Frostbyte's 1980s DOS Shareware Collection/floppyshareware.zip/floppyshareware/GLEN/AM68.ZIP/PROGMENU.DOC

Text File | 1991-04-04 | 4KB | 69 lines

  INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF THE NEW EXECUTABLE PROGRAM MENU VIA CTRL-X

  10-14-90  -  Incorporated into AM 5.3

  A new feature in AM is the ability to create and utilize executable
program menus.  This feature is activated by Ctrl-X and is based upon
the existence of an ASCII text file created by the user named
PROGMENU.AM.  Note:  Ctrl-X formerly refreshed the current window.  Use
of the "*" key will accomplish the same thing.

  Use any text editor (QEDIT is recommended) to create PROGMENU.AM.
This file must be formatted as described below.  Note that in the
examples provided, that upper and lower case are used for clarity
and the actual file line data may be in either case.

  Comments are denoted by the semicolin (";").  AM will ignore the
semicolon and all following text in any line in which it appears.  The
first non-comment item on any line must be the program name.  It may or
may not include the executable extension of .BAT, .COM, or .EXE.

  Two other items may appear on a given line in the file.  To force AM
to change to a specified drive:\directory path prior to executing the
selected program, use the switch "-d" followed immediately by the FULL
DOS path name.  An example is the line "klondike -dE:\UTILS\MYGAMES",
which will cause AM to switch to the directory E:\UTILS\MYGAMES before
executing the program KLONDIKE.  A semi-permanent command parameter that
will be passed to the target program is denoted by the "-p" switch.  An
example is the line "QEDIT -pMYTEXT.FIL", which will cause AM to pass
the command line parameter string of "MYTEXT.FIL" to QEDIT when it is
executed.  Any line in the file may contain either/or the "-d" and the
"-p" switches, but the "-d" switch MUST follow the program name and
MUST precede the "-p" switch if both are used on the same line.  An
example is "QEDIT -dC:\TEXT -pMYFILE.TXT, which would change to
C:\TEXT and execute QEDIT, passing it MYFILE.TXT.

  Command line parameters may be added dynamically by the user just
prior to running the selected program by pressing Ctrl-Enter instead of
Enter.  This will bring up a window that prompts for a command line
parameter string that will be passed to the target program when
executed.  Note that the user entered parameter string will
automatically override any "-p" switch string in the file.  If no "-p"
switch is active for the selected program, AM will automatically enter
the file path name for the file under the cursor in the left window. The
Esc key aborts from this window with no action and since the window
shows both the semi-permanent parameter string and directory to change
to (if any), this window can be used to check the status of any menu
item.

  Up to one hundred progam definition lines are supported.  Note that
menu flexibility is enhanced by the capability to have the same program
file name on multiple lines in PROGMENU.AM, each with different "-d"
and/or "-p" switches.

  An example PROGMENU.AM file is included in this package.  Use it for
an example and modify it for your own menu list.

  When Ctrl-X is pressed, AM will first look in the current directory
(left window) for PROGMENU.AM and load it if found.  If not found there,
AM will search the DOS path and load it if found.  If not found, nothing
happens.  This strategy permits maintaining numerous variants of
PROGMENU.AM in different directories as well as maintaining one master
copy in one directory in the DOS path.

  Note that AM automatically uses its swap to EMS/Disk capability when
executing programs in order to maximize the amount of RAM available to
the target program.