Re: Bits 'o business

["Bob Brody" rabrody@xxxxxxxx]

On 25 Jan 97 at 18:19, TBaehr@xxxxxxxx wrote:

> VERY IMPORTANT (sorry to shout):
> 1. Make a copy of both MNU and DLG files before beginning to
> experiment.
> Work off the copies.

Amen. Worth shouting.

As mentioned, I experienced a crash and had to redo the mods and
custom creations because the new .MNU wasn't saved. Worth noting
had there been no backup of the original .MNU and no installation
diskette on site, XyWin would have been inaccessible because of
the now corrupted file.

> 2. You have to save and reload the files before they work. On
> many computers, saving an already-loaded MNU or DLG file will
> cause a harmless error message.

Well, it was at the point of SAving the .MNU that the crash
occurred. Wasn't a harmless error. It blasted XyWin into distant
galaxies. So backups are essential (sound advice for all
software, of course).

> What you have to do then is (a)
> load your original MNU and/or DLG file(s); (b) SAve the ones
> you're experimenting with; (c) load the ones you're experimenting
> with.

The loading, or reloading, makes sense in that .DLG makes an index
in memory and needs to be updated. I seem to recall with XyIII+
when working on the XY.HLP file which housed the custom stuff as
well as the factory stuff, if you didn't reload it after making
changes, it would nevertheless know to create a new index in
memory when a call was made to it that wasn't in the existing
index in memory. I could be wrong about that, it's been some
years since I last fiddled with III+. Anyway, I didn't have to
reload the .MNU because the custom additions were accessible as
soon as I did a SAve. That could only be due to the simple nature
of the first experimental routines. I subsequently reloaded
everything.

3. I *think* you can use the JD (jump to dialog) with a U2
> file. You do have to precede the reference to the destination
> with "2." (without the quotes).

I haven't tried with a U2 file yet but indeed calls to U3 is as you've
outlined and works fine.

> 6. Notice that your MNU file
> can also create sub-menus that "cascade" out to the right or left
> of the pull-down. This is a bit more tricky, but very useful
> sometimes.

Yes. I created a test of various kinds of correspondence setups
with "Correspondence" being the first tier (from within a drop
down menu on the menu bar) that opens a sub menu listing the
various kinds to choose from.

> Have fun with this experimenting, and please get back to us and
> let us know what you did and how it went.

Prior experience with creating custom Help frames (text and
executables) contributes to understanding this kind of customizing
but by and large it was easy to audit the trail once I knew about
XWMENU.MNU.

Thanks for the help.

Bob