Can you Group Palettes and networking them

I'm trying to figure out the extent that I can use Palettes. It would be a
great tool to use if I can group these on the local server and have this
available to everyone else. I don't know if I am doing it wrong, but I
can't see how to either export a group or make it viewable without manually
making groups on each machine.

 

Change the location of the pallette support path to a network folder & store
the pallette files there? I'm just starting to do the same thing... so any
comments from those who have trailblazed this area would be appreciated...

 

yes. create a folder on a server drive. in OPTIONS, select the FILES tab.
open the TOOL PALETTES FILE LOCATIONS

select ADD, and browse to the folder you just created on the server. you've
just started a new palette group on your server. each new folder you add as
an additional path in the above step basically creates a group.

if you are familiar with lisp, you can create a list of these folders and
allow your users to select which groups they want loaded from a popup list.
path strings can be updated with:

(command "*_toolpalettepath" PATHSTRING)

post if you would like more help.
daron

 

How have others setup folder organization on a network?

I just started playing with tool palettes. Has any setup network folders
for palettes...and other customization?

[] Toolpalette
[] Images

or

[] Toolpalette
[] <group name>
[] Images
[] <group name>
[] Images

(setq PATHSTRING "V:\\ARCH\\Custom_Architettura\\ToolPalette\\Palettes")
(command "*_toolpalettepath" PATHSTRING)

 

Daron,

Thanks for the info. I do need more help.

What I am not understanding is whether or not I can view this exact same
menu-of-groups in my tool pallette from a different computer.

I am familiar with lisp, so i will tryout your command. I just wasn't sure
if this was the answer to my above issue.

 

yes, you would have that ability.

my suggestion would be to have all the folders containing the palettes
available in a dialog as a check box list. (doslib works great for this)
depending on which folders are selected, strcat all the folders and supply
that string to the command. if i remember correctly, the paths need to be
separated by ";"

being kind to your users here is easy by supplying the current settings.
before displaying the dialog, get the value from _toolpalettepath and set
the current palettes as default. the less frustrating it is to use, the more
it will get used. )

do you need more specific help with the folder setup?

daron

 

ours is:

server_drive
palettes
doors exterior
doors interior
walls exterior
walls interior
etc.


each folder (ex: doors exterior) is a palette all by itself and may contain
only one or two tabs. this allows the user complete flexibility in setting
which tabs are displayed. also, having all the palette folders in one main
folder makes creating a list of the folders much easier.

making the folders read-only to your users will lock the palettes if you are
concerned about someone tampering with company standards.

daron

 

Thanks, that was the way I was thinking also. Creating different palettes
(along with the path).
Then use a menu toolbar or command line to list the options. Tool command is
just my first
attempt.

Next question is how to setup an easy way to import the .xtp file for each
CAD user, if they
do not have the palette. Is ther a way to import a tool palette using lisp?


Example:

Code:

(defun c:TOOL  (/ tmp)
(defun A_P-TP  (/ pathstr)
(setq pathstr "V:\\ARCH\\ToolPalette")
(command "*_toolpalettepath" pathstr))
(defun BLK-TP  (/ pathstr)
(setq pathstr "V:\\ARCH\\Custom_Architettura\\Bloc\\ToolPalette_Blks")
(command "*_toolpalettepath" pathstr))
(defun CUS-TP  (/ pathstr)
(setq pathstr "C:\\ARCH_Custom\\ToolPalette")
(command "*_toolpalettepath" pathstr))
(defun DTL-TP  (/ pathstr)
(setq pathstr "V:\\ARCH\\Custom_Architettura\\Bloc\\ToolPalette_Dtls")
(command "*_toolpalettepath" pathstr))
(defun HAT-TP  (/ pathstr)
(setq pathstr "V:\\ARCH\\Patterns\\ToolPalette")
(command "*_toolpalettepath" pathstr))
(defun TOOL-IT  (/ result)
(initget "A B C D H")
(setq tmp (getkword
"\n* Select Tool Palette Path:  <A>rch Program   <B>locks
<C>ustom   <D>etails   <H>atches *"))
(initget 7)
;;disallow null,zero & negative
(cond ((= tmp "A") (A_P-TP))
((= tmp "B") (BLK-TP))
((= tmp "C") (CUS-TP))
((= tmp "D") (DTL-TP))
((= tmp "H") (HAT-TP))
)
(command "_ToolPalettes") ;;_ToolPalettesClose
)
(setq result (ARCH:QUESTION-5
"Tool Palettes"
"     Set the ''Tool Palette File Location'' for AutoCAD\n"
"     Select an option below..\n\n"
"     [ 1 ]  Set a Tool Palette\n"
"     [ 2 ]  Cancel routine...\n" ""))
(cond ((= result 1)
(princ "\n*** ///////// Program  CANCELLED ///////// ***"))
((= result 0) (TOOL-IT)))
(princ))

 

Gary - I have a network toolpath added to users profiles here, and once I've
added or modified a pallet, all the users automatically see it the next time
they start AutoCAD - I've never had to import an xtp file. Am I missing
something?

John

 

i guess i'm not understanding your end goal. if you want server-side
palettes, you shouldn't need to import anything. if they can see V:,
everything should be fine. is this what you mean?

 

Unfortunately, yes I am needing more help. I've figured out that if I set
my options to I:\TOOLPALETTE, another folder is created called
I:\TOOLPALETTE\TOOLPALETTES, which is where I am supposed to set others
people's options too. Why is this?



It took me awhile to figure out that the second folder is the one that the
server points to for the other computers to see the palettes.

 

no worries )

this should read I:\TOOLPALETTE\PALETTES. anyway, if yours is set to
I:\TOOLPALETTE, make everyone's the same. the other subfolders are generated
automatically by acad.

whenever you add or change anything in the palettes on your screen (located
on the server), you will need to close your session of acad before those
changes are saved to the server. the other users will not see these changes
until the next time they open acad.

 

yep, good resource. a little bit different direction then our conversation,
and pro / cons to both.

catalogs provide a just about fool proof method of storing / retrieving
palettes & tools. IMO they are much more difficult to maintain & update
compared to the method i suggested.

whatever method works best for you, that's what you should use. )

daron

 

But if I set others to the same folder as mine, I can not see the tool
pallettes.

 

you cannot see the palette on your screen, or someone else's screen?

 

Here's the scope so far. I've tried it on two other computers on the
network. One saw the palettes, and the other didn't, using I:\Palettes.
This puzzles me. I did notice that the one that didn't load the palettes
did not show the palettes being loaded at boot up. Any clues as to why it
is not loading?

 

upon opening acad, is I:\Palettes set?
- if so, are the palettes just off? is it as simple as displaying the
palettes?
- if not, is anything forcing changes to the profile, or loading a different
profile maybe?

what happens when you type TOOLPALETTES at the command prompt?

 

Daron, I really appreciate the help.

Yes, it is set there.

The palette is there on the screen. Its blank.

hmmm.... I think I'm sensing the issue. Everyone is logged on as their
self. And thus their profiles are according to their log in, from what I
understand. Is this the problem?

Nothing.

 

no worries. )

everyone here is also logged in as themselves (65+ users) and everyone sees
/ has available the same tabs. we could type this to death - if you would
like to call our office, i could ask some more specific questions as to what
you are seeing and have this hashed out pretty quick.

it is 4pm here. i'll be here for a few more hours.

602.381.4848
daron

 

I'll get with you in a couple of days. My schedule isn't viable for me to
get ahold of you yet.