Windowless Mode

In windowless mode MenuBox acts as a non-graphical document or application launcher. The functionality made available by the [Windowless] section of the configuration file, which is described below, is equivalent to that provided by the command line options.

The [Windowless] section also shares most keys which the [ApplicationCheck] section (where a file is launched based on certain conditions) and the [Link] section (where a file is launched based on user action), and with the browser window mode's window.external.execute() method and the corresponding menubox_execute() script function, where the launching of files is controlled from within an HTML document. The only exception in this group is that the Wait key is not available in the [Link] section (where control over user interaction is always immediately returned to MenuBox) and in the [ApplicationCheck] section (where Wait behavior is implicit in the Retry action).

A single, optional [Windowless] section may appear anywhere in the MenuBox configuration file. If the [SimpleWindow] and/or [BrowserWindow] section are also present, [Windowless] is always executed first, before a window is opened. If one or more [ApplicationCheck] sections are present, then the [Windowless] section is processed only if no [ApplicationCheck] section has disabled the [Windowless] section as a result of its ProceedSuccess or ProceedFailure keys.

File = File Name

This key indicates the name of the executable or document file to be opened. It is most frequently either used alone or in combination with a path set via the Directory key.

The string can be a file name, with or without a path (e.g. "setupviewer.exe", "viewers\ppview97.exe", "..\viewers\myreader.exe" etc.) If you do indicate a path, be sure to indicate a path which does not include a drive letter (otherwise your code will not work if it is executed on a computer with different drive letters) and which is relative to the configuration file (or the directory referenced by the Directory key, if used). You don't need to indicate a path if the file to be executed is in the same directory as the configuration file (or the directory referenced by the Directory key, if used).

If you reference an HTML file using only its name, e.g. "mydoc.html", some web browsers, including Internet Explorer, may try to open the HTTP address "http://mydoc.html/" instead of the intended local file. To avoid this, be sure to always set the AbsolutePath key to True when using the File key to open local documents which are to be opened by internet-enabled viewers. This will make sure that the application knows that it has to deal with a local file rather than with an item on the internet.

In order not to introduce a difference between the current directory and the directory in which the file is stored, it is, especially for older software, most prudent to use the Directory key to specify a path, instead of indicating a path in the File key. This is because some older and/or poorly written programs can get "confused" if they need to use relative paths to open additional files which are not in the same directory in which they are running from. If the Directory key is used, then the file and path (if indicated) referenced by the File key are relative to the path of the Directory option.

Filex86 = File Name

Identical to File, but only opens or executes the file on an x86 operating system.

This key is optional. If the File key is also present, it is ignored. The key may be combined with Filex64 in the same section to open or execute different files on different systems.

Filex64 = File Name

Identical to File, but only opens or executes the file on an x64 operating system.

This key is optional. If the File key is also present, it is ignored. The key may be combined with Filex86 in the same section to open or execute different files on different systems.

Parameters = String

This string indicates an optional set of one or more parameters (e.g. a file name, or command line options) which is passed to the executable referenced by the File key.

This key is optional.

Directory = Path

This string indicates the directory which will become the current directory before processing the File key. By default, the current directory is the directory containing the configuration file.

Be sure to indicate a directory path which does not include a drive letter (otherwise your code will not work if it is executed on a computer with different drive letters) and which is relative to the configuration file.

This key is optional.

Verb = Open | Edit | Explore | Print | Play | Properties | Custom String

This optional key indicates the action to be performed, e.g. "edit", "explore", "print", "play", "properties", etc. The default action is application-specific, and for most application and document types it is "open".

The exact meaning of some generic verbs may vary. For example, explicitly using "open" when trying to run an executable file may, on some systems, open a hex editor displaying the content of the file, instead of causing the file to be run. In this case, not using the Verb key is the best way to ensure that an executable file referenced by the File key is actually run, rather than edited.

This key is optional.

Show = Normal | Minimized | Maximized | Custom String or Numerical ID

This optional key indicates how the application referenced by the File key should be opened (minimized window, maximized window, etc.) The default behavior is always "Normal".

This key is processed by the application, not by MenuBox. If you are familiar with the specific application you are going to launch you can also use custom strings or their equivalent numerical ID. The full set of supported custom strings is: Hide, ShowNormal, Normal, ShowMinimized, ShowMaximized, Maximize, ShowNoActivate, Show, Minimize, ShowMinNoActive, ShowNA, Restore, ShowDefault, ForceMinimize.

This key is optional.

AbsolutePath = Boolean

If this key is set to True, MenuBox inserts absolute path information at the beginning of the string referenced by the Parameters key.

For example, if you create a DVD-ROM application where:

1. MenuBox and its configuration file are stored in the "MenuBox" directory on the DVD
2. The DVD is run from the D drive on the user's computer
3. The File key indicates "myprogram.exe"
4. The Parameters key is set to "mydocument.xyz"
5. The Directory key is set to "..\myprograms\"

MenuBox will first set the current directory to "myprograms", and then launch "myprogram.exe D:\myprograms\mydocument.xyz" (instead of "myprogram.exe mydocument.xyz", as would be the case without the AbsolutePath flag). Quote characters are recognized and/or added (if the path contains spaces) around the path and file name.

This key has been designed to support some specific applications where the document name is the first or only parameter, and in which functionality (for example the ability to reference links) is impaired unless the full (absolute) path is indicated with the document file name.

This key is optional.

Wait = Boolean

If this key is set to True MenuBox waits until the execution of the application referenced by File has completed before exiting. If the application was already open (instead of having been launched by MenuBox) then Wait has no effect.

This key is optional.