Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/dosutils/mnupls4a.arj/MENUPLUS.DOC

Text File | 1992-04-27 | 17.9 KB | 468 lines

                               MENUplus

               Copyright (C) 1990-92, by Norman Leveille

                          All rights reserved.


MENUplus is a hard disk menu with many options not found in
other menu systems.


Requirements:


PC, XT, AT, 386 or 486 DOS based computer,

256k memory, and

DOS 3.0 or above.


DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE

Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it.  If you try a Shareware program and continue
to use it, you are expected to register.  Individual programs
differ on details -- some request registration while others
require it, and some specify a maximum trial period.  With
registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue
using the software to an updated program with printed manual.

Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software,
and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific
exceptions as stated below.  Shareware authors are accomplished
programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are
of comparable quality.  (In both cases, there are good programs
and bad ones!)  The main difference is in the method of
distribution.  The author specifically grants the right to copy
and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a
specific group.  For example, some authors require written
permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their
Shareware.

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.  You
should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook,
whether it's commercial or Shareware.  The Shareware system makes
fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy.
Also, because the overhead is low, Shareware prices are low.
Shareware has the ultimate money back guarantee -- if you don't
use the product, you don't pay for it.

DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT

Users of MENUplus must accept this disclaimer of warranty:

"MENUplus is supplied as is.  The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to,
the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.
The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or
consequential, which may result from the use of MENUplus."

MENUplus is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to
the user for evaluation.  Feel free to share it with your
friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of
another system.  The essence of "user-supported" software is to
provide personal computer users with quality software without
high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to
continue to develop new products.  If you find this program
useful and find that you are using MENUplus and continue to use
MENUplus after a reasonable trial period, you must make a
registration payment of $25 to Norman Leveille.  The $25
registration fee will license one copy for use on any one
computer at any one time.  You must treat this software just like
a book.  An example is that this software may be used by any
number of people and may be freely moved from one computer
location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it
being used at one location while it's still being used at
another.  (Just as a book cannot be read by two different people
at the same time.)

Commercial users of MENUplus must register and pay for their
copies of MENUplus within 30 days of first use or their license
is withdrawn.  Site-license arrangements may be made by
contacting Norman Leveille.

Anyone distributing MENUplus for any kind of remuneration must
first contact Norman Leveille at the address below for
authorization.  This authorization will be automatically granted
to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its
guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may
begin offering MENUplus immediately.  (However, Norman Leveille
must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept
up-to-date with the latest version of MENUplus.)

You are encouraged to pass a copy of MENUplus on to your
friends for evaluation.  Please encourage them to register their
copy if they find that they can use it.  All registered users
will receive a copy of the latest version of the MENUplus system
with instructions.

To register MENUplus, send your $25 payment to:

Norman Leveille
P.O. Box 231253
Tigard, OR 97281-1253Here is a quick overview of what MENUplus V4.0 has to offer:

Now uses a mouse if desired,

Password protection to DOS,

Password protection to other file areas,

Password protection to setup area,

Optional DOS command line,

User defined screen colors,

Screen save,

Runs up to 30 programs per menu area (4 areas),

Ability to chain multiple menus,

One key press operation (hot key),

Does not stay RAM resident,

Message area (with save, print and more),

EASY TO USE,

Requires very little disk space,

Fast execution, and

Full support for DOS 3.3 to 5.0.
Problems?  Need help?  Give me a call at [phone], leave a
message on my BBS (503-639-5839), or leave me an email message on
Compuserv.  My ID# is 73340,3657.



INSTALLATION:

MENUplus comes with an install program that will automatically
set up a directory and copy all needed files to that directory.
It will also create a menup.bat file in your root directory to
run the menu.  MENUplus will run correctly only if run from this
batch file!  This batch file will be placed at the end of your
AUTOEXEC.BAT, so when you reboot your computer it will
automatically start MENUplus.

For MENUplus to operate correctly, you should check your
CONFIG.SYS and see if it has a line that reads FILES=12.  This
file is found on the root directory of your hard drive.  If your
CONFIG.SYS does not contain the above, you should edit your
CONFIG.SYS and add FILESl=12!  To read your CONFIG.SYS at the
root directory type:

TYPE  CONFIG.SYS

and press enter.  If you don't have a CONFIG.SYS, then you can
create one by typing:

COPY CON CONFIG.SYS  <press enter>

files=20             <press enter>

buffers=20           <press enter>

<press F6 and enter>

You should also add a path to your root directory (Path=c:\).

To start MENUplus, type menup at the DOS prompt.  If it was
installed correctly, it will load MENUplus.


FUNCTION KEYS:

F1 - F4 will take you to the other menu pages.

F5 will read, leave, delete, or print messages.

F6 will add a reminder on the second to bottom line of the menu.

F7 enters the DOS utility menu.

F8 is a label maker.

F9 enters the setup menu.

F10 will execute a DOS command line.



OTHER KEYS:

/   will show the help screen.

Alt A will bring up the ABOUT MENUPLUS Screen.

Alt S will force the screen save on.

Alt X will also exit the menu.



SETUP:

After you have installed MENUplus, you can execute the program by
typing menup at the DOS prompt.

Once you are in MENUplus, press F9 for the setup menu.
From the setup menu you can choose a number of options:

Pressing "C" will bring you to the color change menu.  Here you
can change the colors of MENUplus.  For more information on this
area, go to the section of this document called COLORS.

Pressing 1-4 will enter you into the program setup area.  It is
in this area that you add the programs you want to run from the
menu.  For more information on this area, go to the section of
this document labeled PROGRAM SETUP.

Pressing 6 will allow you to change the screen save message.
Here you can enter any message, and after approximately 1-5
minutes of inactivity the screen will blank to prevent screen
burn.  If you leave the message prompt blank, then the screen
will blank without any scrolling message.
COLORS:

In this setup area, you can change the foreground and background
colors of MENUplus.

Most color prompts will have 2 color options, background and
foreground color.

Note that Date and Time only have a foreground color.  As you
select the number to the area of the menu you want to change
colors, you will see the new colors as you press that number.  If
you don't like the new colors you have selected, then press the
[Esc] key and the colors will return to what they were before you
changed them.  If you want to save the new colors, then press
[F10] before you press [Esc] and the new colors will be saved.
This area also has a listing [M] in case you have a monochrome
monitor that is not to easy to read with MENUplus's default
colors.  (This also works well for laptops.)



PROGRAM SETUP:

To enter this area from the MENUplus main menu, press F9.

This is where you set up your programs in MENUplus.  To set up
MENUplus to run your programs, you must select either #1 - #4
from the SETUP PROGRAM main menu.  Once in the menu area, you
should select the letter or number that you wish to add your
program to.  You will hear a beep, and the selection you made
will highlight and prompt you for your program name.  (This is
where you enter the name of your program as you want it to appear
on your menu.)  After you enter the name, press enter.  Now you
will be prompted for the drive letter your program is on.  Enter
the drive letter without the colon (example: C not C:), and press
enter.  Next, you will be prompted to enter the directory where
your program is located on your hard drive (this is where your
program is stored on the drive).  When you enter the directory,
do not add CD\, as the menu will do it for you.  You can enter a
backslash (\) after the directory if your program is in a sub
directory (example: games\cartoons).  If your program is in the
root directory of the selected drive, then just press enter when
prompted for the directory.  After you enter the directory, you
will be prompted for the executable file name (this is the file
that starts your program - they normally end with a three letter
extension of ether COM, EXE or BAT).  Enter the file name.  If
there are any command line parameters to add to the file name,
you can also add them here.  Next, press enter, and you will see
all the options you selected to confirm that you have everything
correct.  At this point, you will be given the choice to press Y
to save your new entry, N to reenter the above or Q to quit to
the main menu without saving your new data.  NOTE: if you can't
remember the file name, then enter DIR and a directory listing
will be displayed to choose from.PASSWORD TO DOS:

To add a password to DOS, press 6 at the SETUP program main menu.
At the prompt, add your password and press enter.  It will then
show you what you typed to verify that your password is correct.
Press Y if it is correct or N if it is not correct.  This is to
prevent unauthorized exit to DOS.  Without knowing the password
you selected, no one but you can gain access to DOS.  The same
password also prevents people from gaining access to the setup
program, because all they would have to do is add command.com as
a program and then they would have access to your DOS!  This is a
fault of some more well-known menu packages!  Just remember your
password, or you will also be locked out of DOS.  When you enter
your password to exit the menu or to get to the setup program,
you will notice that what you type does not echo to the screen.
This is so someone looking over your shoulder does not see your
password!



PASSWORD TO FILE AREAS:

Pressing 6-9 in the SETUP PROGRAM will allow you to password
protect the menu areas.  This works much the same as the password
to DOS but is designed to prevent people from accessing the
second menu area.  This is where you can put your software that
may have information that you don't want others to see.



DOS VERSIONS:

You can access this area by pressing [D] at the SETUP PROGRAM
main menu.  This area is to set up your menu to run as
efficiently as it can with your DOS version.  This is a very easy
process, as your current DOS version will be displayed on the
screen.  All you will have to do is select the version you see.
NOTE: if you are using 4DOS 3.30 and above, you can select 1 at
this menu.  If you are using a version of 4DOS prior to 3.30,
then select 2 at this menu.  For those of you using DR DOS 3.41
and above, select 2.  I have had limited use with DR DOS, so
please report any problems that you have with the menu when used
with DR DOS.  Also, I do know that it will not work with versions
of DR DOS prior to 3.41, as I tried it with 3.40 and it would not
execute a program after returning from another on the menu.  This
was a fault with the way DR DOS handled batch files but may have
been fixed in version 4.31 and 5.0.



MENU NAMES:

MENUplus has another new feature that allows you to add a name
to your menu areas, i.e. games.  To use this feature, enter the
setup menu, press [N], and select the menu you wish to name.



MESSAGES:

The message area is found in the main menu by pressing F5.  Once
in the message area, the message will be displayed if one was
left.  If there is a message, you can delete the message by
pressing [K] for kill message, print the message by pressing [P],
or save the message as an ASCII file by pressing [S].  If you are
going to save the message as a ASCII file, then you must enter a
name that you want to call the message.  Do not go over the DOS
limit of 8 characters, and do not add an extension, as the menu
will add MSG as the extension.  Example:  if you typed TODAY for
a file name,then it would be saved as TODAY.MSG and could be read
or printed later by any text editor or lister.  If you type a
file name that already exists, then it will append itself to the
old message so you don't accidently delete the message.  To enter
a message, press [E].  You will then be prompted to enter your
name (your name will appear at the bottom of the screen to the
person reading the message so they will know who left the
message).  You then may enter a message of up to eight lines.
The message area does not line-wrap, so you will have to press
enter at the end of each line to go to the next line.  To end the
message, press enter twice.  You will be prompted to save the
message.  If you would like to do so, press Y.  You will then
be asked if you want the message waiting prompt to flash on the
main menu so others will know that there is a message waiting.



SCREEN SAVE:

MENUplus has a built-in screen save function to prevent your
monitor from getting burn spots from being left on for a
long period of time.  This feature will automatically activate
after four minutes of inactivity and will scroll a message across
the screen from left to right, starting at the top left ending at
the bottom right and starting over until you press the enter key
(this will return you to the menu).  By default, the menu will
scroll << SCREEN SAVE >>>, but you can change it to display any
message up to 25 characters.  Let's say you went to lunch.  You
could have it scroll "BE BACK AT 1:00 p.m.".  My personal
favorite is "Don't bug me, I'm sleeping".  If you don't want it
to scroll anything, just leave it blank and the monitor will just
go black.  To change the screen save message, press M at the
setup menu main menu.  You can also change the time the screen
save activates by pressing T at the setup menu main menu.CHAINING MENUS:

MENUplus also has the ability to chain menus together.  This is
useful if you run out of room on your first menu.  To chain a
menu, place your MENUplus diskette in your floppy drive.  Next,
create a new sub directory on the drive you want to add the
second menu (i.e. MD C:\MENU2).  Copy the files from the diskette
to the new directory (i.e. copy *.* C:\MENU2), then go to the
root directory of the drive you have the new menu on (C:\)
and create a new batch file (we will call this one menu2.bat).
The following files must be created exactly as seen below!

At the DOS prompt type:

COPY CON MENU2.BAT

C:

CD\MENU2

MENUPLU1

PCM$$RUN       (press F6 and Enter)

Now go to MENUplus by typing menup, press F4 to enter the setup
program and select 2 or 3 from the setup menu depending where
you want to add the second menu.  Next, select the menu letter or
number that you want the menu added to, and type MENU2.  It will
then ask for the drive.  In this case, we selected drive C.  Now
it will ask for the directory.  Just press enter.  Next, it will
ask you for the file name.  This is where you will type the batch
file you just created (menu2.bat).  Now you are done!  Save the
selection and return to the menu.  When you select the second
menu, you can use all the functions as if you were on the
original menu.



LABEL MAKER:

This area lets you print standard 3 1/2 X 15/16 address labels.
At the main menu, press F8, and you will enter the Label Maker.
Once in this area, type in the information on the lines as
prompted.  You can skip lines by pressing enter without typing
anything on that line.  After you are finished adding the
information, you will be asked for the number of labels to print.
Valid numbers are 1 to 500.  To quit this area, press enter
without adding any data, and you will return to the main menu.




DOS COMMAND LINE:

Pressing F10 at the main menu will put you at a DOS command line.
At this prompt, you can run any DOS commands or programs as if
you were in DOS.  If you have a password set to exit to DOS, then
you will also need to type it in to enter this area.



SOUND:

If you press S at the setup menu main screen you can enable or
disable the speaker (beeps and whistles as you exit the menu).



MOUSE:

The mouse will be active only if it detects a mouse driver in
memory.  If detected, a mouse cursor will appear on the menu.
Just move the cursor to the option you want and press the left
mouse button to select.



NOTE:

If you are running a monochrome monitor and the mouse cursor
does not show, then go to the setup area (F9) and select "C"
to change menu colors and select "M" for monochrome monitors.