Customize Menus Panel

Summary

This panel provides the tools to customize the menus for a panel that has a menu bar. You can add and delete items from the menus. For items that are not standard items, you must supply a Python function that performs the approprate action.

Opening the Customize Menus Panel

To open the Customize Menus panel, you can:

Using the Customize Menus Panel

There are various ways of customizing menus, from simple addition or deletion of items to a complete reorganization.

The first step is to select the menu that you want to customize from the Menu option menu. All the menus and submenus are listed. Submenu are listed with their parents as menu -> submenu -> submenu, for example. The actions you can take for a givem menu are described below.

To change the item name and mnemonic:

  1. Click in the table cell to edit it.

    The cell is outlined in blue to indicate that it is in edit mode.

  2. Enter the new name and mnemonic.

    The mnemonic is the letter that follows the ampersand (&) and is the keyboard key that can be used with the ALT key to open the menu or select the menu item.

To add or to change a shortcut key:

  1. Click in the table cell to edit it.

    The cell is outlined in blue to indicate that it is in edit mode.

  2. Press the shortcut key that you want to use.

To remove a shortcut key:

  1. Click in the table cell to edit it.

    The cell is outlined in blue to indicate that it is in edit mode.

  2. Right-click and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

To change the help text:

  1. Click in the table cell to edit it.

    The cell is outlined in blue to indicate that it is in edit mode.

  2. Type in the new text.

    The help text is the text that is displayed in the Auto-Help bar at the bottom of the panel when you pause the pointer over the menu item.

To move an item:

  1. Select the item.

  2. Drag it to its new location.

To delete menus or menu items:

  1. Select the table rows.

  2. Click Delete.

    If you delete an item, you can only restore it by resetting to the defaults. It is removed from the list of items you can add, which displays the current state of the menus.

To add a menu item:

  1. Select the table row above which you want to add the menu item, or clear the table selection to add the item at the end of the list.

  2. Choose an item type from the Add item of type option menu.

  3. Click Add.

Subsequent steps depend on the item type:

To revert changes to the defaults:

  1. Choose the scope of the reversion from the Reset to defaults for option menu.

  2. Click Reset.

Customize Menus Panel Features

Menu option menu

Choose the menu bar, menu, or submenu that you want to change from this option menu. The option menu lists the menu bar and all the menus and submenus for the panel from which the Customize Menus panel was opened. When you make a choice from this option menu, the items on the chosen menu are listed in the table.

View Defined Shortcuts button

Show all the shortcut keys that have been defined for this panel, with the corresponding menu items. (The shortcuts are not the same as the mnemonics). You can edit the shortcut keys in this panel. A list of reserved keys is displayed at the bottom of the panel.

Menu table

Lists the items that are available on the selected menu bar, menu, or submenu. You can select multiple rows in the table to perform an action. Values can be changed by editing the table cells. Cells that can be edited have a white background. You can reorder the rows by dragging them to the desired location.

The table has four columns:

Name Name of the item. The name can include an ampersand (&) before the letter that is to be used as a mnemonic. Otherwise the name will appear in the menu as it is listed here.
Shortcut Shortcut key for the menu item. This key can be anything except Alt+ (⌥)letter, which is used for mnemonics, and certain reserved keys, which are listed in the Defined Shortcuts dialog box. You can build a key combination with Ctrl and Shift linked by a + sign, with no spaces. You can also use the names of other keys, such as Delete. When you edit the table cell, use the shortcut keys themselves to enter the new shortcut, rather than typing their names. For example, press the Ctrl+X (⌘X) key combination rather than typing in the characters C, T, R, L, +, and X. To remove a shortcut, click in the table cell and press Backspace.
Python function Name of the Python function that is called for the menu item, as it appears in the pythonrun command. A Python function must be supplied for nonstandard menu items (items that perform an action that is not already in Maestro).
Help text Text that is displayed in the Autohelp area of the main window or the status area of the Project Table panel when the pointer pauses over a menu item.
Add item of type option menu

Choose the type of item you want to add to the menu, from Existing item, Python script, Submenu, or --- separator ---. When you edit a menu bar, only Submenu is available.

Add button

Add an item of the selected type to the menu. Opens a dialog box that depends on the item type, so that you can choose or specify the item.

Delete button

Delete the items that are selected in the table.

Reset to defaults for option menu

Choose the item grouping for which you want to reset the menu items to their default values.

Reset button

Reset the chosen menu items to their default values, on confirmation.

Check for Conflicts button

Check the menu items for the selected menu for conflicts of the mnemonics or the shortcut keys. Mnemonic conflicts are only checked within the menu; shortcut key conflicts are checked for the whole panel. Opens a dialog box that presents a summary of the conflicts found.

Related Topics


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File: misc/customize_menus.html
Last updated: 07 Apr 2014