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.
