Menus — worked example

KCML menus (.Menu$) cover both the menu bar at the top of a form and context (popup) menus. Items are declared flat and a .Flag value on each item encodes the hierarchy — which items open a submenu, which close it, and where the separators go.

A form with a File / Edit menu bar and a 'Show context menu' button.

Verified by execution on KCML 06.00.88 (KClient direct mode).

What it demonstrates

The program (key parts)

01010 - DEFFORM MenuTest()=\
       {.form,.form$,.Style=0x50c000c4,.Width=400,.Height=220,.Text$="Menu Test",.Id=1024,.Menu=.menuBar},\
       {.menuBar,.Menu$,.Id=100,\
            .mnuFile={.Flag=16,.Text$="&File"},\
            .mnuNew={.Text$="&New"},\
            .mnuOpen={.Text$="&Open"},\
            .mnuFsep={.Flag=2048},\
            .mnuExit={.Flag=128,.Text$="E&xit"},\
            .mnuEdit={.Flag=144,.Text$="&Edit"},\
            .mnuCopy={.Text$="&Copy"},\
            .mnuPaste={.Flag=128,.Text$="&Paste"},\
            .mnuView={.Flag=144,.Text$="&View"},\
            .mnuToggleHi={.Flag=128,.Text$="Toggle &Highlight"}},\
       {.ctxMenu,.Menu$,.Style=0x01,.Id=101,\
            .ctxA={.Text$="Context A"},\
            .ctxB={.Text$="Context B"},\
            .ctxSep={.Flag=2048},\
            .ctxC={.Text$="Context C"}},\
       {.btnPopup,.button$,.Style=0x50010000,.Left=10,.Top=60,.Width=140,.Height=14,.Text$="Show context menu",.Id=2002,.Font=.SegoeCtl},\
       {.btnClose,.button$,.Style=0x50010001,.Left=305,.Top=170,.Width=80,.Height=14,.Text$="Close",.Id=1,.Font=.SegoeCtl},\
       {.paneStatus,.status$,.Width=400,.Style=0x50000000,.Text$="Ready"},\
       {.SegoeCtl,.dlgfont$,.Name$="Segoe UI",.Size=10}
    :     + DEFEVENT MenuTest.btnPopup.Click()
    :         .ctxMenu.TrackPopup(30, 90)
    :     END EVENT
    :     + DEFEVENT MenuTest.menuBar.mnuNew.Select()
    :         .lblLast.Text$ = "File > New"
    :     END EVENT
    :     + DEFEVENT MenuTest.menuBar.mnuExit.Select()
    :         .form.Terminate(0)
    :     END EVENT
    :     + DEFEVENT MenuTest.menuBar.mnuToggleHi.Select()
    :         IF ..Checked == 1 THEN ..Checked = 0
    :         IF ..Checked == 0 THEN ..Checked = 1   REM toggle the tick
    :     END EVENT
    : FORM END MenuTest

How it works

Flat items, .Flag hierarchy. All menu items are listed at one level inside .Menu$. The .Flag value builds the tree:

.Flag Meaning
16 Start of a popup (this item is a top-level menu like File)
128 End of the current popup (last item in that menu)
144 Close the current popup and start a new one (next top-level menu)
2048 Separator line

So File opens with 16, its last item Exit closes with 128, then Edit both closes File's group and starts its own with 144.

Flat addressing. Even though menus nest visually, you address items flat off the menu: MenuTest.menuBar.mnuNew.Select() — not …mnuFile.mnuNew.

Menu bar vs context menu. Attach a bar to the form with .Menu=.menuBar. A context menu is just a .Menu$ with .Style=0x01; show it on demand with .TrackPopup(x, y) (e.g. from a button or a RightClick() handler).

Accelerators and checks. & in an item's Text$ sets its Alt-key shortcut. For a toggleable item, flip ..Checked in its Select() handler to show/hide the tick.

See also