Menu Generator

Overview

Control user access and make the system easy to use with the Menu Generator.

Setup custom User Menus to tailor the system to meet your needs. For example, a company User Menu can be created in the menu generator. Each user then has their sign-on User Menu updated with the same menu name. Although everyone sees the same menu, their Security Code(s) will limit the menu options they can view and therefore access.

To setup menus quickly, "reverse engineer" existing menus. Use Alt+M to view menus to see how they are setup and what the name of their option Action is. Then create your own menu, using those same Actions but with your own custom text for the menu option. Mix and match all the menu options you need, and even create a hierarchy of menus, for example, a menu just for reports.

Building Menus

Bring to foreground any menu you wish to see the details of. Press Alt+M  to invoke the Menu Generator (you must have an OpenInsight user level of System Administrator). The details of the current menu will fill in.

Can also be accessed from:

            Admin icon

            Utilities Menu

            System Setup Utilities Menu

            Menu Generator

Menu Name - Name may already be filled in if Alt+M was used to access this window. For a new menu, click Clear to clear this window and type in new name. A lookup is available for previously created menus.
Note: If this is a menu to be triggered by a user logging in and using the user menu icon, add this name to the User Menu field on the sign-on window.

UL Corner - The upper-left corner of the menu. This is to tile open menus so that the user "sees" the each menu by the offset borders of the next new menu that opens. Suggest using 30,30 for first level menus, 60,60 for second, 90,90 for third, etc. when building a hierarchy of menus.

Menu Title - Mixed case description of Menu Option which appears at top of menu. Can be anything you want.

Keyword - Use keywords for organization to categorize menus by department, shift or crew, or by any other grouping.  Or, use your initials for the keyword to quickly find all of your custom menus in the lookup of menus by keyword.

Button Width - defaults; do not recommend changing.

Menu Width - defaults; do not recommend changing.

Menu Height - defaults; do not recommend changing.

Online Help - What part of the on-line manual will be accessed when pressing Shift+F1. (Should be related to this topic.)

Options - Text that will appear on Menu Option. Use mixed upper/lowercase characters for readability.

Tech tip: This description may include brief instructions.

Type - M=Menu, W=Window (data entry), R=Report, G=Graph, L=Lookup (iMapcon&PocketMaint), S=Subroutine, ?=Message

Action - This is the formal name of the menu, report, data entry window, etc. Must correspond with Type. For example, if type is R, the Action must be a legitimate, existing report name. If type is M, then the Action must match an existing menu name in the system.

Parameters - Optional: Rarely used, but sometimes a parameter is needed to perform an action. For example, the print work order routine requires SKIP as a parameter or an error message is given.

Security - Optional: Enter a security code. Only users with a matching (or higher) security code level will see this menu option. If left blank, any user able to get this far can see and use this menu option.

Use the Test Menu button to view how the menu will look. If long text descriptions get cut off, slightly adjust the Button width.

Click Save after making changes.

To see changes to a menu, first close the menu, then re-open menu to see changes. Logging out of Mapcon is not necessary, closing the menu is.