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Text File | 1989-06-24 | 11.7 KB | 420 lines

PULL-DOWN/POP-UP MENU EDITOR June 89 Coleman Software, Inc. Introduction ------------ There are two main parts to the Pull-Down/Pop Up menu editor: PDM_ED.EXE and PDM_USE.TPU. PDM_ED.EXE is a stand-alone utility that allows the user to create a pull-down or pop-up menus as easily as he would edit an ordinary file. Pull-Down/Pop-Up menus will hence forth be refered to as a PDMs. The PDM, once created with PDM_ED is saved as a "stand-alone" file that can be reference by any Turbo Pascal program "Uses"ing the PDM_USE unit. (It can also be reference from other languages such as Microsoft C with additional Coleman Software Utilities as will be described later in this manual.) PDM_USE.TPU, the second half of the PDM package, is designed for compiling with Turbo Pascal. PDM_USE "hooks" directly into your Turbo Pascal application effortlessly allowing it to both display the PDM and animate its inverse video selection bar based on the users key presses. When the user makes a selection from the PDM, a PDM_USE function returns the selection number to the calling program thereby allowing the program to "Key" on this value --- branching to different routines or in general reacting to the users selection in whatever way is appropriate. How much code do you, the programmer, need to write to display the PDM and get the user selection? Exactly one line. PDM_ED ------ Use of PDM_ED is fairly intuitive and can probably be accomplished without reading this documentation. Having read this documentation may prevent "first-time panic". First of all, there are two ways of evoking PDM_ED: PDM_ED <At this point you will be prompted for PDM filename (and PDM title if the file is a new file)> or PDM_ED <PDM FILENAME> <At this point you will either go directly to the Modify phase of PDM_ED if the filename specified is of an existing PDM file or you will be prompted for a PDM window title if the PDM filename you specified is that of a new (non-existant) PDM file> Once Started, the Editing process consists of three distinct phases. Each of these phases is tagged with an indicator in the lower left hand corner of the screen. These three phases are: Modify, Drag and Color. The Modify Phase ---------------- When the Modify Phase first comes up a window appears on the screen that is the largest possible window that can be used (40 characters by 15 lines). If the pdm filename you specified when you evoked PDM_ED is of an existing PDM then the lines you edited into that PDM will appear within this editing window. The Modify Phase consists of Editing the text internal to the Pull-Down/Pop-Up Menu: the actual user specifiable selections. This phase has several active editing keys. For the most part these keys are the same keys that almost all IBM-PC editor and word-processors use. An exception to this is the PgUp and PgDn keys which are used to insert and delete lines rather than functioning in their usual roles. A summary of the modify mode key usage is as follows: Delete - deletes the character the cursor is currently on top of. Backspace - deletes the character behind the cursor. Insert - Toggles the insert/typeover mode for character typed into the line. Notice that the indicator changes between Insert and Overtype in the lower left hand corner to reveal at all times what the mode currently is. Additionally, the cursor changes shape based on what mode you are currently in. PgDn - Deletes the line the cursor is currently on. If there are any lines below the deleted line they will all move up to fill in the gap. PgUp - Inserts a blank line before the cursor line and then positions the cursor on the newly created blank line. The one time this does not work is when the PDM is completely filled with fifteen lines. (In this case you will have to delete line (PgDn) before you can insert line (PgUp). Drag Phase ---------- As soon as you exit the modify phase by hitting escape, you enter the Drag phase. If you look at the indicator in the lower left hand corner it will reflect this change of state. As always the on-screen help tells you what your allowable keypresses are --- but this time the choice is very simple indeed. The only active keys are the arrow keys which allow you to drag the window around the screen until it is placed where you want it to appear when your application, with the help of PDM_USE causes it to "pop-up" or "pull-down" on your user interface screen. Color Phase ----------- As soon as you exit the Drag phase by hitting escape, you enter the Color phase. If you look at the indicator in the lower left hand corner it will reflect this change of state. Once again as the on-line help will tell you the active keys are the arrow keys. In the case of Color Mode, however, the arrow keys work very differently from Drag mode. The left and right arrows work as a team to change the part of the window to be colored. The right arrow key moves forward through a list of four window parts: Title background, Title foreground, Window background and window forground. The left arrow key moves backward through this same list. Similarly the up and down arrows work as a team to actually change the color of the part of the window that has been selected. PDM_USE ------- The smallest possible "client" program of PDM_USE is as follows: Program example; Uses Pdm_Use; var PDM_Code : Byte; Begin If ActivePDM_File('example.pdm') Then PDM_Code := UserSelectedPDM_Code; End. As can be seen there are only two functions involved in the UNIT which makes life very simple for the Application programmer using it. The first function: ActivePDM_File and UserSelectedPDM_Code. ActivePDM_File translates the information save in the PDM_File into a displayable PDM and shows it on the application screen in the position and with the colors created (or last modified) by PDM_ED. UserSelectedPDM_Code breaths life into the PDM by move the inverse video selection bar over the possible selections based on the user pressing the up-arrow or down-arrows. If the user presses down-arrow on the bottom-most selection the inverse video bar jumps up to the top-most selection. Likewise, if the user presses up-arrow at the top-most selection the inverse video bar jumps to the bottom-most selection. The user may move up and down (or wrap-around) in this manner as much as he likes until he decides what to select. He makes the selection by pressing the Enter key. Once the Enter key is pressed, the UserSelectedPDM_Code function exits returning the line number of the selection the user has made as a function return value. In the example above this return value is store in the variable PDM_Code although there are nummerous other ways the return value can be handle including making is a "tag" field in a case statement or directly analysed by the condition clause of an if statement. Note that to create the proper effect for PDM a pre-PDM screen save and post-PDM screen restore should be use. If you do not have access to (or haven't written) such routines send and additional $10.00 with your registration fee and I will include these routines and on-disk documentation how to use them. Advantages of Registering this Software --------------------------------------- 1) Insure the release on other Coleman Software tools and software packages via the shareware marketing system. Including among these tools is a fill-in form (data record i/o) handler with a similar philosophy to PDM_ED, a script-oriented intelligent terminal\file uploading and downloading program and of course, upgrades to PDM_ED itself (incorporating menu bars, etc.). Registering will place you in a direct notification data-base for future releases of such software --- with no obligation to buy. 2) If you are an application programmer working in anything other than Turbo Pascal there is a more immediate reason for registering than the above. We have created a PDM_USE.OBJ module which may be directly linked with Microsoft C and other MS-DOS programs to animate PDMs in exactly the same manner PDM_USE.TPU does for turbo pascal. Currently the PDM_USE.OBJ "flavor" of pull-down/pop-up menu animating is only availible through the mail by registering PDM_ED with Coleman Software. How to Register --------------- To register for PDM_ED.EXE and PDM_USE.TPU costs $20.00. If you want the PDM_USE.OBJ module please include and addition $10.00 ($30.00 all together) along with the mailing address and disk size desired. Similarly, if you want the screen save/restore disk include $10.00 extra. If you want both pieces of software that is $20.00 additional dollars to the PDM_ED registration fee ($40.00 all together). Remember to include the sales tax relevant to your state. Please pay by Check or Money order only. There is an order form on the following page. Remit to: Coleman Software, Inc. 15900 Crenshaw Blvd. Ste. 115 Gardena, CA 90249 Number of Copies being registered ......................... _________ Cost per copy ............................................. $20.00 Total Amount Remitted for PDM_ED Registration ............. _________ Check here if you want a PDM_USE.OBJ Disk ................. _________ Cost for PDM_USE.OBJ Disk ................................. $10.00 Check here if you want a screen save/screen restore disk .. _________ Cost for screen save/screen restore disk ................... $10.00 Total amount remitted for Purchase/Registration .......... _________ Sales Tax on Above Amount ................................. _________ Total Amount remitted ..................................... _________ ( Make Checks payable to Coleman Software, Inc.) Fill out below to be included in our direct software update notification data base and/or to receice the PDM_USE.OBJ Disk. Name: ____________________________________________________________ Company: ____________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________ Disk Size: 3.5 inch ( ) 5.25 inch ( ) Sorry, no C.O.D. orders will be accepted. WARRANTY Coleman Software, Inc. makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Coleman Software, Inc. shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of this program to operate in the manner desired by the user. Coleman Software, Inc. shall not be liable for any damage to data or property which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of the program. IN NO EVENT WILL Coleman Software, Inc. BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOU USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY.