MNU, MNS, MNR, MNC, MNX, MNL ... or CUI Speaker: Chris Lindner – WD Partners GD10menus e procedures for creating, sharing and editing toolbar , menus, dashboards, shortcuts, mouse buttons, workspaces, and even touches on how to migrate legacy chnologies (table, screen and image menus.. remember those?) safely and quickly. • C• S• W About the Speaker: Chris is a veteran AutoCAD user of over 20 years. He has been a CAD drafter, CAD manager, trainer, and consultant in a variety of industries. He is currently the Director of CAD technology for WD Partners, an international, multi-unit design and development firm. Chris is currently serving as the Vice President for the AUGI Board of Directors, and is Manager of AUGI's monthly HotNews publication where he also writes the popular TIPniques column. [email protected] 5-2P This course guides anyone familiar the two-dec into the uncharted territory of the new CUIs. It outlines thade-old method of customizing AutoCAD's steAfter attending this class, you will be able to: • Use previous menu knowledge to accelerate the CUI learning curve reate CUI files from existing MNU/MNS files et up Enterprise and Main CUI files ork with workspaces and dashboards2 1 Introduction Since AutoCAD 2006, Autodesk has taken some innovative steps to modernizing how we tailor the AutoCAD environment. Rather than having to do customization with a variety of tools, practically all of s (toolbars, menus, shortcuts, etc.) can be modified and managed ew Customize User Interface (CUI) editor. This course will give you the f2 The acc2.1 What I Won’t Miss n by accidentally loading the edited from within AutoCAD) terminated or forgotten to terminate a cascade menu with the “<-“ code, you know what this is about. I releases of AutoCAD had a mind of their own when it . No longer will it create icons with names like r for some of the heavy lifting and tweaking. down menu, when you 2.2 AutoCAD’s user interface (UI) elementfrom within AutoCAD itself using the nundamentals to fully leverage the new CUI Out with the MNU, in with the New CUI is not perfect, but is a step in the right direction. For years, users have lived with and come to ept the nuances of MNU/MNS files. • Edit the MNU or MNS file? – I think we’ve all lost some customizatioMNU file, overwriting some modifications that had been save (when to the MNS. • Cascading problems - If you’ve ever incorrectly• Randomly named icons files – Pre-CUcame to naming and placing BMP filesRCDA4295.bmp placed in hard-to-predict folders. • Multiple editors – You could edit a few things from inside AutoCAD, but you always had to resort to an external text edito• Edit-Load-Test cycle – Since MNU/MNS files had to be compiled, testing your customizations required you to exit AutoCAD or unload and reload the menu. • Single definition of macros – If you placed a macro on a toolbar and a pull-needed to change it, you had to remember to do it in each place. • Transferring customization between menus – Knowing what to copy from one MNU/MNS and where to paste it in another could be tricky. • Sharing\protecting company menus – The only option with MNU/MNS files was to rely on the file’s read-only attribute or placing them on a secure network location. The More Things Change… • Macros – Macro syntax is the same as before. • Icon editor – The clunky icon editor is unchanged, and unimproved. • Partial menus – Same as before. • Menu-related AutoLISP (MNL) files – No change.3 3 Comparisons When learning something new, making a connection between what you knew and what is new can flatten the learning curve. This section will build in your knowledge of customization in pre-CUI releases. We will files. 3.1look at the CUI as it relates to MNU/MNS Customization Files Old New Type Notes MNU CUI Customization File The MNU & MNS files are text-based, editable by Notepad or a similar ASCII editor. The CUI is an XML-based file and is edited by the CUI editor in AutoCAD. MNS MNC MNR MNR M source enu ReNo change in concept. Contains the bitmaps that are used by the user interface elements. MNL MNL AutoLISP Menu Source No change in concept. Automatically loads lisp code with its accompanying MNS or CUI file. BMP BMP BMP No change in concept. 3.2 Customization Contents MNU/MNS Sections CUI Elements Notes ***MENU GROUP “Customization group” No change in concept. ***BUTT ) ONS(1-4 “Mouse Buttons” 1-Click, 2- Shift+Click, 3- Ctrl+Click, 4- Ctrl+Shift+Click ***AUX(1-4) Legacy – “Tablet Buttons” 1-Click, 2- Shift+Click, 3- Ctrl+Click, 4- Ctrl+Shift+Click ***POP0 Shortcut Menus – “Object Snap Cursor Menu” Referenced by Ctrl+ Right-Click or Shift+Right-Click ***POP(1-n) “Menus” Pull-down menus & sub-menus (cascade menus) ***POP(500-n) Shortcut Menus – “<name> Object(s) Menus” Context-sensitive, object specific, right-click menus ***TOOLBARS “Toolbars” Includes “Flyouts” (i.e. “nested” toolbars) ***IMAGE Legacy – “Image Tile Menus” ***SCREEN Legacy – “Screen Menus” ***TABLET Legacy – “Tablet Menus” ***HELPSTRINGS “Description” ***ACCELERATORS Keyboard Shortcuts – “Shortcut Keys” n/a Keyboard Shortcuts – “Temporary Override Keys”4 n/a “Dashboard Panels” ***POP(500-n) “Double Click Actions” 3.3 Customization nds CommaMNU/MNS Commands CUI Commands Notes MENULOAD MENULOAD or CUILOAD Loads a MNU, MNS, or CUI file. Note: dialog box doesn’t indicate Main, Enterprise, or Partial CUIs MENUUNLOAD MENUUNLOAD or CUIUNLOAD Unloads loaded CUIs. MENU MENU Loads a CUI as the Main customization file. TOOLBAR TOOLBAR n/a CUIIMPORT n/a CUIEXPORT n/a CUI Launches the full CUI editor n/a QUICKCUI Displays a “collapsed” CUI editor 3.4 AutoLI ns There are no changes to menu-/cui-related A ns. SP FunctioutoLISP functio(menugroup groupn ) ameVerifies is loaded. that a menugroupExampl nugroup “acad") e: (me(menucmd string) Issues men or sets and retrieves menu commands, u item status.4 Migrating MNU/MNS Content Now let’s look at what’s involved in taking an MNU/MNS file from a previous release of AutoCAD and bringing it into AutoCAD 2008 as a CUI file. You’ve put a lot of work into those old MNU/MNS files that 4.1Menhou“sel rd into your new CUI(s). Here are a couple things to consider at this you created for a specific
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