The Add Menu Item dialog is displayed when a menu item object is selected from the Object Gallery and placed on the menu bar. This dialog consists of one section, Identification. The Screen Painter automatically populates the fields in this section with default values appropriate for the new menu item. You can accept the default values as shown, edit them within this dialog, or invoke the Edit Menu Item dialog in which all attributes of the menu item are available for editing.
This section displays naming and other identifying information for the menu item object.
| Item Name | This field contains the name of the menu item. The Screen Painter automatically generates a unique name for it. This name can be maintained or changed, as long as the new name conforms to the Zim Object Naming Rules. |
| Menu Name | This field contains the name of the menu in which the menu item was created. The field can be viewed by selecting it and scrolling left and right, but its value cannot be changed. |
| Directory | This field contains the name of the Zim directory that owns the menu in which the menu item was created. The field can be viewed by selecting it and scrolling left and right, but its value cannot be changed. |
| Item Number | This field contains an automatically generated identifying number for the menu item. The value in this field can be used to identify the menu item when it is selected. Refer to Callback Events for more detailed information about the relationship between menu item selection and callback events. The value in this field can be changed and need not be unique. |
| Item Tag | This field contains an identifying text string for the menu item. The value in this field can be used to identify the menu item when it is selected. Refer to Callback Events for more detailed information about the relationship between menu item selection and callback events. The value in this field can be changed and need not be unique. If left blank (the default), the value contained in Item Name is used for Item Tag. |
| Item Text | This field contains the text to be associated with the menu item. The default value assigned by the painter is "&Item". An ampersand character (&) within the text is interpreted by the painter as an instruction to underline the following character in the text. Two special character sequences can also be included in the text. The sequence "\t" is interpreted as an instruction to align the remainder of the text at the next tab stop. The sequence "\r" is interpreted as an instruction to align the remainder of the text flushed right. These sequences are often used to separate and vertically align the text which identifies the "accelerator key" ("fast key", "shortcut key") for the menu item from its descriptive text. |
| OK | This push button performs any required data validation, commits any changes which were made in this dialog, and returns to the Screen Painter's layout mode. |
| Cancel | This push button discards any changes which were made in this dialog and returns to the Screen Painter's layout mode. |
| Help | This push button invokes the Zim Help facility, initially displaying the section entitled Add Form Field dialog (this section). |
| Attributes | This push button invokes the edit dialog for the specific type of form field being created. All the default attributes of the newly created form field can be viewed and modified. |