Tutorial 23: User-Created Menus

Tutorial 23: User-Created Menus
Using getKey to make your own menus...

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Introduction:
You've finally made it!! You've reached the end of version 2.0. This final tutorial will help make your programs, especially your games, unique and cool. As it says in the subtitle, we will be using getKey to make our own menus; what I call "user-created menus." We are going to do away with those boring menus that the calculator makes, and make our own with our own unique formatting and style.

The Codes:
There are two "user-created menus" that I know how to make. The first one, which will be in the proceeding code, looks somewhat like the normal menus, but a whole lot more customized. Let me tell you the features of this type of "user-created menu". This new menu type not only comes with a title and choices, but it can also include text description, which gives extra information about the menu. If you want to, you could have 15 different choices if there is enough space for all the text you want. In addition, the text for the choices isn't limited to 14 characters and on one line; you could have it be a whole paragraph on several lines, if you wanted. You could also underline/box-in the title, or even add a picture in the menu. Now that I've hyped you up for it, let me show you what I am talking about. I'm going to use a menu that I use in one of my games.

:	For AShell, SOS, and TI-Explorer
AxesOff	Turns the graph axes off
FnOff	Deselects all the Y= functions
0Xmin	Stores Xmin as 0
94Xmax	Stores Xmax as 94
0Ymax	Stores Ymax as 0
-62Ymin	Stores Ymin as -62
Lbl 1
ClrDraw	Clears the graph screen of all drawings
ClrHome	Clears the home screen
Text(0,11,"ERASE LEVEL RECORD?	Displays "ERASE LEVEL RECORD?" (2 spaces each)
Line(10,-7,82,-7	Draws a horizontal line that'll underline the title
*Text(10,0," THIS WILL CLEAR THE**	Displays on graph screen "THIS WILL CLEAR THE
Text(17,0,"RECORD FOR THIS LEVEL ONLY	Displays on the graph screen "RECORD FOR THIS LEVEL ONLY" all on one line
Text(30,0,"1: NO	Displays option #1 "NO"
Text(40,0,"2: YES	Displays option #2 "YES"
Text(50,0,"3: --BACK--	Displays option #3 "--BACK--"
Text(30,47,"4: --HOME--	Displays option #4 "--HOME--"
Text(40,47,"5: --QUIT--	Displays option #5 "--QUIT--"
While 1
getKeyI	Stores the key's key code into user variable I
If I=92 or I=105:Goto 2	If or is pressed, go to Label 2
If I=93:Goto 3	If is pressed, go to Label 3
If I=94:Goto 4	If is pressed, go to Label 4
If I=82:Goto 5	If is pressed, go to Label 5
If I=83:Goto 6	If is pressed, go to Label 6
End	End of the While loop
Lbl 2
Output(4,4,"RECORD NOT	Displays "RECORD NOT
Output(5,5,"CLEARED.	CLEARED" on two lines
Stop	End program execution
Lbl 3
Output(4,2,"RECORD CLEARED	Displays "RECORD CLEARED"
Stop	End program execution
Lbl 4
Output(4,4,"RETURNS TO	Displays "RETURNS TO PREVIOUS
Output(5,1,"PREVIOUS SCREEN.	SCREEN" on two lines
Stop	End program execution
Lbl 5
Output(4,2,"GOES BACK HOME	Displays "GOES BACK HOME"
Stop	End program execution
Lbl 6
Output(4,3,"GAME QUITTED	Displays "GAME QUITTED"
Stop	End program execution

Possible output:
and

If you run the program and read the comments on the side of each command line you should fully understand what is supposed to happen. Let me just explain one thing, though. I do not know if you noticed but I got rid of the "While G=0" loop and its following "getKeyI." The reasoning behind this is that we don't need it. We want it so that after we press our choice, it goes on to the rest of the program. We had those two command lines in the previous programs becuase we wanted to continue pressing other keys, until a special exit key was pressed. We do not want this program to continue to loop around. I also want to give you a reason why I put "NO" as choice #1 instead of "YES." The reason is that I think that most people wouldn't want to clear the record. Also, I made it so that "NO" could also be chosen by pressing just like you can in the calculator's menu. You can always choose the first choice by pressing either or . You thought this menu was fancy? Check out the next one.

:	For AShell, SOS, and TI-Explorer
AxesOff	Turns the graph axes off
FnOff	Deselects all the Y= functions
0Xmin	Stores Xmin as 0
94Xmax	Stores Xmax as 94
0Ymax	Stores Ymax as 0
-62Ymin	Stores Ymin as -62
Lbl 1
ClrDraw	Clears the graph screen of all drawings
ClrHome	Clears the home screen
Text(0,35,"SURVEY	Displays "SURVEY"
-33X	Used to place the arrow in original position
-43B	Used because B needs an initial valid value
Line(34,-7,58,-7	Draws a horizontal line that'll underline the title
Text(10,0,"HOW IS MY TUTORIAL?	Displays on the graph screen "HOW IS MY TUTORIAL?"
Text(30,47,"GREAT	Displays option #1 "GREAT"
Text(40,47,"OKAY	Displays option #2 "OKAY"
Text(50,47,"BAD	Displays option #3 "BAD"
Lbl 2
Line(32,X,42,X	These three lines are used
Line(42,X,39,X+3	to draw the arrow that will
Line(42,X,39,X-3	move up and down
Line(32,B,42,B,0	These three lines are used
Line(42,B,39,B+3,0	to erase the previous arrow
Line(42,B,39,B-3,0	that was drawn
While 1
getKeyI	Stores the key's key code into user variable I
If I=25 or I=24:Goto UP	If or is pressed, go to Label UP
If I=34 or I=26:Goto DN	If or is pressed, go to Label DN
If I=105:Goto EN	If is pressed, go to Label EN
End	End of the While loop
Lbl UP
XB	The placement of arrow is stored in B to be erased
X+10X	The arrow will move up on choice
If X=-23:Then	If the arrow will be placed too high,
-53X	Make the arrow go to the last choice
-33B	Erase that arrow on the top
End	End of the If-Then statement
Goto 2	Go to Label 2
Lbl DN
XB	The placement of arrow is stored in B to be erased
X-10X	The arrow will move down one choice
If X=-63:Then	If the arrow will be placed too low,
-33X	Make the arrow go to the first choice
-53B	Erase that arrow on the bottom
End	End of the If-Then statement
Goto 2	Go to Label 2
Lbl EN
If X=-33:Goto 3	;If was pressed for choice #1, go to Label 3
If X=-43:Goto 4	;If was pressed for choice #2, go to Label 4
If X=-53:Goto 5	;If was pressed for choice #3, go to Label 5
Lbl 3
Output(4,4,"THANK YOU.	Displays "THANK YOU."
Stop	End program execution
Lbl 4
Output(3,4,"ONLY OKAY?	Displays "ONLY OKAY?"
Output(4,1,"WHAT CAN I DO TO	Displays "WHAT CAN I DO TO"
Output(5,1,"MAKE IT BETTER?	Displays "MAKE IT BETTER?"
Stop	End program execution
Lbl 5
Output(3,7,"BAD?	Displays "BAD?"
Output(4,1,"WHAT HAVE I DONE	Displays "WHAT HAVE I DONE"
Output(5,6,"WRONG?	Displays "WRONG?"
Stop	End program execution

Possible output:
and

The code does seem long just to make one menu, but it's worth. All you have to do is use it once in a game to make your game stand out from the rest. I made the program so that if the user presses or that the arrow will go up, and if the user presses or that the arrow will move down. I also made it so that if you press up and the arrow is at the top, it will cycle down to the bottom and vice versa. At first, I had made the menu so that every time the arrow moved up or down, the screen would clear the old arrow and all the other text. Instead, I added "Y" so that I could just erase the previous arrow. This made the menu look better because it got rid of all the blinking of the screen.

Conclusion:
You have now finished the getKey series and completed all 23 tutorials! You should be very proud of yourself for making it this far! But guess what? You're not done yet. I felt bad for not having a Big Game #2 here at the end of version 2.0 so I came up with a project for you to complete. It should not be too difficult. The project is to combine these two "user-created menus" and make one "super menu." This "super menu" should contain the following:

An underlined/boxed-in title, a short description, and at least 6 choices for the user to choose from
The user will have the choice of either scrolling through the menu using the arrow keys and moving an actual arrow OR pressing the corresponding number of the choice
The screens that the choices go to don't have to have that much content; just enough so you know that the choice went to the correct label
You CAN NOT cheat and make it so that the arrow erases using ClrDraw; you have to erase the arrow using Line(

Because you need to have 6 choices in the menu, you might have to make it two columns. Make sure that the arrow can move back and forth from the bottom of the first column to the top of the next column. Also, make sure that the arrow can move back and forth from the first choice in the first column to the last choice in the last column. If you want, you can send me your programs to prove that you have completed the task. If you need a little assistance, you can contact me and I will respond ASAP. If you can make the "super menu" work, you can definitely consider yourself an Intermediate level programmer; not just because you can make this menu, but because you know, understand, and can use so many commands now. With the help of getKey, you should easily be able to make a good game that's fun to play.

If you do not understand a particular part in this lesson, have suggestions, or find any problems please contact me.


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