C o p y r i g h t 2 0 0 5 b y u p F r o n t . e Z i n e P u b l i s h i n g , L t d . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d w o r l d w i d e.

tailoring

R . H.

[Link]
a u t o c a d
t a i l o r i n g

2006 series

Grabowski

Publishing
autocad cui
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2 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

table of contents t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

1 — introduction to cui /7
About CUI /7
About Cui Files /8

Collection of CUI Commands /9

Related System Variables /9

2 — touring the cui user interface / 11

Customizations Pane / 12
Reducing the Infoglut / 12

Command List Pane / 13

Properties Pane / 14

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 3

3 — customizing toolbars & icons / 16
Stage 1: Create New Toolbar / 17
Toolbar Properties / 18
General Properties / 18
Appearance Properties / 18
Advanced Properties / 18

Stage 2: Add Buttons to Toolbars / 19

Toolbar Button Properties / 20
General Properties / 20
Macros / 20
Images / 20
Creating Flyouts / 21

Stage 3: Writing Toolbar Macros / 23

Basic Macros / 23
Including Options / 24
Adding New Commands / 25
Using System Variables / 26
Including Hidden Options / 27
Additional Metacharacters / 27
Advanced Macros / 27
Adding Separator Lines / 28

Stage 4: Edit Icons / 29

Leave Icon As-is / 29
Borrow Icons from Other Commands / 29
Import Images as Icons / 31
Create Custom Icons / 31

Stage 5: Testing and Debugging / 32

Testing Toolbar Buttons / 32
Testing Toolbar Flyouts / 32

4 — menus & shortcut menus / 33

Stage 1: Create Menus / 34
Menu Properties / 35
General Properties / 35
Advanced Properties / 35

Stage 2: Add Commands to Menus / 36

Menu Item Properties / 36
General Properties / 37
Macro Properties / 37
Images Properties / 37

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4 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

 Stage 3: Write Macros / 37
Basic Menu Macros / 37
Including Options / 38
Metacharacters - ^ and $ / 38
Including Coordinates and User Input - \ / 39
Providing Input to Users: ^H / 40
Submenus / 40
Separator Lines: -- / 41
Shortcuts - & / 42
Shortcut Keystrokes - \t / 42
Grayed-out Text - ~ / 43
Check Mark Toggles - !. / 43

Stage 4: Edit Icons / 44

Stage 5: Test and Debug / 44
Shortcut Menus / 45

5 — shortcut keys & overrides / 46

Shortcut Keystrokes / 47
Stage 1: Drag Commands / 48
Stage 2: Edit Properties / 48
Stage 3: Test and Debug. / 49

Temporary Override Keys 2006 / 49

6 — mouse buttons / 52
Stage 1: Add Buttons / 53
Stage 2: Modify Properties / 54
Stage 3: Test and Debug / 54

7 — lisp files / 55
Stage 1: Select .lsp Files / 55

8 — workspaces / 57
Stage 1: Create New Workspaces / 58
Workspace Properties / 59
General Properties / 59
Display Properties / 59

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 5

 Stage 2: Make Changes / 60
Stage 3: Save and Test / 61

9 — legacy customization / 62

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one
introduction
to cui t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

a utoCAD 2006 centralizes many of its customization options within a single command:
Cui. What was formerly located in the Customize command’s dialog box, or edited with text
editors, is now in a single dialog box. Instead of storing menu and toolbar data in ASCII-format
.mn* files, AutoCAD now uses XML-format .cui files to store user interface customizations.

About CUI
There is an advantage to this new approach by Autodesk: a single command accesses (almost)
all customization, and (nearly) the same steps customize each area of the user interface. Learn
one, and then you pretty much know them all.
There are drawbacks, however. Cui doesn’t centralize all user interface customizations. If you
already know how to customize menus, toolbars, and so on, from earlier releases of AutoCAD,
you now need to learn a different system, which adapts only a little of the old ways. And there
have been stability and immaturity problems reported, some of which will have to be fixed by
Autodesk through patches.
The Cui command customizes the following areas of AutoCAD’s user interface:
Menus — menus on the menu bar accesses commands and macros.
Toolbars — bars of buttons execute commands and macros.
Mouse Buttons — macros execute when mouse buttons are pressed.
Shortcut Menus — context-sensitive menus display when the right mouse button is
pressed.
Shortcut Keystrokes — macros execute when keystrokes are pressed (Ctrl, Alt, Shift,
and function keys).
Temporary Override Keys — drawing modes are temporarily overridden. 2006
Workspaces — the state of the user interface is saved and restored. 2006
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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 7

The following items are included in Cui, but are considered nearly obsolete (“legacy items,” in
Autodesk-ese):
Screen Menu — text menu is displayed at the right edge of the screen.
Image Tile Menus — displays an early form of dialog box.
Tablet Buttons and Menu — executes macros through digitizing puck buttons and
tablet overlays.

The Cui command does not customize the following areas:

Screen colors, fonts, etc — customized with Tools | Options. See Chapter 2 of Tai-
loring AutoCAD 2006 e-book.
Aliases — customized with the Tools | Customize | Edit Program Parameters. See
Chapter 3 of Tailoring AutoCAD 2006 e-book.
Tool Palettes — customized with the ToolPalette and Customize commands. See
Chapter 12 of Tailoring AutoCAD 2006 e-book.
DIESEL — customized with the Modemacro command. A knowledge of Diesel is neces-
sary for using Cui. See Chapter 10 of Tailoring AutoCAD 2006 e-book.

It also does not handle customization of items unrelated to the user interface, such as hatch
patterns, linetypes, fonts, scripts, and AutoLISP routines.

About CUI Files

The customizations generated by Cui are stored typically in one of two .cui files. These replace
the .mnu, .mns, and other menu files used by previous releases of AutoCAD. When you load
menu files from previous releases of AutoCAD into AutoCAD 2006, they are automatically
converted to .cui files.
The two master .cui files are:
[Link] — customizes the user interface of AutoCAD 2006 running on your computer.
[Link] — customizes all copies of AutoCAD running on a network. This file is
activated through the Options | Files dialog box, and is read-only so that it cannot be
modified by users.
You can also work with .cui files of other names, which are equivalent to the partial menu files
from earlier releases. For example, the [Link] file is used by Express Tools, [Link] by
the dbConnect command, and [Link] by you to muck about with.
Cui files can be very small (5KB for [Link]) or very large 1.9MB (for [Link]). The large
size is a reason for the Cui command’s slow performance. There have been some complaints of
.cui file corruption and the user interface disappearing. At time of writing this e-book, Autodesk
had released a patch to fix invalid files created by this new command <[Link]/
adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=5575189& linkID=2475323> and released Service
Pack 1 to fix dozens of other problems in AutoCAD 2006.
Cui files are stored in a hidden folder named C:\Documents and Settings\<username> \Ap-
plication Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2006\R16.2\enu\Support. The format of the file is a dia-
lect of XML.

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8 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

The first few lines look like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!--
Warning! Do not edit the contents of this file.
If you attempt to edit this file using an XML editor, you could lose customization and migration functionality.
If you need to change information in the customization file, use the Customize User Interface dialog box in the
product. To access the Customize User Interface dialog box, click the Tools menu > Customize > Interface, or
enter CUI on the command line.
-->
<CustSection xmlns:xsd="[Link] xmlns:xsi="[Link]
XMLSchema-instance">
<FileVersion MajorVersion="0" MinorVersion="1" IncrementalVersion="3" UserVersion="0" />
<Header>

Collection of CUI Commands

Remarkably, AutoCAD has ten commands to do the work of two. Of the ten, you only need to
know two, of which you should avoid using one:
Cui — displays the Customize User Interface dialog box with its Customize and Transfer
tabs.
Menu — displays the Select Customization File dialog box. Caution! Loading .mnu and
.cui files with this command replaces the entire user interface.

The Toolbar, TbConfig , and Workspace Edit commands are hard-wired aliases for Cui.
The Menu command prompts you to select .cui customization and .mnu menu files to load
into AutoCAD. You can also drag .cui files from the Windows Explorer into AutoCAD. Caution!
This action removes all other toolbars, menus, and other user interface elements. To recover
use the U command or drag the [Link] file into AutoCAD.
The CuiLoad and CuiUnload commands both display the Load/Unload Customization dia-
log box; again, two commands doing the work of one. The old MenuLoad and MenuUnload
commands are now aliases for them. All four of them could be replaced by the Load Partial
Customization File button in Cui’s dialog box.
The CuiExport and CuiImport commands export and import customization data from the
[Link] file to other .cui files, such as [Link]. Two commands are superfluous, because
they do the same thing: display the Customize User Interface dialog box with the Transfer tab
open. They could be replaced by the Cui command using the +1 option.
Some customization functions that affect the look of toolbars are moved to the Options
command’s dialog box.
(The PartialCui command, found in the beta version, was removed from the shipping version
of AutoCAD 2006. Autodesk forgot to rename the Customize command, because it now only
handles Tool Palette groups and their import/export.)

Related System Variables

The MenuName system variable reports the path and name of the .cui file (read-only).
Command: menuname
MENUNAME = "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD
2006\R16.2\enu \Support\acad" (read only)

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 9

Similarly, the EnterpriseMenu system variable reports the path and name of the [Link]
file; if it is not in use, the variable reports "." (read-only).
Command: enterprisemenu
ENTERPRISEMENU = "." (read only)

The LockUi system variable selectively locks the position of toolbars and windows. Some
users find that they accidently move them, and this keeps them in place. The system variable
accepts the following bit values:

LockUI Meaning

0 No elements locked.
1 Docked toolbars locked.
2 Docked windows locked.
4 Floating toolbars locked.
8 Floating windows locked.

For example, to lock just docked items, enter 3 (1+2):

Command: lockui
Enter new value for LOCKUI <0>: 3

A user-friendly version of this system variable can be found in the Window | Lock Loca-
tion menu, as well as in the tray of the status bar.

The TbCustomize system variable prevents tampering of the user interface. In a bug that I
hope will be fixed, this variable disables the Customize and Toolbar commands, as well as
removing the Customize item from menus — but fails to disable the Cui command and the
Customize | Interface menu item!
Command: tbcustomize
Enter new value for TBCUSTOMIZE <1>:

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10 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

two
touring the cui
user interface t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

t he Cui command displays the Customize User Interface dialog box. As illustrated below,
the dialog box consists of two tabs and three panes (areas).
The tabs separate the dialog box into two tasks:
Customize — creates and modifies customizations.
Transfer — transfers customizations between .cui files.
The panes perform much of the customization through drag’n drop: drag commands into and
out of groupings.
The left-hand panes are static. They provide access to types of customization (top pane) and
lists of commands (bottom pane). The right-hand pane changes according to the needs of the
customization task, often splitting into additional panes.
Some of the customization commands are located on the short toolbars found in the dialog box,
but most commands are stored in shortcut menus that are accessed by right-clicking items.
In some cases, direct editing is possible. For instance, to delete a customization item, select it
and then press the Del key. To rename an item, click it twice slowly, and then type in the new
name. (Double-clicking has no effect in this dialog box.)

TIP If you make a mistake, click the Cancel button. Alternatively, you can use the U
command after exiting this dialog box.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 11

 Tabs
Customize
and Transfer Hide/Reveal Pane
Button
Toolbar

Customizations
Pane

Properties Pane

Command List
Pane

Description of
Selected Property

Customizations Pane
The Customizations pane displays an Explorer-like tree of user interface elements that can be
customized. (Click + boxes to open elements; click - to close trees.) Toolbars and shortcut
menus provide access to options.
To find a specific command or macro sequence, use the Find option, which, curiously enough,
is stored in shortcut menus. Right-click any pane, and then select Find from the shortcut
menu.

Reducing the Infoglut

Because this dialog box contains a huge amount of data, it provides ways to reduce the infor-
mation glut. On the toolbar, the “All Customization Files” droplist shortens the list of customi-
zation items. For instance, selecting [Link] displays only the items related to Custom. To
further reduce the list of items, click the Open Display Filter Dialog button.
Select a subset of user interface elements to be shown by the tree. For instance, shortcut menus
and mouse buttons are rarely changed, so consider turning off those items.

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12 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

Command List Pane
The Command List pane lists the names of commands in an alphabetical order that I find
peculiar. Some commands are listed by name, such as “3D Pan” for the 3dPan command.
Other commands are listed by a description. For instance, “4 Viewports” executes the -VPorts
command with its 4 option — should it not be listed as “Vports 4”?
Even worse: no less than four items are named “Center.” It’s not until you examine their re-
lated macros that you learn the differences: Zoom Center, Ellipse Center, CENter osnap, and
DimTEDit Center.
But not all commands are listed: AcisIn is included, but AcisOut is not.
Autodesk’s naming system makes no sense to me, and I trust this mess will be eventually cleaned
up.
If you are having a hard time finding a command, try these tactics:
a. Look for the command by its natural name, such as AcisIn.
b. Check for an option of the command, such as 4 Viewports.
c. Guess at the command’s category, such as Edit, and then use the Categories droplist to
reduce the number of commands displayed.

e. Use the Find option, and enter the command name.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 13

f. In a last desperate act, you’ll need to add the missing command yourself by clicking the
New button.

Properties Pane
The Properties pane is a chameleon, changing itself as you select different elements to custom-
ize, as listed below. Autodesk calls it the “dynamic pane.”

The following panes come and go, depending on what you select elsewhere in the dialog box:
Information — provides brief descriptions of major customization groups, such as
menus and workspaces.
Properties — displays the properties of the selected item.
Button Image — displays the icon associated with the selected command, and accesses
the button editor.
Preview — shows a nonoperating prototype of the selected toolbar.
Shortcuts — lists the currently defined keyboard shortcuts.
Workspace Contents — allows customization of workspaces.

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14 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

Most often, the pane displays the properties of the selected element. Those properties listed in
black can be edited by you; those in gray cannot be changed (read-only). Once edited, the
property’s value is shown in boldface, so that you know it has changed. While you can change
the values of properties, you cannot add or remove them.

Properties Changed Value (boldface)

Droplist of Click for Dialog Box
Options
Non-editable
Property

Most properties can be edited directly; some have droplists, from which you select an option.
Others have a button, which opens a dialog box for accessing options or entering long mac-
ros.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 15

 three
customizing tool-
bars & icons t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

t he purpose of the Cui command is to customize many aspects of AutoCAD’s user interface.
Fortunately, the customization process is roughly similar, whether you are working with menus,
toolbars, shortcuts, and so on.
AutoCAD provides “Custom,” a partial .cui file meant for playing about with customization, as
we do in this e-book.

All the following tutorials rely on the same first steps:

1. Start AutoCAD, and then enter the Cui command. On my computer, it takes up to ten
seconds for the dialog box to appear.
2. When the dialog box appears, look for the Customizations pane. Scroll down to Partial
Cui Files, and then open CUSTOM.

Toolbars are collections of related commands accessed by clicking buttons. The Cui command
creates new toolbars, adds and removes buttons and droplists to and from toolbars, and in-
serts flyouts. Buttons have icons, which you can edit or create new ones with the Button Editor
in Cui. (Icon comes from the Greek work eikon, meaning “to be like.”)

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16 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

Buttons execute commands and macros (short programming code). You write macros using
the toolbar’s own macro language, and can include Diesel and AutoLISP code. Cui is also sup-
posed to control how toolbars initially appear when AutoCAD starts, but I find these properties
don’t work.

TIP To make the toolbar buttons twice as large, use the Options command, and then
chose the Display tab. Select Use Large Buttons for Toolbars, and then click Apply.

Creating new toolbars takes these stages:

Stage 1 — create the shells of new toolbars by naming them.
Stage 2 — add buttons.
Stage 3 — (optional) write macros.
Stage 4 — (optional) edit icons.
Stage 5 — test and debug.

Stage 1: Create New Toolbar

You create the shells of new toolbars by giving them names. Start with steps #1 and #2 above,
and then continue below.

3. Right click Toolbars, and then select New | Toolbar from the shortcut menu.
4. Notice that a new toolbar is created with a generic name, “Toolbar1”. You can change the
name right now, or wait until the next step.

Left: Creating new toolbars.

Right: Renaming new toolbars.

5. The Properties pane lists the properties of new toolbars. Change the values of the follow-
ing properties:
Name Tailoring AutoCAD
Description Toolbar customization examples
Aliases (click the button and then enter:) TAcad

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 17

 Notice that values change to boldface after you change them.

Toolbar Properties
The following toolbar properties can be modified in the Properties pane. Most of them can be
ignored by you.

General Properties

Name — names the toolbar; appears on the toolbar’s title bar, as well as in Cui and menu
lists of toolbar names.
Description — describes the purpose of the toolbar.

Appearance Properties

It appears that some properties, such as Orientation and Default Location, have no effect on
the toolbar; perhaps this limitation will be fixed in a future release.

Name on title bar Orientation: Click x to

Floating close toolbar
Default X,Y location

Rows: 2

On By Default — toggles the default display state of the toolbar: Hide or Show.
Orientation — positions the toolbar when AutoCAD starts, or when the toolbar is first
shown: Floating, or else attached to the Top, Bottom, Right, or Left edges of the
window.
Default X, Y Location — specifies the x,y coordinates of the toolbar’s upper left corner;
measured in pixels.
Rows — specifies the number of rows; meaningful for floating toolbars only.

Advanced Properties

Aliases — specifies the name used by macros and programs that need to access this
toolbar; more than one alias can be assigned.
ElementID — assigned automatically by AutoCAD; cannot be changed by you.
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Stage 2: Add Buttons to Toolbars
The second step is to add buttons to toolbars. Actually, you add commands to the toolbar, and
they appear as buttons. Specifically, you drag commands from the Command List pane onto
the toolbar’s name in the Customizations pane.
Here is how to add the VPorts command to the toolbar:

1. In the Command List, scroll to Display Viewports Dialog — Cui’s name for the VPorts
command. (The fast way to get there is to press the D key, which takes you to dbConnect,
and then scroll further to Display Viewports Dialog.)
2. Drag the command up to Toolbars | Tailoring AutoCAD.

3. When you see the arrowhead facing Tailoring AutoCAD, let go of the mouse button.

Notice the changes in the right pane of the dialog box: the Button Image pane displays the
command’s icon, and the Properties pane now lists the properties of the command and its
icon.

4. In previous releases of AutoCAD, you could click the Apply button to see the new toolbar
and its single button. This doesn’t work in AutoCAD 2006, yet.

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 (There is a workaround that only partially works: Under Custom | Toolbars, click Tailor-
ing AutoCAD. Notice the Preview pane: it shows a mock-up of the toolbar and its button,
but you cannot test that it works correctly.)

Instead, you need to perform the following steps:

a. Click Apply to affect the changes.
b. Click OK to exit the dialog box.
c. If the toolbar is not visible, right-click a blank area near toolbars. From the shortcut
menu, select Custom | Tailoring AutoCAD. Notice the toolbar.

d. Return to the Customize User Interface dialog box with the Cui command.

Toolbar Button Properties

The following button properties are specified in the Properties pane.

General Properties

Name — a brief description of the button’s function. The text is displayed by the button’s
tooltip.
Description — the longer description of the button’s function is displayed on the status
bar when the cursor is paused over the button.

Macros

The Macro section is your main focus, because this is where commands and macros are speci-
fied.
Macro — one or more commands executed by clicking the button. Most macros consist
simply of the command’s name, preceded by the Cancel metacharacter (described later).
Macro: ^C^C_vports

Images

Many button images are stored in AutoCAD as resources, but you can also create your own
images, as well as import them through the Button Editor, as described later.
Small Image — specifies the name of the 16x16-pixel image used by the button.
Large Image — specifies the name of the 24x24-pixel image; size is changed in the
Options command’s Display tab.

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The figure below illustrates the relationships between the Properties pane and elements of the
toolbar button’s user interface.

Unfortunately, the Description pane is not terribly useful. For instance, the description of the
toolbar button’s Name is “Displays the name of the menu [sic] item” — no mention that the
name is displayed by the button’s tooltip.

Creating Flyouts
Toolbars can contain other toolbars. These secondary toolbars are called “flyouts,” because
they appear to fly out from the primary toolbar. Flyouts are indicated by a small black triangle
( ) in the lower right corner of a master button, small enough to miss seeing.
For example, the Zoom button on the Standard toolbar contains a flyout with buttons for many
of the Zoom command’s options.

Toolbar Flyout Symbol

Flyout

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You create flyouts, as follows:
1. Right-click the name of the toolbar to receive the flyout. For this tutorial, right-click
Tailoring AutoCAD.
2. From the shortcut menu, select New | Flyout.

3. Notice that AutoCAD creates a new toolbar named “Toolbar1.” Check the tree to ensure
Toolbar1 is part of Tailoring AutoCAD. If you wish, rename the flyout.

Examine the Properties of the flyout. The significant properties are described below.

Description — can be ignored, because flyout descriptions do not show up anywhere.

Source Toolbar — indicates the name of the parent toolbar; read-only.
Use Own Icon — determines which icon appears on the button containing the flyout:
No — the flyout uses the icon of the topmost command of the flyout.
(The topmost command is the most-recently used command.)
The Images section is grayed-out.
Yes — the flyout uses the icon defined by the Images section.
4. To populate the flyout, drag several commands from the Commands pane into the flyout
toolbar.
5. Click OK to exit the dialog box, and then test the flyout.

TIP Any toolbar can become the flyout of another: drag one toolbar into another.

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Stage 3: Writing Toolbar Macros
When you click a toolbar button, AutoCAD executes the macro (collection of commands) as-
signed to the button. The macro can consist of a single command, or of multiple commands,
options, and programming code. (“Macro” comes from the from the Greek word makros mean-
ing “large.”)
Here are the steps to writing and editing macros for toolbar buttons:

1. Bring back the Customize User Interface by one of the following methods:
• Right-click the toolbar, and then select Customize.
• From the Tools menu, select Customize | Interface.
• From the View menu, select Toolbars.
• From the Windows menu, select Workspaces | Customize.
• Enter the Cui command.
• If Cui was the last command entered, press the Spacebar to repeat the command.

Ironically, there is no Cui icon or toolbar button.

Basic Macros
Basic macros consist of one AutoCAD command, prefixed by several unusual-looking letters
called “metacharacters” (shown in color below). Metacharacters are not interpreted literally
by AutoCAD, but mean something different. (Meta is a Greek word meaning “beside.”)
Let’s take a look at the macro that operates behind the Display Viewport Dialog button.
^C^C_vports

The metacharacters have the following meaning:

^C — cancels the command currently in progress; imitates pressing Esc on the keyboard.
The carat ( ^ ) alerts AutoCAD that this is a control character, and not a command.
When a command is transparent (starts with the ' apostrophe), then you don’t prefix
macros with ^C.
What does C have to do with the Esc key? In versions of AutoCAD older than Release 13,
you would press Ctrl+C to cancel a command; the C was short for “cancel.”
(Going back even further in history, Ctrl+C comes from ASCII code 003, which repre-
sented “ETX” — end-transmission — in the days of telegraphs and teletypes. More than a
hundred years later the same ASCII codes are still in use, because the earliest computers
used teletype terminals to communicate with humans — and some things never change.
This leads to some clashes: since Release 13, Ctrl+C means “copy to Clipboard,” but
continues to mean “cancel” in AutoCAD macros for compatibility reasons.)

TIP Most macros start with two ^C because some AutoCAD commands are two levels
deep. I recommend three of ’em — ^C^C^C — because some commands, like PEdit, are
three levels deep, and so need three Cancels to get back to the ‘Command:’ prompt.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 23

_ (underscore) — internationalizes the command. Prefixing AutoCAD command and option
names with the underscore ensures the English-language version of the command always
works, whether used with German, Japanese, or Spanish versions of AutoCAD.
vports — specifies the command name. In macros, you type AutoCAD commands and their
options in exactly the same way you do at the keyboard and at the ‘Command:’ prompt.
That means you can, for instance, use aliases instead of the full command names; this is
discouraged, however, because aliases change, leading to non-operational macros.

Nothing is needed at the end of the macro to terminate it. AutoCAD automatically does the
“pressing ENTER” for you. If you need to suppress the automatic Enter for some reason, hang
a ^Z at the end of the macro, like this:
^C^Cvports^z

Including Options

Toolbar button macros can include command options. There is a limit, however: you can only
include options that can be typed at the command line; options found in dialog boxes and
windows won’t work. Thus, a macro can open a dialog box, as with the ^C^C_vports macro,
but cannot go any further.
To go further into commands, you have to use command-line equivalents to dialog boxes. For
example, use the -vports command in the macro, instead of vports. A macro that splits the
current viewport into four would look like this:
^C^C_-vports _4

This macro does the following: cancels the previous command, if any; executes the -vports
command, and then specifies the 4 option. Notice that the 4 also gets the underscore ( _ )
prefix.
There is a space between -vports and _4: a space in a macro is like pressing the Enter key (or
spacebar) on the keyboard. Sometimes it can be hard to make out two or more spaces, so you
can also use the semicolon (;) instead.
The macro is the equivalent of typing the following at the command line:
Command: -vports (Press Enter.)
Enter an option [Save/Restore/Delete/Join/SIngle/?/2/3/4] <3>: 4 (Press Enter.)
Regenerating model.

Macros can have multiple options. A good example is setting up a new layer with its name and
color. At the command line, it looks like this:
Command: -layer (Press Enter.)
Current layer: "0"

Enter an option
[?/Make/Set/New/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/Plot/Freeze/Thaw/LOck/Unlock/stAte]: m (Press Enter.)
Enter name for new layer (becomes the current layer) <0>: walls (Press Enter.)

Enter an option
[?/Make/Set/New/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/Plot/Freeze/Thaw/LOck/Unlock/stAte]: c (Press Enter.)
New color [Truecolor/COlorbook] : 12 (Press Enter.)
Enter name list of layer(s) for color 12 <walls>: walls (Press Enter.)

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Enter an option
[?/Make/Set/New/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/Plot/Freeze/Thaw/LOck/Unlock/stAte]: (Press Enter.)

As a macro, the command and options sequence looks like this:

^C^C_-layer;_m;walls;_c;12;walls;;

Don’t forget the extra Enter (;) at the end of the macro to exit the -Layer command.
Options can be used on their own in macros, without the mothering command name. For ex-
ample, you might have a series of toolbar buttons that provide commonly-used inputs, such as
angles and distances. Instead of typing 25' (don’t forget the apostrophe to indicate feet!), you
could have a macro that looks like this:
25'

Or coordinates, like this:

25',50'

In AutoCAD, start a command, and then click the appropriate toolbar button when the com-
mand prompts for a distance or coordinates.

Adding New Commands

Before you can add new macros and command-less options to toolbars, you have to add a new
command. Here is how it works:
1. Open the Customize User Interface dialog box with the Cui command.
2. In the Command List pane, click New. Notice that the new name “Command1” is added to
the list of commands.

3. Move your gaze to the Properties pane, where the properties are partially filled out for
you. Make the following changes:
Name 25 Feet
Description Specifies a distance of 25 feet.
Macro 25' (erase the ^C^C)
The other options can be ignored for now.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 25

4. Click Apply. AutoCAD spends a few moments updating its .cui file with the information
on the new command.
5. With the 25 Feet “command” defined, you can now add it to the toolbar. From the Command
pane, drag 25 Feet to the Tailoring AutoCAD toolbar in the Customizations pane.

6. Click Apply. The button is added to the toolbar.

7. Let’s test it:

a. Click OK to exit the dialog box.
b. Use the Units command to ensure AutoCAD’s units are set to Architectural.
Start the Circle command, and pick a point:
Command: circle
Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]: (Pick a point.)

c. In response to the next prompt, click the 25 Feet button on the toolbar.
Specify radius of circle or [Diameter] <25'-0">: (Click the 25 Feet button.) 25'

Notice that AutoCAD inserts the distance, and then draws the circle.

Using System Variables

System variables can be used in toolbar macros just like commands. For example, to change
the size of the crosshair cursor, it’s easier to use the CursorSize system variable than it is to
fumble through the massive Options dialog box — in any case, dialog boxes are inaccessible to
macros.
The macro that changes the size of the crosshairs to 100% of the screen size would look like
this:
^C^C_cursorsize 100

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26 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

Because CursorSize is not included in the list of commands, you would have to add it as a
new command.

Including Hidden Options

Some commands have options not documented by Autodesk, but are useful in macros. An
important one is the + option, which specifies which tab to display in tabbed dialog boxes. The
tab numbering starts with 0, which means the first tab is referred to as +0.
For example, to open the Drafting tab of the Options dialog box, the macro looks like this:
^C^C_options +6

The Drafting tab is the 7th tab.

Additional Metacharacters
Earlier I introduced the ^C and ^Z metacharacters. Toolbar macros recognize more than a
dozen metacharacters, most of which are toggles that mimic clicking buttons on the status bar,
such as SNAP and ORTHO.

Metacharacter Meaning

\ (Backslash) Pauses for user input.

; (Semi-colon) Like pressing the Enter key.
@ (At) Recalls coordinates stored in the LastPoint system variable.
^C Cancels current command, like pressing Esc.
^H Backspaces, like Ctrl+H.
^I Same as pressing Tab.
^M Same as pressing Enter.
$M= Allows use of Diesel expressions.
^X Deletes, like Del1.
^Z Suppresses automatic Enter at the end of a macro.

Toggles:
^A Toggles group mode, like pressing Ctrl+A1.
^B Toggles snap mode between on and off, like Ctrl+B.
^D Changes coordinate display mode, like Ctrl+D.
^E Switches to next isometric plane, like Ctrl+E.
^G Toggles grid display, like Ctrl+G.
^O Toggles ortho mode, like Ctrl+O.
^P Toggles the value of the MenuEcho system variable.
^V Switches to next viewport, like Ctrl+R.
^U Toggles polar mode, like Ctrl+U1.
^W Toggles object snap tracking, like Ctrl+W1.

1
Not documented by Autodesk.

Advanced Macros
You may string together more than one command in toolbar macros, which allows you to cre-
ate more powerful expressions. For even greater power, you can include Diesel expressions
and AutoLISP routines.
For example, Autodesk wrote the following macro for the RefSet button.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 27

It uses menu macros, Diesel code, and AutoLISP functions:
$M=$(if,$(eq,$(getvar,refeditname),""),^C^C^P(ai_refedit_alert);^P,$(if,$(and,$(=,
$(getvar,tilemode),0),$(=,$(getvar,cvport),1)),^C^C_refset;,^C^C_refset _add;))^Z

Yikes! Ugly, isn’t it? I’ve parsed the code in colors so that you can see the structure:
Red Macro control characters.
Green AutoCAD commands, AutoLISP functions, and system variables.
Black Diesel expressions.
$M=
$(if,
$(eq,
$(getvar,refeditname),
""),
^C^C^P(ai_refedit_alert);^P,
$(if,
$(and,
$(=,
$(getvar,tilemode),
0),
$(=,
$(getvar,cvport),
1)
),
^C^C_refset;,^C^C_refset _add;
)
)
^Z

$M= — signals the start of a Diesel macro. I’m not sure why this is needed, because all
Diesel macros uniquely start with the $( metacharacter.
($ — start of the if Diesel expression.
^C^C — cancels any other command in progress.
^P — toggles menu echoing to suppress the display of this macro on the command line.
(ai_refedit_alert) — executes an AutoLISP routine, identified by the parentheses.
; — presses Enter.
^Z — suppresses the automatic Enter at the end of the macro.

Adding Separator Lines

Separator lines are thin gray line that can be added between toolbar buttons. They are useful
for segregating similar groups of buttons, as illustrated between the Save and Plot buttons in
the figure below.

Separator line

To add separator lines, follow these steps:

1. Right-click a toolbar button name. Note that the separator line is placed after the selected
button.

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2. From the shortcut menu, select Insert Separator. Notice that AutoCAD adds the --
symbol to the toolbar tree; this indicates the location of the separator line. (The -- symbol
was the separator metacharacter used in .mnu files prior to AutoCAD 2006.)

3. Click Apply to apply the line to the toolbar.

Stage 4: Edit Icons

You may have noticed that some command-buttons lack icons. Autodesk did not design an
icon for every command; new commands created by you also lack them.

For these, AutoCAD displays a generic ?-cloud icon, as illustrated below. (The ?-cloud is
an improvement over earlier releases of AutoCAD, which displayed a uninformative but yellow
happy face.)

You have these choices:

• Leave the icon as-is.
• Borrow icons from other commands.
• Import images for icons.
• Create custom icons.

Leave Icon As-is

If you are as lazy as me, you may be tempted to leave the button with its ?-cloud icon. If the
toolbar only has one or two buttons of that nature, it may not matter to you to cover them with
pretty pictures.

Borrow Icons from Other Commands

AutoCAD includes 376 icons, which are assigned to many, but not all, of its commands; see the
figure below.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 29

To select one of these icons for an icon-less command, such as the 25 Feet command, follow
these steps:
1. In the Customizations tree, select the 25 Feet command. Notice that the Button Image
pane displays no image. (If there were an image, it would appear above the Edit button.)

Image is missing
(no icon assigned to
button) Select an icon
from this list.

2. Scroll through the list, looking for a likely image. A good one for this command is the icon
for the Dist command.

3. Click it.

Notice that a large version of it appears above the Edit button, and that the Images
section of the Property pane is filled in with “RCDATA_16_DIST”. (This is AutoCAD’s
internal name for the image.)

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30 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

4. Click Apply. On the toolbar, the icon changes from ?-cloud to Ruler-distance.

Import Images as Icons

If you prefer icons that unique, you can import any raster image in bitmap (*.bmp) format.
Here’s how:

1. In the Properties pane of the 25 Foot command, select Small image in the Images
section.
2. Click the button. Notice the Select Image File dialog box.
3. Navigate to a folder with .bmp files. The \windows folder contains several images that are
used for the Desktop background.
You can select any size of .bmp file; AutoCAD resizes it down to fit an area of 16x16 pixels.
Be aware that this process tends to make the image fuzzy, so it’s best to pick a small, clear
image.
4. Select a .bmp file, and then click Open.
5. Curiously, AutoCAD does not immediately assign it to the command. You need to scroll to
the end of the of list of image samples, and then select it.
Be forewarned that AutoCAD remembers every Bitmap file you load, and there is no way
to erase unneeded ones.

Create Custom Icons

AutoCAD has a built-in icon editor that lets you modify existing icons. Curiously, you cannot
start with a blank icon; you need to select one, and then modify it.

1. Select an image from the Button Image pane, and then click the Edit button. Notice the
Button Editor, which is nearly unchanged from earlier releases of AutoCAD.
Notice the Button Editor.

Drawing tools
(freehand, line, circle, erase)
Windows' 16
Real-size preview standard colors

Toggle grid display

Drawing area
Erase entire image
Import .bmp file Background color
Single-step undo
Choose colors from
AutoCAD's Select
Export as .bmp file Color dialog box.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 31

The Button Editor provides a number of tools and functions:
• The four tools along the top are for drawing freehand, lines, ellipses (and circles), and
erasing (changes colors back to neutral gray). There is, unfortunately, no floodfill tool.
• The small square on the left shows you a preview of the icon in real-size.
• The colored squares on the right are the 16 standard Windows colors for drawing icons.
• More gives you access to any of AutoCAD’s 16.7 million colors 2006 .
• The large square in the center is where you draw the icon.
• Grid toggles the display of grid lines to assist your drawing; I recommend turning on the
grid.
• Clear erases the drawing from the button.
• Open opens a .bmp file, and imports it into the editor. (The Bitmap file is no longer
restricted to being 16x16 pixels in size.)
• Undo undoes the last drawing step; it is a single undo, and there is no redo.
• Save As saves the icon as a .bmp (Windows bitmap) file.
• Save saves the icon to the toolbar.
• Close closes the button editor.

3. Draw the image.

4. When satisfied with your artistic endeavor, click Save, and then click Close.
Notice that the toolbar’s button is now adorned with your artwork.

Stage 5: Testing and Debugging

When you have created a new toolbar or button with the Cui command, you must test it for
errors. To test it, exit the Customize User Interface dialog box, and then make these visual and
programming checks.

Testing Toolbar Buttons

• Does the button have the correct icon?
• Move the cursor over the button, and wait for the tooltip to appear. Does it contain the
correct wording?
• With the cursor still over the button, look at the status bar. Does it display the correct help
text?
• Click the button. Does the macro execute correctly?

Testing Toolbar Flyouts

• If the button contains a flyout, hold down the mouse button. Does the flyout appear?
• Do the buttons on the flyout appear and operate correctly?
• When you release the flyout, does the correct button appear on the flyout button?

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32 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

 four
menus &
shortcut menus t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

t ustomizing menus is very much like toolbars, but involves a larger number of options,
because menus have more features than do toolbars, as illustrated below.

Menu bar
Underline character
accessed through Alt key
Menu

Menu item Submenu indicator

Keyboard access

Shortcut keystroke

Icon

Separator bar

Toggle indicator
Highlight
Submenus
Dialog box indicator

Start the Cui command, and then select Menu in the Customization pane. Notice the similar-
ity between the menu structure (above) and the tree structure (below).

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 33

 Menu bar

Menu
Menu item
Separator bar

Dialog box indicator

Submenu indicator
Submenus

Shortcut keystroke

The stages to creating menus are:

Stage 1 — create the shells of new menus by naming them.
Stage 2 — add commands.
Stage 3 — (optional) write macros.
Stage 4 — (optional) edit icons.
Stage 5 — test and debug.

Stage 1: Create Menus

You create the shells of new menus by giving them names. In the Customize User Interface
dialog box, open the Partial CUI Files item, and then open Custom and Menus.

1. Right click Menus, and select New | Menu from the shortcut menu.

2. Notice that a new menu is created with a generic name, “Menu1”. You can change the
name right now, or wait until the next step.

3. The Properties pane lists the properties of the new menu. Change the values of the follow-
ing properties:
Name Tailoring AutoCAD
Description Menu customization example

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34 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

 Notice that values change to boldface after you change them to help you determine which
values have changed.

Menu Properties
The following menu properties can be specified in the Properties pane.

General Properties

Name — names the menu; appears on the menu bar,.

Description — describes the purpose of the menu; not used anywhere else.

Advanced Properties

Aliases — specifies the name used by macros and programs that need to access this
menu; more than one alias can be assigned. Generally, menus are named POP followed by
a number, such a POP1.
The following aliases are reserved for use by AutoCAD:

Alias Comment

GRIPS Defines hot grip shortcut menu (right-click a hot, red grip).
CMDEFAULT Defines default shortcut menu (right-click blank area in the drawing).
CMEDIT Defines Edit shortcut menu (right-click an object).
OBJECT(S)_obj Defines shortcut menu specific to the object (obj = DXF name).
CMCOMMAND Defines Command shortcut menu (right-click while a command is active).
COMMAND_cmd Defines shortcut menu specific to a command (cmd = any AutoCAD
command).

ElementID — assigned automatically by AutoCAD; cannot be changed by you.

TIPS AutoCAD can have up to 499 defined menus; i.e., POP1 through POP499. POP0 is
reserved for the default shortcut menu, while POP500 through POP 999 are for other
shortcut menus.

“POP” comes from the early days of Windows menus, when they were known as
“popdown menus.” This was to differentiate them from Macintosh menus, which were
called “pulldown menus,” because you had to pull them down with the cursor. Windows
menus popped down, because you only needed to click once with the cursor.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 35

Stage 2: Add Commands to Menus
The second step is to add commands to menus: you drag commands from the Command List
pane onto the menu’s name in the Customizations pane.
Here is how to add the VPorts command to the menu:

1. In the Command List, scroll to the Display Viewports Dialog command — Cui’s name
of the VPorts command.
2. Drag the command up to Menus | Tailoring AutoCAD. When you see the arrowhead
facing Tailoring AutoCAD, let go of the mouse button.

The command is added to the menu.

4. Notice the change to the right pane of the dialog box: the Button Image pane displays the
command’s icon, and the Properties pane lists the properties of the command and icon.
We examine these later.
5. To look at the new menu and its lone item, follow these steps:
a. Click Apply to affect the changes.
b. Click OK to exit the dialog box.
c. Look for the new menu at the end of the menu bar. Click the menu name to see the
menu. (The icon is added automatically, and is a new feature in AutoCAD 2006.)

d. Return to the Customize User Interface dialog box with the Cui command.

Menu Item Properties

The following button properties are specified in the Properties pane.

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36 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

General Properties

Name — displayed by the menu bar.

Description — a brief description of the menu item’s function, which is displayed on the
status bar when the cursor is paused over the item.

Macro Properties

The Macro section is the most important one, because commands and macros are specified
here.
Macro — one or more commands executed by clicking the button. Most macros are
simple, consisting of the command’s name, proceeded by the Cancel metacharacters:
Macro: ^C^C_vports

Images Properties

Several hundred images are stored in AutoCAD as resources, and you can create images or
import them with the Button Editor, described earlier.
Small Image — specifies the name of the 16x16-pixel image used by the button.
Large Image — specifies the name of the 24x24-pixel image, which isn’t used by menus.
(Unlike toolbar buttons, the change in size by the Options’ command’s Display tab does
not affect icons in menus.)

Stage 3: Write Macros

Menu macros are similar to toolbar macros, yet there are a significant number of differences.
Both have the same syntax, and can employ Diesel and AutoLISP routines. The differences
occur in the area of the larger number of capabilities in menus.

Basic Menu Macros

Basic macros consists of one AutoCAD command, prefixed by the “metacharacters” shown in
color. The format is identical to that of toolbar macros:
^C^C_vports

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 37

Including Options

Menu macros can include command options. As with toolbar macros, only options that can be
typed on the keyboard can be included; options in dialog boxes and windows don’t work. The
macro looks the same as shown earlier in the section on toolbars:
^C^C_-layer;_m;walls;_c;12;walls;;

Metacharacters - ^ and $
AutoCAD menus use special characters to indicate actions equivalent to pressing keys on the
keyboard. These special characters are called “metacharacters,” and sometimes “control char-
acters.”
For example, after entering commands at the keyboard, you press Enter; in menu macros,
you can’t press Enter, so the macros use the semicolon ( ; ) to represent the Enter key. An-
other metacharacter, the carat ( ^ ) represents the Ctrl key. There are no metacharacters in
AutoCAD for the Alt or Shift keys.
Here are the metacharacters used by menu macros:

Character Meaning

Menu Controls
$ Loads menu sections.
=* Returns to top-level menu.
$I= Displays an image menu.
$M=$( Starts a DIESEL macro.

$Pn= Swaps menu items at position n.

$Pn=- Removes menu item n.
$Pn=* Restores menu item n (after swapping or removing).
Pn.i=? Returns the disabled and marked status of menu item n in a string:
"~" Item is disabled.
"!." Item has check mark.
"" Item is neither disabled or check-marked.

Command Prefixes
' Indicates transparent command.
_ Translates AutoCAD commands and options as English.
*^C^C Repeats the macro until you press the Esc key.
^C^C^C Cancels the current command before starting macro.

Command Postfixes
; Equivalent to pressing Enter or the spacebar; can also use ^M.
space Equivalent to pressing the spacebar; can be used within macros to
separate commands from options, but ; is preferred.
\ Wait for input from user.
+ Macro continues on the next line, when the last character.

Labels
~ Unavailable menu item (grayed out).
!. Prefixes menu item with the check mark.
& Menu accelerator key character; can also use / .
\t Right justifies text following.

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 Ctrl Characters
^B Toggles snap mode on and off (equivalent to pressing Ctrl+B).
^C Cancels command (equivalent to Esc).
^D Changes coordinate display.
^E Changes the isometric plane.
^G Toggles display of the grid.
^H Equivalent to pressing Backspace.
^I Equivalent to pressing Tab.
^O Toggles ortho mode on and off.
^P Toggles MenuEcho system variable on and off.
^Q Records user input and AutoCAD prompts to a log file.
^T Toggles tablet between command and point modes.
^V Changes the focus to the next viewport (equivalent to Ctrl+R).
^Z Suppresses the space at the end of a menu item.

TIPS The rule-of-thumb in user interface design is:

Five, plus-or-minus Two.
The ideal menu has between three and seven items. Any fewer than three, and the
items should perhaps appear on another menu. Any more than seven, and the items
could be split between two menus.

When a menu item calls a dialog box, the convention is to include the ellipsis ( ... ) as a
suffix, like this:
Open...

Including Coordinates and User Input - \

Coordinates and other values can be included in menu macros, but not directly. For example to
draw an A-size rectangle of a specific size, you cannot enter coordinates as you would at the
keyboard: rectang 0 0 8.5 11; does not work because AutoCAD interprets the numbers as
commands (silly AutoCAD!), complaining “0 Unknown command.”
The workaround is to use AutoLISP’s Command function with the coordinates in quotations
marks, as follows:
(command "rectang" "0,0" "8.5,11");

The alternative is to pause the macro so that the user can input values or pick points in the
drawing. Use the backslash ( \ ) metacharacter to pause macros. When the user picks the point,
the macro continues automatically. The following macro draws arcs using the Center and Angle
options:
^C^C_arc \_c \_a

The macro waits twice for the user to input a value before continuing on. You can have more than
one \ in a row, if required by the command. No \ is needed at the end of the macro.
The exception to the single-\ rule is the Select command, which waits for the user to press
Enter to finish selecting one or more objects. (You then use the Previous option to obtain the
selection set.) Here is sample code that changes selected objects back to the Continuous line-
type:
^C^C_select \change;p;;properties;lt;continuous;;

Notice there is no semicolon ( ; ) after select \ because the user has to press Enter to signal
the end of object selection.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 39

AutoCAD provides the Single option to force the Select command and any other command
that prompts you to ‘Select objects:’. This option is useful in menus, because it limits selection
to two kinds: a single object or a windowed selection. It gets used in this macro, which changes
the linetype of a single object:
^C^C_change;single;;properties;lt;continuous;;

Providing Input to Users: ^H

You can write macros that let the user select values from menus, such as the following set of
standard drafting angles:
[30 Degrees]30a^H
[60 Degrees]60a^H
[90 Degrees]90a^H

The ^H is needed at the end of the macro to prevent the automatic Enter that AutoCAD
otherwise adds. The “a” is a dummy character that AutoCAD backspaces over.

Submenus
Submenus are like toolbar flyouts: they contain related groups of commands and options. The
figure below shows two submenus. One groups together object modification commands, and
the second groups together attribute modification commands.

As the figure illustrates, menus can have multiple submenus. When submenus reach the edge
of the screen, Windows automatically folds them back.
To create submenus, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the menu item that’s to receive the submenu. For this tutorial, right-click
Tailoring AutoCAD.
2. From the shortcut menu, select New | Sub-menu.

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40 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

3. Notice that AutoCAD creates a new menu named “Menu1.” Examine the tree to see that
Menu1 is part of Tailoring AutoCAD. If you wish, rename the submenu.

The Properties of submenus are not significant.

4. To populate the submenu, drag commands from the Commands List pane into the sub-
menu section.
5. Click OK to exit the dialog box, and then test the submenu.

TIP Any menu can become the submenu of another: drag one menu into another.

Separator Lines: --

Separator lines help group similar commands visually, as illustrated by the Insert menu:

Separator
line

To add separator lines, follow these steps:

1. Right-click a menu item. The separator line is placed after the selected menu.
2. From the shortcut menu, select Insert Separator.

The -- symbol indicates the location of the separator line in the tree.
3. Click Apply to apply the line to the menu.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 41

Shortcuts - &

Menu items can be accessed through the keyboard. For example, to open a new drawing through
the menu, use the following keystrokes: Alt+F, N.
1. To access the File menu: Hold down the Alt key, and then press F.
2. To access the New command: press N. Notice that AutoCAD opens the dialog box.

Shortcut keys are underlined. Look closely to see that every item on the menu bar and in each
menu has one letter underlined.

To specify the underlined letter, prefix it with the & metacharacter in the Name property. For
the File menu:
&File Displayed as File

and for the New command:

&New Displayed as New

The & does not need to be at the beginning of the name; it can be anywhere. Here, pressing “w”
accesses the command:
Ne&w Sheet Set Displayed as New Sheet Set

Some rules in using this metacharacter:

Rule 1: The underlined character should be logical, when possible. In some of the examples
above, the & is placed in front of the “F” in &File and the “N” in &New.
Rule 2: Do not duplicate underlined characters. In the example above, the & is placed in front
of the “w” in New Sheet Set. That’s because the letter N is already taken by the New item. If
both had the N underlined, you would only ever get to the first word.

Shortcut Keystrokes - \t

You can indicate shortcut keystrokes for commands on menus. An example is the F1 next to
Help on the Help menu.

Shortcut keystrokes are part of the Name property:

&Help\tF1

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42 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

The only thing you need to know that the \t metacharacter right-justifies the F1 text. Actually,
\t can be used with any text.
Now here is the curious part: in the menu fragment above, Info Palette is shown with the
Ctrl+5 shortcut — but the shortcut is not included in the Name property! The relevant portion
of the Name property is simply:
&Info Palette

The same pattern holds for other F and Ctrl keys: Flipscreen (F2) requires it, but New
(Ctrl+N) doesn’t — and I have no idea why.

Grayed-out Text - ~

Menu text can be made to look gray, which indicates the command is unavailable. In the figure
below, Plot Style is grayed out because plot styles have not been enabled.

Displaying gray text is easy: prefix the Name property with the tilde ( ~ ) metacharacter. (In
math, the tilde represents “not.”) Switching menu text between normal (black) and gray is not
as easy, because it requires that AutoCAD check the current state of plot styles.
This is done using the following Diesel code in the Name property:
$(if,$(eq,$(getvar,pstylemode),1),~,)Plot St&yle...

Recall that the Name property is the one displayed in the menu. Let’s parse this code, keeping
in mind the color coding:
Red Macro control characters.
Green AutoCAD commands, AutoLISP functions, and system variables.
Black Diesel expressions.

$(if, If...
$(eq, equals...
$(getvar,pstylemode), value of PStyleMode system variable...
1), is 1 (off),
~, then grayout the text (prefix with ~).
) Otherwise, don’t add the ~ prefix.
Plot St&yle...

Check Mark Toggles - !.

Some menu items are toggles, such as View | Display | Attributes. AutoCAD displays a
check mark when they are turned on, and no check mark when off. The figure below illustrates
the check mark switching from Normal to On.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 43

As with gray text, it is easy to display the check marks but not so easy to toggle them. Prefix the
Name property with the !. metacharacter. Again, Diesel code is required to do the toggling, as
shown below. The good thing is that the code is almost identical to the gray-text toggle:
$(if,$(eq,$(getvar,attmode),1),!.)&Normal

Let’s parse this code, keeping in mind the color coding:

$(if, If...
$(eq, equals...
$(getvar,attmode), value of AttMode system variable...
1), is 1 (on),
!., then add the check mark (prefix with !.).
) Otherwise, don’t add the !. prefix.
&Normal

Stage 4: Edit Icons

Menu icons are borrowed, created, and edited in the same way as toolbar button icons. The
sole difference is that menus show blanks for missing icons, instead of the toolbar’s ?-cloud
image.

Parents of submenus
display no icons

Items without
icons display blanks

Similarly, parents of submenus don’t display icons, unlike the parent button of flyouts. To
remove icons from menus, delete entries for their Small Image property.

Stage 5: Test and Debug

After you create a new menu, you must test it for errors. To test it, exit the Customize User
Interface dialog box, and then make these visual and programming checks.
• Does the menu have the correct name on the menu bar?
• Click the menu name. Does the menu appear?
• Examine the menu. Does it contain all items, including submenus and effects generated by
special characters?
• Move the cursor over menu items and look at the status bar. Does it display the correct
help text?
• Click each menu item. Does the macros execute correctly?
• If the menu contains submenus, open them. Do they appear?
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 Shortcut Menus
Shortcut menus appear when the right mouse button is pressed. A different submenus ap-
pears, depending on which command is active. Shortcut menus are defined in the Shortcut
Menus section of the Customize User Interface dialog box.

The process of creating and editing shortcut menus is nearly identical to that of menus.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 45

 five
shortcut keys &
overrides t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

t he Keyboard Shortcuts section customizes two groups of keystrokes: shortcut keys (also
named “accelerators”) and temporary override keys, which are new to AutoCAD 2006. These
shortcuts can be faster to use than any other form of user input.

Here’s the difference between the two:

Shortcut Keystrokes — execute one action when you press a combination of keys. They
work with combinations of the Ctrl, Shift, Alt, and F keys, and can be used at any time.
For example, Ctrl+V copies pastes objects from the Clipboard, and F2 switches between
the graphics and text windows.
Temporary Override Keys — execute two actions: (1) one action when you press the
key combination (named “key down”), and (2) a second action when you let go of the keys
(named “key up”). They work only with the Shift key, and can only be used during draw-
ing and editing commands.
The Shortcuts pane lists all the keystrokes defined in AutoCAD, as well as — curiously enough
— a bunch not assigned by Autodesk, as indicated by the — icon.

TIP You can create a printed list keyboard shortcuts by clicking the Copy to Clipboard
button, pasting the text into a document, and then printing it. (The Print button crashes
AutoCAD.)

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46 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

 Left: Shortcut keystrokes defined by Autodesk.
Right: Temporary override keys defined by Autodesk, defined and undefined.

Shortcut Keystrokes
All shortcut keystrokes begin with Ctrl, Alt, Shift, and/or F:
Function keys — press keys with the F prefix, such as F1 and F10.
Control keys — hold down the Ctrl key and press a function, number, or letter key, such
as Ctrl+F1, Ctrl+5, and Ctrl+B.
Shifted function keys — hold down the Shift key and press a function key, such as
Shift+F4.
Shifted control keys — hold down the Shift and Ctrl keys at the same time, and then
press a function, number, or letter key.
Control + alternate keys — hold down both the Ctrl and Alt keys and press a number
or letter key.
Shifted control + alternate keys — hold down the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys at the
same time, then press a number or letter key.
Earlier releases of AutoCAD were restricted to assigning only commands to keyboard short-
cuts; no options or macros. As of AutoCAD 2006, the restriction has been lifted.

To create a new shortcut keystroke, follow these stages:

Stage 1 — drag a command from Command List pane to Customization pane
Stage 2 — edit the properties.
Stage 3 — test and debug.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 47

Stage 1: Drag Commands
To create new shortcut keystrokes:
1. Drag a command name from the Command List pane into the Shortcut Key part of the
Customizations tree. For this tutorial, drag the Edit Program Parameters ([Link])
command.

(You would think that you would be able to right-click Shortcut Keys, and then select New.
But it doesn’t work, because this creates only new temporary overrides. A bug?)

TIP Do not redefine these keys used by Windows:

F1 displays help.
Alt+F4 exits AutoCAD.
Ctrl+F4 closes the current window.
Ctrl+F6 changes the focus to the next window.
Ctrl+C copies to the Clipboard.
Ctrl+V pastes from the Clipboard.
Ctrl+X cuts to the Clipboard.

Stage 2: Edit Properties

To assign the keystroke, edit the Properties:
1. In the Properties pane, select the Key(s) item under Access.
2. Click the button. Notice the Shortcut Keys dialog box.
3. Place the cursor in the Press new shortcut key field.

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48 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

4. Now comes a bit of guessing game, because it is not possible to memorize all the key
combinations already assigned. Let’s first see what happens when you try a key combina-
tion that’s already assigned.
Hold down Ctrl and then press A (Ctrl+A).
Notice the warning message: “Currently assigned to Select All.”
5. Okay, let’s try a different one, such as Ctrl+E.
Success! Or is it? The dialog box claims, “Currently assigned to (unassigned).” But Ctrl+E
is already assigned to cycling isoplanes! A bug in AutoCAD.
6. Change the shortcut to Shift+Ctrl+E, and then click Assign.

Notice that you can assign more than one shortcut to each command.
7. Click OK to exit the dialog box.

Stage 3: Test and Debug.

1. To test the keystroke shortcut, click Assign and the OK to exit the Customize User Inter-
face dialog box.
2. On the keyboard, press the shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+E. Did it work? (The Notepad text
editor should appear with the contents of the [Link] file.)

Temporary Override Keys 2006

Temporary override keys do what the name suggests: they temporarily override drawing modes.
They are meant for modes that toggle (turn on and off), such as object snaps. Overrides work
only during commands.
Overrides perform two actions:
• Key down — press a key combination.
• Key up — let go of the keys.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 49

A really popular one is holding down the Shift key to temporarily turn on orthographic mode
— much faster than clicking ORTHO on and off on the status bar.
Some overrides have two keystrokes: one for left side of the keyboard and one for the right —
an allowance for left-handed CAD operators.

Override Left Side Right Side

Active (by default):

Disables all snaps and tracking SHIFT+D SHIFT+L
Enables object snap enforcement SHIFT+S SHIFT+;
Overrides CENter object snap SHIFT+C SHIFT+,
Overrides ENDpoint object snap SHIFT+E SHIFT+P
Overrides MIDpoint object snap SHIFT+V SHIFT+M
Toggles object snap mode SHIFT+A SHIFT+'
Toggles osnap tracking mode SHIFT+Q SHIFT+]
Toggles polar mode SHIFT+X SHIFT+.
Toggles orthogonal mode SHIFT SHIFT
Suppress dynamic input ... F12

Inactive (by default):

Overrides APParent intersection object snap
Overrides EXTension object snap
Overrides INSertion object snap
Overrides INTersection object snap
Overrides NEArest object snap
Overrides NODe object snap
Overrides PARallel object snap
Overrides PERpendicular object snap
Overrides QUAdrant object snap
Overrides QUIck object snap
Overrides TANgent object snap

Customizing overrides is almost identical to shortcut keys; the primary difference is that you
can define two macros: Macro 1 (Key Down) and Macro 2 (Key Down).
When working with modes, such as Snap, it is not necessary to have a corresponding snap-off
statement in Macro 2. When Macro 2 is left blank, AutoCAD automatically restores the setting
to that before the override was applied.

A macro with a similar Diesel macro is used for most overrides:

^P'_.orthomode $M=$(if,$(and,$(getvar,orthomode),1),$(-,$(getvar,orthomode),1),$(+,$(getvar,
orthomode),1))

Let’s parse it:

^P Toggle menu echoing.

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 ' Start transparent command...
_ using the English word...
. and redefine it, if undefined.
orthomode Set system variable OrthoMode to:
$M= (Start Diesel code)
$(if, If...
$(and, and...
$(getvar,orthomode), value of OrthoMode is 1...
1), is 1, then:
$(-, Subtract...
$(getvar,orthomode), from OrthoMode...
1), 1, leaving 0.
$(+, Otherwise (if OrthoMode is 0) add...
$(getvar, orthomode), to OrthoMode...
1) 1, leaving 1.
) (End of Diesel code.)

The point of the code is to change the value of the OrthoMode system variable, which con-
trols orthographic mode. If the value is 0, it is changed to 1; if 1, then it is changed to 0. You can
see that similar code is used to toggle Polar mode:
^P'_.autosnap $M=$(if,$(and,$(getvar,autosnap ),8),$(-,$(getvar,autosnap ),8),$(+,$(getvar,autosnap ),8))

The only difference is that the code changes the value of the AutoSnap system variable be-
tween 0 (off) and 8 (polar tracking).
A far simpler macro is used to turn off all modes:
^P'_.orthomode 0 '_.osmode 0 '_.snapmode 0 '_.autosnap 0

New overrides can be created through the shortcut menu.

TIP There are two ways to see long macros:

• Hold the cursor over the macro, and a tooltip eventually is displayed.

• Click the button to display the Long String Editor dialog box. (String is a
computer person’s jargon for “text.”) You can edit the text; right-click for a shortcut menu.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 51

 six
mouse buttons t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

e very button on your mouse can be given a job to do — with the exception of the first (or
left) button: it is always defined as “pick.” Unlike menus and toolbars, where you could define
hundreds of them, you are limited to defining a maximum of 15 buttons in AutoCAD. Actually,
fewer: as many buttons as your mouse has, typically three.
Well, maybe more than three. You can also use the Shift, Ctrl, and Shift+Ctrl keys with
mouse buttons, giving you a total of 12 functions for three-button mice. The default settings
are listed below:

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52 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

The easiest way to change button assignments is to drag them around the Customization tree.
For example, if you want access to the Toggle Grid command on a three-button mouse, drag
it up from Button 7, and place it above Button 3.

Left: Drag button to new location.

Right: New location redefines mouse button.

The stage to creating and editing mouse buttons are:

Stage 1 — add new buttons by attaching commands.
Stage 2 — modify properties.
Stage 3 — test and debug.

(These instructions also apply to the buttons found on the pens and pucks used with digitizing
tablets.)

Stage 1: Add Buttons

To add a new button, follow these steps:
1. Drag a command from the Command List pane, and then deposit it in one of the Click
sections.
2. Notice that AutoCAD assigns the next available button number to the command. In the
figure below, the 3D Zoom command was dragged into the Ctrl+Click section, and
assigned to Button 3.

I suppose the official method should be the following: Right-click any item below Mouse But-
tons, such as Click or Button 2. From the shortcut menu, select New Button. Notice that
AutoCAD creates a new button with the next available number.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 53

But... The problem is that AutoCAD keeps the Properties pane blank, so that you cannot add a
macro — until you’ve dragged a command (any command!) onto the new button. A bug to be
fixed, perhaps.

CAREFUL! When you drag a command onto a button, the button’s definition is replaced
by that of the dragged command — erasing the old one. Command replacement occurs
when you see the black triangle illustrated below:

There is no undo button in this dialog box, so you need to click Cancel, and then restart
the Cui command.

Stage 2: Modify Properties

The point to dragging any command into one of the Click sections is to get a Properties pane
that can be edited. The Properties pane displays the following items:
Name — names the button. This name appears only in the Customizations pane.
Description — describes the button’s action. Useful only for documenting the button,
because the description does not appear anywhere else.
Macro — macro to be executed when button is pressed. Button macros use the same
metacharacters as toolbars.
ElementID — assigned by AutoCAD. It cannot be changed.

Stage 3: Test and Debug

Make changes to the button’s properties, and then click Apply and OK to exit the dialog box.
• Press the mouse button. Does it operate correctly?

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 seven
lisp files t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

t he LISP Files section contains a list of AutoLISP .lsp files that load each time AutoCAD
starts. This duplicates the function of the AppLoad command. (Cui does not edit AutoLISP
files; you need to use a text editor, such as NotePad, for the task.)
This is perhaps the easiest customizing job:
Stage 1 — Select .lsp files.
Stage 2 — You’re done!

Stage 1: Select .lsp Files

Adding LISP files works like this:
1. Right-click the LISP Files item, and then select Load LISP from the shortcut menu.

2. Notice the Load Lisp Files dialog box. Select one or more .lsp files, and then click Open.
(To select more than one file, hold down the Ctrl key. You can find lots of LISP files in
AutoCAD’s \express folder.)

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 55

 TIPS The LISP Files node is not limited to .lsp files; it accepts other files, such as:
.mnl — AutoLISP source code for menus.
.vlx — compiled Visual LISP files from the VLisp command.
.arx — compiled ObjectARx files from other programming languages.

Autodesk reports that .mnl files of the same name and folder as the [Link],
[Link], and partial .cui files are loaded automatically.

3. Notice that the file names are added to the list under LISP Files. Click Apply and then OK
to exit the dialog box.

The next time AutoCAD starts, these AutoLISP routines are loaded. To remove LISP files, right-
click them, and then select Delete. The Unload option removes the .lsp file from memory so
that it does not run in the current session of AutoCAD; it will be reloaded the next time AutoCAD
starts.

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 eight
workspaces t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

w orkspaces save and restore the state of the user interface (new to AutoCAD 2006).
They remember the visibility settings of menus, toolbars, and dockable windows. (Dockable
windows are windows like Properties, Sheet Set Manager, and Quick Calc.) Unlike profiles,
workspaces do not change file paths, selection options, and so on .
Workspaces are saved and restored by name using the Cui or Workspace commands. The
difference is that Cui displays the Customize User Interface dialog box, while Workspace
operates at the command line:
Command: workspace
Enter workspace option [setCurrent/SAveas/Edit/Rename/Delete/SEttings/?] <setCurrent>:

Workspace Meaning

setCurrentPrompts for a workspace name, and then restores it.

SAveas Saves the current configuration as a workspace; prompts for a name.
Edit Opens the Customize User Interface dialog box.
Rename Changes the name of a workspace.
Delete Removes a workspace.
SEttings Opens the Workspace Settings dialog box.
? Displays online help.

Creating new workspaces takes these stages:

Stage 1 — create new workspaces by naming them.
Stage 2 — click the Customize Workspace button, and then make changes.
Stage 3 — save and test.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 57

Stage 1: Create New Workspaces
To create a new workspace, you can make a copy of an existing one or start from scratch. Here
are the steps:
1. In the Customize User Interface dialog box, select an existing workspace, such as
AutoCAD Default.
2. Right-click and notice the options on the shortcut menu:

Duplicate Workspace — makes a copy of the selected workspace, naming it “Copy of

AutoCAD Default.” The contents are the same as the original workspace.
New | Workspace — creates a new workspace, naming it “Workspace1”.

The contents are illustrated below:

The Toolbars and Menus items are empty, meaning none are displayed. That’s right: applying
this workspace results in an empty looking user interface, as shown below.

The Dockable Windows are all set to Do Not Change, meaning that if they are not displayed,
they stay hidden, and vice versa.

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58 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

Workspace Properties
Select a workspace name, and then take a look at the Properties pane:

General Properties

Name — identifies the workspace by name.

Description — provides a description of the workspace, which does not appear to be
used anywhere else in AutoCAD.

Display Properties

All but the Start On option can also be set in the Display tab of the Options dialog box.
Start On — starts AutoCAD in one of three modes:
• Model brings up AutoCAD in model space.
• Layout brings up AutoCAD in layout mode.
• Do Not Change brings up AutoCAD in the same state as it last exited.
Model/Layout tabs — toggles the visibility of model and layout tabs.

• On turns on the display of tabs.

• Off turns off the tabs; when off, the tabs are replaced by a longer scroll bar.
• Do Not Change does not change the display state of the tabs.
Screen menus — toggles display of the rarely-used sidescreen menu:
• On turns on the display of the sidescreen menu.
• Off turns off the menu.
• Do Not Change does not change the display state of the menu.
Scroll bars — toggles display of scroll bars:
• On turns on the display of the vertical and horizontal scroll bars.
• Off turns off the scroll bars.
• Do Not Change does not change the display state of the scroll bars.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 59

Stage 2: Make Changes
To make changes to the display of Toolbars and Menus, you perform the following steps:

1. Click the Customize Workspace button. Notice that the workspace tree turns blue.
This button is only needed for the next step; if you do not click it, then when you attempt
to select a toolbar or menu, AutoCAD thinks you want to customize them (instead of the
workspace), and the panes change.

2. In the Customization pane, click the box next to each toolbar and menus you wish added
to the workspace.
For this tutorial, select the Dimension and Inquiry toolbars and the Dimension
menu. As you select them, a green check mark appears, and the items appear in the appro-
priate location in the workspace tree.

Item appears in
workspace here
Select item here
(green check mark appears)

3. Modify the properties of toolbars; menus in workspaces don’t have properties. In any case,
these properties appear to have no effect on the toolbars.

Orientation — docks the toolbar at the Top, Bottom, Left, or Right edges of the window;
Floating floats the toolbar in the window.
Default X, Y Location — specifies the pixel coordinates of the toolbar’s upper left
corner.
Rows — specifies the number of rows the toolbar should display; applies only to floating
toolbars.

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60 • v1.0 12 sep 2005

4. You can also change the order in which toolbars and menus are displayed. Drag them
higher or lower in the tree.

5. Click the Done button.

(The customization of workspaces makes no use of the Commands pane.)

Stage 3: Save and Test

To save and test the workspace takes these steps:
1. In the Customization area, right-click the workspace name, and then select Set Current
from the shortcut menu. Notice that its name receives the (current) suffix.

2. Click Apply. Wait a moment while AutoCAD applies the changes to the user interface.
3. Click OK to exit the dialog box.

You can now access the workspace from the Windows | Workspaces menu.

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 61

 nine
legacy customiza-
tion t a i l o r i n g a u t o c a d c u i

t he Legacy section consists of older user interface elements that are rarely used today.

From left to right, they are illustrated below:

Tablet Buttons and Menu — macros executed through digitizing puck buttons and
tablet overlays. Tablets predate the mouse, and are still in use by some professional
drafters.
Image Tile Menus — early form of dialog box. The images were laboriously created with
the MSlide command and .sld slide files.
Screen Menu — text menu displayed at the right edge of the screen. The side screen was
AutoCAD’s first menu; similar systems were used by most CAD software in the 1980s.

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These items are illustrated below:

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tailoring AutoCAD CUI • 63

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64 • v1.0 12 sep 2005