UserMenu/readme.eng

                             U S E R   M E N U  version 1.00
                        -----------------------------------------

  MENU is a standard Estex program which, based on configuration files, displays
a menu to the user and  invokes the corresponding action.  An action may be to
invoke an Estex program or to display another menu.
  You can invoke the user menu by just typing 'menu' at the command prompt. And
you should see a window that looks similar to the one below.

  ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
  º  User Menu  º
  ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
  º±±±Item±1±±±±º
  º   Item 2    º
  º   Item 3    º
  ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ

  Menus  may be  either  static  or dynamic,  depending  on  the needs  of  the
application. 
  Static menus are stored in the files with  a *.mnu extenstion  (see below for
the file format). When you start menu, program has read required *.mnu file and
displays it.  If you start  menu.exe  without any parameters  then program will
search file default.mnu in the current directory.
  Dynamic menus are generated by a program which get menu structure from switch
"-m". The format is the same as for a static menu except ";" used as  delimiter
for each line of menu structure. (example: "menu.exe -m title=My menu;menuitem=
Item1, prog1.exe;menuitem=Item2, prog2.exe".)

    USAGE
   =======

  MENU.EXE [-switches] [menufile.mnu] [menusection]
   
 
    Format of User Menu file
   ==========================
 
  A single MENUNAME.MNU file can define several different menu definitions.  To
define user menu, you use the following special MENU commands:

[MENU]
Title=Menu Title
MenuColor=1
BarColor=3
AutoExit=0
DefaultItem=1
MenuItem=Text, c:\dir\program.exe -key
 
  To define multiple configurations, follow these general steps:
 
1  Define  a startup  menu  in  the DEFAULT.MNU file  by using  a [MENU] header
   followed by  one or more <MENUITEM>  commands.  The <TITLE>,  <DEFAULTITEM>,
   <MENUCOLOR>, <BARCOLOR> and <AUTOEXIT> commands can be used to define special
   characteristics of the startup menu.
 
2  Create  a menu  definition block  in the DEFAULT.MNU file  for each menu you
   want.  A definition block  begins with a block header - a name surrounded by
   square brackets.



   TITLE
  =======
 
  Defines a title of the user menu.
 
Syntax
 
    TITLE=title_text
 
Parameter

title_text
    Specifies  the title you want USERMENU to display for this menu.  The menu
    title  can be up to 78 characters long  and can contain any characters you
    want. If you don't specify a title value, USERMENU will display 'User Menu'
    as default.
 
                                          -*-


   MENUCOLOR
  ===========
 
  Sets the text and background colors for the user menu.
 
Syntax
 
    MENUCOLOR=[t,]m
 
Parameters
 
t
    Specifies the color of the menu text. You can specify a value from 0 to 15;
    For  a list of values and colors,  see "Color Values" later in this topic.
    The 't' value is optional; if you do not specify a value, USERMENU displays
    a white text color on the specified background color.
 
m
    Specifies the color of the menu background. You can specify a value from 0
    to 15;  For a list of values and colors,  see "Color Values"  later in this
    topic.
 
  Be sure  to specify  different values  for t and m,  or the text  will not be
readable.


   BARCOLOR
  ===========
 
Sets the text and background colors for the cursor bar.
 
Syntax
 
    BARCOLOR=[t,]m
 
Parameters
 
t
    Specifies the color of the bar text.  You can specify a value from 0 to 15;
    For a list of values and colors,  see  "Color Values"  later in this topic.
    The 't' value is optional; if you do not specify a value, USERMENU displays
    a black text color on the specified background color.
 
m
    Specifies the color of the bar background.  You can specify a value  from 0
    to 15;  For a list of values and colors,  see  "Color Values" later in this
    topic.

  Be sure  to specify  different values  for t and m,  or the text  will not be
readable.

 Color Values
--------------
 
Valid color values are from 0 to 15, as follows:
 
    0  Black             8  Gray
    1  Blue              9  Bright blue
    2  Green            10  Bright green
    3  Cyan             11  Bright cyan
    4  Red              12  Bright red
    5  Magenta          13  Bright magenta
    6  Brown            14  Yellow
    7  White            15  Bright white
 
Note: For background, colors 8 through 15 blink.

                                          -*-


   AUTOEXIT
  ==========
 
Specifies method of the command launcher.
 
Syntax
 
    AUTOEXIT=[0|1]
 
Parameters
 
0
    If set to 0, then USERMENU displays menu again, when command are terminated.

1
    If set to 1, then USERMENU  don not displays menu again,  when command  are
    terminated.

                                          -*-


   MENUDEFAULT
  =============
 
  Specifies the default menu item on the user menu and sets a timeout value if
desired.  If you do not use this command,  USERMENU sets the default to item 1.
 
Syntax
 
    MENUDEFAULT=item[,timeout]
 
Parameters
 
item
    Specifies the default menu  item by its number.  The item must be defined
    elsewhere in the *.MNU file. When USERMENU displays the startup menu, the
    default menu item is highlighted.
 
timeout
    Determines how many seconds USERMENU waits before starting the program with
    the default item.  If you don't specify a timeout value,  USERMENU does not
    continue until the ENTER key is pressed or mouse is clicked. You can specify
    a timeout value from 0 to 60 seconds.
 
                                          -*-


   MENUITEM
  ==========
 
  Defines an item on the startup menu. You can have up to twenty four menu items
per menu.
 
Syntax
 
    MENUITEM=menu_text, command
 
Parameters

menu_text
    Specifies the text you want USERMENU to display for this menu item. The menu
    text  can be  up to  78 characters  long and can contain any characters you
    want.
 
command
    Specifies the name of the associated program or command. If the menu item is
    selected from the startup menu, USERMENU carries out the command.
 
                                          -*-

  Please contact us if you have any problems or have a suggestion! 

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