Contents

A back-to-basic approach with enhanced capabilities....

*For Windows 3.1 and above optionally running in a Novell network .

Wconvert / for prior users of Winmenu...

Menu Lines 	How to add, change, delete or move menu line items.

File Menu 	A look to the File menu.

Options Menu 	Your options under the Option menu.

Accessories Menu 	How to access programs in the blue ribbon.

Sections Menu 	What the Sections menu does.

The TITLE= parameter  Display your company name.

How to setup Winmenu as the Windows Shell

Executing programs automatically at startup

Date and Time. Changing the display settings

Customizing Winmenu. The [Options] section.

Changing the description of the pages

The "Video Screen" button


Adding a new menu item

You may double click over the empty menu line or enter the menu number in the input box and press the ENTER key.   Attempting to execute an empty menu line will automatically display the Menu Entry window .  This window allow you to define the menu item information.

DRAG-AND-DROP

 You may also add new menu items by "dragging" with your mouse the selected file(s) from the File Manager.  While Winmenu is minimized,  just select the desired file(s) in the File Manager and drag-and-drop them on top of WInmenu's minimized ICON.    Winmenu will scan for the next available menu space  (unless you had a empty menu space already highlighted)  and will add the dropped file to this space.  If you had an empty menu space highlighted,  Winmenu will add the dropped files starting at that menu space number.

If you are running Winmenu Network Edition

Note: Changing,adding and moving menu items is restricted by your network administrator.

You can only do changes to your personal menu(s).  Contact your administrator for more information.


Changing a menu item

Click  once and highlight  the desired menu line to review or change and then select the Add/Review option from the Options menu.  Or, enter the menu line number in the input box and press CTRL+A. If this menu item has a password defined, WinMenu will prompt you for the password. The Menu Entry dialog will be displayed.

If you are running Winmenu Network Edition

Note: Changing,adding and moving menu items is restricted by your network administrator.

You can only do changes to your personal menu(s).  Contact your administrator for more information.


Moving a menu item

 If you like drag-and-drop...

 Winmenu allow easy move of menu items in a menu section via drag-and-drop technology.  To move an menu item, point the mouse over the menu item you wish to move and hold the left mouse button down. Move the mouse to the desired menu item position and release the left mouse button.  To move across pages, do the same but move the mouse over the desired page button while holding the left  button down . This will change the page while still dragging the menu item. Release the item over the desired menu position.

Otherwise...

Enter or highlight the menu line number to move  and press CTRL+V . A  small window will pop-up and prompt you for the destination line number to move the selected menu.  You can only move menu items within the current menu section  . If a menu item already exist in the destination, then Winmenu will swap menu items.

If you are running Winmenu Network Edition

Note: Changing,adding and moving menu items is restricted by your network administrator.

You can only do changes to your personal menu(s).  Contact your administrator for more information.


Deleting a menu item

 If you like drag-and-drop...

  Point the mouse over the menu item you wish to delete and hold the left mouse button down. Move the mouse to the TRASH can picture located at the bottom right of the menu display. Release the left mouse button.  Wimenu will prompt you for confirmation.  NOTE: The TRASH can will only show when you are allowed to delete menu items. User's of the Corporate edition can only delete items in their personal menus.

Otherwise...

Click  once over the menu line to highlight  the desired menu to delete and then select the Delete menu option from the Options menu.  Or enter the menu line number in the input box and press CTRL+A. If this menu item has a password defined, WinMenu will prompt you for the password. The Menu Entry dialog will be displayed. Just press the DELETE button to delete the current menu item.

If you are running Winmenu Network Edition:

Note: Changing,adding and moving menu items is restricted by your network administrator.

You can only do changes to your personal menu(s).  Contact your administrator for more information.


The blue ribbon
The Accessories menu and the Blue Ribbon

The blue ribbon is displayed at the top of the WinMenu screen.  It contains up to nine utility program icons which are defined in the accessories menu. These programs can be quickly executed by a click of the mouse or via the system menu while Winmenu is minimized.  The blue ribbon programs can be customized by the users. This is a good place to define frequently run programs like your  electronic mail application.  These programs can also be executed from the Accessories menu.  Changing or adding a blue ribbon program also modifies the Accessories menu and the system menu.  Note for Network users:  The accessories are defined by the network administrator.  Network  users can  not change and configure their accessories at their workstation.

To change a blue ribbon program:

  Open the FILE menu and select "Edit Accessories..." .

Creating or changing an accessory program.

Click once over the accessory button you wish to create or update.  Fill in a short description and the filename information. You may use the Browse button to browse the hard disk files.  Winmenu automatically extracts the associated ICON from the program file.  Use the Change Icon button if you want to associate another ICON to the program.  Press the SET button to store the accessory program information.  Repeat these steps for each accessory you wish  to add or change.

To delete a blue ribbon program:

At the "short description", enter the word UNDEFINED.   Click the SET button to save.

The word UNDEFINED automatically disables that particular ribbon program.  Winmenu will display the EMPTY.ICO included with the Winmenu files. If not found, no icon will be displayed. When theuser clickover the disabled ribbon program space, Winmenu makes a small beep and ignores the action.


Auto Minimize

 The Auto Minimize option can be enabled or disabled from the Options menu.  This feature allows you to automatically minimize Winmenu when executing any program.  If this option is disabled, Winmenu will remain open at all times unless you manually minimize the window.  To enable the auto minimize option,  open the Option menu and verify that the Auto Minimize  is marked.  If not marked,  click once over the menu option.  To disable, click over the marked menu option.

Winmenu enables the auto minimize option as the default when installed.  Combine with the Auto Restore option, Winmenu better simulates a conventional menu that closes and automatically opens after the application has executed.


Auto Restore

 The Auto Restore option can be enabled or disabled from the Options menu.  This feature allows you to automatically maximize or display  Winmenu when all running applications have ended or are minimized.  If this option is disabled and Winmenu is minimized, you would have to double click over the Winmenu icon to display the menu again.  To enable the auto restore option,  open the Option menu and verify that the Auto Restore  is marked.  If not marked,  click once over the menu option to mark it.  To disable, click over the marked menu option.

Winmenu enables the auto restore option as the default when installed.


Multiple Instances
Verify Instances

The Verify  Instances option can be enabled or disabled from the Options menu.  This feature allows Winmenu to monitor all running applications to detect multiple instances or copies of the application you are about to execute.  If the application is already running,  Winmenu gives you the option to recall the running application or execute another copy or instance.  If multiple instances of the same application were running,  Winmenu would create and display a pop-up  menu with the running instances to allow you easy recalling.

Winmenu enables the Multiple Instances option as the default when installed.


Menu Lines

Adding a menu item

Changing a menu item

Deleting a menu item

Moving a menu item


Options

Auto Minimize

Auto Restore

Verify Instances

Sound


File Menu

Run - Click over the Run option to display the Run Window.  This window allows you to browse the directories and execute any file.

Exit - click over the exit option to terminate Winmenu session.

Enter Registration  - Use this option when you have registered Winmenu and you have received your registration number.

About -  This option display additional system information and the author name.

.


Sections Menu

The "Sections" menu optionally displays a list of available menu section names that you can choose from when running the standalone version.    Winmenu may optionally organizes all the menu items into menu sections (i,e Word Processing, Finance, Communications, etc..) . Each menu section can hold up to 72 menu items.

  If you are running the Network edition,  all your menu section names are created and assigned for you by your network administrator.  Winmenu will only show to you those menu sections that you was authorized to use.  The information below is only usefull when running Winmenu in standalone mode.

  Users running the Winmenu standalone version have the option to define their own menu section's names.  Most single users do not need more that one or two menu sections.  In fact, if you do not need more than 72 menu items, you may not need to define any menu section.  See Changing the description of the pages  to further organize a single menu section.  In any event, defining menu sections is optional.

FOR USERS RUNNING THE STANDALONE VERSION

To change a menu section name.

 To change an existing menu section name,  open the FILE menu and click over the "Edit Sections..." menu option.  This will bring up a window that will allow you to change or add menu section names.

 Click over the desired menu section name shown in the list.of the window.  Make the desired changes to the name or the associated .GRP filename as  needed.    Click the "Add/Change" button to save the changes made.

To create a new menu section name.

 Fill in the new menu section name in the Section Name field and also enter the associated .GRP file name.  The .GRP name must conform to DOS file naming conventions and must end with the extension .GRP file (i,e WORDPRO.GRP,  C:\SECTIONS\MGMT.GRP, etc.).  Winmenu stores and maintain the associated menu items in this GRP file.  The .GRP file do not have to exist at this time but the name should be a valid DOS filename. The directory path is optional . You may not enter a GRP file that already shows in the list.    You may now  click the ADD/CHANGE button to add the menu section name .

Note:  The .GRP file are automatically created and maintained in the same directory where WINMENU.EXE resides unless you have also specified a complete path.  You must have write access rights to this directory.   I recommend not to specify a directory path with your GRP file names and allow all your GRP files to exist in the Winmenu's directory. This is the default and also the most sensitive way to ease the maintenance task.

To reorder the menu section names.

 You may drag-and-drop the section names to the desired position in the list.  Click and hold down the right mouse over the desired menu section line to move and drag the mouse to the desired position.  Release the mouse and the selected line will be inserted in that position.  All other lines will shift down.  To move a line to the end of the list, just drop the drag mouse after the last line.

 Winmenu has a maximum of 20 menu sections !!!.

Click OK when done .


Menu Entry Dialog

The Menu Entry Dialog

Command Line - Enter the full command line to execute the desired application.  You must also include any parameters needed.  Example:  MSMAIL.EXE

Work Directory - Enter the default directory or path for the application.  This is optional. Winmenu will made the directory the current default directory before executing the command line. Example: C:\MSMAIL

NOTE: Winmenu also support automatic insertion of environment variables.  Any  word between the percentage characters (%) is interpreted at execution time. Winmenu will replace the %variablename% with the corresponding value found in the environment.    If none found, Winmenu replaces the %variablename% with  a  space.  NOTE:  This feature is  only available for the fields Command Line and Work Directory.  Also, the variable search is case sensitive. (Upper and lower case letter are not the same).

Password - Enter desired password.  This is also optional.  Winmenu will require entering this password before executing the command line or opening the Menu Entry dialog.

Run Minimized - When marked, this indicate WinMenu to execute the application as an ICON.  Leave unmarked for normal execution.

Press the OK button when finished,  CANCEL to abort changes,  BROWSE to pop-up a window that helps locate files.  Note:  the DELETE button is disabled when entering new menu items.

The Change Icon button allows you to setup or "attach" an ICON to the menu line for displaying . Just select the desired ICON or click the browse button to extract the icon from another file. NOTE: make sure the file is available for the users.

 The menu item will be saved under the current menu section .


The "Video Screen" button

The "video screen" button or menu selection allows users to immediately invoke their favorite screen saver.  The  option can be accessed from the accessories menu, the main display or while Winmenu is minimized using the system menu.  It is recommended that you set up your screen saver to ask for a password.  This way, you may use your screen saver as a security layer. So, next time you are working on a sensitive e-mail and the phone rings or you need to walk out, click over the "Video Screen" button to hide your display and secure your workstation.   NOTE: you may setup your screen saver in the Desktop option of the the Control Panel.


The TITLE= parameter

The TITLE= parameter allows you to display your name or company name in the Windows top title bar.  Use can use your favorite text editor to open the file WINMENU.INI and insert the following line under the [Options] section:

[Options]

Title=My Company Name, Inc.

etc.

etc.


Sound

 Winmenu has the capability to do event sound effects.  If you have a sound card or the speaker.drv installed in your workstation, you may enable this option.  This option can be turn ON or OFF from the "Options" menu .


The RUN= and LOAD=
Executing programs at startup

 NOTE:  As the Windows shell, Winmenu  will automatically execute the programs defined in the "startup" group of Program Manager.   All you need to do, is to define the desired programs in the startup window group of Program Manager and execute Winmenu as the shell.

See also How to setup Winmenu as the Windows Shell

The RUN= and LOAD= commands in WIN.INI

  Winmenu will also executed automatically the program specified in the LOAD= and RUN= lines of WIN.INI file.    The LOAD= will execute the program(s) as minimized  applications.  The RUN= executes the program(s) as normal applications.  :


The Date and Time box

 Winmenu displays a small box with the current date and time on the main screen.  The international settings in your Windows control panel are used to display the date and time.  To change this settings, open the windows control panel (or execute CONTROL.EXE from the RUN window) and double-click over the "International" ICON.  Make the desired changes to the date format and time format boxes.  NOTE: Only the short date format is used to display Winmenu's date.


Customizing Winmenu.  The [Options] section.

The [Options] section can manually be entered in the WINMENU.INI file.  It is used internally by Winmenu to change or define the following options.   You may also change the page descriptions for each menu section by adding or modifying the [Config] section. See Changing the description of the pages

[Options]

AutoRestore=1

AutoMinimize=1

MIV=1

etc.

(Note: the only possible values are 1 for ENABLED and 0 (zero) for DISABLED.  Except for the Drive= parameter.)

AutoRestore=    If WinMenu is minimized and all other Windows applications are closed or minimized, then Winmenu automatically opens the menu .  Usually used in combination with AutoMinimize option. The default is ENABLED.

AutoMiniMize=  It automatically minimize WinMenu when the user executes another application from within Winmenu. The default is ENABLED.

ConfirmExit=  If enabled (=1), Winmenu will ask the user to confirm when exiting Windows. The default is DISABLED.

MIV= This is the Multiple Instance Verification. Each time the user executes an application, Winmenu can verify if that application is already running. If MIV is enabled, Winmenu will notify the user and allow him to recall it or to execute another instance. The default is ENABLED.

DisableRUN= When enabled (=1), the RUN window is disabled. The menu option can not be accessed.  the default is DISABLED. (The RUN window is enabled)

CacheALL= When enabled (=1), Winmenu will  load all the authorized menu sections, menu items and icons at startup to improve the response when the user changes from one menu section to another.   This is actually the default (enabled).  You may disable this command to improve the inital loading time specially if you have too many menu sections and menu items for each user.  Just enter a zero (=0) to disable the CacheALL command.  Disabling this command forces Winmenu to only load the menu section selected by the user.  Changing from one menu section to the other may take few seconds when this command is disabled.

Sound= Disables (=0)  or enables (=1) the sound effects.  The default is enabled.   NOTE:  If the user has no sound card installed, this parameter is ignored.  Winmenu comes with some of the sound files (.WAV) but not all that can be used.  To use your own .wav files, just  copy them into the Winmenu directory but rename them to match the names below. The following .WAV files can be used:

OPEN.WAV  - If Winmenu was minimized and automatically restores the display.

SECURE.WAV - When user clicks on the "key" ICON.

EXECUTE.WAV - Each time a program is executed from Winmenu.

WELCOME.WAV - When loading Winmenu

INCORREC.WAV - When displaying a message box.

MESSAGE.WAV - When new broadcast messages arrives to the workstation

OK.WAV - When the user makes any changes in the Options menu or  the Sections menu.

NOTE: Winmenu looks for these files in the directory where winmenu.exe resides. If not found, no sound is produced. You need to have a sound card installed or the SPEAKER.DRV .


Running Winmenu as the Windows shell

    Make a backup of the file SYSTEM.INI which is found on your \WINDOWS directory.

    Use your favorite text editor to load the SYSTEM.INI and look for the line that start with

    SHELL= ,   modify the line to look like this:

           SHELL=C:\WINMENU\WINMENU.EXE

    Save the file!.  The next time you run Windows, WINMENU will be

    displayed instead of the Program Manager. If you ever decide to

    restore the Program Manager, just modify the SHELL= line to look

    like SHELL=PROGMAN.EXE and save it. Or restore SYSTEM.INI with

    your backup copy.

 Note:  As a shell, Winmenu will automatically execute the startup group window as defined in the Program manager. Also, the LOAD= and RUN= lines in the WIN.INI are executed as startup.


The Menu Entry Dialog - administration

This window allow you to enter the basic information required to define an application.  You may also minimize Winmenu and use the File Manager to drag and drop applications into the Winmenu ICON.   For basic information on how to add new menu items, please see Menu Lines

The Options button

 The Menu Entry window  provides additional capabilities for the administrator via the Options button.   This button will expand the menu entry window to show three additional fields :

 Permission on:  Please, look in the administrator's online file ADMIN.HLP for help with AppVerify=   under the [Options] section..

 MAP=	driveletter:=[fileserverName/volumeName:dirPath]  USER=userid PASSW=psw

 (see  Executing applications that reside in another filesever  )

 Limit count:  You may enter the count of maximum users that can be allowed to execute this application concurrently.  This will help you control and force license agrements.  A zero or blank in this field allow unlimited users concurrently.


Executing applications that reside in another filesever

 Winmenu provides the capability to log the user in and out of fileservers  when executing applications that do not reside in any of the attached file servers.  This is specially useful when using CDROM file servers where you might not afford to have a constant connection for each user but need to allow them access to the applications .

Click the "Options" button found in the Menu Entry dialog to display the optional features.. Note:.  This button only shows when you are running Winmenu as the administrator .

Tab to the MAP= field and enter the mapping information as follows:

driveletter:=[fileserverName/volumeName:dirPath]  USER=userid PASSW=psw

driveletter:=    indicates the drive letter to use when mapping the resource. If used, you must enter the driveletter followed by a colon ( : ) character and followed by the equal (=) sign.   Specifying a drive letter is optional.  Winmenu can allocate the next unused drive letter to map the resource if you do not specify a drive letter.  Example:  O:=[MYSERVER/VOL1:]   this will map the server MYSERVER and the volume VOL1 to the drive O:  .

fileserverName =  specify the fileserver name where the application resides.  This information is required.  A open bracket ( [ ) character must precede the fileserver name.

volumeName = specify the volume name to map.  Required. Most be preeceded by a ( / ) character and followed by the ( : ) colon character.  See examples below.

dirPath =Optionally, enter the path to map. Example O:=[MYSERVER/VOL1:APPS\]

This will map the path APPS\ from volume VOL1 of MYSERVER  to the drive O: .

USER= holds the userid to login to the specified server.

PASSW= holds the login password

Valid examples:

O:=[MYSERVER/VOL1:] USER=GUEST  PASSW=GUEST

[MYSERVER/VOL1:] USER=%SUSER%  PASSW=%SPW%

[MYSERVER/VOL1:APPS] USER=GUEST  PASSW=GUEST

[MYSERVER/VOL2:LINK\SHARE] USER=ALLUSERS PASSW=UNLOCK

I:=[MYSERVER/SYS:] USER=GUEST  PASSW=GUEST

I:=[MYSERVER/SYS:BATCH] USER=GUEST  PASSW=GUEST

 The second example extracts the userid from the workstation environment variable SUSER=  and the password from the environment variable SPW= .


Changing the description of the pages

  Each menu section has four pages represented by the "tab" buttons.  The default page description is "Page 1" through "Page 4". You may optionally rename or delete each page description to further organize the menu items in the desired section.  You may change the names of the pages online in Winmenu. Just, select the "Rename Pages.." option from the "Options" menu and do the desired changes.


Wconvert / for prior users

 NOTE: If you are not upgrading Winmenu from a version prior to 5.0, you do not need to read this section!.

 Previous versions to Winmenu 5.0 used INI files to store the menu items definitions.  Starting with 5.0, Winmenu now stores the menu items in a different file format with extension .GRP.  These files are quite different from the INI files.  The most striking difference with the GRP files, is that they can not be viewed or  modified with a text editor.  The GRP files can only be modified online using Winmenu and the administration facility. The problem with INI files in previous version was the side effect of slow loading time when a lot of menu items and menu sections were defined.  The main cause of this side effect resided in the fact that Winemnu displays the ICON of each application and was forced to physically extract this ICON at load time.  This is where the new GRP file format comes handy. The ICON is now extracted when you define a menu item and it is stored in the .GRP file using a device-independent format along with the menu item information.  This has the effect of releasing Winmenu from having to extract the ICON at load time and should maintain an acceptable load time regardles of the amount of applications and menu sections you are using.  NOTE: The INI files are still used to store other relevant information like configuration data and switches.  For each .GRP file, a corresponding INI filename may be automatically created for this purpose.

 If you are upgrading your copy of Winmenu from a version prior to 5.0,  you must convert the INI files into ..GRP file .  This is accomplished  by using the utility program WCONVERT.EXE included with the Winmenu 5.x files.  Just follow the following 4 steps:

1) Run your favorite text editor and create a new file.

2) Create the following lines:

[WCONVERT]

INIFILE1=filename

INIFILE2=filename

INIFILE3=filename

etc.

 where filename is the complete path+filename of each of your INI files that holds menu items.  You may look in the winmenu.ini file to find all the INI files used.  Up to 60 INIFILEx= lines may be processed by Wconvert.exe  at once.   Example:

[WCONVERT]

ConvertTO=GRP

INIFILE1=C:\WINMENU\GENERAL.INI

INIFILE2=C:\WINMENU\ACCT.INI

INIFILE3=C:\WINMENU\MANAGMNT.INI

INIFILE4=C:\WINMENU\WORDPRO.INI

etc.

Note: the line ConvertTO=GRP is optional when converting from INI to GRP file format.. It indicates the destination format for the Wconvert routine.

3) Save the new file as WCONVERT.INI in the same directory where WCONVERT.EXE resides.

4) Run WCONVERT from Windows. Be sure you specify the full path + filename of the wconvert.ini file in the command line parameter. Example:

WCONVERT  C:\WINMENU\WCONVERT.INI

 Wconvert will display the progress of the convertion process as it executes. For each INIFILEx= line., Wconvert will create a new .GRP file in the same directory.  The INI files are not destoyed or modified! If Wconvert ran succesfully, you may execute the new version of Winmenu.

WCONVERT MAY ALSO TRANSLATE BACK TO INI FILES!

 This functionality may help you when doing massive changes to the menu groups. You normally will use the online programs when adding and or changing menu definitions.  Nevertheless, there might be times when massive changes to the menus are needed and you could use another approach for faster delivery.   Wconvert can translate .GRP files to INI files which can then modified using your favorite text editor or other utility programs. The advantage is that you may perform global search-and-replace functions to the INI files because they are in text format.  Once you have finished with your massive changes, you must use Wconvert again to translate the INI files back to .GRP files.

NOTE: It is strongly recommended to backup your .GRP and .INI files before doing any massive changes to them!. In fact, you should periodically backup these files as standard procedure. A simple copy to a floppy disk may take few seconds and save you a lot of time in case of a power interruption or any other problem that may occur while using Wconvert.  Remember also that for each GRP file, there might exist a corresponding INI file in the same directory.

To convert the GRP files to INI files

 Just add the line  ConvertTo=INI under the [WCONVERT] section in your Wconvert.ini file. Example:

[WCONVERT]

ConvertTO=INI

INIFILE1=C:\WINMENU\GENERAL.INI

INIFILE2=C:\WINMENU\ACCT.INI

INIFILE3=C:\WINMENU\MANAGMNT.INI

INIFILE4=C:\WINMENU\WORDPRO.INI

  The above example will convert the .GRP files to INI files.  Wconvert automatically ignores the .INI extensions in the above example because the ConvertTo= command indicates the destination extension and Wconvert automatically computes the source file extension. Since the destination file extension is .INI, Wconvert figures that it must find .GRP files.  In other words, you do not need to change the lines above to have the extension .GRP because Wconvert is smart enough to figure that out.  To translate the .INI files back to .GRP files, just change the line ConvertTO=INI to  ConvertTO=GRP and re-execute Wconvert.  Check the screen messages and the file log that Wconverts creates for errors. If Wconvert was interrupted, just restart.  If Wconvert can not translate for some reason, restore the .GRP files from your backup!