The REG type of menu item (used in our original example above for the Application Help menu) is similar to the command line (CMD) type, in that it launches an independent application and thus has no particular connection to the context of the current application. The main advantage of the REG type over the CMD type is that you don’t have to worry about knowing the name or path of the executable needed. For example, if you want to open a CSV file as a spreadsheet, to use the CMD method, you would need to know the full pathname of the spreadsheet program. With the REG approach, you don’t even need to know what the program name is, much less its location.

The main disadvantage of the REG type is that you can’t easily pass any command line arguments. Also, you can’t suspend the current A-Shell session while the new application runs.

Since you can mix and match menu types, even within a single MDF, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each type will allow you to use the best type for each circumstance.

You can add up to 125 individual menu items.