Ref: 99970028 Title: 3+Menus Release Notes version 1.3 - number 4512-00 Date: 12-14-87 Copyright 3Com Corporation, 1991. All rights reserved. 3+Menus Version 1.3 Part No. 4512-00 12/14/87 The 1.3 release of 3+Menus contains several new features for running application menus, a set of command line parameters for customizing the 3+Menus environment, and a set of sample menu files. .H1;New Features 1. Fast Reload from Menus To run a menu task item, you can now specify that 3+Menus should remain in memory while running the desired batch file, program, or command. This means that the return to 3+Menus after the task item is completed is nearly instantaneous, since the user interface part of the program need not reload and re- initialize. This option is beneficial when the task item does not take large amounts of memory to run. The option is a new field to fill in on the Menu Task Item form. 2. Password Blanking In all forms that contain fields for entering passwords, 3+Menus now uses non-display video attributes for those fields. This means not only that the typing of passwords will not be visible, but also that on some monitors, particularly color monitors, the cursor itself will not be visible. When you are filling in a form and the cursor disappears, check for password fields. To confirm that the cursor is in that field, just move to another field and back again. To correct a partially entered, but invisible password, use the [F5] key to blank the entire field, then re-enter. (The cursor keys work, but you may not be able to determine where you are in the password string.) 3. Drive Letter Selection When the current window is the drives window, typing a drive letter immediately opens that drive's root directory, just like first letter selection works for menu selections. Remember the precedent of selection: if the command bar is up, the letter C will Close the window (the command bar is accessed first), but otherwise it opens drive C:. 4. DOS Exits The meanings of [F5] and [Shift]+[F5] have been reversed: [F5] now loads DOS with all of 3+Menus code still resident, and [Shift]+[F5] takes 3+Menus out of memory first. Use [Shift]+[F5] only for operations in DOS that consume too much memory for 3+Menus to remain resident. Otherwise, [F5] is superior, since there is no reload time for 3+Menus. When exiting to DOS, the default drive is now always set to the drive and directory that were current when 3+Menus was run. This prevents 3+Menus exiting to a previously linked drive that is no longer linked, and from trying other operations to an invalid drive. 5. Altered Access Rights After 3+Menus is installed, or after any reload of the code, change the attribute for the executable files: ATTRIB +r EM.EXE ATTRIB +r MENUS.EXE This permits a network administrator to run the 3+Menus code from a write-only sharename while other users are linked to a read-only sharename containing the same copy of code. This change makes it possible to alter any public .MNI files that exist on the same sharename as the code, even with users linked to the public sharename. To get the same effect, copy the .EXE files to a private location and run 3+Menus from there. 6. PROFILE.SYS Location To simplify the determination of command line parameters, 3+Menus no longer tries to find a file named PROFILE.SYS in the current directory. Therefore, set 3+Menus parameters on the command line OR put them into a file pointed to by the DOS environment variable PROFILE (SET PROFILE=D:\filename.ext). 7. Logout When logging out of 3+Menus, there is one fewer confirmation message between the request to log out and the action. 8. Status Key When you press [F3] to get current user status, you now also get the currently running version of 3+Menus. 9. Comments in PROFILE.SYS 3+Menus now ignores any entry in the PROFILE.SYS file that begins with the # character. The sample PROFILE.SYS file provided contains examples of this. The # character can be anywhere on the line before a valid keyword parameter. Once a keyword parameter is recognized on a line, the remainder of the line, including any #, is accepted as a parameter specification. 10. Menu Window Size The size of menu windows has been expanded to permit 15 visible menu items, an increase from the earlier 13. 11. Sample Menus 3Com provides several sample .MNI files customized to be main menus: NETMAIN.MNI for network administrators USERMAIN.MNI for standard users MAINMENU.MNI is a copy of NETMAIN.MNI for ease in installing servers .H1;Parameters There are twelve new command line parameters that allow you to customize your individual use of 3+Menus. The best location for them is in a PROFILE.SYS file, pointed to by the string in the DOS variable PROFILE (SET PROFILE=D:\path\filename.ext). You can override any particular setting on the command line (e.g. MENUS /LOGOUT=OFF). See the 3+Menus Reference Guide for a full description of the precedence of parameters. Most of the parameters are intended to be set for groups, networks, and entire sites, facilitated by using shared templates for PROFILE.SYS. For easy classification, the total collection of 3+Menus parameters is divided into three categories: User environment. These control which Main menu the user will access, how the display is set, and other features. Main menu capability. These control the user access to network-level features that are normally reserved for network administrators or advanced users. Banner screen. The banner screen displays when anyone starts 3+Menus. You can define parameters to alter the product name, company identification, and other components. User environment parameters documented in the 3+Menus Reference Guide are: ATTRIBUTES individual settings for video attributes COMMANDS controlling the behavior of the command bar DISPLAYTYPE pre-set video attributes for multiple monitors EDIT path\file name of the editor for editing files MAINMENU path\name of the Main menu file NAME user's name, used as default for LOGIN option SERVERFILE path\name of the file containing available servers ZOOM whether windows should burst open or grow open There is an additional user environment parameter for version 1.3 that is documented in Appendix A of the 3+ Administrator's Guide: SLASHKEY Character to substitute for the slash key to access the command bar. Format SLASHKEY=key Example SLASHKEY=+ Main Menu Capability Parameters These parameters all interact with the setting of the COMMANDS parameter. In all cases, if any of the parameters are specified, their meaning overrides the setting of COMMANDS. If an individual parameter is not set, its default behavior is determined by the COMMANDS setting, whose default is SLASH. The COMMANDS parameter is described next. COMMANDS Controls when the command bar is present at the top of the screen. Format COMMANDS=ON|SLASH|OFF .H1;Variables ON The command bar is present at all times, [F5] and [Shift]+[F5] are enabled, and all standard menu items appear. SLASH The command bar is displayed when the user presses the slash [/] key, [F5] and [Shift]+[F5] are enabled, and all standard menu items appear. OFF The user cannot use the command bar, cannot use [F5] to exit to DOS, cannot use the standard menu items, and cannot quit 3+Menus. Remarks The default is COMMANDS=SLASH. MENUDEMO Enables/disables a demonstration mode for 3+Menus. Format MENUDEMO=ON|OFF Variables ON Enables a demonstration mode for 3+Menus, allows all of 3+Menus capabilities to be demonstrated using the *.DIR files on the distribution diskette, rather than live lists generated by the network. You can get the flavor of 3+ without having a network. Further, even if you have a network, shared resources will still be the frozen dummy values. Only existing links to sharenames will yield real network values, in the Directories and Files window. OFF 3+Menus is in "live" mode. Remarks The default is OFF. MENUDOS Allows/disallows access to COMMAND.COM through 3+Menus. Format MENUDOS=ON|OFF Variables ON Enables [F5] and [Shift]+[F5] allowing the user to access DOS through the menus. OFF Prevents the user from accessing DOS from 3+Menus. Remarks The default value is implied by the value of the COMMANDS parameter. This parameter overrides the action of the COMMANDS parameter. MENUFILE Allows/disallows access to the Directory and Files Main menu selection. Format MENUFILE=ON|OFF|text Example MENUFILE=Your Directories Variables ON Allows the user to access the Directories and Files standard menu selection. OFF Prevents the user from accessing the Directories and Files standard menu selection. text Allows the user to access the Directories and Files standard menu selection with the text appearing on the Main Menu in place of the Directories and Files menu selection. Remarks The default value is implied by the value of the COMMANDS parameter. This parameter overrides the action of the COMMANDS parameter. MENULOGINTEXT String to replace the Log In string. Format MENULOGINTEXT=text Example MENULOGINTEXT=On the Network Variable text Replaces the Login Main menu selection when the user has logged out of 3+Menus and has run 3+Menus locally. Remarks If MENULOGOUT has been specified, its value determines if Log In/Log Out appears on the Main menu. If MENULOGOUT has not been specified, but MENULOGINTEXT has, it is equivalent to setting MENULOGOUT=ON. The default value is implied by the value of the COMMANDS parameter. This parameter overrides the action of the COMMANDS parameter. MENULOGOUT Allows/disallows access to the Log Out Main menu selection. Format MENULOGOUT=ON|OFF|text Example MENULOGOUT=Off the Network Variables ON The user can access the Log Out standard Main menu selection. OFF The Log Out standard Main menu item is not displayed. text Allows the user to access the Log Out standard Main menu selection, with the text appearing on the Main menu in place of the Log Out Main menu selection. Remarks The default value is implied by the value of the COMMANDS parameter. This parameter overrides the action of the COMMANDS parameter. MENULPTS Allows/disallows access to the Printer Connections Main menu selection. Format MENULPTS=ON|OFF|text Example MENULPTS=Printing Variables ON The user can access the Printer Connections standard Main menu selection. OFF The Printer Connections standard Main menu item is not displayed. text Allows the user to access the Printer Connections standard Main menu selection, with the text appearing on the Main menu in place of the Printer Connections Main menu selection. Remarks The default value is implied by the value of the COMMANDS parameter. This parameter overrides the action of the COMMANDS parameter. MENUMAINTEXT String to display as the Main menu window label. Format MAINMENUTEXT=text Example MAINMENUTEXT=Your Menu Variable text The text appears on the Main menu as the window label. MENUSRVS Allows/disallows access to the Shared Resources Main menu selection. Format MENUSRVS=ON|OFF|text Example MENUSRVS=Sharenames Variables ON The user can access the Shared Resources standard Main menu selection. OFF The Shared Resources standard Main menu item is not displayed. text Allows the user to access the Shared Resources standard Main menu selection, with the text appearing on the Main menu in place of the Shared Resources Main menu selection. Remarks The default value is implied by the value of the COMMANDS parameter. This parameter overrides the action of the COMMANDS parameter. Banner Screen Parameters The banner screen appears when you start 3+Menus. COMMENT A string that replaces the comment in the banner page when 3+Menus initializes. Format COMMENT=text Example COMMENT=Supplies Unlimited Remarks The default value is 3S/400 for the 3Server386. Otherwise, it is The Workgroup Computing Company. If COMPANY has been specified but COMMENT has not, then the default becomes a string of blanks. COMPANY A string that replaces the company name in the banner page when 3+Menus initializes. Format COMPANY=companyname Example COMPANY=Wilkins Supply Company Remarks The default value is 3Com Corporation. MENUBANNER Allows/disallows the display of the banner page. Format MENUBANNER=ON|OFF Variables ON Displays the banner screen. OFF Does not display the banner screen. Remarks The default is ON. PRODUCT String to replace the product name on the banner page. Format PRODUCT=productname Example PRODUCT=New Menus Remarks The default value is 3+Menus. 3+Menus Reference Guide Updates APPEND Command Page 1-9 The APPEND command is on the 3+Share User #1 diskette. (You can also use DOS 3.x version of APPEND.COM). Circular Menus References Page 5-10 With 3+Menus, any submenu can point to any other menu in your 3+Menus system. This makes recursive (circular) menu references possible. While occasionally useful, this is not a good practice, and should be avoided. To break a recursive menu reference, modify the file name in one of the submenus. Select the desired menu item and change (/Modify Change) the name of the file referenced in the Menu File field. Two or more menus may reference a common submenu as long as the references are not circular. Quitting 3+Menus Pages 2-2, 2-26 When the 3+Menus program is on a network drive and you log out using the Log Out item (on the Main Menu), 3+Menus exits to DOS. The drive you specified on the Log Out form is the default drive. For example, if you chose A as the default drive, the A> prompt appears. There are two cases, however, in which logging out using the Log Out item can produce the message: Not ready error reading drive E: Abort, Retry, Ignore? Case 1: If you are using 3+Menus on a network drive, and start it from a batch file that is also on a network drive, when you log out you will break the link to the batch fileUs network drive. This means COMMAND.COM cannot return to the batch file. To keep the link to the batch fileUs drive, either the 3+Menus program or the batch file that starts the 3+Menus program must reside on a local drive, a RAM disk, or a 3+Start volume. Case 2: If you are using 3+Menus on a local drive, but you start it from a batch file on a network drive, you can log out and 3+Menus continues to run. (This lets you run local applications from the 3+Menus interface while not logged in to the network.) Before you quit 3+Menus, however, you must log in again and re-establish the links to the sharename containing the batch file that started 3+Menus. Specifying a Menu Task Item Page 5-15 When choosing Run File or Command on a Task Item form, you do not need to include an extension. If you include an extension, make sure the extension is correct and that it matches the Run File Type. For example, specifying the batch file BATCHFIL.BAT but giving it a Run File Type of program, causes an error because 3+Menus treats the batch file as if it were a program. Using Memory Resident Programs Page 2-2 With 3+Menus, terminate and stay resident programs (such as 3+Mail Minder) must be loaded before you run MENUS.