BricsCAD: Working with Custom CUI Files

There are advantages in customizing CUI files. One benefit is to put frequently used commands at your fingertips. Another is to provide users with commands configured to enforce standards. Despite the pros, the biggest con is that these customizations get wiped out when an update is applied or a newer version is installed. Trying to preserve the customized menus and bring them forward into a newer version is not a promising idea because replacing the new BricsCAD menus with old BricsCAD menus could cause some incompatibilities. One way to avoid problems and preserve your customizations is to create your own CUI file that can be partially loaded next to the native BricsCAD CUI file. This file can be centrally located so it can be backed up and shared without being subject to overwrite or deletion during an installation. Then it can simply be reloaded whenever needed.

For this example, a custom tool bar will be created with the Match Property tool in a custom CUI file.

Creating a Custom CUI File

To create a custom CUI file, open the Customize dialog by navigating the ribbon to the Manage tab>Settings panel or by executing Customize at the command line.

In the Customize dialog, do the following:

1. Click on the Toolbars tab to make it current.
   As for a lot of the tabs in this dialog, the right pane contains available commands. The left pane contains created content so this would be where our custom toolbar will be created. However, we want to store our customizations in a dedicated CUI file.

2. To create a new CUI, right-click on the BRICSCAD branch at the top of the left pane and select Create new partial CUI file.
   

3. In the Create a Customization File dialog, browse to where you want to save the file, type in a name, and click Save.
   

   Scroll down to the bottom of the left pane and you will find the custom CUI file. This file can store customizations to menus, ribbons, keyboard macros, custom mouse behavior, tablet settings, and tool palettes of course. In fact, if you navigate to any of those tabs and check out the left pane, you will see the custom CUI file at the bottom of the pane. The idea is that you drag what you want from the right pane over to the destination on the left pane.

4. To create a toolbar in the new CUI, right-click on it in the left pane of the Toolbars tab and select Append toolbar.
   

5. In the Add toolbar dialog, type a title for the toolbar. Click OK to continue.
   

   The new toolbar will show as a branch within the new CUI file.

6. Select the new toolbar and notice the properties listed in the bottom pane of the Customize dialog.
   

   Title – the name and label of the toolbar provided when it was newly appended.
   ID – BricsCAD’s name for the toolbar.
   Alias – BricsCAD’s other name for the toolbar (do not edit this).
   Position – choices are Top, Left, Bottom, or Right for docking; or Floating for not docking.
   Default Display – controls whether the toolbar is automatically added to workspaces or not.
   Rows – number of rows
   Xval & Yval – x and y coordinate measured from upper left corner of program window.

7. In the right-pane of the dialog, locate the Match Properties tool by typing Match in the search field then clicking on the search icon (magnifying glass). You may need to click the search icon several times until it finds what you are looking for. When the tool is found, you can review its properties in the bottom pane for verification.
   

8. Drag the tool from the right pane to the left and drop it over top of the new toolbar. The tool will appear within the toolbar branch. Click OK to close the Customize dialog.
   

If the toolbar is not yet displaying in BricsCAD, right-click in the blank space on the right side of the ribbon and right-click to display the context menu. Hover over Toolbars and each of the loaded CUI files will display. Hover over the custom CUI and any toolbar in that file will display. If there is a check next to it, that means it is already open. If there is no check, click on the new toolbar to display.

More commands can be added to the toolbar of course once you have verified that it is up and running.

The new CUI file can be placed in a shared location so that others can use it as well. And remember that besides toolbars, you can create customizations for the ribbon, quad, keyboard macros, and mouse actions. In addition to common BricsCAD commands, scripted commands can be launched from any of these customized tools as well. Such scripts can automate certain repetitive tasks or integrate standards within common commands. The amount of effort that it takes to set up a custom CUI will pay off in the future by increasing productivity.

 – Cyndy Davenport