Assigning .BMP's to toolbar buttons

I have seen too many people spend hours customizing the menu using the
graphical methods (which of course only updates the .MNS), then at some
point in the future, for whatever reason, reload the MNU and then wonder
what happened...

Which is why those of us on the other side of the fence regard keeping an
MNU file much the same as running with scissors -- if you don't do it,
then you completely eliminate the possibility of that one kind of accident.

The only good use of an MNU, I once thought, was as a backup. After your MNS
(which is actually the operative working file) is perfected, then you copy
it to an MNU extension, so Acad won't touch it. But as noted, that doesn't
prevent someone from forcibly menuloading the MNU and ignoring the warning.
The safest approach is eliminate all MNU's altogether, and keep the
operative MNS backed up in a safe place.

I take a slightly different approach than John on menus. The Acad base menu,
Express Tools partial menu, and company custom partial menu are not to be
monkeyed with. Every user has their own partial menu, kept locally, which
they can do with as they please. The most common use of this is to copy
buttons from the other menus, to assemble toolbars which have the
combination of buttons they prefer. Very seldom does anyone actually make a
new button. Whether they know it or not, they are modifying their personal
MNS. They've never had an MNU, so they've never done any harm with it.

Our menus are all kept locally, for various reasons. I maintain the company
custom menu in a read-only folder. When it changes, I simply distribute the
revised MNS. If the MNS has a later date than the MNC, it will automatically
recompile -- unlike an MNU. No need to force a menu unload/reload, no
warning messages. Next time the users open Acad, they'll have a revised menu
without anyone having to do anything. Of course, I could distribute the
compiled MNC and MNR files instead, but that would be 2 files instead of 1,
with no difference in effect. There's no MNU anywhere in the system because
there's no need for it.

In either scenario, personal menu or company menu, I can't see a place for
the MNU format in our way of doing things. It doesn't contribute anything,
and it creates an unnecessary hazard.

 

I'm with you Tom!

(Kinda like that line from Muppet Treasure Island: "...and don't run with
scissors! Oh, sure, it seems like good clean fun, until someone loses an
EEEEIIIIIIGGHHHH!")

 

<<But as noted, that doesn't prevent someone from forcibly menuloading the MNU and ignoring the warning. The safest approach is eliminate all MNU's altogether,>>

The base and client MNUs are kept in a different directory and can only be accessed by CAD management. The base and client MN<everything else> are write-protected and can not be edited by anyone except the CAD management team.

If a user noodles up his personal menu, it is his look-out, on his own time.

 

Ok, this has been turned into a network/cad admin discussion. The original question/answer was based on an individual and his/her menus (or so I thought). For an individual user (especially a new user), making graphical toolbar changes, then reloading the MNU file is disastrous. This is the situation I an talking about -- not multi-user environments. If you're the CadAdmin and you want to hide the MNU, no problem.

Again, in the context of the original message, editing the MNU file directly is a valid option.

 

blah, blah, blah...

Thanks

changes, then reloading the MNU file is disastrous

Yes.

directly is a valid option.

Sure, valid with caution and experience, as well as potentially disastrous
for a novice. If it works for you, fine. But as I said in my "blah blah," in
our stand-alone individual user's menus -- which are unrelated to network
issues except to shield the user's modifications from anything I might do --
I take what I believe is the simple and safe approach by giving them only an
MNS. Then they can't mess up. They're unaware that there's any such thing as
a MNU; since they don't have one.

Myself, I'd probably design the button in another paint program, then create
the toolbar entirely by hand editing the menu. Like you, I could edit either
MNU or MNS without excessive risk.

Occasionally my users have exactly the same question as in the original
post -- the BMP's aren't where they ought to be. Then I give them the same
simple answer that John did: move the BMP where it belongs, open the MNS
that you just modified, and correct the BMP name. After all, the macro is
already there, and MNS is valid except for the BMP reference. These folks
aren't menu programmers, they just want to manipulate a button once in a
while.

 

<<Ok, this has been turned into a network/cad admin discussion.
...
For an individual user (especially a new user), making graphical toolbar changes, then reloading the MNU file is disastrous.
...
Again, in the context of the original message, editing the MNU file directly is a valid option. >>

You're right we kinda chased a rabbit on that end.

And Yes, editing the MNU is a valid option. However the ease of building buttons on the fly for one-time application is waaayyy too attractive for most to require editing the MNU ONLY. That being the case for even the single seat user, he must be aware of all the potential pitfalls and make allowances for those contingencies.

Graphical manipulation of the menu is desirable, but it must be remembered that it doesn't edit the MNU and reloading that will lose the graphical changes.

Losing the MNU entirely is also a valid option, forcing the edit to the MNS and avoiding the above problem. If you desire a back-up allowances must be made for that.