make the text in the default Highlight Bar bright yellow (the "Lemon" color) on a blue background: .DEFBARCOLOR LEMON ON BLUE ------------------------------------------------------------ .DEFCOLOR forecolor [TEXT] ON backcolor [BACKGROUND] This Dot Line allows you to specify default colors for all Screens, but then they will all look alike. You can set the colors for each Screen if you wish (see .COLOR), and if you do, that will over-ride the .DEFCOLOR setting for that particular Screen. See Section 15 - "Colors" for information on the colors available in DRMenu. This Dot Line will set the default Screen colors to bright white on blue: .DEFCOLOR SNOW ON BLUE Starting with Version 3.0 of DRMenu, Bright colors CAN be used for the BACKGROUND AS WELL AS THE TEXT on EGA and VGA monitors. Try the ALT-C key to try the colors first. ------------------------------------------------------------ .DMY By default, DRMenu will put the time on the Screen in a Month-Day-Year format (mm-dd-yy), which is the standard in the USA. If you have this Dot Line in your DRM30dat.DAT file, DRMenu will format the Screen date in Day-Month-Year format (dd-mm-yy), which is the standard in Europe. (see also .TIMEDATE to switch the sides displayed) THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .EOF You don't need this unless you want to stop a DATA file from reading the whole file. DRM30eng.EXE will assume that the DRM30dat.DAT file finishes when it finds a .EOF Dot Line. ------------------------------------------------------------ .ESCAPETO drive:\path If you have a particular Drive and Path to exit to when you press ESCAPE or ALT-X, use it here. Use a Drive and a Path. If you use just a drive letter, the root will be selected. Example: .ESCAPETO C:\ .ESCAPETO F:\LOGIN .ESCAPETO D:\UTIL\LAN\TEST ------------------------------------------------------------ .FILLCHR nnn If you leave a blank line in your DRM30dat.DAT file, you can tell DRMenu which ASCII character to use to fill the blank line. For example, .FILLCHAR 177 will use a "shaded box ▒". See your DOS manual for ideas. Each Screen can have its own possible FILLCHR value. FILLCHR is 32 by default (a space character). Leave this alone, normally. ------------------------------------------------------------ .FLUSHLEFT This will cause the Choices to line up FLUSH at the LEFT side of the Screen. The "factory" default is for Choices to Auto-center. Note that when auto-centering is performed, each line read is measured from the left side of the file to the left curly bracket "{", spaces included. Here's some examples: This has spaces at right of this bar {234} This doesn't have space at the right of bar{234} Run LOWTIS 1-2-3{DO-123} WTEK {runWTEK} Make Quizzes {makQiz} ----------------------------------------------------------- ┌───────────────────────────────┐ │ Use this area below for Notes │ └───────────────────────────────┘ THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .GOTO filespec Your favorite file can be run from *ANY* menu if you define it here using this dot line. Here's how to define a file named Elftree, ET, which is a VERY GOOD SHELL Program. .GOTO C:\BATCH\ET.BAT If you want to run this program at any time, just press ALT-G if the letter G appears in your .SWITCHON line. ------------------------------------------------------------ .JUMPDELAY When the Screen Blanker jumps around on the Screen, the interval between jumps is the JumpDelay in seconds. If the Jumping is too fast, slow it down, and vice versa. Here's how to make the delay equal to 6 seconds between jumps. The word "seconds" is optional for you to use here. .JUMPDELAY 6 seconds ------------------------------------------------------------ .KALC Another way to spell KALC is CALC. So that .CALC will work the same way - still using the ALT-K combination keys. This allows you to have your favorite Calculator program at your fingertips when you press the ALT-K combination. You specify the name and path of the Calculator program you want to use. DRMenu supplies a program in the package for you to use. It was written by Greg Kochaniak in Pennsylvania, and he has placed it into the Public Domain....so, I am including it. It's called MATH.EXE. Two examples using it are shown below: .KALC C:\UTIL\MATH.EXE or .CALC C:\UTIL\MATH.EXE ------------------------------------------------------------ .KEY nnn When you press ALT-Z, you will stop other people from getting access to your machine (see .BLANKLOCK). There will be one key to press to get back to DRMenu. By default, it is the SpaceBar. If you want to change it to be something different, put a .KEY dot line in your DRM30dat.DAT file. You nominate which key restores/unlocks your machine by using the ASCII code of the character (the "nnn"). For example, use 54 to have the "6" key as the restoration key: .KEY 54 If you want to use a key to lock the Notebook, put it after this key such as "duffie" (lowercase) Yes, it IS case sensitive. You put the key to the notebook after using a colon as below. IF you try to Find something in the Notebook (ie ALT-F), you would have to enter the word "duffie", then, if that was done successfully, you would enter what you REALLY wanted to find. .KEY 54:duffie You must define a KEY for your ALT-Z in order to define a key for your notebook, ie 54 -then- ":" -then- duffie. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .LEFTEND nnn By default, DRMenu does not have left arrows that point to the Choices. It relies on a different color of the Highlight Bar so you will know what your current selection is. However, if you wanted a white Screen and a white Highlight Bar, then the bar would be invisible and you would not know what your selection is. Then, you could specify the ASCII character to be used for the left side of the Choice. By default, it's a space. To change it to a little, floating BOX (ie ASCII character 254) use: .LEFTEND 254 Alternatively, a simple .LEFTEND -by itself- will produce (by a built-in default in DRMenu) a small arrow. ------------------------------------------------------------ .MONO If you have a Laptop with a black and white screen it doesn't make sense to worry with colors. Instead, you have three Dot Line options for the color settings: .MONO is BLACK text on WHITE background .BW is BLACK text on WHITE background .WB is WHITE text on BLACK background On a Laptop, sometimes Black looks White and vice versa, so you might have to try both the .BW and .WB to suit your eyes. ------------------------------------------------------------ .MSGxx Message Use this Dot Line if you want to add to the messages that are built into DRMenu. This example adds message #9 to be "Gone Home For the Day": .MSG9 Gone Home For the Day You can have 17 Messages. Here's an example for message 14. .MSG14 Gone to the Break Room You can replace the ones built in simply by using having a .MSG line with the appropriate number - from 1 to 17. DON'T USE A SPACE between the .MSG and the NUMBER! It's: .MSG9 Gone Home For the Day and NOT: ~~~~~~~~ .MSG 9 Gone Home For the Day ~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------ .MYBADTUNE Use the ALT-O feature to develop your own musical tune. Then place it here to play when something "bad" happens in DRMenu. For example: .MYBADTUNE CD-EEFC I am using PowerBasic Rules for this Music. Music Help is available by pressing "?" when you are playing in ALT-O. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .MYGOODTUNE Use the ALT-O feature to develop a tune to play everytime something "good" happens in DRMenu. Are you Musical? For example: .MYGOODTUNE C.BF..ED+F+ ------------------------------------------------------------ .MYTUNE Use the ALT-O feature like above to develop a tune to play whenever you are in the ALT-O section - just playing around. Place your School Fight song there in case an old friend comes into your office or room. I use "Hold that Tiger!" An example: .MYTUNE C..CC.E ------------------------------------------------------------ .NEWDAY Forces DRMENU to think it's a "new day" when you leave it via ALT-X by erasing the DRM30cfg.DAT file -OR- by pressing ALT-/, that's ALT-SLASH, anytime at a menu. ALT-/ will cause a beep to let you know it enabled NEWDAY for that session of DRMENU. Here's a Memory hint: A "/" is a "part" of an "X". .NEWDAY allows the Logo to be seen more than just once a day. ------------------------------------------------------------ .NOBOX If you don't want the three boxes outlining your Menus, this will get rid of them. See also, .NODATE and .NOTIME below. Hope you like this one, Capt. Bob. See .NODATE and .NOTIME, too. Use these 3 and you will have a "plain vanilla" screen. ....then.... For a STUNNING EFFECT, make the .Barcolor background and the .Color Background and .Color text all three, the SAME. Then make the .Barcolor text a bright color and watch the "magic." ------------------------------------------------------------- .NOECHO If you don't want "@ECHO OFF" to be written to all your batch files, use .NOECHO. Using this Dot Line will cause all your batch file commands to be echoed to the screen. ------------------------------------------------------------ .NODATE Stops the System Date from printing in the Upper Box. See also, .NOTIME on the next page. ------------------------------------------------------------ .NOHELP You get the DRMenu HELP screen if you press the "?" mark at any screen. However, you may not like having the reminder on every screen. .NOHELP will cause the reminder "HELP=?" to disappear. ------------------------------------------------------------ .NOSOUND This command turns off all the SOUNDS and BEEPS when errors and when succesful or unsuccesful routines occur. (see also, .BEEP) THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .NOTEBOOK ALT-N will allow you to write a line or phrase to your notebook. This dot line defines where the notebook exists. The default Notebook is "DRM30not.DAT" and 20,000 bytes. You may wish to define your own Notebook name and size. Here's an example of a new notebook on drive Z: of a LAN. .NOTEBOOK Z:\PRIVATE\NOTEBOOK1.TXT MAX 25000 You set the maximum byte size permitted. When that maximum is reached, DRMenu will tell you that it cannot add any more lines of text to your notebook....25,000 bytes here as above. If you want to use the default DRM30not.DAT name, but just set the MAXimum size smaller of larger, be sure to use the word MAX, then the size, and that's all. An example: .NOTEBOOK MAX 40000 Use one space between the parameters required above. Remember, this is for DRM30not.DAT, but with 40k Maximum size. See Section 18 for more info on using this Notebook. ------------------------------------------------------------ .NOTIME Stops the System Time from printing in the Upper Box. See also, .NODATE on a previous page. ------------------------------------------------------------ .NOTOP CLS If you don't want "CLS" to be written to all your batch files at the top of the DRM30run.BAT file, add this to your DRM30dat.DAT file. ------------------------------------------------------------- .OLDDOS DRMenu can run in any version of DOS below version 3.3 even though the word "CALL" is missing from the Batch Language. Simply put .OLDDOS in your DRM30dat.DAT file and modify the DRMENU.BAT file (BAT, I said) so that the word "CALL" is taken out. You must, also, modify EACH batch file you use in the {curly} braces to change drives and paths to get back to the BATCH subdirecory (usually) to be able to run the DRMENU.BAT file which is there (usually.) Here's 2 examples of running WORD PERFECT (WP) in Batch files using DOS 3.1 (with .OLDDOS) and then, just using DOS 3.3 (using DOS 3.1 and .OLDDOS) (using DOS 3.3) ---------------------------- ------------------------- BATCH FILE: RUNWP.BAT BATCH FILE: RUNWP.BAT ---------------------------- ------------------------- C: C: cd\wordperf cd\wordperf WP WP cd\batch DRMenu THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .PAUSE This Dot Line will cause the system to pause and wait for the user to strike any key before continuing as each program finishes and before returning to DRMenu. If you have another program to use that "Pauses" you can put the filespec after the word ".PAUSE". Here's an example: .PAUSE C:\UTIL\DRSCROLL.EXE Note: a copy of DRSCROLL.EXE is included in Version 3.0 for you. It is a Moving message "Press any Key to Continue...." ------------------------------------------------------------ .PWD1 ## .PWD1## These Dot Lines (they are the same) allow the administrator to access all the ALT keys, despite what might be defined in the .SWITCHON Dot Line. This is so that you can stop a user accessing the editor and exit keys, for example, but so that you can have that access as and when you need it. If you need access to all the ALT keys on a particular machine, press ALT-= (that's ALT and the "=" keys). Then enter the "password". The "password" is the sum of the four digits of the machine's time, PLUS the key number on the .PWD1 Dot Line. So that makes the password change everytime you sign in! ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ See Section 12 for more info on using ALT-= keys. For example, if your Dot Line was: .PWD1 10 and the time was 10:57am, the PASSWORD would be 23. That is 1 + 0 + 5 + 7 to get 13, plus the 10 (see above) to get 23. YOU WILL NOT SEE THE PASSWORD ON THE SCREEN. You don't have to worry about what the system time may be. I'll tell you each time. It doesn't matter whether the key number is next to .PWD1 or one space away: .PWD123 and .PWD1 23 are the same thing. I put that in to add a bit of confusion to the snooper who might be looking at the DATA file. ....continued on the next page.... THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ....continued from the previous page.... To reverse the "open" access, simply hit ALT-= again, and punch in an incorrect number. Two notes about this. First, make sure that the key number is less than 100 (one hundred). Second, don't be fooled by the mis-direction. Enter the password REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN. I use a little of a Magician's "mis-direction" to add difficulty. ------------------------------------------------------------ .PWD2 ## .PWD2## This Dot Line is similar to .PWD1 above. However, rather than using the time, .PWD2 uses the date. Also, .PWD2 is used to control access the entire DRMenu system, rather than just the Alt keys. The "password" for .PWD2 is the sum of the digits of the day PLUS the sum of the digits of the month PLUS the key number on the .PWD2 Dot Line. So that makes this a dynamic password too, although only on a daily basis. It changes everyday. For example, if your Dot Line was: .PWD2 5 and the date was 03/06/1992, the password would be 14. That's because 0 + 3 + 0 + 6 adds up to get 9, then add 5 (the PWD2 number above) to get the total of 14. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ YOU WILL NOT GET THE PASSWORD ON THE SCREEN. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ You don't have to worry about what the date may be. DRMenu will tell you. Also, disregard all the digits in the year (ie 1994). It doesn't matter whether the key number is directly next to the ".PWD2" or one space away. For example: .PWD223 and PWD2 23 are the "same" thing. That adds a bit of confusion to the snooper in your files who doesn't have this manual. <grin> The same two important notes that applied to .PWD1 apply also to .PWD2. First, make sure that the password number is less than 100 (one hundred). Second, don't be fooled by any mis-direction. Enter the password REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN. I use a little of a Magician's "mis-direction" to add confusion. If you "pass" the test, a file will be made so that you won't have to "pass" this test but once a day. You will see a little unlocked "padlock", such as "δ" to remind you that your DRMenu is Password Protected - and unlocked. If you want to lock the System up again when you leave the room, Press CTL-Z and it's re-locked, "ô", then press ALT-Z and even if you guess the ALT-Z key, the system is locked-up. See section 12 for more explanation. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .RIGHTEND nnn This will allow you to attach a Character to the Right end of the moving bar. To make the right end of the moving bar a small box, ASCII character 254, it's: .RIGHTEND 254 See, also, the .LEFTEND dot line explanation. ------------------------------------------------------------ .SCREEN x (using two spaces between) .SCREEN x (using an invisible CHR 255 between) This Dot Line is used to "hide" a Screen. It may be that you would like to have a Screen that includes some Choices that shouldn't be generally available. Things you might like to have here would be low-level formatters, hex editors and so on...things that the average user shouldn't need, but which you (as an administrator) may need to have access to. I always have my "Hidden" Screens as Screen 12. That way, I know that whatever machine I have to work on, the administrator's tools are on Screen 12. The use of this Dot Line in the DRM30dat.DAT file is easy. Rather than having one (1) space after ".SCREEN", you have two (2) spaces. So, an UnHIDDEN screen definition, a normal screen, in the DRM30dat.DAT file would start with: .SCREEN 12 While the definition for a HIDDEN screen would start with: .SCREEN 12 (notice the one space vs. two spaces between .SCREEN and 12) ~~~ ~~~ You can use an ASCII character 255 between the word .SCREEN and the number to hide the screen as well. Then, it would look "normal", since a space and a 255 are both invisible. To access a 'Hidden' Screen, see Section 16 - "Unhiding 'Hidden' Screens". ------------------------------------------------------------ .SHADOW Normally there is a thin black line that forms the "Shadow" at the right of the Menu Box. This command makes that Shadow into a double line so that there appears to be MORE SHADOW. ------------------------------------------------------------ .SHOWALT Use this dot line so that when you press the ALT key, you will see the .SWITCHON keys, ie the available ALT Keys. ------------------------------------------------------------ .SHOWCTL Use this dot line so that when you press the CTL key, you will see the .CTLswitchON keys, ie the available CTL keys. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .SHOWLINE This Dot Line will show the line number of the highlighted Choice at the lower right of the Screen. Use for Diagnostics. ------------------------------------------------------------ .SHOWSCREEN Similar to the .SHOWLINE Dot Line above, except that this Dot Line will show the Screen number at the lower right of the menu Screen. Once again, mainly for diagnostics. See also, .THERMOMETER which shows Screens and F-keys. ------------------------------------------------------------ .SLEEP # If set, after # number of minutes, any screen blanking colors will change to White on Black. Example to set for 5.5 minutes: The word "Minutes" is optional for you to use. .SLEEP 5.5 minutes ------------------------------------------------------------ .STARTBAT word When you use DRMenu, it writes a Batch file which has the line "%DRMENU30_ENVIRMEM%" in it which equals "DRMENU". If you need to write a different file name to startup DRMENU, use this. You probably won't ever use this, but here's an example: .STARTBAT C:\LANBAT\THE_MAIN.BAT ------------------------------------------------------------ .SWITCHON ABCXYZ These are the ALT switches which you want the user to be able to have access to. (See Section 12 for the definition of the ALT switches.) The order doesn't have to alphabetical, but it DOES have to be UPPERCASE. In others words, "A" is not "a". If you wanted the user to have privileges to use the ALT keys of H, M, and X then your dot line would be this: .SWITCHON HMX This Switch setting is recommended for a "Beginner": .SWITCHON BEGINNER (it has ABFHIKMNPX) This Switch setting is recommended for a "NORMAL" Use .SWITCHON NORMAL (it adds CGTV to BEGINNER) If you want the user to have "ALL" the ALT switches, use the word "EXPERT" (or a single asterisk "*") such as: .SWITCHON EXPERT (it adds DEOPSUYZ to NORMAL) (or .SWITCHON *) (ALL switches are ABCDEFGHIKMNOPSTUVXYZ) ------------------------------------------------------------ .TEXTBAR This Dot command allows the Highlight Bar to move ON TOP OF TEXT. Normally, the Highlight Bar will skip lines that are Text (those lines without curly braces and Batch files). ------------------------------------------------------------ .THERMOMETER This is new with Version 3.0 of DRMenu. It shows a psuedo- organizational picture of the Screens you have, and shows you which F-keys are currently available to use. You STILL can use the Arrow keys, as well as pressing the F-keys. THE DOT LINES EXPLAINED Section 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------ .TIMEDATE By default, DRMenu has the date on the upper left side of each Screen and the time on the upper right of each Screen. This Dot Line will reverse the sides so that the TIME is on the left, and the DATE is on the right. ------------------------------------------------------------ .TIMEOUT x The default setting for screen blanking is 3 minutes of idle keyboard use. You can change it to whatever time period you like by using this line. For example, to set screen blanking to 7.25 minutes, use: .TIMEOUT 7.25 minutes Note that the word "minutes" is optional for you to use. If you want there to be no screen blanking at all, set this value to zero like this: .TIMEOUT 0 ------------------------------------------------------------ .VIEWER filespec This Dot line allows you to assign the free VIEW.COM program to the ALT-V key for a Viewer. VIEW.COM is supplied in Version 3.0 of the DRMenu package. VIEW is Freeware for you. Examples, using VIEW and LIST (LIST is by Vernon Beurg): ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Notice to all who may wonder (ie. a polite disclaimer):│ │ Mr. Vernon Beurg has NOT endorsed LIST with DRMenu use.│ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ .VIEWER C:\UTIL\VIEW .VIEWER C:\MISC\UTIL\View.COM .VIEWER C:\APPS\LIST.EXE ------------------------------------------------------------ .WB See the .MONO Dot Line. Note: Sometimes on Laptops, the White screen and Black Screen get reversed. See also, the .BW in case you need it instead. ------------------------------------------------------------ ┌─ .YOUR IDEA GOES HERE │ Send me your ideas for Dot Lines you would like to see in │ future versions of DRMenu. The best ones will get used, │ I promise. I want YOU to make DRMenu into what YOU need. │ I want DRMenu to remain a FREE program, but I can only do │ this with your support and ideas. │ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ └────────────┤ This is not a real Dot Line, folks.│ └────────────────────────────────────┘ ALT KEY DEFINITIONS Section 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Remember that each of these ALT keys can be used only if the corresponding letter is in the .SWITCHON Dot Line in the DRM30dat.DAT file. See the .SWITCHON explanation in Section 11. Basically, by taking OUT a letter in the .SWITCHON Dot Line, you deny access to that letter's ALT key. Here's 5 valid keys for example. You can edit the DAT file to add more keys. .SWITCHON ABCDE ALL the ALT keys and CTL keys in version 3.0 are described: (N/A means that this key is Not Used and Not assigned yet.) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ALT-A Shows the .AVE choices - 17 are possible to define. ALT-B Displays for viewing, NOT editing (see ALT-E below) the file of the currently highlighted Choice - if the file is a BATCH file, of course. ALT-C Changes the colors of menus in DRMenu easily. ALT-D Edit DRM30dat.DAT. You will have use of the revised file immediately after saving it. You must have an .EDITOR Dot Line defined to use this ALT key. ALT-E Edit a batch (only) file relevant to the highlighted Choice. You must have an .EDITOR Dot Line defined to use this ALT key. WCED is supplied in Vers 3.0 ALT-F Find a text string, i.e. data, in your Notebook. (see ALT-N and Section 18) ALT-G Go To "FavoriteFileSpec" from any screen. (see .GOTO) ALT-H Help Screen (see Section 17 - "Help Screens"). ALT-I Information about DRMenu. Version date, number, etc. ALT-J N/A _______Your idea could go here_____________ ALT-K Use a Calculator, or Kalculator (see .KALC) MATH.EXE and MATH.DOC (PD) are included in DRMENU version 3.0 for you, as written by Greg Kochaniak. ALT-L N/A________Your idea could go here_____________ ALT-M Leave messages for others to see. Use the ones supplied or type your own message. (See .MSG#, also) ALT-N Notebook - for you to store personal info, notes, etc. Get rid of most of those small notes on your desktop. Keep any ideas and plans, etc., in your Notebook. (see ALT-F and Section 18) You CAN lock it up. ALT KEY DEFINITIONS Section 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ALT-O Octaves of Music. Compose a tune and Play it. Music Help is available then by pressing "?". ALT-P Printer - send a phrase or word or file to the printer. The file you send to the Printer can have the lines numbered for you. Use "@" and "#" chrs. Examples: @A:\DRMENU30.DOC@ to print file to the printer #C:\SRC\DRMSOURCE.CPP# to print file to Printer with all of its lines numbered #. You can also send a FormFeed or send a LineFeed to the printer if you need to, by sending "FF" or "LF". ALT-Q N/A________Your idea could go here_____________ ALT-R N/A _______Your idea could go here_____________ ALT-S Shell to DOS. Remember to type 'EXIT' at the DOS prompt to return to DRMenu. ALT-T Change or Adjust the System Time and/or Date. ALT-U Used to UNHIDE a "Hidden" Screen. (See Section 16 - "Unhiding "Hidden" Screens".) ALT-V File viewer, as defined in the .VIEWER Dot Line (a FREE viewer "VIEW.COM" is included with DRMenu). ALT-W N/A _______Your idea could go here_____________ ALT-X eXit DRMenu; the same action as ESC. ALT-Y Yank all BATCH files into one file: DRM30bat.DAT. ALT-Z Lock up computer. Use a keyboard KEY to unlock it. See, also, dot lines: .ALARMLENGTH and .KEY CONTROL KEYS - These 5 Keys are valid via ".CTLSWITCHON" ------------------------------------------------------------ CTL-A Does a DIR on Drive A: with a pause /P. You can then print an ASCII file when through. CTL-B Does a DIR on Drive B: with a pause /P. You can then print an ASCII file when through. CTL-E Environment check. Performs a SHELL, then a SET. It's actually a "copy" of the Master Environment. CTL-F Sends a Formfeed (ASCII 12) to the printer which ejects the paper in the printer, and then beeps. CTL-L Sends a Linefeed and a Carriage Return to printer ASCII 13, ASCII 10, and signals you it was sent. CTL-Z ZAPS (Erases) your Password #2 file to Re-Lock your system. See .PWD2 for more information. ALT KEY DEFINITIONS Section 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------ There is one more ALT key that is always "on". It is the combination of the ALT key and the Equals key (=). If you are a Supervisor and you need to have access to an ALT key which the user does not have access, then this is for you. For instance, Betty-Boop's DRMenu system may have just the H and the Z keys allowed. This would be because there was a dot line in the DATA file like this: .SWITCHON HZ However, the Supervisor needs to be able to edit the DATA file and, thus, needs the D key also. The supervisor does not have to edit the DATA file to add the "D". The supervisor simply uses Betty-Boop's PC and does a ALT-= combination. There will be a time of day presented to you at the bottom of Betty-Boop's screen. The supervisor adds the digits of the time and the value in the .PWD1 dot line and enters the sum. For example: if the value 25 was the value in the .PWD1 dot line, such as this, .PWD1 25 and the time presented to you when you pressed the ALT-= combination was 12:47pm then the sum of 1+2+4+7+25 is 39 and this is the value that you answer with, when the System asks you for the "new time." No, 39 is NOT a new time of day, and that is the whole point. DRmenu uses a Magician's "mis-direction" at this point. DRMenu pretends to ask for the time of day, when actually, you will be supplying the sum of the digits plus the ".PWD1" value. In this example, the sum needed is 39. ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ You may elect to remove this page for security reasons.│ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ THE DATA FILE - SOME EXAMPLES Section 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dot Lines examples What they mean ------------------------ ------------------------------ .SWITCHON ACHIMX these ALT switches are Valid .SCREEN 1 start of Screen 1 definition .TITLE Memorial Hospital Screen 1 title .COLOR SKY ON WHITE Screen 1 colors settings .BARCOLOR SNOW on BLUE Screen 1 Highlight Bar colors L-run LOWTIS {do123} Choice 1 for Screen 1 D-run DBase III {DB3} Choice 2 for Screen 1 W-run Word Perfect 5.2{WP52} Choice 3 for Screen 1 P-run ProComm 2.0 {PC} Choice 4 for Screen 1 .END end of Screen 1 definition : All four CHOICES will be the same bar length on the Menu : Screen. Why? The position of the left "{" on all four are : "lined up". A More Complicated Example ************************************************************** :These three lines here are examples of Remarks in a 2 screen :DRM30dat.DAT file. Then, the next 3 lines are called Dot Lines. : .SWITCHON HIXABCM .SHADOW .CHIME00 :===this is just a remark, too===It starts with a COLON (:) : : .SCREEN 1 .TITLE Utilities on Hard Drive .COLOR Cherry on white .BARCOLOR LEMON on Black Format drive A: as DSDD 720K disk {720} Format drive A: as High Density 1.44 Meg {144} +1.44 diskettes have two holes in them Format Bernoulli drive {BERNIE} .END ------------ : : .SCREEN 2 .TITLE Word Processors .Color Blue on white .Barcolor SNOW on Blue .SWITCHON HIXABCM P.C. Write Version (2).71%{PCW271,21} %Enter filename: P.C. Write Version (3).04 {PCW304,21} +the Standard Shareware Editor P.C. Write Vers (4).00 {PCW400,18} Bill's Editor {C:\UTIL\WCED} +64k limit, a freebie for us :Look at WCED - it's NOT a Batch file :the PCWrite versions can be selected by touching 2, 3, or 4 .END ------------- PASSWORDS FOR CHOICES Section 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Each and every Choice on every Screen can have its own password protection. To protect a Choice with a password, simply include the password on the Choice line in DRM30dat.DAT, directly after the closing curly brace. There must be NO space between the curly brace and the password. Including a space there will disable the password. See examples below. Passwords are case-sensitive, unless you use a "=" mark. For example, if you wanted the password for access to ListCC to be "davID", the Choice line would look like this: List Credit Cards{ListCC}davID This is a different password to "DAVid", because the password is case-sensitive, remember. CASE INSENSITIVE: ----------------- If you want the password to be case insensitive so that DAVid or DaviD or davID or DaVid will all work to gain access, then place an equals mark after the second curly brace like this in the example above {ListCC}=DaVid The equals mark (=) MUST be next to the second curly brace "}" for this CaSe InSeNsItIvE feature to work, or else the password will be case sensitive as described above. DISABLE: -------- This example has the password DISABLED because of the space after the RIGHT curly brace "}" and before "DaVid". List Credit Cards{ListCC} DaVid ^ and next, we see the same example as above, but with the password Enabled this time... List Credit Cards{ListCC}DaVid INVISIBLE: ---------- Use an ASCII character 255 for a password and they'll never see it in the DRM30dat.DAT file. PASSWORDS FOR CHOICES - HOW TO ENCRYPT Section 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------ To encrypt a Choice password, simply start the password with a number from 1 to 9 inclusive. Using the example above: List Credit Cards{ListCC}1DaVid would change the password to "EbWje". Looks complicated? It's easy, really. All that the number 1 does is to shift the password one (1) ASCII character higher. This has the advantage of simplicity, but it can have a major complication. So, don't use characters near the ASCII value 127 or you'll have to input characters which aren't on the keyboard. If your password is on the Choice line as "2BOY", the actual password you would have to enter is "DQ[". The "2" would change the "B" to a "D", it would change the "O" to a "Q" and it would change the "Y" to a "[". You'll have to check the ASCII chart to realize the last one. "1BOY" would be the password "CPZ". "3BOY" would be the password "ER\". "123456" would be the password "34567". ...and finally (for examples) "4abc" would be the password "efg" - which stays in lowercase letters. The "e" is four characters away from "a", etc. Similarly, the lower-case characters in the ASCII table are followed by some punctuation characters. Be warned of this. Here's the "end" of the lowercase alphabet just for review. ASCII character: t u v w x y z { | } ~ │ │ │ │ │ │ ASCII value: 116 122 126 You must be wary of what encrypted passwords are assigned to Choices. It is strongly urged that you CHECK YOUR ASCII CHART BEFORE ASSIGNING ANY ENCRYPTED PASSWORDS, just to be on the safe side. Always, Keep it simple. Encrypted passwords are always CASE SENSITIVE, so don't use the equals mark (=) to try to make them "insensitive." ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ You may elect to remove this page for security reasons.│ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ COLORS Section 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------ You can assign 16 different colors for each of the 12 possible Screens. You can make the "Utilities" Screen blue, the "Word Processing" Screen white and the "DOS" Screen red for example. You assign the text color and the background color in the DRM30dat.DAT file. You assign them using "color words", such as Blue and Red, so that you don't have to guess at numbers and so on. You can also select the colors for the Highlight Bar. It doesn't have to be the same as the Screen's colors. In fact, to see it better, it shouldn't be the same colors. There are sixteen (16) words for text or background colors. In addition to the original eight colors, there are eight new, bright colors, for a total of sixteen (16) colors. The 8 original CGA colors are the following colors: Black, Blue, Green, Cyan, Red, Purple, Brown, and White. The 8 new, bright colors are "different" to make it easier for you to visualize. The bright-color words are: CHERRY (bright red), LEMON (bright brown), SNOW (bright white), SKY (bright blue), GRASS (bright green), GREY ("bright" black), SEA (bright cyan) and GRAPE (bright purple). These are all 'objects' to help you remember the new colors. Some VGA cards do not display the color "BROWN" properly. Instead, they display "RED". You may want a new video card. If the Alt-C switch is enabled in the .SWITCHON line of your DRM30dat.DAT file, then you can try all the colors by simply pressing ALT-C when running DRMenu and following instructions. Write the colors back to your DAT file automatically when you have obtained the desired combination by pressing "F10". If you want to change existing .DEFCOLORS, then you press "F5" (undocumented on the screen during an ALT-C session.) You must already have the .COLOR and .BARCOLOR dot lines to use the ALT-C method. Use .COLOR for the Screen color and .BARCOLOR for the Bar color. Notice that you can choose to use the extra words TEXT and BACKGROUND if it makes it easier for you to read. DRMenu skips over those words when reading the line. Example: .COLOR SNOW ON RED means the same as .COLOR SNOW text on RED background =========================== "ON" =========================== The one word that you MUST use when describing a DOT line is the word "ON" that separates the two colors. The TEXT color is the color BEFORE the word "ON", the BACKGROUND color is the color AFTER the word "ON". You can use "on" or "ON". ============================================================ Also, See .COLOR in Section 11 for additional information. UNHIDING "HIDDEN" SCREENS Section 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unhide a hidden Screen, you use the ALT-U keys, if "U" has been included in the .SWITCHON Dot Line. Pressing ALT-U will pop up a "picture" at the bottom of the screen of all the Screens that are defined in the DRM30dat.DAT file. The undesignated Screens will appear as a space which will not show up on the screen. Screens that are in use and VALID will appear as "■", a box. Screens that are HIDDEN will appear as "h". To change a Screen from hidden to UNhidden, simply enter the number of the Screen and press ENTER. Here's an example. On my current machine, I have Screens 1,2,3,5,6,7,and 9 in use and UNhidden. Screen 4 and screen 8 are hidden. Therefore, the picture will look like this, with two "h's" where the "h"idden screens are: ■■■h■■■h■ │ │ 1234567890 To UNHIDE Screen 4, you simply press "4" and the picture looks like this: ■■■■■■■h■ │ 1234567890 To hide it again, I press "4" again or simply run a CHOICE. The boxes (■) represent viewable Screens. The "1234567890" ruler is for your convenience here. It does not show up in DRMenu when you are UNhiding screens. You have to count the positions using the stars as a guide. You can hide or UNhide ANY Screen in this way very quickly and easily. The "UnHiding" is good ONLY UNTIL you choose one of the screen choices, then it's Hidden again for you. I like to hide "Diagnostic" Screens or Screens with "Tools" on the same machine with the user. That way I have the "Tools" to help them with a problem, but the user isn't experimenting with the "Tools" when I go back to my office. They're Hidden. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ You may elect to remove this page for security reasons. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ HELP SCREENS Section 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------ There is a little bit of on-line help in DRMenu. Press the question mark "?" (a shifted key) and you'll get this help. See, also, how to use ".AVE" to view predefined text files. And, you can develop your own Help Screens for your own Choices. DRMenu already knows how to access them. All you have to do is to use an ASCII editor and type a few lines or a whole screen full. DRMenu uses your own viewer. You must have "H" in your Switchon line and have a Viewer defined in your DATA file (DRM30dat.DAT file). A viewer is supplied for you in version 3.0, VIEW.COM. Use it. Then save the file with the same "name", but with a .HLP extension. So, a file named GORDON.BAT would have GORDON.HLP as its help file. Likewise, JTBASE.EXE would have JTBASE.HLP. JTBase is a 1994 DBF database program that's FREEWARE, too. Joe Thurber wrote it and it works great with DRMenu. Write him at Internet: joe.thurber@mms.raleigh.nc.us for more info. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To get the Help Screen, just press ALT-H for when the Highlight Bar is on the Choice. See Section 9 for use of the question-mark line type to identify when HELP files are available for user. It, also, allows definition of filespec for use with DOC files or Manual files, etc DRMenu will look in the same directory where your DRMenu BATCH files are located for HLP files. The Path statement won't work here to help you because they don't execute; they are ".HLP" files. See section 9 to use other filenames. Help screens for .COMs and .EXEs and .BTMs have to be in the same directory with the filespec given. See examples below. You can have a Help Screen for each Choice in each Screen. To use ALT-H for Help files, the Help Screens must exist and there must have "H" in your .SWITCHON Dot Line. Examples assuming BAT files are in C:\BATCH: If the filename is: Then the Help filespec should be: ------------------- --------------------------------- 12345.BAT C:\BATCH\12345.HLP D:\BTMS\FLEUR.BTM D:\BTMS\FLEUR.HLP DUFFIE.BAT C:\BATCH\DUFFIE.HLP TEE.BAT C:\BATCH\TEE.HLP BIGBATCH.BAT C:\BATCH\BIGBATCH.HLP C:\UTIL\ET.EXE C:\UTIL\ET.HLP Z:\US\DA\READ.COM Z:\US\DA\READ.HLP ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Notice that BAT files reside in the same directory with HLP files - in these examples, they reside in C:\BATCH\ Help screens for .COM and .EXE files must be in the same "filespec path" that you use inside the Curly Braces. For example, in the above example, READ.HLP must be in Z:\US\DA because you used {Z:\US\DA\READ.COM} in a CHOICE Line. ~~~~~~~~~ The Notebook and Other Features Section 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------ The "Notebook" was added in Version 3.0 - put an "N" in your .SWITCHON line to enable it. Then, press ALT-N to use it. It is a flat, ASCII file into which you add lines by pressing ALT-N and typing-in your data. The Notebook is meant to be a replacement for those little 3 inch notes you leave all over your desktop. If you add a dot/period/full stop after your comment, the date will be added to the note. If you add two dots to the end of your comment, the date and the system time will be added. Use this for taking phone messages, etc The default file name "from the factory" is DRM30not.DAT. You can change it using the dot line .NOTEBOOK - see section 11 to change the name or its default size from 20,000 bytes. You can find DATA stored in it by pressing ALT-F (for Find) assuming an "F" is in your .SWITCHON dot line, of course. If you don't want everybody in the office easily accessing it, then add a "Locking Word" to your .KEY by adding a colon and then your KEY to the LOCK. For example, .KEY 64:tigers would give the KEY "tigers" to lock your DATA file. It is case sensitive; i.e. "TIGERS" won't be the same as "tigers" - so be careful. If your DATA is locked, you will be given a "fake" prompt for data to search for - it's a "Find:" with a colon ":". If your "CAPS LOCK" is "ON" the word "Find:" will be "FIND:" Find: needs for you to issue the KEY word "tigers". If your data is not locked, you will get the real FIND without a colon, like this Find When you get this real "Find", you can query the database and it will search for strings of data that you have issued or stored which contain what you are trying to find. If an intruder tries to get into your locked DATA, DRMenu will fool them and write an intruder alert with time of day into your file. You can look for the intruder by simply searching for a slash "/" or any characters in the date. If you are trying to find all the data with CLEMSON in it, then your screen would look like this FIND clemson Don't worry about case sensitivity, the search will be done as INsensitive so that it won't miss anything accidentally. If you press Enter without issuing any data to search for, the search string will be the system date. Thus, if you end all of your notes with a dot, then you can find out at the end of the day what you DID that day. Simple, not elegant. Enter the word "ALL" or a "*" to find ALL of the records. When ALT-F finds several items, it will show them on the screen until it fills up, then it pauses for you. Then press ENTER to see the next screen full. All "Hits" are totaled. THE PICture/LOGO SCREEN Section 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------ There is a file that has ASCII characters in it which make up the DRMenu LOGO screen, the PICture. It's named DRM30pic.DAT DRMenu will attempt to show this PICture file, if it exists, only once a day. If the file doesn't exist, DRMenu doesn't care. "I" care, but DRMENU doesn't care. <grin> This PICture screen will last 5 seconds unless you press a key before the 5 seconds expire. The factory PICture "counts down" at a predefined location used by DRMenu. To make the Logo PICture use your favorite color, simply put a /slash IN the DRMENU.BAT file, AFTER the word DRM30dat.DAT and then put one of the first eight color names after that. The eight basic CGA background color names can be found in Section 11 in the .COLOR explanation. A "green" example is: DRM30eng C:\BATCH\DRM30dat.DAT /GREEN You can also make your own PICture screen if you want...just make sure it's an ASCII TEXT file, 25 lines high and name it DRM30pic.DAT. The counting down feature is enabled by putting an ASCII 255 character somewhere on one of the 25 lines. The count-down position on screen is fixed, so you will have to plan around that position (line 24, column 68). From the factory, the ASCII character 255 is on the Screen. It's invisible.... like between these two quotes here " ". The file DRM30pic.DAT can be longer than 25 lines, it's just that only the first 25 lines that get used and get shown. You can hide "property of me" messages there, perhaps. The "factory" version of DRM30pic.DAT has tips in it for you to read. Use "VIEW.COM" enclosed with DRMENU to read it. To cause the Logo Screen, DRM30pic.DAT, to appear each time you use the DRMENU system, put .NEWDAY in your DRM30dat.DAT file. Then, when you exit using ALT-X, DRMENU will think it's a new day and the Logo PICture will be shown the next time you run DRMENU again. An "ESC" doesn't affect "Newday". The dotword .NEWDAY in your DRM30dat.dat file causes the file named DRM30cfg.DAT to be deleted when you quit using ALT-X. It's this file, DRM30cfg.DAT which holds today's date when the DRMENU.BAT file is run each day. Normaly, you'll see the LOGO screen only once a day, ie. when you first run DRMENU. Here's how to see it everytime you run DRMENU if you want to. Use the ".NEWDAY" dotline or press ALT-SLASH at any menu screen. If you use ".NEWDAY", you'll get a LOGO screen everytime you run DRMENU - IF YOU QUIT USING THE ALT-X METHOD. If you use the ALT-SLASH (ALT-/), you'll get the LOGO screen, but (also) only IF YOU QUIT USING THE ALT-X METHOD. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Section 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------ (1) Most of the problems occur when the batch file DRMENU.BAT cannot find the DRM30eng.EXE file to run. So, my suggestion is to put the DRM30eng.EXE file in the same directory with the batch files or, at least, make the DRM30eng.EXE file accessible by placing it in some subdirectory in your PATH statement. (2) If you have an error which states that there is no ".END" line, or that you have too many choices described for a Screen, then all you have to do is re-edit your DRM30dat.DAT file and place an .END Dot Line after the seventeenth (17th) or last Choice Line. Remember, the Remarked lines (:) do NOT count in the seventeen maximum lines for each Screen. The limit is 17 Choice lines, not just 17 total lines per Screen. The "+" and "%" lines do NOT count in the limit of 17 lines. (3) You may not have enough environment to set the variables needed. To Increase your Environment, see your DOS manual. "My" CONFIG.SYS has: SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /E:2048 /P which gives me 2048 bytes of Environment...plenty of it! ~~~~ (4) If one of your DOT lines doesn't work, then maybe you have an DRMENU "engine" version which is old, not current. Check it out with ALT-I to see which engine version and DOS version you have. The old DRMENU.BAT does't work with DRM30dat.DAT. (5) If one of your Dot Lines doesn't work, then make sure you have spelled the Dot Line WORD correctly. For example: .JUMP DELAY 6 is wrong. Instead, .JUMPDELAY 6 is right. (6) Incorrect Dot Lines are thrown away. Only the legal "survive". (7) If you can't see your screen very well, then try the .BW or the .WB Dot Lines. Most LCD laptops are "color" but with a black and white screen. You can overcome my "color detection" by putting a .BW or .WB dot line in the DRM30dat.DAT file. Try each, one at a time. Choose the best effect for you. (8) If you get an unwanted extra white space at the right side of your menu Choices, then there is probably a space between the Choice text and the first curly brace. Edit your choice lines so that the curly brace "{", (the left one of the pair) TOUCHES the right side of the last word of the choice line, like this: example{xx} ....because, it probably has a space like this: example {xx} ^ See the extra space there? The length of your Menu Choice bar can be adjusted THAT WAY if you decide you want all the bars, i.e. all the Choices, to be the same length on each Screen. Personally, I like them to be different lengths (sizes) on all of my Menu Screens. It's your choice. Pun. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Section 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------ (9) Programmers have a special need to use DRMenu to get them setup into their IDE, or Programming Environment. It is annoying for DRMenu to "return" to the DRMenu screen after a programming session in C++ or Assembly Language, so-o-o-o DRMenu listened. If the batch {filename } in curly braces has a space at the RIGHT side of the name while still inside the curly braces, then DRMenu WILL NOT return to the DRMenu screen after executing the batch file. Here's an example of the normal way to write a CHOICE line. DRMenu will return after executing "RunCPP" - the normal action. Write a Program using C++{RunCPP} NOW.... Here's the same CHOICE line "for a programmer" because it WILL NOT return to DRMenu after the batch file "RunCPP" has run: Write a Program using C++{RunCPP } ^ Notice the one EXTRA SPACE inside the curly braces and at the right side - after the word "RunCPP". Remember....after running "RunCPP.BAT " inside the curly braces, DRMenu will NOT return to the DRMenu screen as it normally does. It will stay in/at DOS for you. Change Directories and Drop to DOS ------------------------------------------------------------------ Another good use of this feature is to create a Batch file that does nothing but change to the drive and subdirectory that you desire and then drops you to DOS to "play". Then, pressing this CHOICE in DRMenu can take you to a special Subdirectory where you want to stay and "play" for a while. There is NO password shown in this example. You may want one. Here is an Example to take you to drive D: and then to the subdirectory called PLAYGRND there: Here is the Batch file name: PLAYSOME.BAT Here is the CHOICE line: PLAY for a While in the Playground on D:{PLAYSOME } │ And here is what's "inside" PLAYSOME.BAT: ┌────┴───┐ │ Notice │ D: │ the │ cd \PLAYGRND │ Space │ └────────┘ EXITING DRMenu Section 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------ To ESCape from DRMenu, just press ESCAPE, but for the ESCAPE key to work, you must have an "X" in the .SWITCHON Dot Line. Why? There are may be times when you don't want a user to be able to break out of the DRMenu system, for example on a LAN. Only ALT-X and ESCape allow the user to escape or quit. To ESCape from the DRMENU.BAT file you must have some way of getting to the bottom of the batch file so you can fall out of the "loop" that is set up which makes DRMenu come back and run over and over and over after running your applications like your word processor, etc. etc. If and when you press the ESCAPE key or ALT-X then DRMenu will create a file named DRM30esc.DAT. The DRM30esc.DAT you probably never will see. Don't worry! It is this lonesome DRM30esc.DAT file that allows DRMenu to ESCape. It is deleted in the same second that it is created. It has a very short life on your disk. It is small and fits inside one little cluster. IT WILL NOT FRAGMENT your disk in any way. The ALT-X keys mimic the ESCAPE key. But, remember, ....the ESC key won't work AT ALL unless the X is in the .SWITCHON dot line, such as .SWITCHON ABCDFNXYZ ^ ...and another escape route - explained again... ------------------------------------------------------------------ You could drop to DOS by creating a batch file that does nothing, except move to a desired Directory. Then make sure the Batch file, when run, won't return to DRMenu. An example of what's inside the Batch file named GO2DOS.BAT. C: CD \DOS See Section 20, item 9, which explains how to add one space inside the curly braces, like this {Go2DOS }. ^ If you need to protect "everybody" from dropping to DOS, ie "out" of DRMenu, you could password protect that particular CHOICE line and give the password to ONLY those persons you "trust" to drop "out" to DOS. Also, remember, you can make the password case-InSENSITIVE using the equals mark: Here's an Example of a Dot line in a DRM30dat.DAT file. DROP to Operating System{Go2DOS }=eppie The password for this "drop" to DOS is EPPIE, whether you use lowercase "eppie" or Uppercase "EPPIE" or, even, "EppIE". DRMenu IN A LAN ENVIRONMENT Section 22 ----------------------------------------------------------------- You may be looking for "THE" menu system to use on your LAN environment because the menu system that comes with the LAN might use too much "RAM room" as a TSR. The Novell menu system took about 140K or so (if I'm wrong, somebody please tell me). I had to stop using it because my available RAM shrunk so much that I couldn't run my database. Imagine that....$3000 for a system with a 140K Menu TSR. Now, Novell is putting other Menu systems in their software systems to eliminate the problem. DRMenu is still easier to understand and to maintain in a DAY TO DAY work environment. M A I N T E N A N C E ===================== DRMenu requires only DRM30dat.DAT, DRM30eng.EXE, and DRMENU.BAT to run. That makes it easy for the LAN manager to maintain. ....I know.... because I'm a LAN manager. So, I will be adding LAN features as you tell me you need them. This version 3.0 can tell you whether it's on the LAN or not by a small Check Mark in the bottom box, such as this, √. Check out the DOT line that describes .CHECK and what to check for to tell if you're ON the LAN or not. DRMenu uses the DOS CALL, so it does take up "some" memory - a total of 144 bytes plus a copy of the environment. This should be GOOD NEWS, even if you ARE using DOS 7.x and have lots of RAM room. While users are on your LAN, you can disable the ESCAPE key by removing the "X" from the .SWITCHON Dot line. This way, your users CANNOT get out of the menu EASILY by pressing ESC or ALT-X. You can always break out of any BATCH file attempting to run, remember, with CTL-Break. I "COULD" create a .DISABLEBREAK dot line in future versions. Please let me know if you really need it. Internet mail is fine if you don't want to use the US Post Office Mail. Future versions "COULD" also look at the DOS Environment and allow screens and CHOICES according to who's Logged in or who's a MEMBER of a GROUP. It may interest LAN Administrators. If it interests you, please let me know about it. Future versions "COULD" Log a user's activity with a file or specific files, creating a LOG file for an administrator. I HAVE thought about it, but what do "YOU" think? Send me all of your ideas. Maybe they'll be used in the next version! My Internet address is: david.roper@mms.raleigh.nc.us My Post Office address is: David Roper 201 Winding Brook Drive Garner, NC 27529 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Enclose a SASE if you want a written reply. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ REGISTRATION & THE LATEST VERSION Section 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This next line is for all the Auditors and Lawyers to read. There is NO requirement to send me a dime. This is really FREE to use. No registration needs to be done. Nada. None. From time to time, I have to improve DRMenu because I am a programmer. I tend to "fiddle" with programs until they are FUBAR ("Fouled" Up Beyond All Recognition) or, if I'm lucky, 1 byte short of FUBAR. Therefore I will always be making new versions when I can. Features are just documented bugs. <G> GET THE LATEST FOR FREE IF YOU CAN SOMEWHERE. Ask mail order shareware houses and companies for it and help me spread the Program. It's a "free" menu system, remember. Tell them about DRMenu. Tell them it's FREEWARE... no registration is needed. FREEWARE doesn't mean you might not have to pay someone to get a copy, but it DOES MEAN that you can use it on 1 computer or 100 computers WITHOUT REGISTRATION when you *DO* get a copy. ....I hope you will enjoy and promote FREEWARE with me. REGISTRATION & THE LATEST VERSION Section 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- DRMenu is FREEWARE. This means you can use DRMenu without paying me any money or having to register it. Then, WHY is there an Order form like this? The answer is... "for your benefit" ...possibly. DRMenu has a big following all over the world <Grin>. DRMenu is in three countries besides the USA that I know about <Grin again>. Many users have asked me to add this idea and that idea, this dot line and that dot line. By having an order form, I can send out the new versions, including all ßeta versions that I create BETWEEN the Major releases. You can be a "ßeta tester" <grin>. You can help me decide how to add new features and how they should work. Please. The order form CAN BE FILLED OUT and returned to me with your check for U.S. $10. This offer is not valid for foreign money or foreign countries. And, I cannot process Purchase Orders for you. In return, I will send you a new ßeta version *EVERY* time there is minor version produced. AND YOU WILL GET THE NEXT MAJOR VERSION 4.0. If this is successful for me and good for you (by your comments) then I may repeat the offer with version 4.0. I'll decide later. I have been quite pleased with the two or three Orders I get each week and this is enough to keep me going with developing DRMenu for you. I have met and made some nice computer friends this way. Thanks, ╥─┐ o ╓ ║ │╓╖ ╖╓╓╓╢ ╨─┘╙╨┘╙╜╙╙╜ ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌─ Cut out order form, │ David Roper │── I've been │ and send it with a │ 201 Winding Brook Drive │ at this same │ check to me: ────── │ Garner, NC 27529 │ address for │ └───────────────────────────┘ over 12 years. │ All Software will be sent on 3.5 inch, 1.44M diskettes. ------------------------8<------cut here------8<------------------------ Date:_____________ (this offer expires after July 30, 1996) "Hey, David, I want to be a beta tester AND get ALL the versions of DRMenu you make, up to, and including, Version 4.0. Here's my check." (Please Print your Name and Address below:) Name___________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ City____________________________State_____ZIP__________ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ You may elect to take this page out of this Manual if you wish │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ FUTURE FEATURES, PAST DIFFERENCES Section 91 ------------------------------------------------------------------ I have some ideas for future versions. If YOU have some ideas about what YOU would like to see in future versions, then please write to me and tell me YOUR ideas. You must enclose a SASE if you would like a reply from me. Here are a few of MY ideas for future versions: 1. Use of environment variables so GROUPS and USERS will see certain Screens and/or Choices. I saw a $495 "LAN-based" menu program that had this feature. I really liked that. 2. Mouse-able, point and click....I almost put it in this version, but time did not permit. Are you a Mouser? 3. Multiple Versions of the DRM30dat.DAT file, EACH OF WHICH can support 12 screens with 17 choices on each screen. This version of DRMenu uses the extension .DAT 4. A LOG file so you can tell when and how long it takes to run certain programs that you select to be watched. 5. .AUTOEXEC C:\WINDOWS\WIN :an example to automatically "pass through" the boot up procedure and run Windows. 6. What's YOUR idea, or ideas? Send them to me, please. Major Differences from earlier Versions of DRMenu ------------------------------------------------------------------ (1) The old, main data file named DRMENU.DAT file has had its name changed to DRM30dat.DAT - ALL DATA files end in ".DAT" The Version 3.0 DRMENU.BAT file has different words in it. (2) DEMO the DRMenu system on a floppy. Run A:\DRMDEMO.BAT (3) The Screen Colors are much easier to change. ALT-C allows you to experience the color combinations LIVE and then write them easily to the DRM30dat.DAT file by pressing F10. (4) Two (Limited) Help screens are available if you press "?", Also, you COULD view your DRMENU30.DOC file as an .AVE file. (5) DRMenu, version 3.0, now comes with an Editor, WCED, also MATH, VIEW, and a "Pause" utility named DRSCROLL.EXE. (6) DRMenu, version 3.0, can run *ANY* file, not just BATCH files as in Version 2.1. Include the FILESPEC inside the curly braces. DRMenu will detect the ".:/\" chrs, and will not append a ".BAT" to the end of the {filename}. (7) DRMenu can send an ASCII file to the printer and, also, number the lines of that file, if you desire. (8) DRMenu can print like a typewriter - to the Printer. You can type FF to send a FORMFEED (chr 12) to eject the page. (9) ALT-Q is removed from use for now. Use ALT-X instead. (10) DRMenu can be run on versions of DOS below version 3.3 Upgrading from an Earlier Version of DRMenu Section 92 ------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are upgrading from version 2.1 of DRMenu, there are only a few changes you MUST make. Check them off as you do the steps. (Also, see section 6 of this manual for more help if needed.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ √ Check here when you have done each of these steps carefully. ____(a) Edit the DRMENU.BAT file to change the word "DRMENU.DAT" inside it to reflect the new name for the Data file which is DRM30dat.DAT. And, there's more to edit in DRMENU.BAT. ____(b) Also, the old "ENGINE" word was DRM-ENGN.EXE. Change the word inside DRMENU.BAT to the new word of DRM30eng.EXE For example, Version 2.1 of DRMENU.BAT has a line in it which looks like this: C:\BATCH\DRM-ENGN C:\BATCH\DRMENU.DAT ~~~~~~~~ ========== Therefore, change both of these words in it to be C:\BATCH\DRM30eng C:\BATCH\DRM30dat.DAT ~~~~~~~~ ============ ____(c) While you're at it, also change the word DRM-RUN.BAT to DRM30run.BAT. It's in the last line of DRMENU.BAT where the word "CALL" normally appears. Now, you're THROUGH editing DRMENU.BAT. Save it!!!! ____(d) Change the word "%DRM%" to "%DRMENU30_ENVIRMEM%" Notice the Spelling and the underline. Be careful. ____(e) Last, actually RENAME the DRMENU.DAT file used in version 2.1 to its new name DRM30dat.DAT to be used in version 3.0. Remember how to do this using DOS? It's like this: C:\BATCH>RENAME DRMENU.DAT DRM30dat.DAT ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Remember, DRM30mak.EXE will do steps (a) thru (e) for you. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ You may not have to do anymore,...but keep reading. The question mark "?" does NOT cause a DOS parameter prompt anymore. I received too many complaints from version 2.1 users who wanted to use the question mark normally. Oops! Take a look inside your DRM30dat.DAT file. Look carefully. █ █▀▀ you have any CHOICE lines with a question mark "?" in █ █▀ them, you need to replace it with a percent "%" character, █ █ or an invisible character ASCII 255, so that the Menu CHOICE line will still PROMPT you for additional parameters for the batch file. If you don't replace it, your choice line won't work like it used to with version 2.1. You may elect to put the invisible Character 255 BETWEEN two words so that the user can't see it in the Menu CHOICE line. However, if you have NOT used a Question mark (?), you can skip this last step. Most people will skip this last step. There's a Character 255 between these two quotes here " ". (see also, Major differences, on the page preceding this one.) COMPLAINTS Section 99 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ....also to be used for the PRAISE department and COMMENT department and receiving all your IDEAS. Send them to: ┌───────────────────── David Roper ────────────────────────┐ │ 201 Winding Brook Drive │ └────────────────── Garner, NC 27529 ──────────────────────┘ Do not use the phone, I cannot support DRMenu by phone as FREEWARE. Think about it and you'll understand, but... If you are into EMAIL, you can reach me quickly... ┌─── Via Compuserve: 73155,1171 ────────────────────────┐ │ ...I check it on the weekends. │ │ │ │ Via InterNet: david.roper@mms.raleigh.nc.us │ │ ...I check it daily. │ └────── Notice 4 dots/full stops/periods ────┴──┘──────────┘ I hope you enjoy DRMenu, I've enjoyed "creating" it since the first version in July 1992. The versions other than 2.1 and 3.0 did not get out to the public. Special Thanks go to the following people for helping me: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...William Cravener of Pennsylvania for supplying WCED an EDITOR which he wrote for the .EDITOR line. It's Freeware. ...Greg Kochaniak of Pennsyvania, also, for supplying MATH.EXE (Public Domain) for the .KALC line for all of us. ...The "Australian Connection" for these DOCOs - his word for DOCUMENTATION. Rory wrote most of this Manual. Thanks, Mate! ...(Ship) Captain Bob Werning of Florida who sent me ideas via CIS for DRMenu when he was not making an ocean "voyage". ...Joe Thurber for helping me with the ALT-C routine and helping me find "dumb logic", and for not laughing out-loud. ...Iris Powell for helping me beta test. Her innocent "honesty" helped to make DRMenu even easier to use than version 2.1. ...Adrian Brancato for being my DRMenu "Guinea pig" since 1992. ...Ronny Richardson, PhD. for including DRMenu in his new Batch Book (2Bpub.Jan 1995). I started reading his Batch Books in 1992. ...Jo Anne Moore who helped me to see DRMENU differently. ...Mary, Kay, Tee, Duffie, and JJ for being my loving Roper family and being responsible for my overall successes in life. ...the MANY OTHERS who have ordered, written me, and encouraged me to go on and keep improving DRMenu. Your enthusiasm has been wonderful. One user wrote "It's the only MENU program that doesn't bomb or Freeze-up my computer, because I use TSRs and the others Freeze-up my machine." ...DRMenu runs any file you have...easily...and for free. -----------------(end of DRMENU30.DOC file)------------------- THIS PAGE IS TO INSURE A FORMFEED - throw it away