QMENU is a Pointer Environment (PE) programming tool put out by Jochem Merz. QMENU is a number of SuperBasic extensions that provide PE compatibility. The extensions are fairly simple to understand and to program with. It really does not take too much time to get programming in the PE.
As easy as QMENU is to use I don’t know if it will become my preferred PE programming tool. My first real program to write in the PE is going to be Structured SuperBasic (SSB). I have sat down and started thinking about how I was going to convert SSB to the PE, what QMENU extensions I will use, and how I want the windows to look. I did run into one fairly significant problem: QMENU extensions are designed for input only.
The QMENU extensions are designed to get input from the user, be it asking for a string, a file extension, a file name, or something else. With the call of an extension, your program waits for user input. You can’t pop up a window and then continue processing. There are no extensions that allow the creation of a window for output. You can’t open up a window and display the output from your program.
I do like the look and feel of QMENU. The extension for getting a file name opens up a big window and allows the user to browse through the directory of a disk, select a new disk drive, etc. It’s a powerful extension. The other extensions are great and suit the need they were designed for. But without the inclusion of an extension to get our output to the user, it can be kind of hard to write a number of programs with QMENU.
You could just leave the screen blank while your program did it’s processing or number crunching, but that leaves the user wondering if the program has locked up or is just taking a while to chug. It’s better to have a display on the screen saying that the program is working ( a flashing WORKING is what I like to use).
The key thing going for QMENU is it’s easy of use. I am worried about the time it will take for me to get up to speed with EASYPTR and get using it (it’s manual is fairly thick for a QL manual). I may use QMENU as my main PE toolkit because of it’s easy of use and despite it’s major fault.