Maps used as menus of options are displayed with the map_menu(), and field_choose(), is used to select an option. map_choose() or map_g_choose() are used to display, select an option from and finally clear a static menu to be used as a popup.
Menus with options that can be enabled or disabled are supported with the analogous map_g_choose() or field_eg_choose() functions. Disabling options in a menu is usually referred to as "Greying Out", in DP4 documentation.
Use map_bar_choose() to create a menu bar with pull down menus.
You can pick an option from a menu while the cursor is in another map with either the askm_special() function or the enumerated inpm_e() or inpm_ge() functions. inpm_e() is a very useful function that may allow you to avoid creating some small static data tables on your database, and can save you from the sin of hard coding an association between characters and program options.
You can find out mode about creating and using menu maps on the following pages: