Menugroups

I'm an amateur lisp writer, though definitely not a beginner. I've completely customized our menu at work and it works great. But now, we are growing to a point that maybe we need some custom menus.

Now I may created my menu in all the wrong ways but the right way and that is partially my question. My menu has been setup completely within the confines of the acad2002.mns file. Every pulldown and the screen menu.

And now i am trying to disassociate them with the main mns file and want to make them where i can add them like another menugroup and also be able to take those off and add other menugroups when needed. We work almost basically off the screen menu. And so i have tried to just take them out of the acad2002.mns file and just create a new mns file . But when i load it it doesn't show up. What am i doing wrong?

 

Not sure if you're doing anything wrong.
Are you giving the new .mns a group name of it's own?

***MENUGROUP=YOURMENU_ACAD

Or whatever name you want.

Bill

 

I'd recommend reading Mark Middlebrrok's excellent article on modular
customization http://www.cadalyst.com/solutions/mc/1100cm/1100cm.htm as well
as his on toolbars http://www.markcad.com/autocad/acadtoolbars.htm .

Our setup is almost exactly as he describes: Acad is installed completely
unaltered, and then our customizations are added on top of it. The custom
stuff is earlier in the search path, so in the few cases where files are
duplicated (i.e. our customized acad.pgp versus the standard) the custom
versions take precedence. We add a few pulldowns and toolbars in a custom
partial menu, and also provide a bare-bones "user" partial menu that the
intrepid can modify to suit themselves. As Middlebrook says, it's a lot
easier to debug and maintain if you isolate your custom stuff from the huge
acad menu. It would also be possible to load/unload different partial menus
for different uses, though we don't have a need for that.

Sorry I can't offer any insight on the screen menus, but I haven't used them
in a long time.

completely customized our menu at work and it works great. But now, we are
growing to a point that maybe we need some custom menus.

is partially my question. My menu has been setup completely within the
confines of the acad2002.mns file. Every pulldown and the screen menu.

to make them where i can add them like another menugroup and also be able to
take those off and add other menugroups when needed. We work almost
basically off the screen menu. And so i have tried to just take them out of
the acad2002.mns file and just create a new mns file . But when i load it
it doesn't show up. What am i doing wrong?

 

The screen menu (didn't realize people still use it) is enabled in the
profile at "config" command, Display tab, top left second button down called
"Display Screen Menu"

Good luck

completely customized our menu at work and it works great. But now, we are
growing to a point that maybe we need some custom menus.

is partially my question. My menu has been setup completely within the
confines of the acad2002.mns file. Every pulldown and the screen menu.

to make them where i can add them like another menugroup and also be able to
take those off and add other menugroups when needed. We work almost
basically off the screen menu. And so i have tried to just take them out of
the acad2002.mns file and just create a new mns file . But when i load it
it doesn't show up. What am i doing wrong?

 

My recommendation is to customize the acad.mnu. Be sure to back it up first.
You can add pops to it as well as delete those you don't need (the HELP pop for instance). If you do it this way, all you need do is type "menu" (without the quotes) at the Command: line and your new customized menu will appear. All of your acad.mn? files will be changed accordingly. You can add pops to include specialized lsp routines or images for insertions of various standards.

You might also consider acad.lsp file for startup where you can set styles, fonts, layers with your choice of linetypes and colors, architectural or decimal format as well as a host of other things that reflect your company's standards. It takes time, but is well worth it.

 

| My recommendation is to customize the acad.mnu.

NOOOO!!!!!!!

(We are *trying* to get him away from that.) ;^)

 

Do it your way but don't lecture me - I only give advice of how I use
it. ok with you?

 

yes.

 

Based on a quick experiment, what you've been told is correct. You need the
right menugroup name in the mns, and you need to have a corresponding
entos.mnl which includes a statement (menucmd "s=ENTOS.S") where s is the
starting screen name, to make the screen menu display. Enabling the screen
menu under Options will turn on whatever menu is active, but you need the
menucmd to make your version the active one. Of course, you'll also need to
make sure all your screen menu macros call the correct entos menugroup.

completely customized our menu at work and it works great. But now, we are
growing to a point that maybe we need some custom menus.

is partially my question. My menu has been setup completely within the
confines of the acad2002.mns file. Every pulldown and the screen menu.

to make them where i can add them like another menugroup and also be able to
take those off and add other menugroups when needed. We work almost
basically off the screen menu. And so i have tried to just take them out of
the acad2002.mns file and just create a new mns file . But when i load it
it doesn't show up. What am i doing wrong?

 

Or create your own menu and switch back and forth with commands like:

(defun C:WAR () (command "._menu" (GPath #LISP15 "WARREN")))
;; gpath simply strcats the subdirectory specified by #LISP15 with the menu
name.
(defun C:ACAD () (command "._menu" "C:/PROGRAM
FILES/ACAD2002/SUPPORT/ACAD"))

Makes it easy to use multiple menus without having to change the original
ACAD.

I do this as my menu is 336K without having any of the ACAD menu in it

pop for instance). If you do it this way, all you need do is type "menu"
(without the quotes) at the Command: line and your new customized menu will
appear. All of your acad.mn? files will be changed accordingly. You can
add pops to include specialized lsp routines or images for insertions of
various standards.

styles, fonts, layers with your choice of linetypes and colors,
architectural or decimal format as well as a host of other things that
reflect your company's standards. It takes time, but is well worth it.

 

I don't think you were getting a lecture here , just some good advice. I
don't think anyone will be bothered if you want to do it your way.
In AutoCAD there are many way to do things, but when you customize the
acad.mnu, you are creating problems later when you update AutoCAD. You will
do yourself a great favor in the long run by creating a custom menu that can
be used in later releases.

(Please excuse me Mr. Bell if it was a lecture.)

 

Well, *I* didn't think either my post or yours was a lecture. ;^)


| I don't think you were getting a lecture here , just some good advice. I
| don't think anyone will be bothered if you want to do it your way.
| In AutoCAD there are many way to do things, but when you customize the
| acad.mnu, you are creating problems later when you update AutoCAD. You
will
| do yourself a great favor in the long run by creating a custom menu that
can
| be used in later releases.
|
| (Please excuse me Mr. Bell if it was a lecture.)
|
| | > Do it your way but don't lecture me - I only give advice of how I use
| > it. ok with you?
| >
|
|

 

Jim, I tend to agree w/ you -- the Middlebrook article I referenced makes a
strong case for modularity.

Walt's entitled to his preference, of course, but the the original post was
on "how to?" get a partial menu working, not on whether it's a good idea. If
Walt has reasons to "recommend" against the whole approach, it would be
helpful to spell them out. I'd holler if I saw someone innocently going in a
completely wrong direction.

 

I didn't either, but I didn't want to step on anymore toes.