This archive should contain the following files (if it doesn't then it's probably been tweaked by some lunatic who is determined to infect this program with a virus -it can only be a PC owner!).
AutoAppMenu - The main program (small isn't it ?)
AutoAppMenu.info - The icon for the program (big isn't it ?)
AutoAppMenu_Background - WBStartUp script file
AutoAppMenu_Background.info - come on, must I tell you everything ?
AutoAppMenu.Doc - well if you haven't found this yet...
AutoAppMenu.Doc.info - ...and you'd be blind to miss it!
Concisish documentation
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Welcome to AutoAppMenu! It's designed to allow you to have an easy way of adding options to the "Tools" menu of your Workbench (Workbench V2.00 and higher only, I'm afraid!). It works in exactly the same way as your "WBStartUp" drawer, so all you have to do to add an option to the menu is to drag the icon of the program into the "AutoAppMenu" drawer, and next time you load up Workbench, it'll be in the "Tools" menu. The program will automatically identify the correct files to put in the menu, so if you make a mistake and drag a picture from Deluxe Paint into the drawer, it won't appear, whereas Deluxe Paint itself WILL appear if you were to do the same.
Installation
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There's no reason why you shouldn't just stick the AutoAppMenu program in your WBStartUp drawer, and forget about it, because its operation is completely transparent (apart from the fact that your Tools menu is a tad longer!). One drawback is that in order to quit the Workbench, you have to quit AutoAppMenu as well. This is achieved by holding down the left mousebutton when you let go of the menu. So, in order to quit, hold down the right mouse button to bring up the menu, and position the mouse over any of the options started by AutoAppMenu (ie. not ResetWB). Now hold down the left mouse button, and let go of the right one. Note that this does not affect multi-selection, provided you aren't still holding the left button when the menu disappears.
If you don't like the idea of having to quit the program before you quit Workbench, I have supplied a little script in order to make the job easier. It's called "AutoAppMenu_Background", and you simply drag this into the WBStartUp drawer INSTEAD of the normal AutoAppMenu program icon. All you have to do now is drag the AutoAppMenu program icon into the "C" directory of the disc you boot from. Normally, this will be invisible, so select Show/All Files from the "Window" menu, and then scroll around the window until you find the drawer with "C" on it. Simply drag the program icon into this drawer, and next time you reboot, the menu items will still appear, but Workbench will let you quit with the menu items still present. Note that if you have made any modifications to your boot disc, you must ensure that a program called "IconX" is in your "C" directory. This program comes with all Workbenches, and there is no reason why it shouldn't be there (unless anyone has moved it!).
To complete the installation, create a drawer in the ROOT of your disc (ie. in the same place as WBStartUp, System, Utilities etc.). Select "New Drawer" from the "Window" menu, and change the name of the drawer to "AutoAppMenu". In fact, you can use the drawer that these files come in!
Error Messages
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If for any reason the program fails, it will bring up a requester to tell you what's wrong (unless of course there's something wrong with the requester that tells you there's something wrong -in which case -PANIC!).
"Not enough memory to set up AutoAppMenu": As AutoAppMenu is itself very small, and it is also very memory efficient (well, I think so), you should never receive this error. Even on the smallest of machines, you should NEVER get this error, unless you have a ridiculously-long list of menu items!
"Can't access `SYS:AutoAppMenu'": If you have somehow protected the AutoAppMenu directory from being read, or have a corrupted disc, then the program will not be able to continue, and you'll get this error.
"Unable to locate `SYS:AutoAppMenu'": Basically, you have either renamed, or removed the AutoAppMenu directory, so it has nowhere to look for menu items.
"Unable to read files from `SYS:AutoAppMenu'": If you have protected any files inside the AutoAppMenu drawer from being read, or they are corrupted, you'll be told about it.
"Unable to open files from `SYS:AutoAppMenu'": This will only appear if your files are being used by someone else, or you have protected them from being read.
"Unable to open a message port": AutoAppMenu has to talk to Workbench in order to find out if you've selected one of the menu items. It does this via a little system called "message ports". Basically, if the program can't open one, then it's more useless than Microsoft Windows (but not quite as buggy!).
"Unable to open Workbench library": This is a fatal error, as the program needs to get the Workbench to set up its menus. Without this, it isn't possible to create any.
"Unable to open DOS library": This is another fatal error, as the program needs to get the system to read the contents of the AutoAppMenu drawer.
Techie notes
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The program is my first 100% assembly language project. I usually use compiled AMOS Professional, with a bit of machine code here and there for speed. Because of the fact that it's not written in C (I'm learning C++, but I don't have the Amiga C include files -anyway I HATE C!). In later versions (if I can manage them!), I hope to include the following:
* Some sort of interrupt server to enable the program to automatically update the menus, so if an item is added, or removed from the "AutoAppMenu" drawer, the system will automatically re-do the "Tools" menu. Tricky!
* Add commodities support. Hard!
* Add some kind of front end for more advanced users in order to improve the interaction with parameters (ie. if you have any icons selected while you select menu options).
...well, nobody's perfect!
...and finally
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I hope that this program is of some use to you. I would appreciate feedback on bugs, and/or suggested improvements. So if you fancy dropping me a line, then see below for the addresses. Unfortunately, Amiga owners are rather thin on the ground at my University (Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London) in this PC-infested world, so I've been unable to find anyone else to try out the program on their machines. At present, I know that it works on the A500+ (Kickstart 37.175). Enjoy (note that if this program does excite you, you're quite insane, and should apply for a job as a lecturer at QMW).
Blimey! It's been over two years since I last wrote a program for the Public Domain (Coder III, if I remember correctly). I used to be a fairly regular contributor to the Deja Vu (now AMOS PD) library, but due to A-Levels, I've had to bring that to a halt. I'm currently writing this during the Christmas hols, and have a number of other projects nearing completion. So watch out for the comeback!
