The BUILD Procedure

MLINK Statement

Generates menu links for MENU entries that have the Menu-Link attribute in the catalog specified in the PROC BUILD statement.

Note: The menu-linking operation is performed before the procedure opens any windows.

Tip: By default, all MENU entries in the current catalog (the catalog that was specified in the PROC BUILD statement) are checked for selections that have the Menu-Link attribute. You can use the SELECT= option to select individual entries to check, or use the EXCLUDE= option to prevent certain entries from being checked.

MLINK <EXCLUDE=entry-name|(entry-list)> | <SELECT=entry-name|(entry-list)>

<LEVELS=n|_MAX_>

<VERBOSE>;

Options

You can use the following options in the MLINK statement:

EXCLUDE=entry-name| (name-list)
SELECT=entry-name| (name-list): specify the MENU entries to exclude from or select for the linking operation. By default, all MENU entries in the current catalog are checked for selections that have the Menu-Link attribute. Use the EXCLUDE option to prevent specific MENU entries from being checked for links. Use the SELECT= option to check only the specified entries for links. If you specify more than one entry for either of these options, enclose the names in parentheses and separate the names with spaces.
LEVELS=n|_MAX_: specifies the number of levels of submenus to be linked. By default, only one level of submenu selections is linked. Use the LEVELS= option to specify a different number of levels. Use the _MAX_ option value to link all designated submenus.
VERBOSE: produces additional messages for each menu that has the Menu-Link attribute. These messages identify the name of the MENU entry from which selections are being linked, as well as the level number of the link. By default, messages for each MENU entry report only the start and completion of the MLINK operation, the name of MENU entries that contain no links, and any error conditions that are found.

Using the MLINK Statement

Menu links enable users to access submenu choices directly from an application's higher-level menu. Linked menus are useful to users who have become familiar with a system and who want to bypass intermediate menus to directly invoke choices on secondary menus. For example, suppose a MENU entry includes a selection 3 that opens another MENU entry, and that the second MENU entry includes a selection SALES that displays a sales report. If menu links are generated for the first MENU entry, then users can go directly to the sales report by specifying SALES in the first menu, without having to open the second menu.

Menu linking is applicable only to MENU entries. In order for a menu to be linked, the Menu-Link attribute must be assigned to it in the ATTR window of the calling MENU entry. Each time you change menus or submenus, you should re-generate the links to ensure that all linked selections are available from the highest-level menu.

Note: You can also generate menu links by issuing the MLINK command while building the MENU entries. [cautionend]

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Note:	The menu-linking operation is performed before the procedure opens any windows.
Tip:	By default, all MENU entries in the current catalog (the catalog that was specified in the PROC BUILD statement) are checked for selections that have the Menu-Link attribute. You can use the SELECT= option to select individual entries to check, or use the EXCLUDE= option to prevent certain entries from being checked.