Magee Enterprises, Inc. Post Office Box 1587 Norcross, Georgia 30091 USA MOREHELP -- AUTOMENU Q & A The following is a list of our Technical Support Group's most asked questions and the appropriate answers. We hope this will help you answer any questions you may have concerning the use of our AUTOMENU(R) product, our Software Management System. Q1: How do I edit a Menu Definition File(tm) (MDF)? A1: By using AUTOMAKE, the Menu Building Facility, (or any other ASCII editor) you can edit and create MDFs. To run the program select the menu option that reads "Menu Building Facility". If this option is not available, then type AUTOMAKE from the DOS prompt in the Automenu directory. This will bring you into the menu editor. Select option #1 to Edit a Menu Definition File. Then either type in the name of the MDF you wish to edit or press ENTER and a list box containing your MDF filenames will be displayed. Select the MDF to edit by pressing ENTER on the appropriate filename. If the user level has been configured to the Novice or Intermediate modes of editing, a window containing the titles of all defined menu pages will appear. Select the menu page to edit by pressing Enter on a menu page title. You will then get a display similar to AUTOMENU. If the user level has been configured to the Advanced mode of editing, you will get a full screen display of your Menu Definition File. Q2: How do I add a menu option? A2: Using AUTOMAKE, bring up the MDF that you wish to modify. If you are in the Novice mode of editing press the Ins (Insert) key on in the area of the menu where you want to add a new menu option. You will be given a choice of adding a menu option either before or after the current menu choice. You will then be prompted to enter the selection name, description, start-up command, and path or location of your application program. A password for this menu option is optional. If you are in the Intermediate mode of editing press the Ins (Insert) key on the menu display in the area you wish to add a new menu option. You will then be prompted to enter the selection name and the description. After you have done this, press the F10 function key. Then this point enter in your commands to execute your application. For example: +CD\WP51 +WP +CD\AUTOMENU +AUTO If you are in the Advanced mode of editing you can add menu options by locating the area of the MDF you wish to insert a new menu option and pressing the F3 function key or the Alt-I keys to insert empty lines. Use the AUTOMENU commands to build your menu option. A list of the commands can be shown by pressing the space bar. Setup your menu option as follows: *Menu Option *WordPerfect ?Description for menu option ?Word Processor +Change to program's directory +CD\WP51 +Start-up command +WP +Change to AUTOMENU's directory +CD\AUTOMENU +Restart AUTOMENU +AUTO If you need further explanation of the AUTOMENU commands, type the symbol in question and press the F1 key to get online help on that command. Also, refer to the guide on AUTOMENU's commands in the users manual for more help concerning adding a menu option. Q3: How do I load a different MDF? A3: If you have created a new MDF and want to be able to access this menu from another menu, then we can use the "@" command to load another Menu Definition File. Get into the menu building facility, AUTOMAKE, and bring up the menu you wish to edit (Refer to Q1). You must be in the Intermediate or Advanced mode of editing to do load a different MDF. Using the "@" command allows Automenu to load any MDF, for example: *Bring Up Games Menu <<--Define a menu option @GAMES.MDF <<--Specify MDF to load Q4: Why does AUTOMENU come up in black and white after I run my program? A4: Some programs reset the video mode and do not restore it properly when they terminate. So, Automenu reads the mode and attempts to adjust to it. If you notice the screen return back in black and white after executing a particular program, then we can modify the MDF to include a MODE CO80 command. This will reset the video mode to color. The MODE command should be placed just before we return to the menu. Please note that you should be using the "+" commands in this menu option. For example: *MultiMate +CD\MM +MM +CD\AUTOMENU +MODE CO80 <<--Place MODE command here +AUTO If you find that the menu screen returns in black and white after running one or more programs then you should use a global solution. We can do this by editing the AUTO.BAT file and inserting a MODE CO80 command just before the line that reads AUTOMENU %1. Also, make sure that you are using the "+" commands in your MDF to execute these particular programs as in the example above. Q5: How do I create another menu page? A5: Using AUTOMAKE (or some other ASCII editor) bring up the MDF you wish to edit. If you are in the Novice or Intermediate modes of editing simply press the Ins (Insert) key on the menu page in the list box that contains the titles for menu pages. If you are in the Advanced mode of editing locate the position in the MDF where you wish to insert the new page and insert an empty line by using the F3 function key or the ALt-I keys. Type a "%" and the title of the new page on this empty line. You can have up to 8 menu options per menu page and a total of 8 menu pages in one MDF. Q6: Once I've created my menu how do I get my menu to come up when I boot the machine? A6: Using AUTOCUST, the customization utility, select option #3 "Change Default for Menu Definition File". You will be asked to "Enter filename or default Menu Definition File". Enter in the name of your MDF, make sure to include the MDF extension. (For example: MYMENU.MDF). Or you can edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to include the name of the MDF file which you wish to have as a default. Also, the AUTOEXEC.BAT should contain the commands similar to the following: CD\AUTOMENU AUTO FILENAME.MDF <<<--Substitute MDF filename for FILENAME.MDF Q7: I get the menu on the screen but when I make a selection I get dumped to the DOS prompt. Why? A7: Make sure that you are invoking AUTOMENU with the AUTO.BAT file. This is the file that executes AUTOMENU and runs the AUTOTEMP.BAT file. Make sure that you are typing "AUTO FILENAME.MDF" to bring up the menu. For example, if you had a file called GAMES.MDF you would type AUTO GAMES.MDF. Q8: How do I upgrade from an older version of AUTOMENU? A8: Depending on which version of AUTOMENU you have and which version you are replacing it with, the files to replace will vary. Check the documentation for a detailed explanation. For instance, if you are upgrading from version 4.5 to version 4.7 then you should replace the following files: AUTOMENU.COM AUTOMAKE.EXE AUTOCUST.COM AUTOMENU.DOC And add the AUTOMAKE.CSH file to your AUTOMENU directory as well. Q9: I forgot to put an exit to DOS option on my menu. How can I get to DOS? A9: You will need to get a diskette with DOS on it and put it in your floppy disk drive and reboot the machine. This should get you a DOS prompt. Now you can locate the MDF that we need to alter on your hard drive and add an exit to DOS menu option by using AUTOMAKE, the Menu Building Facility. Q10: How can I display messages to the user or get some input from the user? A10: By using the "<" and ">" symbols within AUTOMENU you can display messages to the user and get responses to your messages. You must be in the Advanced or Intermediate modes to use these prompt commands. The ">" command is an output message symbol and the "<" command is an input symbol. They can be used as follows: *Copy files >Enter filename to copy >(Include path if necessary) > < <<<--get input from user >Select destination drive