


                              

                  P U L L - D O W N   M E N U   S Y S T E M



       Version 3.32              PD MENU               For Wildcat! 5
      ________________________________________________________________

       Developed by Crazy Larry's Online Art             
       http://www.europa.com/~cloa                    
       cloa@europa.com
      ________________________________________________________________
       
         Crazy Larry's Online Art is a division of Bitwise Computers       
               P.O. Box 829  Forest Grove, Oregon 97116-0829
 


                             Table of Contents


           Overview ........................................... 2

           Packing List ....................................... 2

           Upgrading from a Wildcat 4 version ................. 2

           Installing PD Menu ................................. 3

           Maintaining PD Menu ................................ 4

           Using the PD Menu Editor ........................... 5

           Editing Menu properties ............................ 5

           Changing the color of your menus ................... 6

           Describing your Menus .............................. 6

           Using your own ANSI's with PD Menu ................. 6

           Selecting your own personal background menu ........ 6

           Disabling PD Menu .................................. 7

           Shareware Notice ................................... 7

           Disclaimer ......................................... 7

           Your suggestions are welcome ....................... 7

           Aknowledgements .................................... 7




                                                               Page 2


      OVERVIEW
      ________________________________________________________________
      The PD Menu (Pull-Down Menu) System  was originally developed to
      take the work out of  designing menu display files,  by creating
      them automatically.  This also provided a new,  modern interface
      for the text-based Wildcat! BBS.

      Version 3.0 (and above) now goes one step further by interfacing
      directly with Wildcat! 5.  PD Menu now replaces the internal WC!
      structure that  dynamically creates your  menus for you when the
      appropriate menu display files (i.e. main5.bbs) do not exist.

      For more information on how this program works,  be sure to read
      the following section on installation.  I think you'll find that
      this one program  can free up a lot of the time  required to run
      and maintain a Wildcat! 5 BBS.


      PACKING LIST
      ________________________________________________________________
      The  following files should be included in the original archive.

      MENU.WCX             The actual program executable file
      PDMENU.WCX           The configuration program
      WCMENU.WCX           Used if a caller logs on without color
      PDUSER.WCX           Allows users to select a background ANSI
      PDMENU.TXT           This document
      PDMENU.BBS           This is a sample PD Menu background ANSI
      PDMENUn.BBS          User-Available menu choices (n = 1 to 8)
      FILE_ID.DIZ          Long file description
      DESC.SDI             Short file description
      REGISTER.FRM         The registration form for all CLOA products

      If any of these files are missing,  please do not distribute, or
      use this program.  Contact the support BBS at 503-357-2710 for a
      copy of the latest version.  Please distribute this program only
      in with all the original files intact!


      UPGRADING FROM THE WILDCAT! 4 VERSION OF PD MENU
      ________________________________________________________________
      When you upgraded your BBS to Wildcat! 5, you probably found out
      the way I did,  that a lot of things have changed,  and that you
      would have to spend some time re-learning it.  Well,  it doesn't
      stop there folks!   This version of PD Menu is totally different
      than all prior versions.   You no longer have to re-create menus
      to get PD Menu to work!  However, none of your old PD Menus will
      be supported.

      If you registered a prior version of  PD Menu,  you will need to
      copy the file PDMENU.KEY from your old Wildcat home directory to 
      the new Wildcat! menu (C:\WC5\MENU),  or enter your registration
      number in the PDMENU.WCX configuration program.




                                                               Page 3

      INSTALLATION
      ________________________________________________________________
      The installation process for PD Menu should be very simple,  but
      it is important to read this entire section.   Failure to follow
      these steps can result in damage to some of your BBS data files.
      Please read this section carefully!

      For this section of the manual I will be refering to the Wildcat
      home directory as C:\WC5.   Please make note of this, and adjust
      it for your needs.

      1]  Go to your language directory, (C:\WC5\LANGUAGE), and backup
          the file WILDCAT.MNU.  To back up this file, simply create a
          .ZIP file in a separate directory by adding this file to it.

          This step serves only to protect you from the possibility of
          your data files becoming corrupted for ANY reason.

          If your system supports more than one launguage,  you should
          back up each additional .MNU file as well.            

      2]  Go to your menu directory (C:\WC5\MENU), and backup all your
          .BBS files.  As you did above.  You might want keep this new
          .ZIP file in this directory.  If you plan to use PD Menu the
          way it was intended, you can delete all your menu .BBS files
          at this time.  You can, alternatively, create new menu files
          to use as backgrounds for each individual menu. 

      3]  Place each of the "PDMENU*.BBS" files in your  Wildcat! menu
          directoryWC5\MENU).  These are the background ANSI files for
          PD Menu.  These files act similar to the way a *.BMP file is
          used for a "Wallpaper" in that all too familiar program from
          you know who.

      4]  Place files MENU.WCX, PDMENU.WCX, WCMENU.WCX, and PDUSER.WCX 
          your Wildcat home directory (C:\WC5).

      5]  Run wcMenu,  and add the file PDMENU.WCX to your Sysop menu.
          If you would like to allow your users to change select their
          own background ANSI,  add the file PDUSER.WCX to a menu that
          they will have access to. Be sure to set the access to these
          files accordingly.  Refer to your Wildcat! System Operator's
          Guide for information on how to add wcCodes to your menus.

      6]  Now log onto your BBS,  and goto EVERY menu you have defined
          in wcMenu BEFORE you run PDMENU.WCX.   When you goto a menu,
          PDMenu automatically creates a PDMENUn.CFG file for it.  The
          program PDMENU.WCX is used for editing these configurations.

      7]  Once you have displayed every menu, run PDMENU.WCX from your
          sysop menu.  This program allows you to configure all of the
          properties of PD Menu.  More information on using the config
          program is discussed later in this document.





                                                               Page 4

      MAINTAINING PD MENU
      ________________________________________________________________
      Contrary to previous versions (1.0 to 2.2) of PD Menu, to change
      any menu commands, security level settings, etc.,  you only need
      to use wcMenu.  

      If you decide to add a menu to your system, be sure to visit the
      menu first, before you PDMENU.WCX to edit it.  This is so that a
      default PD Menu configuration file can be made for the menu.

      When displaying a menu,  PD Menu will use the information in the
      description field from wcMenu.  By default, Wildcat! enters this
      information in this format:

            [A] ............A menu command

      PD Menu will look for the command key, ("A" in this example), at
      the second character in the description.  The description itself
      will be pulled from the text after the third character.   If you 
      prefer not to have the periods in the descriptions,  you need to 
      use wcMenu to edit format the descriptions as you prefer.        

      The most critical thing to remember is that the command key must
      be placed as the second position. You can also use wcMenu to add
      separators to your menus.  To do this follow these simple steps:

           1] With the desired menu in view, right-click on the list
              of menu item, and click "Add"

           2] When the menu item properties window pops up, enter the
              command of your choice from the list, or by typing it
              in the text window provided.

           3] In the description field, enter only a hyphen "-".  

           4] Make sure that the access level required for this item
              is set for the security levels you wish to have see it.

           5] Click okay to save this new command.  Now wherever you
              place this command, a separator will appear on your
              pull-down menu.
            
      A new feature of PD Menu 3.0, is it's ability to accomodate more
      items than prior versions would.   Wildcat! limits the amount of
      menu commands to 40, and PD Menu 3.0+ is now able to handle them
      all if configured properly.

      When displaying a menu,  PD Menu will check to see how close the
      bottom of the menu is to the bottom of the screen.   If the menu
      gets too close,  it will create another menu right along side of
      the original one, displaying all the commands to the caller.  If
      you position your menus to close to the center though,  the next
      row of commands will slightly overlap the first. The best way to
      find what works the best for you, is to just play  with the menu
      positioning a bit.


      
                                                               Page 5

      USING THE PD MENU CONFIGURATION PROGRAM (PDMENU.WCX)
      ________________________________________________________________
      PDMENU.WCX allows you to edit the properties of each menu,  edit
      the description for the different background menus, and select a
      default background menu.    You can also enter your registration
      number for PD Menu from this menu, once you have registered it.


      Editing menu properties:
      ________________________________________________________________
      When you select [E]dit menu properties, it starts with the first
      menu defined in wcMenu (normally your main menu).

      Available commands:

      [M]  Allows you to adjust the horizontal and vertical position.
           When you select this option, you will be able to use your
           cursor keys to adjust the position of a sample menu.

      [B]  Allows you to toggle the option of displaying the actual
           menu display file name for the current menu, instead of
           displaying the PDMENU.BBS background instead.  Note that
           this option still displays the Pull-Down menu itself, and
           that this is to provide different backgrounds per menu.

      [S]  This option allows you to toggle the option of displaying
           the name of the menu at the top.

      [C]  Allows you to toggle between using PD Menu (grey-tone)
           colors, or the menu colors defined in wcConfig.  The colors
           used from wcConfig are listed below

      [L]  Toggles the option for clearing the screen before and after
           executing commands.

      [N]  Goes to the next menu defined in wcMenu

      [P]  Goes to the previous menu defined in wcMenu

      [Q]  Quit the program, and return to your Sysop menu

      [R]  Allows you to enter your registration number if you have
           not already registered

      Each time you press [N]ext or [P]rev, your current menu settings
      are saved.   The actual files you are editing exist in your menu
      directory  (C:\WC5\MENU)  and are named "PDMENUn.CFG"  where the
      n is equal to the menu number as defined in wcMenu.

      PD Menu version 3.30 and above now include a  sysop-configurable
      "Task Bar".   You should find the settings for this optional new
      to be self-expanatory.  






                                                               Page 6

      CHANGING THE COLOR OF YOUR MENUS
      ________________________________________________________________
      You can now use Wildcat's user-defined menu colors from wcConfig
      by toggling option "[C] Use PD Menu Color" to "No". PD Menu will
      then use the following color codes:

            Menu Title and Hotkeys:  @P@
            Menu Item descriptions:  @Q@
            Menu Highlight color  :  @O@
            Menu Shadow color     :  @S@

      This means that you can change the color of all your PD Menus by
      simply changing them in wcConfig_Colors.


      DESCRIBING EACH OF YOUR BACKGROUND MENUS
      ________________________________________________________________
      You may want to change the  descriptions of your menus from time
      to time,  and it can be done by selecting  [D]escribe background
      menus.   This is  particularly helpful when you want to use your
      own menus.  To change the description of a background menu,  all
      you need to do is select the menu you want to change (1-8),  and
      you will be prompted to enter a new description.


      USING YOUR OWN ANSI MENUS WITH PD MENU
      ________________________________________________________________
      You will notice that in  your  menu directory,  you have 8 files
      named PDMENUn.BBS,  and one file called PDMENU.BBS.  The 8 files
      that  include a number,  are associated with the number provided
      when selecting a background menu.  You,  the SysOp, can select a
      menu to be used as a default,  which  will be copied,  and named
      PDMENU.BBS.   When the user selects a menu,  it is recorded in a
      data file,  and  will not change the default menu  that you have
      pre-selected.   When the caller  returns  to  your BBS,  PD Menu
      reads this data file,  and uses  only the menu that they prefer.
      Remember that if you don't  want to give your users this option,
      you can simply remove the  program PDUSER.WCX from the menu,  or
      change the access required to run it.
      
      To use your own menus,  just remember to copy, or rename them to
      PDMENUn.BBS,  and  then change the  description for that menu by
      running  PDMENU.WCX (Configuration),  and selecting [D]-Describe
      background menus.     


      SELECTING YOUR OWN PERSONAL BACKGROUND MENU
      ________________________________________________________________
      You,  and your users can use PDUSER.WCX to select the background
      menu of your choice.  By using this program,  you can select one
      of the eight available background menus you have available.

      Once you  have selected the  background you prefer,  your choice
      is saved,  and will be used next time you login as well.  Giving
      your users the option to select their  own menus will not affect
      the menu that you select to be used as the default.


                                                                PAGE 7

      All selections are  saved to a filed  called PDMUSER.DAT in your
      menu  directory.   Each user will take up 61  bytes.   To figure
      out how large  this file will be,  multiply  this  number by the
      amount of users you have.  


      DISABLING PD MENU
      ________________________________________________________________
      If you suspect that PD Menu is causing your BBS to crash for any
      reason, you can disable it by running PDMENU.WCX, (configuration
      program),  select [E] to edit the properties of your menus,  and
      select  [D]isable PD Menu.   This will force your BBS to use the
      file WCMENU.WCX,  which is a copy of the original Wildcat!  menu
      system.


      SHAREWARE NOTICE
      ________________________________________________________________
      This product is released  as shareware,  which means that if you
      continue to  use it for more than the 30-day trial period,  it's
      time to consider registering it with the author.    You can also
      support the shareware concept by "subscribing" to C.L.O.A. which
      registers all wcCode applications for Wildcat! 5.  For more info
      please refer to REGISTER.TXT and CLASS.TXT, both of which should
      always be included with all CLOA wcCode products.

      There are no limitations to the un-registered version,  however,
      an intro screen will be displayed when a caller finishes the log
      on process, and enters the menu system.  

      DISCLAIMER
      ________________________________________________________________
      By using this, and any other CLOA product,  you assume liability
      for it. The author cannot in any way be held responsible for any
      damages that occur from the use, or misuse of such products.


      YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS ARE WELCOME
      ________________________________________________________________
      If you have any suggestions on how to improve this, or any other
      CLOA wcCode product, please send them my way!   I appreciate all
      the input I can get!   See the top of this document for where to
      contact me.

      AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
      ________________________________________________________________
      My thanks to the folks at MSI for continuing  to provide us with
      the very finest in BBS software,  and the supurb means for which
      to customize it!  

      My BIG thanks go out to all my  alpha and beta testers!  I could
      never write such quality software without every one of you!
      My warmest regards to all the folks that have supported my never
      ending quest to provide  top-quality wcCode products to Wildcat!
      SysOps around the world.


