If you have ever tried to use ResEdit to modify or add a MENU, you know how slow the template mechanism of ResEdit can become. That was the one biggest flaw that I saw with ResEdit. I thought that MENUs should be as easy to edit as ICONs or some of the other more common resource types that ResEdit includes special sub-editors for. So I wrote a menu editor myself. Now if only the PICT window would allow you to re-size.
To install the MenuEditor into ResEdit, simply make a copy of ResEdit (I used V1.2d0 for testing), and run it. Open the file called ResMENU, and select the only resource found in it. Copy it, and then open up ResEdit (the duplicate), and Paste. Close ResEdit and save the changes and quit. Now your set. Every time you double click on a menu when you are using the modified ResEdit, it will open the MenuEditor and your life will be much easier.
Using it is even simpler than installing it. Just click on the item that you wish to change, and make the changes in the boxes to the right. Remember to click the "Do It!" button, or hit return before you click on the next item, or you will lose the changes that you just made. To add an item, click on the item above where you want the new one, and choose New from the file menu. To get rid of an item, click on it and choose Clear from the edit menu.
The check boxes are all pretty self-explanatory, except the H-Menu box. This allows you to make the selected Item a hierarchical menu, so that it will bring up the sub menu (specified in Sub#) when your program calls it - pretty neat, eh?
The best part about this program is that it is FREE. If you do use it, though, I would like to hear from you. Any comments or suggestions about this program, or any ideas for any other utilities (or games, or anything …) are welcomed. Please send me something to tell me that what I am writing is getting some use. I will continue to update this utility, so if you want a newer version, just send a disk and return postage along with your comments. The address is:
Alan T. Goates
OtherWare
310 S. 13th E. #3
Salt Lake City, Ut 84102
Version 1.1 added a few features over version 1.0. There was a major oversight in version 1.0, in that I had no way to change the menu ID number. This has been corrected. To change the menu ID, click on the title, and a box for the ID will appear. Icons now display correctly (at full height), and hierarchical menus are allowed (although you cannot actually see the sub menu). You can now temporarily install the menu that you are working on (from the MENU menu). To get rid of it, just click anywhere but the menu bar. The edit menu is now fully functional for single menu items (except Undo), and will allow you to copy and paste an item between resources (i.e. from one application to another).
Version 1.1a is just a few minor bug fixes from 1.1.
Version 1.2 has only one major improvement over 1.1 - COLOR. There is now a 'Item Color' choice in the menu, if you are using a color Mac (if not, you won't really notice any difference from 1.1a). When you choose that option, you will be given different choices of attributes to colorize (text, key or mark), and then you are given the color picker to choose the new color for that attribute. This will modify the 'mctb' resource corresponding to the 'MENU' that you are working on. If you have the menu title selected when you choose 'Item Color', you are given attributes of the entire menu to modify (title, text or background), instead of a specific item in the menu.
All rights are reserved by the author. This program may not be sold or included with any product that is sold, without consent of the author.
