Back-Menu V1.39
===============
Back-Menu is a program that allows you to define a pop-up menu on the
Windows 3.0 background and use it to quickly run applications and tools.
The idea came from using X-Windows and Sunview, where the user has a root
menu that can be configured.
It allows you to describe a set of actions and associate command lines with
them. To bring up the menu simply click with the mouse button (let, middle or
right) on the Windows desktop. This will bring up the description list.
Selecting a description will cause the appropriate command line to be executed.
There are six fixed options in the menu. The first five appear under the
'Back-Menu Options' walking menu. They are:-
1) 'Execute...' - allows a command line to be typed and executed.
Back-Menu now supports a history mechanism, and will remember the last
10 commands typed. These commands are stored and will be available
whenever Back-Menu is run.
2) 'Reload Menu From File' - makes Back-Menu read its configuration
file again to update the menu contents.
3) 'Set Options...' - Brings up a dialog box from which you can
set the default start-up menu and which mouse button activates
the menu.
4) 'About...' - speaks for itself.
5) 'Remove Back-Menu' - un-installs the program. This option is
only present if you are not using Back-Menu as the shell.
6) 'Exit Windows', which safely exits from Windows back to DOS.
Configuration Files
===================
By default, Back-Menu looks for a file called BACKMENU.INI in the same
directory as BACKMENU.EXE. The menu file name can be changed by using
the 'Set Options...' option.
A configuration file is simply a set of lines (one for each description/command
line pair). The syntax for a menu item is:-
Menu Item description,application,optional start-up dir
Blank lines may be placed between items, to cause a separator line to be
placed in the menu.
Eg. Gives:
+---------+
Item 1,CMD1.EXE | Item 1 |
|---------|
Item 2,CMD2.EXE FRED.TXT | Item 2 |
Notepad,NOTEPAD.EXE | Notepad |
+---------+
This version of BACKMENU also supports cascading menus. A cascading menu item
is one that has multiple options associated with it. By clicking on the item,
another menu appears with the options on it. It is even possible to have further
cascading menus associated with one or more items within that menu.
Associating multiple items with a single menu item is simple. The definition
is:-
>Item Name
Sub menu item 1,program
Sub menu item 2,program
...
!
That is, the sub-menu is enclosed between a '>' and a '!'. The text that follows
the '>' is the text to appear in the menu (a description of the sub-menu).
In the example, 'Name' will appear in the menu, and when clicked upon produce a
sub-menu with the items defined. Definining items within a sub-menu is done
in exactly the same way as for a main menu (even to the extent of adding a
sub-menu to this sub-menu). Eg:-
>Editors
Andy's editor,AE.EXE
Notepad,NOTEPAD.EXE
>Word processors
Word for Windows,WORD.EXE
Windows Write,WRITE.EXE
!
Multi-Pad,MULTIPAD.EXE
!
...
There is no limit to the number of items you can have in any particular
menu.
Start-Up Directory
==================
As of version 1.3, Back-Menu will change to the directory containing the
executable program and then run it if a path is specified. Eg.
Corel Draw,C:\CORELDRW\CORELDRW.EXE
will change to the directory C:\CORELDRW and then run CORELDRW.EXE. If no
path is specified, the application will be started in the current directory
(whatever that happens to be).
It is possible with Back-Menu to start up an application and set a different
working directory for that program. To do this, specify the optional start
up directory after the application. Eg. excel lives in c:\excel. We want to
have excel start up in a work directory d:\data\excel. To do this, the menu
option would be:-
Excel + Work directory,c:\excel\excel.exe,d:\data\excel
Using Back-Menu as the Start-Up Shell
=====================================
Back-Menu can now be used in place of Program Manager as the default shell
for Windows. To install it simply edit SYSTEM.INI which is in the windows
directory. In the [boot] section of the file there is a line which will
read shell=progman.exe. Replace it with shell=backmenu.exe and you're away.
Choice of Mouse Button
======================
The choice of which mouse button to use dramatically changes the way Back-Menu
"feels". If the left mouse button is chosen, the menu pops-up when the button
is pressed and disappears as soon as the button is released. With the right
mouse button the menu remains on screen until a bottom-level seleection is
made, regardless of how many times the right button is pressed.
Back-Menu also supports the middle mouse button. If you choose this and find
that back-menu no longer functions then take the following steps:-
1) Exit Windows (or reset if Back-Menu is installed as the shell).
2) Edit WIN.INI in the Windows directory.
3) Find the line which has [Back-Menu] on it. Below this there will
be a line Button=Middle. Change this to Button=Left or
Button=Right.
Ambiguous File-Name Support
===========================
Back_menu now allows simple ambiguous file names as command line parameters
to programs. If Back-Menu finds an ambiguous file name, it will prompt with
a dialog box to let you choose. The path and filename are substituted in to
the command line. If abort is chosen, the application is not started.
Eg.
Word, C:\WORD\WINWORD.EXE *.doc
At the moment, paths cannnot be specified, and the command line may only
contain the ambiguous file name.
COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS
=======================
It is possible to make Back-Menu prompt for a command line, which is then
passed to the relevant program. To do this, place a % after the program
name in the menu file. Eg.
Excel,c:\excel\excel.exe %
Back-Menu will bring up a dialog box, which will allow the command line
parameters to be typed. Anything following the % will be placed in the
dialog box for editing.
BUGS/FEATURES
=============
V1.1 Fixed bug that prevented Back-Menu from being reloaded after it had
been removed.
Restructured code so that it should work with EMS systems. (Not
tested fully).
V1.2 Added cascading menus.
V1.3
Locks up Compaq 386/25e sometimes when starting up DOS window.
V1.31
Added ambiguous file name support.
V1.32
Made Back-Menu process the windows command line when it is the shell.
V1.33
Modified Open Dialog box to have dirs and files lists.
Fixed problem if you type in path and filename to opex dialog.
V1.34
Added '%' to prompt for command line for an application.
Fixed bug where if you uninstall Back-Menu you get UAE.
Added about box.
Changed ambiguous filename support so that the open box has
the directory specified.
V1.35
Added support for setting start-up directory.
V1.36
Whichever mouse button brings up the menu can now be used to select
items from it (as well as the left mouse button)
V1.37
Now supports extensions from win.ini (eg. MYTEXT.WRI will cause
write to be started up on the file).
Cured bug where if Back-Menu is the only task in the system, the
menu doesn't stay up the first time the button clicked.
V1.38
Changed line-reading to fix problems with reading the .ini file.
Removed the limit of 15 items per menu.
V1.39
There were problems if back-menu was the shell and a command line
was given to windows which didn't have a path component (It said it
couldn't find the file). This has been fixed.
Added history mechanism to Execute... command.
Re-ordered the fixed menu to place more frequently used items at
the top.
Modified % prompting to allow a command line to be edited (eg.
%-t -r hello.pas will prompt with the rest of the command line
present for editing).
Any criticism/comments/praise/bugs etc can be directed to the author (me) as
Ian Heath
Postgraduate Research
University of Southampton
England
mail: ih@uk.ac.soton.ecs
or: ih@ecs.soton.ac.uk
(whichever you prefer).
This program is freeware. Share and enjoy!