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INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING MENUMAKE MENUMAKE is a program that allows you to generate custom mouse menus for any software you might be using. Although there are many software packages that come mouse-compatible or with its own mouse menu, you may want to add in some custom features. You start with a basic mouse menu setup called MSMENU. The standard menu defines the mouse as: Mouse Buttons: Left Button <F1> Right Button <Enter> Both Buttons <Esc> Mouse Movement: Left Motion <Left> cursor Right Motion <Right> cursor Up Motion <Up> cursor Down Motion <Down> cursor If this setup is all you need, you can create a menu under a filename of your choice and begin using it with your program. If you want to change any of the Mouse buttons to different commands, you can assign a key (like a Function key) or a series of keystrokes (like a macro) to a button. You can also create a custom menu that will pop up when you click on that key. If you want to change the way the Mouse moves, you have a menu of choices for each direction. 1. Installing MENUMAKE Install the basic mouse hardware and software, following the instructions in the Microsoft Mouse User's Guide. To run MENUMAKE, you should have the following files on a working diskette or copied into the same directory on a hard drive: MENUMAKE.EXE MAKEMENU.EXE MENU.COM If you are using floppy disks: Copy these files onto a working diskette. You can use this disk for creating and storing your menus. If you are using a hard disk: Copy these files into a directory. If you are going to do many menus, it might be a good idea to create a sub-directory on the hard disk (like MENUS) and use this sub-directory for creation and storing of all menus. MENUMAKE Readme File - Page 1 These files are used to create and run custom mouse menus. All menus you create will generate two files - a definition file (*.def) and the final menu file (*.mnu). For example, if you create a menu for Lotus 1-2-3, the two files created might be: 123.def 123.mnu Once a menu has been created, it can be moved to any other directory or disk, as long as you also move the MENU.COM file for loading purposes. If you want to avoid have many copies of this file reside in different directories, create a PATH statement that includes the drive and directory where the MENU.COM and *.MNU files reside. That way, you can load your menu from any part of the disk. (For instructions on creating a PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, refer to your DOS manual.) 2. Starting Instructions To load MENUMAKE, switch to the drive or directory that contains the files listed above. At the DOS prompt, type in: MENUMAKE 3. Loading a Custom Menu Make the disk or directory with the menu file active - or have a PATH statement that can find these files: MENU.COM ________.MNU - your custom menu At the DOS prompt, type: MENU {MENUNAME} Example: menu 123 Unloading a Menu After you exit from your program, it is advisable for you to unload the custom menu. At the DOS prompt type: MENU OFF MENUMAKE Readme File - Page 2 4. Using the Mouse The Mouse moves the cursor around the screen. In MENUMAKE the Mouse buttons generally do the following: Left button Selects a menu option Right button Not active Both buttons <Esc> In MENUMAKE it is recommended that you use the Mouse to move around and select from menus and boxes. Use the left button to select on the screen and during the creation/editing of custom menus. The keyboard is used mainly to type in instructions as part of the key/macro commands, in the custom menu and in the naming of files to be saved. In most screens, you must use the Mouse to select a choice from one of the boxes. 5. Sensitivity You can use the Control Panel to control the sensitivity of the Mouse movement on your screen. For more information on the Control Panel, see the "Microsoft Mouse User's Guide." 6. Compatibility The MENUMAKE program and the custom menus it generates are designed to work with 25-line displays. The custom menus should work with any system that can use a Microsoft Mouse. 7. Conventions In this document and in the MENUMAKE program, the following conventions are used: Click-left, Click-right, Both-click This refers to using the Mouse buttons. Both-click means that you press down on both buttons at the same time. <F1>, <Enter>, <C-S> Any characters that you see within the "<" less than and ">" greater than symbols <...> refers to a key on your keyboard or a combination of keys. There is a key chart later in this document to help you identify keys in your menus. Boxes When a box appears in the screen, you usually select or type in information. When you are done, you click on OK to complete the task, or Cancel to escape. MENUMAKE Readme File - Page 3 MENUMAKE SCREENS 1. MAIN SCREEN The Main Screen has three parts: a. The top menu line contains all the choices you have in creating and editing a custom menu. To select from that line, move the mouse cursor over your selection and click-left. b. The Current Menu box shows you the definitions of the menu that is currently loaded. You can see specific information about any of the Mouse buttons or movement, by selecting the Edit option on the top menu and choosing a key or motion to look at. c. The status line at the bottom of the screen tells you the name of the menu that is currently loaded. It also tracks the date and time. 2. TOP MENU The Mouse cursor moves throughout the screen, but the only active part of the screen is the top menu line. The choices on this line are: ┌────────────┐ FILE: │ Load... │ │ Save │ │ Save As... │ │ Create │ └────────────┘ *Note: When you see an ellipsis (...) after a menu choice, it means that there is another menu below. Load: The brings up a directory screen that shows you all current *.def files. You can move the cursor and click on the filename you want to load. Or you can click on a drive/directory and see the *.def files there. Only a *.def file can be made into a menu. Once you click-left on the *.def file you want to load, move the cursor down and click-left on Open. If you change your mind, you can click on Cancel and return to the Main Screen. Save: Once you have created a custom menu, you must save it as a *.def file before you can make it into a menu. Save will accomplish this. If you have never saved this menu definition before and the Current Menu says "MSMENU," you will go to the Save As box and must type in a new name to save the file under. A menu definition filename is limited to eight characters. MENUMAKE Readme File - Page 4 Save As: This option allows you to create different versions of a menu and save it under different names. The Save As box will also come up if the Current Menu is MSMENU. You cannot save a definition under the filename MSMENU - you must create your own name. If you just want a menu with the MSMENU settings, select SAVE AS and type in a new filename. Then select MAKE MENU. Now you have a menu that you can use with many software packages. Create: Once you have finished with a menu definition, you can start another by selecting Create. If you don't want to save what is in the screen, you can also select Create to start over. If the menu definition in the screen has been altered but not saved, a box will come up to ask you if you want to save the changes before continuing on. ┌─────────────────┐ EDIT: │ Left Button... │ │ Right Button... │ │ Both Buttons... │ │ --------------- │ │ Left Motion... │ │ Right Motion... │ │ Up Motion... │ │ Down Motion... │ └─────────────────┘ Button Definition: The Mouse buttons can be re-defined by either a set of keystrokes or a custom menu. When you click on one of the button options, a button box will come up. You can then choose between typing in a key/macro command or creating a menu for that button. Click in the parentheses to move the asterisk to your choice. *Note: If you have a key/macro and you change to Menu, and then change back to key/macro, the old macro will still be there. It only gets erased when you click on OK in this box. Mouse Motion: Each direction has a different set of movement choices. You can also choose for the mouse to do no movement in a certain direction. To change your selection, click in the parentheses to move the asterisk. MAKE MENU: Once the Current Menu has been saved, you can select this option and the *.mnu file will be created. This is the file you load to use your menu with your software. MSMENU Readme File - Page 5 QUIT: This option will exit you from MSMENU. If you have made changes to the Current Menu, you will get a reminder box to save the file. HELP: When you have a question about what you are looking at in the screen, click on Help and a Help message will come up to guide you. When you are done with Help, touch a key on the keyboard (like the spacebar) to exit. 3. KEY/MACRO You can define what a mouse button will do when you click it. From the Edit menu, you select a Mouse button and the button screen comes up. Notice that the cursor is flashing in the Key/Macro typing area and the default asterisk is on Key/Macro. You can type in keystrokes that will play back exactly as you have typed them in or you can type a series of commands and keystrokes in a string (referred to as a "macro"). In most cases, if you want to record a Function key or combination of keys, pressing the key will bring the command up in the line. If possible, the key name will be surrounded by "<...>." The exceptions are the keys that you will use to edit your work. The list is as follows: <BS> Backspace <Left> left cursor <Right> right cursor <Home> Home cursor - beginning of line <End> End cursor - end of line You will have to type these keys into your string as they are shown above. <Ins> and <Del> are editing keys that do not record as part of a macro. If you have a long string, you can move the Mouse to the point where you want to edit and click-left. The cursor will jump to that position. If you want to insert keystrokes, press <Ins> and you will see the cursor shape change from an underscore to a box. Otherwise you will type over any existing keystrokes. 4. MOUSE MENU When the button screen comes up, you can click on Mouse Menu and the asterisk will move to that option. Notice that the keystroke box will also change to <Menu>. When you're ready, click on OK and the Button Menu box will come up. Here is where you can create a custom menu for a Mouse button. Your choices are: ┌─────────────┐ │ Add │ │ Change │ │ Delete │ │ Move │ │ Delete All │ │ Ok │ │ Cancel │ └─────────────┘ MSMENU Readme File - Page 6 Add: Move the cursor to where you want to add in a menu option and click-left to highlight that line. Then click on the Add box. An Option box will come up. Type in the name of the option, then press <Enter> or click on the Key/Macro box to move the highlighting down. Now you can type in a command, text, or a string of key commands/text. The same rules apply here is in the key/macro string for a specific button. See the information under "Key/Macro" on the previous page. When you are done, click on OK to return to the Main screen. *Note: You can create horizontal divisions by adding an option and typing hyphens in the Option Name box. Do not type anything in the Key/Macro box and then click on OK. It will look like this: ┌───────────┐ │ Compose │ │ Delete │ │ Edit │ │ ----------│ │ Reply │ │ Transmit │ │ │ └───────────┘ Change: Click on the menu option you want to edit and then click on the Change box. That option will come up in the screen. Now you can click-left wherever you want to make a change. If you want to insert commands/text, make sure the <Ins> cursor (the flashing box) is in the screen. The same rules apply here, as in ADD. Delete: Click on the option you want to delete off the menu, then click on the Delete box. You will get a box asking you if you're sure you want to delete the option. If so, click on OK. Move: To rearrange the menu items, click on the option you want to move. Then click on the Move box. You will then be directed to click on the place you want to move the option to. This final click will move the option. Delete All: This option will delete all the options in the menu. When you click on this option, you will get a box asking if you are sure you want to delete all the options. When you're ready, click on OK to delete everything. Clicking anywhere else will Cancel the request. MAKEMENU Readme File - Page 7 ADDENDA You may experience the following situations. If any of these do occur, here are the current resolutions: 1. Help Screens Some of the Help screens do not exactly answer your question. If this occurs, refer to the previous pages in this document. 2. Triple Key Commands At present, 3-key combination commands (i.e., <A-S-X>) cannot be recorded in a string. Some 2-key combinations are also not available (i.e., <A-/>). These combinations are mainly the CTRL, ALT keys and a symbol key. They are not usually found as commands in standard software packages. 3. Option Name Box and the Right Button In the Option Name box, if you click-right, you may get a screen dump of characters or a repeat of whatever was in front of the cursor at the time you pressed the right button. Although it gives the screen an unusual look, you can either accept or cancel and none of the additional keystrokes will be saved. You can then go back into the Option Name box and re-try your entry. The right button is not used in this part of the program. 4. Make Menu on MENUMAKE standard menu When you have not saved the MSMENU under a different name and you select MAKE MENU from the top of the screen, you will call up the SAVE AS box. Normally you would type in a new name, the menu would be saved under that name and a *.mnu file would be created for you to run. If you change your mind on the SAVE AS box and select Cancel, you may see the following message: Illegal function call in module DIALOG at address 2C4F:07FA Hit any key to return to system When you touch a key on the keyboard, you are taken out of the MENUMAKE program and returned to a DOS prompt. If this happens to you, type in MENUMAKE to re-load the program and continue on. 5. If you have any additional questions, please call Microsoft Product Support Services. MAKEMENU Readme File - Page 8 ----------------------------- End of file