TaskMenu v 0.9.19

A UTILITY MENU FOR SUPPORT PERSONNEL
©2010 EDDIE EIJI KHOO @ ZLEL
FREELY REDISTRIBUTABLE UNDER GPLV3.

OVERVIEW

TaskMenu is a multi-purpose menu that in short launches programs and logs programs launched during its run. Its initial conception was based on the idea that a certain fixed set of operations need to be performed on a number of machines, and there is no satisfying checklist solution which can effectively capture tasks that are too trivial to build into a proper installer.

TaskMenu is a drop-in replacement for AMenu which uses a similar configuration file. TaskMenu was written because AMenu could not do everything I needed it to do.

Features

  • Launchable from CD
  • Name of settings file follows executable
  • Multiple items can be run in sequence
  • Launch document with registered application or open folder
  • Logs history. History can survive runs
  • Timeout feature to allow user interception before a command is run automatically
  • Run registered commands from command line

System Requirements

  • Tested on Windows XP. Please report on Windows 7!

Typical uses

  • Installer CD launcher for support personnel
  • USB autorun menu with multiple custom items
  • Shortcut for frequently used commands in the form "autorun getlatestfiles,zipfiles"
  • Checklist while performing tasks

CONFIGURATION

Settings are kept in an INF file, which by default is autorun.inf. Changing the name of the executable causes the program to search for an INF file matching the name of the executable.

INF file is separated into sections, which the main section called "CUSTOM CD MENU". Configurable parameters follow.

[CUSTOM CD MENU]

  • FONT
    Font to be used for displaying. Specify Windows font.
  • CHARSET
    Charset used for displaying. May be one of ANSI_CHARSET, DEFAULT_CHARSET, SYMBOL_CHARSET, SHIFTJIS_CHARSET, HANGUL_CHARSET, GB2312_CHARSET, CHINESEBIG5_CHARSET, GREEK_CHARSET, TURKISH_CHARSET, HEBREW_CHARSET, ARABIC_CHARSET, BALTIC_CHARSET, RUSSIAN_CHARSET, THAI_CHARSET, EE_CHARSET, OEM_CHARSET
  • TITLETEXT
    Title displayed on the menu
  • BUTTONQTY
    Number of items on the menu. Each item has its own section called "BUTTON<n>" where <n> in a running number starting at 1.
  • BASEPATH
    Path from which relative paths are resolved to
  • LOGFILE
    Log file to store status of runs. May include environment variables such as %USERPROFILE%.

[BUTTON<n>]

  • buttontext
    Name of menu item
  • relativepathandfilename
    Name of executable or folder
  • optionalcommandlineparams
    Paramaters to append when running
  • closemenuonclick
    1 or 0 to specify if menu should close ofter running

EXAMPLE

[CUSTOM CD MENU]
font=arial
titletext=AUTORUN TEST MENU
buttonqty=2
LOGFILE=%TEMP%\TaskMenu.log

[BUTTON1]
buttontext=Command Prompt
relativepathandfilename=cmd.exe
optionalcommandlineparams=
closemenuonclick=0

[BUTTON2]
buttontext=Notepad
relativepathandfilename=notepad.exe
optionalcommandlineparams=
closemenuonclick=0

COMMANDLINE

autorun.exe [[/RUN:]<buttontext>[,<buttontext>...]] [/h] [/INF:<inf-filename>] [/RUNDELAY:<TIMEOUT>]

PARAMETERS

  • /h
    Display help and quit
  • [/RUN:]<buttontext>[,<buttontext>...]
    Automatically run jobs with listed names. Names may be abbreviated up to a point where there are no duplicates.
  • /INF:<inf-filename>
    Specify alternate INF file. Basepath when not specified will be the folder where the INF file resides.
  • /RUNDELAY:<TIMEOUT>
    Timeout before executing jobs listed in /RUN. Should there be user action, jobs listed in /RUN will not be executed.
UPDATED 2010/02/02 1:24:59