Between the Lines

Customizing the AutoCAD 2006 User Interface Through the CUI Editor

There is a new AutoCAD 2006 white paper about to be posted to the Autodesk.com website, but Between the Lines blog readers get it first. The paper was written by AutoCAD expert Lee Ambrosius and is on the subject of the CUI Editor in AutoCAD 2006.

As usual Lee is very thorough in his 19 page paper and below is a list of the topics:

Understanding the Layout of the Customize Tab of the CUI Editor
Customizations In Pane
Command List Pane
Properties Pane
Button Image Pane
Using Commands
Creating a Command
Assigning a Command to a Menu
Assigning a Command to a Toolbar
Associating an Image to a Command
Assigning a Command to a Shortcut Key
Organizing the User Interface with Workspaces
Working with Workspaces in the CUI Editor
Working with Workspaces Using the Workspaces Toolbar
Migrating Menus from a Previous Release of AutoCAD
Tips and Tricks
Using a Partial Customization File
Using an Enterprise Customization File
Creating Command Tools on a Tool Palette
Creating Nonstandard Shortcut Keys
Conclusion

Download 440KB PDF

Monster House & AutoCAD 2006

The top rated Discovery Channel television show Monster House is an Autodesk customer and is now being officially sponsored by Autodesk. The behind the scenes Monster House designers use AutoCAD in the design of the projects. I love this show.

For each weeks show a team of designers come up with ideas for the weeks build contestants. The designers then develop the concepts into architectural drawings and plans using AutoCAD 2006. With over 1,000,000 viewers it is a great showcase for both AutoCAD 2006 and 3ds Max. 

Season four of “Monster House” kicked off August 15 with the “Robin Hood House” created for a couple who had reached a design impasse in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood of Los Angeles. The "Paris House" episode that aired on August 22 came complete with an Eiffel Tower that spanned two floors of the building.

The shows host Steve Watson is very creative and effective team motivator. He and a crew of five “Monster House builders have only 5 days or less in which to complete the project. The projects are wild theme based ideas and the team must turn these ideas into reality. If they succeed they win a selection of tools and also AutoCAD 2006 software.

My division's Vice President had the following to say about the official Monster House sponsorship:
“We’re proud to be an official sponsor of ‘Monster House’ and to support the spirit of innovation that our customers put to work every day,” said John Sanders, vice president, Autodesk Platform Technology Division."

Check out the video footage and also you can view the house plans at www.autodesk.com/mh-blogshaan.

Also be sure to check out the fourth episode called “Ghost Town House” on the Discovery Channel on September 12, 2005.

Opportunity to be featured in a AutoCAD Customer Success Story

This is a prime opportunity to share your story of AutoCAD success with others and gain some publicity for you or your firm. We know AutoCAD customers are responsible for some really cool projects and products as I have seen many of them. Now we would like to highlight some of those projects for others to see what can be done and how you are using AutoCAD. Two examples of a Customer Success story is the recent one on MKM & Associates - link or the one from Group Mackenzie - link.

Sign Up for a Customer Success Story

Cheers,
Shaan

Usability session invitation for future AutoCAD

The AutoCAD Product Design & Usability team would like to invite you to join us for a design briefing of a future version of AutoCAD.  We want to share our design ideas with you and ask for your input at a very early phase of the design process. We are very excited about these ideas, and think that they will add up to a very popular release. 

The Design Validation sessions are 2.5 hours in length.  We’ll begin with pizza and introductions then move quickly to the main event. We will discuss the ways you use the AutoCAD features today, and then show you how we plan to enhance these features, or add new features. You’ll have the opportunity to evaluate how these features will work for you, and suggest additional items or different directions. There will be 20-30 minutes at the end of each session for a general Q&A.  At that time, you can bring up any other issues, future directions, or wish list items. 

Our focus in this discussion will be on drawing annotations and design documentation. If you have existing concerns about these features in AutoCAD today, you are invited to bring in sample drawings showing dimensions, leaders, balloon callouts, text, tables, title blocks or other elements you would like to bring to our attention.

We greatly value your input in shaping the future design for AutoCAD, and we make key decisions based on what you tell us in these discussions.  We hope that you’ll be able to join us for this session.   

This session will be held at Autodesk in San Rafael California on Tuesday, September 6th 2005 starting at 6pm. If you are interested please contact traci.garzelli@autodesk.com.

The AutoCAD 2006 Service Pack 1 has been released

The AutoCAD 2006 and AutoCAD LT 2006 Service Pack 1 have now been released after customer and partner beta testing. I provided a list of highlights of items addressed in the service pack in a blog posting on August 11th 2005.

We sincerely appreciate all that beta tested the Service Pack at http://myfeedback.autodesk.com as well as those who reported issues and submitted CER reports for us to research for this service pack. The AutoCAD based vertical products such as Architectural Desktop 2006 service pack will follow shortly.

Please review the ReadMe document before installing.

AutoCAD 2006 Service Pack 1
AutoCAD LT 2006 Service Pack 1

Sincerely
Shaan Hurley

This is my 700th post to this blog and I have now exceeded half a million readers and some days well over 15,000 unique readers both from the web and RSS feeds.
Thank you for reading Between the Lines!

The AutoCAD 2006 Dynamic Blocks Series Part 3 posted

The complete three part series Dynamic Blocks Best Practices Series is now complete and online.

Part 1: Dynamic Block Overview and Quick-Start Tutorial
Part 2: Inventory of Block Editor, Commands, Parameters, Actions, and Parameter Sets
Part 3: Advanced Features of Dynamic Blocks, Naming Parameters and Actions

www.autodesk.com/autocad-blocks

AUGI CAD Camp in Salt Lake City Utah

I have been busy moving to a new house the past few days and now that I have all of my household goods piled in my garage and front room, I can attend AUGI CAD Camp tomorrow. If you are attending the AUGI event feel free to chase me down for some AutoCAD or Autodesk chat. You will be able to spot me as I will be the tired one with a sun burn.

Cheers,
Shaan

The new AUGI AutoCAD Wish List voting is now live

As I had mentioned earlier in the week there was a new AUGI Wish List process and web site coming this week. The new web site is now live and ready for your votes. All you need to be is an AUGI member and that is free so no excuses but plenty of benefits from being a member of the largest Autodesk product user group in the world.

Go vote on your top 5 wish list items from the list of wishes that have been nominated by AUGI members. The next nomination cycle to submit your wishes should begin in September after the top 10 from this voting cycle are announced.

http://www.augi.com/autocad/ballot.asp

AutoCAD 2006 Service Pack 1 Final Release Candidate

There is a Service Pack in testing for AutoCAD 2006 to address customer reported issues as well as the customer submitted error reports "CER".  Make sure to submit the customer error reports when you see the dialog as they are reviewed.

If you would like to test the AutoCAD 2006 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate simply sign up at http://myfeedback.autodesk.com. Make sure in signing up that you select "yes" to beta and feedback projects and also be sure to select the product AutoCAD. AutoCAD vertical products such as Architectural Desktop 2006 will b e releasing their service pack betas soon.

Service Pack 1 is for the following Autodesk products running on all supported operating systems and languages.
AutoCAD® 2006
AutoCAD LT® 2006
Autodesk® AutoCAD® Revit® Series 8.x / Autodesk® Revit® Building 8.x

Primary Issues Resolved by the Service Pack

Actions That No Longer Cause Fatal Errors

• Adding a stretch action to a dynamic block definition in a drawing saved with certain linetypes.
• Displaying thumbnail views of DWF files in Windows Explorer.
• Opening some types of legacy drawings.
• Expanding the Toolbars node in the Customize User Interface dialog box (CUI) after you have migrated custom menus and toolbars from AutoCAD 2005 to AutoCAD 2006.
• (AutoCAD only) Editing a multiline using MLEDIT when AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD 2006 are installed on the same computer.
• Using the Properties palette to set mesh density for a smooth polygon mesh.
• Pressing CTRL+A to select objects in certain 3D views.
• Running AutoCAD LT on a computer with WindowBlinds software installed.

Problems Reported with the Customer Error Reporting Utility

As a result detailed information from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting Utility, a number of problems were identified and fixed. Updates have been made in the following feature areas.

• Command prompt
• DesignCenter
• Dimensioning
• Dragging a drawing
• Dynamic blocks
• Dynamic Input tooltips
• Graphics system
• Hatching
• Info palette
• In-Place Text Editor
• Insert
• Layer
• Layouts
• Linetypes
• Markup
• Migration
• Multiline text (Mtext)
• Options
• ObjectDBX^TM
• Object snaps
• Plot and Publish
• Plotting drivers
• Properties palette
• Selection
• Selection previewing
• Sheet Set Manager
• Startup, Save, and Close
• Tables
• Text
• Tool palettes
• Toolbars

General Updates

Other changes included in this service pack include the following updates.

ActiveX API (AutoCAD only)

• You can now program the deletion of a button from a toolbar.
• Problems that sometimes caused side-by-side incompatibility between AutoCAD 2006 and AutoCAD 2005 have been addressed.
• The AddSeparator method now correctly adds a separator to existing pull-down menus.

Calculator

• Number format for certain regional settings: QuickCalc calculator variables now persist from one session to another.
• The vertical scroll bar in the QuickCalc calculator window is now correctly displayed.

Color

• Display properties (such as color, linetype, and lineweight) no longer change unexpectedly when you drag or copy objects.

Data Extraction (AutoCAD only)

• Cells for tables created using EATTEXT are now displayed with the appropriate height.
• Inability to close the Attribute Extraction dialog box (EATTEXT) under some circumstances has been corrected.

Dimensioning

• Correct values are now displayed for each instance of a polar-arrayed dimension.
• Dimension associativity is now reliably retained when a drawing is saved. Display errors have also been corrected.

Dynamic Blocks

• Inserted dynamic blocks can now be rotated and scaled without losing their dynamic properties.
• The drop-down list of available values is now reliably displayed when you click a visability or lookup grip on a dynamic block reference in a drawing.

Dynamic Input

• Entering a transparent command (such as 'p) in a Dynamic Input tooltip no longer causes the program to lock up.
• When using Dynamic Input, you can now enter the command modifiers tk (for tracking) and tt (to set temporary tracking points for object snap tracking).

Hatching

• For legacy drawings, text within solid-filled hatch areas is now correctly displayed.

Key Modifiers

• For entries in an edit box in a docked window, the program now distinguishes between temporary override keys (such as SHIFT+E) and capitalized text.

Layers

• Saved layer states can now be reliably restored.

Migration

• The Customize User Interface dialog box now correctly imports full, partial, and custom menus from previous releases. (This update was released separately as Support Solution TS1052001.)
• Display problems resulting from the transfer of legacy MNU or MNS files to AutoCAD 2006-based products have been corrected. This update affects labels in image tile menus and screen menus. (This update was released separately as Support Solution TS1052254.)
• Screen menu aliases are now correctly migrated from earlier versions of the product.
• Right-click menus are now available when the CUI file is loaded as an enterprise customization file and a partial menu is loaded as the main customization file.
• Problems with opening CUI files that have duplicate macro IDs have been corrected.
• The object snap menu (SHIFT+right-click) is now available when partial menus are loaded.
• You now can delete a custom tool created in the Customize User Interface dialog box without causing an error the next time you try to edit the toolbar or tool palette to which it was added.

Modify

• Circles and arcs created on a plane that is not parallel to the world coordinate system (WCS) now move and stretch in the expected direction when they are stretched.
• You can now stretch objects in a group individually.
• You can now stretch multiple 3D polyline segments.

ObjectARX^® and ObjectDBX^TM (AutoCAD only)

• Performance problems as a result of using a carriage return (\r) with the ads_printf() function have been corrected.
• Double-byte languages: The accmGetColorFromACIName() function now behaves as expected when used with multiple-byte color names.

Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)

• OLE objects in model space viewports are now clipped correctly when the viewport is resized.
• The quality of OLE objects (such as photographs) printed at the highest quality setting has been improved.

Object Snaps

• Performance problems using object snaps in certain circumstances have been corrected.

Open

• You can now run a script to open another drawing after the first drawing has been closed.

Options

• Problems with relative search paths created in the Options dialog box have been corrected.

Plot and Publish

• Dot linetypes with line weight are now plotted correctly.
• Plot styles for systems with a large number of plot styles are now assigned properly.
• The time needed to open the Plot dialog box has improved for customers who have a large number of plot styles.
• The name of the layout is now correctly appended to the file name for drawings that are plotted or published to PDF.

Profiles (AutoCAD only)

• Profiles are now retained properly when more than one instance of AutoCAD is open.

Tables

• Formatting is now preserved for text cut from a Microsoft^® Excel spreadsheet and pasted into a table cell.

Text

• The spacing between lines of text created with consecutive executions of the TEXT command is now the same as the spacing between lines of text created within a single TEXT command.
• Pressing the END key in the Edit Text dialog box no longer causes an error.
• Bullets created in the In-Place Text Editor are now displayed correctly in the editor, no matter how many times it is reopened.
• Chinese language: CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys now work properly on Chinese-language keyboards.
• Japanese language: Several problems with incorrect display of characters have been corrected.
• Double-byte languages: Problems with spacing between double-byte characters have been corrected.
• For some Asian input method editors: You now can switch from Asian text entry to English text entry without causing the program to lock up.
• Baltic, Turkish, and Greek languages: Problems with the display of SHX fonts have been corrected.

Tool Palette

• Using a tool palette no longer causes the incorrect command to run when you press ENTER or right-click to repeat a command.

Xrefs (External References)

• External references (xrefs) that have been unloaded are no longer reloaded when you click a balloon notification in the host drawing.

New AutoCAD 2006 Courseware

Three levels of AutoCAD 2006 courseware available:

• AutoCAD® 2006 Essentials AOTC
• AutoCAD® 2006 Intermediate AOTC
• AutoCAD® 2006 Advanced AOTC

This is in addition to the transition-oriented titles, AutoCAD 2006 Update and AutoCAD 2006 Transition from AutoCAD 2002.   

Customer feedback has highlighted the need for more job-specific training materials.  So in response we have scheduled for release the first courseware specifically designed for CAD Managers, "AutoCAD 2006:  The Complete CAD Manager".

Customers in the Americas can find Autodesk Official Training Courseware at the Autodesk Store www.autodesk.com/aotc, or visit an Authorized Training Center (www.autodesk.com/atc) to find classes based on this material.

Dynamic Blocks URL

Here is a new URL to reach AutoCAD 2006 Dynamic Blocks white papers.
www.autodesk.com/autocad-blocks

Currently there are two parts of a three part series Dynamic Blocks Best Practices Series

Part 1: Dynamic Block Overview and Quick-Start Tutorial
Part 2: Inventory of Block Editor, Commands, Parameters, Actions, and Parameter Sets

Exciting Week ahead with the AU general registrations and the new AUGI Wish List

On Tuesday the 9th of August 2005 the general Autodesk University registration will begin at http://www.autodeskevents.com/au2005/. For the past week those that are Autodesk Subscription customers or AUGI members received early registration privileges for this years event in Orlando Florida. Make sure to get in there and register soon as classes are filling up with over 5000 expected to attend this year. This is the largest CAD event of the year and well worth it. I hope to see you at this years AU as it will surely be a great event with great contacts, great classes, great fun, and long lasting memories.

This week will also be the unveiling of the NEW AUGI Wish List for AutoCAD. AUGI is the Autodesk Users Group International an independent organization of Autodesk products users numbering over 45,000 members.. Many have been involved in the re-design of the AUGI wish list including myself. The goals are simple and to get more wish list items nominated and more people voting on the wish list items from around the world. AUGI membership is free so you cant lose there but you can benefit from all of the great resources including the wish list, free classes on Autodesk products, and a great magazine AUGIWorld.

There are some big changes for the new wish list and listed below are two of the changes.

• In the past there was a wish list of the top ten presented to Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz at the annual Autodesk University. From now on there will be a top thirty presented by AUGI to Autodesk throughout the year and also at AU. This allows more wish list items throughout the year to be filled by Autodesk.
• There will be three nomination and voting cycles throughout the year. This allows more AUGI members to get their wish list into the final top list. The voting will end in approx. 30 days so get in their and vote and encourage others to vote on your favorite wish list nominations when it becomes available. The new wish list nomination cycle will begin in September.
  

  

More details on the new AUGI Wish List should be published in the next few days in an AUGI Hot News bulletin as well as on the AUGI website www.augi.com.

Cheers,
Shaan

New AutoCAD 2006 Dynamic Blocks Videos

These videos with audio walk through the new AutoCAD® 2006 Dynamic Blocks feature.
Great work Heidi

Link to Dynamic Blocks Videos

Manipulating Dynamic Blocks
The new grips and action features of dynamic blocks allow automatic scaling to the dimension scale set for the drawing. Assign actions to the block, such as flipping, rotating, or aligning with grips, which are easy to see and use. When you create blocks that you can place and manipulate correctly the first time, you’ll be more efficient every time.

Variations of Similar Blocks
In AutoCAD® 2006 multiple variations of similar blocks can be contained in a single block, so you can select the proper version on the fly as you see the block displayed in the drawing. With dynamic blocks, you can easily cycle through multiple variations on a single block. For example, a single fluorescent light fixture block can represent all the standard sizes stocked by your supplier. This capability reduces the size of block libraries, making them easier to manage and update. And when blocks are more manageable, productivity increases.

Creating Dynamic Blocks
The new dynamic block authoring environment provides an easy, graphical way of editing existing blocks. You don’t have to be a programmer to add parameters and actions based on the standards and conventions most appropriate to your company and work practices. Turning existing block libraries into dynamic blocks is straightforward, and you can do it at your own speed.

Creating Tables from Blocks
Using a new intuitive user interface, the Data Extraction wizard enables you to quickly and easily select only the block attributes you want to extract for display. So as designs change—as they invariably do—you can easily update your drawing with a single click. Information is kept current and complete with predetermined formatting for tables.

DWF Toolkit Downloads Take Off

With over 8 million downloads of the Autodesk DWF Viewer, downloads of the Autodesk DWF Toolkit continue to take off. The DWF Toolkit allows third parties to develop applications that read or write multi-sheet drawings in DWF (Design Web Format) format. The toolkit contains C++ libraries that aid in the generation, reading, and parsing of DWF files. Experienced C++ programmers use it to work with DWF files without having to understand their complete underlying data format. The DWF Toolkit is available free of charge. To date, it has been a banner year for downloads of the DWF Toolkit. More and more companies are rallying around the DWF format.

With the release of DWF Toolkit 7, Mac OS X and Linux programmers are beginning to develop applications; however, some programmers continue to download version 6 of the DWF Toolkit. Perhaps this is because DWF Toolkit 7 is billed as a release candidate? Fear not. AutoCAD and other Autodesk products have shipped using DWF Toolkit 7. This version is currently billed as a release candidate to indicate that Autodesk may correct defects in toolkit if they are identified by third parties using it. In other words, Autodesk may make updates if necessary. So far, the need to update the toolkit has not arisen. Programmers are encouraged to download DWF Toolkit 7 for developing applications.

AutoCAD P&ID diagram sample file request

We’re doing some research into process and power with AutoCAD and are looking for some sample drawings. In particular, we are looking for Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) in DWG format. DWF files would also be useful if DWGs are not available.

The drawings will be used for research and will not be reproduced or shared with anyone outside of the AutoCAD team.

To submit drawings, please Zip them up and email them to Peter Quinn Process and Power Product Manager. Please keep the Zip files under 8Mb in size. If you have any questions, please contact Peter. His email address is: Peter.Quinn@autodesk.com

Important AU 2005 Registration Update

The registration for Autodesk University 2005 are opening today a week early for AUGI and Autodesk Subscription customers only.

Next week will be the public registration. So this is a good reason to be an Autodesk Subscription or AUGI member to get the first place in line for AU classes.

Cheers,
Shaan