Structure and function of menu blocks
What is a menu block and what an item
A MENU BLOCK is a list of ITEMS separated by an empty space. Items within each block are displayed with the same color. Each ITEM is the visible string you actually see and can click. When clicked, a command line is submitted to the command sentence interpreter. Complex commands are written as macros.
Some items have filled or empty squares in front of them. This squares mark their status. Clicking on one of them usually does not result in anything, except the change of the mode reflected by the change of the box. Actions happen by clicking other (not-square-headed) related items within the same menu block, which use these modes as parameters.
The file MAIN_CMDS_NEW:load_depp_page.com and MAIN_CMDS:load_depp_page.com (for the older releases) load the initial menu setup. MAIN_CMDS: and MAIN_CMDS_NEW:directories include macros of menu items (".cmds" files) and the "load_...com" files, which load the additional menu blocks. Each menu item command that starts with a "?" checks weather the file with that name is present in your working directory, and when found it is processed, otherwise the default MAIN installation file is taken.
If you want to create your menus, look at the "load" files as examples and see MAIN_COM:menu.html for further instructions.
Menu blocks documentation and documentation mode
Documentation files of menu blocks are stored in MAIN_MENU: directory and are accessible also via MAIN_DOC:dialog_manual.HTML.
When the "Depp pages" window is in the DOCUMENTATION mode, short description of the pressed BLOCK and ITEM is written to the standard output window. The DOCUMENT mode can be turned on or off either by pressing 'h' on the keyboard or by typing the command
> MENU DOCUMENT ON/OFF.