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EZPICNZ Menuing System Version 3.2 March 1990 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Table of Contents Table of Contents Title Page .............................................. i Table of Contents ....................................... ii License Agreement ....................................... v Warranty ................................................ v Order Form .............................................. vi Chapter 1 - Introduction ............................. 1 1.1 - Overview .................................... 1 1.1.1 - Documentation Conventions ................. 1 1.1.2 - Operating Environment ..................... 1 1.1.2.1 - Software Requirements ................... 1 1.1.2.2 - Hardware Requirements ................... 1 1.2 - Installation ................................ 2 1.2.1 - Hard Disk Drive ........................... 2 1.2.2 - Floppy Disk Drive ......................... 3 1.2.3 - Backup .................................... 4 1.3 - Setup ....................................... 4 1.3.1 - The Menu Configuration File ............... 4 1.3.2 - Program Configuration (EZCONFIG.EXE) ...... 4 1.3.2.1 - Operation ............................... 4 1.3.2.2 - Main Edit Screen ........................ 5 1.3.2.2.1 - Program Colors ........................ 5 1.3.2.2.2 - Transaction Logging Option ............ 5 1.3.2.2.3 - Screen Blank Time Option .............. 5 1.3.2.2.4 - DOS Exit Protection Option ............ 5 1.3.2.2.5 - Screen Blank Message Option ........... 6 1.3.2.3 - Preview Screen Option ................... 6 1.3.2.4 - ESCape Without Save Option .............. 7 1.3.2.5 - Save Option ............................. 7 1.3.3 - Menu File Conversion (EZCONVRT.EXE) ....... 7 1.3.4 - Program Configuration File Conversion ..... 9 (CNVRTCNF.EXE) Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation ........................ 11 2.1 - Program Startup ............................. 11 2.1.1 - Standalone Operation ...................... 11 2.1.1.1 - Command Line Parameters ................. 11 2.1.1.2 - Precautions ............................. 12 2.1.2 - Circular Operation (EZ.BAT) ............... 12 2.1.2.1 - Concept of Operation .................... 12 2.1.2.2 - Command Line Parameters ................. 13 2.1.2.3 - Precautions ............................. 14 2.2 - Program Operation ........................... 14 2.2.1 - Main Menu Screen .......................... 15 2.2.1.1 - Top Line Menu Options ................... 15 2.2.1.1.1 - On-Line Help Option (F1 Key) .......... 15 2.2.1.1.2 - Disk Space Check (D) Option ........... 15 2.2.1.1.3 - Transaction Logging (T) Option ........ 17 EZPICNZ Users Manual - Table of Contents ii (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 2.2.1.1.4 - First [Menu] (F) Option ............... 19 2.2.1.1.5 - Next [Menu] (N) Option ................ 19 2.2.1.1.6 - Previous [Menu] (P) Option ............ 19 2.2.1.1.7 - Last [Menu] (L) Option ................ 20 2.2.1.1.8 - ESC=Quit (Esc) Option ................. 20 2.2.1.1.8.1 - Escape Key Use ...................... 20 2.2.1.1.8.2 - PROTECTED Mode Operation ............ 20 2.2.1.2 - "System Stats" Window ................... 21 2.2.1.2.1 - Base Memory Entry ..................... 21 2.2.1.2.2 - Extended Memory Available Entry ....... 21 2.2.1.2.3 - Expanded Memory Available Entry ....... 21 2.2.1.2.4 - DOS Version Entry ..................... 21 2.2.1.2.5 - Mouse Available Entry ................. 21 2.2.1.3 - "Current Stats" Window .................. 22 2.2.1.3.1 - Date Entry ............................ 22 2.2.1.3.2 - Time Entry ............................ 22 2.2.1.3.3 - # of Menus Entry ...................... 22 2.2.1.3.4 - Logging Entry ......................... 22 2.2.1.3.5 - Screen Blank Countdown Time Entry ..... 22 2.2.1.4 - Menu Item Window ........................ 22 2.2.1.4.1 - Menu Title Entry ...................... 23 2.2.1.4.2 - Menu Item List ........................ 23 2.2.1.4.2.1 - Moving the Highlight Bar ............ 23 2.2.1.4.2.2 - Selecting a Menu Item ............... 23 2.2.1.4.3 - Screen Blank Option ................... 24 2.2.1.4.3.1 - Blanking the Screen ................. 24 2.2.1.4.3.2 - Redisplaying the Main Menu Screen ... 24 Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description ...... 26 3.1 - General ..................................... 26 3.2 - Menu Title Character ("T") .................. 28 3.3 - Menu Item Label Character ("L") ............. 29 3.4 - Menu Item Command Characters ................ 29 3.4.1 - Menu Item Password Character ("P") ........ 29 3.4.2 - Alternate Menu Item Character ("A") ....... 30 3.4.3 - Immediate Execution, w/ Pause Character ("I") 31 3.4.4 - Immediate Execution, No Pause Character ("N") 32 3.4.5 - Batch Execution, Resident Character ("R") .. 32 3.4.6 - Batch Execution, External Character ("E") .. 32 3.5 - End-of-File Character ("9.9.9") ............. 34 3.6 - Summary of Control Characters ............... 34 Appendices - .......................................... 35 Appendix A - Trademarks and Copyrights ............ 36 Appendix B - Sample Menu Configuration File ....... 37 Appendix C - A Word About Shareware ............... 40 Figures - ............................................. 41 Figure 1 - Main Menu Screen Example ............... 42 Figure 2 - Screen Blank Window Example ............ 43 Figure 3 - Password Window Example ................ 44 Figure 4 - Disk Space Check Window Example ........ 45 Figure 5 - Error Message Window Examples ........... 46 EZPICNZ Users Manual - Table of Contents iii (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 6 - EZCONFIG Main Edit Screen Example ...... 47 Figure 7 - EZCONFIG Preview Screen Example ........ 48 EZPICNZ Users Manual - Table of Contents iv (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved LICENSE AGREEMENT The EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM IS NOT "Public Domain"!! What that means is that it is NOT "FREE" for the using. However, all United States of America Department of Defense (DoD) and governmental agencies are free to use this program without the need or requirement to register and pay the license fee. Employees of these agencies, if they desire to use EZPICNZ at home, must register and pay the license fee if they desire to continue to use the product after the 30 day trial period. The EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM is (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 by Golberg Computing. Users who have not registered are granted a limited use license for a period not to exceed 30 days from first use. This use is on a trial basis only! Use beyond the 30 day limit is NOT authorized and requires registration of the copy(s). Continued use of non-registered copies of the EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM not covered by this agreement is strictly prohibited. There are only a couple of things we ask, and that is when you distribute the EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM to someone else, you MUST include a copy of this documentation, either as a separate file, or as part of an "archive" file. You must NOT ask for any type of fee. The EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM must be distributed in its original, un-modified form. The EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM may not be bundled with any other product or service without the express written consent of Golberg Computing, 2728 Ellsworth Ave, Omaha, NE 68123-1739. Bulletin Board systems and operators are hereby granted the right to distribute the EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM subject to the above conditions. The distributors of "Public Domain Software" may also distribute the EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM subject to the above conditions. Companies are encouraged to inquire about site licenses for the use of the EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM at their facilities. WARRANTY Golberg Computing warrants that the EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM reasonably conforms to the material descriptions in this documentation and does not infringe on any copyright, patent, or trade secrets. THE EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM IS DISTRIBUTED "AS IS", WITH ALL FAULTS AND DEFECTS. GOLBERG COMPUTING MAKES NO OTHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ALL WARRANTIES ARE DISCLAIMED!! BY YOUR USE OF THE EZPICNZ MENUING SYSTEM, YOU HEREBY AGREE THAT NEITHER GOLBERG COMPUTING NOR THE OWNER OR ANY OTHER RELATED PARTIES WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THIS SOFTWARE OR FOR ANY INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER. EZPICNZ Users Manual - License Agreement/Warranty v (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved ORDER FORM Make check or money order out and send to: Golberg Computing 2728 Ellsworth Ave. Omaha, NE 68123-1739 QTY DESCRIPTION AMOUNT ______ EZPICNZ Basic Registration (current version) ________ (registration only, & notification of updates) Cost - $10.00 ea ______ EZPICNZ Standard Registration..Cost - $15.00 ________ (No disk or manual, but will be sent next version of EZPICNZ on disk) ______ EZPICNZ Deluxe Registration...Cost - $20.00 ________ (Includes Disk, Registration, Manual and next version on disk) ****** Add $2.00 for 3.5" Disk ******* Subtotal ________ (Nebraska residents add 5% sales tax) Tax ________ Total $ ________ Payment will be made by: ( ) Check ( ) Money Order ( ) Cash ( ) PO# ________________ Name: _______________________________________________ Company: _______________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ City: _________________________________ State: _______ Zip: _____________ Phone: Work (____) _____________ Home (____) ________ Please let me know where or from who you obtained your copy of EZPICNZ. If a BBS, give the name & number: _________________ ________________________________________________________________ NON U.S. orders: Send checks drawn on U.S. funds in U.S. dollars. Add $5 for NON U.S. shipments. ABSOLUTELY NO C.O.D. ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED! EZPICNZ Users Manual - Order Form vi (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Chapter 1 - Introduction 1.1 - Overview The EZPICNZ Menuing System (herein referred to as just EZPICNZ) was developed to give users a powerful means of accessing their applications, as well as provide necessary information and help to make their choices easier. It was also developed to give organizations within the Department of Defense a standard user interface for those systems using the standard PC/MS-DOS operating systems. The program is written entirely in Quick C and Quick Assembler to make it small and fast. It is nearly 50% smaller than the previous QuickBASIC version and much faster. It has a number of enhanced as well as new features to provide one of the best menuing environments for the money around. We are always looking for ways to make the program better and we welcome your suggestions. 1.1.1 - Documentation Conventions Throughout this manual you will find different ways to express ideas we want you to know. For instance, when we refer to the ENTER key, this is also called the RETURN key and is symbolized as: <cr>. Whenever you see <cr> it means to press the ENTER or RETURN key. Whenever you see text enclosed in quotes ("XXX"), it means to type in the text WITHIN the quotes, BUT NOT THE QUOTES THEMSELVES. Whenever you see an example with something enclosed with <> it means this is a variable in which you must supply the entry. Normally this will be shown as <filename> where you must supply the filename. Filenames can contain a disk drive designator and a full path name as well. Whenever you see something pointed to similar to this: <----- , this is for information purposes and is not to be included in an actual statement you would enter or write. We hope the this manual is clear and provides you with all the information you need to install, set up, and operate EZPICNZ without any problems. If there is something you feel we have left out or not explained in sufficient detail, please drop us a line and let us know. 1.1.2 - Operating Environment 1.1.2.1 - Software Requirements EZPICNZ requires the PC/MS-DOS operating system version 2.10 or higher. If not using version 2.10 or higher, the program will abort with an error message. The program requires only about 75K of memory with a full 8 menu pages of 8 menu items per menu page (a total of 64 total possible menu item selections). 1.1.2.2 - Hardware Requirements EZPICNZ will operate on any IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible. It requires only about 75K of memory for operation (though operation of other applications most likely will require EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 1 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved more memory). A hard disk is recommended for optimum operation, though it is not required. For floppy disk operation, refer to section 1.2.2. 1.2 - Installation EZPICNZ is very easy to install. If you received the program from off of an electronic bulletin board or from a friend, it should have been in the form of a single, self-extracting file called EZPIC320.EXE. When this file is executed, it extracts all the files necessary for operation of the program, this documentation file, support programs (EZCONVRT.EXE, CNVRTCNF.EXE, and EZCONFIG.EXE), and sample configuration files. 1.2.1 - Hard Disk Drive If you are using a hard disk drive, you need to copy the necessary files to the directory you will be executing EZPICNZ from. The files absolutely necessary for operation are: EZPICNZ.EXE (main executable file) EZPICNZ.MCF (default menu configuration file) EZ.BAT (required for circular operation) Optional files not absolutely necessary, but would enhance overall operation are: EZPICNZ.CNF (program configuration file) EZCONFIG.EXE (EZPICNZ configuration program) <filename>.MCF (alternate menu configuration files) These files can be copied to the hard disk in one of two ways. If you received the program from a friend or downloaded it from some electronic source, you need to copy the file EZPIC320.EXE to the directory you will be operating EZPICNZ from. This can be the root directory or some other directory. Copy the file using these steps: 1. Insert the diskette with the file EZPIC320.EXE into Drive A and make sure the drive handle is down or the drive door is closed. 2. Change to the directory in which you want EZPICNZ to execute from by typing "CD <directory name>" <cr> (REMEMBER--DON'T TYPE THE QUOTE MARKS OR THE <>. Also, the <cr> means press the ENTER key) 3. Type: "COPY A:EZPIC320.EXE" <cr> If you already have the file EZPIC320.EXE on your hard disk, but not in the directory you want, just copy it there with the following command: "COPY <Drive:>\<directory of the file>\EZPIC320.EXE [space] \<directory for EZPICNZ>" <cr> EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 2 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Now that looks pretty complicated. Let's look at an example. "COPY C:\PDUTILS\EZPIC320.EXE C:\EZPICNZ" <cr> This will copy the file EZPIC320.EXE from the PDUTILS directory on the C: drive to the EZPICNZ directory on the C: drive. Once the copy has been completed, change to the EZPICNZ directory with the "CD\EZPICNZ" <cr> command and type: "EZPIC320" <cr> The program will extract the EZPICNZ files. For users with version 2.50 of EZPICNZ, it will necessary for you to execute the CNVRTCNF.EXE program in the same directory where the version 2.5 EZPICNZ.CNF file resides. This will convert this file to the new encrypted format necessary for version 3.2. For users with version 1.50, you will need to execute the EZCONVRT.EXE program in the same directory where the version 1.5 EZPICNZ.CNF file resides first, and then execute the CNVRTCNF.EXE program. There are no special changes to be made to your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files. To have EZPICNZ execute during the boot up procedure, you should add the entry "EZ" as the last line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This is covered more completely in section 2.1.2. If you are going to operate EZPICNZ on your hard disk out of directory other than the root directory, you should add that directory to your PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Consult your DOS user's manual for more information on the PATH statement. That's all there is for installation on a hard disk. 1.2.2 - Floppy Disk Drive Although the program is not really written or designed for use with a floppy disk-based system, it can be used in this configuration. Many of the requirements for operation are the same as for hard disk models. You will still need at least the EZPICNZ.EXE file and a menu configuration file (the default is, of course, EZPICNZ.MCF). The optional files EZ.BAT and EZPICNZ.CNF would present a more professional and well rounded operation. All of these files should be on your system disk, and optionally on other disks required for use of menu selections. This will help reduce the amount of disk swapping needed. If the applications you are executing do not require the maximum amount of memory your system has, you may consider coding your menu selections as EXTERNAL, RESIDENT (more on this type of menu selection in section 3.4.5). This will keep EZPICNZ resident in memory while your application executes and will load back much more quickly when your application finishes. Other than that, there isn't much more to be said for floppy operation except your menu selection commands will have to be coded much more precisely because you will undoubtedly have some diskette swapping for each selection and you will have to have EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 3 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved the proper commands to tell if the correct diskette has been loaded into the correct drive. 1.2.3 - Backup It is strongly encouraged you make a backup copy of the program files and the supporting files, especially your menu configuration files and the program configuration file. This can be done using the DOS COPY and/or DISKCOPY commands. Store these backups in a safe place. 1.3 - Setup Setting up the system for operation is a two-step process, the first of which we have already covered--installation. The second step involves creating the necessary configuration files--menu and program. Other things can also be done, depending on if you are currently using a menu program other than EZPICNZ, or if you have an older version of EZPICNZ. 1.3.1 - The Menu Configuration File The menu configuration file is the heart of EZPICNZ. Without these files, you cannot operate the program. The menu configuration file is your instructions to the program on what actions to take when a menu selection is made. The menu configuration file has a definitive structure which must be followed exactly or EZPICNZ will not operate properly. This structure and its meaning is defined extensively in Chapter 3. These files should be in the same directory as EZPICNZ.EXE, but is not restricted to being so located. You can give a full path name on the command line for the menu configuration file you wish to have loaded. 1.3.2 - Program Configuration (EZCONFIG.EXE) As stated earlier, EZPICNZ looks for the file EZPICNZ.CNF upon startup, and if it finds it, loads and uses the values stored in it. But how do those values "get" in it, and what do those "values" mean? That's where the support program EZCONFIG.EXE comes in. It is a program to allow you to customize the way EZPICNZ looks on the screen and the way it acts concerning screen blanking and transaction logging (more on transaction logging in section 2.2.1.1.3. 1.3.2.1 - Operation The program is started by typing: EZCONFIG <cr> The program will look for the file EZPICNZ.CNF in the current directory. If it finds it, it will attempt to load it in. If it EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 4 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved doesn't find it, it will establish default values for all the selections available. When the values have been loaded and/or established, the Main Edit Screen will appear. 1.3.2.2 - Main Edit Screen The Main Edit Screen is where the main work of selecting values and options takes place. Every option is preceded with a capital letter. All you have to do is press any one of the letters to edit that option. If you have selected an option to set a color, the current numeric value is shown next to the edit area on the screen. If you do not wish change the option, but keep the original value, just press the ENTER or RETURN key. For a number of the options, there are minimum and maximum values. If you attempt to enter a value outside the allowable range, you will hear a beep, and your entry will be ignored and the original value retained. All the commands necessary for operation of the Main Edit Screen are contained on the bottom line of the display. See Figure 6 for an example of the Main Edit Screen. We'll now go over all the options available to you. 1.3.2.2.1 - Program colors The first 8 selections have to do with the various color options you can set for the program. The current colors are displayed with a "*" immediately after the description of the option. For the foreground color, the allowable range is from 0-15 for regular colors, and 16-31 for the blinking version of those same colors. The background colors have a much more limited range of 0-7. If you are not sure just how the colors will look when EZPICNZ is run, you may "preview" what the screen will look like by pressing the F1 key. See section 1.3.2.3 for a more detailed description of the Preview Screen Option. See Figure 7 for an example of the Preview Screen. 1.3.2.2.2 - Transaction Logging Option This option is either a 0 for no transaction logging or a 1 if you want this option. See section 2.2.1.1.3 for a more in-depth description of the transaction logging feature. 1.3.2.2.3 - Screen Blank Time Option This option allows you to set the amount of time EZPICNZ will wait with no keyboard activity before invoking its own screen blank function. This time can be a value anything between 0 and 600 seconds (10 minutes). If you select 0, screen blanking will be disabled. This value can be seen in the "Current Stats" window of the EZPICNZ Main Menu Screen immediately after it is displayed or a keyboard action has been taken and will countdown to 0 before the screen is blanked. 1.3.2.2.4 - DOS Exit Protection Option EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 5 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved This option allows you to select a value in the range of either 0 or some value between 128-255. If you select a value between 128-255, you will not be able to exit EZPICNZ by pressing the "Esc" key (the top right hand part of the Main Menu Screen will have the word "PROTECTED" displayed). The only way to exit to the operating system, if there is not a menu item to do so that is not password protected, is to hold down the "Alt" key and enter the code number on the NUMERIC key pad. NOTE: The NUMLOCK light must be off and the value MUST be entered from the numeric keypad. You CANNOT use the number keys on the top line of the keyboard. If you select the value 0, you will be able to terminate EZPICNZ by simply pressing the "Esc" at the Main Menu Screen. 1.3.2.2.5 - Screen Blank Message Option This option gives you the opportunity to customize the screen blank window with up to a 3 line text message of your own, instead of the default message, time and date display. When you select this option, you are first prompted for how many lines you want to display. The allowable values are between 0 and 3. If you select 0, you are telling EZPICNZ you want the default screen blank display. If there had been any message lines previously defined (they would have been displayed when the EZCONFIG program was started and the Main Edit Screen displayed), they will be erased. If you select any other value, you will be allowed to either edit those existing lines, if there were any, or enter new ones, if none were displayed. If you chose to lessen the number of lines from what was previously defined, those outside the range will be erased and you will be allowed to edit the remaining ones, starting with the first one. You may only use the BACKSPACE key for editing screen blank message lines. If you made a mistake at the beginning of the line, you must erase everything back to that mistake using the BACKSPACE key, and re-enter the rest of the line. When you are finished with each line, press the ENTER or RETURN key. You may not use the arrow keys to move the cursor within the line or to move to other message lines. 1.3.2.3 - Preview Screen Option This option is executed by pressing the F1 key from the Main Edit Screen. However, you cannot execute this option if you are in the middle of modifying one of the other options. When you execute this option, you will be shown a screen very similar to the actual Main Menu Screen of EZPICNZ. This screen will show you how certain option will look when executed under EZPICNZ. This allows you to modify or change an option before testing it out using EZPICNZ and then finding out the colors don't look the way you thought they would. To return to the Main Edit Screen, just press any key on the keyboard (except, of course, one of the EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 6 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 3 "lock" keys--CAPS, NUM or SCROLL). You may execute this option as many times as you like until you are satisfied with your selections. See Figure 7 for an example of the Preview Screen. 1.3.2.4 - ESCape Without Save Option If you want to quit EZCONFIG without saving any changes you have made, simply press the "Esc" key. Your old values will be maintained. If no EZPICNZ.CNF values were read in, none will be written out either. 1.3.2.5 - Save Option To save the values currently displayed on the Main Edit Screen, simply press the "F10" key. You changes will be saved and any old values in EZPICNZ.CNF will be overwritten. If no values were read in, the current values will be written to a new EZPICNZ.CNF. After the values have been written and saved, the program will terminate and you will be returned to the operating system. 1.3.3 - Menu File Conversion (EZCONVRT.EXE) There is a file conversion program supplied with EZPICNZ for translating AUTOMENU(R) or PC-MENU(C) definition files into files usable with EZPICNZ. The program is called EZCONVRT.EXE. You can use this program in two ways. First, you can specify the file you want to convert on the command line after EZCONVRT. For example: EZCONVRT AUTOMENU.MDF <cr> CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! For users of the AUTOMENU(R) 4.0 or higher product who have encrypted their AUTOMENU.MDF file, this program will not work! You MUST de-encrypt your AUTOMENU.MDF file (or any other definition file that has been encrypted) before you run the EZCONVRT program on those files. EZCONVRT will strip out the features not supported in EZPICNZ and will change the extension of the file being converted from .MDF to .MCF. The other method is to just execute the program and it will prompt you for the name of the file you want to convert. You must run the program from the beginning for EACH file you want to convert. The program will automatically look at internal command lines that would load other (or alternate) definition files (starting with a "@") and will change the extension on those lines to ".MCF". If there is a line calling for the re-loading of the main definition file (@AUTOMENU.MDF), it will change this line to read: "X.X.A EZPICNZ.MCF". EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 7 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved For your main configuration file, you need to rename it from whatever it was to EZPICNZ.MCF. This is the default file EZPICNZ looks for when it starts up (unless you specify a different filename on the command line of either EZ.BAT or EZPICNZ). If you are using the AUTOMENU product, you can either edit your AUTO.BAT file to say "EZPICNZ %1 %2" instead of AUTOMENU(R) and make the last line read EZTEMP instead of AUTOTEMP, or you can use the EZ.BAT file supplied with the program. You could also just change the name of the supplied EZ.BAT to AUTO.BAT after first deleting the original AUTO.BAT. There should be no reason to go in and change the name of the other alternate configuration files (if you have any), because EZCONVRT does this for you. If you are not going to change the name of EZ.BAT to AUTO.BAT, and if any of your previous AUTOMENU(R) definition files have selections using the EXTERNAL BATCH (+) commands (see section 3.4.6) and have a final entry of +AUTO, these lines need to be changed to "X.X.E EZ" (or "X.X.E <filename>" of the file specified on the command line). NOTE: This is not required if you change the name of EZ.BAT to AUTO.BAT after deleting the original AUTO.BAT. For example: OLD AUTOMENU STYLE NEW EZPICNZ STYLE +ECHO OFF X.X.E ECHO OFF +CLS X.X.E CLS +CD\WS X.X.E CD\WS +WS X.X.E WS +CD\ X.X.E CD\ +AUTO X.X.E EZ NOTE: If you plan to run EZPICNZ out of a RAM drive you need to be more specific in your configuration file as to what drive your application is on and how to load EZPICNZ back up after you are done. For example: X.X.E ECHO OFF X.X.E CLS X.X.E C: <- Change to application drive X.X.E CD\WS <- Change to application directory X.X.E WS <- Execute application X.X.E CD\ <- Reset application drive to root dir X.X.E G: <- Go back to drive with EZPICNZ X.X.E EZ <- Restart EZPICNZ from EZ.BAT This also applies to if you are going to load alternate configuration files ("@" command characters in your old definition files). You need to be sure those files are either loaded into the RAM drive with your regular EZPICNZ files in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or the command line entry specifically states a drive and path before the file's name. For example, if you were running out of RAM drive "G:" and wanted to load alternate EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 8 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved menu UTILITY, but the menu configuration file was on drive C in the root directory, the entry in the main menu configuration file would be as follows: . . X.X.L UTILITIES MENU X.X.A C:\UTILITY.MCF Your RAM drive may have a different drive letter, but the process is the same. Make sure the EZPICNZ.MCF file is also located in the RAM drive. If you want to use your configured colors and screen blank time, you also need to make sure the EZPICNZ.CNF file is loaded in the RAM drive also. So, if you want to run EZPICNZ out of a RAM drive, you need to modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to load those 4 files into your RAM drive (and any other alternate menu configuration files you have called for in your main configuration file) before starting up EZPICNZ. This can be done with the lines: COPY EZ.BAT <RAM DRIVE LETTER>:\ <cr> <- ENTER Key COPY EZPICNZ.EXE <RAM DRIVE LETTER>:\ <cr> COPY EZPICNZ.CNF <RAM DRIVE LETTER>:\ <cr> COPY *.MCF <RAM DRIVE LETTER>:\ <cr> The last line will load all your configuration files up to the RAM drive, unless you have them in other directories or drives, or if you have given them different extensions. In that case, you would need a specific COPY command for each of them. In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, to have EZPICNZ start up automatically upon boot-up, place the "EZ" (or "AUTO" if you have renamed the EZ.BAT file) command as the last line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are running out of a RAM drive, the command just before the EZ (or AUTO) should be a command to change to the RAM drive. Such as: . . G: (Yours may not be G. Put your ram drive letter here) EZ One last item to be corrected, and this only applies to former users of PC-MENU(C). PC-MENU(C) required you make an entry in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to SET PCMENU=CD\MENU. You should delete this line from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. And finally, though it has been said before, you need to make sure all your EZPICNZ program and configuration files are in the same directory (preferably in the ROOT (\) directory) . 1.3.4 - Program Configuration File Conversion (CNVRTCNF.EXE) As stated earlier, the EZCONFIG program creates a special encrypted ASCII file storing the various program parameters you have specified. But what about the configuration files created EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 9 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved for use with version 2 of EZPICNZ? Aren't these usable? Well, yes and no. No they can't be used directly, but they can be used if converted. This is where the CNVRTCNF.EXE program comes in. It reads in the old program values and performs the encryption and rewrites the EZPICNZ.CNF file in the new format. It does not destroy the original EZPICNZ.CNF file in the process. It is renamed to EZCNF.OLD before the new file is written. To invoke the program, copy it to the drive and directory containing the old EZPICNZ.CNF file and type CNVRTCNF and press the ENTER key. If the program cannot find the file, it will let you know. That's all there is to the CNVRTCNF.EXE program. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 1 - Introduction 10 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 2.1 - Program Startup EZPICNZ is very easy to use and execute, and all the necessary files have been provided to you. There are two ways to operate EZPICNZ. One is what is called STANDALONE, and the other is CIRCULAR. 2.1.1 - Standalone Operation Very simply, STANDALONE operation means EZPICNZ will not be used in conjuction with the EZ.BAT program as is done in CIRCULAR operation. It is execute by itself. It is started by simply typing "EZPICNZ" <cr> from the DOS command line. The program will look for both the program configuration file, EZPICNZ.CNF, as well as the default menu configuration file, EZPICNZ.MCF. This simple execution can be augmented with command line parameters. Let's see how. 2.1.1.1 - Command Line Parameters In standalone operation, you have the ability to designate a different menu configuration file to be loaded at program startup. This is done by listing this file FIRST right after the EZPICNZ program name. For example, if I want to load a menu configuration file made strictly for word processing use, the entry would look like this: EZPICNZ WORDPROC.MCF <cr> There is also another parameter that can be set from the command line, and this is the disk drive and directory designation for the transaction logging file. This parameter MUST, repeat, MUST ALWAYS be preceded by a slash "/" character. Additionally, you MUST ALWAYS give a drive designator followed by a colon. The addition of a directory is optional. For example, if you wanted to place the transaction log file in the "LOG" directory of the "D:" drive, the entry would look like this: EZPICNZ /D:\LOG\ <cr> If you want to use BOTH parameters on the command line, you MUST list the alternate menu configuration file entry first and then the transaction log drive and directory entry second, both parameters separated by a blank space. For example: EZPICNZ /C:\LOG\ WORDPROC.MCF <-- INCORRECT!!! EZPICNZ WORDPROC.MCF /C:\LOG\ <-- CORRECT!!! NOTE: You MUST include the ending backslash "\" on the transaction log entry if you specify a specific directory. Otherwise EZPICNZ will append the log file name EZYYMMDD.LOG onto the end of the entry and the program will fail with an incorrect file name specified. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 11 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 2.1.1.2 - Precautions In standalone mode, you are somewhat restricted in the menu configuration file commands to be used. If your menu selection commands end with the command "X.X.E EZ", or if you are using the menu item command character for "EXTERNAL BATCH" (see section 3.4.6), your selection will not execute when the selection is made. This is because your item commands have been written to the EZTEMP.BAT file and the program has terminated with no other commands to tell it to execute EZ.BAT (see section 2.1.2 on CIRCULAR operation). What is required for standalone operation is for you to define your menu item with any of the RESIDENT command characters (I, N, R). These commands tell EZPICNZ to stay resident in memory while executing the menu commands, and to reload itself when the menu selection is over. It is VERY important none of the menu selections have as its last item command the command of "EZ". This will cause the EZ.BAT file to be executed, which will load ANOTHER copy of EZPICNZ into memory. Also, as stated above, be careful with command line parameters. 2.1.2 - Circular Operation (EZ.BAT) Circular operation refers to the ability to operate EZPICNZ and your applications without any other intervention or activity from the keyboard. What this means is once you start EZPICNZ, you should never have to see the DOS command line prompt. When you select an application from a menu, it executes. When you terminate the application, EZPICNZ is reloaded automatically. Let's see how this works. 2.1.2.1 - Concept of Operation To utilize the concept of circular operation, you will be required to use the support file EZ.BAT (or an edited AUTO.BAT from previous use of the AUTOMENU product). It will also require you to have as the LAST menu command for a menu selection the command "X.X.E EZ". This will be further explained later. But back to the use of EZ.BAT. The EZ.BAT file provided with EZPICNZ should look like this: ECHO OFF CLS CD\<EZPICNZ DIRECTORY> EZPICNZ %1 %2 CLS EZTEMP The third line means to change directory to the directory where your EZPICNZ program and menu configuration files are located. Note the last line is to execute the file EZTEMP. Just what is EZTEMP anyway? EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 12 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Well, EZTEMP.BAT is the file created by EZPICNZ when you make a menu selection which is not to load another menu. So if you use EZ.BAT to start EZPICNZ and have the command "X.X.E EZ" as the last menu item command to be put in the EZTEMP.BAT file, you have a created a CIRCLE of OPERATION. Let me try to illustrate below: +-->--->--+ ^ | | EZ.BAT | ========================= | | ECHO OFF | ^ | CLS | | | CD\<EZPICNZ DIRECTORY> | | | EZPICNZ %1 %2 | | | CLS | ^ | EZTEMP --->---->---->--|--+ | | | | | ========================= | | | ^ +---<-----<-----<----+ | | | EZTEMP.BAT | ========================= ^ | ECHO OFF | | | CLS | | | CD\ENABLE | ^ | ENABLE (,,,,C:\DATA) | | | CLS | | | CD\EZPICNZ | +-<|- EZ | | | ========================= As you can see, with this type of an arrangement, there is a sort of circle effect created between the files so that as one ends its execution, it calls the other, and the cycle is not broken. Note the last command in EZTEMP is the "EZ". We referred to this command earlier. This command is REQUIRED for circular operation. How to add this command to your menu configuration file(s) will be covered in Chapter 3 and is illustrated in the example shown in Appendix B. 2.1.2.2 - Command Line Parameters The use of command line parameters is EXACTLY the same for EZ.BAT as it was for EZPICNZ in standalone mode. You can specify an alternate menu configuration file as well as the drive and directory for the transaction logging file. You can specify either one option by itself, or both. However, if you use both parameters, you MUST, repeat, MUST specify the alternate menu configuration file FIRST, followed by a blank space and then a EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 13 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved BACKSLASH ("\") character and then the drive and directory for the transaction logging file. The possible combination are illustrated below: EZ C:\MENU\WORDPROC.MCF <--- Only a new .MCF file EZ /C:\LOG\ <--- Only a log drive & dir. EZ C:\EZ\DBMENU.MCF /C:\EZLOG\ <--- Both parameters in proper order EZ /C:\EZLOG\ C:\MENU\WORDPROC.MCF <--- INCORRECT!!!!! This is NOT allowed!! 2.1.2.3 - Precautions The one main precaution to be mentioned in regards to circular operation, other than that just presented concerning command line parameters, is the ABSOLUTE requirement to have as the last menu item command "EZ" ( or "X.X.E EZ" in the menu configuration file) if you are going to use the EZ.BAT file provided. If you are going to use the AUTO.BAT file provided with the AUTOMENU product, be sure to edit it with a word or text processor which can save in a pure ASCII format and change the line "AUTOMENU" to "EZPICNZ" and change the last line from "AUTOTEMP" to "EZTEMP". After this is completed, you need to execute the EZCONVRT.EXE program described is section 1.3.3. There should be no further modification required in your menu configuration files. As stated earlier, be careful with the use of command line parameters. 2.2 - Program Operation No matter how you start the program, either as standalone or through the use of the EZ.BAT file, once the program starts, it tries to find and load the EZPICNZ.CNF file with the values for colors and other program parameters. If it cannot find EZPICNZ.CNF, it will set defaults for all the program parameters. The next thing the program will do is to read the command line for parameters. If an alternate menu configuration file has been specified, it will try to find and load that file. If the file cannot be found, or the file is not of the correct structure (see Chapter 3), the program will issue an error message, wait for you to press a key (or a mouse button if a mouse is available) and will terminate. See Figure 5 for Error Message Screen examples. If no alternate menu configuration file was specified, the program will try and load the default EZPICNZ.MCF menu configuration file. If it cannot be found, or does not have the proper structure, the program will issue an error message, wait for you to press a key (or a mouse button if a mouse is available) and will terminate. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 14 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved If the menu configuration file is found and loads OK, then you will be presented with the Main Menu Screen. Let's take a closer look at the Main Menu Screen. 2.2.1 - Main Menu Screen The Main Menu Screen is where all the action takes place. Once a menu configuration file has been successfully loaded, you are shown the Main Menu Screen. It contained not only the menu selections you have defined for a particular menu page, but other helpful information. Why don't we start at the top with the Top Line Menu 2.2.1.1 - Top Line Menu Options The Top Line Menu has eight options. These options can be executed by either pressing the highlighted first letter(s) of the option, or if you have a mouse, moving the highlight bar over the option you want and pressing the RIGHT mouse button. It is very important to remember to press the RIGHT mouse button, because if you accidently press the LEFT mouse button, you will execute the menu item where the menu item highlight bar is currently located. Now that you know how to select a Top Line Menu option, let's explain what these options are and what they do. 2.2.1.1.1 On-Line Help (F1 Key) EZPICNZ provides you with an on-line help window if you happen to forget how to perform certain functions within the program. This help is in the form of a pop-up window and is fully scrollable. At the bottom of the window you will see the keys you can use to browse through the help window. If you have a mouse, you can move the mouse cursor to any one of these character keys and press the LEFT mouse button to execute it. If you want to PgDn, put the mouse cursor over the "PgDn" at the bottom of the window and press the LEFT mouse button. There is also a provision to view the copyright notice as well. Either press the F1 key or click the mouse cursor over the letters "F1" to view the copyright notice. Press the F1 key again to return to the help screen. When you are finished with the help window, just press the "ESC" key or click the mouse cursor on the letters "ESC" at the top right corner of the help window to return to the Main Menu Screen. 2.2.1.1.2 - Disk Space Check (D) Option The disk space check option allows you to check how much free space is on a particular drive, whether the drive is a floppy drive or a RAM drive or a hard disk drive. It also displays information concerning specific aspects pertaining to the drive selected. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 15 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved You select this option by pressing the "D" key, or by moving the highlight bar over the "Disk" area on the Top Line Menu if you have a mouse and then pressing the RIGHT button. When you select this option, a window is popped up over the Main Menu Screen and you are prompted to enter the drive letter of the drive you would like to check. This is a single character entry and you DO NOT have to press the ENTER key. After you enter the drive letter, EZPICNZ will first check if it was a valid character. EZPICNZ will ignore function keys, number keys, cursor keys, and punctuation keys, as well as any extended ASCII codes between 128-255. Thus you are limited to entering only an alphabetic key. If it is an alphabetic key, EZPICNZ will make a check to see if it is a valid drive letter. If not, it will issue an error message and ask you to press any key, or the LEFT mouse button if you have a mouse, to retry. If you want to exit the function, press the "ESC" key or place the mouse cursor over the phrase "ESC=Quit" and press the LEFT mouse button. If the drive letter was valid, EZPICNZ will attempt to determine how much space is available on the drive. If the drive was a floppy drive and either the drive door/handle was not closed or the diskette was not formatted, EZPICNZ will issue an error message, and ask you to either press the "ESC" key or place the mouse cursor on the phrase "ESC=Quit" and press the LEFT mouse button if you have a mouse to terminate the function, or to press any other key or LEFT mouse button and the mouse cursor is not on the phrase "ESC=Quit" and you have a mouse, to continue. If the drive letter was valid, and there was something wrong with the drive, you will also get an error message, with the same prompts. Those were all the possible things which could go wrong with a drive letter entry. If the entry was valid, and there were no problems encountered, EZPICNZ will display a list of attributes about the drive you selected. These attributes are: # of sectors-per-cluster # of bytes-per-sector # of total clusters on the drive # of available clusters on the drive # of total bytes available on the drive, or the capacity of the drive # of free bytes on the drive, or the available free space This information is mainly for the more technical user, but you may find is useful to know how different drives are set up. After EZPICNZ has displayed this information, you get the same prompt as with the error messages. You can press the "ESC" key or place the mouse cursor over the phrase "ESC=Quit" and press the LEFT mouse button, if you have a mouse, to quit, or press any EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 16 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved other key or the LEFT mouse button if you have a mouse and the mouse cursor is not on the phrase "ESC=Quit". There is one other way to exit the function. If you are at the prompt and it is waiting for a drive letter, you can also press the "ESC" key or place the mouse cursor over the phrase "ESC=Quit" and press the LEFT mouse button if you have a mouse. Once you exit the function, the Main Menu Screen will be restored exactly as it was before you invoked the function. 2.2.1.1.3 - Transaction Logging (T) Option At long last we come to the discussion of transaction logging. This is a truly powerful tool. It allows to keep a log of all the menu selections you choose (except to load another menu file, of course), with the name of the menu option, the date is was executed on and the time it was executed. The next entry will be when EZPICNZ came back on-line, so that you now have an ending time from which you can compute the total usage time. Doing the computation within EZPICNZ is beyond the scope of this program. However, EZPICNZ provides you with a file containing all the activities for a particular day. Transaction logging is a way for you to keep track of, or "log" when and for how long you executed menu selections (or "transactions") while running EZPICNZ. The EZYYMMDD.LOG file is created for you if you either: a. Select to have transaction logging turned on by means of the program configuration file (running EZCONFIG to create EZPICNZ.CNF), or b. "Toggle" transaction logging on from the Main Menu Screen by pressing "T". The indication of the transaction logging state from the Main Menu Screen is in the "Current Stats" window at the bottom right corner of the screen (see section 2.2.1.3). When you press the "T" key (or click the highlighted 'Transaction Logging' selection from the Top Line Menu), the new status is reflected in the "Current Stats" window on the Main Menu Screen. This also creates an entry on the EZYYMMDD.LOG file, either stating EZPICNZ is now "on-line", or EZPICNZ has just gone "off-line". NOTE: If in the file EZPICNZ.CNF you have indicated you want transaction logging turned off, and you toggle logging on from the Main Menu Screen Top Line Menu during EZPICNZ operation, logging will be turned off if you execute any selection operating as an EXTERNAL BATCH (having the "E" symbol in front of the commands to be executed in the menu configuration file. See Section 3.4.6). This is because the menu item commands are written to the file EZTEMP.BAT, the EZPICNZ program is terminated, and the file EZTEMP.BAT is then executed (if you started EZPICNZ with EZ.BAT for circular operation). If the EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 17 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved EZTEMP.BAT file has as its last command, "EZ" (or "AUTO" for those who renamed EZ.BAT to AUTO.BAT), then the EZPICNZ program is restarted from the beginning, so to speak, and it reads in both the menu configuration file and the program configuration file, EZPICNZ.CNF, (with the value for transaction logging) just like the first time it was executed. Therefore, transaction logging will again be turned off. The simplest thing to do is if you do not want any transaction logging, set it for off using EZCONFIG, and then never "toggle" it on from within EZPICNZ. Otherwise, set it to "ON" with EZCONFIG and only toggle it off when you want to. If you toggle transaction logging from the Main Menu Screen, there is no way to make the change permanent from within the EZPICNZ program. The only way to make the change permanent is to set the state using the EZCONFIG program and saving it in the program configuration file EZPICNZ.CNF. But what does the transaction log do for me? It gives you a record of when you executed a certain menu selection (except for loading an alternative menu). Now this in and of itself, just knowing when you executed an application, would not be enough to help you. What happens is when the application finishes, EZPICNZ puts in a line right after it stating when EZPICNZ came back on line. So in essence, you know when you started and when you finished. If you need computed times for computer use, you need to obtain a more sophisticated package. However, this feature is not found on many other menuing systems. Computer time logs are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for certain types of claims. Consult your local IRS office for full details about computer time logs for businesses. The format for the transaction log looks like this: EZPICNZ ON-LINE AT 10:02:52 ON 08-20-1988 Quick DOS EXECUTED AT 10:15:32 ON 08-20-1988 EZPICNZ ON-LINE AT 10:17:51 ON 08-20-1988 Disk Operating System EXECUTED AT 10:17:54 ON 08-20-1988 EZPICNZ ON-LINE AT 10:19:54 ON 08-20-1988 Disk Operating System EXECUTED AT 10:20:00 ON 08-20-1988 EZPICNZ ON-LINE AT 09:19:20 ON 08-21-1988 WordStar EXECUTED AT 09:19:27 ON 08-21-1988 EZPICNZ ON-LINE AT 17:53:04 ON 08-21-1988 Disk Operating System EXECUTED AT 17:53:50 ON 08-21-1988 It was mentioned earlier about running EZPICNZ out of a RAM drive. As you have probably guessed, if you run EZPICNZ out of a RAM drive, your log file gets written to the RAM drive. If this file is not copied to a hard drive or floppy disk before the power is turned off or you have a system lock up for some reason, all the log data will be lost. So how do you get around this? Simple. On the command line calling up EZPICNZ, either after the EZ command or EZPICNZ file name (BUT NOT BOTH!), you can add the switch to tell EZPICNZ where to write the EZYYMMDD.LOG file. As stated before in sections 2.1.1.1 & 2.1.2.2, this switch can be in addition to the listing of an alternative menu configuration EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 18 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved file. Just make sure you specify a drive and directory different from the RAM drive you are using. We hope you like transaction logging, it is a feature that make EZPICNZ unique in the menuing programs world. CAUTION: When EZPICNZ writes the date and the time to the transaction log file, it uses the system clock time and system clock date. If you have an older model IBM PC or IBM PC/XT or compatible that does NOT have a built-in or added-in real time clock/calendar, it is IMPERATIVE you set the correct time and date at system startup. Otherwise, the dates and the times in the log file will be worthless. This shouldn't be a problem with computers having built-in real time clock/calendars (IBM PC/AT and PS/2 computers and compatibles). Make sure your system gets the correct time and date at boot up so the log file will represent correct dates and times. 2.2.1.1.4 - First [Menu] (F) Option This menu option is executed by pressing the "F" key or moving the Top Line Menu highlight bar over the phrase "First" and pressing the RIGHT mouse button if you have a mouse. This causes EZPICNZ to display the FIRST menu page of items defined in the currently loaded menu configuration file. If the first menu page is already displayed, this option has no effect. This option is the same as pressing the "Home" key on the numeric keypad. 2.2.1.1.5 - Next [Menu] (N) Option This menu option is executed by pressing the "N" key or moving the Top Line Menu highlight bar over the phrase "Next" and pressing the RIGHT mouse button if you have a mouse. This causes EZPICNZ to display the NEXT menu page of items as defined in the currently loaded menu configuration file. If there is only one menu page defined, this option has no effect. Otherwise, for instance, if the second menu page is currently displayed, this option will display the third menu page, if one is defined. If there are only two menu pages defined, and the last menu page is currently displayed, then this option will display the first menu page defined. This option is the same as pressing the RIGHT ARROW (->) key on the numeric keypad. 2.2.1.1.6 - Previous [Menu] (P) Option This menu option is executed by pressing the "P" key or moving the Top Line Menu highlight bar over the phrase "Previous" and pressing the RIGHT mouse button if you have a mouse. This causes EZPICNZ to display the PREVIOUS menu page of items as defined in the currently loaded menu configuration file. If there is only one menu page defined, this option has no effect. Otherwise, for instance, if the second menu page is currently displayed, this option will display the first menu page. If there is only two menu pages defined, and the first menu page is currently displayed, then this option will display the last, or second menu EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 19 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved page in this instance, defined. This option is the same as pressing the LEFT ARROW (<-) key on the numeric keypad. 2.2.1.1.7 - Last [Menu] (L) Option This menu option is executed by pressing the "L" key or moving the Top Line Menu highlight bar over the phrase "Last" and pressing the RIGHT mouse button if you have a mouse. This causes EZPICNZ to display the LAST menu page of items defined in the currently loaded menu configuration file. If the last menu page is already displayed or there is only one menu page defined, this option has no effect. This option is the same as pressing the "End" key on the numeric keypad. 2.2.1.1.8 - ESC=Quit (ESC) Option The last option on the Top Line Menu deals with terminating EZPICNZ and returning to the operating system. EZPICNZ provides you with the ability to perform this in two different ways. This is an option which is configurable through the EZCONFIG.EXE program (see section 1.3.2.2.4). The two methods are discussed below. 2.2.1.1.8.1 - ESCape Key Use In the EZCONFIG program, you are given the opportunity to decide if you want to allow the user (normally yourself) to exit EZPICNZ by simply pressing the ESCape key from the Main Menu Screen or not. If you have elected this option, the phrase "ESC=Quit" will be displayed at the far right side of the Top Line Menu. This allows the user to terminate the EZPICNZ program by simply pressing the ESCape key; there does not have to be a menu selection to exit to the operating system. 2.2.1.1.8.2 - PROTECTED Mode Operation If, on the other hand, you elected to require the user to enter a DOS EXIT code by holding down the "Alt" key and entering a code number on the NUMERIC keypad, the word "PROTECTED" will appear at the far right side of the Top Line Menu. The exit code must be a number between 128 and 255. The user cannot hold down the "Alt" key and use the number keys on the top keyboard row--it must be the numeric key pad WITH THE NUMLOCK TURNED OFF!! If the user enters the correct code, the program will terminate. If the wrong code, nothing will happen. NOTE: If the user happened to enter a code corresponding to the ASCII code for a number of a displayed menu item (049 to 056), then that menu item will be executed. This is the same as if the user had simply pressed the number of that particular menu item. Although this is a consequence of the implementation of this type of protection, we believe it is a small one and not worth modifying the program. If enough users feel this is a major flaw or inconvenience, we will consider another approach. Maybe the use of a password. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 20 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 2.2.1.2 - "System Stats" Window At the bottom left of the Main Menu Screen is what we call the "System Stats" window. It provides the user with a number of information items about the current state of the computer system. These are items which will usually not change during operation of the program. Let's see what these items are. 2.2.1.2.1 - Base Memory Entry This entry is the amount of "base" memory the computer found installed during the POST (Power On Self Test). It is found via a DOS call to Interrupt 18. This amount is displayed as 1K amounts (1K = 1024 bytes). 2.2.1.2.2 - Extended Memory Available Entry This entry is the amount of memory above the 1 MB address area (1 MB = 1 million bytes). This entry will ALWAYS be "None" for computers which do not have at least an 80286 or better processor. These are typically IBM PCs, XTs and compatibles. For computers which have extended memory installed, but have all that memory "mapped" as either expanded memory via software or used as a RAM disk or for a disk cache, the entry will also be "None." As the entry states, this is for the AVAILABLE extended memory. If you are only using part of your extended memory for one of the uses listed above, the remaining memory will be displayed as available in 1K increments. For example, if you know you have 384K of extended memory installed (as is the case with many computers ". . . which come standard with 1 MB of memory. . .") and you set up a disk cache of 256K, the "System Stats" entry for available extended memory will display "128 K." 2.2.1.2.3 - Expanded Memory Available Entry This entry is the amount of expanded-type memory available. This memory can only be used in conjunction with a software or, in the case of some of the newer system motherboards, a hardware "driver" conforming to the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft (LIM) specification 3.2 or 4.0 for this type of memory. The driver used must use a signature at offset 10 of Interrupt 67h of at least "EMM". The amount shown in this entry is determined the same as with extended memory--not how much is installed, but how much is available for use. This is displayed in 1K increments. 2.2.1.2.4 - DOS Version Entry This entry shows both the major and minor DOS version loaded. For example, 3.30 would mean major DOS version 3 (suitable for networking), and minor version .30 (possible use of FASTOPEN and some other new DOS utilities). 2.2.1.2.5 - Mouse Available Entry This entry shows whether a mouse is available for use or not. This not only checks to see if a mouse driver is properly loaded, EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 21 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved but if the mouse is connected as well. If a mouse driver is loaded, but the mouse is not connected, this entry will display a "No". Also, if this entry displays a "Yes", you should also see a Top Line Menu inverse video highlight bar. 2.2.1.3 - "Current Stats" Window At the bottom right corner of the Main Menu Screen is what we call the "Current Stats" window. This window provides information on items which could, and usually do, change during the operation of the program. These items are detailed below. 2.2.1.3.1 - Date Entry This entry shows the current date as loaded by DOS. If your computer does not have a clock-calendar built in or you do not regularly set the time and date upon bootup (or your computer cannot read the built-in clock/calendar directly without intervention of some sort), then this date will be somewhere around January 1, 1980. Otherwise, it will show the current day of the week, the month, day and year. This information is derived from a call to Function 2Ah of Interrupt 21h. 2.2.1.3.2 - Time Entry This entry shows the current time of day as maintained by DOS. The same qualifications about loading the date apply to the time as well. This time is retrieved via an internal QuickC function call, STRTIME. The time displayed is in standard 24-hour format. This time display will be stopped when either the Disk Space check or the On-Line Help windows are displayed. It will be redisplayed when those functions are terminated. 2.2.1.3.3 - # of Menus Entry This is total number of menu screens available for the currently loaded menu configuration file. Each of these menu pages could have up to 8 menu items on it. 2.2.1.3.4 - Logging Entry This entry tells you whether Transaction Logging is turned on or not. Transaction Logging is covered in sections 1.3.2.2.2 and 2.2.1.1.3. 2.2.1.3.5 - Screen Blank Countdown Time Entry This entry shown how many seconds remain before the built-in screen blank feature is activated. Any keyboard activity not resulting in a menu selection (except loading another menu) will reset the counter to the number set by the EZCONFIG.EXE program and stored in the EZPICNZ.CNF file. 2.2.1.4 - Menu Item Window EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 22 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved The Menu Item Window is where the menu item selections defined in the menu configuration file are displayed. Also, the optional title for a specific menu page is also displayed at the top of the window. Time to get down to the nitty gritty of this part of the program. 2.2.1.4.1 - Menu Title Entry This entry is displayed at the top of the window if one has been defined in the menu configuration file. It can be up to 76 characters long and will be centered between the side borders. 2.2.1.4.2 - Menu Item List Now we come to the real meat of the program--the menu item list. This is what the program is really all about; putting your available option on the screen and being able to pick any one you want. When the program is started, it loads the menu configuration file as specified on the command line. If no alternate menu configuration file names were on the command line, it loads the default file, EZPICNZ.MCF. In either case, or in the case of a menu selection to load another menu file, the program will initially display the FIRST menu page defined in that menu configuration file. If there are other menu pages available, as displayed by the "# of Menus" entry in the "Current Stats" window, you can display them by using the LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys, or by using the Top Line Menu selections for menu display (First, Next, Previous, Last). 2.2.1.4.2.1 - Moving the Highlight Bar When a new menu page of items is displayed, there will be an inverse video highlight bar over the very first item. You can move the highlight bar in a number of ways. You can move it up or down by a single item by using the up and down arrow keys, respectfully. You can also use the SPACE BAR to move the highlight bar down and the BACKSPACE key to move the highlight bar up. If the highlight bar is at the top of the menu list when you press either the up arrow key or the backspace key, the highlight bar will move to the LAST menu item displayed. If the highlight bar is on the last menu item when you press the down arrow key or the SPACE BAR, the highlight bar will move to the very FIRST menu item displayed. If you have a mouse and it is shown to be "available" in the "System Stats" window, you can move the highlight bar up and down the item list by simply moving the mouse up or down. NOTE: When using the mouse, it does not take much movement to move the highlight bar from the bottom to the top and vice versa, and it does not require rapid movement of the mouse. If the mouse is moved TOO FAST, it will not be able to keep up and may not go as far up or down as you would have liked. Try it a little slower and it should travel all the way up or down. 2.2.1.4.2.2 - Selecting a Menu Item EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 23 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved After all is said and done, this is what you really want the program for, to be able to easily select items and have them executed. Menu items can be selected in one of three (3) ways. First, you can move the highlight bar to the selection you want and simply press the ENTER (or RETURN) key. You may also press the number key corresponding to the menu item number of the selection you want. If the menu item you want to execute is the fifth (5th) one listed, you can simply press the "5" key. If the highlight bar is not currently on the selection you choose, it will be moved there quickly before your selection is executed. The other method is if you have a mouse and it is shown to be "available" in the "System Stats" window, you can move the highlight bar to the selection of your choice and press the LEFT mouse button and release it. It is very important to note that your selection is not executed until you release the mouse button. If you are not sure of the selection, or you moved the highlight bar off the selection you wanted BEFORE you released the mouse button, you can hold it down and still move the highlight bar to the item you want and THEN release the mouse button. This is also true of selecting a Top Line Menu selection with the mouse. And that's all there is to selecting a menu item. 2.2.1.4.3 - Screen Blank Option EZPICNZ has a built-in screen blank option which protects the screen from being "burned-in" with CRT phosphors when an image is displayed on the screen for an extended period of time. This option is configurable through the EZCONFIG.EXE program discussed in section 1.3.2.2.3. It can also be activated "on demand" from the user, by-passing the configuration setting. 2.2.1.4.3.1 - Blanking the Screen The screen can be "blanked" in either of two ways. First, you can simply let the amount of time specified in the Screen Blank Countdown Time entry in the "Current Stats" window pass by and the program will initiate the screen blanking function. As discussed earlier, this time is the time specified in the EZCONFIG.EXE program. This time also gets reset every time there is keyboard activity of some type and the countdown starts all over. If not interrupted, the screen blank function will be initiated when the countdown gets to 0. The other method to blank the screen is what we call the "on demand" method. Whenever the Main Menu Screen is displayed, all the user has to do to initiate the screen blank function is to press the "B" or "b" key, and the screen will be immediately blanked. Not much else to say about "on demand" screen blanking--press the "B" key and presto! 2.2.1.4.3.2 - Redisplaying the Main Menu Screen Now that you have the screen blanked, how do you bring back the Main Menu Screen if you are ready to make a selection? If you have elected NOT to provide a user-defined screen blank EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 24 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved message during the configuration program EZCONFIG.EXE, you will have a default message displayed in the screen blank message box telling you press any keyboard key (except, of course, the SHIFT, ALT, CTRL, CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK or SCROLL LOCK keys) to return to the Main Menu Screen. If you have a mouse, it will also tell you you can press the LEFT mouse button to return to the Main Menu Screen. If you have specified a user-defined screen blank message, it may or may not have the same instructions (mine never does--it says things like ... "DON'T TOUCH THAT KEYBOARD!!!", etc). No matter what your message says, the program will react the same as if the default message was displayed. Pressing any allowable keyboard key or the LEFT mouse button, if a mouse is available, will redisplay the Main Menu Screen. Someone has mentioned it would be nice to have the ability to make someone enter a password to return to the Main Menu Screen. If we receive a lot more requests for this feature, we will seriously consider adding it to the program. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 2 - EZPICNZ Operation 25 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 3.1 - General The menu configuration file is the one part of the whole system which is truly essential (aside from the fact the main executable is also necessary!). It is probably also the most time consuming and tedious to create. For this, we are truly sorry. At the time, there was no other way. We are in the process of deciding how best to go about writing a menu configuration file editor which will take much of the burden of menu page and menu item numbering away from the user. We hope to have this program finished before Christmas, but we make no promises given the current state of the commercial market place practice of announcing products and then not delivering them at the appointed time. We will keep you up to date on the editor's progress. The menu configuration file is a very structured, formatted file which tells EZPICNZ exactly what to display and how to execute a menu selection once a selection has been made. It is very important to understand this file has to be created EXACTLY according to the instructions which follow. If errors are made in the creation of this file, then EZPICNZ will not operate according to what you want it to do. There have been some safeguards built into EZPICNZ, but it cannot correct all the possible conditions arising from an incorrectly formatted menu configuration file. Now that we've thoroughly discouraged you from going on with this, let's try anyway. It's not as bad we have made it out to be. NOTE: This file must be a standard ASCII file. Consult your word processor user's guide/manual to see if your program can create this type of file. Most plain "vanilla" text editors can produce an ASCII file as output. You could also use the EDLIN program that comes with most MS/PC-DOS packages. The standard default file EZPICNZ tries to read is called EZPICNZ.MCF. However, if you list another filename on the command line, either after the program name EZPICNZ (as in EZPICNZ THISONE.MCF) or after the batch file name to start EZPICNZ (as in EZ THATONE.MCF), EZPICNZ will read the command line and load that file instead of the default file. When you want to load another menu configuration file from within the program, the item must have a prefix of "X.X.A" in front of it (an example of this will be shown later). Normally, the default file will be EZPICNZ.MCF. If you have a menu configuration or definition file from another menu program, you can use the EZCONVRT program to convert it to EZPICNZ format. Refer to section 1.3.3 for details concerning converting different configuration or definition file formats. All you have to do after EZCONVRT is finished is rename it to EZPICNZ.MCF. As we mentioned earlier, the menu configuration file uses a set of control characters and commands to tell EZPICNZ exactly how to display item selections and how to execute those EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 26 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved selections. It is very important certain control characters be placed in exactly the right sequence, or EZPICNZ will get confused or may not work at all. There are only 9 control symbols in the configuration "language" and their sequence in the file is EXTREMELY important. The symbols are "T", "L", "P", "E", "R", "I", "N", "A", and "9.9.9". They are listed in their relative order of importance. So let's find out what these symbols mean. If you have used other menuing programs in the past, this may be old hat, because their meanings may be similar. But for you newcomers, here we go. There is a special structure and sequence required by EZPICNZ. Previously in this manual you may have seen references to the menu configuration file entries with a series of Xs and periods preceding a menu configuration file control character. These have very special meaning in the menu configuration file. The first 'X' specifies the menu number. These must start with the number 1 and increase by 1. There can be NO gaps in the sequence of menu numbers, or EZPICNZ will fail. The maximum for this value is 8. The value of 9 is reserved to tell EZPICNZ there are no more entries in the file. The next 'X' is to specify the menu item (or selection) number. If the number is 0, it must be followed by a period and a "T" to signify this is the "title" entry for this menu page. This MUST be the first entry for each menu page, even if you do not include any text for the title, the entry X.0.T must precede the start of every menu page. After the menu title entry, the menu item numbers must start with 1 and increase by 1 to a maximum of 8. As with the menu numbers, there can be NO gap in the menu item numbers. You do not have to specify a selection for a menu item (nothing to select), but there can be no missing menu item numbers. The first entry of the first menu would appear like this: 1.1.L <Name of option>. The space between the "L" and the start of the name of the option is REQUIRED for ALL entries in the menu configuration file. This will be evident in the example menu configuration file in Appendix B. This rigid numbering structure may seem cumbersome at first, but it actually gives the user a clear picture of exactly what menu page and what item they are working on. See the example menu configuration file later in Appendix B of this manual. Just a quick review of the numbering of entries: X.X.X <xxxxxxxxxxx> ^ ^ ^^ ^ | | || | | | || | | | || | MENU | | || | PAGE <--+ | || +----> MENU TITLE/LABEL TEXT, ITEM COMMAND # | |+----------> REQUIRED SPACE CHARACTER (1-8) | +-----------> MENU FILE CONTROL CHARACTER (see EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 27 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved (9=EOF) | below) +-------------> MENU ITEM # (or 0 for a MENU TITLE) 3.2 - Menu Title Character (T) This character MUST, repeat, MUST be the first control character in the menu configuration file, whether or not it has any text after it. Whether you wish to place a title for the beginning of a menu is entirely up to you. However, this character, along with a new menu page number, must delineate (or separate) menu pages. If they are not present, EZPICNZ will break the menu page for you after the eighth (8th) item and disregard the rest for that menu page. A typical example of the use of the menu page definition symbol would look like this: 1.0.T THIS IS THE FIRST PAGE TITLE (1.0.T MUST be first characters the file) 1.1.L First item selection . . . 1.8.L Last item selection (but no more than 8 per menu page.) 2.0.T THIS IS THE SECOND MENU PAGE TITLE 2.1.L First item selection on the 2nd menu page . . . 3.0.T LAST MENU PAGE TITLE (but not more than the 8th title) 3.1.L First item selection on the last menu page . . . 9.9.9 END OF CONFIGURATION FILE CHARACTERS (MUST be last control characters in file. More on these characters later) CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! THERE CAN BE NO, REPEAT, NO, BLANK LINES IN THE MENU CONFIGURATION FILE. IF THERE ARE, EZPICNZ WILL NOT OPERATE CORRECTLY. REPEAT, NO BLANK LINES ARE ALLOWED IN THE MENU CONFIGURATION FILE. As a recap of the menu title control character, we know it must be the FIRST character in the file and start in column 1, you can define no more than eight (8) menu pages, and providing text after the character is optional. If you add text after the symbol, it cannot be more than 76 characters long. If the text is over 76 characters long, all of the text over 76 characters will be ignored. Repeat, if the text following the MENU PAGE TITLE character is over 76 characters long, ALL of the characters past 76 will be ignored. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 28 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 3.3 - Menu Item Label Character (L) This character MUST be the first control character after the Menu Title Character, as well as the first control character to denote the start of another menu item. There can be NO MORE than 8 of these control characters between Menu Title Characters. If there are more than 8, they will be ignored. The text following the Menu Item Label Character can be no longer than 45 characters. Anything over 45 characters will be truncated and not printed on the screen. A few examples of the use of the Menu Item Label are as follows: 1.0.T MENU LABEL ONE 1.1.L WordStar WP Software . . . 1.2.L SuperCalc4 Spreadsheet . . . 1.3.L TimeLine Project Management . . . 1.4.L Telecommunications Programs . . . 2.0.T MENU LABEL TWO 2.1.L Utilities . . . 2.2.L Enable Integrated Software . . . . . 9.9.9 END OF CONFIGURATION FILE 3.4 - Menu Item Command Characters The following control characters are the ONLY control characters that can follow a MENU ITEM LABEL: "P", "A", "I","N", "R", and "E". Each of these control characters have unique features and restrictions that must be adhered to. Let's see what these characters mean. 3.4.1 - Menu Item Password Character ("P") EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 29 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved If you want to password protect certain menu item selections, you can give them a password in the menu configuration file. This password MUST be the first item after the Menu Item Label Character line. If it is not the first item after the Menu Item Label, it will be treated as any other menu item command, and will probably cause your selection to operate incorrectly. This is not a "coded" password, i.e., the text you enter in the configuration file is exactly what is to be typed as the password. There is no special coding allowed. However, this is a CASE SENSITIVE password. If you enter the password in the configuration file in lower case letters, but when you select the item from the menu, you type the password in uppercase, you will be returned to the menu. This has great advantages to the person developing the configuration file in that he can create a password (up to 15 characters long) in any sequence of upper and lower case letters. This means even if someone knew what the text of the password was, they would still have to know which letters were upper case and which ones were in lower case. An example would look like this: 1.0.T MENU LABEL 1.1.L MENU ITEM LABEL ONE 1.1.P cAntEeN <-- password required 1.1.A \ENABLE.MCF <-- alternative configuration 1.2.L MENU ITEM LABEL TWO file . . . . 9.9.9 END OF CONFIGURATION FILE As you can see, the person wanting to load the ENABLE.MCF menu configuration file would have to enter "cAntEeN" to be able to load that menu. However you want to enter your password is entirely up to you. 3.4.2 - Alternate Menu Item Character ("A") This control character MUST BE the command IMMEDIATELY after the Menu Item Label Character if you DO NOT have a password specified for this option. If you have a password specified for this option, it MUST be the next item immediately after the password line (Passwords were just covered in section 3.4.1). It must also be the ONLY command after the Menu Item Label or password. An example of this is as follows: 1.0.T MENU LABEL ONE 1.1.L MENU ITEM LABEL ONE 1.1.P ACCESS <-- password needed 1.1.A \COMM.MCF 1.2.L MENU ITEM LABEL TWO . . 1.3.L MENU ITEM LABEL THREE 1.3.A \ENABLE\ENABLE.MCF <-- only entry after 1.4.L MENU ITEM LABEL FOUR label EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 30 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved . . . . 9.9.9 END OF CONFIGURATION FILE As you saw in the example, you can give a path along with the name of the alternate menu configuration file. EZPICNZ must know where to find the other menu configuration file. If the alternate menu configuration file specified cannot be found, or is not of the correct structure, EZPICNZ will display an error message and then display the previously loaded menu. As stated earlier, alternate menu configuration file commands MUST be the next control character after the "L" control character or a password definition and must be the only command for that item. If there are other control characters preceding the "A" sign, EZPICNZ will treat the alternate menu configuration command line as a command of the same type as the one immediately following the "L" Menu Item Label Character (or after the password control character, if present), whatever that may be (except the "I" or "N" characters, which will be discussed later in sections 3.4.3 and 3.4.4). If you have any lines AFTER the alternate menu configuration file command, they will be ignored. A general rule, but not necessary, is that your alternate menu configuration file should have an item selection to return to the original configuration file menus. You would do this by having a command of "X.X.A \EZPICNZ.MCF" (or whatever menu configuration file you are using as a default) as one of the item selections. 3.4.3 - Immediate Execution, w/ Pause Character ("I") This command is very similar to the last control character ("A") in that it (as well as all the other control characters) MUST be the FIRST control character after the Menu Item Label Character (unless you have a password specified). Also, there can only be ONE of these commands after the Menu Item Label Character. If there are any more, they will be ignored. This control character is generally used for applications like CHKDSK, DISKCOPY, etc. These programs give you information and don't require you to stay in them for an extended period of time. The format for this command line entry is the same as for the "A" control character. You can precede the command with a drive letter and path if you desire. CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! EZPICNZ runs these commands while it remains resident in the computer's memory. Therefore, it is imperative that you DO NOT run any commands invoking Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs. If you do, EZPICNZ may not be able to EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 31 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved recover and the likelihood of your system "crashing" or "hanging up" is great. Remember, DO NOT run Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs with the "I" command. 3.4.4 - Immediate Execution, No Pause Character ("N") This control character is used exactly the same as the "I" except EZPICNZ inserts the "EXIT" statement, and does not insert the batch command "PAUSE" before it as in the use of the "I" control character. The command will be executed and the user will be returned back to the same menu screen with no pause to view the output. If there is an output the user wishes to see on the screen, he should NOT use this control character, but instead use the "I" control character. The caution concerning the use of TSR programs applies to this control character as well. 3.4.5 - Batch Execution, Resident Character ("R") This command prefix indicates these commands are to be put into the EZTEMP.BAT file and the EZTEMP.BAT file is to be executed via the SYSTEM command (an internal C function similar to the BASIC 'Shell' command) while EZPICNZ remains resident in the computer's memory. This method should not have the terminating line of "EZ" as with the "E" control character prefix (to be discussed in section 3.4.6). EZPICNZ automatically appends to the end of the commands in the EZTEMP.BAT file the "EXIT" statement so control returns to EZPICNZ. Aside from these differences, the "R" control character operates the same as the "E" control character discussed in section 3.4.6. Note the caution below, however. If you are executing a program within this command list that requires a lot of memory to run, you should consider changing the control characters to the "E" symbol and adding the "EZ" line to the command list. This will give the program all the memory available. CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! EZPICNZ runs these commands ("R") while it remains resident in the computer's memory. Therefore, it is imperative you DO NOT run any commands invoking Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs. If you do, EZPICNZ may not be able to recover and the likelihood of your system "crashing" or "hanging up" is great. Remember, DO NOT run Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs with the "R" control characters. 3.4.6 - Batch Execution, External Character ("E") The use of the "E" indicates you want to execute a series of batch commands in the EZTEMP.BAT file. What is meant by "external" is EZPICNZ will create the EZTEMP.BAT file and will then terminate to allow the batch program all the memory EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 32 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved available. To be able to do this without "operator intervention", EZPICNZ should be executed from the EZ.BAT (or similarly constructed) batch file. The last line in this file is a command to execute EZTEMP.BAT. Then, when EZPICNZ terminates, EZTEMP.BAT is executed with the commands for your selection. To have EZPICNZ start up again after all the commands in EZTEMP have been executed, the last command for the selection in the menu configuration file should be "X.X.E EZ" (or the name of the batch file you use to invoke EZPICNZ). This way you get uninterrupted execution of the EZTEMP.BAT file and EZPICNZ. An example of this follows: EZ.BAT looks similar to this: ECHO OFF CLS CD\ <-- or the directory EZPICNZ is in EZPICNZ %1 %2 <-- The %1 & %2 allows reading CLS of command line parameters EZTEMP for file name and log file drive A menu configuration file entry would look like this: 1.0.T MENU LABEL ONE 1.1.L MENU ITEM LABEL ONE 1.1.P PICKLES 1.1.E ECHO OFF 1.1.E CLS 1.1.E CD\WS5 1.1.E WS 1.1.E CD\ 1.1.E EZ <-- This will restart EZPICNZ 1.2.L MENU ITEM LABEL TWO 1.2.E ECHO OFF 1.2.E CLS 1.2.E CD\SC5 1.2.E SC5 1.2.E CD\ <-- This will NOT restart EZPICNZ 1.3.L MENU ITEM LABEL THREE . . . 1.4.L MENU ITEM LABEL FOUR . . . . . 9.9.9 END OF CONFIGURATION FILE In the first selection, the user would have to enter the correct password (PICKLES) to gain access and use of the WordStar Version 5 program. After he has exited the WordStar program, the batch file calls the EZ.BAT file which loads up EZPICNZ. In the second example, the user executes the SuperCalc5 spreadsheet program, and upon exiting that program, the user is returned to EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 33 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved the root directory and then to the DOS level prompt on the current drive. The user would have to type "EZ" <cr> to restart EZPICNZ. 3.5 - End-of-File Character ("9.9.9") These control characters must be in column one (1) of the last line of the menu configuration file. EZPICNZ will recognize this symbol and stop processing the menu configuration file at that point. If for some reason you have control characters after this symbol is encountered, they will be ignored. If this symbol is not found, the program will abort with an error message so stating. 3.6 - Summary of Control Characters It must be pointed out all of these control characters must be the FIFTH (5th) character on the input line after the menu page number, a period, the menu item number and another period. They must be in column five (5)! Also there can be NO blank lines in the configuration file. If there are any blank lines, EZPICNZ will crash. For safety's sake, just don't have ANY blank lines in your configuration files, PLEASE!! Also, there is a limit of 40 menu item command lines per menu item defined. This limit INCLUDES the Menu Item Label line and the Menu Item Password line, if there is one. Normally, this should not be a problem. If you need more than 40 menu item command lines, let us know, and we'll see what we can do to create a special version specifically for you. Remember, for the "I", "R", and the "N" control characters, do not invoke any Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs or it is likely EZPICNZ will crash and burn. To see what a complete menu configuration file would look like, turn to Appendix B. EZPICNZ Users Manual - Chapter 3 - Menu Configuration File Description 34 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved APPENDICES Appendix A - Trademarks and Copyrights Appendix B - Sample Menu Configuration File Appendix C - A Word About Shareware EZPICNZ Users Manual - APPENDICES 35 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved APPENDIX A Trademarks and Copyrights AUTOMENU (R) is a registered trademark of Magee Enterprises of Norcross, GA IBM, IBM-PC, IBM PC/XT, IBM PC/AT, PC-DOS & IBM PS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. MS-DOS, Windows, GWBASIC are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International, Inc. SuperCalc4 is a trademark of Computer Associates International, Inc. ProComm is a trademark of Datastorm Technologies, Inc. Enable and Enable/OA are registered trademarks of Enable Software Inc. QuickDOS is a registered trademark of Gazelle Systems. dBase III Plus is a registered trademark of Ashton-Tate, Inc. PC Paint and FRIEZE are registered trademarks of Zsoft Corp. PC Menu is a trademark of Software Alternatives EZPICNZ Users Manual - APPENDIX A - Trademarks and Copyrights 36 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved APPENDIX B SAMPLE OF A EZPICNZ MENU CONFIGURATION FILE Comments (not in file) 1.0.T Golberg Computer System <-- Title #1 1.1.L WordStar Word Processing <--Menu item label #1 1.1.R ECHO OFF <--Batch resident 1.1.R CLS 1.1.R BIGCURSR 1.1.R CD\WS4 1.1.R C: 1.1.R WS 1.1.R CD\ <--No need for E EZ 1.2.L Telecommunications - PROCOMM 2.4.2 <--Menu item label 2 1.2.P GREBLOG <--Password required 1.2.E ECHO OFF <--External Batch 1.2.E CLS 1.2.E BIGCURSR 1.2.E CD\PROCOMM 1.2.E PROCOMM 1.2.E CD\ 1.2.E EZ <--Restart EZPICNZ 1.3.L Windows Operating Environment <--Menu item label #3 1.3.R ECHO OFF 1.3.R CLS 1.3.R CD\WINDOWS 1.3.R WIN 1.3.R CD\ 1.4.L SuperCalc4 Spreadsheet <--Menu item label #4 1.4.R ECHO OFF 1.4.R CLS 1.4.R BIGCURSR 1.4.R CD\SC4 1.4.R SC4 1.4.R CD\ 1.5.L Enable Integrated Program <--Menu item label #5 1.5.R ECHO OFF 1.5.R CLS 1.5.R BIGCURSR 1.5.R CD\EN200 1.5.R ENABLE (,,,,C:\ENABDATA) 1.5.R CD\ 1.6.L Enable Tutor <--Menu item label #6 1.6.R ECHO OFF 1.6.R CLS 1.6.R CD\EN200 1.6.R TUTOR H 1.6.R CD\ 1.7.L Quick DOS <--Menu item label #7 1.7.E ECHO OFF 1.7.E CLS 1.7.E BIGCURSR 1.7.E CD\ 1.7.E QD2 1.7.E CLS EZPICNZ Users Manual - APPENDIX B - Sample Menu Configuration File 37 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 1.7.E CD\ 1.7.E EZ <--Restart EZPICNZ 1.8.L Editor <--Menu item label #8 1.8.R EDIT (This will be the 1.8.R CD\ last item for menu #1) 1.9.L Return to Disk Operating System <--This will be 1.9.E TYPE \DOS.SCR ignored, along with 1.9.E \BIGCURSR the rest until next menu title Blank lines added here for purpose of explanation. None are allowed in actual file. 2.0.T Golberg Computer System <--Title #2 (Page #2) 2.1.L Games <--Menu item #1, pg 2 2.1.R ECHO OFF 2.1.R CLS 2.1.R CD\GAMES 2.1.R LOGO 2.1.R GWBASIC MENU1.001 /S:512 2.1.R CD\ 2.2.L dBASE III Plus Database Manager <--Menu item #2, pg 2 2.2.R ECHO OFF 2.2.R CLS 2.2.R BIGCURSR 2.2.R CD\DB3 2.2.R SUBST E: C:\DB3DATA <--DOS SUBST command 2.2.R DBASE 2.2.R SUBST E: /E 2.2.R CD\ 2.3.L Quick DOS <--Menu item #3, pg 2 2.3.R ECHO OFF 2.3.R CLS 2.3.R CD\ 2.3.R BIGCURSR 2.3.R QD2 2.3.R CLS 2.3.R CD\ 2.4.L GOLF <--Menu item #4, pg 2 2.4.E ECHO OFF 2.4.E CLS 2.4.E CD\PDU 2.4.E GOLF 2.4.E CD\ 2.4.E EZ 2.5.L TYPING TUTOR <--Menu item #5, pg 2 2.5.R ECHO OFF 2.5.R CLS 2.5.R CD\TYPEIT 2.5.R TYPEIT 2.5.R CD\ 2.6.L PAINTING PROGRAM <--Menu item #6, pg 2 2.6.E ECHO OFF <--External Batch 2.6.E CLS 2.6.E CD\PAINT 2.6.E FRIEZE P1 <-- A TSR program 2.6.E PCPAINT C IBMCOLOR 0 B800 EZPICNZ Users Manual - APPENDIX B - Sample Menu Configuration File 38 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved 2.6.E CD\ 2.6.E EZ <--Restart EZPICNZ 2.7.L ANGIE'S MATH PROGRAM <--Menu item #7, pg 2 2.7.R ECHO OFF 2.7.R CLS 2.7.R CD\BASIC 2.7.R CBS1 2.7.R CD\ 3.0.T Enable Development Menu <-- Title #3 (Page #3) 3.1.L Enable Development System <-- Menu item #1, pg 3 3.1.R ECHO OFF 3.1.R CLS 3.1.R CD\EN200 3.1.R ENABLE (,,,,C:\ENABDATA) 3.1.R CD\ 3.2.L Windows Operating Environment <-- Menu item #2, pg 3 3.2.R ECHO OFF 3.2.R CLS 3.2.R CD\WINDOWS 3.2.R WIN 3.2.R CD\ 3.3.L Return to Disk Operating System <-- Menu item #3, pg 3 3.3.E CLS 3.3.E TYPE \DOS.SCR 3.3.E BIGCURSR 9.9.9 END OF EZPICNZ.MCF <-- End of configuration file EZPICNZ Users Manual - APPENDIX B - Sample Menu Configuration File 39 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved APPENDIX C A Word About Shareware Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. So, Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. The above statement about shareware was provided by the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). This product falls under the category of Shareware. You, the user, are expected to register and pay for the privilege of being able to continue to use EZPICNZ. You do have a trial period of 30 days and all Shareware authors rely on the honesty and integrity of you, the user, to register, as well as tell others you know who are using Shareware products, to register. There is no other way that we can support our development efforts without being compensated in some form. Shareware provides the industry with some of the best software on available at prices that cannot be beat. So we ask you to support the Shareware concept and the authors and register this and other Shareware software your are using. EZPICNZ Users Manual - APPENDIX C - A Word About Shareware 40 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved FIGURES Figure 1 - Main Menu Screen Example Figure 2 - Screen Blank Window Example Figure 3 - Password Window Example Figure 4 - Disk Space Check Window Example Figure 5 - Error Message Window Example Figure 6 - EZCONFIG Main Edit Screen Example Figure 7 - EZCONFIG Preview Screen Example EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURES 41 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 1 Main Menu Screen Example F1=Help Disk Transaction Logging First Previous Next Last Esc=Quit ====================== EZPICNZ Menuing System 3.2 ====================== | | | APPLICATIONS MENU # 1 | | | | | | -> 1 - Enable/OA Menu | | 2 - Timeline Project Management Program | | 3 - WINDOWS System Environment | | 4 - Telecommunications | | 5 - Directory File Management Program | | 6 - Disk Directory Program (CD, MD, RD, etc.) | | 7 - Disk Operating System | | | | | | | | | | | ======== System Stats ====== ============== Current Stats =========== | Base/Conv. Memory: 640 K | Today's Date: Wednesday - March 28, 1990 | | Extended Memory Avail: None | Current Time: 22:30:29 | | Expanded Memory Avail: None | Number of Menu Pages: 4 | | DOS Version: 3.21 | Transaction Logging Is: Off | | Mouse Available: Yes | Time Before Screen Blank: 57 Seconds | ============================== ========================================== EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 1 - MAIN MENU SCREEN EXAMPLE 42 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 2 Screen Blank Window Example ============================================ | | | DON'T TOUCH THAT KEYBOARD!! | | | | We'll Be Right Back! | | | | ******************** | | | ============================================ EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 2 - SCREEN BLANK WINDOW EXAMPLE 43 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 3 Password Window Example F1=Help Disk Transaction Logging First Previous Next Last Esc=Quit ======================== EZPICNZ Menuing System 3.2 ====================== | | | Enable/OA Work Menu | | | | | | -> 1 - CMIS Related Enable/OA Work | | 2 =================================================== | | 3| | | | 4| Enter PASSWORD!!! | | | 5| | | | 6| *********...... | | | 7| | | | 8| | | | | Use Baskspace to correct, ENTER when finished. | | | | | | | =================================================== | | | ======== System Stats ====== ============== Current Stats ============= | Base/Conv. Memory: 640 K | Today's Date: Wednesday - March 28, 1990 | | Extended Memory Avail: None | Current Time: 22:31:07 | | Expanded Memory Avail: None | Number of Menu Pages: 2 | | DOS Version: 3.21 | Transaction Logging Is: Off | | Mouse Available: Yes | Time Before Screen Blank: 59 Seconds | ============================== ============================================ EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 3 - PASSWORD WINDOW EXAMPLE 44 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 4 Disk Space Check Window Example F1=Help Disk Transaction Logging First Previous Next Last Esc=Quit ======================== EZPICNZ Menuing System 3.2 ==================== | ====== EZPICNZ Disk Space Check ========== Esc = Quit === | | | What Drive to Check? D | | | | | | | | Drive Statistics are: | | | | | | | | Sectors-Per-Cluster - 4 | | | | Bytes-Per-Sector - 512 | | | | Total Clusters - 14960 | | | | Available Clusters - 5409 | | | | Total Disk Space - 30638080 | | | | Available Disk Space - 11077632 | | | | | | | | | | | | Press any other key to do over again | | | | . . . or LEFT mouse button | | | =========================================================== | ======== System Stats ====== ============== Current Stats =========== | Base/Conv. Memory: 640 K | Today's Date: Wednesday - March 28, 1990 | | Extended Memory Avail: None | Current Time: HALTED! | | Expanded Memory Avail: None | Number of Menu Pages: 2 | | DOS Version: 3.21 | Transaction Logging Is: Off | | Mouse Available: Yes | Time Before Screen Blank: 44 Seconds | ============================== ========================================== EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 4 - DISK SPACE CHECK WINDOW EXAMPLE 45 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 5 Error Message Window Examples Example 1 - Menu Configuration File Not Found (Either initially, or an alternate to be loaded) F1=Help Disk Transaction Logging First Previous Next Last Esc=Quit ====================== EZPICNZ Menuing System 3.2 ====================== | | | APPLICATIONS MENU # 1 | | | | -> 1 - Enable/OA Menu | | 2 - Timeline Project Management Program | | 3 - WINDOWS System Environment | | 4 - Telecommunications | | 5 - D ============================================== | | 6 - D| | | | 7 - D| Can't open ENABLE.MCF file! | | | | Press any key to continue . . . . | | | | | | | ============================================== | ======== System Stats ====== ============== Current Stats =========== | Base/Conv. Memory: 640 K | Today's Date: Wednesday - March 28, 1990 | | Extended Memory Avail: None | Current Time: 22:33:15 | | Expanded Memory Avail: None | Number of Menu Pages: 4 | | DOS Version: 3.21 | Transaction Logging Is: Off | | Mouse Available: Yes | Time Before Screen Blank: 56 Seconds | ============================== ========================================== Example 2 - Menu Configuration File Format Error F1=Help Disk Transaction Logging First Previous Next Last Esc=Quit ====================== EZPICNZ Menuing System 3.2 ====================== | | | APPLICATIONS MENU # 1 | | | | -> 1 - Enable/OA Menu | | 2 - Timeline Project Management Program | | ========================================================== | | | | | | | Definition file missing proper initial format characters | | | | | | | | Please edit the configuration file before using again. | | | | | | | | Press Any Key to Continue. . . . | | | ========================================================== | ======== System Stats ====== ============== Current Stats =========== | Base/Conv. Memory: 640 K | Today's Date: Wednesday - March 28, 1990 | | Extended Memory Avail: None | Current Time: 22:34:06 | | Expanded Memory Avail: None | Number of Menu Pages: 4 | | DOS Version: 3.21 | Transaction Logging Is: Off | | Mouse Available: Yes | Time Before Screen Blank: 59 Seconds | ============================== ========================================== EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 5 - ERROR MESSAGE WINDOW EXAMPLES 46 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 6 EZCONFIG Main Edit Screen Example ================== EZPICNZ Program Configuration Screen ================= | Color Choices | | (A) Menu Border Color/Background - * 0 - Black 8 - Grey | | (B) Menu Title Color/Background - * 1 - Blue 9 - Br Blue | | (C) Menu Item Color/Background - * 2 - Green 10 - Br Green | | (D) Status Label Color/Background - * 3 - Cyan 11 - Br Cyan | | (E) Status Info Color/Background - * 4 - Red 12 - Br Red | | (F) Menu Screen Color/Background - * 5 - Magenta 13 - Br Magenta | | (G) Help Message Color/Background - * 6 - Brown 14 - Yellow | | (H) Arrow Color/Background - * 7 - White 15 - Br White | | Add 16 for Blinking | | (I) Time-to-Clear the Screen (seconds) - 60 | | (J) Transaction Logging Flag - 0 (0/1 - Logging Off/On) | | (K) Screen Blank Msg Flag - 3 (0 - Std msg, 1-3 User Msg Lines) | | (L) DOS Exit Protect Flag - 0 (0 - Exit via ESC, 128-256 = Code) | | | | User Supplied Screen Blank Message (Max of 3 lines) | | | | Line #1 - [DON'T TOUCH THAT KEYBOARD!! ] | | Line #2 - [We'll Be Right Back! ] | | Line #3 - [******************** ] | | | | | ========================================================================= Letter = Item to Set F1 = Preview F10 = Save Esc = Quit EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 6 - EZCONFIG MAIN EDIT SCREEN EXAMPLE 47 (C) Copyright 1988, 1990 Golberg Computing All Rights Reserved Figure 7 - EZCONFIG Preview Screen Example EZPICNZ Color Configuration Preview Screen ========================= Menu Border Color =========================== | | | Menu Title Color | | | | -> 1 - Menu Item Color | | | | | | | | ====================== | | | Help Message Color | | | ====================== | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ========== System Stats ============ ======== Current Stats ========= | | | | Stat Label Color: Stat Info Color |Stat Label Color: Stat Info Color | | | | ====================================== ================================== Press Any Key to Return to Edit Screen . . . EZPICNZ Users Manual - FIGURE 6 - EZCONFIG MAIN EDIT SCREEN EXAMPLE 48