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AddMenu V1.56 (25th Sep 1991) by Nic Wilson ------------------------------------------- Written totally in Assembler ---------------------------- using Hisoft Devpac Amiga ------------------------- on an Amiga A3000 25mhz ----------------------- Nic Wilson Software 138d South Street Toowoomba Qld 4350 Australia Ph (076) 358384 Work or FAX (076) 358539 After hours EMAIL {cbmvax|cbmehq}!cbmaus!wilson!nic@uunet.uu.net This Version has been placed on Shareware for your enjoyment. You may distribute it freely as long as this document and the program remains unmodified, and accompanies the program. You may modify the script files as examples as long as you FULLY test them before distribution. ************************************************************** THIS VERSION IS ONLY A TASTE OF WHAT IT TO COME. VERSION 2.00 IS NEARING COMPLETION AND HAS MUCH MORE POWER. IT ALLOWS ICON ITEMS ON SCREEN THAT CAN BE COMPLETELY CHANGED EACH TIME A NEW SCRIPT IS LAUNCHED. THIS GIVES IT MUCH MORE POWER THAT OTHER PROGRAMS AROUND LIKE ADDMENU. ADDMENU V2.00 WILL BE A COMMERCIAL PROGRAM BUT THE ASKING PRICE IS VERY REASONLBLE AT $20.00 AND THIS ALSO GIVES YOU FREE UPDATES AND THERE ARE OTHER UTILITIES ON THE DISK!! SEND FOR YOUR VERSION TODAY AND YOU WILL BE FIRST IN LINE WHEN THE VERSION IS COMPLETE. IT SHOULD BE READY BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS. ************************************************************** FUNCTION -------- Add an infinite number of Menu Items to the Workbench Tools Menu in Kickstart V2.0 using script files. Updating is possible from the menus, from CLI or from Workbench using different script files. Temporary menu items can also be added that stay in the menu strip after updating to the new script, and can also be converted to permanent and saved to your script file automatically. REQUIREMENTS ------------ Any Amiga running V2.0 of Kickstart and Workbench including the A3000. Tested to versions 37.175 Kickstart and Workbench 37.66. HISTORY (Recent first) ---------------------- V1.56 Changed all the functions in the update window so they return to the update window when their job is complete. This I thought was better then exiting the update window. Checked the program thouroughly with enforcer. V1.55 Added a new -s switch and completely changed the update window, to add the ability to save temporary menu items as permanent to the current script. See -s option. Added a 'MAKE NEW SCRIPT' gadget to the update window. See 'MAKING A NEW SCRIPT FILE AUTOMATICALLY' for more info. Removed the string gadget in the update window and replaced it with a gadget that opens the asl.library file requester. It defaults to S: where I expect most users would keep their script files, and it defaults to matching files with the pattern add#?. Added a 'Delete item from current script' function. See 'DELETING AN ITEM FROM THE CURRENT SCRIPT' for more info. Added a 'Reposition' function. This allows any items within the current script to be repositioned in any order. See 'REPOSITIONING ITEMS WITHIN THE CURRENT SCRIPT' for more info. Fixed a bug that must have been in for a while. AddMenu would not launch with a script other than the default one. This is now fixed. AddMenu can now be launched without any script files at all and be configured completely by the update window and dumping icons over its icon. AddMenu now hangs around a while if Workbench is busy on launch, and retries a few times before exiting. V1.54 Removed ability to run from Workbench because of severe problems in DOS being able to find things. Run it from the user-startup and it is much better. V1.53 Changed launch code so the program can be called before Workbench is available. This allows the program to be called from the user-startup instead of the startup-sequence. The program will detach itself and then hang around and wait until workbench is available before installing. Also changed it so it can be launched from Workbench and gave it a commodity icon. You can drag this into the WBSTARTUP drawer to launch it if you prefer. If you do it this way the default script MUST be s:addmenu.script as WB parameters are not supported yet. V1.52 Very sorry but the new about function didn't work in hi-res. I only use interlace and I negelected to test other resolution modes. It is now fixed. V1.51 Added an 'About' menu automatically, this allows for easy identification of version number, author and info on its free distribution permission. The 'About' menu will always be at the top of any function you have added in your script. V1.50 Fixed bug. When updating to new script, old script memory buffers were not being freed. Added ability for each menu item to have more than one executable(See 'COMMAND STRINGS' or 'EXAMPLE SCRIPT' BELOW). V1.41 Stopped illegal devices, drawers or non-executables being added to the menu strip. These will cause workbench screen to flash. Added switch for temporary menus, so you do not have to have the icon around if you do not use them. Added the ability to remove the temporary menus alone. V1.42 Fixed bug. If Temporary menus were removed, they would magically reappear when a script was changed. V1.40 New temporary menus via workbench icon added and ability to update or remove from this icon. V1.31 Optimised and fixed error msg for illegal use under kickstart V1.3. Fully checked with 'Enforcer' for bugs. V1.3 Added ability to change scripts on update. V1.2 Added quit and update options. V1.1 Added ability to use different script name/path. V1.0 Original release. IMPORTANT --------- DO NOT USE RUN OR RUNBACK, ADDMENU WILL RETURN THE CLI TO YOU AND ALLOW IT TO CLOSE WHEN YOU GIVE AN ENDCLI. ADDMENU WORKS IN RATHER A SPECIAL WAY, IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE CLI WINDOW TO CLOSE AFTER LAUNCH IT RELAUNCHES ITSELF AGAIN WITH SPECIAL CODE, THIS IS DONE TO OVERCOME ALL THE NORMAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT SOME PROGRAMS LOSE THE PATH, STACK, CURRENT DIRECTORY ETC. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE OF PROGRAMS WRITTEN IN C. ADDMENU DOES NOT SUFFER FROM ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS. POPCLI TYPE PROGRAMS SUFFER BADLY FROM THIS, MY AUTOCLI USES THIS SAME CODE AND SUFFERS NO PROBLEM. IT IS PUBLIC DOMAIN SO SEND S.S.A.E. AND DISK FOR THE LATEST VERSION. USAGE ***** AddMenu [script] [switch] Standard redirection of output is supported. EG. Addmenu >nil: [script] [switch] [switches] -s AddMenu must already be running for this switch to be used. is used to inform the running version that you wish to convert any current temporary menu items in the current menu strip to permanent and save them to the current script. This allows you to add items to each script file without having to manually edit the script yourself. This can also be done from the update window accessed from AddMenu's special icon. -q AddMenu must already be running for this switch to be used. This switch allows the currently running AddMenu to be removed. If AddMenu is not found running an error message will result. If this switch is used then it must be the only parameter. To remove from workbench see 'To Remove Addmenu Completely' below. -t Do not use temporary menus and do not place the icon on the Workbench screen. [script] This is an optional parameter, and can be used when AddMenu is first launched or when updating. By default it reads a script created by you, called 'addmenu.script'. This file is expected to be in the S: directory , but if you wish to supply a different path and name you can use the script parameter. If this parameter is used you must supply the path to the file and its name. There is an example file that accompanies this file to show you how to create it. Below is an explanation of the script file. EG. AddMenu DH0:s/addmenu.myscript or AddMenu s:addmenu.myscript FROM Workbench -------------- This ability has been removed. TEMPORARY MENU ITEMS ******************** This function will default to on unless the -t switch was used at launch. AddMenu will place a special icon on the workbench window. If a program is dragged and dumped over this icon, that program will appear at the bottom of the menu strip. The program itself will not move at all and doing this is quite safe. These temporary menus will survive an update that changes to a different script. They will continue to appear on the bottom of whatever script you update with. Once added they can be removed without removing AddMenu completely by double clicking on the special icon and selecting the 'Remove Temporary Menu Items' gadget from the window. If any illegal device or non-executable file is dumped over the icon the screen will flash and a beep sound will be heard, and it will not be added to the menu. These temporary menu items can be converted to permanent and saved to the current script by choosing the 'Save Temporary...' gadget from the update window or by launching AddMenu again with the -s option. ADDMENU's SPECIAL ICON ********************** This icon does not behave like a normal icon, it is a special icon that allows manipulation of AddMenu from the workbench. Double clicking the icon will open a window with some gadgets. These gadgets allow AddMenu to be removed, temporary menus removed, updating a script or to cancel the operation etc. They are all explained in the relative sections below. This icon has not been given any specific position on the workbench window. Workbench will choose the best position for the icon, it can of course be dragged to any place you wish. CANCELLING THE WINDOW ********************* If you double clicked the special icon, the window opened, and you changed your mind and wish to exit without changes. Click the 'CANCEL' gadget or the CLOSE gadget on the window. This will abort the operation and AddMenu will be unchanged. SAVING TEMPORARY MENU ITEMS TO THE CURRENT SCRIPT FILE ****************************************************** From CLI -------- Launch AddMenu again with the -s switch. This will tell AddMenu to convert the current temporary menu items to permanent and save them to the current script file. After this is done the menus will be updated to reflect the temporaries as permanent. This save option can save one or more temporary menu items in one go. You could also place 'AddMenu -s' into each script file you use so it can be chosen from each menu, instead of the CLI or update window. From Workbench -------------- Double click the special AddMenu icon that appeared on the workbench window when AddMenu was launched. A window will open. Click the 'Save Temporary Menu Items to Current Script' gadget. If no temporary menus are found then this gadget will be ghosted. TO REMOVE THE TEMPORARY MENUS ***************************** From CLI -------- Not possible. From Workbench only ------------------- Double click the special icon that appeared on the Workbench window when AddMenu was launched. Click the 'Remove Temporary..' Gadget. All temporary menus will be removed. They cannot be removed individually unless you convert them to permanent with the 'Save Temp..' gadget and then the 'Delete Item..' to delete specific ones. If there are no temporary menus then the gadgets will be ghosted. DELETING AN ITEM FROM THE CURRENT SCRIPT **************************************** From CLI -------- The only way from CLI is to edit the script manually with an editor. From Workbench -------------- Double click on the AddMenu icon and a window will open. Click on the 'Delete item from current script' gadget and another window will open, this window will show all the items in the current script. Each item is a toggle select gadget. Choose one or more entries to delete and when finished click the 'DELETE' gadget and they are gone. You may abort this function with the 'CANCEL' gadget. REPOSITIONING ITEMS WITHIN THE CURRENT SCRIPT ********************************************* From CLI -------- The only way from CLI is to edit the script manually with an editor. From Workbench -------------- Double click on the AddMenu icon and a window will open. Click on the 'Reposition an Entry in Current Script' gadget and another window will open, this window will show all the items in the current script. Each item is a toggle select gadget. Choose two entries to swap place and they will swap. Keep doing this until all entries are in the position you desire them to be. When finished click the 'SAVE' gadget and your script file and the menu strip will be updated to reflect these changes. You may abort this function with the 'CANCEL' gadget. UPDATING ADDMENU ONCE RUNNING ***************************** From CLI -------- If AddMenu is already installed when launched again, then it will send a message to the running version to update itself, If no script is supplied then it will update from the default file. A different script can be supplied as the update, and because this update can be called from inside an AddMenu script, this allows you to change the entire menu, by calling a menu function. This allows for an infinite number of available menu functions. If a different script is supplied to the current one then it will be totally replaced in favour of the new script. This new script could of course have an option to return to the original or any number of other scripts. From Workbench -------------- Double click the special AddMenu icon that appeared on the workbench window when AddMenu was launched. A window will open. Click the 'Change Tools Menu to different Script' gadget, and a file requester will appear. This file requester has a pattern matching string gadget that will default to showing all files that begin with 'add'. I suggest that you call your scripts addmenu.????? to take advantage of this, otherwise you may click in the 'Pattern' gadget and change the display pattern. Select your new script file, then the menus will be updated if your new script was valid. TO REMOVE ADDMENU COMPLETELY **************************** From CLI -------- Launch AddMenu again with the -q switch. (SEE Usage Above) This could also be done by placing an entry in your script file so quitting could be done from the menus. From Workbench -------------- Double click the special icon that appeared on the Workbench window when AddMenu was launched. Click the 'Quit Addmenu' Gadget. AddMenu will be completely removed. THE SCRIPT FILE *************** The maximum number of items allowed in each menu script is 63. This is not a limitation of AddMenu, but a limitation that Workbench has placed for the tools menu. I do not recommend using that many anyway, as they would be too cluttered. Use less per menu and make more scripts. MAKING A NEW SCRIPT FILE AUTOMATICALLY ************************************** AddMenu can make a new script file for you automatically if you wish. To do this select 'MAKE NEW SCRIPT...' from the menu and a file requester will open and prompt you for a new file name for the script. The S: directory will be the default directory that the file requester will open in and the default pattern matching will be add#?, you may change this if desired. Type a new file name or select an old one to overwrite and click on the LOAD gadget. This new empty file will be created on the disk, and the menus will be removed, with only the 'ABOUT ADDMENU' and MAKE NEW SCRIPT...' items available. Drag programs you wish to place in this new script and dump them over the AddMenu Icon. If the program you want to place in there does not have an icon, then select the 'All Files' sub-item from the 'Show' item of the Window menu of the workbench window. This will give all files and drawers a fake icon in the current window, keep doing this until you get to your file. After you have placed all required files in the new menu, double-click on the AddMenu icon and select 'Save Temporary Menu Items to Current Script'. The new script will be updated and will now be available. MAKING A NEW SCRIPT FILE MANUALLY ********************************* The script file is a group of commands you would like in the menu along with the text you want in the actual menu. The format of this script is important for the program to read it correctly. If the number of menu items in a single script overflows the screen height, the menu strips will be made wider and the items split into columns. The maximum number of menus items in a single script is 63, but due to a bug in workbench.library this is not checked for, any extra menus over this amount will be clipped, athough I dont forsee anyone placing this many in a single script. The structure of the script file is as follows. TEXT STRINGS ++++++++++++ The text strings are actually placed in the menu, and each one must be before its command string. The Text string MUST START and END with a plus (+) sign. COMMAND STRINGS *************** The command strings are the strings that are sent to DOS when a menu item is selected. Each one MUST come directly after its text string and START and END with an asterisk (*). There are now any number of commands allowed per text string, DO NOT USE THE 'RUN' COMMAND WITHIN A COMMAND STRING, 'RUN' WILL BE ADDED TO THE FRONT OF YOUR STRING AUTOMATICALLY. END OF FILE MARKER (IMPORTANT!!) ################################ The script file MUST END with a hash (#) sign on the beginning of a new line. COMMENTS ;;;;;;;; Comments are allowed in the script file but must follow certain guidelines. They are allowed on a line of their own or beside a text string or command string. They must be outside the command or text string characters. The best way to ensure this is to leave at least one space before the beginning of the comment after the rightmost plus (+) or asterisk (*) of each comment or text string. They MUST NOT use the plus (+) sign, the asterisk (*) or the hash (#) sign within the comment, as these three characters are used to specify the beginning and end of command, texts strings or end of file. Comment lines are completely optional, you do not have to have any at all. EXAMPLE OF A VALID SCRIPT ------------------------- ;this is a valid comment this is a valid comment this is still a valid comment +NEWSHELL+ ;Text for the menu surrounded in plus signs *c:newshell* ;commands surrounded in asterisk signs comments are allowed between menu strings +NoVirus+ this is still a valid comment *dh0:novirus* notice the path to the above command +WordPerfect+ *assign WP: dh0:wp* an example of multiple commands *assign PRINT: dh0:wp* with a menu entry. *assign SPELL.THES: dh0:wp* *cd wp:* *wp* +XCOPY+ to assign and run it *dh0:copiers/xcopy* +Quit Addmenu+ *addMenu -q* ;how to make AddMenu quit from the menus +Another Menu+ ;how to change menus from a menu *addmenu s:different.script* ;(updating AddMenu) # Notice the 'end of file' marker (#) on the end of the script. This is very important. Please send comments, bug reports etc to the address at the top of this file. Nic Wilson