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1992-02-11
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AD-M a s t e r M e n u
ADMAST version 2.04
Menuing System for IBM-PC Computer and Compatibles
Now with Mouse Support
by
Allen Dew
604 Lakeview Road
Durham, NC 27712
CompuServe 73737,1345
BBS Support 919-471-6026
INTRODUCTION
--------------
I spend a great deal of time working with new PC users,
trying to get them comfortable with DOS, the IBM-PC's operating
system. Learning to use word processing, database, or spreadsheet
software is tough enough for newcomers to PC's without the added
burden of remembering all those DOS commands.
Most of the PC's have a hard disk drive. Since the software
programs and files were on the hard disk, I wrote a Menu Utility
program to help people navigate their way around the computer.
In the mornings when the users turned on their computer, they would
automatically see a menu from which they could run Lotus 123, copy
some disks, dial Dow Jones for their favorite stock quotes, do a
little Word Processing, etc., etc. - all without having to remember
or type any commands. Their response was gratifying, to say the
least! The program later evolved into ADMast Menu.
ADMast Menu allows any computer user to create customized menus
that can be a "Control Center" for running application programs and
frequently used DOS routines. For new users it saves a lot of
frustration. For the more experienced it saves a lot of time.
Applications can be run at the touch of a single key instead of
typing in commands. No more forgetting commands or DOS directory
names - all these are entered one time only and ADMast Menu
remembers the commands for you. It will free you from the burden
of remembering and typing those complicated commands and will let
you concentrate on getting your work done.
MAJOR FEATURES
--------------
- Simple to Learn, Easy and Fast to use
- Enter Menu Settings directly from program, without the need
for text editor
- Clear, clean and attractive screen layouts
- Ability to "chain" multiple menus together
- Up to 24 Menu Items with user-defined Menu Prompts,
Passwords, Directory Paths, and Command Settings
- Up to 10 Command Lines per Menu Item
- Partial commands which can be completed at runtime
- Customize the Screen Colors
- Personalized Menu Title with your Own or Company name
- Customize On-Screen User Notes
- Clock chimes softly on the hour.
- Menu Screen Blanks to prevent Screen Burn-in.
- Protect the menu from unauthorized changes
- Prevent casual users from getting out of the menu system
- Menu displays amount of available space left on disk
- Mouse support for choosing items (left or right button)
GETTING STARTED
---------------
ADMast Menu requires DOS 3.1 or higher.
In order for ADMast Menu to work properly, the following 2 files
must reside in the same sub-directory of your Hard Disk:
MAST.BAT - Program Initiation File
ADMAST.EXE - ADMast Menu Program
The sub-directory must be available in the PATH statement in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The program also self-generates a file in
the root directory or other sub-directories called ADMAST.DAT which
contains all of the Menu Settings that you will enter. (If you ever
want to delete all of your Settings, you can easily do so by
deleting the ADMAST.DAT file.)
Once the files MAST.BAT and ADMAST.EXE have been copied onto the
Hard Disk, you can run ADMast Menu by simply typing in the word
"MAST" at the C:\> prompt.
The following screen will appear (fig. 1). It is from this screen
that you select your Applications at the touch of a single key.
If you have a mouse available on your computer, you can select
any of the applications by clicking either the left or right
buttons over the menu prompt.
(Figure 1)
=============================================================
= =
= 05-16-1992 M a i n M e n u 8:06:10 am =
= =
=============================================================
= =
= A - =
= =
= B - =
= =
= C - =
= =
= D - =
= =
= E - =
= =
= F - =
= =
=============================================================
= Press letter to select item =
= ESC = DOS F10 = Colors =
= ALT+Letter to change =
=============================================================
C:\ Avail. space = 868,342 ADMAST 2.04
About the MAIN MENU:
The MAIN MENU displays the current Date and also provides a digital
Clock. The Clock chimes softly every hour as long as the menu is
active, but may be disabled if so desired from the MODIFY screen
(see below).
Up to 24 Menu Selections can be entered into ADMast Menu,
with their prompts appearing on this screen. Although only 6
selections appear in the illustration (fig. 1), 18 additional
selections may be added. Any letter from A through X may be
picked for a menu item. The menu will be adjusted to display
only the items being used.
Your Menu Selections can be individually Password Protected. If a
selection is protected, the user is prompted to enter the password
before running the selection.
Whenever you finish running a program, ADMast Menu returns you to
this screen so you can quickly move on to something else.
To prevent "Screen Burn-in", the screen will go blank after about 2
minutes of no activity (delay can be changed from the MODIFY screen).
The Time will continue to be displayed and updated. To re-display the
screen, simply press the space bar or click one of the mouse buttons.
The current Drive and Directory are displayed at the lower left of
the screen. The amount of available space on the disk drive is
displayed after the directory.
ENTERING MENU SETTINGS
----------------------
To enter, modify or examine menu settings, hold down the "ALT" key
and press the letter of the item you wish to select. Any of the
letters from A to X may be pressed even though it is not displayed
currently on the menu.
For example, let's enter a menu setting for Formatting Floppy
Disks. This will allow you to have a permanent menu selection for
formatting disks at the touch of a single key from ADMast Menu.
In our example, we'll assume the following:
- We want "Format a Disk" to appear as Menu Item A on the Main
Menu
- This Menu Item is to be password protected using "SPECIAL" as
the password.
- The DOS FORMAT Command is located on a sub-directory named
DOS (C:\DOS).
- The DOS Format Command, "FORMAT A:", will format a disk
located in Drive A.
To enter these settings in Menu Item A, hold down the ALT key
and press "A".
press ALT-A
The MODIFY Screen will appear as shown in Fig. 2:
(Figure 2)
============================================================
= =
= Menu Prompt : _ =
= Password : =
= Directory Path : =
= Command Line 1 : =
= 2 : =
= 3 : =
= 4 : =
= 5 : =
= 6 : =
= 7 : =
= 8 : =
= 9 : =
= 10 : =
= =
= ENTER = Accept ESC = Exit =
= Clearing prompt will delete entire item =
= PGDN = quick finish =
============================================================
This MODIFY screen is used to enter new or to modify existing
menu settings. You also can use it to examine settings which
have already been entered. There are 4 fields to enter for
the "Format a Disk" menu setting example. Enter them now as
illustrated in Fig. 3.
(Figure 3)
============================================================
= =
= Menu Prompt : Format a Disk =
= Password : SPECIAL =
= Directory Path : C:\DOS =
= Command Line 1 : FORMAT A: =
= 2 : =
= 3 : =
= 4 : =
= 5 : =
= 6 : =
= 7 : =
= 8 : =
= 9 : =
= 10 : _ =
= =
= ENTER = Accept ESC = Exit =
= Clearing prompt will delete entire item =
= PGDN = quick finish =
============================================================
In our example (fig. 3), the Menu Prompt setting is what you will
see next to the letter "A" on the Main Menu screen. This can be
anything you like describing what the selection does. The maximum
length of Menu Prompts is 30 characters.
In the illustration, the FORMAT file is on the subdirectory
called C:\DOS, so we added "C:\DOS" to the Directory Path field.
(Refer to your DOS manual if you need information on Directory
Paths.)
The Command "FORMAT A:" is the DOS command that will format a disk
in Drive A. Commands can be up to 50 characters in length.
You will notice that we did not enter anything for the 2nd thru
the 10th Command settings. Just leave them blank if you don't need
the extra commands. ADMast Menu will run every command that it
finds in Commands 1-10. If you use Batch Files for a series of
commands, using ADMast Menu's 10 settings can be a much better
alternative.
Keep pressing ENTER to skip through the rest of the command
settings. As an alternative, you may press the PageDown key
when you are finished entering the last command. After the 10th
Command field, you will be asked if your changes are all correct.
Strike the "Y" key and you will return to the Main Menu screen
again. The menu prompt, "Format a Disk" will appear next to Menu
Item A on the Menu as shown in Figure 4.
(Figure 4)
=============================================================
= =
= 05-16-1992 M a i n M e n u 8:06:10 am =
= =
=============================================================
= =
= A - Format a Disk =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
=============================================================
= Press letter to select item =
= ESC = DOS F10 = Colors =
= ALT+Letter to change =
=============================================================
C:\ Avail. space = 868,342 ADMAST 2.04
You can now "Format a Disk" by pressing the letter "A". Because
you entered a password setting, you'll be prompted to give the
password before you're able to run the selection in A. When
prompted for the password, enter "SPECIAL" (the password you gave
to A) and you will immediately escape from ADMast Menu and can
Format the Disk. Try this example on your computer now or enter
another setting of your own. You may have to change the Directory
Path to the proper setting for your particular computer setup,
depending on what directory contains FORMAT.
Note: Passwords in ADMast Menu are not "case sensitive".
This means that the user does not have to enter the
password in upper/lower case as originally entered.
Spaces ARE significant.
CHANGING OR DELETING MENU SETTINGS
----------------------------------
To change or delete settings, go from the Main Menu to the Change
screen by pressing ALT and the letter you wish to modify. The
existing settings will be shown. You can edit settings by using
any of the keys and re-typing what you want. Press Enter or
the down-arrow to skip down to the next fields. Press the up-arrow
key to skip up to the previous field. After the 10th command
field, you will be asked if everything is okay. Enter "Y" to
save your changes and return to the Main Menu again. To leave the
Change Screen without saving any changes, simply press the ESC
key at any time.
PARTIAL COMMANDS TO BE COMPETED AT RUNTIME
------------------------------------------
There are some situations where you need to give the file name
or additional parameters on a command line. A good example of
this is when using a word processor and you want to start the
word processor and immediately be in the document for editing.
The command line would normally be entered as follows:
WORD LETTER.12
where WORD is the name of the program and LETTER.12 is the name
of a file to be edited. In the ADMast Menu command line you
would normally only put in the program name (WORD). Now you can
tell the menu that you need to enter additional information at
runtime.
The method of indicating a partial command is to insert a percent
symbol (%). This signals the menu program to prompt the user to
complete the command line. In the above example, the command line
in the menu item would be entered thus:
WORD %
At runtime, the user will be prompted with the partial command and
asked to complete the command. Each of the command lines may be
entered as a partial command with the percent symbol. One trick
which may be used to enter any command is to put only the percent
symbol on the command line. This will allow the user to run any
of the DOS commands or programs.
Several percent symbols may appear on a command line where more
than one additional parameter is needed to be furnished at
runtime. The percent symbol may be followed by additional values.
The following are examples of partial command lines:
DIR % /w ( wide display )
DIR % > PRN ( directory to printer )
DIR % >> files.txt ( directory to file )
COPY % > PRN ( print file to printer )
COPY % % ( fill in from and to )
PREVENTING THE DISPLAY FROM DISAPPEARING TOO SOON
-------------------------------------------------
Some programs display their output to the screen and then terminate
without stopping to let you see and read the display. The ADMast
Menu program comes back very quickly and you haven't had time to
read the previous screen. You can prevent the display from being
wiped out too quickly by inserting a PAUSE command as the last
command. This will give you a chance to read the display and then
strike any key to return to the menu. An example follows:
Menu prompt : Display directory
Password :
Directory Path: c:\
Command Line 1: dir % /p
2: pause
3:
4:
CHANGING THE DISPLAY COLORS
---------------------------
By pressing F10 from the Main Menu, you'll activate the Color
Experimentation Window. Using this feature, you can try out
various color combinations to suit your own tastes. The window
displays a representation of the current Foreground, Background,
and Menu Border colors. By pressing the Left or Right cursor keys,
you can see up to 16 different Foreground (text) colors. Up or
Down cursor keys will display the 8 possible Background colors.
Page Up or Page Down will display the 16 Menu Border colors. When
you find the combination you like, just press ENTER to save the
color settings and return to the Main Menu. If you don't want to
save the color settings, press ESC and you'll see the Main Menu
with the old colors.
MODIFYING MENU TITLE AND CONTROLS
---------------------------------
To change the Menu Title and menu controls, press ALT-Z.
Press ALT-Z
The MODIFY Screen will appear as shown in Fig. 5:
(Figure 5)
============================================================
= =
= Menu Title : M a i n M e n u =
= Explode menu (Y/N) : Y =
= Sound chimes (Y/N) : Y =
= Master password : =
= Screen blank (Y/N) : Y =
= Seconds before blank: 120 =
= Protect ESC to DOS : N =
= Protect colors (Y/N): N =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= =
= ENTER = Accept ESC = Exit =
= =
= PGDN = quick finish =
============================================================
The cursor will be positioned at the beginning of the Menu
Title area at the top of the screen. Use any of the editing
keys to alter the title. Space over any characters you want
erased from the old title. The new title will be centered
automatically in the Title area.
The options as seen in figure 5 are the default controls for
a menu when first created. Use any of the editing keys to
alter the options to your preference.
The menu display may be made to appear to explode onto the
screen or it may appear instantly. The Explode menu option
controls how the menu will appear.
Some people prefer to hear the chimes on each hour and others
may wish for the quiet instead (computers should be seen and
not heard). The Sound chimes option controls this feature.
It may be desirable to prevent others from changing the menu
once it has been configured. The Master password will prevent
others from changing things and also prevent others from
discovering the passwords given to each menu item. Anything
up to eight (8) characters may be used for the Master password.
CAUTION: remember the Master password or you will not be able
to access the menu controls to change anything.
The Master password controls the ability to view and change
any of the menu items. The Master password also controls the
Escape to DOS and Change Colors features.
* If the Master password is ever lost, there is a super secret
password which will reveal the Master password. Get in touch
with the author if you need to know the super secret password.
The default is to blank the screen after two minutes (120 seconds)
of no activity. The Screen blank feature can be set to No which
prevents any blanking of the menu.
The Seconds before blank value controls how long the menu will
be displayed before being blanked. Of course, the Screen blank
feature must be set to Yes before any blanking will occur.
Reasonable values are between a few seconds and several minutes.
The value for three minutes is 180 seconds (3 x 60 seconds).
The Protect ESC to DOS feature will prevent someone from hitting
the ESC key and dropping to the DOS prompt. This only works
when a Master password is installed. The user will be prompted
to enter the Master password correctly before being allowed to
escape from the menu to DOS.
The Protect colors feature will prevent someone from changing
the color scheme. This only works when a Master password is
installed. The user will be prompted to enter the Master password
correctly before being allowed to change the colors.
MODIFYING ON-SCREEN NOTES
-------------------------
On-Screen Notes is a facility that lets you write up to 3 lines
of notes in the bottom rectangle of the Main Menu screen. This
feature can be useful if you have special instructions that need
to be seen by users.
To activate On-Screen Notes, press ALT-Y.
Press ALT-Y
You'll see a cursor appear in the Main Menu's lower rectangle.
Type up to 75 characters per line, using any of the editing keys.
Space over any characters you want erased from the old notes.
You will notice the note lines already contain the default Main
Menu instructions. All three lines may be modified. To keep a
line from re-appearing, you must blank out any characters on
the line.
MULTIPLE MENUS
--------------
What if several people use the same PC, but each one wants his own
menu? Or what if you want to set up a sub-menu for all of your
utility programs? No problem! You can link Multiple Menus with
ADMast Menu. The procedure for doing this is really very simple.
- change any of the items to have a prompt which indicates
that the item will bring up a new menu. For example:
change item C to read "Utility Menu".
- change the Directory Path to point to a subdirectory where
the new menu data will reside. For example: change item C
to read "C:\UTILITY", assuming you have such a subdirectory
on your hard disk.
- change the first command line to read "MAST". The following
files must be in a common directory on your hard drive:
MAST.BAT - the batch initiator
ADMAST.EXE - the menu program
For example:
Menu Prompt : Utility Menu
Password :
Directory Path : C:\UTILITY
Command Line 1 : MAST
2 :
When you see the new menu displayed, one of the first things
you should do is provide a way to get back to the Main Menu.
Simply change any one of the new items to prompt for returning
to the main menu (I usually recommend using item X to return to
the previous menu). Change the Path to point to the Root directory
(for example: C:\ ) and make the first command read "MAST".
For example:
Menu Prompt : Return to Main Menu
Password :
Directory Path : C:\
Command Line 1 : MAST
2 :
Any menu item can thus call up another menu with up to 24 items.
BATCH FILES
-----------
Currently, ADMast Menu supports a maximum of 10 commands for a
single Menu Item (in addition to the Directory Path setting).
Having this many available commands per setting should normally
keep you from having to create any Batch Files. If you have used
batch files much in the past, you'll really appreciate this
feature!
For routines longer than 10 commands, a Batch File can be created
using DOS's EDLIN utility or a Text Processor. See your DOS manual
for more instructions on Batch Files. Use ADMast Menu to execute
your Batch File by placing the Batch Filename (without the .BAT
suffix) in your command setting.
Note: Batch Files sometimes prevent you from returning to ADMast
Menu after the file is executed. Be sure to include the
command "MAST" as the last command in your Batch File so
that it will return you to ADMast Menu.
If you are using DOS 3.3 or higher, you should CALL your
batch file which will automatically make it return to
ADMast Menu. The way to CALL your batch file is to enter
the command as follows:
CALL XXXXXX
where XXXXXX is the name of your batch file. In this case
you don't need the last line in your batch file to read
"MAST".
You can run ADMast Menu automatically whenever you turn on your
computer by including the command "MAST" as the last item in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Your DOS Manual has a section which covers the
AUTOEXEC file.
ADMast Menu's Program Initiation File, MAST.BAT, is a very simple
batch file that initiates the program's batch sequence. If ever
misplaced or altered by mistake, the MAST.BAT file can be re-
created as follows:
ECHO OFF
ADMAST
ADTEMP
INFORMATION ON DISTRIBUTION AND UPGRADES
----------------------------------------
ADMast Menu is distributed under the consideration that people
enjoy sharing software with each other. It takes some experimenting
with software to see if it fits your own work environment.
You are encouraged to give a copy of ADMast Menu and its
documentation to anyone you like. ADMast Menu is a Free-ware
program and thus there is no charge to use it.
For those of you evaluating ADMast Menu for the first time, please
feel free to write to me if you have any questions or suggestions.
Evaluate the program at your own pace. If you decide it doesn't
suit your needs, give it away to someone else.
For those of you who participate in the User-Supported concept and
want to send in a few dollars to the author - THANK YOU!
I plan to continue upgrading and improving ADMast Menu, especially
since so many of you have thrilled me with your encouragement.
I've received good ideas from many of you that I plan to include
in later versions.
Thanks,
Allen Dew
================= End of Documentation ===========================
