<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Administration > Database Administration > Setting Preferences > Adding custom menus

Adding custom menus and custom menu commands to Concordance Desktop is one of the many features you have available to make your administration job much easier. Having CPL scripts and databases accessible as a shortcut in a menu provides instant access to the tools you need to use frequently. You can apply these menus and menu commands to the current database or all databases. You can add custom menu commands to existing or custom Concordance Desktop menus. By default, all users will be able to use and access the custom menu and menu command. To restrict custom menus and menu commands to a specific user, you need to add the user and the custom menu command for the user in the Added Menu Items dialog box.

If you are familiar with programming and took a Concordance Desktop CPL class, you can add your own CPL scripts to a custom menu, which  launches these programs without having to navigate to their directory folder.

The following file types can be opened from Concordance Desktop custom menus:

•Database file (.dcb, .fyi)

•CPL file (.cpt, .cpt)

•Report file (.arp)

•Print file (.fmt)

•Concatenation file (.cat)

•Snapshot file (.snp)

•Query file (.qry)

•PDF file (.pdf)

To Add a Custom Menu and Menu Command

1.In Concordance Desktop, open the database you want to add a custom menu and custom menu command.

2.On the File menu, click Administration, and then Added menu items.

i.The User field comes with a pre-defined Default user ID.

ii.The Default user ID works on databases that do not have security enabled or and databases with a default user ID defined in the Security dialog box.

iii.Creating a custom menu and/or menu command for the Default user ID allows all users to view and access the menu and menu command.

iv.To restrict access to the custom menu and/or menu command, you need to add each of the users you want to have access to the menu and/or menu command to the User field, and create the custom menu and/or menu command for each of the users you created. The users you create must already be added to the database, and the user IDs you create in the User field must match the users' database user IDs in the Security dialog box.

3.To add a user to the User field, select all the text in the user list, and type the new user name, and click the Add button.

i.To add a custom menu and/or menu command for an existing user ID in the User field, in the User field, click the applicable user ID.

ii.In the Database field, located in the Added menu items section, the current database name is displayed. The custom menu and/or menu command will be created in the current database unless you want to add the custom menu and/or menu command to all databases. If the current database is part of a concatenated database group, you can also add the custom menu and/or menu command to any database in the concatenated group.  

4.To add the custom menu and/or custom menu command to all databases, in the Database field, click All databases.

i.To add the custom menu and/or custom menu command to database in a concatenated database group, in the Database field, click the applicable database.

5.In the Menu item section, click the New button to create the custom menu and/or menu command.

6.Click the File button to open the Open dialog box.

7.Browse to and click the file you want to launch from the custom menu command, and click the Open button.

i.Clicking the Open button, adds the file name and path to the File field.

ii.Concordance Desktop custom menus can open the following file types:

oDatabase file (.dcb, .fyi)

oCPL file (.cpl, .cpt)

oReport file (.arp)

oPrint file (.fmt)

oConcatenation file (.cat)

oSnapshot file (.snp)

oQuery file (.qry)

oPDF file (.pdf)

iii.You can add a custom menu command to a custom menu or an existing Concordance Desktop menu.

8.To add the custom menu command to an existing Concordance Desktop menu, in the Menu field, click the menu you want to add the custom menu command.

i.To add the custom menu command to a custom menu, in the Menu field, type the name of the custom menu you want to create. The menu name you type in the Menu field is the menu name that will be displayed on the Concordance Desktop Menu bar.

ii.For custom menus, the Position field determines where the menu is displayed on the Menu bar.

iii.For custom menu commands in an existing Concordance Desktop menu, the Position field determines where the custom menu commands is displayed in the menu.

iv.The Position field defaults to -1.

9.In the Position field, type the position number you want the custom menu and/or custom menu command to be displayed.

i.When you are creating a custom menu, zero is the first position on the left on the Menu bar. For example, if you typed 0 in the Position field, the custom menu will be displayed to the left of the File menu. Positive position numbers will move the custom menu the number of places to the right. For example, if you type +3 in the Position field, the custom menu will be displayed 3 places to the right. Typing -1 places the custom menu to the right of the Help menu.

ii.Negative position values start at the right and work their way left on the Menu bar. Positive position values start at the left and work  their way right on the Menu bar.

iii.When you are creating a custom menu command, zero is the first position at the top of the menu. Positive position numbers will move the custom menu command the number of places down from the top of the menu. For example if you add a custom menu command to the File menu and type 3 in the Position field, the custom menu command will be displayed between the Snapshot and Close commands on the File menu. Typing -1 places the custom menu command at the bottom of the menu.

iv.Negative position values start at the bottom and work their way up the menu. Positive position values start at the top and work their way down the menu.

10.In the Display name field, type the custom menu command name as you want it to appear in the menu.

i.If the custom menu command opens a CPL program file, you can have Concordance Desktop run a specific function within the program file by adding the function value to the Function field. This should be a complete and valid CPL function call, such as main() or myfunction( "Hello", 1, 2, 3). This allows you to create a single CPL file with a complete set of functions to handle different menu items.

11.To run a specific function within the CPL program file selected for the custom menu, in the Function field, type the full CPL function call.

i.For all other custom menu commands, leave the Function field blank.

ii.Once you have finished adding a custom menu and/or custom menu command, it is listed in the Added menu items section. If you are creating multiple custom menus and/or custom menu commands, you can organize the display order of the custom menus, and the custom menu commands within the same menu by clicking the Move up and Move down buttons.

iii.When determining the display position of custom menus and/or custom menu commands in relation to each other, sometimes it is easier to leave the Position field set to -1 for each menu and menu commands, and just use the Move up and Move down buttons to position them.

12.Click OK to save your custom menu and/or custom menu command.

i.You may need to close out of Concordance Desktop and log back in to activate the new menu settings.