Jim Y said:
Using the game Solitaire as an example, is there a way in which I can separate the menu selections
vertically. Under Game menu are Undo, Deck and Options (plus other things). Can I provide
additional vertical space between each of the items on the menu? If yes, please explain.
I have found (at times) that a slight variation in the position of the arrow and I unintentionally
select the item below the intended one. I realize this is probably my fault unintentionally moving
the mouse while pressing the left button. Is there something with the mouse that can be done to
help other than be more precise with the positioning of the mouse?
Yes, it's possible and it can be pretty easy too. Unfortunately, it can also be difficult, impossible, unreliable, and dangerous as
well. It's not a formal or supported method and is not guaranteed to work for all programs. There is no official way to do what
you want, so you will have to HACK it. What this means is that you will actually have to modify the programs themselves which is
not the best idea if you can avoid it, especially if you are not confident in your computer abilities.
Before resorting to that, first see if you can adjust your mouse's sensitivity/precision settings. Maybe that can help avoid the
problem in the first place.
Next, you will want to check accessibility settings in the control panel. They are designed to make the system easier to use.
Using Mouse Keys allows you to use the keyboard's numeric pad to control the cursor, which has the added benefit of giving you
pixel-perfect precision.
It would be nice if there was a program that could hook the menus of other apps and modify them as needed—it's certainly
possible—but I have not heard of such a program (there are too few practical applications for it).
Failing that, you can fall back on modifying the program itself (it's probably a good idea to limit this to just the ones where it's
really necessary.) To do so, you will need a copy of Angus Johnson's program Resource Hacker:
http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/
Once you've got that, run it and open the program file. Using Solitaire as the example, you would open \windows\system32\sol.exe in
reshacker. Look in the left pane, there will be a list of resources. There should be a Menu branch; expand that. In the Menu
branch there will be one or more branches (one in Solitaire's case). Open them until you find the menu you are trying to change. In
this case you will see the menus that Solitaire has, and this one in particular:
POPUP "&Game"
{
MENUITEM "&Deal\t F2", 1000
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "&Undo", 1001
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "De&ck...", 1002
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "&Options...", 1003
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "E&xit", 1004
}
Click in that then copy the line MENUITEM SEPARATOR and paste it in as many times as you need. For example:
POPUP "&Game"
{
MENUITEM "&Deal\t F2", 1000
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "&Undo", 1001
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "De&ck...", 1002
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "&Options...", 1003
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "E&xit", 1004
}
Now click the Compile Script button and test it in the live, test menu (click the Show Menu button if it's not there). When you're
satisfied with it, save it: File->Save. Reshacker will automatically create a backup copy of the file (in this case
sol_original.exe). Test the program to see if it works and has the menu the way you want. If not, delete the file (eg: sol.exe)
and copy/rename the original back (sol_original.exe->sol.exe).
This will work for a lot, but not all programs. Some programs are packed, so you would need to unpack them first. Others use
different formats, others are protected, and so on.
HTH
