Qcascade Menu Editor for Q68

After some more work the mini menu editor for Qcascade has reached operational capability.
The idea of MenuEdit_QCSCDE_rc_bas and Make_Qcascade_rc_bas was to simplify and make more flexible the creation of small menus for use with Qcascade. As explained in the previous post the Qcascade _rc file and all the applications that will feature on the menu are located in a directory called APPS on win1_. EX Make_Qcascade_rc_bas, ideally from the Qcascade menu, and it will create a simple qcascade_rc filr incorporating all the files in the APPS directory. Next once the
 basic _rc file has been created EX MenuEdit_QCSCDE_rc_bas to embellish the menu derived from the _rc file with additional discription of the featured files if required. To add files to the menu add to the APPS directory and EX Make_Qcascade_rc_bas to update the _rc file, and that's it.

Writing MenuEdit_QCSCDE_rc_bas with the QPTR toolkit has not only refreshed my knowledge of this amazing toolkit but has also been a major learning experience as although I have written a number of QPTR based programs previously It seems I have only scratched the surface of what can be done with QPTR. Thanks also to Wolfgang Lenerz programming QPTR series in QLToday from the July/August 2002 issue through to the August/October 2004 issue.

Qcascade Menu Editor a work in progress for the Q68

There are now a plethora of free front ends for QL systems, many formerly commercial programs are now freeware. Several such as Launchpad, QDock and Go are from Dilwyn Jones. Then there is QTOP from CWO and Cueshell and QDT. There are also the more complex to customise ProWess and Proforma. Some require a bit of customisation but those from Dilwyn Jones are usually set up through the familiar config block and menu config and the point and click with the program. Where does this leave an old program like Qcascade, a drop down menu system from the 1990s written in C and using environment variables and a configuration script. The configuration script can be quite a tortuous process to set up especially if all the potential complexity of the software is used. As a result once configured it is not one that encourages change and adaption.

Acquisition of a Q68 has resulted in a new look at the use of Qcascade in the set up of this system. The Q68 system with 8 QXL.win files on SDHC card as "hard drives" has the potential to have access to up to 2-4 GB of files depending on the size of the QXL.win containers. The Q68 comes with a boot file for QDT and QDock as alternative desk top front ends. Speed on the Q68 system is dependent on screen size and colours used. Here there is a Q60 so for compatibility the 512x384 16 bit colour resolution works best with a speed that is similar to a SGcard/Aurora set up.

Given that Qdock had been chosen for the main front end it seemed that the best role for Qcascade would be to provide a menu of little apps that might be used to help with other tasks. As there was plenty of disk space programs were copied in to a directory on Win1_, neatly called APPS_.

A SBASIC program called "Make_QCSCDE_rc_bas" was created. When run this program scans the APPS_ directory and creates a new _rc file for Qcascade. To add programs to the menu, copy the program to the APPS_ directory and run "Make_QCSCDE_rc_bas"., place the mouse over the Qcascade button and press ESC and next time the menu is used the new app is on the menu. To remove - delete the program from the APPS_ folder and rebuild the menu as before. To make it really easy copy "Make_QCSCDE_rc_bas" to the APPS_ folder and run it from the menu. Simple.

Anyway here are 2 screen dumps.  One of the menu, and one of the next part of the project a pointer driven menu editor.Both programs have been written using QPTR 0.14 and show the use of 16 bit WMAN colours.