diff --git a/mozilla/grendel/ui/XMLMenuBuilder.java b/mozilla/grendel/ui/XMLMenuBuilder.java
index 24cdd3fba5d..ea086b2c389 100644
--- a/mozilla/grendel/ui/XMLMenuBuilder.java
+++ b/mozilla/grendel/ui/XMLMenuBuilder.java
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ import org.xml.sax.InputSource;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXParseException;
 
+import grendel.widgets.MenuCtrl;
+import grendel.widgets.MenuBarCtrl;
+
 /**
  * Build a menu bar from an XML data source. This builder supports:
  * <UL>
@@ -77,7 +80,7 @@ public class XMLMenuBuilder extends XMLWidgetBuilder {
   protected Hashtable button_group;
 
   Hashtable actions;
-  JMenuBar component;
+  MenuBarCtrl component;
 
   /**
    * Build a menu builder which operates on XML formatted data
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@ public class XMLMenuBuilder extends XMLWidgetBuilder {
     // skip to the "menubar" tag
     node = tree.getNextElement("menubar");
     current = (Element)node;
-    component = new JMenuBar();
+    component = new MenuBarCtrl();
     
     // iterate through every node
     node = node.getFirstChild();
@@ -196,21 +199,31 @@ public class XMLMenuBuilder extends XMLWidgetBuilder {
     if (node.getNodeType() != Node.ELEMENT_NODE) return; // can't process it
 
     // things will recurse through here
-    item = buildComponent((Element)node, (JComponent)parent);
-
+    item = buildComponent((Element)node);
+    
     // find out where we stash the item
     if (item != null) {
       Element current = (Element)node;
-      parent.add(item);
+      if (item instanceof JSeparator) {
+	parent.add(item);
+      } else if (parent instanceof MenuCtrl) {
+	((MenuCtrl)parent).addItemByName(current.getAttribute(id_attr), 
+					 (JMenuItem)item);
+	System.out.println("adding " + current.getAttribute(id_attr));
+	
+      } else if (parent instanceof MenuBarCtrl) {
+	((MenuBarCtrl)parent).addItemByName(current.getAttribute(id_attr), 
+					    (JMenuItem)item);
+	System.out.println("adding " + current.getAttribute(id_attr));
+      }
     }
   }
 
   /**
    * Build the component at the current XML element and add to the parent
    * @param current the current element
-   * @param parent the parent to add to
    */
-  protected JComponent buildComponent(Element current, JComponent parent) {
+  protected JComponent buildComponent(Element current) {
     String tag = current.getTagName();
     JComponent comp = null;
     String label = null;;
@@ -218,7 +231,7 @@ public class XMLMenuBuilder extends XMLWidgetBuilder {
     // menu tag
     if (tag.equals(menu_tag)) {
       Node node;
-      JMenu menu = new JMenu();
+      JMenu menu = new MenuCtrl();
       String my_id = current.getAttribute(id_attr);
       comp = menu;
 
diff --git a/mozilla/grendel/widgets/MenuBarCtrl.java b/mozilla/grendel/widgets/MenuBarCtrl.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7e913c151e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mozilla/grendel/widgets/MenuBarCtrl.java
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/* -*- Mode: java; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 2 -*-
+ *
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License
+ * Version 1.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
+ * compliance with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
+ *
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
+ * basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.  See
+ * the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ *
+ * The Original Code is the Grendel mail/news client.
+ *
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Giao Nguyen
+ * <grail@cafebabe.org>.  Portions created by Giao Nguyen are Copyright 
+ * (C) 1999 Giao Nguyen.  All Rights Reserved.
+ */
+
+package grendel.widgets;
+
+import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
+import javax.swing.JMenu;
+import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
+
+import java.util.Hashtable;
+import java.util.Enumeration;
+
+/**
+ * This is a menubar with a keyed lookup rather than a flat iteration model
+ * which JMenuBar by default uses.
+ */
+public class MenuBarCtrl extends JMenuBar {
+
+  protected Hashtable controls = new Hashtable();
+  protected Hashtable menus = new Hashtable();
+
+  /**
+   * Get the control by its name.
+   * @param name the control's name
+   * @return the widget
+   */
+  public JMenuItem getCtrlByName(String name) {
+    JMenuItem item = (JMenuItem)controls.get(name);
+    
+    // if it's not a toplevel item, it must be in one of the submenus
+    if (item != null) {
+      Enumeration e = controls.elements();
+      
+      while (e.hasMoreElements()) {
+        Object o = e.nextElement();
+        
+        if (o instanceof MenuCtrl) {
+          MenuCtrl c = (MenuCtrl)o;
+          item = (JMenuItem)c.getItemByName(name);
+          if (item != null) {
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+    }
+    
+    return item;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a control to the container.
+   * @param name the control's name
+   * @param component the control
+   */
+  public void addItemByName(String name, JMenuItem component) {
+    controls.put(name, component);
+    add(component);
+  }
+
+} 
diff --git a/mozilla/grendel/widgets/MenuCtrl.java b/mozilla/grendel/widgets/MenuCtrl.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7d879e6a470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mozilla/grendel/widgets/MenuCtrl.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/* -*- Mode: java; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 2 -*-
+ *
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License
+ * Version 1.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
+ * compliance with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
+ *
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
+ * basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.  See
+ * the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ *
+ * The Original Code is the Grendel mail/news client.
+ *
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Giao Nguyen
+ * <grail@cafebabe.org>.  Portions created by Giao Nguyen are Copyright 
+ * (C) 1999 Giao Nguyen.  All Rights Reserved.
+ */
+
+package grendel.widgets;
+
+import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
+import javax.swing.JMenu;
+import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
+
+import java.util.Hashtable;
+import java.util.Enumeration;
+
+public class MenuCtrl extends JMenu {
+  protected Hashtable controls = new Hashtable();
+
+  /**
+   * Get the control by its name.
+   * @param name the control's name
+   * @return the menu item
+   */
+  public JMenuItem getItemByName(String name) {
+    JMenuItem item = (JMenuItem)controls.get(name);
+    
+    // if it's not a toplevel item, it must be in one of the submenus
+    if (item != null) {
+      Enumeration e = controls.elements();
+      
+      while (e.hasMoreElements()) {
+        Object o = e.nextElement();
+        
+        if (o instanceof MenuCtrl) {
+          MenuCtrl c = (MenuCtrl)o;
+          item = (JMenuItem)c.getItemByName(name);
+          if (item != null) {
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+    }
+    
+    return item;
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Add a menu item to the menu.
+   * @param name the name of the menu
+   * @param component the menu item
+   */
+  public void addItemByName(String name, JMenuItem component) {
+    controls.put(name, component);
+    add(component);
+  }
+}
+