Using the Custom Menu Feature

About the Custom Menu feature

As an administrator, you can add a custom menu to the Financial Analyzer menu bar. The custom menu can contain menu groups and menu items.

• Menu group -- Provides access to a submenu of related menu items. You can add up to ten menu groups to a custom menu.

• Menu item -- Accesses a single executable or Express program.

The menu structure that you create can include one or more single-level menu items, one or more menu groups (each of which branches to multiple menu items), or a combination of menu items and menu groups.

Creating a custom menu

You choose Custom Menus from the Tools menu to create a custom menu. This opens the Custom Menus dialog box, where you can perform the following functions:

• Enter a descriptive name for the custom menu.

• Insert one or more menu groups and specify the order in which they will appear on the menu.

• Insert one or more menu items under the main menu or a menu group, specify the order in which items will appear, and provide information about the custom programs that are called by the menu items.

You provide the following information for each menu item:

• The type of users who will have access to the menu item.

• The type of program that the menu item will call: Express routine or an executable.

• The name of the program that will run when a user chooses the custom menu item.

• If users will be prompted to provide information in order for the program to run, the text that will prompt the user for input.

• How the custom program window will appear to the user: Normal, Minimized, or Maximized.

• If a message will be displayed when the program is completed.

Example: Creating a custom menu

The following illustration shows the Custom Menus dialog box for a custom menu that includes one group and one item. In this example, the menu name is Custom Programs, the menu group is APIs, and the menu item under the menu group is API123, an Express program.

How the custom menu is displayed

The custom menu is displayed on your Financial Analyzer menu bar after you have created at least one custom menu group or item. If you do not change the menu name, the menu bar displays the default name, "Add-In,"; if you change the menu name, the menu bar displays the name that you provide.

Distributing the custom menu

You distribute custom menu groups and items to the users who need access to these programs. You can give different users access to different options.

Note: While you can use Financial Analyzer's distribution feature to propagate the custom menu groups and items that you create, you cannot use it to distribute your custom programs. You must perform this task manually.

Modifying the Custom menu

You choose Custom Menus from the Tools menu to modify the custom menu. This opens the Custom Menus dialog box, where you can change information for menu name, menu groups, and menu items. You can also rearrange the order of groups and items on the menu and delete a group, an item, or even the entire menu.

Ensure that you distribute custom menu modifications to the appropriate users.

Related information

For more information about working with a custom menu, see the following topics in the Financial Analyzer Help system:

"Creating Custom Menu Groups and Items"

"Deleting Custom Menu Groups and Items"