                            BESTMENU
                 THE FIRST SERIOUS MENU SYSTEM


                               By

                       Wild West Software
                          Austin, Texas


                      Ŀ
                       QUICK &  DIRTY 
                        INSTRUCTIONS  
                      ٰ
                        


* Full Working Demo....

This copy  of BestMenu works exactly like the full version of the
program.    There  is, however, an annoying Happy Face that jumps
across the  screen every  time you  invoke a  menu selection.  We
think  that  you  would rather see the little face than a limited
version of  BestMenu.  Of course, the  Happy  Face  is  not there
strictly to annoy you.  Rather, it is a reminder that in order to
continue bringing  you new versions of BestMenu, as  well  as new
programs,  we  need your support.

There are  other program  utilities which  you will  only receive
with the  FULLY REGISTERED  version of  BestMenu.   These include
SWITCH, the  disk swapping  utility; SHRTBOOT  and LONGBOOT,  the
Reboot utilities;  LPTSWAP, the  parallel port  swapping utility;
and PASSWORD, password protection for your menu selections.

So, if you like BestMenu, send us a check or money order for:

                                     BestMenu $ 29.95
                                     Shipping $  5.00
                                             ----------
                                              $ 34.95

Become a  registered BestMenu  user and  get rid  of that  stupid
happy face!  Please give a copy of this demo to your friends, and
remember to  include all  of the files that you received, so they
will have a complete set.  Make shareware work!

By the  way, the file ORDER.TXT contains a registration form that
can be used to make your order.


* Installing BestMenu....

Copy all BestMenu files to one diskette  or  subdirectory on your
hard disk.  Make sure that the following files are present on the
disk:

BMDEMO.COM       Main Program - Type BMDEMO to start.
MAKEMENU.COM     Make Menu Windows
OVERLAY.COM      Overlay for BMDEMO.COM
CLOCK.COM        The World Time Clock
CONFIG.BM        Configuration File Created by MAKEMENU.COM
MAIN.BM          Main Menu - Menu File
*.BM             Sample menu files
README.DOC       Introduction to the product
BMQUICK.TXT      Quick And Dirty Instructions (this file)
ORDER.TXT        BestMenu Registration Form


* Starting BestMenu....

To start  BestMenu, move to the BestMenu drive and directory, and
type:

BMDEMO [ENTER]

The BestMenu  Main Screen  will appear.  From now on you may move
from one menu to the other by pressing the corresponding function
key or  by using the arrow keys to point to the desired selection
and pressing enter.


* Menu Windows....

BestMenu uses  Menu Windows  to display  up to  10 selections per
window at  6 different  levels.   That  is  10  to  the  6th,  or
1,000,000 possible  selections for  a single menu system.  If you
are at  the MAIN  MENU, press  [F1], [F9],  [F8] to  see how menu
levels work.


* Menu Files....

Menu  Files  are  all  files  terminated  with the extension .BM.
These files  contain the  information necessary to present a menu
window on  the screen, as well as the commands to be performed by
the selections inside the window.


* The MenuMaker....

The MenuMaker  program is used to create and edit menu files.  To
start the MenuMaker type:

MAKEMENU [ENTER]

The Main Menu at the top of the screen allows you to:

Config:  Change the environment colors of BestMenu Main Screen.
         Set time lapse for the World Clock to pop up.
         Toggle audio feedback from the keyboard ON and OFF.
         Tell BestMenu that you want to use a mouse.

Menus:   Create or Edit Menu Files.

Support: Support information.

Exit:    Returns to the operating system

The  MenuMaker  can  also be invoked from within BestMenu.  Press
[F8] BestMenu utilities and [F1] Build or Edit Menu Files.


* Editing A Menu File....

Load a menu file from The MenuMaker by entering:

   MAKEMENU [ENTER]
   M        ( for Menus at the main menu )
   F        ( for Files in Menus menu )
   L        ( for Load in the Files menu )

Now, highlight  a menu  filename and  press [ENTER]  to load  it.
Going back to the previous menu you can:

Files Save: Save the menu file
Name      : Change the filename
Banner    : Change the banner at the top of the menu window
Color     : Change the foreground and background colors of the
            window.
Titles    : Insert, Delete or edit the selection titles
Commands  : Insert, Delete or edit the commands for each
            selection title.
Reset     : Erases all window information.
Exit      : Return to the main menu.

A typical operation consists of:

   a. reading an existing menu file.
   b. editing its Banner
   c. editing its titles
   d. editing the commands of one or more selection titles
   e. changing the colors
   f. saving the menu file back to the disk


* Creating A Menu File....

Creating a Menu file is just as simple as editing one.  Start the
MenuMaker program,  but instead of reading an existing menu file,
enter a  name for  the new  menu file  to be  created.  Build the
titles and  commands from  scratch, and don't forget to save your
work to the disk.


* The Commands....

You may enter up to 10 command lines per menu selection.  If more
commands are  necessary, you  should consider  breaking the  task
into two  selections, or  using a  batch file  to complement  the
command set.   Any DOS command is a valid Menu command, including
batch file  statements like PAUSE, IFs and REMs.  In addition  to
DOS commands,  you may enter a program filename or batch filename
(EXE, COM or BAT).  Remember, ONE command per line!


* Connecting Two Menu Windows....

To move from one window to the other, you must enter the filename
of the  menu file  to be merged to on the command line.  To merge
from the  Main  Menu  (MAIN.BM)  to  the  System  Utilities  Menu
(SYSTEM1.BM) using  selection [F1]  of the  main menu,  we use  a
command line in MAIN.BM that reads:

SYSTEM1.BM

and nothing  else.   This simple  approach is used to connect all
menus at  all levels.   To call a menu window to the screen, just
place the  corresponding menu  filename in  one of  the selection
command lines of the current menu.


* Mouse Support....

If you  have a  mouse, you should load your mouse driver as usual
and install  the mouse  from   within The  MenuMaker using Config
Mouse Yes.


* The World Time Clock....

The World  Time  clock  has  some  parameters  that  may  be  set
according to your preferences:

CLOCK/S  Sets the local time and the four world times.
CLOCK/C  Toggles the hourly CUCO ON and OFF.
CLOCK/1  Uses Color Palette 1.
CLOCK/3  Uses Color Palette 2.

The clock  will pop  up on  the screen  after X  minutes  without
keyboard action.  X is set in MenuMaker.


* Changing the Company Name

To change  the company  name at  the top  of the  main BM screen,
type:

OVERLAY WWS [ENTER] and go from there....


* The Real User's Guide....

These  are  only Quick & Dirty instructions for BestMenu, and aim
solely at  giving you  a superficial  understanding  of  how  the
program works.  The Real Users Guide is 100 pages long containing
everything you  will ever  want to  know about  BestMenu and  its
utilities.   The User's  Guide  is  fully  illustrated  with  Mac
quality pictures and typeset quality printing.


		   Ŀ   Ŀ
		                 BestMenu 1.22 
		    BestMenu           _       
		    User's            ( )      
		    Guide                     
		                              
		                              
		   ٰ  ٰ
		       
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