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MANUAL.TXT
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1996-09-02
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EASY SOFTWARE MENU-FOR-WINDOWS
...............................................................
This is a single user version. It is suitable for Windows 3.1 or
Windows 95. It is also suitable for Windows for Workgroups where
each workstation loads Windows from it's own local hard disk. It is
not suitable for networks where each workstation loads windows from
a single copy of Windows on the server.
................................................................
OVERVIEW
Menu-For-Windows is an icon-less desktop for Windows 3.1 or
Windows 95. It has two modes of operation, administrator and
user. User mode provides a reasonable degree of security by
denying users access to programs. In user mode (menu locked)
the user cannot alter the menu structure nor access any program
or sub menu which has been annotated administrator only.
Programs or sub menus which are available to some users but not
others can be password protected. User mode can also be
configured to prevent access to the DOS prompt when shutting
down Windows.
Menu-For-Windows can be run as a program from your normal
desktop but the security features are only implemented when you
select "Control Windows from Menu-For-Windows" in the
Configuration Window and restart Windows.
ADDING PROGRAMS TO THE MENU
To add an item to your menu, click "Add Item" on the
Administrator Window. If the Administrator Window is not visible
then right click on the menu to bring it to the front. There is
also a shortcut key (F2) which will bring up the Add-Item window
without accessing the Administrator Window.
The Add-Item window appears with the cursor in the menu-text
field. Enter the text you wish to be shown on the menu for the
item. To the right of this field is a button marked "Menu
Branch". This is used to create sub menus and is described
later. To move to the next field, "Start Command" you can use
the down arrow, the enter key or click on the field. The first
time the cursor enters the "Start Command" field the directory-
file browse window will open automatically. Select the program
that you wish to run and click "OK" or press F2. The program you
have selected will now be shown in the "Start Command" field. If
there are parameters to add on the command line just add them at
the end of the start command. The "Working Directory" field will
also have been filled with the directory that the program is in.
If you wish to set another directory as the working directory,
you can edit this.
You can now set various options for the program. Access to the
program can be Open, Password or Administrator. If you select
"Password", a field appears to the right into which you type the
password for the program. When the menu is locked to User Mode
this program will not start without the password. If you select
"Administrator" then the item will only show on the menu when in
Administrator Mode. It will disappear when the menu is locked.
The Window Style buttons set the initial state of the program
when it is started - Normal, maximized or minimized.
For DOS programs, Menu-For-Windows can create a temporary
program information file (.PIF) automatically. To use this
facility, click "Make PIF" and select either the Full Screen or
Window button. If you are running Windows 95, a third option button
allows you to set the screen saver on or off.
The PIF file which Menu-For-Windows creates uses default settings
for everything except the full screen or window options. These
defaults are suitable for the vast majority of DOS programs. If you
have a DOS program which requires other PIF settings then create your
PIF file as normal and make your PIF file the start command. Please
use the "Make PIF" option for your DOS programs. If you run a DOS
program without this option then it will probably leave an inactive
window when it terminates.
If you select the Load on Startup button, the program will be
started automatically when Windows starts. This is similar to
adding a program to the Start Group in Program manager. Programs
with this option set are only started once you set "Control
Windows from Menu-For-Windows".
If you select "Allow multiple Loading" then clicking the item on
the menu after the program has been started will start another
copy of the program. With the default setting, "No", clicking
the menu item after the program has started brings the running
copy to the front, restoring it if it has been minimized. The
Multiple Loading option only works with programs which allow it.
Click on Save to add the program to the menu and repeat the
process for your other programs.
When you add a program to the menu, it is added at the end. If
you wish to re-arrange the items use the cut copy and paste
buttons on the administrator window. Cutting or Copying applies
to the currently highlighted item and paste inserts the cut or
copied item above the currently highlighted item.
There are shortcuts to all the functions on the Administrator
Window - Click "Shortcut Key List".
SUB MENUS
To create a sub menu, click Add Item as usual. This time click
the Menu Branch button. All the options disappear except the
access buttons. Enter the menu text for the branch and set the
access options. Save the item then click on it on the menu. The
sub menu appears overlapping the main menu to the right. With
the sub menu to the fore, the administrator buttons and shortcut
keys now apply to the sub menu.
If you delete a sub menu item and that sub menu has items on it
then the sub menu itself is not deleted, only the item which
calls it. You can call the sub menu again by selecting Add Item
and clicking Menu Branch. Any existing sub menus will be listed
for you to choose from. If you delete all the items on a sub
menu and then delete the call to it, the sub menu is deleted.
You can call sub menus from sub menus but only one sub menu is
displayed at a time. When a sub menu is visible, moving the
mouse between main and sub menus sets focus automatically.
To modify or delete an item, click the appropriate button on the
Administrator Window (or use the shortcut key) All actions on
the Administrator Window apply to the currently highlighted item
on the foremost menu. As the menus are sticky, use the right
mouse button to jump directly to the Administrator Window
without accidentally moving the highlight bar. The right mouse
button also brings the Administrator Window to the fore if it
has been closed.
SYSTEM ACCESS
The Administrator window has four system access buttons, Run,
DOS Prompt, File Manager and Control Panel. These can also be
accessed by shortcut keys. The File Manager button, by default,
calls Winfile.Exe. If you prefer another file manager, you can
connect this button to any other program from the Configuration
Window. Menu-For-Windows does not have pre defined Diskcopy or
Format options as you will probably wish to make these available
on user menus. If you are unsure how to do this see appendix 1.
CONFIGURATION
To configure your menu, click the configuration button on the
Administrator Window or press F12. The Configuration Window is
in three general sections. The first section controls the
appearance of your menu and desk top. The second section
contains the operating options and the last determines whether
your system is controlled by Menu-For-Windows or your current
desk top.
As most of the operating options are only effective when
Menu-For-Windows is controlling your system, it is suggested
that you change over to Menu-For-Windows at this stage. In the
bottom section you will see two buttons. The lower button is
depressed, coloured red and has, as its caption, your current
desk top controlling program. This will be "Progman.exe" if you
have standard Windows 3.1, "Explorer.exe" if you have standard
Windows 95 or the name of your current desk top if you have a
custom desk top installed.
Changing to Menu-For-Windows is simply a case of selecting the
upper button "ES Menu-For-Windows" and clicking on "OK" or
pressing F2. However, as the change over requires Windows to be
restarted you should close down any other programs you have
running first.
When you click on "OK" a dialog box opens with two sets of
option buttons. Click the "yes" button to prevent access to the
DOS prompt on shutdown. With this option set, a user shutting down
Menu-For-Windows with the menu locked to user mode has no option
but to turn off the computer.
To restart Windows with Menu-For-Windows in control click the
"Restart Windows Now" button. If you have got to this point and
realize that you still have other programs running you can click
the "Cancel the Change" button, shutdown those programs then return
to configuration to change over later.
You can revert to your previous desk top at any time by clicking
the lower button in the "Control Windows From" section.
When Windows has restarted, bring up the Configuration Window
again. In the top section, set the desk top colour , Pattern or
wallpaper. Set your preferred colours for Main Menu, Sub Menu
and error messages. You can also select one of three sizes for
your menu, small, medium or large.
The operating options section has the following options.
AUTO-HIDE ADMINISTRATOR WINDOW
With this option set, the Administrator Window will disappear
automatically whenever the mouse pointer moves over the menu. To
retrieve the Administrator Window at any time, right click on
the menu. This option is most useful when your menu is fully set
up and you occasionally wish to assess the System Functions.
KEEP MENU ALWAYS ON TOP
With this option set, the menu will always be visible above
other running programs.
MINIMIZE ON USE
With this option set, the menu will shrink to an icon each time
you run a program from it. It will also self-restore when no other
windows are open. To get the best from your Menu-For-Windows, always
select this option and always re-launch minimised programs from the
menu rather than from their icon.
FILE MANAGER BUTTON CALLS
Click the Custom button to connect another program to the File
Manager button on the Administrator Window.
CHANGE ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD
Click here to change the Administrator password. If you do not
wish the Administrator Window to be password protected, leave
the New Password Field blank.
RUNNING IN USER MODE
To switch to User Mode, click the "Lock Menu" button at the foot
of the main menu. The button caption changes to "Administrator"
and the Administrator Window disappears . Only the programs on
your menu can now be run. To revert to Administrator Mode, click
the "Administrator" button and enter your password. If you are
using the Evaluation Copy, the password will be shown on screen.
If you have just installed the registered version over an
Evaluation copy, the password will be the last password used on
the evaluation copy. If you have just installed a registered
copy as a new installation the Administrator Window will not be
password protected until you enter a password from the
Configuration Window. To set one, enter the password in the new
password field and leave the old password field blank.
In User Mode, you shut down Windows by closing the Main Menu Window.
If you chose the option to prevent access to DOS on shutdown then
the Windows 95 shutdown screen will not have the option to restart
in DOS Mode and Windows 3.1 will terminate with the message :-
It is now safe to turn off your computer.
FINDING THE MENU
In either mode, you will need to bring the menu to the fore
before you can use it. If you have set the option Keep Menu
Always on Top, this will not be a problem. If not, then hold down
the Alt key and press the tab key until the ES icon is highlighted.
If you have set Menu-For-Windows to control Windows then you can
also bring it to the fore By right clicking anywhere on the desktop
or by pressing Ctrl + Esc.
APPENDIX 1 (Diskcopy and Format)
To put these items on your menu, add items which run
Diskcopy.Com and Format.Com. These programs can be found in your
DOS directory if you are running Windows 3.1 and in your
Windows\Command directory if you are running Windows 95.
Both these programs have required parameters. For Diskcopy, you
must supply the drive to copy from and too. To diskcopy in drive
A: the start command for a Windows 95 system would be :-
C:\windows\command\diskcopy.com A: A:
For Format, the drive to format is required. To format drive a:
the start command for a Windows 95 system would be :-
C:\windows\command\format.com a:
(This formats the disk to the default size for the drive. To
format to other sizes, see the Format.com parameters in your DOS
documentation.)
Both these programs are DOS based and you should use the Make
PIF option to run them either full screen or in a Window.
APPENDIX 2 (System Alterations)
When you install Menu-For-Windows the installation program makes
no changes to any of your system files and no files are
installed to your Windows directories. If you have not set
Menu-For-Windows to control your system then uninstalling is
simply a case of erasing the files in the directory to which it
was installed.
When you set Menu-For-Windows as your desktop program it makes
the following alterations.
1. In your System.Ini file [boot] section, it puts ESMENU.EXE on
the shell= line and adds a line Esmenureplaced=(Your last
desktop) immediately following it.
2. It renames Taskman.exe as Taskman.spr.
If you decide to uninstall Menu-For-Windows after putting it in
control then reset to your old desktop first. Menu-For-Windows
then reverses these changes.
In the unlikely event that you delete the Menu-For-Windows files
without resetting to your last desk top then you will either have
to reinstall Menu-For-Windows from DOS or edit your System.Ini file
manually and rename Taskman.spr to Taskman.exe.
If this happens under Windows 3.1, Windows will fail to start with
the message "Error loading Progman.exe". Just use a DOS editor to
make the changes. If it happens under Windows 95 then Windows will
fail to start with the message "Error loading Esmenu.Exe" - "You
must reinstall Windows". You DO NOT have to reinstall Windows. What
you do have to do is reboot your computer with a DOS boot disk to
make the changes.
To reinstall Menu-For-Windows, insert the installation disk in a
floppy drive, change to that drive and type "Install". (If you have
not erased all the Menu-For-Windows files then erase them first so
that the registered install disk makes a full installation and not
an Evaluation Copy Conversion.)
To revert to your old desk top, edit the file System.Ini shell= line
to shell=progman.exe for Win 3.1 or shell=explorer.exe for Win95 and
remove the Esmenureplaced= line.
APPENDIX 3 ( DLL space saving )
Menu-For-Windows installs several DLL and VBX files in it's
directory. You may already have some of these files in your
Windows\System directory and if you are an experienced Windows
user you will know that you can delete the duplicate copies from
the Menu-For-Windows directory and the program will still run.
We strongly recommend that you DO NOT DO THIS for the following
reason.
If you are using Menu-For-Windows as your shell program and you
install another program which has one of these files and the
installation program attempts to write that file directly into
your Windows\System directory then the installation will fail as
Windows prevents any DLL or VBX file which is in use from being
overwritten.
APPENDIX 4 (Installed files)
The Menu-For-Windows installation program installs the following
files:-
ESMENU.EXE This is the program executable file
DONOTRUN.EXE This is not. It is used internally.
ESMENU.DAT
ESMENU.DPF
ESMENU.D9F
ESMENU.HLD
ESMENU.MEN
MANUAL.TXT
ORDER.TXT
CBK.VBX
SBC.VBX
SBCKBD.VBX
MHGDIR.VBX
MHGDRL.VBX
MHGFIL.VBX
MHGFRM.VBX
MHIN200.VBX
MHSPLIT.VBX
MUSCLE.VBX
DWSPYDLL.DLL
MHRUN500.DLL
VBRUN300.DLL
All of these files are required - do not delete them.
The additional files:-
ESMENU.( A NUMBER) Your sub menu files
ESMENU.DIR A directory of sub menus
~.PIF The temporary PIF file
Are created when the program is used.
APPENDIX 5 (Evaluation Licence)
If this is an Evaluation copy, you are licensed to use it for
thirty days. If you wish to continue using Menu-For-Windows
beyond the evaluation period you must purchase a registered
copy.
At the end of the Evaluation period, should you still be running
the evaluation copy, it will remind you of this obligation. At
no time, however, will it cease to function.
Full copies of Menu-For-Windows cost:-
$25 for private home use on a single machine
$40 for commercial use on a single machine
Site Licenses are available for commercial use.
A site licence consists of a single copy of the software
together with a licence to duplicate and use that software on
multiple machines. Copies made under a site licenses are for
in-house use by the licensee and may not be resold. To calculate
a site licence price, multiply the price for a single copy by the
number of copies required and apply the following discounts:
2 40%
3-7 60%
10-16 70%
25-56 80%
75-133 85%
200-500 90%
1000+ 95%
KNOWN PROBLEM ( Installing other programs )
Most Windows program setup routines are flexible and work with any
desk top manager. There are however exceptions !
Setup programs created with the Visual Basic Setup Wizard cannot be
used to install programs when Menu-For-Windows is running. If you try
to install a program which has been shipped with one of these setup
programs it will terminate with the message "One or more Visual Basic
Applications are running - Close them down and try again." This is due
to a problem with the Microsoft Setup Wizard and not with
Menu-For-Windows. You can reset to your original desk top, install the
program and then reset to Menu-For-Windows. The installed program will
run from Menu-For-Windows it is only the setup program that has the bug.
Some setup programs just assume that Windows will be running from Program
Manager and attempt to add a program group without your permission. Many
of these programs will terminate with a message saying "Unable to
establish DDE conversation with Program Manager. If you get this message
when installing a program, the program will almost certainly have been
installed and you can add it to your menu. It was only the attempt to
add icons to your desktop that failed.
If you have any problems installing other programs, you can always
switch back to the standard Windows desk top to install them. Please
let the program suppliers know that their setup program is unsuitable
for custom desk top managers.
HINTS
To get the best from your Menu-For-Windows :-
Always set Menu-For-Windows to control Windows
Always set the minimize on use option
Always use the Make PIF option for DOS programs
Always restore minimized programs from the menu, not their icon