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If you're one of those people who wishes there was some easier way of
telling your computer how to do its job beside typing in DOS commands,
PRO-MENU is for you.
PRO-MENU is a complete menuing system that goes beyond choosing your
application from a single main menu. PRO-MENU lets you to program
prompts to automatically come up after a menu selection. For example,
selecting the option "Print a File" may be followed by the prompt
"Which File?" You can also add comment lines to separate groups of
commands from a menu. In addition to the single line description on
the actual menu you can add informational text files that appear once a
menu selection is made.
PRO-MENU also lets you execute DOS commands from plain English text on
the menu screen. For example, by selecting "Prepare disk in drive B"
from the menu screen, PRO-MENU can execute the DOS command "FORMAT
B:/S." This is a particularly nice feature of the program.
With a hard-disk system, PRO-MENU can be arranged into separate
submenus, each customized for a different application or for different
users. PRO-MENU supports any number of submenus and can handle as many
as you wish.
File Descriptions:
PMENU DOC Documentation for PRO-MENU.
PMENU EXE Menu manager program.
DEMO BAT Calls a demonstration menu program.
DEMO MEN The demo menu data file.
DEMO HLP An example HELP file for DEMO.MEN.
PLIC EXE Prowess, Inc. license agreement.
MENGEN EXE A program to help you create a menu data file.
MGHLP EXE Help program to help learn PRO-MENU syntax.
BRUN40 EXE A run time file associated with the programs MENGEN.EXE
MG-C EXE Calls the menu generating program MENGEN (Color systems).
MG-M EXE Calls the menu generating program MENGEN (Mono Systems).
M MEN Data file.
If you're one of those people who wishes there was some easier way of
telling your computer how to do its job beside typing in DOS commands,
PRO-MENU is for you.
PRO-MENU is a complete menuing system that goes beyond choosing your
application from a single main menu. PRO-MENU lets you to program
prompts to automatically come up after a menu selection. For example,
selecting the option "print a file" may be followed by the prompt
"which file?" You can also add comment lines to separate groups of
commands from a menu. In addition to the single line description on
the actual menu you can add informational text files that appear once a
menu selection is made.
PRO-MENU also lets you execute DOS commands from plain English text on
the menu screen. For example, by selecting "Prepare disk in drive B:"
from the menu screen, PRO-MENU can execute the DOS command "FORMAT
B:/S." This is a particularly nice feature of the program.
With a hard-disk system, PRO-MENU can be arranged into separate
submenus, each customized for a different application or for different
users. PRO-MENU supports any number of submenus and can handle as many
as you wish.
File Descriptions:
PMENU DOC Documentation for PRO-MENU.
PMENU EXE Menu manager program.
DEMO BAT Calls a demonstration menu program.
DEMO MEN The demo menu data file.
DEMO HLP An example HELP file for DEMO.MEN.
PLIC EXE Prowess, Inc. license agreement.
MENGEN EXE A program to help you create a menu data file.
MGHLP EXE Help program to help learn PRO-MENU syntax.
BRUN40 EXE A run time file associated with the programs MENGEN.EXE
MG-C EXE Calls the menu generating program MENGEN (Color systems).
MG-M EXE Calls the menu generating program MENGEN (Mono Systems).
M MEN Data file.
Disk No 798
Program title: PRO-MENU version 3.2
PC-SIG version 1.2
If you're one of those people who wishes there was some easier way of
telling your computer how to do its job beside typing in DOS commands,
PRO-MENU is for you.
PRO-MENU is a complete menuing system that goes beyond choosing your
application from a single main menu. PRO-MENU allows you to program
prompts to automatically come up after a menu selection. For example,
selecting the option "Print a File" may be followed by the prompt "Which
File?" You can also add comment lines to separate groups of commands from
a menu. In addition to the single line description on the actual menu you
can add informational text files that appear once a menu selection is
made.
PRO-MENU also lets you execute DOS commands from plain English text on the
menu screen. For example, by selecting "Prepare disk in drive B" from the
menu screen, PRO-MENU can execute the DOS command "FORMAT B:/S." This is
a particularly nice feature of the program.
With a hard-disk system, PRO-MENU can be arranged into separate submenus,
each customized for a different application or for different users.
PRO-MENU supports any number of submenus and can handle as many as you
wish.
Usage: Menuing System
System Requirements: None.
How to Start: Type COPY README.DOC PRN (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $45.00
File Descriptions:
PMENU DOC Documentation for PRO-MENU.
PMENU EXE Menu manager program.
DEMO BAT Calls a demonstration menu program.
DEMO MEN The demo menu data file.
DEMO HLP An example HELP file for DEMO.MEN.
PLIC EXE Prowess, Inc. license agreement.
MENGEN EXE A program to help you create a menu data file.
MGHLP EXE Help program to help learn PRO-MENU syntax.
BRUN40 EXE A run time file associated with the programs MENGEN.EXE
MG-C EXE Calls the menu generating program MENGEN (Color systems)
MG-M EXE Calls the menu generating program MENGEN (Mono Systems)
M MEN Data file
PC-SIG
1030D E Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1987,88 PC-SIG, Inc.
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk #798 PRO-MENU >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To copy the documentation to your printer type: ║
║ COPY README.DOC PRN (press enter) ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
PROMENU DOCUMENTATION version 3.2
Copyright 1986, 1988 PROWESS, Inc.
These files are contained on your PROMENU product diskette. They are designed
for use on the IBM-PC and 100% compatibles. Although designed to take advantage
of color, PROMENU will work well on monochrome systems.
FILE DESCRIPTION
PMENU.EXE The menu manager program. Copy to your system disk.
PMENU.DOC This file - Documentation for PROMENU. It is not needed
on your system disk.
MENGEN.EXE A program to help you create a menu data file WITHOUT
having to use a text editor, W/P or EDLIN. MENGEN will
create an ASCII menu data file called MF.MEN. It is not
needed on your system disk.
MGHLP.EXE An instruction, or help, program called from MENGEN.EXE
to help you learn the PROMENU syntax. It may be run
independently (MGHLP). It is not needed on your system
disk.
BRUN40.EXE A run time file associated with MENGEN.EXE and
MGHLP.EXE. Program will execute unless this file
is present. It is not needed on your system disk.
MG-C.EXE or A files which load the menu generator program,
MG-M.EXE MENGEN. MG-C should be used for color systems, MG-M
for monochrome.
DEMO.BAT Loads demonstration menu.
DEMO.MEN The demonstration menu file (similiar to the one that
you will write. An ASCII file.
DEMO.HLP Demonstration help file to accompany the demo menu.
You may elect to write a similiar file to provide
help text for your menu items. An ASCII file.
PLIC.EXE Prowess, Inc. shareware license.
INTRODUCTION:
PROMENU provides a straightforward way of organizing programs, presenting a
multi-level menu interface to select programs, and executing them. PROMENU can
be used to organize and execute anything that can be entered from the keyboard
at the DOS system prompt. Each menu or collection of menus is maintained in a
text-editable ASCII menu data file.
PROMENU reads a menu data file, displays its contents on the screen in a menu
format. Users can select from among the displayed options using the arrow keys
on the keyboard. Each menu item may be associated with a one line comment.
The comment for a selected menu item is displayed near the bottom of the screen.
Menus may also have an extended comment that can be placed anywhere on the menu
field. In addition an extensive HELP file may be created and associated with
each menu item. The HELP file may be called for the selected menu item by
pressing the HELP key (F1). Comments, extended comments and HELP files are all
optional.
Before proceeding, protect your investment by making a working copy of the
PROMENU product diskette.
1. Format a blank diskette using the /S option.
Example: FORMAT B:/S
2. Copy ALL files on the PROMENU product diskette to
your newly formatted diskette using COPY *.*
Example: (from A drive) COPY *.* B:
3. Put your PROMENU product diskette in a safe place.
4. Label your working diskette 'PROMENU WORK DISK'
5. Always run your WORK DISK from drive A.
After creating your menu data file, copy your menu data file and PMENU.EXE to
your system disk. To run the menu, enter [PMENU d:\filename.men]. (Where d:\
refers to the drive and pathname of your menu files.)
Note: If you have used MENGEN.EXE to generate your menu data file, it will
automatically be named MF.MEN. After transferring MF.MEN and PMENU.EXE
to your system disk, enter PMENU d:\MF.MEN to run the menu.
If you have used a text editor, EDLIN or word processor (one that handles
ASCII files) to create your menu data file, you may name your menu data
file anything that you wish. We suggest that you retain the .MEN extension
to make your menu data file easy to find in the system directory. After
transferring your menu data file and PMENU.EXE to your system disk, enter
[PMENU d:\filename.MEN] to run the menu. Note: d:\ represents the
pathname of your menu system. Most hard disk systems will have the menu
in the root directory, therefore the pathname will be C:\filename.men.
The following may be executed by PROMENU.
1. Executable programs (.EXE or .COM programs)
2. Prompted Executable Programs (.EXE or .COM programs that utilize other
files that you define in answer to a prompt)
3. Batch commands (.BAT files - called as if a DOS command - no
extension required)
4. Complete DOS Commands (eg. DIR B:, TYPE A:MYFILE.TXT, TIME, etc.)
5. Prompted DOS Commands (Command followed by a prompt asking the user
to enter a filename, drive designator, etc.)
5. Sub-Menus (call additional menus)
6. DOS shell (escape to DOS, return to menu by typing EXIT
at the DOS prompt)
7. DOS command (execute a single, manually entered DOS
command and return to the menu)
8. Escape to DOS (Leave PROMENU and return to DOS.)
9. Escape to higher menu (go to next higher level menu or to DOS if
executed from the top menu.)
HOW TO USE PROMENU:
To use PROMENU enter the command: PMENU (menu-data-filename.men) from the DOS
system prompt. Menu-data-filename.men is the name of a file containing the menu
description (see below). This command can also be placed in a batch file named
for a particular application. After entering the command, PROMENU will display
a menu on the screen. Use the arrow keys to move around the menu and press
RETURN or ENTER to execute the highlighted item. The bottom line of the screen
will show a list of available commands in menu.
PROMENU FILE FORMAT:
Each menu (or family of menus) is described by a menu data file that can be
created either with a text editor or with the program MENGEN.EXE. . Each line
(record) in the menu data file describes either a menu item and command, or
program or other information about how PROMENU should display the menu, comment
or description.
If you wish to avoid the initial complication of learning the following text
file formats and creating your own ASCII menu data file, the program MENGEN.EXE
will do it for you! To run MENGEN, simply enter MG-C (color) or MG-M (mono) at
the system prompt. MENGEN will create a complete ASCII menu data file (called
MF.MEN) for your main menu and sub-menus on the basis of you answers to various
prompts. Be sure to read the instructions that accompany MENGEN before
attempting to create a menu for the first time. When your menu data file is
completed, transfer PMENU.EXE and your menu data file to your root directory
and enter PMENU d:\FILENAME.MEN <return>. Note: d:\ refers to the
drive/directory of your root directory.
To make PROMENU load automatically when the system is turned on, add the
command PMENU d:\FILENAME.MEN to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. NOTE: d:\ refers to
the drive/directory where your menu data file located. This is IMPORTANT!
NOTE: If you have created a menu data file using MENGEN.EXE and wish to change,
add or delete a menu item, you can either recreate the whole menu using
MENGEN or edit the MF.MEN file using a text editor, EDLIN or a word
processor (one that can read and write ASCII files). To edit, rather
than recreate, you will need to read the following sections that describe
the text file formats. MENGEN is a good learning tool for the ASCII data
menu file formats. We suggest that you create your first menu using MENGEN
while studying the followings menu data text file formats.
The text file format used to specify the menu is as follows: Each line of the
file has a key character in column 1 that specifies the line type followed by a
space ' ' character and a specific text format. Fields in the records are
delimited by one or more space characters ' ' or Tabs. Programmer comments can
be inserted in the menu specification file using the "!" character. PROMENU
will ignore all text beginning with the "!" in each line. The following record
types are currently recognized:
Record Type Column #1 identifier Example
1. Menu item record M M DIR_A I DIR A:
2. Description record D D Check directory of A
3. Title Record T T BOB'S MASTER MENU
4. Help File Record 1 H MYHLP
5. Menu column specifier record. W W 3
6. Label record. L L SUB1
7. Comment record. C C -------FORMAT-------
8. Menu Color/attribute Record. A A 7 23 4 2 6 0
9. Exit to higher level menu or DOS E E EXIT
10.Quit immediately to DOS Q Q QUIT-->DOS
All record types except the Menu item record are optional. The following is a
description and an example of each line type. Print the demo menu data file and
help file from your work disk by entering: PRINT A:DEMO.MEN,A:DEMO.HLP
Study these files as you read the rest of this documentation.
MENU ITEM Record: NOTE: Each menu and sub-menu must contain at least one
menu item!
Purpose: Specify a menu item on the screen and the command, program or submenu
associated with it.
Example:
M Item_name #[#] Command [Prompt]
M Sub_menu_Name S Code-word Note: A special case for handling sub-menus.
Code-word is the sub-menu name.
M ENTER_DOS_COMMAND MP What command Note: another special case to allow
entering a single DOS command and
return to the menu after its
execution.
M DOS_SHELL I COMMAND Note: another special case. Provides true DOS shell.
Type 'EXIT' at DOS prompt to return to MENU.
The word 'COMMAND' loads a fresh copy of the
DOS interpreter.
Description:
The Menu Item record specifies the screen name of the menu item as well as
the command associated with the item. This is the only type of line in the
menu file that is not optional.
The Item_name is a one word name that will appear on the screen for this item.
The underscore character '_' can be used to glue multiple words together (the
program will interpret the glued-together words as a single word).
The '##' character(s) are 1 or 2 characters that are used to tell PROMENU how
to execute the menu command. These characters tell PROMENU how to interpret
the rest of the Command Words. The following list the possibilities:
M Menu_Item I Complete DOS Command
The "I" tells PROMENU that what follows is a complete DOS command.
This can be an internal command and its arguments (eg. DIR A:, TIME, DATE)
or an external command or program (.BAT, .COM or .EXE file). When this item
is selected, PROMENU will send the complete command to DOS and ask it to
execute the command just as if you had entered it from the keyboard. Some
examples are:
M SHOW_AUTOEXEC I AUTOEXEC
M LIST_DIRECTORY_A I DIR A:
M CHECK_SYSTEM_DISK I CHKDSK
M FORMAT_B: I FORMAT B:
M Menu_Item IP Command [Prompt]
The "I" again tells PROMENU that "Command" contains a DOS command or
program name. The "P" tells PROMENU that the command requires some
additional information. PROMENU will display the Prompt that you enter
(like: What file? or Enter drive/filenane.) when the menu item is selected.
PROMENU will merge the Command with your answer to the Prompt-Words and
execute the completed command.
Example:
M SHOW_FILE IP TYPE File to display?
PROMENU will display the item SHOW_FILE. When that item is selected,
PROMENU will display the prompt "File to display?" and read the filename
that you enter. Finally PROMENU will package the command and your answer
together and send them to DOS as the command: "TYPE filename".
M Menu_Item E Program-name
M Menu_Item EP Command Prompt
The 'E' form of the MENU item is similar to the 'I' and 'IP' forms. However
it only works for commands that correspond to .EXE or .COM files. The reason
for the 'E' format is that it executes a little faster than the 'I' format
since PROMENU can execute these directly without sending them to DOS.
NOTE: Batch files (.BAT) can't be called with the 'E' format!
M Menu Item S Code-name
The 'S' form of the Menu is used to transfer control to a sub-menu.
'Code-name' is the name used in a Label record somewhere in the menu file.
(See the description of the Label Record). When this item is selected,
PROMENU will search the menu file for a menu section headed by a Label line
that contains the Code-name. When the Label record is located, the screen is
cleared and the sub-menu, listed below the Label record, is displayed. The
end of the sub-menu is recognized by either another (different) Label record
or the end-of-file marker.
PROMENU currently supports 10 levels of sub-menus. (Sub-menus calling
sub-menus calling sub-menus, etc.)
Use the ESC key (or use the EXIT feature in a menu) to return from a sub-
menu to the menu that called it.
M DOS_SHELL I COMMAND (the word COMMAND calls the command interpreter.)
Provides a true DOS shell. NOTE: IP (the prompted internal command) may NOT
be used in this case. 'COMMAND' loads a fresh copy of the DOS command
interpreter. When the DOS shell is selected, you are effectively in DOS and
can issue any number of DOS commands. To return to the menu, you must enter
'EXIT' at the DOS prompt. Note: If, while in the DOS shell, you changed
directories, you will be IN THE NEW DIRECTORY when the menu reappears!
To get back to the menu, you must have entered the pathname of the menu
file when the menu system was loaded. e.g. PMENU C:\MF>MEN. To find
COMMAND.COM, your AUTOEXEC.BAT file should include the following:
set comspec=d:\directory\command.com
(Where 'd:\directory' refers to the drive and directory name where
command.com is located.)
M DOS_COMMAND MP Enter DOS command
The MP is a special case to let you enter any single DOS command and,
after its execution, return to the menu. The 'P' indicates a prompted
command and therefore displays 'Enter DOS command' on the screen when
this menu item is selected. Return to the menu is automatic after the
DOS command has executed. If your DOS command was 'cd\new directory'
you will be in the new directory when the menu appears!
NOTE: The following sections describe optional enhancements to PROMENU. These
include adding titles and comments to the menu screen, controling the layout
and color of the menu, creating sub-menus, and adding a HELP facility. If
you are not interested in these extensions, you need not read any farther.
TITLE Record: OPTIONAL
Purpose: Specifies the menu or sub-menu title.
Example:
T YOUR TITLE
Description:
The leading 'T ' specifies that this is a title record. The menu title is the
rest of the text on the line. The title is displayed at the top of the menu
screen. Titles will appear centered at the top of the menu.
MENU COLUMN Record: OPTIONAL
Purpose: Specify the number of columns (1,2,3 or 4) for this menu or sub-menu
Example:
W 1 (Specifies a single column menu)
W 4 (Specifies a four colume menu)
Description:
The menu column record is used to specify the number of columns to be used
in displaying the menu. If no Column record is found in the menu file, PROMENU
will organize the menu items into 4 columns on the screen. PROMENU currently
supports from 1 to 4 columns.
NOTE: The number of columns may be redefined for each submenu.
LABEL Record: OPTIONAL
Purpose: The label record is used to separate sub-menus within the menu data
file.
Example:
L Code-word (Note: the Code-word must correspond to the Code-word used in the
menu line (M Menu_Item S Code-word).
Description:
The LABEL record is used to separate different sub-menu screens in the menu
file. Code-word is the one word (ie. no blank spaces) name of a submenu. The
Code-word must be the same as the Code-word used in a MENU ITEM record (see the
description of the MENU ITEM record). When PROMENU reads the menu file, it
will read each line until it finds either the end of the file or a LABEL record.
When PROMENU tries to find a sub-menu, it will search for the label record tha t
matches the sub-menu and read all subsequent lines into the sub-menu until
either an end-of-file or another Label record is encountered. Therefore, all
sub-menus must have a Label record. The main menu must NOT have a Label record.
DESCRIPTION Record: Optional
Purpose: Specify a one line description for a selected menu item. (Displayed
near the bottom of the screen when the menu item is selected.)
Format: D Comment-text
Description:
The description record should be used immediately after a menu "M" line in the
menu data file to provide a one line of description or instruction for each menu
item. When a menu item is highlighted, the one line description will be
displayed on the next to last line of the screen.
COMMENT Record: Optional
Purpose: Specify a text line or blank line on the menu field
Format: C Text, dashes, or blank
Description:
Comment records provide a way to further organize the layout of the menu by
providing heading titles and/or blank lines in the menu. The comment record
starts with a 'C' and the comment is anything on a line following the first
blank ' ' after the 'C'. PROMENU will display the comment on the screen, on a
line by itself, and cause the next menu item ('M' record) to be displayed in
the first column of the next line. Comments are primarily used label similar
menu items within a given menu or sub-menu and to create blank lines (for
spacers between menu items or between a text-filled comment line and a menu
item. For instance, the comment 'List Directories' might preceed the following
menu items:
(Comment line) -----------List Directories---------
(Blank comment line)
(Menu items) DIR_A DIR_B DIR_E
Menu ATTRIBUTE Record: Optional
Purpose: Specify the screen color(s) and/or attributes of the different
areas of the screen.
Format: A n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 (NOTE: n6 is a new capability)
Description:
The menu ATTRIBUTE record starts with an 'A ' that is followed by from 1 to
6 numbers. Each number specifies the color and screen attributes of a
portion of the menu. If no ATTRIBUTE record is found in the menu file, all items
will be displayed in white and reverse video white. The different sections
are as follows:
n1 = color for menu items
n2 = color for the menu item selected by the arrow keys
n3 = description text color
n4 = title color
n5 = comment line color
n6 = optional background color
The colors and attributes are selected by adding together numbers from the
following two sets.
Set #1:
0 = BLACK 1 = BLUE 2 = RED 3 = MAGENTA 4 = GREEN
5 = CYAN 6 = YELLOW 7 = WHITE
8 = GRAY 9 = LIGHT BLUE 10 = LIGHT GREEN 11 = LIGHT CYAN
12 = LIGHT RED 13 = LIGHT MAGENTA 14 = YELLOW 15 = HI INTEN WHITE
Set #2:
16 = REVERSE VIDEO 32 = UNDERLINE 64 = BLINKING
Colors numbers 0 - 7 can be added to set #2 numbers to produce special effects.
For example, the number 23 (16 + 7) is used to create reverse video white. This
feature is used primarily to identify SELECTED menu items (n2).
NOTE: 1) Colors (Set #1) 0 - 15 may be specified without specifying an
attribute from Set #2.
2) Colors 8 through 15 may NOT be combined with set #2.
2) On the IBM-PC, in the color mode, UNDERLINE (32) will not work.
It does work on monochrome systems.
Example:
A 6 23 5 7 5 0 (Makes a nice conservative, business-like menu screen.)
This example instructs PROMENU to display the menu items in BROWN (6) and the
selected item in reverse video WHITE (23 = 16 + 7). The description line for
each menu item will be displayed in CYAN (5). The title will be displayed
in WHITE (7) and comment lines will be displayed in CYAN (5) . The final 0
indicates a black background.
By default, the instruction line at the bottom of the screen is the same color
as the title, but in reverse video.
EXIT Record: OPTIONAL
Purpose: To perform the same function as the ESC key from a selected menu item.
Example:
E EXIT
Description:
The word 'EXIT' in the above example could be replaced by 'QUIT', 'ESCAPE',
'END_MENU', 'RETURN_TO_PREVIOUS_MENU', etc. The text may be any single word that
you choose (remember that you can 'glue' words together with the '_' character).
When the displayed menu item is selected, the 'E' record is interpreted as an
ESCAPE command. It works just like the ESC key. If you are in the main menu, it
causes an escape to the DOS-system. If you are in a sub-menu, it returns you to
the menu from which you called the current menu.
QUIT Record: OPTIONAL
Purpose: To exit from the menu to DOS from a subdirectory without having to
'step' back up to the top-level menu.
Example:
Q QUIT
Descritpion:
The 'Q' in the first column indicates to PROMENU that you want to escape to
DOS, if the menu item is selected. The word 'QUIT' could be replaced with any
other appropriate word. Note: The 'Q' and the 'E' records perform the same
function from the top-level menu. From a subdirectory, 'E' moves you to the
next higest-level menu, while 'Q' lets you exit directly to DOS.
HELP Record: OPTIONAL
Purpose: To inform PROMENU that a separate HELP exists and to supply its name
to the menu program
Example:
H HELP_FILE_NAME
Description:
The Help file name is the path name of ANOTHER text file containing a HELP
description for each of the menu items in the menu. If a HELP record is used
in the menu file, PROMENU will include a HELP command key (F1) in its list of
commands on the bottom of the screen. Pressing the HELP key will cause PROMENU
to retrieve the help information for the highlighted menu item and display it
on the screen. If no HELP record is found in the menu file, PROMENU will not
provide a HELP key. Help files must be created with a text editor. The help
file format is described below.
Currently PROMENU supports only one HELP file for each menu item.
BUILDING HELP FILES:
Help files are files that contain longer documentation for a menu item
than would normally fit on one line at the bottom of the screen. This
provides a way to include extensive documentation with a menu.
A help file is a text editable file that contains a help section for each of
the menu commands you wish to document. Each section starts with a title line
and is followed by as many lines of documentation as you wish. The title
line has a '1' in column 1 followed by a space and the name of the menu
item being documented. Following the title line are one or more lines of
text describing the menu item. If there is more than a screenful of help
text, PROMENU will display it a screen at a time and allow the user to read
more or abort HELP by pressing a key. NOTE: the menu item must look the same
as it does on the menu screen. The following is an example HELP file.
1 Menu_item_1
One or more lines of help text for keyword 1.
The name Menu_item_1 is the same as the display name of this item
on the menu screen.
1 Menu_item_2
This is the help documentation for Menu_item_2. It can be
as long as you wish. PROMENU will display in one screenful at a time.
1 Menu_item_3
Some helpful information for Menu_item_3. Not all menu items
must have help information. If PROMENU can't find any help information
for a particular item, it will display a message saying that no
help is available.
NOTE: A HELP file is not part of the menu data file. It is written separately
and given a name (with a .HLP extension) that is referenced in the menu
data file (in the 'H ' record).
SPECIAL NOTE: If you use sub-directories on your hard disk, providing your
computer with a PATH specification is critical to to proper
functioning of your PROMENU. The PROMENU should reside in your
root directory and the path specification tells the system in
which order to search your sub-directories for any file not found
in the root directory. The PATH specification may include drives
other than your hard disk. A PATH specification might look like
this:
PATH=C:\DIRECTORY 1;C:\DIRECTORY 2;C:\DIRECTORY 3;A:\;B:\;
where directories 1,2 and 3 represent names of your
directories. If a directory is left out of the PATH
specification, the system will not look there for files.
A path specification may be entered, as shown above, at the system
prompt or it may be installed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that it
is loaded each time that your computer is turned on.
Your current PATH specification may be displayed at any time by
entering PATH <RETURN> at the system prompt.
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
DEMO BAT 114 5-02-87 11:44a
PMENU DOC 25407 8-01-88 11:28a
BRUN40 EXE 76816 10-08-87 5:57p
MENGEN EXE 67847 8-01-88 10:32a
MG-C EXE 6723 8-01-88 10:34a
MG-M EXE 5261 8-01-88 10:35a
MGHLP EXE 26805 8-01-88 10:37a
PLIC EXE 4791 8-01-88 10:38a
PMENU EXE 21215 7-30-88 4:57p
DEMO HLP 8562 5-05-87 12:16p
DEMO MEN 5115 5-02-87 12:36p
M MEN 1371 7-30-88 12:55p
FILES798 TXT 2178 8-25-88 2:09p
GO BAT 38 7-02-87 11:29a
GO TXT 463 7-02-87 11:29a
┌─┬─┬─┐ 0
│T│G│S│ 0
│Y│O│T│ 0
│P│ 0
│E│T│R│ 0
│ 0
└─┴─┴─┘ 0
22 file(s) 252706 bytes
60416 bytes free