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       Creating your menus
       ------------------------------------------------------------

       Change to the system directory and fire up RACONFIG.EXE then
       select MANAGERS/MENUS;  this  then  takes  you into the menu
       editing  utility  which allows you to create and  edit  your
       menus.   When  run  it  will  present  you  with  a  list of
       languages,  after  selecting  the language  of the files you
       wish  to edit  you will then  be shown a  directory of menus
       that have already  been  created for that  language - select
       one,  with  the  cursor  keys and  press RETURN to edit,  or
       simply press ESCAPE to create a new menu.

       A  large  window  is opened that displays  a  line  by  line
       summary  of the menu.  You may select a menu item to work on
       by moving the highlight bar to the item with the cursor. You
       can then edit the following fields :


          User       : This field allows  you to  define what  will
          display      be displayed  to the  user on  the  menu for
                       this  menu  entry.   You may  use  any  text
                       control code in this field (See TEXT CONTROL
                       CODES section for  more information).  After
                       displaying  this  field  RemoteAccess  moves
                       the cursor down  one  line  to  prepare  for
                       the next menu command.   If you place  a ";"
                       as  the last  character on  the user display
                       line  RemoteAccess  will  not  move  down  a
                       and the  user  display  from the  next  menu
                       command will be added to the same line.

          Action     : Determines  what this  menu command will do.
                       (See MENU TYPES for more information).

          Optional   : This line is associated with the ACTION line
          data         and  contains  the option  parameter,  which
                       defines  how  the  various   menu   commands
                       function.   (See  MENU  TYPES   for  further
                       information)

          Hot-Key    : In this field you specify the  key you  want
                       to activate this menu command.

          Automatic  : If enabled  this will make this menu command
                       execute immediately, without the user typing
                       any key.

          Colour     : This defines the colour of the USER DISPLAY.

          Security   : This defines the  minimum security level  at
                       which  a  user can select this menu command.
                       (See   the  SECURITY  section  for   further
                       details)

          Flags      : This sets  the flag  combinations  the  user
                       must have to select the  menu command.  (See
                       the SECURITY section for more details)

       When editing the menus the following  keys are  available to
       assist you:


          [RETURN] - Edit the currently selected menu item.

          [INSERT] - Insert  a new menu item immediately before the
                     current item.

          [DELETE] - Delete the currently selected menu item.

          [ALT-D]  - Simulate what  the menu would look like  to  a
                     user.

          [ALT-L]  - Discard the  present  menu  and  load  another
                     from disk.

          [ALT-N]  - Re-select language.

          [ALT-P]  - View or modify the menu prompt, its colour and
                     the menu highlight colours.

          [ALT-S]  - Save the current menu to disk.



       You can run the menu editor directly,  without  having to go
       through the RACONFIG menus by  using the "-M"  parameter  on
       the RACONFIG command line,  For  example "RACONFIG -M"  (See
       the   section   on  COMMAND-LINE  PARAMETERS   for   further
       information).


       Let's create the LOGOFF menu.  Hit RETURN on the first blank
       menu  item to bring up the EDIT MENU ITEM window.  The first
       line  of this menu will just display a message to the  user,
       so  in  the  USER DISPLAY field,  put "You  have  chosen  to
       disconnect.  You may -". Move to the ACTION field and set it
       to  DISPLAY  ONLY.  Next select a suitable  colour  for  the
       display  line  in  the COLOUR field.  Since this is  only  a
       display line,  leave SECURITY and FLAGS as they  are.  Press
       ESCAPE  to return to the menu list,  and note the entry  you
       have just created.

       Now enter the user options for the menu.  Move to the second
       menu  entry  (add one with the INSERT key if necessary)  and
       press  RETURN  to edit.  We'll give the user the  option  of
       leaving a message to the sysop, so in the USER DISPLAY field
       enter  "<L>eave a message to the sysop".  Set the ACTION  to
       POST  A NEW  MESSAGE (this is under the heading of  MESSAGE-
       BASE COMMANDS). This command requires a couple of parameters
       in the optional data field - the number of the message  area
       to  post the message in and the /T= parameter,  to force the
       message  to be addressed to the sysop.  It might  look  like
       this:


       80 /T=Andrew_Milner


       (Message area 80 is set up as a "Messages to the sysop" area
       that  contains local private messages).  Set the HOT-KEY  to
       "L"  - this is the key that will activate the  function.  We
       want  all  users to be able to leave a message,  so set  the
       security level to 1.

       The  third  line of the menu gives the user  the  option  of
       returning  to  the previous menu,  so set this to a type  3,
       with a suitable display line.

       The  actual log-off command is last.  This will be a type  9
       (Terminate  Call).  Set the hot-key to "G" and  the  display
       line to something like "<G>oodbye (Logoff)".

       The  final step is to set the highlight and prompt  options.
       Press  ALT-P  from the menu list to bring up the  EDIT  MENU
       SETTINGS  window.  Here you can tailor the menu by selecting
       the  menu  prompt  and  its  colour,  along  with  the  menu
       highlight colour.  Each menu line,  in addition to it's  own
       colour,  may  contain an overall menu highlight  colour.  To
       switch between the two colours on a menu line, simply insert
       the    character;  Note that this character isn't  actually
       displayed  to  the  user,   it  just  toggles  the  colours.

       Experiment with this feature by inserting a few  characters
       on display lines and viewing the menu with the ALT-D key.

       Finally,  save  the menu by going back to the menu list  and
       pressing  ALT-S.  Save the menu with the name  LOGOFF.  Now,
       whenever  you need a "Goodbye" option in another menu,  just
       use a gosub (type 2) function to the menu LOGOFF.

       There  is  one  hard-coded  menu  called  TOP.  RemoteAccess
       searches  for this menu when a user logs on and displays  it
       first,  so it MUST be present. The layout of the top menu is
       up to you of course;  it is recommended that you look at the
       menus of other Bulletin Boards so you can incorporate  their
       best features into your own.