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mxmenu.txt
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1991-09-01
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9KB
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297 lines
Dear Novell Network Supervisor,
As I'm sure you are aware, the menu system that comes with Novell has
a few limitations. If these limitations are a problem for you and you
are considering moving up to to a better menu system, here's why you
might want to look at MarxMenu.
MarxMenu has a Novell menu translator that can convert the users
current menus to MarxMenu. The converted menu script is commented
MarxMenu source code with instructions embedded in the file. Thus it
has a very short learning curve. Many users report that they learned
MarxMenu and converted their menus in one afternoon. The translator
is run by typing:
MARXMENU NOVTRANS <name>
This produces a NAME.TMP file which is MarxMenu source and a NAME.MRX
file which is the compiled file. The user can then run the menu by
typing MARX NAME rather than MENU NAME>
Here's a list of some situations where MarxMenu is the right
solution.
Common Questions:
=============================================================
Q. I upgraded to 3.11 (2.2) and my applications says I don't have
enough memory. What do I do?
A. The novell menus take about 93k of ram. MarxMenu takes 0k or NO
RAM. This gives the customer a menory gain over the previous menu
rather than a memory loss.
Q. The !LOGOUT command doesn't work.
A. In MarxMenu it works. The supervisor can control logoff by
creating a batch file in the \LOGIN directory called OFF.BAT.
MarxMenu runs this file when logging off. MarxMenu can also log a
user off after several minutes of inactivity when in the menu system.
Q. I want one menu to call another menu. How do I do that.
A. MarxMenu allows for unlimited nesting of menus and is still 0k.
Q. I want to lock my users into the menu and prevent them from
escaping out of it. Can I do that?
A. MarxMenu can prevent exiting from the menu. It can also allow
users to exit conditionally so those in certian groups or with
console operator rights can exit the menu.
Q. I'm having a problem with the menu creating a trail of GO and
RESTART files all over my server. I also have to give the user more
access rights to run applications from the menu than from the command
line. How do I avoid this?
A. MarxMenu creates temporary batch files in a specific directory
where all users have full access rights. This is set with an
environment variable SET TEMP=DIRECTORY which is the same way that
DOS 5 and Windows sets a directory for temporary files. Thus MarxMenu
allows you to restrict access to the same level as the command line.
Q. When I load a TSR under the menu, the menu crashes. How do I deal
with TSR's.
A. MarxMenu is a 0K menu. Thus you can LOAD and UNLOAD TSR's under
menu control. And without creating "memory holes". Thus, you can
unload your GateWay software to run a big Clipper application and
then load the GateWay back up and come back to the menu.
Q. I can't load Windows or Windows applications under the menu. What
do I do?
A. MarxMenu can start Windows and Windows applications with no
problem.
Q. I want a menu with a screen blanker. What do you have?
A. MarxMenu has a screen blanker. It has an optional security feature
to require the user type in their novell password to unblank the
screen.
Q. Speaking of passwords, how can I put a password on a menu
selection.
A. MarxMenu can password anything any way you want.
Q. Instead of having 90 menus, I want one menu that shows the user
choices based on what group they are in. How can I do that.
A. MarxMenu allows menu choices to be shown conditionally based on
Group or other conditions. Thus, a single network menu can serve all
the users on the network. Besides Group membership, MarxMenu can test
for station address, type of video (HERC, VGA, ect.), DayOfWeek,
UserName, TimeOf Day, and hundreds of other conditions.
Q. I want a menu that will automatically start my tape backup at
3:00am. How do I do that.
A. MarxMenu allows you to automatically execute programs at certian
times of the day or days of the week. The number of events are
unlimited.
Q. Security is an issue. I don't want users to be able to read the
menu files. How do I prevent this.
A. MarxMenu menu files are compiled and encrypted. Thus, a user with
a hex editor can't look inside the compiled to find passwords or
other information.
Q. What about speed. I have a big menu and it's just too slow on my
XT machines.
A. MarxMenu is a compiled menu system employing overlay technology.
Even on 4.77mhz computers running big menus on a heavilly loaded
network you're still looking at only a few seconds to load.
Here's a typical Novell Menu:
=============================================================
%Main Menu,0,0,3
1. Session Management
Session
2. File Management
Filer
3. Volume Information
VolInfo
4. System Configuration
SysCon
5. File Server Monitoring
FConsole
6. Print Queue Management
PConsole
7. Print Job Configurations
PrintCon
8. Printer Definitions
PrintDef
9. Logout
!Logout
Here's what it looks like after using the MarxMenu Translator. The
comments shown here are automatically added by the translator.
Comment
==========================================================
This File was converted from Novell Menu: MAIN.MNU
It should behave in a similar way to the original menu but
not necessarilly exactly the same. It will be close enough
for you to fine tune it the way you want.
To add a choice to a menu simply use the AddChoice command
then add the appropiate Onkey statement.
The menu will make the size adjustments accordinaly.
Example:
AddChoice("Print Console",10)
...
...
OnKey Task(10)
PConsole
...
If you want to change the menu's center, pass the XY
coordinates to menu's CenterStretchBox procedure.
Example:
CenterStretchBox("Menu Header",10,10)
This will cause the menu to center at Col 10, Row 10
Once you are satisfied with the translation you can copy the TMP file
over the old Novell MNU file and just work with the MarxMenu version.
To control custom features, edit CUSTOM.INC and other INCLUDE Files.
=========================================================
EndComment
;----- Create Variables
var
%NovVar1
%NovVar2
%NovVar3
%NovVar4
%NovVar5
%NovVar6
%NovVar7
%NovVar8
%NovVar9
%NovVar10
KeepUsersInMenu
;----- Here is where you add you own menu title and status line message
MenuTitle = "Joe Blow's Master Menu"
StatusLineText = "*-<< Acme Manufacturing Company >>-*"
;----- Load Novell look and feel routines
Include "CUSTOM.INC"
KeepUsersInMenu Off
Comment
=================================
In order to add menu choices conditionally you would append the
choices to the end of the array after all the default choices
are set. For Example:
if NovInGroup("ACCOUNTING")
AddChoice("Payroll Menu",10)
endif
Here is where menus are created.
=================================
EndComment
;----- Translating: Main Menu
AddChoice("Session Management",1)
AddChoice("File Management",2)
AddChoice("Volume Information",3)
AddChoice("System Configuration",4)
AddChoice("File Server Monitoring",5)
AddChoice("Print Queue Management",6)
AddChoice("Print Job Configurations",7)
AddChoice("Printer Definitions",8)
AddChoice("Logout",9)
CenterStretchBox("Main Menu",0,0)
OnKey Task(1)
Session
OnKey Task(2)
Filer
OnKey Task(3)
VolInfo
OnKey Task(4)
SysCon
OnKey Task(5)
FConsole
OnKey Task(6)
PConsole
OnKey Task(7)
PrintCon
OnKey Task(8)
PrintDef
OnKey Task(9)
|Logoff
OnKey ESC
|if not KeepUsersInMenu or NovConsoleOperator
| LeaveMenu
|endif
;----- End of Menu
=============================================================
MarxMenu can be downloaded from CIS NOVA LIB 14. MXMENU.ZIP Or it can
be downloaded from the Computer Tyme BBS at 417-866-1665.
You can call us at 1-800-548-5353 (1-417-866-1222) and we can mail
you an EVAL disk with the complete Network Survival Kit. The single
server price for the NSK is $495/Server.
Computer Tyme
411 North Sherman, Suite 300
Springfield Mo. 65802