Item descriptors for menus

In each set of item descriptors, the name descriptor must be first; but others may be in any order. If a descriptor appears more than once in a set, the last one is used.

action

The action descriptor defines an action to be executed when the user selects this item in a single-select menu. Multiple backquoted expressions are allowed, as they are with any descriptor, but the final value of this descriptor must be a single FMLI command.

If the menu is multi-select (multiselect=true), the nature of this descriptor changes: FMLI commands are ignored if defined in this descriptor; however, backquoted expressions are executed when the item is marked.

description

The description descriptor defines a string which is displayed to the right of the item name but which is not highlighted when the cursor is on the item. When this descriptor is defined for any item in a menu, that menu will automatically display a single column of items, even if columns is defined.

inactive

The inactive descriptor defines an item as inactive when the menu is displayed. An item that is inactive cannot be navigated to, and consequently cannot be selected or un-selected. If not defined, inactive defaults to FALSE. If this descriptor evaluates to TRUE, the item is displayed with half-bright attribute (on most terminals). In multi-select menus, an inactive item can be selected only if the inactive descriptor evaluates to TRUE for the item.

interrupt

The Boolean descriptor interrupt defines whether an executable that is coded in action or done descriptors can be interrupted by users (FALSE means not interruptible, TRUE means interruptible). It is subject to an inheritance hierarchy: if not defined anywhere in your application, the default value FALSE applies throughout. If explicitly defined at any inheritance level, then executables in action and done descriptors at or above that inheritance level will inherit that defined value. (See ``Interrupt signal handling'' for complete information.)

If defined in a set of item descriptors in a menu definition file, that value of interrupt is inherited only by that menu item.

itemmsg

The itemmsg descriptor defines information that will be displayed on the message line when the item is navigated to. The itemmsg descriptor displays a message with transient duration. That is, it remains on the message line only until the user presses another key or a checkworld occurs. Transient messages take precedence over frame duration messages and permanent duration messages (see message(1fmli) for more information).

lininfo

The lininfo descriptor defines a string that will be assigned to the local environment variable LININFO when the user selects this menu item. If lininfo is not defined, LININFO evaluates to null. In multi-select menus, when the getitems built-in utility is executed, if lininfo is defined and this item is marked, its value is output.

name

The name descriptor defines a string that will appear in the menu, identifying the menu item. This string is highlighted when the item is navigated to. For multi-select menus, when the getitems built-in utility is executed, and the lininfo descriptor has not been defined for this marked item, the value of the name descriptor is output.

oninterrupt

The command descriptor oninterrupt defines what will happen when an interrupt signal is received. If interrupt is not coded anywhere in your application, or if it evaluates to FALSE, oninterrupt is ignored.

oninterrupt is subject to an inheritance hierarchy: if not defined anywhere in your application, the default value `message Operation interrupted!` nop applies throughout. If explicitly defined at any inheritance level, then executables in action and done descriptors at or above that inheritance level will inherit that defined value. (See ``Interrupt signal handling'' for complete information.)

If defined in a set of item descriptors in a menu definition file, that value of oninterrupt is inherited only by that menu item.

inactive

The selected descriptor defines whether a menu item in a multi-select menu should default to selected (TRUE) or not selected (FALSE) when the menu is opened. If selected evaluates to TRUE, the item is marked with the selected icon (an asterisk) when the menu is opened. If this descriptor is not defined, it defaults to FALSE. This descriptor is ignored when multiselect evaluates to FALSE (that is, in single-select menus).

show

The show descriptor defines whether this menu item will be displayed. If this descriptor is not defined, it defaults to TRUE, and the menu item will be displayed. If it evaluates to FALSE, the menu item will not be displayed.

See ``Application level definition files'' for a discussion of how to use the screen-labeled function key descriptors.