MENU MASTER The Manual INTRODUCTION Menu Master is a hard drive menuing system that lets you run your applications from a simple menu. It let's you skip over ever having to use DOS at all, except when you load software onto your hard drive. From the menu all you have to do is use the arrow keys or mouse to highlight the program you wish to run and press ENTER, or click the mouse button. This way you can get some work done and not have to deal with DOS at all. Menu Master also has password protection for each of your applications, as well as a main system password for locking other people out of your computer completely. A sample DOS Commands Sub Menu is already set up for you with the most common things you would do from DOS in a simple menu. You can add your own options, or sub menus by following the Getting Started Section listed on the next page. You can also edit or delete the options in the sample sub menu. Steve Green Progressive Computer Technologies, Inc. 5100 Stream Ct. N.E. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113 (505) 821-4949 Prodigy ID: DKGV62A Version 1.0 07-01-1992 ***** Unregistered Shareware Version ***** (C) Copyright PCT 1992 All Rights Reserved GETTING STARTED WITH MENU MASTER The following 10 easy steps will quickly get you started with your own applications in your own custom Menu. 1st: Press [F2] to open the OPTIONS MENU. 2nd: Press [ENTER] on EDIT MENU OPTIONS. 3rd: Press [ENTER] on ADD A PROGRAM. 4th: Enter in the name of Application you wish to add to your menu. For Example: Word Perfect. 5th: Press [ENTER] to get to the DOS Command Field. 6th: Type in the Drive, Sub Directory Name, and File Name you wish to run. For Example: If Word Perfect is on your C drive in the sub directory named WP51, and the file to start the program is WP.EXE. Therefore you would enter C:\WP51\WP in the DOS command field. 7th: Press [ENTER] to get to the Password Field. 8th: Type in a password if you wish for a PASSWORD window to appear each time you press ENTER on Word Perfect from the Main Menu. You won't need this unless you want to keep other people out of your private budget or some other important software. 9th: Press [ENTER] to accept this entry. This will return you to the menu in step 3. Now you may repeat steps 3 - 9 for your next application. 10th: When finished entering your applications, press [ESCAPE] and a SAVE CONFIGURATION window will appear. Press [ENTER] to save the work you just entered to disk. Now these options will always be in your menu. Note: You may want to organize your applications into Sub Menus. At step 3's Menu select "Add a Sub Menu" such as Games. Exit back to the Main Menu and go into the GAMES SUB MENU. "No Options Found" will be in the menu. Now Add options to this Sub Menu by following steps 1 - 10. You MUST be in the Menu or Sub Menu you are editing to add, edit, or delete menu options. The "DOS Commands" Sub Menu can be changed to your specific needs. This is just a simple sub menu entered the same way you enter other sub menus. Delete and add DOS commands to this menu to keep your main menu organized. MENU MASTER KEYSTROKES [F10] - HELP (Context sensitive help from any menu or field is available. You may also scroll through the entire help file at any time.) Please note: Wherever you see OK or CANCEL choice on the screen, Press [ENTER] to accept or Press [ESCAPE] to cancel as apposed to highlighting your choice. [ENTER] - OK (Select current option/function) [ESC] - CANCEL (Cancel current window/menu/function) [F1] or [ALT C] - CONTROL MENU [F2] or [ALT O] - OPTIONS MENU [Left and Right arrows] - Move the direction of the arrow in a menu, field, or along the menu bar. [CTRL Left arrow] - Moves an option down in a changeable menu, and moves you to the beginning of a line in the view window (shell). [CTRL Right arrow] - Moves an option up in a changeable menu. [Up and Down arrows] - Move up and down a selection within a menu, between fields in a window, or scrolls in the help window. [HOME] - Moves you to the top selection of a menu, to the beginning of a field in a window, or to the beginning of the help window. [END] - Moves you to the last selection in a menu, to the end of a field in a window, or to the bottom of the help window. [CTRL END] - Clears everything to the right of the cursor in a field. [INSERT] - Inserts a character in a field. [DELETE] - Deletes current character in a field. [PGUP and PGDN] - Moves up or down a page of selections in a menu OR text in the help window. [TAB] - Moves between fields in a window. [First Letter of an option] - Moves to that option in a menu. MENU MASTER KEYSTROKES (continued) [Y] - Answers YES in a Question window. [N] - Answers NO in a Question window. [Left Mouse Button] - Selects an option when the mouse cursor is on a mouse prompt. Mouse prompts include: OK, CANCEL, HELP, MORE, MOVE, and the small arrows that appear when fields and windows scroll. [Right Mouse Button] - CANCEL. Close or cancel a menu or window. MENU MASTER - MOUSE SUPPORT If you have a mouse with your system, the mouse driver must be loaded before executing Menu Master. You cannot load your mouse driver from the "Run a DOS Command" Option. Menu Master may be used with Microsoft and Logitech compatible mouse products. Once a mouse driver is installed, Menu Master will place the mouse cursor, a block in text mode and an arrow in graphics mode, in the center of the screen. The left mouse button is used as the [ENTER] key or [OK] mouse button. You may point to any mouse button or to any option in a menu or window. Single click this button to move to an option or field. Double click this button to run this option. The right mouse button is used as an [ESC] or [CANCEL]. You do not need to be on a mouse prompt when clicking the right button. This is used for closing the current window or menu. The Right Mouse Button may be pressed from the main menu to open the "Quit the Menu" window. Next press the [OK] prompt with the left mouse button to "Quit the Menu". You may click the Left Mouse Button on a [CANCEL] prompt and it will cancel. Do not confuse this with the Right Mouse Button. This will act the same as if you had clicked the Right Mouse Button. The following are the available Mouse Prompts in Menu Master: HELP, OK, CANCEL, MORE, MOVE, and small arrows that appear in fields and windows. The mouse may also be used to change back and forth between fields. MENU MASTER - CONTROL MENU RUN A DOS COMMAND: This is a DOS shell allowing commands to be executed from the DOS prompt. Use this window as if it were the DOS prompt. It will scroll when it needs to. Use the following field keys when moving in a scrolling field: [HOME], [END], [CTRL END], and the left and right arrows. Press [ENTER] to execute this command. When this field is left blank, you will be taken to the DOS prompt. Type EXIT to return to the Menu. If the "Load Prompt" is on, the message "Press Any Key to Continue" will appear after the command is executed. Press a key or the Right Mouse Button and you will return to the Menu. This is used when running commands that leave a display on the screen which you might want to see. For example, the command CHKDSK displays information on the screen which is useful. If the "Load Prompt" is off, it will automatically return to the Menu, and you will miss seeing this information. "Run a DOS Command" is also affected by the Load Priority. LOAD PRIORITY: The "Leave in Memory" option will keep the Menu resident as other applications are executed. This is helpful when running simple disk maintenance tasks with a quick return to the Menu. This should only be used on machines with 640K or more. "Flush from Memory" will flush the Menu from memory while the chosen application is executed. This is best used when running a large program. The Menu only takes up 13K RAM when this option is chosen. LOAD PROMPT: When returning to the Menu, a prompt will appear, "Press any key to continue". This is if you want to see what might be displayed on the screen before returning to the Menu. When running other applications, you may want to turn this off so you do not have to press a key every time you return to the Menu. All options returning to the Menu will be affected. This option may be saved. (See "Save Configuration" for details.) MENU MASTER - CONTROL MENU (continued) SCREEN COLORS: Screen Colors allows the operator to customize the colors displayed on the screen. All display boxes, except the box shadows (which are always black), may be altered. Select the window or menu you wish to change from the menu. On the color palette an X will select the present color scheme. The scheme will also appear in the top of the box which contains the name of the selected menu or window. The color of the X of block is the foreground color and the background is the background color. Move the X with the arrow keys or select an option with the mouse. Press [ENTER] to use the new selected colors, or [ESC] to cancel. The entire screen will be redrawn, and you will return to the Main Menu. This option may be saved. (See " Save Configuration" for details.) SCREEN MODES: Screen Modes is used for expanding the number of lines which display on the screen. The Menu makes room for more Applications to appear in the Main Menu and Sub Menus. The following modes are available for each monitor: MONITOR/CARD COMBINATION MODE MONOCHROME: - B&W Text (25 lines) CGA W/COMPOSITE MONITOR OR LCD: - B&W Text (25 lines) - B&W Graphics (33 lines) CGA W/CGA MONITOR OR MCGA: - Color Text (25 lines) - B&W Graphics (33 lines) EGA CARD W/MONOCHROME MONITOR: - B&W Text (25 lines) - B&W Graphics (58 lines) EGA CARD W/CGA MONITOR: - Color Text (25 lines) - Color Graphics (33 lines) EGA CARD W/EGA MONITOR: - Color Text (25 lines) - Color Text (43 lines) - Color Graphics (43 lines) - Color Graphics (58 lines) VGA COLOR OR MONOCHROME MONITOR: - Color Text (25 lines) - Color Text (28 lines) - Color Text (50 lines) - Color Graphics (43 lines) - Color Graphics (60 lines) MENU MASTER - CONTROL MENU (continued) When using a black and white monitor with color graphics cards and for those with LCD (laptop display) monitors, you should change to the graphics mode this is black and white only and will be entirely visible on these monitors. If you have any other monitor card combination, the closest combination listed above will be used. This option may be saved. (See "Save Configuration" for details.) EQUIPMENT WINDOW: The Equipment Window displays additional information about your machine that does not change unless your hardware changes. This shows all of your Communications Ports (printers, modems, etc.), Disk Drives (Floppy and Hard), your machine's Base Memory (RAM), your monitor and monitor card combination, if you have a mouse installed, and the DOS version number. SAVE CONFIGURATION: "Save Configuration" allows you to change all of the options listed to your specific needs and to save them so that each time you enter the Menu the options you have chosen will be restored. The following options may be saved: Load Priority, Load Prompt, Screen Colors, Screen Modes, Menu Title, Time & Date Window, and Menu bar. The changes will be saved to disk in a configuration file named MENU.CNF. This file may be edited with any text editor. The default modes are easily read and can be changed to suit your needs. If the file is not present, it will be created. This file will be written in the directory where MENU.EXE is located. You do not have to default to this directory before saving if it is in your path. PRINT MANUALS: Here you may print this document, the Point & Shoot Manual, to your printer. The manual is in an ASCII file and will print directly to your parallel printer on LPT1: (parallel port). If you have a serial printer, you must, first run "SET SERIAL PORT EQUAL TO PARALLEL PORT" from the DOS Commands Sub Menu. Then return to this option and print. If you have a Laser printer, you may have to use Form Feed on the printer to get the last page. QUIT MENU: To exit back to DOS, select the "Quit Menu" option and press [ENTER], or press [ESC] from the Main Menu and press [ENTER] from the Quit Window. MENU MASTER - OPTIONS MENU EDIT MENU OPTIONS: This is where you add programs and sub menus to the Menu. Also, you can edit or delete the programs or sub menus. The main system password is also set here. A "Save Configuration" window will appear every time you leave this menu. So make sure to Press [ENTER] if you have made any changes. ADD A PROGRAM: This is where you add a program to your menus. An input window will appear with three fields in it. First, enter the name of the program as you want it to appear in the menu. Then, type in the DOS command to run that application. For example, if you were setting up WordPerfect, you would type "WordPerfect" in the Program Name field, and "C:\WP51\WP" in the DOS Command field. C: is the drive letter. \WP51\ is the Sub Directory name where WordPerfect is. WP is the program command to run WordPerfect from DOS. Now, enter in a Password for this option if you don't want other people in it. IF YOU FORGET YOUR PASSWORD, YOU CAN LOOK IT UP BY EDITING THE PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM WILL BE ADDED TO THE MENU OR SUB MENU THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN. Press [ENTER] when you are finished adding this option. Then Press [ESCAPE] from the "Edit Options" Menu, and [Enter] to save configuration. Now your menu has been redrawn with your new option in it. EDIT A PROGRAM: This allows you to change an option that is already entered in a menu. Type in the title of the option and the same input window from "Add An Option" will appear. Now you can edit any of this information, and it will change it when you press [ENTER]. YOU MUST BE IN THE MENU OR SUB MENU WITH THE PROGRAM YOU ARE GOING TO EDIT. DELETE A PROGRAM: This allows you to delete a program in a menu or sub menu. Type in the program name and press [ENTER]. An "Are You Sure" Window appear. Press [Y] for yes or [ENTER] to delete this option. Type the word "ALL" to delete all of the options in the menu. YOU MUST BE IN THE MENU OR SUB MENU WITH THE PROGRAM YOU ARE GOING TO DELETE. MENU MASTER - OPTIONS MENU (continued) ADD A SUB MENU: You may add sub menus to your main menu to organize the type of programs in your menus. For example, if you have five or ten games you can add a "Games Menu" and fill the sub menu with the game names. This keeps your Main Menu smaller and much more organized. Enter the name of the Sub Menu which will appear in the Main Menu. Then you may enter a password if you want to keep people out of your Sub Menu. Then you must return to the Main Menu and go into your Sub Menu before adding options to your Sub Menu. Your Sub Menu must be open when you add programs to that Sub Menu. SUB MENUS MAY ONLY BE ADDED TO THE MAIN MENU - HARD DRIVE MENU - OPTIONS MENU EDIT A SUB MENU: You may edit a Sub Menu that you have already added to your Main Menu. Enter in the Sub Menu name. You may change the name or password from here. SUB MENUS MAY ONLY BE EDITED FROM THE MAIN MENU. DELETE A SUB MENU: You may delete your Sub Menus from here. This will delete the menu and all of the programs in it. This may only be done from the Main Menu. MAIN PASSWORD: This allows you to set a main password for the system. This stops people from going into DOS, saving a new configuration, and setting up new or deleting menu options in the menus. Set this password and "Save Configuration" to keep people out of your system. Entering a blank password will get rid of the current password if you want to delete the main password. You must remember to "Save Configuration" to keep it that way. IF YOU FORGET YOUR MAIN PASSWORD, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE! You would have to remove Point & Shoot using the INSTALL program on the disk, and then reinstall the software. This will lose all of your menu options and the options in your .cnf file. DISPLAY TIME AND DATE: Select "Display" or "Hide" in the menu. This will hide the time and date window or display it. Remember to "Save Configuration" after changing this option. MENU MASTER - OPTIONS MENU (continued) DISPLAY MENU BAR: This allows you to hide the menu bar in case you don't want anybody to know how to change the menu options. Select "Display" in the menu if you like to show the menu bar. Remember to" Save Configuration" after changing this option. MAIN MENU TITLE: This allows you to put a title in your main menu. This could be your company name or personal hard drive name. Remember to "Save Configuration" to keep it this way. HIDDEN GAMES: Press [F3] and [F4] for the hidden games of Knockout and Blocks. They are PCT's versions of Breakout and Tetris. Blocks High Score as of 07-01-1992 is 200,844! Level 20 of Knockout has never been completed!