Tool "Palette Groups" - can they be centralized?

I want to utilize the tool palettes, but when I share them on the
network the "palette groups" are not included. What I end up with is one
big palette with about 50 tabs. I could run all over the office and
create the groups but that would be a pain!

Is there a way to make everyones computers use the same palette groups?
I can't find any activex to handle this myself...

Or maybe there is another way of doing this that I'm just not thinking
of? help!

kemp

 

Not yet...."Network Friendly" tool palettes and groups are high on the
wishlist priority.

 

It's not maintenance-friendly, but you can copy the group definitions from a
"template" profile to user's profiles. The group info is defined in some
xml code at the bottom of the saved profile. Good luck.

 

Interesting, I will have to see if I can find a way to work with this.

Thanks

kemp

 

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. i recommend
removing the other paths when creating new groups & adding additional tabs.
NOTE! be sure to pay attention & document to the paths you remove if you
want them back.

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

 

Ahh - excellent Daron, this sounds like the solution I needed!

kemp

 

It seems to dump all the other paths that I've loaded when using the
toolpalettepath command to switch, is there another command that will
simply switch to the new path?

thanks, kemp

 

"*_toolpalettepath" sets the palettes folder list to the string, so if you
want more than one folder, they must all be in that string.

folders wanted:
r:\palettes\doors
r:\palettes\walls
r:\palettes\windows

(setq PATHSTRING
(strcat
"r:\\palettes\\doors"
";"
r:\\palettes\\walls
";"
r:\\palettes\\windows
))

(command "*_toolpalettepath" PATHSTRING)

there are more efficient ways of building this string, but this is the basic
idea.

if you need more help, keep posting.
daron

 

also, if you want to keep any folders already set, you should retrieve the
value of "*_toolpalettepath" , then add your additional folders to that
string per my last post.

 

No need to do the STRCAT, just separate the paths in quotes with commas:
(the ROAMABLEROOTPREFIX variable pulls a palette from the Users Documents
and Settings folder. On our system, this is a user customizable folder,
while the F:\ drive folders are read-only, and can be changed only by a
Cadmanager.)

(command "*_TOOLPALETTEPATH"
(strcat (getvar "ROAMABLEROOTPREFIX") "Support\\ToolPalette\\,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/WLC Main,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Ceiling Plan,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Door Elevation,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Doors,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Fasteners,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Fixtures,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Furniture,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Hatches,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Symbols,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Floor Plan,"
"F:/CAD/AutoCAD/R2005/Palettes/Architectural/Site"))

 

you do if the folder names are being retrieved and are separate strings.

 

not sure what you mean? this example will load the Palettes from the
separate folders Doors and Walls: (without STRCAT)

(command "*_TOOLPALETTEPATH" "r:/palettes/doors," "r:/palettes/walls"))

Just be sure to swtich the slashes from \ to / otherwise AutoCAD wont
recognize it.

 

if he wanted to create a dialog that would retrieve the current paths used,
and allow a user select from a check-list to add or remove paths, you would
need to strcat those path strings from a list returned from the dialog. i
posted it as a sample to provoke thought, that's all. )

note i used "\\", not "\". using "\\" works just fine and is consistent with
what lisp returns, not "/". IMO the forward slash can be confusing to newer
users, and can break your code if you are watching for "\\" to parse your
path string.

daron

 

Ahh... I see on the Dialog check box issue. For the \\, good advice!
Thanks!

 

Daron,

Now I understand the rest of what you were saying.

Thanks.