Mega CD-ROM 1/megacd_rom_1.zip/megacd_rom_1/MENU/MENU15.ZIP/MENU.DOC

Text File | 1991-10-10 | 22KB | 443 lines

          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          ~                  MENU Version 1.5                   ~
          ~   (C) Copyright  A.Spiegl H.Kaufmann München 1991   ~
          ~                All rights reserved                  ~
          ~                                                     ~
          ~                    10-15-1991                       ~
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


What is MENU ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MENU is a configurable Menu for all DOS-applications, which doesn't take up
any memory space while called applications are running. You can choose your
menu items by keyboard or mouse. All the features your mouse-driver and/or
video card has, are supported, like grafik cursors in text mode, windowing etc.


Why do you need it or why we made it:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We finally wanted to have an easy to use DOS-Menu that supports the mouse, is
faster than BATch file menus and doesn't look like scrap. We were also tired
of loosing any other byte of the rare memory (the high memory is full already)
that DOS provides. So, now you know!


Revision History
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Additions with Version 1.5
 * double clicks are now supported !!!
 * Screen Saver
 * MouseButton handling improved
 * PageUp/Down handling fixed
 * added Mouse emulation of PageUp/Down-Keys (right button)
 * bugfixes

Additions with Version 1.4
 * support of different software-mouse cursors
 * grafik-mouse cursors added
 * works with black&white mode now
 * some minor bugs fixed

Additions with Version 1.3
 * PageUp/PageDown/Home/End keys work now
 * real shadows of window and buttons

Additions with Version 1.2
 * adjustable window size for different screen modes
 * mouse/cursor position is being saved

Additions with Version 1.1
 * mouse support
 * reorganisation of batchfile handling
 * bugfixes


How to install it ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's as easy as making coffee (or tea as well, if you don't like coffee):

1. Copy MENU.LZH to your harddisk. Any directory is okay - doesn't have to be
   in your path !

2. Unpack it.

3. If you want, you can rename the file MENU_.EXE. Choose any name that you
   like (e.g. GAMES_.EXE). But there must be some other character at the end
   of this name (like '_' or '' ( <- ASCII 255)). Otherwise the program will
   cut off one letter for your DAT and BAT file. The reason is that there has
   to be some difference between the EXE file and the BATch file. You want to
   start the batch file and not the EXE. (further explanation follows)

4. Now you should create a DAT file which holds the information about the menu
   items. There is an example called MENU.DAT, so you can just customize this
   instead of starting from the scratch.
   Okay, here is what this file must look like:

   1st line: title of your menu (is shown in window border. Try it!)
   2nd line: ***  (exactly three stars)
   3rd line: description of the menu item (e.g.: 'Windows 5.0')
   4th line: full path you want to change to before starting the program
   5th line: [path] name of program (e.g.: 'win.com' or 'C:\WINDOWS\win')
   6th line: ** (exactly two stars)
   ...
     now start with the next item like in the 3rd through 6th line.
   ...
   after the last item (instead of two stars): ***

   optionally you may add two more lines:
   · DOS command which is to be executed after the menu has been quit.
   · text that is to be printed after the menu has been quit and the command of
     the last line has been executed.

   A short example DAT file would be:
   ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ Test Menu                                                                │
   │ ***                                                                      │
   │ First item of MY OWN menu.                                               │
   │                                                                          │
   │ echo This is the first item.                                             │
   │ **                                                                       │
   │ Show contents of the main directory of drive F:                          │
   │ F:\                                                                      │
   │ dir                                                                      │
   │ **                                                                       │
   │ This executes a batch file called GAMES.BAT                              │
   │ G:\WHAT_IS.FUN                                                           │
   │ call C:\UTILS\BATCH\games                                                │
   │ ***                                                                      │
   │ cls                                                                      │
   │ Did you like it? If so then customize the DAT file for your own purposes.│
   └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

   As you see you can use many tricks like CALLing batch files or not speci-
   fying the directory to change to etc. As mentioned before you can leave
   those last two lines away completely. It would also make sense to use the
   second last line for calling the MENU again. That way there is no way to get
   back to the DOS prompt. (for limiting peoples access to your computer !!!)

5. Okay, please type in the name of the EXE file now and exit it again by
   hitting the ESCape key or pressing the according button with your mouse.
   This has to be done in order to create a proper BATch file that is needed
   for your MENU to work. (further explanation below)

6. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?  (Hey freaks, just kidding!)
   Anyway that's it. You are done and ready to get going with your version of
   MENU. Just type in 'menu' or whatever you called it (e.g. 'games') and you
   will see what has taken us several months to create. (But it was fun and we
   did it for us in the first place.)
   If you want to be able to call the menu from whereever in your directory
   tree you are you have to create an additional BATch file. See the section
   COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS for details.

7. Have fun with it and give it to your friends if you like it. To adjust some
   special parameters please see the section COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS below.


What can I do once the menu is on the screen?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the MENU window has popped up, you can move up and down the menu
items using either the cursor keys /, PageUp/PageDown or by pointing with
your mouse pointer at a specific item. Pressing the left mouse button while
you are on one of the buttons with an arrow has the same effect as pressing
the according cursor key. If you do this with your right mouse button the same
happens as if PageUp/PageDown had been pressed.
Once you have found out what menu item you want to choose, just double click
on it to start this application. Or if this item is already highlighted you
can also press RETURN/ENTER on your keyboard or click the button with this sign
on it: "┘" (should be on your RETURN key of your keyboard also, that's why.)

In case you can't decide right away of if you want to drink a coffee or tea or
whatever, you don't have to worry about a possible burnin of your screen. If
the program is idle (= no mouse/keyboard action) for more than the specified
time (see COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS, section Screen Saver for details) the built
in screen saver turns your screen to a black background and some blue stars on
it. (so that everybody can see that your computer is still turned on)
You can speed up this process by moving the mouse into the upper right hand
corner of the popup window. This is the Sleep Corner and thus activates the
screen saver at once.

You can exit MENU at any time by simply hitting the ESCape key or pressing the
left mouse button when the mouse pointer is on the button with ESC on it.

We tried to make the use of MENU as easy as possible. If you don't think it is,
please let us know. For we are very open minded for your suggestions.


What about this BATch file and stuff?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, this part is for freaks and everybody who wants to become one:
In order not to waste any memory the MENU is quit every time a program is
chosen. It is reloaded as soon as this other program is done. Of course this
process has to be organized by a BATch file.
It is very convenient that DOS always closes a BATch file as soon as it has to
execute an external command. That is what we are taking advantage of: We just
alter the BATch file that has started our MENU. Thus after the MENU has quit
the program that we wrote into the BATch file is started. And after those lines
there is a goto statement that tells DOS to start reading the BATch file from
the beginning and therefor brings up the MENU window again. Now you probably
think 'How do we ever get out of this loop again?'. Well, as soon as the user
presses ESC, we don't write the goto statement into the file. So the BATch
stops and we get back to whatever has called the MENU.BAT file.
Now that you (should) have understood how this works, you will agree that it
is at all circumstances forbidden (and useless) to make any changes to the
BATch file. Once again:


           DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE BATCH FILE !!!!!!!!!!
          ------------------------------------------------------


Command line parameters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some methods to change the look of your MENU:
 * Off course there is a switch to have the MENU talk in English:

   Use '/E' (without the quotes) as parameter. Otherwise everything will be in
   German. Good practice for your German class!

 * You can adjust the height of the popup window. This is usefull, if you have
   e.g. a VGA video adapter and use a video mode where more than 25 lines per
   screen are displayed:

   Use '/L:x' (without the quotes) as parameter, where x is a positive number
   that says how many MENU items are to be displayed in the window.

 * You can change the look of your mouse pointer. If you have a video adapter
   and mouse driver (like Microsoft Mouse Driver version 7.05) that supports a
   graphic mouse cursor while in text mode then you can use this ability with
   this MENU. (Looks great !!!) You can find out about that for example with
   the NORTON Commander or by just using /G as described below: if your mouse
   cursor is not a block but an arrow and moves smoothly, then you have this
   possibiliy.

   Use '/C:x' (without the quotes) as parameter, where x is a positive number
   between 0 and 13 and see what happens!
   Use '/G' (without the quotes) as additional parameter, if your video adapter
   supports a graphic mouse cursor. (if not nothing happens) But then the '/C:'
   parameter only accepts numbers from 0 to 2.

 * Since the version 1.5 MENU has a built in Screen Saver. It acts and looks
   very much like the one that the Norton Commander uses, but is off course
   much better. Just look at it and decide for yourself. If you don't like it,
   tell us; we might change it then.

   The Screen Saver is activated as soon as
    - nothing has happened (mouse or keyboard actions) for a while. You can
      customize this delay with the parameter 'SS:x' (without the quotes)
      where x is a positive number between 0 and 100000000 and means after
      how many seconds of idle time the screen saver is activated.
    - the mouse cursor is moved to the upper right hand corner. (Sleep Corner)

   The parameter 'SS:0' (without the quotes) turns the screen saver off.



                   ATTENTION !!! ATTENTION !!!
                  -----------------------------
   Do not call the EXE file with those parameters.
    (you don't call the EXE file at all, except during installation!)

   But use them when you call the BATch file:
    e.g. type MENU /L:20 and NOT: MENU_ /L:20

   Also do not change the BATch file in order to use parameters. It won't work
   and your changes will be gone after you ran the MENU just once. Instead
   use these parameters when calling the according BATch file. As this is not
   convenient you can create another BATch file which then does this for you.

   For example this BATch file could look as follows:
    ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
    │ @echo off                       │
    │ c:                              │
    │ cd \UTILS\MENU                  │
    │ call menu.bat /L:20 /C:13       │
    │ cd \                            │
    └─────────────────────────────────┘
   Put this BATch file in a directory that is included in your path so that
   you can call MENU no matter where you are. (You should sit next to your PC!)


Memory and time specifications:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MENU takes no memory at all as programs are started out of batch files and the
menu is reloaded every time. This does not take too much processing time even
if you don't have a disk cache installed.


How about WINDOWS ?     <== Microsoft product and copyright.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Off course you can use this program with WINDOWS also. Is there a program that
you can't nowadays ?
You can add WINDOWS as one of the menu items and thus come back to your MENU
after closing down WINDOWS. Or you can call the menu out of WINDOWS. That way
you only have one program name/icon to choose in order to start a DOS appli-
cation, and then decide which one exactly you want to run. We don't do it that
way, but you might want to.
Anyway, for this reason there are a PIF and an ICO file (for version 3.0).
Select FILE - NEW, enter the appropriate path and MENU.PIF, select CHANGE ICON,
type in the path and MENU.ICO and select OK a couple times. There you are!
(In case you changed the MENU name, you have to do the same in the PIF file!)


Is there online HELP available ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As this is a top-modern-super-intelligent-not-to-beat program it should have
online help, but it doesn't for a simple reason: We are pretty sure that there
is no way to misuse or misunderstand or not know what to do once you are in the
MENU. All you can do, is choose an item with the cursor keys or your mouse or
light pen or whatever, scroll through the different items, and select either
the RETURN/ENTER or ESC key or button. That's it.

The only thing which is not documented is that you can double click on an
item in order to activate it, instead of having to press the RETURN/ENTER
key or button, but this has become a standard mouse feature that everybody
should be able to figure it out by him- or herself.
Since version 1.5 it also possible to simulate the PageUp/Down keys with the
mouse. To do this, simply press the right mouse button, when the mouse pointer
is on one of the buttons with the arrows.


Enhancements of future versions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 * more than one command per line in MENU.DAT (separated by a colon)
 * turn on/off the ESC, Return and an HELP Button by command line switch.
 * online help
 * password protection for some items
 * save parameters as defaults
 * change colors

and anything else you suggest (whether registered or not)

Known Problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There seems to be a problem with DesqView. I couldn't figure out so far what
it is, but the system always crashes after MENU has been running for a while.
So, better don't use MENU with DesqView (it has its own menu anyway) until I
have fixed this bug.

Who made MENU ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MENU is a shareware program by Andy Spiegl and Heidi Kaufmann of

               -->   MIRROR PC TECHNICS   <--

As shareware, you are entitled to try MENU out for 15 days free, feel free to
upload it to online services and give copies to friends, provided you follow
these rules:

1) A lot of time and effort went into writing and testing MENU. If you don't
   use it, throw it out. If you do use it, pay the modest shareware fee of
   $30 US (or equivalent) to the authors. By paying the shareware fee, you
   will become a registered user of MENU, receive notice of all upgrades, and
   receive a personalized version of MENU (with your own colors) in the mail.

   Paying the shareware fee for something you find useful encourages the free
   exchange of information currently enjoyed by the software community.
   It also encourages us, the authors, to support and upgrade the program. If
   you don't want to pay, don't do it, but remember:
       WE WON'T PAY FOR YOUR SHAREWARE PROGRAM EITHER !!!

   But as we are friendly people we offer another way of becoming a registered
   user of MENU:
  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ If you send us constructive criticism or any useful programming hints we │
  │ will consider offering you to become a R.U. without paying.              │
  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

2) You may give an evaluation copy (non-personalized) of MENU to others, but
   you are not allowed to distribute MENU for direct or indirect profit by any
   means.

3) When distributing MENU, you may not alter MENU_.LZH including this documen-
   tation in any way.

4) While every effort has been made to test MENU in various environments,
   neither the authors MIRROR PC TECHNICS are liable for any damages caused
   directly or indirectly through the use or misuse of MENU.
   We provide MENU *as is*, and give no guarantee that any specific features
   will be added in the future.  We do not guarantee that there will be future
   versions of MENU, but this is very probable if we receive user support
   through shareware, constructive critisism or any programming hint.


The Shareware Fee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To register as an authorized user of MENU, send us the modest shareware fee.
If you send us $30 US, you will be registered, we will notify you of all
upgrades (in advance of their release), and we will mail you a personalized
copy of the most recent version of MENU (with your choice of colors).
Users who have already sent us $30 US are still registered, but if you send an
additional $5 (to cover the cost of the disk and shipping) we will send you a
personalized copy of the latest version of MENU.
Due to our friendliness, we offer group licenses for sites or LANs that have
many MENU users. The sliding fee scale makes MENU less expensive per user as
the size of your site increases.  The fee scale is as follows:

# of Units  Cost per Unit (US)

3-9         $25
10-19       $20
20-49       $17
50-99       $15
100 or more $10

All licenses of 10 or more units include 1 disk.  Please add $5 US to any order
for each additional master disk you require.  Also, please specify the size and
format (DSDD 3.5 inch, for example) of the disks you need. If you do not pro-
vide your disk preference, we will use DSDD 5¼ inch disks.

Once you receive your personalized copy of MENU, you will be able to update
to later versions by downloading the new version from online services. We
apologize to registered users for the hassle of sending another $5, but it's
required to cover the shipping & handling of your personalized master disk.

We prefer payment in DM (German Marks) or US dollars, but if you have no
access to or cannot convert to these currencies, we also accept other
currencies. We would like you only to use cheques (if at all) that are valid
in Europe, i.e. Germany. If this is impossible for you or not convenient you
can also send the money to the following address:

  Jan & Don Etnier
  414 Gilbert Avenue
  Eau Claire, WI 54701
  U.S.A.

But please include a note to them that they will tell us what you did and who
you are. Otherwise send your shareware fee payable to:

  Andy Spiegl           or:        Heidi Kaufmann
  Kirchweg 11a          ~~~        Johann-Houis-Str.12
  8000 München 70                  8000 München 70
  Germany                          Germany


There is an additional benefit to becoming a registered user of MENU:
 * On request we will send you a TURBO Pascal MOUSE Unit, so that you can
   include mouse support in your own programs.

Our aim is nothing less than to make MENU what you want it to be.
Therefore, we appreciate and encourage all user feedback that will help us to
improve the product.  For any questions, comments or complaints, you can
contact us by mail, E-Mail, voice or online services as detailed below:

  Andy Spiegl           or:        Heidi Kaufmann
  Kirchweg 11a          ~~~        Johann-Houis-Str.12
  8000 München 70                  8000 München 70
  Germany                          Germany

E-Mail: [e-mail]
Voice: [phone]
Petsy-CBIS (Munich): Andy Spiegl


To help our efforts to map out who is using MENU on what hardware/software,
please fill out the form in the file REGISTER.FRM. It will help us make MENU
even better. It will also make it easier for us to inform you of upgrades, etc.

Many thanks for your support,

 Heidi Kaufmann
 Andy Spiegl