Copyright: MenuWiz 1.3 (C) 1994-95 Mark Pearce


Contents
MenuWiz Help - Contents

Welcome to MenuWiz!

WELCOME TO MENUWIZ!

LICENSING AND REGISTRATION

INSTALLATION/SETUP

How To...

Configure MenuWiz

Order MenuWiz

Register MenuWiz

Remove MenuWiz

Use MenuWiz

Run a One-off Application

Run a Program Manager Application

Reload Program Manager Groups

Get Help Information

Exit Windows using MenuWiz

Reference

MenuWiz Configuration Screen

Keyboard Short-Cuts

Trouble-Shooting

Technical Support

Acknowledgements

Shareware Notice


Welcome to MenuWiz
Welcome to MenuWiz!

MenuWiz is an minimalist and fast approach to launching Windows applications. Whenever you click the right mouse button whilst the mouse pointer is positioned on the Windows' desktop, a fully-customisable menu pops up containing a list of applications that you have specified for quick-launch. This popup menu also contains a submenu for each of your Program Manager groups and every application within each Program Group. Selecting one of your applications from the popup menu with the mouse launches it in exactly the same manner as it would be from Program Manager.

Other options allow you to Customise the popup menu for your favourite applications, display optional Unix-like Fortune Cookies on startup, hear your own/customised optional Sound Effects upon startup and exit, exit or restart Windows, reboot your computer, and execute/save your ten most frequent ad-hoc command lines.

No more searching through Program Manager groups and windows for that elusive application. No more juggling of Program Manager and File Manager. Favourite applications just a mouse-click away, other applications just two mouse clicks away, more screen 'real estate' because Program Manager can be kept minimised or even removed entirely.

Though MenuWiz is shareware, it was written by a full-time professional programmer to a high commercial standard. Please support the shareware concept by registering and paying for this utility if you find it useful.


Licensing and Registration

Prospective customers are licensed to evaluate the fully-functional un-registered version of MenuWiz for up to 30 days, for the purpose of deciding whether the program suits their needs.  At the end of this 30-day trial period, users must either cease using MenuWiz or pay a registration fee of $20 (£15) to Mark Pearce for the right to continue using the program.  Use of an unregistered copy of MenuWiz for more than 30 days, or use of a registered copy by any person or business other than the registrant, is prohibited and a violation of international copyright law.

Each user of MenuWiz requires a license.  However, each user is entitled to use MenuWiz on as many machines as s/he likes as long as it is for their use only. MenuWiz is network-ready.  Each MenuWiz user on the network requires their own license.

Registration brings many other benefits besides the legal right to continue using MenuWiz.  First, you will receive a registration ID code that you may enter into MenuWiz to eliminate the "registration reminder" screen that appears when you start MenuWiz, and remove the "Registration" item that appears at the top of the popup menu.  Second, you will be entitled to free minor upgrades and half-price major upgrades of MenuWiz (such as the Windows '95 version).  Third, free email and phone support is available. Fourth, you will receive a printed manual. Fifth, you will receive customised Sound Effects ("Good morning", "Good afternoon" etc) which can be used when MenuWiz starts and ends. Finally, you will receive a much larger list of Fortune Cookies that can be displayed upon MenuWiz startup.

How To Register Your Copy of MenuWiz

The registration fee for each copy of MenuWiz is $20. The UK registration fee of £15 includes VAT. Payment can be made via CompuServe or by normal mail. At the time of writing (Feb 95) I cannot take credit cards, but this is likely to change in the near future. Please phone me to check whether this facility is available if you wish to register in this manner.

COMPUSERVE:  CompuServe subscribers can charge their MenuWiz registration fee to their CompuServe statements.  Log on to CompuServe and GO SWREG.  When prompted, search for the SWREG ID connected to MENUWIZ.EXE.  You will then be sent your registration ID and  the latest version of MenuWiz (including customised sound effects and extra fortune cookies) via CompuServe e-mail when I receive notice of your order from CompuServe.

BY MAIL:  send the Order Form with cash or an international money order payable in any of the major currencies. Or send a cheque payable in either US$ or UK£, drawn upon any US or UK bank. Sorry, I do not accept any cheques except those drawn on UK or US banks.

Mark Pearce
67 Apeldoorn Drive, Wallington,
Surrey SM6 9LF  England

UK tel : 0181-669-9311                     Compuserve e-mail : 100272,2353
US tel : 011-44-181-669-9311            Internet e-mail        : 100272.2353@compuserve.com

Disclaimer

Mark Pearce, and TechWave Inc. does not warrant that MenuWiz software will meet your requirements or that the operation of the software will be uninterrupted or error-free. Nor do I offer any warranties or guarantees of any kind.  You are free to use MenuWiz in any way you see fit, but AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Mark Pearce, and TechWave Inc. is not responsible for any problems or damage caused by the software or that may result from using the software; whether licensed or not. This includes, but is not limited to, computer hardware, computer software, operating systems, and any computer or computing accessories. End-user agrees to hold Mark Pearce, and TechWave Inc. and/or any persons associated with the creation of this software free of responsibility for any problems arising from the use of the software.

I regret having to place such a disclaimer in this software.  I have made every effort to make this software product as efficient and accurate as possible; indeed, it has been through an EXTENSIVE real-life testing process; however, in a world full of frivolous law suits, I have no alternative. For external use only. May cause excitability. Avoid alcoholic beverages whilst using this software.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SOFTWARE and I trust that you will find it productive!


Installation
Installation/Setup

MenuWiz requires at least 300 kilobytes of disk space when it is first installed. It also requires Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or later and VBRUN300.DLL (Visual Basic Runtime module). The runtime module is free. If you do not have it, it can be downloaded from CompuServe and many other online sources.

This version of MenuWiz comes as a zip file called MW.ZIP. This is manually installed, as described below. If you want a version with automatic installation, look online for a file called MWSETUP.EXE.

MANUAL INSTALLATION  (MW.ZIP)

To install this version of MenuWiz, create a unique sub-directory anywhere on your hard disk and copy MW.ZIP there. Then move to this new sub-directory and use the PKUNZIP utility to unzip MW.ZIP from the Dos (C:>) prompt. All the MenuWiz files will be unpacked. Finally use Windows' File Manager to create an icon to start MenuWiz as follows :-

1.  Display a window in File Manager showing the directory where MenuWiz resides.
2.  Click on the MENUWIZ.EXE file - don't release the mouse button.
3.  Drag the MENUWIZ.EXE file with the mouse to the Program Manager group where you want the icon.
4.  Release the mouse button. A new icon will appear in the Program Manager group.


Configuring MenuWiz

Menu design

Menu position

Finding An Application

Hiding Program Manager and MenuWiz icons

Displaying confirmation messages

Displaying fortune cookies

Playing startup/exit sound effects


Menu Design

MenuWiz allows you to easily add, setup, amend and remove applications on your own customised popup menu. This is done from the Configuration screen.

VIEWING THE CURRENT POPUP MENU

A list of the applications currently setup to be run from the menu appears on the Configuration screen. Clicking on a specific application title shows you the application description, its command line, its working directory and whether it is run minimised or not.

ADDING A NEW APPLICATION TO THE MENU

Click on one of the current menu applications (if any exist). Then click on the "Add" button. A new menu item will be inserted above the application currently selected. The application description (and its command line) defaults to "Empty".

There are several methods of selecting an application to launch once you have created an "Empty" menu item :-

•	Select From List Of Program Manager Applications

Clicking on the arrow to the right of the Description option will display a list of every application currently launched by Program Manager, in alphabetical order. Selecting one of these will automatically setup the Description, Command line, the Working directory and whether the application should be minimised, all information retrieved from the Properties dialog in Program Manager. Pressing the F4 key whilst positioned in the Description box is equivalent to clicking on this arrow.

•	Scroll Through Program Manager Applications

Pressing the up or down keyboard arrow whilst positioned in the Description box will display the previous or next application from a list of those normally launched from Program Manager, in alphabetical order. Selecting one of these will automatically setup the Description, Command line, the Working directory and whether the application should be minimised, all information retrieved from the Properties dialog in Program Manager.

•	Look For An Application

Clicking on the "Find..." button beneath the Command line option will display a dialog box where you can search through drives and directories looking for the application you require. If you pick an application, the Description, Command line and Working directory options are all automatically setup.

•	Manual Setup

Alternatively, you can type the Description, Command line and Working directory options manually.

REMOVING AN APPLICATION FROM THE MENU

Select the menu application you wish to remove from the list, and click on it. Then click on the "Remove" button.

CHANGING THE POSITION OF AN APPLICATION ON THE MENU

Select the menu application you wish to move in the list, and click on it. Then click on the "Up" button to move it up by one, or click on the "Down" button to move it down by one.

INSERTING A MENU SEPARATOR

Sometimes you may wish to create a menu separator to distinguish between different groupings of applications on your customised menu. To do this, insert a new menu item, then type a "-" in the Description and Command Line options for that application on the Configuration screen.

ADDING AN ACCELERATOR KEY TO AN APPLICATION

Sometimes you may want to have a specific menu accelerator key for one of your menu applications. To do this, insert a "&" before the required letter in the Description option for that application on the Configuration screen


Menu Position

The MenuWiz popup menu consists of two parts. At its core are four fixed menu items allowing you to access to configuration options, Windows exit options, the Program Manager groups/applications, and the "Run..." option.

The rest of the menu can be customised to launch your favourite applications in whatever manner you wish. This customised part of the menu can be displayed above or below the fixed part.

To position the customised part of the popup menu above or below the fixed part, click on one of the two options "Above" or "Below" on the Configuration screen.


Finding an Application

The "Find" and "Run" dialog windows allow you to search drives and directories for the application you want. Once you have found the application, it can be selected by either double-clicking on it. or clicking on it and then clicking on the "OK" button.

By default, only the four common program types (*.EXE, *.COM, *.BAT, *.PIF) are shown. If you wish, you may ask to see all types of files (*.*).


Hiding Program Manager and MenuWiz icons

Part of the minimalist approach of MenuWiz is the "clean screen" approach. You can enhance this by choosing to hide both the Program Manager icon and MenuWiz's own icon. Any other icons visible on the screen will be re-arranged to take account of the missing gaps.

Note that when the Program Manager icon is hidden, Program Manager cannot be accessed until its icon is visible again. Program Manager will not appear in the normal Task Manager task list. If, however, you are using a third-party Task Manager, you may find Program Manager still visible in the task list. MenuWiz always appears in the Task List, even if its icon is hidden.

If you wish to hide the Program Manager and MenuWiz icons, but still have fast access to Program Manager without going to the configuration screen to "un-hide" it, then simply add Program Manager (PROGMAN.EXE in your Windows directory) to your customised popup menu.

To hide these icons, or make them visible again, click on the "Hide ProgMan/MenuWiz icons" option on the Configuration screen. A tick next to this option indicates that they are hidden. No tick means that the icons are visible.


Displaying Confirmation Messages

By default, MenuWiz asks for confirmation when you choose to exit MenuWiz, exit Windows, restart Windows or reboot your computer. If you wish, you can choose that confirmation of these options is not requested.

To ensure that these messages appear to confirm your choices, or to stop them appearing,  click on the "Display confirmation messages" option on the Configuration screen. A tick next to this option indicates that they will appear. No tick means that no confirmation will be requested.


Displaying Fortune Cookies

Those of you who have worked on Unix machines will be aware of the popularity of the brief fortunes that are shown upon login. By default, MenuWiz will display a Unix-like fortune cookie on start-up. The un-registered version of MenuWiz contains 30 cookies, the registered version has upwards of 150 and is being added-to every day. If you wish, you can choose that these fortune cookies are not displayed.

To ensure that these fortune cookies appear, or to stop them appearing,  click on the "Display fortune cookies" option on the Configuration screen. A tick next to this option indicates that they will appear. No tick means that no fortune cookies will be displayed.


Playing sound effects
Playing Startup/Exit Sound Effects

MenuWiz comes with the ability to support the playing of sounds upon startup and exit. When you run MenuWiz for the first time, it creates five entries in the Sounds section of the Control Panel, to  which you can attach sound files in the .WAV format by using the Control Panel. See the Sounds section of the Control Panel for details.

The un-registered version of MenuWiz allows you to attach any sound files you wish to Menuwiz.

The registered version of MenuWiz comes with its own customised sounds, or once again you can attach your own sounds.

To ensure that these sounds are played, or to stop them playing,  click on the "Play Sounds" option on the Configuration screen. A tick next to this option indicates that they will play. No tick means that no sound effects will be heard.


Ordering MenuWiz

ORDER FORM
MenuWiz 1.3  -  Windows Quick-Launch Utility

Mark Pearce
TechWave Inc
67 Apeldoorn Drive, Wallington
Surrey SM6 9LF   England

Please send:         MENUWIZ diskette (current version), extra fortune cookies,
                            customised sound effects and printed documentation

(Quantity) _________	x  (Price) US$ _________  = 	US$ _________

Per-Unit Prices in US$ (US Dollar):
1      	US$ 20  (£15)
2-9 	US$ 18  (£13.50)
10-20   	US$ 16  (£12)
              20+         (negotiable)

 Subtotal               US$ ________

Shipping and Handling (unless sent via e-mail)                      US$        5

Total                     US$ ________

Diskette type:  5 1/4"  [    ] 	3 1/2" (default)  [    ]

[    ] 	Cash (please use registered mail)

[    ] 	Eurocheque or English bank cheque in GBP (pounds sterling)

[    ] 	US bank check in USD (American dollars)

[    ] 	International postal money order (please include a copy of the receipt of the postal service, if possible)

Make checks, money orders etc payable to "Mark Pearce".

Do you want me to send the registered version of MenuWiz via :-

Airmail (outside UK)  [    ] 	Snail-mail (in UK)  [    ]    E-mail (no charges)  [    ]

Shipping address (name should be EXACTLY as you want it to appear on the registered version of MenuWiz) :-

Company              _________________________________________________________

Name                   _________________________________________________________

Address                _________________________________________________________

                            _________________________________________________________

E-mail address      _________________________________________________________

Source of evaluation copy (V1.3):         	_________________________________


Registering MenuWiz

When you have ordered and paid for MenuWiz, you will receive the complete registered package. The supplied registration ID will remove the "nag" notice and the "Registration" item at the top of the popup menu in the following manner :-

1) Popup the MenuWiz menu. Select the "Registration..." menu item at the top of the menu.

2) Press the "register..." button at the bottom of the shareware notice. A Registration screen will be displayed.

3) Enter your name exactly as printed on the order form. Enter your company also, if applicable.

4) Enter the supplied Registration ID, then press the "OK" button.

5) You should receive a message saying that Registration was successful.

If you receive a message saying that the Registration ID was invalid, this means that the ID you entered did not agree with the name that you entered. Please re-enter your name and/or ID again, making sure that your name is entered as on the order form.

If you have any problems or queries, please look at the Technical Support section of this Help file for details on contacting the author.


Removing MenuWiz

All the MenuWiz files and information are stored in MenuWiz's 'home' directory. If you delete this directory and its contents, that's it. It's gone!

The only exception to this is a file called MENUWIZ.INI in your \Windows directory. This stores option information and should be deleted also.


Using Menuwiz

Once MenuWiz is started, it remains in the background until you right-click on the Windows desktop. This will popup a 3D customisable menu from which you can launch your favourite applications, search for an ad-hoc application to run, configure MenuWiz, look through all your Program Manager groups and applications, and exit Windows in various ways.


Running a oneoff Application
Running a One-off Application

Occasionally you may want to run an ad-hoc application that hasn't already been setup on your customised popup menu or in Program Manager. Typically this might be an application installation program on diskette.

MenuWiz has a "run..." option similar, but superior to, the Program Manager option.

Bring up the popup menu. Click on the "run..." option. This will show a window that allows you to either type in a command line to run, or to search drives and directories via a dialog box for the application you want to run. Once you have found the application or typed its command line, just click on the "OK" button to run it. If you select the "Run minimised" option, this will be exactly what it does.

Note that the last ten command lines that you are executed are saved, and can be retrieved and run again by clicking on the arrow next to the Command line option or by pressing F4 whilst placed in the Command line option. Also, when you run an application using this option, its working directory is set to wherever the actual application resides.


Running a Program Manager Application

Occasionally you may want to run an application that has been setup in Program Manager, but not setup as part of your customised popup menu. MenuWiz stores all the Program Manager groups and their respective applications as part of its fixed menu.

Bring up the popup menu. Click on the "ProgMan Groups" menu option. This will bring up a sub-menu showing you a list of the Program Manager groups. Clicking on one of these Program Manager groups will show a further sub-menu containing a list of all that group's applications, in alphabetical order. Clicking on one of these applications will run it in exactly the same manner as Program Manager does.

Note that if you change any of the Program Manager groups,  or change the Program Manager item properties such as command line, whilst MenuWiz is running, then you will need to Reload MenuWiz with the new details. Bring up the popup menu. Click on the "MenuWiz" menu option. Then click on the "Reload ProgMan Groups" menu option. MenuWiz will take a few seconds to reload all the necessary information.


Reloading Program Manager Groups

If you change any of the Program Manager groups,  or change the Program Manager item properties such as command line, whilst MenuWiz is running, then you may wish to reload MenuWiz with the new Program Manger details. Bring up the popup menu. Click on the "MenuWiz" menu option. Then click on the "reload ProgMan Groups" menu option. MenuWiz will take a few seconds to reload all the necessary information.

When MenuWiz starts, it does the above process automatically. If you load MenuWiz from your Windows' Startup group, be careful to make it the last program to run there. If other startup programs are launched directly after MenuWiz, they could possibly interfere with or stop this automatic link to Windows' Program Manager.


Getting Help Information

MenuWiz uses context-sensitive help. If you press F1 whilst displaying any menu, fixed menu item or window, the Help screen that is displayed will be specific to that menu or window.

To find context-sensitive help for a particular menu option or window, simply use the keyboard arrow keys to position yourself on a menu option or use the mouse to open the window. Then press F1.

Similarly, you can tab or click on a particular option you want explained, then press F1.

In addition, some of the dialog windows have a Help button which is equivalent to pressing F1.


Exit Windows using MenuWiz

You can exit Windows in one of three ways using MenuWiz. Bring up the popup menu. Click on the "Windows" menu option. This will show a submenu allowing you to either exit Windows in the nomal manner, exit Windows and then automatically restart it, or totally reboot your computer. These two latter options are most useful after changing the Windows configuration or getting a GPF in Windows.

A confirmation message may be displayed, depending upon how you have configured MenuWiz via the Configuration screen.


MenuWiz Configuration Screen

All configuration of MenuWiz is done from a single screen. Here you can Customise the popup menu, decide on optional Confirmation Messages, Fortune Cookies and Sound Effects, and choose among several other options.

To reach this configuration screen, click on the desktop to display the popup menu. Click on the "MenuWiz" menu option, then click on the "Configure MenuWiz..." menu option.


Keyboard ShortCuts
Keyboard Short-Cuts

MenuWiz does not currently have a system-wide "hot-key" to display its popup menu. This is because of the Windows overhead that such a hot-key requires. If you require such a hot-key, please specify this when you register and I will supply you with a version that contains it.

F1 at any point will display context-sensitive Help details.

Tab will move you from option to option in any dialog or configuration window.

Pressing the first letter of any menu item will move you to the next menu item beginning with that letter. If any letter is underlined in a menu item, pressing that letter will move you straight there. You can build the same facility into any of your customised menu items by placing a "&" in the Description before the required letter.


TroubleShooting
Trouble-Shooting

These are the only known anomalies at the time of writing (Feb 95).

In Foxpro 2.6 (for Windows), Microsoft have admitted to a bug in the loading and unloading of FoxTools. Foxpro developers who load and unload Fox 2.6 frequently in a single session will find that this Foxpro bug eventually causes MenuWiz to give the error
"GFA-Basic Runtime Error 003". If you click on "OK" to answer this, MenuWiz will GPF. This is a bug caused by Microsoft, and unfortunately I cannot, and they will not, do anything about it. If you're a heavy developer in Fox 2.6, I do not recommend that you use MenuWiz.

MineSweeper does not launch correctly on some configurations. The reason for this is unknown, but I am investigating it and will hopefully fix it with the next release.

Dos applications that run in a Dos window or Dos full-screen all show the same generic Dos icon, not the icon assigned to them in Program Manager. I know how to solve this, but it's complex stuff. I intend to put in in the next release after more testing.

Of course, Menuwiz will 'Hindenburg' if used with any other software (such as BackMenu) that attempts to make use of a right-click on the Windows' desktop.


Technical Support

Support Information

I will take calls from both registered and un-registered users, but registered users will naturally have full priority. If you want some part of MenuWiz specifically customised, perhaps a bit that you don't currently like, by all means contact me. If you have any job offers, please contact me!

Mark Pearce                                 UK tel : 0181-669-9311                     Compuserve e-mail : 100272,2353
67 Apeldoorn Drive, Wallington,      US tel : 011-44-181-669-9311            Internet e-mail        : 100272.2353@compuserve.com
Surrey SM6 9LF  England

Testing Information

This utility was extensively tested in real-life situations using a variety of hardware and software. The test machines :-

386SX/25   4Mb ram   VGA   Windows 3.1    Dos 6.0
486DX/33   4Mb ram   VGA   Windows 3.1    Dos 5.0
486DX/66   8Mb ram   XGA    Windows 3.1    Dos 5.0    Novell Network
P5-60       16Mb ram  SVGA  Windows 3.11  Dos 6.22

This product has only been tested using the standard Program Manager as the Windows 'shell'. It has not been tested with shells such as Norton Desktop, HP DashBoard or PC Tools, though it should work with them. It was also tested by other people on a variety of hardware/software combinations. Several problems were found and fixed over a period of two months. See the Trouble-shooting section for information about any known anomalies.

Future Improvements

I have several ideas for the next version of MenuWiz. These include multiple configurations, access to MenuWiz by right-clicking on the active window's title bar in addition to the Windows' desktop, customisable submenus, a low system resources monitor and of course a Windows '95 version.


Acknowledgements

To my lady, Perri - who coped with me throughout the sometimes stormy gestation period of my "baby".

To Paul Bonner - his DeskMenu utility was the start of this whole idea.

To my major beta-testers - their ideas and tests contributed so much to the quality and robustness of this product :-

Max Hawkins
Jerome Pearce
Sushila Varsani
Milan Mistry
Bernard Shaw
Mark Hogarth
Alex Ho-Terry
Warren Butcher

PLEASE NOTE: some quantum physics theories suggest that when the consumer is not directly observing this product it may cease to exist, or will exist only in a vague and undetermined state.


Shareware Notice

MenuWiz is distributed as 'shareware',  not public domain or free software.

The shareware "nag" notice appears only in the un-registered version of MenuWiz when it starts. It allows you to Register MenuWiz, Order MenuWiz or continue using the un-registered version of MenuWiz.

Ordering and registering MenuWiz will remove this notice, and remove the "Registration..." menu option from the popup menu. Also see the "Licensing and Registration" section for more benefits to be gained from registering MenuWiz.


Confirmation Messages

<Displaying Confirmation Messages>


Customise

<Menu design>


Find...

<Finding an application>


Fortune Cookies

<Displaying fortune cookies>


Order Form

<Ordering MenuWiz>


Order

<Ordering MenuWiz>


Register

<Registering MenuWiz>


Reload

<Reloading Program Manager Groups>


Run...

<Finding an application>


Sound Effects

<Playing sound effects>


Trouble-shooting

<TroubleShooting>