OTHER FOXBASE from page 2

more than a Large switch implemented as

a DO CASE construct with each CASE

containing a DO command to transfer

control to the appropriate processing pro-

gram.

PARAMETERS men, command

DO CASE

CASE men=1

DO CASE

CASE command=1

DO program A

CASE command=2

DO program B

CASE command=3

DO program C

ENDCASE

CASE men =2

DO CASE

CASE command=1

DO program D

This straightforward approach will get

you a functional menu facility that Looks

and feels like the menu on any Mac pro-

gram. There are also several options that

let you dress it up by styling the menu

commands with boLd or italic, inserting

separators for groupingcommands on the

menus, and defining command key

equivalents.

With two other commands you can

disable and enable individual commands

or entire menus on the fly, to keep users

in a channel or temporarily prevent them

from wandering into trouble. MENU

OFF 1 will “grey out” menu 1 so that user

can see it but can not activate any com-

mands, while MENU OFF 1,3 will disable

only command 3 on menu 1. Likewise

MENU ON 1,3 will turn it back on again.

You can also turn menu elements off

“permanently”so users can see the whole

menu structure but

can’t activate

commands that

are not yet imple-

mented.

The steps

described above

build menus “to

the right” of the

Edit menu on a

standard Mac

menu bar - that is,

menu 1 is the one

next to Edit. It is

also possible, with several restrictions, to

manipulate commands that appear on

the Apple, File, and Edit menus.

As you can see it isn’t very difficult to

construct a menu facility that is tailored

to the unique requirements of a custom

application. When combined with the

normal Mac screen control mechanisms

the result is a high degree of flexibility for

the user to navigate and change direction

at will. And, by the way, this all works

under Multifinder, so the users also have

quick access to other applications in the

normal way.

ADDRESS CORRECTION

REQUESTED

14

FIRST CLASS MAIL

LA. FOX

CHARLES H. WILLIAMS

MACINTOSH CONSULTANT

Macintosh Expertise plus Management Expertise

213 539-9439

977 Ashbridge Lane, Harbor eiiy, California, 90710

L.A. FOX

2616 Vargas Way

Redondo Beach, CA 90278