[syslinux] submenus and menu title

Ady ady-sf at hotmail.com
Sun Sep 16 10:28:58 PDT 2012


Date sent:      	Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:40:06 -0700
From:           	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa at zytor.com>
To:             	For discussion of Syslinux and tftp-hpa 
<syslinux at zytor.com>
Subject:        	Re: [syslinux] submenus and menu title

> On 09/14/2012 05:32 PM, Gene Cumm wrote:
> >>
> >> The addition of these two statements (assuming this was the
> >> implementation intention) would correct the documentation bug.
> >
> > HPA, is this documentation alteration the proper intention OR should
> > the menu system be corrected, including a change such that the
> > tagname, if set, is always shown in the parent and probably an
> > additional directive 'MENU INHERITTITLE' to state that the tagname
> > should be shown on the parent and the title of the child should be the
> > same as the parent.  OR should the tagname not affect the child's
> > title?
> >
> 
> My general philosophy on these kinds of things:
> 
> It is a bad thing to change established behavior (since it might break 
> people's existing configurations.)  However, if the current behavior is 
> useless to people AND the corrected behavior would be useful to people, 
> then it is worth fixing.
> 
> I'm not sure this applies here, though, what do you guys think?
> 
> Sorry for late replies.  I have been psychotically busy.
> 
> 	-hpa
> 
> -- 
 
1._ Menu entry in parent menu.

This characteristic already has an adequate behavior, but it is not 
adequately documented.

For the purpose of documentation, here are the fallback rules.

1.1._ If MENU LABEL is explicitly used for the submenu entry, then 
display that as menu entry in the parent menu. Only if it is not 
explicitly used, then;
1.1.1._ If a MENU TITLE is explicitly used in the submenu, then 
display that as menu entry in the parent menu. Only if it is not 
explicitly used (and the previous conditions are also not met), then;
1.1.1.1._ If a TAGNAME is explicitly used for the submenu, then 
display that as menu entry in the parent menu. Only if it is not 
explicitly used (and the previous conditions are also not met), then;
1.1.1.1.1._ If none of the above conditions are met, then the menu 
entry in the parent menu is blank, and only the ">" symbol is seen, 
indicating a submenu entry.


2._ Menu title in the submenu (submenu title).

This characteristic should be improved, and it also needs adequate 
documentation.

The suggested behavior is:

2.1._ If MENU TITLE is explicitly used inside the submenu, then 
display that as submenu title. Only if it is not explicitly used, 
then;
2.1.1._ If MENU LABEL is explicitly used for the submenu entry, then 
display that as submenu title. Only if it is not explicitly used (and 
the previous conditions are also not met), then;
2.1.1.1._ If a TAGNAME is explicitly used for the submenu, then 
display that as submenu title. Only if it is not explicitly used (and 
the previous conditions are also not met), then;
2.1.1.1.1._ If, in the parent menu, MENU TITLE is explicitly used, 
then display that as submenu title. Only if it is not explicitly used 
(and the previous conditions are also not met), then;
2.1.1.1.1.1._ If none of the above conditions are met, then the menu 
title in the submenu (submenu title) is blank.

Note that "2.1" and "2.1.1" are already being used in version 4.05, 
but are not documented.
The additional suggested fallback rules only improve 2 cases, in 
which previously the submenu title would be blank. THIS MEANS THAT 
PRACTICAL EXISTING CONFIGURATION FILES MAINTAIN THE CURRENT BEHAVIOR 
EVEN AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ADDITIONAL SUGGESTED CONDITIONS.


The following is an example configuration file, presenting 8 relevant 
different cases.
 *** CFG FILE STARTS HERE ***
 
 UI menu.c32
 MENU TITLE Parent title
 
 # case_1
 MENU BEGIN tag_1
  MENU LABEL mlabel_1
  MENU TITLE title_1
 
   LABEL hello_1
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END
 
 # case_2
 MENU BEGIN tag_2
  MENU LABEL mlabel_2
  
 
   LABEL hello_2
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END

 # case_3
 MENU BEGIN tag_3
  
  MENU TITLE title_3
 
   LABEL hello_3
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END

 # case_4
 MENU BEGIN tag_4
  
  
 
   LABEL hello_4
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END

 # case_5
 MENU BEGIN
  MENU LABEL mlabel_5
  MENU TITLE title_5
 
   LABEL hello_5
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END

 # case_6
 MENU BEGIN
  MENU LABEL mlabel_6
  
 
   LABEL hello_6
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END

 # case_7
 MENU BEGIN
  
  MENU TITLE title_7
 
   LABEL hello_7
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END

 # case_8
 MENU BEGIN
  
  
 
   LABEL hello_8
   COM32 hello.c32
 
 MENU END
 
 *** CFG FILE ENDS HERE ***
 
This time I am attaching (instead of linking to) a new summarizing 
table, which also corresponds to the 8 cases shown above.

TIA,
Ady.

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