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- 1 - SELECT I MENU SYSTEM (SIMS) Version 1.00 Release A April 7th, 1987 Copyright (c) 1984 David Thomas Stewart All rights reserved - 2 - DISCLAIMER: SIMS has been placed in the public domain by the author, David Stewart, and a $15 registration fee is requested if you use the program and find it to be beneficial. In any case, please feel free to copy and share this program with others. I will only support those who contribute toward the development of this SHAREWARE product, but I will accept useful suggestions from ANYBODY! SIMS is provided on an "as is" basis. Any damages arising from the use of this program are entirely the responsibility of the user; i.e. the author, David Stewart, cannot be held responsible for any damages. CREDITS: The program system contained within was created between April and July, 1984 by David Thomas Stewart and the following persons deserve their respective credit: Rick Hillier - Beta testing Dave Knight - Beta Testing Personal thanks to all those involved, especially my family for their time and understanding during the development of this system. The address at which to send the registration fee is: David Thomas Stewart Synergy Development P.O. Box 3132 Cambridge, Ontario Canada N3H 4S6 - 3 - Contents Introduction........................................... 4 PART I / GETTING STARTED 1 / Description of the SELECT I MENU SYSTEM........... 6 2 / Initial Setup..................................... 6 3 / Using SIMS........................................ 7 4 / The SAMPLE menus.................................. 8 PART II / MENU CONTROL LANGUAGE (MCL) 5 / An Introduction to MCL............................ 10 6 / The VIDEO CONTROL Commands........................ 11 7 / The OPTION CONTROL Commands....................... 14 8 / Procedures........................................ 17 9 / User Defined Fields............................... 18 10 / Special Commands.................................. 19 11 / Effective MENU Creation........................... 20 PART III / MAKING A MENU 12 / Creating a SOURCE MENU............................ 22 13 / The MAKEMENU Program.............................. 23 PART IV / MENU MANAGEMENT 14 / Using Subdirectories.............................. 25 15 / Using BATCH Processing and DOS Commands........... 26 16 / Security and Passwords............................ 28 17 / Arguments......................................... 29 PART V / APPENDICES Appendix A / Summary of MCL Reference Commands......... 31 Appendix B / Error Messages............................ 33 Appendix C / Customer Support.......................... 35 Index.................................................. 36 - 4 - INTRODUCTION Congratulations for downloading the SELECT I MENU SYSTEM. This system has many special features and functions that makes it the perfect "environment" for the office or home. Whether you're a computer professional or a novice, you'll find the SELECT I MENU SYSTEM (SIMS) simple to use. SIMS is capable of converting text source files into menus. These menus can provide the vital links between the machine and the user. Minimal training is necessary to use SIMS. Best of all, you can eliminate all of the time spent on training your users about subjects that have nothing to do with the applications (DOS operations), and increase overall productivity. To run the system you will need either a IBM PC or compatible. Two disk drives or a hard disk, DOS V2.00 or greater, and at least 128k of memory is all that is required. Either the color or monochrome display adapter may be used with the system. The EGA is also supported. The package is divided into four sections for user convenience: MAKEMENU.EXE - The text source file to menu conversion program. MENU.COM - The actual menu run-time module. SAMPLE MENUS - Several sample menus are included in the archive. MANUAL - All questions or problems encountered by the user should be diagnosed and solved here. For your convenience, the manual has been divided into five sections as described below: Part I Will describe the SIMS environment to get get you started using your new system right away. Part II Describes MCL, the language used by the system to control and format "customized" menus. This section explains the language in detail with several examples. Part III Explains all of the steps necessary to construct a menu. It gives diagnostic support in all of the relevant areas to get you out of any trouble that you may find yourself in. Part IV "Teaches" you how to use the supplied programs to maximum advantage and to create the best menu system to suit your expanding and changing needs. Part V The Appendices, contain valuable reference material about the system, summarizes MCL and the special commands used throughout the system. It also contains sections on Customer Support and the Update Policy. It is suggested that you become familiar with this manual BEFORE you begin using the system. After that the Appendices and other reference sections should keep you up and running. So take a few minutes now and get to know your new system - and remember that a little extra time spent now may save you hours later on. - 5 - PART I / GETTING STARTED 1 / Description of the SELECT I MENU SYSTEM........... 6 2 / Initial Setup..................................... 6 3 / Using SIMS........................................ 7 4 / The SAMPLE menus.................................. 8 - 6 - 1 / Description of the SELECT I MENU SYSTEM SIMS can current only be used if a program allowing for the editing of text files is already available. Since an editor is a standard part of most systems, this should not present a problem (EDLIN will suffice). The menu designer uses the editor to create a source file for SIMS. The file then goes through the conversion program MAKEMENU. Any errors in the menus are then reported and can easily be corrected. Menus are then ready for execution using the run-time module incorporated in SIMS. The OPTIONS coded into the menu are now accessible to the user. For example: A company may regularly use a word processor, accounting programs, spreadsheets, and a data base program. With SIMS, access to these programs is much faster, convenient, and user-friendly. Now, any OPTION can be called up by the user who uses the menu and who knows the password if this security feature has been implemented. Total freedom is given to the menu creator regarding the screen layout, and the OPTIONS specified. An infinite number of menus can be incorporated into the system, although the only limit imposed is the available disk space. 2 / Initial Setup The files COMMAND.COM and EDLIN.COM are required in the current directory for the supplied demo menus to operate fully. To verify if the system is operational, under the DOS ready prompt type MENU DEMO and press ENTER. This will load and execute a demonstration menu that allows you to use DOS commands, call other demonstration menus as well as use EDLIN and MAKEMENU to create, edit, and run customized menus. Follow the instructions, and go to the help menu if you run into difficulties. - 7 - 3 / Using SIMS SIMS is an easy to use, productive, and rapid way to gain access to the programs on your disks. To optimize the access procedure the "point" theory was incorporated. The special keys on the cursor pad that are used to point the highlight bar are shown below: Home 7 Up 8 9 | Enter <- Left 4 5 Right 6 End 1 Down 2 3 Home - Selects (Highlights) first OPTION entry End - Selects last OPTION entry Up / Left - Selects previous OPTION entry Down / Right - Selects next OPTION entry Enter - Executes current highlighted OPTION To invoke an UNLOCKED menu, type under DOS, MENU DRIVE:\PATH\MENUNAME where DRIVE: is the drive, PATH is the path of the menu, and MENUNAME is the execute (if AUTOENTER is on) the selection. Lowercase is automatically converted to upper case, therefore no lowercase OPTIONs are allowed. Sound is used in SIMS to indicate an error condition. The only non-fatal errors to date are if an invalid password is entered or if a program specified in an OPTION command is not found. After the "Beep" SIMS will return to the select mode of the current menu. The fatal errors always "Beep" and return to DOS. They can be found in Appendix B / Error Messages, under SIMS run-time module Errors. TECHNICAL INFORMATION SIMS is a memory resident program which reserves 12288 (12k) bytes of memory for its use, including program (run-time) area. The menu is loaded into the area immediately after the run-time module and executed. All video updates are handled through BIOS interrupt calls for compatibilty. Memory resident programs such as PRINT.COM, MODE.COM, ramdisks, spoolers, and the like should be installed before SIMS is activated. SIMS uses the load area as temporary storage and any program trying to reside there permanently may be overwritten by the next program loaded. SIMS MEMORY MAP: Size: Contents: 4k SIMS run-time module 7k Menu load space (actual size reported in MAKEMENU) + 1k Data area 12k Total memory used by SIMS ???k Program load area, remaining available RAM memory This map will change in the future, through rewrites and requests... - 8 - 4 / The SAMPLE menus There are eight supplied demo menus in the SIMS archive. They demonstrate the various aspects of the system and it's abilities. They are: Name of Menu: Function: --------------------------------------------------------------------- DEMO Master Demo Menu - connects all menus together DEMOHELP Master Demo Help - gives help for DEMO CREATE Creation Menu - automates EDLIN / MAKEMENU process VIDEODEM Video Demo - demonstrates video features PROCDEMO Procedure Demo - demonstrates procedure features USER Blank Sample - a user "fill in the blanks" menu SECURDEM Security Demo - demonstrates security features SPECIAL Locked Menu - used with SECURDEM menu DEMO MENU STRUCTURE DEMO | DEMOHELP ----------+-----------+-----------+--------+-------- | | | | | | CREATE PROCDEMO VIDEODEM PROCDEMO USER SECURDEM | SPECIAL For further information on these menus, examine the menu source code, or execute the menu from DOS. - 9 - PART II / MENU CONTROL LANGUAGE (MCL) 5 / An Introduction to MCL............................ 10 6 / The VIDEO CONTROL Commands........................ 11 7 / The OPTION CONTROL Commands....................... 14 8 / Procedures........................................ 17 9 / User Defined Fields............................... 18 10 / Special Commands.................................. 19 11 / Effective MENU Creation........................... 20 - 10 - 5 / An Introduction to MCL MCL (Menu Control Language) is a versatile tool for creating, and maintaining user MENUs. MCL can be divided into five distinct command areas known as VIDEO CONTROL, OPTION CONTROL, PROCEDURES, USER DEFINED FIELDS, and SPECIAL COMMANDS. VIDEO CONTROL commands allow the user to create any screen design or format required by the application. Because of this the format can be adapted to suit a variety of business or personal needs. Macro commands such as BOX, FIELD and FILL simplify the screen design process, while the color commands allow full exploitation of the colors and video attributes that both the Monochrome and the Color Graphics adapter offer. OPTION CONTROL commands tell the menu what selections there are. These options allow the user to create a list of options that can be placed anywhere within the required format. This is done quite simply by adjusting the coordinates of the OPTION command. It should be noted that it is necessary to use only OPTION commands in this area. The PROCEDURES allow additional MCL commands to be executed before selection and before / after the execution of an OPTION. The USER DEFINED FIELDS tell the menu where to place important control information. The five fields supported to date are: TIME / DATE / KEYBOARD STATUS / PASSWORD / ARGUMENT The SPECIAL COMMANDS tell the menu about the configuration the menu should take on, if it should have integral security, and so forth. There are only a few commands that apply in this category. GENERAL MENU STRUCTURE Title Comments (optional) Security LOCK (optional) Screen Setup OPTION list Extra Screen Setup (optional) Procedures (optional) END Lowercase may be used for ALL commands. As an illustrative example both of the following statements are legal and perform the same function: UNDERLINE BRIGHT underline bright Regardless of the choice of case, in the OPTION statement, please use it throughout the command. OPTION is case sensitive. "MENU" and "menu" will work, but "Menu" will not, as it is not recognized as a reserved command. - 11 - 6 / The VIDEO CONTROL Commands The colors available are: DIM - BLACK BLUE GREEN CYAN RED MAGENTA BROWN WHITE BRIGHT - GREY BLUE+ GREEN+ CYAN+ RED+ MAGENTA+ YELLOW WHITE+ There are several commands which are specific to this system. Among these are the following: .(x,y)"TEXT" - Using this command, the creator can place text at any coordinates on the screen. Eg. .(50,9)"Title for menu" ."delimited text" A color change statement - FOREGROUND, BACKGROUND, INVERSE, NORMAL, INVISIBLE, and SETATTR may be placed in between the above two types of text commands. Eg. NORMAL SETATTR .(10,10)"NORMAL " INVERSE SETATTR ."INVERSE TEXT" NORMAL SETATTR ." NORMAL AGAIN" BACKGROUND(c) - Will immediately change the internal background color to c. To set the color, use a SETxxxx command (see below). Only the 8 DIM colors may be used for background in the current version. Eg. BACKGROUND(GREEN) BLINK c - Blink is a command which sets or resets the current blink status, c can be ON or OFF. Eg. BLINK ON BOX(a,b)-(x,y),"z" - Will place a box along the edges defined by the top left hand coordinates (a,b) to the bottom right coordinates (x,y), using ASCII character z for the operation. Eg. BOX(3,8)-(30,15),"*" - 12 - BORDER(c) - Will immediately change the screen border color (Color/Graphics adapter only) to c. It is best to leave this as the last statement before the END (and before the procedures if they are being used) so that the screen updates are invisible to the viewer. This command does NOT affect the Monochrome or EGA adapter cards. Eg. BORDER(MAGENTA) FIELD(a,b)-(x,y) - Will fill the area defined by (a,b)-(x,y) with spaces, using the current write attribute, SETATTR. This command is used to clear a box of text. Eg. FIELD(0,0)-(79,24) FILL(x,y),"z",s - This will fill the area starting at (x,y) with ASCII character "z", for s characters. If the length specified exceeds the right side of the screen (x = 79), then it will continue on the next line at the left margin (x = 0). Eg. FILL(0,6),"=",80 FOREGROUND(c) - Will immediately set the internal foreground color to c. To perform a screen action using the new color, a SETxxxx operation must be performed where xxxx is the requested attribute. Eg. FOREGROUND(BLUE+) INVERSE - Immediately sets internal foreground to BLACK, background to WHITE, and blink status to OFF. Eg. INVERSE INVISIBLE - Immediately sets internal foreground to BLACK, background to BLACK, and blink status to OFF. Eg. INVISIBLE NORMAL - Immediately sets internal foreground to WHITE, background to BLACK, and blink status to OFF. Eg. NORMAL SCREEN(m) - Clears the screen and tells the video adapter if it should use color burst or not. The valid options for m (mode) are B (burst) and N (noburst). Depending on the type of monitor used, N may improve overall screen clarity. Eg. SCREEN(N) NOTE: If SCREEN has been set OFF by the SCREEN OFF command, then the above command will perform a null operation until a SCREEN ON command is issued. - 13 - SETARGUE - Using the internal color settings, the current argument field color is set. Default color is NORMAL. Eg. SETARGUE SETATTR - Using the internal color settings, the current write attribute color is set. Default color is NORMAL. Eg. SETATTR SETDATE - Using the internal color settings, the current date field color is set. Default color is NORMAL. Eg. SETDATE SETHIGH - Using the internal color settings, the current highlight bar color is set. Default color is INVERSE. Eg. SETHIGH SETOPTION - Using the internal color settings, the current option text color is set. Default color is NORMAL. Eg. SETOPTION SETPASS - Using the internal color settings, the current password field color is set. Default color is INVISIBLE. Eg. SETPASS SETSTAT - Using the internal color settings, the current status field color is set. Default color is NORMAL. Eg. SETSTAT SETTIME - Using the internal color settings, the current time field color is set. Default color is NORMAL. Eg. SETTIME UNDERLINE c - Immediately changes the internal foreground to underline on the Monochrome Adapter. The valid values for c are DIM or BRIGHT, for the desired underline intensity. (It appears as BLUE or BLUE+ on the Color Graphics Adapter). Eg. UNDERLINE BRIGHT - 14 - 7 / The OPTION CONTROL Commands For any MENU to be effective, there must be options to select from. In this system, there are three statements that control these selections: OPTION START - denotes the start of the option block. OPTION END - denotes the end of the option block. OPTION(k,x,y),"t","c",o - places an OPTION in the OPTION table. Details on the parameters below. k - Key. Number (0-9), punctuation (!@#$%^&*()-_=+[]{};:'"`~,.<>/?\|). Function keys are defined by (F1-F10). Alternate, Control, and Shift Function Key may be specified by applying a prefix of A,C, or S respectively. Eg. AF5 is Alt-F5. Escape may be specified by ESC, Insert by INS, and Delete by DEL. No lowercase is allowed here, as it will automatically converted to uppercase during conversion. x,y - Coordinates to place option text "t". This is in the standard range (0-79,0-24) and is written to the screen using the OPTION attribute To set this color use SETOPTION, to set the highlight bar use SETHIGH. "t" - Option text. Can be up to 80 characters in length. The text is highlighted when it is the current selected OPTION. "c" - Command to be executed upon invocation of the option. It can be no more than 80 characters in length. There are four types of commands that may be executed: 1) Program. This includes batch files and internal DOS commands. Format: "DRIVE:\PATH\FILENAME.EXT PARAMETERS" For batch files and internal commands use the following: "DRIVE:\PATH\COMMAND.COM/C XXXXX PARAMETERS" Where DRIVE is the drive where the program is located on; PATH is the path related to the current directory; FILENAME.EXT is the FULL filename (It will NOT assume an extension of .EXE or .COM), and PARAMETERS are any parameters that may be required by the program. For the special case of DOS batch / internal commands, XXXXX represents the command. and DRIVE:\PATH is where the system can find a copy of COMMAND.COM, the command processor. Eg.1 "\CHKDSK.COM/F/V" will load and run CHKDSK from the root directory, with the options /F/V. Eg.2 "A:\COMMAND.COM/C DIR B:/W" will give a wide directory of the B: drive, assuming COMMAND.COM is on drive A:, in the root directory. - 15 - 2) MENU. Another menu may be called in and control given to it. Format: "MENU DRIVE:\PATH\MENUNAME" Where DRIVE is the drive in which the menu is located; PATH is the path, and MENUNAME is the .MEN menu to load. Eg.1 "MENU \DAVE" will load DAVE.MEN from the root directory and transfer control to it. Eg.2 "MENU LEVEL2" will load LEVEL2.MEN from the current directory and transfer control to it. 3) EXIT to DOS. This returns the user to DOS (optional). Format: "EXIT" This will release the memory taken by SIMS and return to the DOS prompt. This is the ONLY way to return to DOS, barring a fatal error condition, see Appendix B / Error Messages. CNTL-ALT-DEL will reboot the computer; CNTL-BREAK has no effect on the SIMS environment and will NOT return the user to DOS. 4) NULL operation. This is primarily used to debug screen layouts before the OPTIONs are created. It is also used in cases where text may be displayed in an procedure, and no operation is to take place, as in help and demonstration menus, hence a NULL operation. Format: "NULL" This will do absolutely nothing when selected. A change directory (CD) prefix may be included in your command string. Eg.1 "CD \,EXIT" will bring the user to the root directory and exit to DOS. Eg.2 "CD \GAMES,MENU FUN" will bring the user into the GAMES directory and execute the menu FUN. Eg.3 "CD \MANAGER\ACCT,SERIOUS.EXE/P/D" will bring the user into the \MANAGER\ACCT directory and execute the program SERIOUS.EXE, passing it the parameters /P/D. All of the special commands - MENU, EXIT, NULL, and CD - must be either in all upper case or all lower case. "MENU MASTER and "menu MASTER" are both valid, but "Menu MASTER" is not. Likewise "EXIT" and "exit" are legal but not "Exit". The same applies to NULL and CD. - 16 - o - Options. There are eight options available with each OPTION statement. There are (in the 12 phases of execution): 1. <<< SELECT PROCEDURE >>> (optional) 2. ,pass="ABC" - Activate password of "ABC" before execution. Passwords may be up to eight characters long. 3. <<< EXECUTE PROCEDURE >>> (optional) 4. ,argue - Passes an external argument to the program. 5. ,clear - Clears the screen. 6. ,novideo - Turns off the video. Restore with DOS CLS command. (The Monochrome display will not restore the screen.) 7. ,noclock - Disable displaying of time., 8. <<< EXECUTE PROGRAM / MENU / NULL OPERATION >>> 9. ,return - Returns to directory the system was in before execution otherwise stay in the current directory. 10. ,beep - Chirp the speaker after program is complete. 11. ,wait - Prompts the user to "Press a key to continue..." 12. <<< DONE PROCEDURE >>> (optional) The MENU and EXIT commands allow only the password option (,pass="ABC") to be used as an option in the OPTION command. Various OPTION examples: option(F1,10,10)" This is F1 ","MENU MASTER",pass="DAVE" This option will load and transfer control to the menu MASTER if the correct password of DAVE is entered on the password input field. option(AF2,10,11)" This is Alt-F2 ","\COMMAND.COM/C DIR/P",clear,wait This option will load COMMAND.COM from the root directory on the current drive and then will execute a DIR/P. The screen is cleared before execution and a message is displayed to "Press a key to continue" after execution. option(Q,10,12)" This is Q ","CD \SYSTEM,UTIL.COM",return This option will move to the \SYSTEM directory and execute the program UTIL.COM. After execution it will return to the directory the system was in prior to execution. option(ESC,10,13)" ESC to DOS ","CD \,EXIT" This option will move to the root directory and exit to DOS. option(F9,15,20)" Move to Root Directory ","CD \,NULL" This option will bring the user to the root directory and return to the select mode of the current menu. - 17 - 8 / Procedures Procedures are sets of actions associated with a specific OPTION that will be executed upon a certain condition. SIMS supports three classes of procedures - SELECT , EXEC, and DONE. SELECT procedures occur when the option is highlighted (selected). EXECUTE procedures occur just prior to the program/menu loading, or the execution of a NULL operation. DONE procedures occur when program execution is complete. A DONE procedure is not applicable to a loaded menu. Procedures must follow the OPTION section and have nothing after them, except for the END statement (See Introduction of MCL Commands). They start with the PROC(key,type) statement where key is the same key used in the OPTION command the procedures is to be linked to, and type is either SELECT, EXEC, or DONE dependent on the class of the procedure. The procedure MUST be terminated by PROC END. An OPTION command may have any combination of procedures linked to it. This could allow very complicated job streams to be run. For an illustration of this complexity try executing the PROCDEMO menu by typing MENU PROCDEMO and pressing Enter (under the DOS ready prompt). OPTION commands and nested procedures are NOT allowed. This is a very simple MCL command re-routing which should not be abused or undesired results may result. Example Procedures: PROC(F3,SELECT) PROC(F3,EXEC) PROC(F3,DONE) FILL(0,5)," ",80 SCREEN(B) SCREEN(B) NORMAL NORMAL .(0,0)"BACKUP DONE" SETATTR SETTIME .(0,2)"Remove diskette" .(0,5)"BACKUP FILES" TIME(65,0) .(0,3)"and press Enter" PROC END .(0,0)"*** OPTION F3 ***" WAIT(ENTER) .(0,2)"Insert diskette" PROC END .(0,3)"and press Enter" WAIT(ENTER) PROC END The first procedure, a SELECT procedure, will display it's information text after erasing the line that was there previously. This can be an effective way of providing additional information on the current highlighted OPTION for the user, without necessarily executing the current selection. The second procedure, an EXEC procedure, will clear the screen, make the time the NORMAL color, place it in the upper right-hand corner, and displays a title with further instructions. SIMS then waits for the user to press Enter before execution commences (He could press ESC to return to the SELECT mode of the menu). The third procedure, a DONE procedure, will, after execution of the program, clear the screen, display a title and instructions, and will wait for the user to press Enter before returning to the menu. - 18 - 9 / User Defined Fields ARGUE(x,y,l) - Defines where the current argument field is located and its length l. The default argument field is 40 characters long, located at (15,24). For example, If l=7 then the attribute field is "_______" DATE(x,y) - Defines where the current date is located. The default field is 17 characters long, positioned at (30,0) (default). Format: " Tue 19-Jun-1984 " If SETDATE is INVISIBLE (black on black), then the displaying of the date is disabled. PASS(x,y) - Defines where the current password field is located. The field is eight characters long, positioned at (30,22) (default). Format: "________" STAT(x,y) - Defines where the current keyboard status field is located. The field is 11 characters long, positioned at (65,24) (default). Format: "CAP NUM SCR" If SETSTAT is INVISIBLE (black on black), then the displaying of the status is disabled. TIME(x,y) - Defines where the current time field is located. The field is 13 characters in length, positioned at (65,0) (default). Format: " 07:45:00 PM " If SETTIME is INVISIBLE (black on black), then the displaying of the time is disabled. - 19 - 10 / Special Commands ' remark - Places a remark in the source text file. A comment has no effect on the menu whatsoever, but is used for internal documentation. Eg. ' SUPER-MENU Version 1.00 ' Written by David Stewart 31st July, 1984 AUTOENTER c - Will set the AUTOENTER status to c. Valid modes are ON and OFF. The default is ON. This command specifies whether Enter must be pressed after the selection of an OPTION. Eg. AUTOENTER OFF LOCK - Prevents execution of the menu directly from DOS. This disallows entry to the menu except by passing through prior menus (That might have security or the like active in them). The LOCK command is usually placed near the front of the menu for easy identification, although it need not be. Eg. LOCK END - Indicates the end of the menu. It ends the menu conversion at this point. Eg. END KEYCLEAR - Clears the keyboard buffer upon execution of the command. This is used to prevent "type ahead" in important menus, such as those which have OPTIONS that delete information. Eg. KEYCLEAR SCREEN c - Allows or disallows consequent SCREEN(m) statements to be executed, c can be either ON or OFF. Default is ON. Eg. SCREEN OFF WAIT(key) - Suspends menu execution until specified key is pressed. It uses the same key format as the OPTION command except that two new keys, ENTER and ANY are included. The ESC key is always active and will, if the WAIT(key) statement is inside an EXEC procedure, reinvoke the menu where it left off before the selection was executed. Eg. WAIT(ENTER) will wait for Enter to be pressed. WAIT(F1) will wait for F1 to be pressed. WAIT(ANY) will wait for any key to be pressed. - 20 - 11 / Effective MENU Creation To create an effective MENU, you first must have a well planned layout. There are several steps required in this layout. First, separate and list all of the applications that are desired to be placed under the MENU. If your application involves subdirectories then refer to Section 16 / Using Subdirectories for more information. For example on your hard disk you may have the following layout: ROOT DIRECTORY | COMMAND.COM CHKDSK.COM FORMAT.COM (DOS COMMANDS) | -----------------+----------------- | | | WORD PROCESSING ACCOUNTING RECREATION \WORDPRO \ACCT \FUN WP.BAT START.EXE CRIBBAGE.BAS POKER.EXE INVADE.COM Above is a list of the directories and the programs and commands that we wish to place into menus. Two approaches may be used, a single menu or multiple menus. If a single menu is used then all of the OPTIONS for the system would appear on the same screen, but if multiple menus are used then each separate application would have it's own menu screen. OPTION coding would come next. An example from each application is given below (assuming that the system is under one menu). OPTION(1,10,10)" WORD PROCESSING ","CD \WORDPRO,\COMMAND.COM/C WP",clear,return OPTION(2,10,11)" ACCOUNTING ","CD \ACCT,START.EXE",return OPTION(3,10,12)" CRIBBAGE ","CD \FUN,\BASICA.COM CRIBBAGE",return Screen Design is the next step in menu design. The actual layout is entirely up to you and your imagination. The SAMPLE menu, USER, has been provided to give you a starting point in your screen layout design. This is the most artistic part of the design process, but try to remember that ultimately the menu will be the users tool, not a work of art. Create, debug, modify, and implement the menu using the steps described in next section, PART III / MAKING A MENU. Effective MENU creation is a difficult process. Study the demonstration menus in the archive and experiment with them. The road to more productive transfer from program to program is open, but it is up to YOU. - 21 - PART III / MAKING A MENU 12 / Creating a SOURCE MENU............................ 22 13 / The MAKEMENU Program.............................. 23 - 22 - 12 / Creating a SOURCE MENU The editor is used here to create, modify, and perfect source menu files. DOS's EDLIN will work adequately, although if another editor is used it must follow the following quidelines: - Standard ASCII (extended characters >127 are allowed) - Tabs and spaces may be placed before the command if it is not left-justified on the line. - ASCII character 026 may NOT be included in the source file, except to provide its normal function of end of file indicator. EDITOR USE: - If the editor is EDLIN then refer to the DOS manual for proper editing and file loading / saving instructions. - If the editor is not EDLIN, refer to the editor's instruction manual for more information on how to use it. - Backup files are preferred, as they provide limited security for the source code in the system, i.e. keep menu source code off of the system if it involves passwords and sensitive data. See section 16 / Passwords and Security for more information. - 23 - 13 / The MAKEMENU Program MAKEMENU.EXE is the menu conversion program. The SIMS run-time module requires that menus be encoded in a special format before execution can take place. This conversion takes the source file and creates a .MEN file with the same filename. The resultant .MEN file will almost always be smaller, the result of the conversion. Passwords will be further encoded so that prying eyes cannot corrupt the system's integrity. The MAKEMENU program may be called in one of two ways: 1) Place parameters directly on the DOS command line. Eg. MAKEMENU sourcefile,listfile 2) Answer the programs prompts. Eg. MAKEMENU (The screen clears and it displays the following:) MAKEMENU File Converter V1.00 PUBLIC DOMAIN (c) 1984 David Thomas Stewart SHAREWARE $15 fee suggested. CompuServe ID# 73220,1365 Source Filename [.SRC]: (Respond to the prompt with the name of the source file). List File [NUL]: (Respond to the prompt with the name of the list file). NOTE: All of the files must reside in the current directory. No paths are allowed, as they are not supported in this version. The Source Filename is the name of the file you wish to convert. It assumes an extension of .SRC if no other is specified. The List File is where the report on how the menu is doing should go. It assumes the NUL device (no output) if no file is specified. The supported devices for input/output are: CON, PRN, AUX, COM1, and COM2. The MENU will now be converted, any errors reported immediately after the offending line and the space left in the menu returned. If there were indeed errors, refer to the next section for information on debugging your menu. The screen will now show: Any more files to convert (Y/N)? (Answer Y for another conversion, N to exit to DOS). - 24 - PART IV / MENU MANAGEMENT 14 / Using Subdirectories.............................. 25 15 / Using BATCH Processing and DOS Commands........... 26 16 / Security and Passwords............................ 28 17 / Arguments......................................... 29 - 25 - 14 / Using Subdirectories Subdirectories may be used in the SIMS environment if some simple guidelines are followed. First, each subdirectory must be proceeded by a backslash (\). Secondly, the OPTION that calls this subdirectory must include the full pathname, dependent on the directory the system is currently in at the time the OPTION is invoked. Thirdly, if a return to the original directory is desired, then specify ,return as an option in the OPTION command. This option applies only to programs being loaded, not loading menus. To do a directory change to a menu and then to return to the original menu place the following logic in your menu source code: SOURCE MENU (starting point): option(k,x,y)"LOAD MENU DEST","CD \DESTDIR,MENU DEST" DESTINATION MENU (called from Source Menu): option(k,x,y)"RETURN to Source Menu","CD \SOURDIR,MENU SOUR" Where SOUR and SOURDIR are the Source Menu's path and name, and DEST and DESTDIR are the Destination Menu's path and name. Lastly, a rigourous test of all possible actions must be taken to verify the proper operation of the MENU. - 26 - 15 / Using BATCH Processing and DOS Commands To use BATCH Processing on the system, all that is required is that the names of the files be known. SIMS allows a special option to be specified called ,novideo. This option can only be used for the Color/Graphics Adapter. To use this special option the first two lines of your BATCH file must be: ECHO OFF CLS If you use the monochrome display then you can use the above format as well, just specify ,clear instead of ,novideo in every instance. In all of the following options COMMAND.COM is assumed to be found on the default drive, in the root directory. Redirection may be specified in the format described in section 7 / The OPTION CONTROL Commands. To execute a BATCH file a secondary copy of the command interpreter must be loaded. This is done in the OPTION command by: OPTION(k,x,y)"TEXT","\COMMAND.COM/C drive:\path\batchname",novideo,wait,beep Where drive is the drive, path is the path, and batchname is the name of the BATCH file. The options at the end ,wait and ,beep allow the MENU to alert you upon completion of the BATCH file. For example, the OPTION command: OPTION(F1,10,10)"Directory Info","\COMMAND.COM/C INFO",novideo,wait will give a wide/paused directory and run CHKDSK if used with this batch file INFO.BAT: ECHO OFF CLS DIR/P/W CHKDSK - 27 - DOS Commands may be included as a replacement for drive:\path\batchname. Example: To take a directory... OPTION(F1,10,10)"DIRECTORY","\COMMAND.COM/C DIR",clear,wait To run a specified DOS Command: OPTION(F2,10,11)"DOS COMMAND","\COMMAND.COM/C ",clear,argue,wait (This will prompt the user to fill in the data after \COMMAND.COM/C). The options ,clear and ,wait should be used to clear the screen before and wait for the user to read the information on the screen after execution of the DOS command. Do not use ,novideo, unless you wish the screen to be entirely blank during execution. An entirely new copy of the command interpreter may be invoked by: OPTION(F3,10,12)"Another DOS","\COMMAND.COM",clear (To return to the current SIMS menu, use the DOS command EXIT). This will appear to the user as he were in DOS, although it is actually only an overlay on SIMS. The DOS command EXIT will return the user back to SIMS after all operations are complete. - 28 - 16 / Passwords and Security Security of the system may be performed in three ways: LOCKED MENUS: Menus may be locked, that is, preventing direct execution from DOS, by specifying a LOCK statement in the menu. It should be placed near the front of the menu for easy location, although it may reside anywhere in the menu code. This form of protection prevents an unauthorized user to bypass previous security menus (involving passwords). PASSWORDS: Passwords may be implemented by specifying the ,pass="xxxxxxxx" option in the OPTION you wish to protect. The password may be up to eight characters in length (xxxxxxxx). The location and color of the password field (default color is INVISIBLE) may be specified by the PASS(x,y) and SETPASS commands. This form of protection prevents an unauthorized user to execute a particular OPTION whether it call a program, transfer to another menu, exit to DOS, or perform a NULL operation. An incorrectly entered password will sound a beep and will clear the field to the SETATTR color. Future versions of SIMS may utilize this space to warn users or provide further information through special procedures. SEPARATE SOURCE CODE: This is a method of security that is NOT provided by SIMS, but instead must be maintained by the menu creator. It involves separating the source code from the converted menus, off of the machine on a separate diskette, kept in a safe place. This prevents users from examining and perhaps modifying existing menus in order to gain access to them. This security feature also provides limited data backup. - 29 - 17 / Arguments Arguments are additions to existing programs, to specify data or parameters. The field ARGUE(x,y,l) and SETARGUE are used to define where the data window is to be placed, its length, and its color. The following is an illustration of an ARGUMENT: SAMPLE MENU: SCREEN(N) INVERSE SETARGUE ARGUE(10,18,40) OPTION START OPTION(F1,10,10)"An example of arguments","\CHKDSK.COM ",argue,clear OPTION(F2,10,11)"Exit to DOS","EXIT" OPTION END END The first OPTION will prompt you for the data to be placed after the space in "\CHKDSK.COM ". For example if you responded to the prompt with a /F/V and then pressed Enter, then the actual OPTION would look to SIMS as "\CHKDSK.COM /F/V". To exit from an undesired argument back into the current menu's select mode, press the ESC key. This will re-invoke the current menu and return control to you once again. - 30 - PART V / APPENDICES Appendix A / Summary of MCL Reference Commands......... 31 Appendix B / Error Messages............................ 33 Appendix C / Customer Support.......................... 35 Index.................................................. 36 - 31 - Appendix A / Summary of Reference MCL Commands Type Command: Argument(s): Function: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SP ' text text (optional) Denotes remark VI .(x,y)"text" coords,text Prints text at specified coords VI ."text" text Prints text at last cursor position UF ARGUE(x,y,s) coords,length Places argument field at specified coords SP AUTOENTER ON / OFF Changes AUTOENTER status VI BACKGROUND(c) color Changes background color VI BLINK ON / OFF Changes blink status VI BOX(a,b)-(x,y),"z" tl coords,br coords,char Draws a rectangular box VI BORDER(c) color Changes & Sets border color UF DATE(x,y) coords Places date at specified coords SP END none Denotes the end of the MENU VI FIELD(a,b)-(x,y) tl coords,br coords Fills rectangular area with attribute VI FILL(x,y),"z",s coords,char,length Fills area with character VI FOREGROUND(c) color Change foreground color VI INVERSE none Change to INVERSE color VI INVISIBLE none Change to INVISIBLE color SP KEYCLEAR none Clears keyboard buffer SP LOCK none Prevents execution of menu from DOS VI NORMAL none Change to Normal color OP OPTION(k,x,y),"t","c",o key,coords,text,command,opt Places specified OPTION into table OP OPTION START / END Denotes START and END of OPTION block UF PASS(x,y) coords Places password field at specified coords OP PROC(k,m) key,SELECT/EXEC/DONE Denotes the start of a procedure OP PROC END none Denotes the end of a procedure VI SCREEN(m) B/N Sets current screen mode SP SCREEN ON / OFF Allows / Disallows SCREEN(m) command VI SETARGUE none Sets current argue attribute VI SETATTR none Sets current write attribute VI SETDATE none Sets current date attribute VI SETHIGH none Sets current highlight attribute VI SETOPTION none Sets current option attribute VI SETPASS none Sets current password attribute VI SETSTAT none Sets current status attribute VI SETTIME none Sets current time attribute UF STAT(x,y) coords Places status field at specified coords UF TIME(x,y) coords Places time at specified coords VI UNDERLINE DIM / BRIGHT Changes underline status SP WAIT(k) key Suspends execution of menu until key is pressed Legend: VI - Video Command SP - Special Command UF - User Defined Field Command OP - Option or Procedure Command - 32 - color - A valid color. One of the following: BLACK BLUE GREEN CYAN RED MAGENTA BROWN WHITE GREY BLUE+ GREEN+ CYAN+ RED+ MAGENTA+ YELLOW WHITE+ coords - Screen coordinates (a,b),(x,y) a,x - Representative of columns across screen (Range 0-79) b,y - Representative of rows along screen (Range 0-24) (tl - Top left corner, br - Bottom right corner) key - Key. Can be any keyboard key (A-Z, 0-9, Punctuation) a function key (F1,F2...F9,F10), ESC, INS, or DEL to activate the OPTION selection. A,C,S are the function key prefixed for Alt, Control, and Shift function keys. char - ASCII character to use for an operation. Any ASCII character may be used, except 026d (Used for End of File Indicator). text - Text to be displayed at specified cursor coordinates. May also be OPTION selection text. length - Number of characters to place on screen. (FILL) command - Command for option. May specify a filename, E.G. "A:\JUMP.EXE", or a menu command as specified below: MENU xxxxxxxx - Transfer control to menu xxxxxxxx Eg. "MENU SECOND" EXIT - Exit to DOS Eg. "EXIT" CD \path, - Used to change directory. Eg. "CD \DAVE,xxxxx" options - Optional tasks to be performed for a desired program execution. The eight options available (in order of execution) are: <<< SELECT PROCEDURE >>> ,pass="password" - Allows entry only with password. <<< EXEC PROCEDURE >>> ,argue - Prompts for arguments before loading. ,clear - Clear the screen before loading (border too). ,novideo - Resets video OFF (Assumes ,clear). ,noclock - Disables displaying of clock. <<< EXECUTE PROGRAM / MENU / NULL OPERATION >>> ,return - Returns to the directory system was in before execution. ,beep - Chirps speaker for attention after execution. ,wait - Waits for a key after execution. <<< DONE PROCEDURE >>> none - There are no options (implicit). - 33 - Appendix B / Error Messages MAKEMENU Conversion Errors Error: Reason: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Syntax Error The converter did not understand the line. Missing Bracket There is a missing bracket in the line. Missing Comma There is a missing comma in the line. Cursor Values out of range Cursor values are invalid. The valid ranges are (0-79,0-24). Illegal SCREEN Mode Illegal SCREEN Mode. Modes are B/W and COLOR. Illegal Color Illegal color. See Appendix A for colors. Illegal BLINK Mode Illegal BLINK Mode. Valid modes are ON & OFF. No End statement Menu was not terminated with an END. No OPTION START statement No OPTION START statement exists in the menu. No OPTIONS specified No OPTIONS were specified in OPTION block. MENU Too Large Menu is too large to manage. Split into two or more menus (overlays). Illegal key specified Key specified in option statement is bad. See OPTION command for keys. Illegal OPTION field specified Option in OPTION statement is invalid. See OPTION command for options. Illegal UNDERLINE Mode Illegal UNDERLINE Mode. Valid Modes are DIM and BRIGHT. Bad Procedure Link Procedure has attempted to link to a non-existent OPTION. Bad Procedure Mode Bad Procedure Mode. Valid Modes are SELECT, EXEC, and DONE. Bad Procedure Data There is an illegal statement in the procedure. Bad Text Delimiter There is a missing or invalid delimiter in the text line. - 34 - MAKEMENU Hardware Errors Error: Reason: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ xxxxxxx.xxx not found The source file was not found. Device I/O Error. The LIST device is experiencing difficulties. Diskette Full. The diskette is full. Bad File Name. A bad filename was entered. Device Unavailable. Attempt to LIST to a non-existent device. Diskette Write Protected. Attempt to MAKEMENU on a writeprotected disk. Disk Drive Not Ready. Diskette missing or drive door not closed. Disk Media Error. There is a media problem on the disk. SIMS run-time module Errors Error: Reason: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Incorrect DOS Version. SIMS does not support this DOS version. Specified Menu Not Found. SIMS could not find the desired menu. Errors found in Menu. SIMS could not execute this menu. Invalid MENU Specified The menu file is of a foreign format. Attempted Security Violation SIMS was told to load a LOCKED menu from DOS. - 35 - Appendix C / Customer Support and Updates As I said in the introduction, I will only offer advice and technical support to those who contribute via the SHAREWARE concept. Users who do contribute will be notified when updates and new products are available. Anyone wishing to offer advice and suggestions are most welcome to do so. I may be reached on CompuServe at ID# 73220,1365, or on The PEARL BBS in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, under my name, David Stewart. Telephone support (or any support for that matter) is available to registered users only. My voice line is (519)-740-2878. The most up to date version of SIMS is always available on The PEARL, which may be reached at (519)-576-6754, 24 hrs. a day. Please note that the PEARL is a pay board (normally $25/year), but I have made arrangements with the Sysop to obtain memberships for SIMS subscribers who include an extra five dollars with their subscription, along with their first name, last name, and a password to use on the board. One restriction must be made on this offer... you must live at least 125 miles outside the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada area in order to qualify. You will be validated immediately upon my receiving your cheque or money order. Even if you do not wish to have a PEARL membership, you can still see what changes and revisions have been made to date by going to the bulletins section of the board. You do not have to be a registered PEARL user to use this feature. Those of you who register your copy of SIMS and wish to receive an update to the latest version (from me and not The PEARL), please include an extra $10.00 with your registration to cover materials and shipping costs. I will send you the latest version of SIMS upon receipt of your registration. Please specify the version of SIMS that you currently have. If there have not been any updates made since your version, I will wait until the next release of SIMS to send your update. Optionally, you may include a diskette and diskette mailer with your registration plus $2.50 to cover shipping costs, and I will send you the latest version of SIMS. If you do have a question, or a bug report, or whatever, in your correspondence, please indicate the following: 1) The version of SIMS that you are using. 2) Your hardware configuration (Model, memory size, printer, etc.) 3) Any resident software that you have loaded in memory at the time. (i.e. Sidekick, SuperKey, Disk Caches, Print Spoolers, Ramdisks, etc.) This information will help me to track any problems and to suggest reasonable solutions to your problems. David Thomas Stewart Synergy Development P.O.BOX 3132 Cambridge, Ontario Canada N3H 4S6 Voice: (519) 740-2878 - 36 - Index Arguments, 29 Batch Processing, 26 Colors, 14,37 Compatibility, 4 Cursor Keys, 7 Customer Support, 35 Editors Compatibility, 22 EDLIN, 22 Effective Menu Creation, 20 Error Messages, 33,34 Keys, 7,14 Layout, 10 MAKEMENU Description of, 4,23 Usage, 23 MCL (Menu Control Language) OPTION CONTROL Commands, 14 Procedures, 17 Reference, 31 Special Commands, 19 Structure, 10 User-Defined Fields, 18 Video Commands, 11 Passwords, 28 Procedures, 17 Sample Menus, 8