MenuMaker Readme file.
Please read this file before inquiring for help.
You can email me at kenrager@hotmail.com, if you have any questions not
covered in this text file.

MenuMaker requirements:
At least 16 meg of RAM memory.
Windows 98 or greater.
At least 2 megabytes free hard drive space.
GLaunch (Game Launcher) already installed and configured to work properly.
Mame (Multiple Arcade Machines Emulator) installed and configued to run
games properly.

Installing MenuMaker:
Double click on the setup.exe program.
Follow the instructions. It is recommended that you install MenuMaker
into the suggested directory. (C:\GLaunch MenuMaker), however you can
install it to a different directory if desired.
I highly suggest that you make sure the "Create a desktop icon" option
is checked, so that you can run MenuMaker by clicking on the desktop icon.

Running MenuMaker for the first time:
When you first run MenuMaker, you will see a screen that tells you the
program cannot be run from the arcade controls. You will have to click on
the underlined link with your mouse.
This will open up the screen that allows you to set up MenuMaker.
MenuMaker needs to know where the following files are stored:

glaunch.cfg
mame.cfg
mame.map
mame.rom

Using your mouse, navigate to the folder where GLaunch is stored.
You will be notified when it is found.
Click on the NEXT button, click Yes to save the new settings.
The next time you run MenuMaker, the above process will be bypassed,
unless something cahnges, such as the above files get moved to a new
location.
From this point on, you must use the arcade controls, or the following
keyboard keys to navigate through the program.
Arrow up (P1 joystick up)
Arrow Down (P1 joystick down)
Arrow Right (P1 joystick right)
Arrow Left (P1 joystick left)
Number 1 (P1 start)
Left Ctrl (P1 action button 1)
Left Alt (P1 action button 2)
Esc (Game Escape)

Notes about Glaunch:
GLaunch should already be on your computer. It is most likely in a folder
at C:\GLaunch, or it could be installed as a subdirectory of the mame
folder, such as C:\MAME\Glaunch.
The configuration file for Glaunch, glaunch.cfg, should be located
in the Glaunch folder. There should be a sub folder under Glaunch called
"config". This is where the mame.cfg and the mame.map files should be
located.
MenuMaker stores any new favorites lists that you create in the glaunch.cfg file.
This is how glaunch can display your favorites list.
MenuMaker uses the mame.cfg file to copy a new cfg file for your favorites
list.
MenuMaker gets the list of the mame games you have from the mame.map file.

Creating a new Favorites List:
From the opening menu, move right or left to highlight the options menu.
Move up or down to highlight "Create new favorites list."
Press P1 start (keyboard 1)
Using the P1 joystick, or the arrow keys, select the first letter you want
to use in your new list's name.
Press P1 start (keyboard 1) to select the letter.
Continue until you are finished, then navigate to "Done" and press P1 start.
You will be notified if the new name already exists.
Next you may enter a short description, if you wish. Select "Done" when
finished.
You will now see two boxes, one with a list of all the mame games you have.
Move up or down to select a game, then press P1 start to add the game to
your list.
If you wish to remove the game from your list, move left or right to highlight
the favorites list box, then up or down to select the game, then press P1 start
to remove the game from your list.
You can move back to the other box to add more games, if desired.
If you have a lot of games, you can scroll through the list a page at a time
by pressing the P1 action button 1 and action button 2.
When you are finished, press Esc. Your list will be stored.

Editing an existing Favorites List:
On the opening screen, choose which list you want to edit in the left box.
Move left or right to the right box, and choose "Edit the selected favorites list".
Add or remove games from your list by following the instructions outlined in the
last section. Press Esc when you are finished.

Deleting an existing Favorites list:
On the opening screen, choose which list you wish to delete in the left box.
Move left or right to the right box, and choose "Delete the selected favorites list."
Press P1 start. You will be asked to verify the deletion by pressing P1 start again.
You can press ESC to cancel the deletion.

Exitting MenuMaker:
Choose the Cancel option in the right box and press P1 start, or press Esc on this
screen at any time.
Run Galunch, you should see your new favorites game list as an emulator in Glaunch.
You will see the name on top, then the description you gave it, then the list of
games you made.
You can go through the emulators in Glaunch by pressing left CTRL (P1 action 1) or
left Alt (P1 action 2). Refer to the Glaunch documentation for more info on this.

What is going on behind the scenes:
When you create a new favorites menu, for example, lets say you name your new list
"My Games". An emulator will be added to the glaunch.cfg file called glfavMy_Games.
The mame.cfg file will be copied and the copy named "glfavMy_Games".
A new file will be created called glfavMy_Games.map. This is where your list of
favorite games will be stored. Any games you choose will be copied from
the mame.map file to the glfavMy_Games.map file.
Also games you choose will be copied from mame.rom to glfavMy_Games.rom.

If you look at the glaunch.cfg file you should see a line similar to this:
emulators = mame glfavMy_Games
Glaunch will only let you use up to 16 emulator names, so you will only be able to
create as many favorite lists as based upon the number of emulators in glaunch.cfg.
If you are not using all the emulators listed, such as NES or Nesticle, I suggest
you remove them from this line in glaunch.cfg to free up space for your favorites
lists.
Example:
If the line in glaunch.cfg looks like this:
emulators = mame nes nesticle snes
But you are only using mame, then shorten the line to look like this:
emulators = mame
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU MAKE A COPY OF GLAUNCH.CFG BEFORE CHANGING
ANYTHING IN IT! That way you can always go back to the original, just in case
it gets broke.

Running MenuMaker from GLaunch:
If you have an arcade cabinet with joystick and buttons, it may not be so easy
to hook up a keyboard to edit or create your favorites lists.
In this situation, it is desirable to add Menumaker to the Glaunch menu.
Here is how to do this:
In the Glaunch\config folder, there should be a file called misc.cfg
Open this file with a text editor such as Notepad.
You will need to put in a name and a description. Example:

Name = Utilities
Description = Maintenance

You will also have to give a location of the emulator. Example:

directory = C:\glaunch\misc (see note below)

In the name of executable put:

executable = start/wait

In the next line, global_options = dont put anything

Paste the following two lines right below the global_options line:

pre_command = taskkill /f /im glaunch.exe
post_command = start/w c:\glaunch\glaunch (see note below)


In the rom extension line put exe EXE. Example:

rom_extension = exe EXE 

Note: the path examples above are the paths I am using. You will have to 
put the actual paths you are using. For example, if your Glaunch path is
C:\mame\glaunch, then you would use:
directory = C:\mame\glaunch\misc
And:
post_command = start/w c:\mame\glaunch\glaunch

The paths must be correct for this to work right.
After you have modified the misc.cfg file, save it and close.
Now create a new folder in the glaunch folder called misc. Example:
C:\Glaunch\misc

Now you need to open the glaunch.cfg file to add misc as an emulator.
The glaunch.cfg file should be in the Glaunch folder. 
Example:

emulators = mame misc

Save your changes.

You are almost done. The final step is to place a copy of menumaker.exe in
the glaunch\config folder.
Do this by going to where you installed the menumaker.(default is
C:\Glaunch Menumaker).
Right click on the menumaker.exe program and press copy.
Now go to the glaunch\misc folder. Right click and paste it into the misc folder.
Now run Glaunch and see if menumaker is under the "Utilities" emulator list.
You can now run menumaker from there, and return to Glaunch when you exit menumaker.
You can create and edit your favorites lists "on the fly" from your arcade controls!

Troubleshooting:
If MenuMaker doesnt run from Glaunch, you most likely dont have the misc.cfg file set
up correctly. Also, make sure you only copy the menumaker.exe file from the 
folder it was installed to. There will be other files in that folder, including
this readme.txt file. ONLY COPY THE MENUMAKER.EXE FILE TO THE GLAUNCH\MISC FOLDER!
You can run other programs that are in the MISC folder, but to run MenuMaker,
you only need copy the MenuMaker.exe program to MISC.
Double check your misc.cfg file.
Here is a copy of my misc.cfg file, it should be close to what you need, except
your paths might be different.

[Emulator]

# Emulator name, i.e. MAME
name = Utilities

# Short description of emulator, i.e. Arcade Machines
description = Maintenance (Not Games)

# Location of emulator, i.e. c:\mame
directory = c:\glaunch\misc

# Name of emulator executable, i.e. mame.exe
executable = start/wait

# Global options passed to emulator, i.e. -sound 1
global_options =

# Command to run before running executable. If blank, then nothing
# will be run.
pre_command = taskkill /f /im glaunch.exe

# Command to run after running executable. If blank, then nothing
# will be run.
post_command = start/w c:\glaunch\glaunch

# Name of map file. A map file maps short ROM file names to full game
# names.
map_file = misc.map

# Options go before ROM when launching: "yes" or "no".
# i.e. yes: "emulator.exe -option1 -option2 rom"
# no: "emulator.exe rom -option1 -option2"
options_before_rom = 

# Directory to look for screen shot images, i.e. c:\mame\snap
# Supported formats are PCX, PNG, BMP, and JPG.
screen_shot_directory =c:\mame32\snap

# A ROM file is a list of ROMs to use. If set to "no", ROMs are
# scanned for in the rom_directory. If set to "yes" a ROM file (which
# is essentially just a list of ROMs) is used instead of trying scan.
# The default is "no". ROM files are useful for merged ROMs with
# MAME, where the actual ROM names are buried within a ZIP file.
use_rom_file = no

# rom_dir, rom_extension, use_extension, and use_rom_directory are
# only relevant if a ROM file is not used. They are ignored if not
# needed.

# Directory to ROMs
rom_directory = c:\glaunch\misc\

# List of possible ROM extensions (without the ".")
rom_extension = exe EXE

# Use extension when launching game: "yes" or "no"
# i.e. yes: "emulator.exe rom.ext"
# no: "emulator.exe rom"
use_extension = no

# Use rom_directory when launcher game: "yes" or "no"
# i.e. yes: "emulator.exe c:\full\path\rom"
# no: "emulator.exe rom"
use_rom_directory = no


########################################################################
#
# Per ROM options go here
#
# List of short ROM names followed by their options:
#
# rom = -option1 -option2 ...
#
# i.e.:
# arkanoid = -novsync

[Options]


*** end of the misc.cfg file This line is not part of the file.

If all else fails, drop me a line at kenrager@hotmail.com

Thanks for downloading menumaker.exe. I hope you enjoy it, and I welcome your
comments... Ken (Skenny)

Special thanks to: 
Dave Dribin, creator of GLaunch (http://www.dribin.org/dave/game_launcher/)
Nicola Salmoria, creator of Mame (http://www.mame.net)
Mike F. for his assitance getting GLaunch to work with MenuMaker, and for beta testing Menumaker.

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