Xref: utzoo comp.unix.xenix:9310 comp.sources.wanted:10007 comp.sys.ibm.pc:41254
Path: utzoo!censor!dybbuk!yunexus!ists!yunccn!shields
From: shields@nccn.yorku.ca (Paul Shields)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix,comp.sources.wanted,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Need Suggestions; Menu Software
Message-ID: <9001041152.AA04244@nccn.yorku.ca>
Date: 3 Jan 90 15:22:20 GMT
References: <1102@crpmks.UUCP>
Reply-To: shields@nccn.yorku.ca (Paul Shields)
Organization: York University
Lines: 49
To: nccn-rnews@nccn.yorku.ca

In article <1102@crpmks.UUCP> garyb@crpmks.UUCP (Gary Blumenstein) writes:
>Can anyone out there recommend a decent menu generating utility that
>will run under XENIX?  We have a need for such a program which will let  
>us create a fairly extensive set of nested menus.  The program must be
>able to exec() as the highest level shell and the interface must be
>text-based, consistent, terminal independant, and pleasing to look at.


I wrote one three years ago and have been using it here at nccn.yorku.ca
ever since.  The Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science adopted it
as its standard U.I. in 1988.  

I'll post it to the net if enough people out there want it.

It is...
 - text based;
 - pleasing to look at;
 - terminal independent
	-> makes use of termcap;
	-> is command based, because there is not really any standard
	   for cursor moves.
 - built to guide the computer-illiterate user
	-> case-insensitive, 
	-> commands and may be shortest unique string.
 - compact and fast;
 - a consistent menu hierarchy, not limited to a strict tree hierarchy
   (ie: multiple roots and common sub-menus are ok.)
 - easy to configure;
 - loads the menu configuration when it runs, making it customizable on
   a per-user / per-invocation basis; 
 - known to run on at least Xenix, MS-DOS, and BSD UNIX platforms;
 - written in C, with emphasis on modularity and portability. 

The thing it doesn't do,

>[...] The program must be able to exec() as the highest level shell

It was designed to run under csh, to keep it small in size.  I haven't
encountered problems with using it this way.

I will provide you with full sources (110 KB) and all the documentation
I have, if you'd like to have it. 

Please let me know.

--
Paul Shields
Programmer for the Native Computer Communications Network
shields@nccn.yorku.ca