
                                   BE ASK 
 


Description:   Displays a prompt message and then awaits single-key input.
               You can supply a list of keys that defines the key response BE
               ASK will accept, a default key value, a timeout period, and
               color attributes for the prompt message. If you provide
               (keylist), BE ASK returns ERRORLEVEL, which you can test with
               an IF batch command to control the flow of commands in a batch
               command file. If you are nesting BE ASK commands within a menu
               system, you can adjust the ERRORLEVEL that is returned to
               discover which menu set the returned code. 
 


Syntax:        Version 4.5:   BE ASK "(prompt)" [[,](keylist)]
                              [DEFAULT=(key)] [TIMEOUT=(n)] [ADJUST=(n)]
                              [[BLINKING]  [BRIGHT | BOLD] [(text-color)]
                              [[ON] (back-color)]] 
 


                                Parameters: 
 


(prompt)       A character string BE ASK displays while waiting for input.
               You must enclose the prompt in quote marks if it includes one
               or more blank spaces. If the prompt contains a single-quote
               character, enclose the prompt in double-quote marks. If the
               prompt contains a double-quote character, enclose the prompt
               in single-quote marks. 
 
(keylist)      A list of the character keys, number keys, or symbol keys that
               ASK will accept as a response. The list must be a single
               string of characters with no spaces between them (Example:
               ABCD, not A B C D). When you supply (keylist), BE ASK sets the
               ERRORLEVEL based on the position in the list of the key you
               choose;. Using the above example, pressing A sets ERRORLEVEL
               equal to 1, pressing B sets ERRORLEVEL equal to 2, and so on.
               If you do not specify (keylist), pressing any key completes
               execution of BE ASK with ERRORLEVEL set to 0. 
 
Example:       BE ASK ABCD - If a user chooses "C", ERRORLEVEL will be set to
               3.


DEFAULT=(key)  The default key value in (keylist) that BE ASK uses if the
               optional timeout elapses or if you press Enter. 

TIMEOUT=(n)    A time period, in seconds, that BE ASK waits prior to
               proceeding. If you specify a default key and if the time
               period expires, BE ASK returns the  ERRORLEVEL value
               corresponding to that key. If you do not specify a default
               key, BE ASK sets the ERRORLEVEL value of the *last key* in
               (keylist); if you do not specify (keylist), BE ASK sets a
               value of 0. 
 
ADJUST=(n)     A numeric value BE ASK adds to the returned ERRORLEVEL code to
               adjust for stacked menus. 
 
BLINKING       Causes the prompt message to blink on and off. On some
               monitors this keyword works only if you specify (back-color). 
 
BRIGHT | BOLD  Displays the prompt message as high intensity. 
 
(text-color)   The color of the prompt message text and a response character.
               The default is the current foreground color setting for the
               screen area that is covered by the text. See <NUBESA>. 
 





(back-color)   The color of the background block for the prompt message and
               response character. If you do not provide (text-color), you
               must include the ON keyword. The default is the current
               background setting for the screen area that is covered by the
               text. See <NUBESA>. 
 
                                   Notes:

The DOS batch command IF ERRORLEVEL (n) evaluates to true whenever (n) is
less than or equal to the current ERRORLEVEL. To obtain the results you want
from a set of IF ERRORLEVEL commands, test for the highest possible
ERRORLEVEL first. See the example below. 
 
The BE ASK command in version 4.5 replaces the ASK command available in
version 4.0. 
 









Example:       To display a bright-red-on-yellow prompt that provides a
               choice between continuing in a batch file and quitting and
               that has a default value of Q if the user does not respond
               within 30 seconds, enter: 
 

BE ASK "Enter C to continue or Q to quit: ",CQ D=Q T=30 BRI RED ON YEL
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO QUIT 
:CONTINUE 
     . additional commands
     . 
     . additional commands
:QUIT 
REM Last line in the batch file 
 
See:           <NUBE>, <NUBESA>, <NUSAMP>, <NUCOLOR>. 

