Palettes always load in middle of screen

[tstorzuk]

A little help please....

We have several tool palettes that I use all the time. And every time I close down AutoCAD and open it back up, all the palettes load back up in the middle of my left monitor (dual monitor set up). I typically have my AutoCAD window open on the left monitor, and my palettes on the right monitor.

I have tried to save my profile, lock all Toolbar/Palette positions.....and nothing has any affect. My palettes always load in the middle of my left monitor.

I tried loading the latest graphics drivers, no affect.

So I'm basically stumped. Any ideas?

[Patchy]

It is the WORKSPACE, not profile or......

[tstorzuk]

Yeah, Workspace.

So how does one stop that from happening?

[Patchy]

_WORKSPACE, SAVEAS, use a new name or overwrite the existing workspace name will work.

[tstorzuk]

Nope, that didn't work.

Any other suggestions?

[steve216586]

In CUI you can change the location of toolbars and palettes from "floating" to top, bottom, left, or right. You can also designate a coordinate position for them once you have figured out where you want them to be positioned. I'm not sure about having them on the right screen though. I use the right for drawing and the left for my tools and palettes and they "behave".

Edit:  I just tried to change mine around and they popped up all over the left screen so It may not work unless you can find the coordinates you want the toolbars to reside and edit them in CUI.

[dgorsman]

Check the shortcut being used to launch AutoCAD for a "/w" argument - this indicates the workspace to use at start-up.  If this is missing, the last-used workspace is used instead.  Ensure your saved workspace is where you think it is (should be in the current Main for the profile in use, can't save to Enterprise).  Use your workspace name with the "/w" argument, or make the workspace current before closing AutoCAD.

Some third-party applications are hard-coded to only use certain profile and workspace names, so you may not have a choice as to which workspace you use.

... and no, you don't have the option of not using a workspace.

[jggerth1]

check your display driver controls -- possibly there's something set there that is forcing everything tio be centered on the main screen

[tstorzuk]

Nope, no "/w" argument being used. And when I changed my workspace to the way I wanted it, saved it, closed the program and reopened it....it did go to the saved workspace. But all the paletts were centered on the left monitor.

I went through all of my video card settings. Nothing there indicating that everything should lock to one location.

Sometimes the paletts DO stay where they are supposed to. It's completely random as to how and when that happens. But it's been less and less often that it opens up that way.

I'll have to take a look at modifying the CUI....but I really don't want to mess with it. But when I do, how do I find out the coordinate positions of where I want the paletts to load to?

[dgorsman]

First order of business, make sure everything is going where you think its going.  That means verifying you have the correct Main and Enterprise CUIx files.  Second, is making sure the workspace you are working with is in the Main; if its in the Enterprise, you can't save any changes.  Once thats done, then you can use the CUI editor to select the workspace and inspect the palette settings in the "Workspace Contents" section of the dialog (top right).  It doesn't give position, but I've found forcing them to dock will help sort things out quickly.

Oh, stupid question time: are these AutoCAD palettes, or third-pary custom palettes?

[tstorzuk]

We don't use Enterprise CUIx files at all here.

Not too stupid a question, they are 3rd party paletts.

[dgorsman]

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@tstorzuk wrote:
We don't use Enterprise CUIx files at all here.

Not too stupid a question, they are 3rd party paletts.

---

Aha!  AutoCAD doesn't control the location of palettes provided by third-party tools through workspaces or any other means.  If its done right, the last location should be saved *somewhere*, such as the registry.  If its not done right ie. hard-coded for the middle of the application window, you could be SOL.  Not sure about your specifics, but from what I've seen there is an XML file created for each custom palette, in the Roamable or Local Root folder (same for us, may be different for yours).  The XML content has information on height, width, plus top and left coordinates which can be hand-edited.  I've used that to fix some off-screen palette issues in the past.

[tstorzuk]

Ok, I guess I'll need some help figuring out where the "somewhere" it might have saved.....using Windows 7 Professional.

I checked the Root folder. Only 3 xml files there....and none of them point out the palettes.

Don't know what the Roaming folder is.

How the hell would I find it in the Registry???

[dgorsman]

That depends on the third-party application.  It might not store the settings anywhere, which is why they keep showing up in the same location.  As for the Local and Roaming AutoCAD folders, that is determined by the installation location.  For an OOTB AutoCAD install its under the c:\users\...\AppData\[Roaming][Local]\Autodesk\ path.

[tstorzuk]

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@dgorsman wrote:

c:\users\...\AppData\[Roaming][Local]\Autodesk\ path.

---

Yup, that's the location they are all in. Now I'm not sure as to what part to modify....here's an example of one of the xml files;

<PS><CAdUiDockControlBar Orientation="-1" AllowDocking="1"><FloatInfo Left="767" Top="211" Width="365" Height="775"/><DockInfo Left="278394" Top="7120" Width="365" Height="975" MRUDockID="59421"/></CAdUiDockControlBar><CAdUiPaletteSet ActivePaletteIndex="0" TitleBarLocation="1" AutoRollup="0" Name="CADWorx Clash View" Style="4126" Opacity="100" RolloverOpacity="100" Visible="1"/></PS>

[dgorsman]

Left is the coordinates of the left-hand side of the palette, Top is the top.  Width and height are the width and height.  Everything is in screen pixels.  The FloatInfo parent is for when the Palette is floating, and DockInfo parent is for when its docked.  Well coded XML makes things *much* easier to understand.

I've blown away CADWorx palette XML files before, and they will be reconstructed without any issues.

[tstorzuk]

Ok, I just tried changing the following;

<FloatInfo Left="113475"

no change

<DockInfo Left="113844"

no change

So I guess I'm stuck with this acting this way......it's a HUGE pain in the arse. Every time I open AutoCAD it sends everything back to the center.

Oh, and BTW, it does the same for the xref dialog box. So it's not just the 3rd party app palettes that are acting this way.

[Alfred.NESWADBA · Accepted solution]

Hi,

>> Oh, and BTW, it does the same for the xref dialog box. So it's not just the 3rd party app palettes

I guess you have a display-driver or a tool running that tries to manage multiple desktops or at least saves window-positions (and tries to place them when they are loaded.

- alfred -

[tstorzuk]

UUUUGH!!!!

You're right. It was a setting in my video card software!!!! I went through it meticulously before.....and went right over the setting without regarding it as a possibility. I freakin' hate AMD cards!!!!

Anyways, it's found in the following;

Catalyst Pro Control Center > HydraVision > Desktop Manager > Dialog Control

uncheck the Enable Dialog Repositioning box, and hit the Apply button.

So far it's working. I'll have to see after a reboot though.

Thanks for all the help.

Regards

[synsterthompson]

I just found this post of yours.

I am having this issue. But I can't find where

Catalyst Pro Control Center > HydraVision > Desktop Manager > Dialog Control

I'm on a Windows PC.

do I look under my hard drive? control panel>device manager? Then where?

I can't follow your files?

Help please.