If you have ever tried to use ResEdit to modify or add a MENU, you know how slow the template mechanism that it uses can become. That was the one biggest flaw that I saw with ResEdit. I thought that MENUs should be as easy to edit as ICONs or some of the other more common resource types that ResEdit includes special sub-editors for. So I wrote a menu editor myself. Now if only ResEdit would work with color resources.
To install the MenuEditor into ResEdit, simply make a copy of ResEdit (I used V1.2b4.1 for testing), and run it. Open the file called ResMENU, and select all of the resources found in it. Copy them, and then open up ResEdit (the duplicate), and Paste. Close ResEdit and save the changes and quit. Now you're set. Every time you double click on a menu when you are using the modified ResEdit, it will open the MenuEditor and your life will be much easier.
Using it is even simpler than installing it. Just click on the item that you wish to change, and make the changes in the boxes to the right. Remember to click the "Do It!" button, or hit return before you click on the next item, or you will lose the changes that you just made. To add an item, click on the item above where you want the new one, and choose New from the file menu. To get rid of an item, click on it and choose Clear from the edit menu.
The check boxes are all pretty self-explanatory, except the H-Menu box. This allows you to make the selected Item a hierarchical menu, so that it will bring up the sub menu (specified in Sub#) when your program calls it - pretty neat, eh?
The best part about this program is that it is FREE. If you do use it, though, I would like to hear from you. Any comments or suggestions about this program, or any ideas for any other utilities (or games, or anything ╔) are welcomed. Please send me something to tell me that what I am writing is getting some use. I will continue to update this utility, so if you want a newer version, just send a disk and RETURN POSTAGE along with your comments. The address is:
Alan T. Goates
OtherWare
310 S. 13th E. #3
Salt Lake City, Ut 84102
Version 1.1 added a few features over version 1.0. There was a major oversight in version 1.0, in that I had no way to change the menu ID number. This has been corrected. To change the menu ID, click on the title, and a box for the ID will appear. Icons now display correctly (at full height), and hierarchical menus are allowed (although you cannot actually see the sub menu). You can now temporarily install the menu that you are working on (from the MENU menu). To get rid of it, just click anywhere but the menu bar. The edit menu is now fully functional for single menu items (except Undo), and will allow you to copy and paste an item between resources (i.e. from one application to another).
Version 1.1a is just a few minor bug fixes from 1.1.
Version 1.2 has only one major improvement over 1.1 - COLOR. There is now a 'Item Color' choice in the menu, if you are using a color Mac (if not, you won't really notice any difference from 1.1a). When you choose that option, you will be given different choices of attributes to colorize (text, key or mark), and then you are given the color picker to choose the new color for that attribute. This will modify the 'mctb' resource corresponding to the 'MENU' that you are working on. If you have the menu title selected when you choose 'Item Color', you are given attributes of the entire menu to modify (title, text or background), instead of a specific item in the menu.
Version 1.2(b1.1) has been fixed to run with the newer versions of ResEdit and was tested with 1.2b1.1 (as the name suggests). There was a change in the file menu of ResEdit, which messed up anything after the first dotted line screwy (including 'Close'). I have also fixed a minor annoyance so that you don't have to make the choice of adding the 'mctb' resource until you choose 'Item Color' from the menu, instead of when you first open a 'MENU' resource without one in existence. The last difference is that you can now actually see your sub-menus when you choose 'Try It', with the limitation that it only works one level deep, and with a maximum of 10 sub-menus (which isn't much of a limitation). Also, sub-menu #'s between 1-5 will be ignored, since these are the IDs of the MENUs already installed.
Version 1.2(b2) was tested with that version of ResEdit (being 1.2b2), and no bugs were found, so the only change is quite cosmetic. Somebody complained about the little flashing lines in the about box, so if you don't like them (I do, or they wouldn't be there), hold down the option key while you read the about box - see, I really do listen to suggestions.
Version 1.2(b2x) has the added feature of printing. Instead of the little '?' button that was in the earlier versions, there is now a 'Print' button (you can still get the About box from the menu). The print button calls the current print driver that you have selected with the chooser. You can change the options around, just like any other application, and then print. As of yet, there is no way to do a Page Setup (although I might add that option later). The output is more true to life on an ImageWriter because there are some incompatibilities with the way the LaserWriter accepts drawing modes (Bic in particular). On the LaserWriter, disabled items print a bit funny - this might also be a fix in the future.
Version 1.2b2(y), besides having a new version naming scheme, has some improvements to the print option, plus a few bug fixes. Since ResEdit has no way to do a Page Setup, if you hold down the option key when you click the 'Print' button, a Page Setup dialog box will appear before the normal print dialog. The changes in the Page Setup dialog will only effect the current print job, and are not saved (I have no control over this, maybe if the guys developing ResEdit decide to support printing...). The output to the LaserWriter looks more true to life now (but it isn't as smooth). Instead of drawing directly to the printer, I am now making a bitmap out of the MENU, and then sending that to the printer.
Version 1.2b3(1) is only a minor revision. I changed the 'File' menu handling so that it deals with the 'Preferences' menu item correctly. I have also tested this ResMENU with ResEdit version 1.2b4b.1, although my version number doesn't show it. There was only one small bug fix - one that made ResEdit crash when you closed the menu window. The reason that I have not updated my version number to reflect the newer ResEdit is that I plan on adding a grow box to the menu window for version 1.2b4.1(?) of ResMENU.
Version 1.2b4(1) has added the grow box, keeping up with theme of this newest ResEdit. This wasn't as easy as it looks, so there might still be a few bugs lurking around (I had to change the whole way that I was managing data). If you find bugs, PLEASE write.
All rights are reserved by the author. This program may not be sold or included with any product that is sold, without consent of the author.
