*** Additional help available on-line in the program!
• For information on the 'Special' menu in Menu Maker Pro™, consult the information box on the title screen.
• System 7 users may use Balloon Help for almost all buttons, fields and menus in Menu Maker Pro™. System 6 users can use the "Show Help" menuitem for help on the buttons in the Work Screen only.
***
Topics:
• About this Guide
• How to Register
• Key Terms
• Menu Making Basics
• Liability information
About this Guide:
This guide has been specially created to guide you through the menu making process in the self contained HyperCard® development system. You may wish to refer to HyperTalk Reference guide, under "Menus" to learn more about the key words. Since this program was written for the everyday user, we have now included a list of key terms that you will need to know to make menus more effectively.
How do I register?:
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It's easy! Just select "SW Registration..." from the "Special" menu. It will take you to 2 cards which serve as your order form. Simply fill out the text boxes, select the appropriate check boxes and your done! Use the "Print" menu and in a minute your order form is complete. Send it in with your check or money order to:
BenSoft Ltd.,
ATTN: Sales Department
6601 Horseshoe Lane
Huntington Beach, CA
92648-1525
*** Make your check or money order is payable to Ben Zadik.
In a couple of weeks, you'll receive your Registration password to eliminate the Shareware notice at the begining of the program. Remember, the SHAREWARE fee is only $10, or $15 for the most current copy on a disk, plus special bonus stacks.
*** Special reminder: Once you order, for this low price, you'll be guaranteed all other upgrades for free. You'll also be notifed by electronic mail of new products, and upgrades.
Send questions, suggestions, comments to:
BenSoft Ltd.
ATTN: Customer Service
6601 Horseshoe Lane
Huntington Beach CA
92648-1525
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Key Terms:
• Menubar: The solid strip at the top of the screen used in almost every application for the Macintosh. According to the ATP (Apple Thought Police), all applications should include an Apple Menu, File menu, and Edit menu. However feel free to do what every you wish to customize your own stacks.
HyperCard commands: Hide menubar -- will hide the menubar until it is "SHOW"n
Show menubar -- shows the menubar when hidden
• Menuitem: The lines listed under each menu. Menu Maker allows you to customize the menus and create your own menuitems.
• Menu message: This is very important. If you are planning on using the menus you create with Menu Maker Pro™ in your own stacks, you will need a handler to intercept the "messages" sent when someone selects a menuitem. The menu message is the handler that you will use in your stacks to handle each menuitem. Normally, you name the handlers according to the menuitem name.
One of the buttons on the Work Screen of Menu Maker Pro™ has a button called "Set Menumessage". By setting a menumessage for each menuitem, Menu Maker Pro™ will create skeleton handlers for you. For instance, if you created a menuitem named "Beep...", you might name the menu message "BeepMM". Menu Maker Pro™ will then create a handler like this:
on BeepMM
end BeepMM
All you must do is add commands inbetween those 2 lines and whenever the "Beep..." menuitem is selected, those commands will be executed. Here is an example of what you might write IN YOUR OWN STACK AFTER YOUR MENUS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED:
on BeepMM
answer "Beep how many times?" with "3" or "2" or "1"
put it into howMany
beep howMany
end BeepMM
**** Extra Notes on Menu Messages:
It's a good idea to add "MM" after all menuitem handler names for 2 reasons. First, it is easier to tell them apart from normal handlers. Second, it protects you from accidentally intercepting a HyperCard command like "Quit".
• Command Characters: Command characters are "shortcuts" to many of the menuitems found in Macintosh menus. For instance, the "Q" found to the right of "Quit" in the File menu of this document, of the "P" found to the right of the "Print..." of the File menu. It enables the user to access that menuitem by pressing (and holding down) the Command button (also known as the "open apple" button) and one key.
For instance, pressing Command + "P" will access the "Print..." menuitem.
Menu Maker Pro™ allows you to give your menuitems their own command characters, using the "Set Command Char." button on the Work Screen.
For more information use Balloon Help while in the Work Screen.
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Menu Making Basics (with Menu Maker Pro™ V1.6)
* How menus work in HyperCard®- To make menus in HyperCard, you must use many repetitive commands to create a menu, make menuitems, and customize them. These commands must be stored in "scripts", and more specifically, handlers. These handlers can be called at any time.
* How Menu Maker Pro™ V1.6 helps- Menu Maker Pro is a HyperCard stack. It works by letting you enter the names of the menus and menuitems you want. Additionally, it lets you set properties of them like enable/disable, command characters etc. Then, by examining what you have entered, it creates all the HYPERCARD COMMANDS FOR YOU, AND THEN WRITES THEM WRITE INTO YOUR CUSTOM STACKS FOR YOU.
Menu Maker Pro™ will put all the commands in a handler (that you name in the Preference card). After installation, to call up your menus, just type the name of the handler into the message box, or in your scripts.
•••••••• New feature: Version 1.6 introduces a new preference called "Include System Messages". When checked (in the preference card), Menu Maker will include the following handlers AUTOMATICALLY. We suggest ALL BEGINNERS KEEP THIS CHECKED!
on openStack
menuMaker -- or whatever the handler name is
pass openStack
end openStack
on closeStack
reset menubar
pass closeStack
end closeStack
on resumeStack
menuMaker -- or whatever the handler name is
pass resumeStack
end resumeStack
on suspendStack
reset menubar
pass suspendStack
end suspendStack
These messages (above) instruct HyperCard® to create YOUR CUSTOM menus whenever your stack is opened, and delete them when it is closed. The "resumeStack" and "suspendStack" do the same when you are working with multiple stacks at once.
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For details on how Menu Maker Pro™ V1.6 accomplishes this, contact BenSOFT Ltd by the address listed in this document.
Menu Maker Pro™ has not been known to cause any problems to any Macintosh as of 312/94.
WARNING: THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS ASSUMED BY YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU (AND NOT BENSOFT™ OR ITS DEALERS) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION. FURTHER, BENSOFT™ DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF, OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF, THE PROGRAM IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE; AND YOU RELY ON THE PROGRAM AND RESULTS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
THEIR IS NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE THAT IS MADE BY BENSOFT™ ON THIS BENSOFT™ PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Menu Maker Pro & BenSoft are trademarks of BenSoft Ltd.
HyperCard, Apple & Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc.
