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(This is actually chapter 2 of the evaluation User's Guide. It can
help you install Magic Menus and get started immediately).
Chapter 2 -- A Quick Start Tutorial
If you are like most people, you want to start using a software
product "right out of the box". While Magic Menus has many advanced
features that will require some thought and planning to fully exploit,
it is also friendly and easy enough to use immediately. This tutorial,
though brief, will lead you through the setup and main features. You
can then take your time and study the rest of the User's Guide in
depth.
We are assuming that you have not yet installed or configured
Magic Menus. If you have already installed it, skip section 2.1. If
you've played with it some (and made some data entries), please keep in
mind that the tutorial can't know this and some of the screens may not
appear exactly as described.
2.1 Quick Install
This "quick-install" feature assumes that you have an IBM PC (or
true compatible) with a hard disk (labelled drive C) running DOS 2.0
or higher. If not refer to chapter 1, "Installing Magic Menus".
Insert your Magic Menus distribution disk in drive A. Type:
A:
and then <return>. Now type:
MMINST
and <return>. The Magic Menus installation screen will appear. Select
"1) First Time Install" by pressing a "1" and then <return>. Read the
instructions that are displayed and press return again.
When Magic Menus asked what drive you are installing, press:
C
and then <return>. Answer "Y" (and <return>) to the next question and
away we go!. The installation program will have copied all of the
Magic Menus file to the hard disk.
Now you will be asked five questions. Magic Menus comes pre-
configured for a standard IBM PC, so simply press <return> and accept
the defaults for each. (Press <return> five times. The installation
procedure will indicate that it has saved the new setups, and Magic
Menus is ready to run!).
Chapter 2: A Quick Start Tutorial 1
2.2 Running Magic Menus
After the installation, you will be in the root directory of your
hard disk. To start Magic Menus, simply type
MAGIC
and press <return>. Magic Menus opening screen will appear. Press any
key at this point to continue.
You should now be in Magic Menus' main screen. Before we go any
further, press the <F1> key. You will see Magic Menus' help window
appear. The window is context-sensitive, and you can pop it up anytime
for instant assistance. Use your up and down arrow keys, or the <PgUp>
and <PgDn> keys to move through the help message.
Press <ESC> and the help message will disappear. The <ESC> key is
the universal back-up key in Magic Menus... you can always press <ESC>
to get back to where you just were.
Notice the menu bar across the top. Use your left and right arrow
keys to move the high-lighted bar from choice to choice. Try it now.
Now press <return>, and you will see that Magic Menus will "pull-
down" another menu! The up and down arrow keys will move the high-
lighted bar through the choices. Also try the left and right arrow
keys. They still work as well! Press <ESC> and the pull-down menu
will disappear. Try it.
Now let's continue with the Magic Menus tutorial. Use your left
arrow key to move the bar over the "DOS" choice. Press <return> to
pull the menu down. You should see a list of familiar choices. The
first one is "Directory". Make sure the high-lighted bar is over the
word "Directory" and press return. Magic Menus will pop-up a window.
Press <F10> now, and watch what happens. Magic Menus passed the "DIR"
command to DOS, just as if you had typed it yourself! Press any key
now to return to Magic Menus. Press <ESC> to exit the "Directory
Window", and then <ESC> again to exit the "DOS" menu.
Most of Magic Menus' functions work in this way. You may want to
play with the functions available in the DOS menu a while to familiar-
ize yourself with the concepts.
2.3 Setting Up Applications
Magic Menus' main purpose is to allow you to create and execute
your own menus and choices. Move the high-lighted bar over the word
"Applications" and pull the menu down. You will see two choices:
Add application
Edit application
We can't edit an application since we haven't defined any yet. Put the
bar over "Add application" and hit <return>. The "Application Entry
Chapter 2: A Quick Start Tutorial 2
Window" will appear.
Now I'm going to lead you through a simple application set up.
Just follow my instructions, and you'll soon catch on.
Steps:
1) Your cursor should be at the "Menu Prompt" field. type
Directory
and press <return>.
2) For the "Hot Key", type
D
and <return>, and then press <return> again (to skip the
"Prompt for Disk" field).
3) You should now be at the the line that reads "Command 1:".
Enter
dir
and press <return>.
4) Where it says "Pause", type
Y
and a "YES" will appear.
5) That's it! Press <F10> now, and Magic Menus will save your
setup.
After saving the setup, you will notice that Magic Menus clears the
data from the window. That's because it is setting you up to enter
another application. We're done for now, so press <ESC> to exit the
entry window.
See what's happened? Magic Menus has "magically" inserted your
setup into the "Applications" menu! It should now look like this:
Directory
Add application
Edit application
Place the high-lighted bar over the word "Directory" (if it's not
there already) and press <return>. You should now be looking at the
directory on your disk! Press any key to return to Magic Menus.
Chapter 2: A Quick Start Tutorial 3
That's a pretty simple example, and it may not seem like much.
But Magic Menus will allow you to execute your own programs as well
(such as Lotus 123, WordStar, CheckMate, etc), as well as simple DOS
commands. And you can execute more than one command in an application
and use powerful parameter prompting commands. We're not going to talk
about all of Magic Menus' features in this tutorial, especially the
more advanced ones. They are covered in detail in the User's Guide.
Let's try one more applications example. Select "Add application"
again so that you are back in the "Application Entry Window". Now,
follow the steps:
1) In the "Menu Prompt" field. type
Type a file
and press <return>.
2) For the "Hot Key", type
T
and <return>, and then press <return> again (to skip the
"Prompt for Disk" field).