**************************************************************************** * Q U I S E L M E N U 2 . 0 * **************************************************************************** - The QUIck SELection menu - 1) INTRODUCTION =============== QUISELMENU is just another of those diskmenu programs that try to help you to get quick and comfortable access to your favourite software on your disks and/or harddrive. But most of these menus have big disadvantages. Some are bootmenus which need to be installed on a diskette and do not run from an HD, some are full of great effects (music, graphics, animations,...) and have become too big to fit on your almost filled disks. And this is where QUISELMENU comes in! QUISELMENU does not contain any memory-wasting trash nobody needs. As a result of this it is very, very short and can be used on almost any disk with at least 4 KB of free space. Besides, you don't need a special editor to create your scripts. A simple ASCII-editor (like ED) will do it. 2) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ====================== Any working Amiga (I hope), but Kickstart 2.0 or higher is recommended. QUISELMENU was tested on an A1200 and A500. If it does not work on your machine, please let me know. 3) HOW TO INSTALL QUISELMENU ============================ Installing QUISELMENU is quite simple: - Copy the file "QUISELMENU" to your wanted (bootable) disk - Create an "S"-directory if there is none - Copy your script (see below) into it - Include QUISELMENU in the disk's startup-sequence. That's all! Note to all Kickstart 1.3 users: You will have to provide the CLI-command "Run" on your disk as well. Otherwise QUISELMENU cannot execute files. 4) STARTING QUISELMENU ====================== *** Note: You use my program at your own risk! I take no responsibility *** *** for any loss of data in case that QUISELMENU should ever fail and *** *** crash your Amiga!! *** *** Warning: Don't try to make QUISELMENU resident! It will crash! *** QUISELMENU can only be started from a CLI. Just type QUISELMENU or, if you'd like your own title printed, QUISELMENU on the CLI-prompt in case it is not done automatically by your startup- sequence. You can use up to 45 characters for your titletext. QUISELMENU will then look for a valid scriptfile on your current (!) drive and load it if possible. After that the menu will appear on the screen. 5) HOW TO USE THE MENU ====================== There are two ways how to control QUISELMENU: Using the keyboard: ------------------- Use the cursorkeys to scroll through the lines. Holding the key down will increase the speed. Press or to select an entry. You can quit at any time by pressing . Using the mouse: ---------------- To scroll through the lines just move the mousepointer up or down and press the right mousebutton. Scrollspeed and -direction depend on the pointer's current Y-position. For instance, the more you move it to the top, the quicker the lines will scroll down and vice versa. The screen is divided into 3 different "speed-zones". Press the left button to select an entry. 6) HOW TO CREATE A SCRIPT ========================= Before you can use QUISELMENU for the first time, you'll have to create a script containing all entries the menu shall include. The script has to be written in pure ASCII and must be saved as "SCRIPT.menu" in your "S"-dir. Note to all ED-users: Don't press after your last line! Otherwise ED will add one more to your script making its structure invalid!! 6.1) Standard entries --------------------- A standard entry always consists of 3 datalines: - Name of the entry (max. 30 chars) - A short description or comment (max. 70 chars) - The path and filename (any length) Then again follows directly the next name, description, filename,... Please note that blank lines (just ) will also be interpreted as datalines, so don't try to separate two entries this way! An example: The following script contains 3 different entries: Peg It! A very addictive think-game! DH1:Games/think/PegIt Multiview A universal fileview program using datatypes SYS:System/Multiview Protracker The best musicprogram of the world! DH2:music/Protracker Well, this looks a bit messy. So what can be done to clear it up? 6.2) Comments in the script --------------------------- To write a comment, just start the line with a semicolon (;) as you would do when writing normal batchfiles. As for all of QUISELMENU's function- keys it has to be THE FIRST CHARACTER of a line! Otherwise it will be interpreted as normal data. ; This would be a comment ; This is NOT a comment, the line starts with a !! Please note that you cannot add comments to normal datalines like this: This is an entry ;...But this is NOT a comment!! This is a description RAM:File To clear up your script I recommend the use of ";" between entries, like this: Peg It! A very addictive think-game! DH1:Games/think/PegIt ; Multiview A universal fileview program using datatypes SYS:System/Multiview 6.3) The highlit textlines -------------------------- If you'd like to see an entry or a description highlit, you can reach this with the ">" symbol: >This entry will be shown in red This description stays cyan! df0:file1 ; A white entry... >...but a red comment! df0:file2 A special tip: When you leave out the filename for an entry and just press instead, the entry will be unselectable. Together with a highlit text you can easily include separation lines or add comments! 6.4) Multifiles --------------- Sometimes it might be necessary to run more than only one file per entry. This can easily be done with the "+" char. So if you want to start your workbench, which would require SETPATCH, LOADWB and ENDCLI, you can write Load Workbench Will load and start your workbench Setpatch +LoadWB +EndCLI The in front of SETPATCH is not necessary. It was just included to make the script look better. Note to all Kickstart 1.3 users: The Execute()-routine of Kickstart 1.3 cannot handle filestrings that are longer than 255 characters (including s)! If your multifile-list becomes too long, QUISELMENU will not execute anything from it! In this case you should write a real batchfile instead and call it from QUISELMENU via "Execute ". Make sure the "Execute"-command is also present on your disk then! 7) ERRORS AND BUGS ================== Here is a short description of QUISELMENU's alerts: "SORRY, A ROM LIBRARY REFUSES TO OPEN!" --------------------------------------- The program could not open a systemlibrary. You probably have run out of memory. Try to quit other programs running or - if possible - reset your Amiga and try again. "SORRY, I COULD NOT OPEN MY OUTPUTSCREEN OR WINDOW!" ---------------------------------------------------- The program cannot open its outputscreen. Maybe you have run out of memory. "SORRY, I COULD NOT FIND A SCRIPT 'S/SCRIPT.menu'" --------------------------------------------------- Make sure your script is available on your current drive. In most cases you might have forgotten to change to it before starting QUISELMENU and now the program was searching on the totally wrong drive. "SORRY, YOUR SCRIPT CONTAINS ILLEGAL STRUCTURES..." --------------------------------------------------- The only "illegal structure" QUISELMENU knows of so far is a missing at the end of your script. So go back to your texteditor and make sure the last line of your script ends with . "SORRY, BUT YOUR SCRIPT IS TOO LONG..." --------------------------------------- Either your script has a totally strange structure, or you have really tried to include more than 5000 entries. Please check it! "MEMORY ALLOCATION FOR SCRIPT OR FILEBUFFER HAS FAILED!" -------------------------------------------------------- You have run out of memory. Make sure there is enough free RAM for the entire script and some KB for QUISELMENU's datatables. "SCRIPTFILE COULD NOT BE OPENED CORRECTLY THOUGH IDENTIFICATION..." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hm... This is an interesting error. Normally if there's an infoblock for a file, there should also be the file itself. And now this does not seem to be the case. If your script can still be viewed using TYPE or a texteditor, please re- port this error to me as it might be a bug in QUISELMENU! Under normal circumstances it can never appear! "WARNING! YOUR SCRIPTFILE HAS AN INVALID STRUCTURE..." ------------------------------------------------------ When you first try to write a script, this will be a message you will get familiar with very soon. It means that the number of datalines can not be divided by 3 (You remember? Each entry consists of 3 lines...). To see what might have gone wrong, QUISELMENU offers you to use your script inspite of this. If everything looks fine then, your script probably con- tains one blank line at the end (just ). This often happens when using the DOS-texteditor ED. Just check it! 8) QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT WANT TO ASK... ===================================== Q: How many entries can I use in a script? A: You can use up to 5000 entries. Q: I have not changed my script for a long time. But sometimes QUISELMENU reports "invalid structure" although everything is right. Why this? A: Please contact me and send me a copy of your script. It might be a bug in the program! Q: You say that it is not possible to write a comment after a text. But when I tried it, it was working! A: It can be done for filenames since DOS would not care about it (as you know, it uses the semicolon itself). But on normal textlines it will only work when your 'comment' is written outside the maximum length of that line, because QUISELMENU will cut it then. In this case, the text will be left-oriented and not centered. Q: How much memory is being occupied after a selection? A: 1. The memory for QUISELMENU itself (about 3.5 KB) 2. A memoryblock containing the filename(s) for that entry 3. The memoryblock for "dos.library" All these memoryblocks will be freed after quitting the last file. Q: I tried to start my program XXXXXX from QUISELMENU, but it dosen't work! My Amiga always crashes! A: Try to run that program directly from the CLI, but try to run it on a different task (type "RUN XXXXXX"). If it does work then, please tell me more about that program. Maybe you have discovered a new bug in my menu! Q: I want to name an entry ">>> SPECIAL <<<", but QUISELMENU then displays it as ">> SPECIAL <<<" in red colour. What can I do? A: Simply insert a in front of that line. Then the ">" will not be interpreted as a function any more. This can be done for ";" and "+" as well. Q: QUISELMENU always displays an entry centered. But I want it to be left- or right-oriented. What can I do? A: Fill up the string with s til it has the maximum length allowed. When your texteditor cuts off spaces at the end, simply add another char to prevent it. Q: I tried to use the multifile function. But now I always get an error- message from the CLI: "+echo: Unknown command"! A: It seems that you have already used the "+" in front of your first filename. Delete the "+" and it should work. 9) HOW TO CONTACT ME ==================== If you have any suggestions, hints, problems or want to report about bugs, here is how to contact me: - by e-mail: CATBOY@litter.leine.de - by snailmail: Kai Andres Wilhelmstr. 25 31595 Steyerberg Germany When you write a normal letter: Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope or an e-mail address where I can reach you. Otherwise I won't answer. I hope you like QUISELMENU and find it useful. Spread it as you want, the program is freeware. And if you want to use it on your PD-series - please send me a demodisk! C U Catboy