home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? I GET CRYPTIC MESSAGES AFTER LOGGING OUT OF A NETWARE NETWORK. WHAT CAN
- I DO TO PREVENT THIS?
-
- Ans: When you use a batch file to run the NetWare logout command, some of your
- mappings will be lost before the batch file is completed, leading to
- strange DOS errors. For instance, if you used the OUT.BAT to log out and
- the contents of OUT.BAT were:
-
- OUT.BAT
- ───────
- @echo off
- cls
- logout
- f:
-
- then you might receive one of these:
-
- Cannot execute X:\OUT.BAT
- or
- Invalid drive specification - X:\OUT.BAT
- or
- perhaps your DOS prompt goes completely away.
-
- It is easy to prevent this from occurring. What is probably happening is
- that you are not in the F:\LOGIN directory when the OUT comand is issued
- or either DOS 'sees' you on another drive, like X:, due to your network
- search mappings for the F:\LOGIN directory. In any event, you simply
- need to make a dummy batch file in a directory that is higher up (before)
- than the LOGIN mapping, usually F:\PUBLIC. In this example, make a dummy
- OUT.BAT in F:\PUBLIC that contains:
-
- OUT.BAT
- ───────
- @echo off
- f:
- cd\login
- out
-
- This will redirect DOS and make sure that it actually is 'in' F:\LOGIN
- before it runs the OUT.BAT in F:\LOGIN, and then DOS will not be lost
- after the logout command is issued from that batch file.
-
- If your F:\LOGIN search mapping is already the 'first' mapping on your
- mapping list, then make the OUT.BAT in F:\LOGIN redirect to another batch
- file in F:\LOGIN, so DOS will actually 'be there' and run that batch file
- for the logout instead. For example, make OUT.BAT look like this:
-
- OUT.BAT
- ───────
- @echo off
- f:
- cd\login
- realout
-
- where REALOUT.BAT is a batch file in F:\LOGIN that contains:
-
- REALOUT.BAT
- ───────────
- @echo off
- cls
- logout
- f:
-
- Although the above sounds complicated, it really isn't. All you are
- trying to do is to insure that DOS is 'in' F:\LOGIN and running a batch
- file that is 'in' F:\LOGIN before the actual logout command is issued, so
- that it doesn't get 'lost' afterwards. Above all, place your DOSmenu
- files in your \LOGIN directory (they can be hidden).
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? ON A NETWORK, WHEN LOGGING OUT THROUGH DOSMENU, SOMETIMES USING THE
- LOGOUT COMMAND (FOR LOGOUT.EXE) LEAVES ERROR MESSAGES ON THE USER'S DOS
- SCREEN OR TAKES AWAY THE USER'S DOS CURSOR AND PROMPT. WHY IS THIS AND
- WHAT CAN I DO?
-
- Ans: Simple. As an addon to the above discussion, just change your MENU.BAT
- file to add the following near the top of the file:
-
- MENU.BAT (near top)
- ────────
- f:
- cd\login
-
- This will insure that DOS is 'in' the login directory after running the
- logout command, and therefore MENU.BAT will still be found so that it can
- be completed by DOS.
-
- Alternatively, you could place a dummy MENU.BAT in a higher mapped
- directory, like PUBLIC, that reads:
-
- MENU.BAT
- ────────
- @echo off
- f:
- cd\login
- menu %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
-
- This would accomplish the same thing.
-
- In any case, the other DOSmenu files do not need to be in the LOGIN
- directory. But if you choose to place them there, that's OK. You may
- even make them hidden with the hidden DOS/network attribute if you
- desire. Just do not make them readonly at the file level. Setting the
- LOGIN directory to READ/FILE SCAN only is adequate and will work well.
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? AFTER PASSING THE LOGOUT COMMAND, I STILL GET A MENU AFTER THE LOGOUT IS
- COMPLETED. HOW DO I STOP THIS?
-
- Ans: Add a line at the beginning of your MENU.BAT to check to see if the user
- is still logged in or not, like:
-
- if not exist f:\public\*.* goto END
-
- This way, the MENU.BAT will quit after logout.
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? WHEN WE TRY TO USE THE GOTO END COMMAND TO GIVE USERS A MENU QUIT OPTION,
- IT DOESN'T WORK. WHY AND HOW DO WE DO IT?
-
- Ans: To use this function, it must be the only command for that menu item.
- For example:
-
- Q Quit
- cls
- goto END
-
- will not work because if there is more than one command, DOSmenu makes
- the commands into a temporary batch file. In that case the 'goto END'
- command would only go to the end of the temporary batch file! The
- following will work:
-
- Q Quit
- goto end
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? WHY WOULD WE WANT TO TURN OFF MOUSE SUPPORT IN DOSMENU.INI?
-
- Ans: Under some configurations, your DOS mouse driver (MOUSE.COM, etc.) may
- take some delay in initializing, therebey introducing an unwanted delay
- factor between menu selections. This delay would occur because DOSmenu
- unloads itself between menu commands to give you all of the DOS memory to
- run programs. When it unloads itself, the mouse driver is automatically
- un-initialized by DOS as well.
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? WHY DO I SOMETIMES GET A PARAMETER ERROR WHEN I RUNNING MENU.BAT ON A
- NETWARE NETWORK?
-
- Ans: NetWare's MENU.EXE program is probably in your search path (normally in
- \PUBLIC). You should either delete or rename this file.
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? HOW DO I USE THE DOSMENU GROUP RIGHT ON NETWARE 4.X WITHOUT EMULATION?
-
- Ans: You can't. But you can use the DOSmenu Directory right instead. Simply
- give group members trustee rights to a 'flag' directory and then test for
- that directory in the menu instead of testing for the group. As an
- example, if a user is a member of WP group, and you give that group
- trustee rights to a directory, say F:\FLAGS\WP, then the user will be
- able to run the menu item if you check the right {d=f:\flags\wp}, while
- other users, who are not a member of WP and therefore do not have rights
- to F:\FLAGS\WP, will not have the item on their menu.
-
-
- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-
- ? HOW DO I USE THE %VAR% AS A MENU COMMAND WHEN THE %VAR% MUST BE AT THE
- BEGINNING OF THE COMMAND? DOESN'T THAT SIGNIFY A SUB-MENU CALL?
-
- Ans: Yes it does. But there is a safe way around that syntax. Simply place
- a 'call' statement before the command. DOSmenu eventually does this
- anyway and one more at the beginning of the line makes no difference to
- DOS. For example, if you need the command:
-
- %var%:\apps\paradox
-
- where %var% signifies the drive letter, then enter the command like this:
-
- call %var%:\apps\paradox.
-
- This will work nicely.
-
-
-