Windows Tutorial- Configuring for VLC

FlashMenu 0.9.8 Tutorial

This is a step-by-step tutorial about how to set up a FlashMenu configuration, on Windows, for VLC media player.

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Before we begin, let's assume a few things...
1. We want the user to navigate their file system and select a file on their hard drive
2. We want the user to add their commonly used files to a group for themselves
3. We want an additional group where the user can run VLC directly or read documentation.
When we are done, we will have the following (in no particular order):
1. Three new groups: One for the user to browse files, one to hold the user's favorites, and one for VLC's program file and documentation.
2. Three new type specs: This will be covered later in the tutorial.
3. A nice FlashMenu bundle that includes VLC.

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Step 1: Setting Up

This guide is only for FlashMenu 0.9.8 for Windows XP/Vista/7. Make sure you are using the proper version with the proper operating system.
You can find VLC Media Player at videolan.org, free to download and use.

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Step 2: Understanding how FlashMenu works

FlashMenu organizes everything into "Groups". Each group has a specialized configuration. The user can create groups for themselves, and someone distributing FlashMenu can include groups for the user to use.
A list of groups is provided on the left. The user can switch between groups by clicking on them, and can create a new group by clicking on "New Group".
The contents of the selected group are displayed on the right. This can either consist of "Items" or a file browser view for selecting and using a file. Items can be cut/copy/pasted between item view groups, and file shortcuts can be made by copy/pasting out of file browser groups.
Every file type that may be used has a "Type Speculation", or type spec. Type specs determine what files can be used, and how they are used. The user does not create their own type specs, only the distributor. We will cover how to make type specs later in this tutorial.

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Step 3: Flushing out all of FlashMenu's current settings

FlashMenu stores all of it's internal settings (for example: type specs) inside a single configuration file, settings.cfg. All groups and items are stored inside "indexes", from index0 to index9999.
To begin, navigate to data\bin\usb-menu\data. Warning: This will clear all of your settings! If you have something you want to save, back up the following files first!
Open up "settings.cfg" with a text editor. Remove any line beginning with "item". These are usually found near the bottom of the page.
Then, save and close. Delete any file beginning with "index"., for example "index0" and "index1". If there are no files like this, don't worry.

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Step 4: Copying VLC to be packaged with FlashMenu

Assuming you'll be sharing FlashMenu with others (as part of a package), you'll want to bundle the application for FlashMenu in with it. In this case, that application is VLC. For this tutorial, create a new folder in the "data" folder called "vlc" and install VLC into there.

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Step 5: Creating the type specs for VLC

This is the hardest part, and, the most confusing as well. Open up settings.cfg.
Add this line:

item.win32.add="tutorial-win32-vlc-mediafile";"VLC File";2;"%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc;1;"Select File";"Media Files";"*.mp3|*.mp4";"./vlc.exe %CMD%";"%ICON:multimedia%";"This allows you to add a media file to be opened in VLC Media Player."

The above line adds a type spec for VLC media files. This will apply to *.mp3 files and *.mp4 files. If you want to add support for more, add them accordingly.
The following type specs are only necessary if you plan on creating a group that holds items for the VLC documentation and the VLC program. We will create that group for the tutorial, so please add the following:

item.win32.add="tutorial-win32-notepad-textfile";"Text File";2;"C:\Windows;1;"Select File";"Text Files";"*.txt";"./notepad.exe %CMD%";"%ICON:text%";"This allows you to add a text file to be opened in Notepad."

The above line adds a type spec for Notepad text files. This is how we will link to the VLC documentation.

item.win32.add="tutorial-win32-sytem-exefile";"Executable File";2;"%NULL%";1;"Select File";"Executable Files";"*.exe|*.bat|*.com|*.vbs";"%CMD%";"%DEFAULT2%";"This allows you to add an executable file."

The above line adds a type spec for Windows executable files. This is how we will link to the VLC executable file.
You may close settings.cfg now. Consult the documentation for a complete explanation of type specs.

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Step 6: Creating custom groups

Run FlashMenu. Create three groups.
Call the first one "Browse Files".
Call the second one "Favorites".
And lastly, call the third one "More Info".
Give the groups whatever icons you wish. Please select default icons for each for now though. Every FlashMenu installation comes with the same set of defaults (unless you add your own by copying them to the folder), so these can be univerally used.
Now, go back to the folder that holds settings.cfg. Don't open up settings.cfg, but do open these newly created files with a text editor:

index1
index2
index3

They should be empty. Add the following text to index1:

0.filter="*.mp3|*.mp4"
0.tspec="tutorial-win32-vlc-mediafile"
0.readonly=1
0.readdir=1
0.index="%PROGRAMPATH%"

The above sets index1, the first group, to become a file browser. It will filter the file browser to show directories (using the "readdir" property), to show mp3 and mp4 files (using the "filter" property), and open all files with the "tutorial-win32-vlc-mediafile" type spec (using the "tspec" property).
The additional properties are documented in the official documentation.
You may leave index2 blank, because this is where the user may store their favorites.
Now add the following to index3:

1.name="AUTHORS"
1.icon="%SETTINGSDIR%%SLASH%icons%SLASH%text.png"
1.run="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc%SLASH%AUTHORS.txt"
1.spec="tutorial-win32-notepad-textfile"
1.wdir="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc"
2.name="COPYING"
2.icon="%SETTINGSDIR%%SLASH%icons%SLASH%text.png"
2.run="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc%SLASH%COPYING.txt"
2.spec="tutorial-win32-notepad-textfile"
2.wdir="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc"
3.name="NEWS"
3.icon="%SETTINGSDIR%%SLASH%icons%SLASH%text.png"
3.run="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc%SLASH%NEWS.txt"
3.spec="tutorial-win32-notepad-textfile"
3.wdir="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc"
4.name="README"
4.icon="%SETTINGSDIR%%SLASH%icons%SLASH%text.png"
4.run="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc%SLASH%README.txt"
4.spec="tutorial-win32-notepad-textfile"
4.wdir="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc"
5.name="THANKS"
5.icon="%SETTINGSDIR%%SLASH%icons%SLASH%text.png"
5.run="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc%SLASH%THANKS.txt"
5.spec="tutorial-win32-notepad-textfile"
5.wdir="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc"
6.name="VLC Media Player"
6.icon="%SETTINGSDIR%%SLASH%icons%SLASH%default2.png"
6.run="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc%SLASH%vlc.exe"
6.spec="tutorial-win32-sytem-exefile"
6.wdir="%PROGRAMPATH%%SLASH%vlc"

The above fills the third group with VLC's documentation, and a link to VLC the program. Each item has five properties. icon=the item's name to be displayed
icon=the item's icon
run=the command to be sent to the type spec (this becomes %CMD%)
spec=the type spec to be used
wdir=the working directory

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Step 7: Congradulations!

Run FlashMenu and enjoy your VLC gui! You can right-click files in the file browser and view their properties, and you can copy them into the "Favorites" tab. You can also read VLC's documentation and run the program normally (from the "More" group) without selecting a file. Because FlashMenu stores all file paths as relative, you can share this bundle with your friends too!

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Tutorial 1.0.0 for FlashMenu 0.9.8