Creating character menus

A character menu is a static list of items that can have multiple levels. Plan your menu structure before creating a character menu. The following figure shows an example of a plan, including parent and child menu items.

Design for parent and child menus

To create a character menu

1. In Developer Studio, select File > New > Character Menu.
2. Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish. 
3. In the Menu editor, click Add Menu to create a menu item.
    An item is added to the Label/Value list (see the following figure). It has two properties:
   • Label—The text that appears on the menu. The default label is New Menu 0.
   • Value—The text that is entered into the character field when users select this menu item. The default value is New Menu 0.  
   • New Character Menu
     
4. Double-click the default label, and enter an appropriate label.
    The maximum length is 80 characters.
   
    
5. Double-click the default value, and enter an appropriate value.
    The maximum length is 255 bytes.
    The Value field applies only to selectable menu items (that is, menu items that are not parents of other menu items).
6. To add another item at the same level as the first item, repeat steps 3 through 5.
7. To create a submenu:

   1. Select an item, and click Add Menu Item.
       A subitem (child) is added beneath the selected item (parent), and a minus sign appears to the left of the parent item. The minus sign indicates a menu expanded to show its contents. A plus sign indicates a collapsed menu. Clicking either symbol switches between the two states.
       You can create as many as 15 menu levels (including the top level), but to enhance usability, use as few levels as possible.

      If some menu levels appear blank in the Menu editor, increase the width of the Label column until they are visible.

   2. Edit the subitem label and value.
       A parent item can have as many as 99 sub-items.
8. To add more menu items, repeat steps 3 through 7 as necessary.
    For example, to create the menu hierarchy shown in the above figure:
   1. Click Add Menu, and replace the default label and value with AR System.
   2. Select the AR System item, click Add Menu Item, and replace the default label and value with Utilities.
   3. Click Add Menu, and replace the default label and value with Clients.
   4. To add the third-level items, select the Clients item, click Add Menu Item, and replace the default label and value with Remedy Import.
9. You can also perform these actions:
   • To modify a menu item, double-click and edit its label or value.
   • To expand or collapse all menu hierarchies, click Open All or Close All.
      These buttons control your view of the menu definition, not how the menu appears in the UI. (When users open menus, the submenus are hidden.)
   • To delete a menu item, select the item, and click Delete.
      Child menu items are deleted when you delete the parent menu item.

   • To reorder the menu items, select the item to move, and click Up or Down.

     The sync cache operation does not work when a menu object is renamed.
     See Modifying-menus.

     You must manually flush the form cache to make sure that the renamed menu is reflected in the browser.

     To flush the form cache, use the following URL format:
     http://serverName:port/arsys/shared/config/config_cache_cleanup.jsp

10. (Optional) Modify the menu's change history.
     See Updating-the-change-history-of-fields-forms-or-objects.
11. (Optional) Add Help text to the menu.
     See Creating-help-for-applications.
12. Select File > Save.
13. In the Save Menu As dialog box, enter a name for the menu, and click OK.
     Menu names must be unique on each AR System server.
     Names can have as many as 80 characters, including spaces. Names can include double-byte characters, but avoid using numbers at the beginning of the name.
14. Attach the menu to any character field in any form.
     See Creating-common-data-fields and Menu Name.