SAS/AF Software Procedure Guide

MENU Entries

Menu entries store menu definitions that consist of

a display that provides instructions to users and accepts user options
general attributes that control the appearance and behavior of the window in which the MENU entry executes
selection attributes that define which other SAS/AF entries are opened in response to the options that users specify.

The following sections describe each of these components of a MENU entry.

MENU Entry Displays

Each MENU entry stores a single frame of text that can provide instructions to users about the options that are available in the menu. You use the BUILD procedure's DISPLAY window to design the displays for MENU entries. The text can use any of the color and highlighting features that the SAS text editor supports.

Users select menu options by entering designated option values on the application window's command line. Menus can be linked so that users can access choices on submenus from the command line of the main menu. Refer to the description of the Menu-Link attribute in MENU Entry Selection Attributes for details.

MENU Entry General Attributes

MENU entries also store general attributes for the application window in which the entries are displayed to users. See General Attributes for Application Windows for details about the attributes you can specify for the application window.

MENU Entry Selection Attributes

MENU entries support the following attributes for each menu option. You specify these attributes in the ATTR window for the MENU entry. Use the ATTR command in the BUILD procedure's DISPLAY window to open the ATTR window.

Option specifies the selection value that users issue in the application window's command line to invoke the option. The selection value

can be from one to eight characters long

can consist of a combination of letters, numbers, and underscores

must not be a command that is valid in the application window. See AF Window Commands for a list of commands that the AF window provides. Remember that SAS windowing environment global commands are also valid in the AF window in which MENU entries are displayed. Refer to base SAS documentation for more information on windows environment global commands.

Name specifies the name of the catalog entry that the option invokes.

Type specifies the type of the catalog entry that the option invokes (CBT, FRAME, HELP, MENU, PROGRAM or SCL).
Note: For CBT entries, you can append a frame number to open the entry at a specified frame. For example, use CBT5 to open frame 5 of the specified CBT entry. [cautionend]

Libref
Catalog specify the library and catalog that contain the target entry. Enter values for these two attributes only if the target entry is stored in a catalog other than the one that contains the MENU entry.

Menu-Link specifies that menu choices in the selected submenu are linked to menus at a higher level in the application's hierarchy of menus. If the submenu is linked, you can specify options from the submenu in the higher-level menu without having to display the lower-level menu.
Note: The Menu-Link attribute is valid only when the target of the option is another MENU entry. [cautionend]

If you assign this option to any menu choices, you must issue the MLINK command ( or use the MLINK statement with the BUILD procedure) to generate the linkages for the selected options. Any time you change or add the Menu-Link option for menu choices, you must repeat the linking procedure to reestablish the internal menu linkages.
By default, only one level of menus is linked. To link all levels of menus, use the MLOPTS LEVEL=_MAX_ option with the MLINK command, or use the LEVELS=_MAX_ option with the MLINK statement.

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Option	specifies the selection value that users issue in the application window's command line to invoke the option. The selection value can be from one to eight characters long can consist of a combination of letters, numbers, and underscores must not be a command that is valid in the application window. See AF Window Commands for a list of commands that the AF window provides. Remember that SAS windowing environment global commands are also valid in the AF window in which MENU entries are displayed. Refer to base SAS documentation for more information on windows environment global commands.
Name	specifies the name of the catalog entry that the option invokes.
Type	specifies the type of the catalog entry that the option invokes (CBT, FRAME, HELP, MENU, PROGRAM or SCL). Note: For CBT entries, you can append a frame number to open the entry at a specified frame. For example, use `CBT5` to open frame 5 of the specified CBT entry.
Libref Catalog	specify the library and catalog that contain the target entry. Enter values for these two attributes only if the target entry is stored in a catalog other than the one that contains the MENU entry.
Menu-Link	specifies that menu choices in the selected submenu are linked to menus at a higher level in the application's hierarchy of menus. If the submenu is linked, you can specify options from the submenu in the higher-level menu without having to display the lower-level menu. Note: The Menu-Link attribute is valid only when the target of the option is another MENU entry. If you assign this option to any menu choices, you must issue the MLINK command ( or use the MLINK statement with the BUILD procedure) to generate the linkages for the selected options. Any time you change or add the Menu-Link option for menu choices, you must repeat the linking procedure to reestablish the internal menu linkages. By default, only one level of menus is linked. To link all levels of menus, use the MLOPTS LEVEL=_MAX_ option with the MLINK command, or use the LEVELS=_MAX_ option with the MLINK statement.