ÛßßßßßßßßÛßßßßßßßßÛ ÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛ ÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛ Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û ÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛ Ûßßßßßßßßßßßßßß Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û * Û Û * Û * Menu Application Programmer Version 1.00 Developed by Alex Lee QUEUE Computer Systems Inc. Press ESC to return to the Main Menu Use the cursor key to scroll through text or use PgUp and PgDn to scroll page by page M.A.P. is an application program which is designed to generate custom menus for PCs. While numerous other programs are available which do similar things, M.A.P. differs from most of these because it works from the DOS prompt rather than trying to eliminate the DOS prompt. A M.A.P. menu can be called from anywhere in DOS and it is possible to use M.A.P entries without being at the M.A.P. menu. M.A.P. is not memory resident and does not interfere with any other applications or TSRs. M.A.P. will work with any PC with a hard disk drive, DOS 3.30 or greater and GWBASIC 3.22. (M.A.P. may work with older versions of DOS and BASIC but has only been tested with DOS 3.30 and DOS 4.01) When M.A.P. is activated it checks to see if a previous menu exists. If one does exist then its data is loaded into M.A.P. If no existing data is available then M.A.P. will only allow you to choose option 1 from the Main Menu which is to CREATE A NEW MENU. All other options will be unavailable since there is no existing data. When creating a new menu, M.A.P asks certain questions which will customize the final menu to the particular computer that is using it. Users will be allowed to put their name and company name in the menu along with a slogan for the company. As well, a particular style of text display can be chosen for the menu (fade, slide left, slide right and explode) in addition to color selection for the text. (Although M.A.P. will operate regardless of video display type, the color selection will only be noticable on color video displays) M.A.P. checks the speed of the PC and adds an appropriate delay to the menus if the PC is particulariy fast. M.A.P. was developed for 286 computers so XT's and PC's may find M.A.P to operate a little slow. After giving M.A.P. the customization information, it then ask for data about the applications which are to be listed in the menu. For every application, M.A.P requires the Name of the Application, a Nickname for the application, the command used to start the application, and the directory path where the application is located. This data allows M.A.P. to generate BATch files which will be located in the MAP directory. This BATch files are named according to the Nickname of each application. Thus, when the user enters the Nickname at the DOS prompt, it will activate the appropriate BATch program which will load that application. M.A.P. creates these BATch files when the user presses F3 at the Main Menu. (The F3 option is available only after menu data has been entered into M.A.P.) As well, when the menu is generated, the AUTOEXEC.BAT is modified to include the MAP directory in the PATH statement and the MAIN command (which starts the menu) is appended to the AUTOEXEC.BAT. A copy of the old AUTOEXEC.BAT saved as AUTOEXEC.OLD. After a menu has been created, it is possible to modify the menu and add new entries using options 2, 3, 4 and 5 from the Main Menu. As well, it is also possible to preview your menu by pressing F2 at the Main Menu. After any changes to the menu, it is necessary to re-generate the menu by pressing F3 at the Main Menu. In order to use M.A.P. you require the following files. MAP.BAT MAIN.BAT MAIN.BAS CODE_16.BAS MAP.HLP MAPHELP.COM This files should all be located in a subdirectory called MAP on the C drive of the computer. If this is not done, then M.A.P. will not work. After your menu has been designed, generated and saved, you can exit the program and reboot your computer. After the computer has booted up, the main you created should appear and a DOS prompt should be at the bottom of the screen. Now it is possible to access any of the applications by merely typing the Nickname for the application. As well, the Nicknames may be used at any DOS prompt and if you desire to see the menu again then simply type MAIN at the DOS prompt and the Custom menu will appear. M.A.P. Version 1.00 is implemented using GWBASIC v3.22 and is intended as a prototype for a future version. Because of this, the user interface to M.A.P. is extremely simplified and perhaps a little clumsy. Version 2.00 of M.A.P. will implement a more advanced user interface using Turbo Pascal. M.A.P. was developed by Alex Lee of QUEUE Computer Systems Inc. and is distributed on the shareware principle that if you find the software to be of value then you must register your copy with the developer. To register M.A.P., send your name, address and $25 to QUEUE Computer Systems Inc. 60 Columbia Way, Suite 300 Markham, Ontario L3R 0C9 (416) 940-8132 Registered users will be privy to free updates and user support of M.A.P. QUEUE Computer Systems Inc. is a full service computer company manufacturing a custom line of IBM compatible computers. QUEUE also provides networking solutions (using NOVELL or LANtastic) as well as custom designed software solutions and computer consulting and training. QUEUE Computer Systems Inc. is also a contributor to several publications and authors of the book, JUST BASICS.