Types of Menus (Magic xpa 4.x)
There are two main menu types: Developer-handled menus and external-module menus.
Developer-handled menus are menu programs that handle the displayed menu options directly when controlling the display attributes and the direct Click events of each option. Two different ways of defining the available displayed options of a menu program are explained below.
Hard-Coded Menus
Simple menu programs have their menu options pre-defined both on the program’s HTML page and by the handlers that support each option.
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Although the menu options are pre-defined in the menu program, the menu option display can be set dynamically by either controlling the visibility of the menu option display elements or by opening the menu program with a dynamically-set main display
For more information see the section on the Main Display property of a task in the Magic xpa Reference Guide.
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Dynamically Constructed Menus
Menus can be designed to be data-driven, meaning that an application table defines the list of options available. The table describes the option display attributes, such as the name to be displayed, and the program that should be called upon activation for each option. The menu program’s displayed options are defined within a table control where each line represents a menu option.
The display module of the menu system can be created and handled by an external module embedded within the menu program’s HTML page, such as DHTML-based expandable pull-down menus. These external modules should invoke the menu program upon any menu option activation so that the proper logic can be performed. The external module should raise the external event within the menu program, and an appropriate handler in the menu program should handle the external event.
