Hi Darkbluesky,
I think you'll get a better response if you give an example of what your trying to mod and the problem. The questions you ask is more like a request for a tutorial which could get very involved.
[Contexts]
ContextsNb=11; max contexts nb is 16
Context0=None; default - should not be changed
Context1=Game
Context2=Pause
Context3=Spectator
Context4=Console
Context5=Museum
Context6=Effects
Context7=Final
Context8=Edit
Context9=Replay
Context10=ModalMsg
[Commands]
CommandsNb=500
MaxKeyCommandsNb=170; Keys number shoud be smaller than this value (in order to accelerate the loading)
;Name = command name -> will be translated in command index
;Ctxt = command context(s) as indexes -> see [Contexts] section
;MnID = menu item id associated with this command
;Str = string id (from en_menu.txt) associated with this command
;KeyX = an entry containing <key_code>,<flags chars>,<help text id>; flags chars could be C=executed by the crew, R=repeat key, c=with control, s=with shift, m=only when mouse is captured (enabled), n=only when mouse is not captured (enabled)
;Page = <page_id>,<title_id>; associated page (only for user commands) and a title if is necessary
(Taken from Erweiterte_Befehle_Mod)
Take the MnID for instance.
The MnID is followed by the identification code i.e.
Commands_en.cfg
[Cmd42]
Name=Mission_order
Ctxt=1
MnID=
0x3F02000A
Key0=0x77,,"F8"
Page=0x36000000,3743
menu_1024_768.ini
[G3F I26]
Name=&Mission orders
Type=1032;Button
ItemID=
0x3F02000A
ParentID=0x3F020000
Pos=1,-424,62,45
Materials=4
Display=0;No stretch
Mat 0=data/menu/gui/layout/Shortcuts.tga
Crop 0=0.0078125,0.818532,1,1
Mat 1=data/menu/gui/layout/Shortcuts.tga
Crop 1=0.0078125,0.818532,1,1
Mat 2=data/menu/gui/layout/Shortcuts.tga
Crop 2=0.0078125,0.818532,1,1
Mat 3=data/menu/gui/layout/Shortcuts.tga
Crop 3=0.0078125,0.818532,1,1
MatFlags=0x1
TexFmt=0x9
Font=1
TextFlags=0x0
StatesColors=0xB0B0B0FF, 0xFF, 0xFFFFFFFF, 0xFFFFFFFF
ToolTipText=2719
As you can see when the Mission orders button icon is pressed it sends the code
0x3F02000A as defined by the menu_1024_768.ini. The Commands_en.cfg recognises this and also key F8 as Mission_order. Page=0x36000000,3743 if you paste 0x36000000 into edit in menu_1024_768.ini it will find the Mission orders Page and if you search en_menu.txt with 3743 you'll find 3743=ORDERS. You'll find a great many instances where files communicate with one another via a unique code.