Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!oliveb!intelca!mipos3!omepd!davidl
From: davidl@intelob.intel.com (David Levine)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Adding custom DA menus for hierDA
Message-ID: <3828@omepd>
Date: 30 Sep 88 18:34:48 GMT
Sender: news@omepd
Distribution: na
Organization: BiiN Corporation, Hillsboro, Oregon
Lines: 51

I just installed hierDA.  I love it!  But there are some DAs whose
menus do not show up (miniWRITER and Grep-wc 1.1 for two).  I would
like to overcome this by adding MENU resources as described in
hierDA's on-screen documentation.  To wit:
 
	"Not all DAs use the standard approach to menus, so some DAs
	which do use menus may not have submenus.  This is not a bug.

	...

	Hacker Info
	----------
	    hierDA takes its cues from a DA's MENU resources.  To
	customize a Desk Accessory's submenu menu, add a menu to the
	DA with sub-ID 31.  It will be used as the submenu instead
	of the DA's menu, without affecting the DA whatsoever.
	hierDA keys off menu item strings, not item numbers, so you
	can add/delete freely.  (You could use this to put a small
	font list onto Key Caps, for example, or to rip out
	everything in DiskTop's menu except ShutDown.)  Do not
	modify a DA's _existing_ MENU resource, as this tends to
	cause a LOT of problems!"

I'm an experienced ResEdit hacker but I'm unfamiliar with the rules
for calculating the ID for an owned resource.

I have three questions:

1. Given a DA whose menu does not appear in hierDA for whatever reason
("not a bug"), if I create a MENU resource that duplicates the DA's
menu, give it the appropriate ID, and install it, will that make the
menu appear in hierDA?

2. How do I calculate the MENU's ID number?

3. hierDA says to "add [the] menu to the DA."  Where do I install the
MENU resource?  In the System file?  In the DA's suitcase file (under
Suitcase[TM])?

If you can answer these questions, I'd greatly appreciate it.  (If you
can answer these questions, maybe you can tell me why McSink 3.0 is so
hostile to hierDA...)  (No, I haven't tried more recent versions of
McSink.  Yet.)

Thanks a bunch,

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