Menu Creator v1.2 Copyright (C) 1995, by Cutting Edge Online All rights reserved. Programming and Documentation by John Marx Cutting Edge Online (318) 537-7089 Voice 6372-B Kucinski Street (318) 537-7746 BBS Fort Polk, LA 71459 Hayes Optima 28.8k U.S.A. FidoNet: 1:3817/9 Menu Creator v1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Requirements The requirements for using this PPE are as follows: a. PCBoard 15.21+ (This program was created with PPLC v3.0 and will not work with any version less than 15.21.) b. Enough space on your hard drive for installation of the program. c. It's not needed but placing this PPE and all your PPE's into different subdirectories is helpful. This allows you to more easily update or remove a PPE with it's accompanying files. Plus if you place more than one PPE in a directory you may run into the program trying to use a file it shouldn't. This is all that is needed to run this program. Menu Creator v1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program Overview This program will create a menu to your specifications and based on the users security level. If a command isn't available to a user it won't be displayed to tempt that user. With upto 50 predefined variables with you designating their @variables@ and minimum security and description. ž 100% multilingual and we MEAN it! Headers and Footers can be changed automatically for this is the way we designed it. ž All commands, colors, etc are 100% SysOp definable. ž No NAG-me-to-death screens. This is a risk we're taking on our part to make the program available to you and we hope that if you use it you will support the shareware concept. ž All displays are configurable and you may choose whatever your want displayed in the bulletin which is created. We use a @variable@ coding scheme similar to that of PCBoard's @X color scheme; which you may use as well. Over 30 @variables@ are available for your customization into your conference menu. ž RIPscrip capabilities built-in ž Easy Installation ž Works as a replacement for the BRDS file as well as the BRDM file Just follow the step by step instructions below and you will be running in no time. Menu Creator v1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program Installation To install this program you will need to do the following: 1. First unZIP the archive into its new subdirectory. 2. Goto the new subdirectory and create your configuration file. I've included a SAMPLE.CNF which is commented and gives an example of what the configuration file should look like. The configuration file must bee called MM.CNF 3. You will probally want to make the following files suite your systems color specification so we suggest you use PCBEDIT and edit the following files to your taste. (NOTE: You don't need to do this step if you want to just start out and keep the default color scheme.) The files which you may wish to edit are: a. MENU -- This is the menu file which gets displayed in the format you want, not the way I want. It may be created/designed however you wish using our @var@ and PCBoard's @var@ codes. This is the replacement file for the BRDM file. When editing this file and the file below we suggest that you use the @POS:##@ variable to justify the text so that the information lines up in the format you desire everytime even with multiple langauges. b. MENUS -- This is the menu file which gets displayed in the format you want, not the way I want. It may be created/designed however you wish using our @var@ and PCBoard's @var@ codes. This is the replacement file for the BRDM file. When editing this file and the file above we suggest that you use the @POS:##@ variable to justify the text so that the information lines up in the format you desire everytime even with multiple langauges. c. DATA -- This is a description file of the predetermined variables which the program gets its information from the PCBOARD.DAT file. I strongly suggest that you use the following format when editing the entries @X00Color Codes / Description@XFF @X00 -- Save current color @XFF -- Restore current color The reason for using the @X00/@XFF is so that the program can restore the proper colors. d. USERDATA -- You may describe upto 50 of your own @variables@, security level, and description. The format is @VARIABLE@;security;description The @VARIABLE@ is CASE SensITIve. The more you give the longer it will take the program to load and display, but the slowdown should not be noticeable to most users. e. SAMPLE.CNF -- This is the sample configuration file provided. You will need to edit this file to your own needs and desires and than save it as MM.CNF. Inside of this file is a line-by-line description for each line of information needed. f. CONF.DAT -- This is the conference definition file. This file contains the information to tell the program which file to display for each conference. The layout of this file is conference;user menu;sysop menu Do not include a language extension as it will be handled by the program. The conference may be either in one of the two following formats 1 1-10 There must be a ; between the conference number and the user/sysop name. Do not include spaces as spaces are not allowed in DOS filenames. 4. You have the option of using this inplace of your BRDM/BRDS file which is what the program was designed to do. You may also include it in your CMD.LST file. If you would like to use the program in BRDM/BRDS mode then you will need to add the following line, and only this line to your BRDM/BRDS file: ![drive]\[path]\MM.PPE NOTE: There's no need for a security specific BRDM/BRDS file for the user will only see the commands available to them which you have designated to be displayed. You may still have mutliple BRDM/BRDS files, but there's no reason to. To add this program to your CMD.LST file you will need to do the following: a. Load PCBSETUP.EXE b. Type B for File Locations c. Type B for Configuration Files d. Press the down arrow until you're ontop of the CMD.LST file e. You should now be ontop of a file called D:\PCB\GEN\CMD.LST or something similar. This is on the line that says: f. Press F2 edit g. Add the following line Command Security PPE/MNU File -or- Keystroke Replacement ======= ======== =========================================== MM 10 [drive]\[path]\MM.PPE NOTE: The paths will most likely be different from my system to yours so your will need to make the appropriate changes. 5. You will now need to run the CMS.EXE file so that your appropriate data files are created. For more information on this program see the CMS.DOC file. That's all there is to it! Enjoy! Menu Creator v1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below are a listing of the available @variables@ for use with this program. Along with these variables you may use any combination of @variables@ which PCBoard supports, this may either be color, variables or positioning. It is strongly suggested that you refrain from using @more@, @wait@, etc within the PROMPTS file but are easily implemented within the headers and footers. The reason for this is simple. In a network environment this could reck havok by making it so that the file cannot be read/written to. The variables which are available to you are: Variable Description ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ @ABANDON@ (A)bandon Conference @BLT@ (B)ulletin Listing @COMMENT@ (C)omment to SysOp @DOWNLOAD@ (D)ownload a File @ENTMSG@ (E)nter a Message @FILE@ (F)ile Directories @BYE@ (G)oodbye (Logoff) @HELP@ (H)elp Functions @INITIAL@ (I)nitial Welcome @JOIN@ (J)oin a Conference @KILL@ (K)ill a Message @LOCATE@ (L)ocate Filename @MODE@ (M)ode (graphics) @NEWS@ (N)ew Files Scan @PAGE@ (O)perator Page @PAGELEN@ (P)age Length @QUICK@ (Q)uick Message Scan @READ@ (R)ead Messages @SCRIPT@ (S)cript Questionaires @PROTOCOL@ (T)ransfer Protocol @UPLOAD@ (U)pload a File @VIEW@ (V)iew Settings @WRITE@ (W)rite User Infor @EXPERT@ e(X)pert Mode Toggle @YOUR@ (Y)our Personal Mail @ZIPPY@ (Z)ippy Directory Scan @OPEN@ (OPEN) a DOOR @CHAT@ (CHAT) Between NODEs @SYS1@ (1) View/Print Caller Log @SYS2@ (2) View/Print User List @SYS3@ (3) Pack/Renumber Messages @SYS4@ (4) Recover Killed Message @SYS5@ (5) List Message Headers @SYS6@ (6) View Any File @SYS7@ (7) User Maintenance @SYS8@ (8) Pack User File @SYS9@ (9) Exit to DOS (remote) @SYS10@ (10) Shelled DOS Functions @SYS11@ (11) View Other Nodes @SYS12@ (12) Logoff Alternate Node @SYS13@ (13) View Alt Node Callers @SYS14@ (14) Drop Alt Node to DOS @SYS15@ (15) Drop to DOS/Recycle Menu Creator v1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Possible Error Codes There are several reasons for error codes. The main reason is something went wrong in the program. Even though all efforts have been made to remove any and all possible errors there still may be some configuration we haven't thought of. As such we've included extensive error checking in all of our programs to eliminate any and all possible errors. Errors will be shown to the caller on the screen explaining what went wrong and why if the program can determine without a doubt what it was. All errors will be logged to the callers log! This allows you to correct any problems that your users might not tell you. A lot of times when an error occurs the users like "that's nice." We feel that even as nice as it would be for the user to explain to the SysOp what they were doing when such errors occur, we know not to expect it so we've added this to the code as well. When it logs this information to the callers log it also logs the exact saying that it gave to the user. This gives you the most complete information we can. You may also wish to check out the "Frequently Asked Questions" at the end of this document for it may cover a question you are currently having about PCBoard and PPE's. Menu Creator v1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacting the Author I can be reached on either my BBS or through my home phone number at any time. If I'm not home and you receive the answering machine just leave your name and number with a short explanation, if you can, of the problem. I WILL call you back as soon as I can and if you gave me a description of your problem will more than likely have an answer for you when I do call you back. When you do call us with information about a bug in the program please give us the following information. This information will help us determine what the problem is: 1. Program name and version number. 2. Type and brand of computer, hard disk, plus any peripherals. 3. Version of DOS plus any TSRs or device drivers in use. 4. Explanation of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 5. Description of what is in memory from the MEM command (DOS 4 and above users only) or a similar utility. 6. The exact problem you are having. Please be as specific as possible. Having a printout of the screen and/or being at your computer will be helpful. The Cutting Edge Online BBS operates 24 hours a day, is using a Hayes Optima 28.8k modem, PCBoard 15.2/10 and the number is (318) 537-7746. You will be able to download if you wish on the first call. There are no callback doors. We do use CALLER-ID for just this purpose. I personally don't like callback doors and am sure many others feel the same. We've recently upgraded the system bringing the system to 13.2 Gigs online with 5 CD-ROMs. I'm available also on the PCBoard Support BBS, Salt Air. I only call once a week, normally on Saturday so the replies won't be as quick as you may like. I'm also in the FidoNet PCBoard, PCB-Net conferences. Our FidoNet address is 1:3817/9. If you have a problem, suggestion, comment, download or just wish to talk please call and we will be more than glad to serve you. We're not happy until YOU are happy so let us know if we're doing something wrong. If we're doing it right tell your fellow PCBoard SysOps, if not tell US!