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TUTORIAL: Getting Started With AutoPlay Menu Studio

Article ID: IRKB-AM3-000001

The information in this article applies to:

AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0

Summary
This article is an introductory level, step-by-step tutorial about using AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0. It covers
the basic features of the product.

Tutorial
Welcome to the Getting Started With AutoPlay Menu Studio tutorial. This tutorial covers the basic
features of AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 and is a great way to become familiar with the product. Please
follow along step-by-step and youll be creating professional AutoPlay menus in no time.

Step 1 Creating a New Project

The first thing to do is to start AutoPlay Menu Studio and create a blank project:

1. Start AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 by selecting Start > Programs > AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 >
AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 from your Windows Start menu.
2. Press the Close button on the Tip of the Day screen if it appears.
3. When the Welcome screen appears, select the first option, Create a New Project. This will
open the Project Template Gallery screen.

4. Select the Empty Project template and click OK.

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This will bring you to a blank window in which to start the tutorial.

Step 2 Changing the Pages Background

Next, we will create a background for the page that is more interesting than the default solid white. To
create a gradient background:

1. Select Properties from the Page menu.

2. Choose Gradient in the Type field.
3. Choose your Foreground and Background colors. The gradient will go from the foreground
color at the top of the screen to the background color at the bottom.
4. In the Title field, enter My Test Menu (without the quotes).

5. Click OK to accept the changes.

Your screen will now reflect the new colored background.

Step 3 Creating a Text Object

This is where your menu gets interesting. We will now start adding some objects. The first object we
create is a text object. This object type is easy to use and very straightforward.

1. Select Text... from the Object menu.

2. Type Exit the Menu (without the quotes) in the Message field.
3. Choose Red as the Normal color.
4. Choose Yellow as the Highlight color.

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5. Click OK to create the button. The new object will appear in the upper left corner of the screen.
6. Using the left mouse button, click on and drag the new object to the lower left part of the screen
and then let go of the mouse button. Your project should now look like this:

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Step 4 Setting an Action
Now is the part where we make something happen from the menu. We will make the Exit the Menu
object close the menu when it is clicked.

1. Select the Exit the Menu object created in step 3 and then choose Object | Properties from the
menu. This will open the Text Object Properties screen.
2. Click on the Actions tab at the top of the screen.
3. Make sure that the Mouse Click tab is selected in the Events section.
4. Select the Add button and then go to Window > Close/Exit. This will add a new action
command to the actions list.

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 5. Click OK to close the Text Object Properties screen.

Step 5 Previewing the Menu

Now you will get to see your new creation in action. It is time to preview the menu.

1. Select Project | Preview from the menu or hit F5.

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This will build your menu to a temporary location and allow you to try the menu out. Notice that when you
move the mouse pointer over the Exit the Menu object that the text turns yellow, a sound plays and the
mouse pointer changes to a hand. Click on the object and the menu will close.

Now is a good time to save your work. To save your project, simply select File | Save from the menu and
choose an appropriate location and filename for the project file.

Step 6 Creating a New Page

Although you may be able to get by with a one-page menu, the chances are that you will want to use
multiple page menus for many projects. To create a new page:

1. Select Page | Add from the menu. This will open the New Page screen.

2. Enter Page 2 as the page name.

3. Click OK to create the new page.

You will now return to AutoPlay Menu Studios main screen and will be presented with a new blank page
called Page 2. Notice that you can switch between the first page that we created and the new page with
the tabs at the bottom of the screen.

Step 7 Using a Bitmap Image Background

In this step we will use a nice bitmap image for our new pages background.
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 1. Make sure that Page 2 is selected and then choose Page | Properties from the menu.
2. Change the Type field to Bitmap Image Resample.
3. Click the button with the three dots beside the Normal Pane Image File to browse for an image.
4. Select the file called HyperBlueA(640x480).png from the Media Library\Backgrounds folder in
the AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 folder. If you installed AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 to the default
location, this file will be located at:

C:\Program Files\AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0\Media Library\Backgrounds

5. Click the button with the three dots beside the Highlight Pane Image File to browse for an
image.
6. Select the file called HyperBlueB(640x480).png from the Media Library\Backgrounds folder in
the AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 folder. If you installed AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 to the default
location, this file will be located at:

C:\Program Files\AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0\Media Library\Backgrounds

7. Change the Title field from AutoPlay Menu to Options.

8. Click OK to accept the new settings.

You may have noticed that we specified both a normal and highlight image. The reason for this will
become apparent later. For now, notice that you can choose View | Normal Pane and View | Highlight
Pane from the menu to switch between the two images at design time.

Step 8 Creating Image Objects

Now we will insert image buttons that will eventually allow us to switch between the two pages.

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 1. Make sure that Page 1 is selected and then select Object | Image from the menu. This will
open the Image Object Properties screen.
2. Click on the browse button with the three dots next to the Normal Image field.
3. Select the file Media Library\Buttons\Arrows\BlueArrowRight.png from the AutoPlay Menu
Studio 3.0 folder.
4. Click on the Transparent Background checkbox to make the white background of the image
transparent.
5. Click on the browse button with the three dots next to the Highlight Image field.
6. Select the file Media Library\Buttons\Arrows\GreenArrowRight.png from the AutoPlay Menu
Studio 3.0 folder.
7. Click on the Transparent Background checkbox to make the white background of the image
transparent.
8. Click OK to create the object.
9. Drag the new object to the lower right corner of the page.
10. Select Page 2 and repeat the above process using the images BlueArrowLeft.png and
GreenArrowLeft.png as the normal and highlight images, respectively.
11. Drag the new object to the lower-left corner of Page 2.

Step 9 Connecting the Pages

If you preview the menu after the last step you will see that even though you have two pages, there is no
way to get from Page 1 to Page 2. In this step we will connect the pages.

1. Go to Page 1 and select the arrow object.

2. Select Object | Properties from the menu. This will open the Image Object Properties screen.
3. Click the Actions tab and make sure that the Mouse Click event is selected.
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 4. Select the Add button and then go to Pages > Forward. This will add a new action command to
the actions list.
5. Click OK to accept the new settings.
6. Select Page 2, select the arrow object, and then choose Object | Properties from the menu.
This will open the Image Object Properties screen.
7. Click the Actions tab and make sure that the Mouse Click event is selected.
8. Select the Add button and then go to Pages > Backward. This will add a new action command
to the actions list.
9. Click OK to accept the new settings.

Now choose Project | Preview from the menu to test your new menu. Notice that you can now navigate
between the two pages.

Step 10 - Setting Up the Virtual CD-ROM Folder

Although our menu now looks OK and operates properly, it is time to add some real functionality. In the
next few steps we will create an object that, when clicked on, will run a program. The first step is to setup
our Virtual CD-ROM folder. As explained in AutoPlay Menu Studios documentation, the Virtual CD-ROM
folder is a folder that you can setup on your hard drive that will mirror the layout of your CD-ROM. While
in preview mode, your menu will run programs from the Virtual CD-ROM folder as if it was a CD-ROM.

1. From Windows Explorer, create a folder on your C: drive called Virtual CD.

2. Locate the file Notepad.exe on your system and copy it to the folder C:\Virtual CD.
Notepad.exe is simply Windows Notepad and is located in your Windows directory. The
Windows directory is usually C:\Windows or WINNT (for Windows NT/2000).

3. Go back to AutoPlay Menu Studio.

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 4. Select Project | Settings from the menu to open the Project Settings screen.
5. Enter C:\Virtual CD as the Virtual CD-ROM Folder Location field.
6. Click OK to accept the changes.

Step 11 Creating a Hyperlink Area Object

Now you will see why we have both a normal and highlight pane on Page 2. We are going to create a
Hyperlink object that will swap between the two panes when the mouse is placed over the object.

1. Select Page 2 and choose Object | Hyperlink from the menu. This will open the Hyperlink
Area Object Properties screen.
2. On the Settings tab, check the Show highlight pane on Mouse Over option.
3. Click OK to create the new object. The object will now appear in the upper left corner of the
screen.
4. Drag the new object over the top-most blue oval on the right side of the screen.
5. Select the resize control on the right side of the object and stretch the hyperlink area so that it
covers the entire oval area.

Now preview your menu. You will notice that if you go to Page 2 and move the mouse over the hyperlink
area it switches the area beneath the hyperlink to the highlight pane.

Step 12 Executing a Program

Now that we have defined our hyperlink area, we will make a command to run the Notepad program when
the Hyperlink object is clicked.

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1. Make sure that you are on Page 2 and double-click on the new hyperlink area.
2. Click the Actions tab and make sure that the Mouse Click event is selected.
3. Select the Add button and then go to Execute > Execute Program. This will add a new action
command to the actions list.
4. In the Properties grid below the actions list you will see the properties for the new action. Click
on the File Name property under the Value column and then click the arrow button on the far right
of the field.

5. You will now see the Virtual CD-ROM Layout screen. Select the file Notepad.exe and click
OK. The path %SrcDrv%\NOTEPAD.EXE will now appear in the File Name property.

6. Click OK to accept the new action.

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Run a preview by hitting the F5 key. Notice that you can now click on the new hyperlink area and it will
launch Windows Notepad. One problem is that our hyperlink area is there but the user will not know what
it is for. To take care of this problem, create a Text object that says Run Program and place it over the
Hyperlink object. Make both the highlight and normal color light blue. Create the exact same Execute
Program action for the new Text object that we created for the Hyperlink object above.

Step 13 - Creating a Text Box Object

Now we will use one of AutoPlay Menu Studios new objects the Text Box Object. We will make a text
box object that loads a text file from the CD-ROM and displays the information for the user.

1. From Windows Explorer, copy the Readme.txt file from your AutoPlay Menu Studio 3.0 folder to
C:\Virtual CD.

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 2. Go back to AutoPlay Menu Studio and select Page 1.
3. Select Object | Text Box from the menu. This will open the Text Box Object Properties screen.
4. In the Message section, select Load from file at runtime.
5. Click the browse button with three dots beside the File field. This will open the Virtual CD-ROM
Layout screen. Select the readme.txt file and click OK.
6. Click OK to create the new object.
7. Drag the object to the middle of the page and resize it appropriately.

Preview the menu once again. You will now see that the text box will display the text from the AutoPlay
Menu Studio readme file.

Step 14 Building and Distributing the Menu

Now that our menu is all finished and we are happy about how it works, it is time to create our final
production build. To make burning the CD easy, we will build the menu to our Virtual CD-ROM folder so
that all of our CD files are in the proper location.
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 1. Select Project | Build from the menu.
2. Change the Output folder field to C:\Virtual CD.
3. Click OK to build the menu.

The program may try to run your new menu after building is complete and it will not operate properly
because it is being run from a folder on your hard drive and not from the root folder of your CD drive as it
should. Your Virtual CD folder should now look like this:

To burn your CD, simply burn the files from the C:\Virtual CD folder to the root of the CD. It should look
something like this:

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Now just burn the CD and try it out. We hope that you have found this tutorial helpful. If you have any
questions or have suggestions for other tutorials that you would like to see, please let us know.

More Information
The best place to go for more help about AutoPlay Menu Studio is the online help file that ships with the
product. All of the products features are covered in much more detail there. If you have any questions,
please contact support@indigorose.com.

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Last Reviewed: September 12, 2000
2000 Indigo Rose Corporation. All Rights Reserved.