CUI Editor Enhancements

[dcochran]

Hello,

We are looking at ways to improve and enhance the CUI Editor in AutoCAD. As a customer, what improvements would you like to see with CUI?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Doug Cochran
Autodesk, Inc.

[Anonymous]

Here's my two cents worth on this subject and I hope Autodesk is still
following this discussion.

We all have two choices that our "friends" at Autodesk have given us
over the years...

#1. Bend over and take what ever "they" want to let you have.

or

#2. Stop upgrading, be happy with the version you have or change to
another software who is more interested in maintaining a true productive
product.

If I want to play games I'll shut down AutoCAD and plug up my Xbox.
I work for a living.
I only need useful tools.
I'm sure I'm not the only one!
Plan 2d drafting was more productive in R14.
Nothing of use since layouts has made me look forward to updating for
several years.
Due to work requirements I have to upgrade whenever a new release is
made available.
I haven't seen any real value in the most recent release in terms of
increased productivity. But I've got all the pretty little, floating,
popup, blinking things I'll ever need.
They don't make me or my users faster. They only make memory demands
increase and cause less experienced users think that need to wait for
the "pretty things" to appear.
This reduces productivity!

Tools don't need to be pretty, only productive.

Send a message, stop buy the junk!

We made AutoCAD number one, not those big brain developers that have
probably never even used AutoCAD or any CAD software in the real world
where every minute is valuable.

Ya, I've got issues. I would be glad to go on some more but they would
probably shut down the news server once I go finished.

[Anonymous]

1. 25 seconds to load the CUI the first time, 5 sec. thereafter... 2.53GHz processor.
2. As far as I know, I cannot reorder individual pulldowns on my screen the way I could before.
3. Occasionally I have to come out of the CUI and go back in between changes or the command I select will not be the command that links to a button.
4. Occasionly the whole thing gets screwed up and I just redo it from an MNS file anyway (thanks for at least having the presence of mind to keep that).
5. The partial menus also take longer. I notice everyone in the office now clicks their way through menu options because when the submenus don't pull right out they think something is wrong. It has been so slow they all just click now and think (obviously in error) that that is what finally makes the submenus appear. Please speed up the partial pulldown menus. The slow CUI may be forgivable since I don't use it everyday... but the custom pulldown menu, I am in them hundreds of times a day, and they are way too slow.

[Anonymous]

you shouldnt have to use f11 for that you can adjust the mouse buttons in the cui. Just copy the macro from the shift right click for you snap menu. . .thing is you have to figure out which mouse button is 1 and 2 and 3. I think thats how I got it to quit pausing untill the mouse is moved. there is a fix thats for sure.

I can understand why they changed the cui but it has become very confusing. There was not enough help on how the profiles work with the cui and how to take advantage of the enterprise cui. I got it all working but when we first made the switch I wasnt really sure how it was going to work and I had to switch everyones main and enterprise and make them readjust there cui because things didnt work as I planned. it was a tough couple of days. I do like using the enterprise CUI though. I also like the workspaces because you can switch from tweaking lighting and 3d work to doing boring old 2D stuff. I like the added control of the mouse buttons. I dont think I have found the best way to change the enterprise CUI. I end up setting up a different profile with the enterprise as main and then load a partial tempory cui so I can get the buttons I want and then remove that so it doesnt show up for everyone and then switch back to My normal profile. Then users and choose to turn on the new toolbars or grab buttons from them. It works and my boss loves to come up with a button I dea and email it to me and then have them appear. Its cool. There should just be a simple "how to customize over a network" with an example setup in the help files. Thats all. Thanks for taking the time to ask what we thought. Who cares about the 4.3 second delay unless you making 1000 dollars an hour. Even then your only loosing a quarter. Get a job with a better view or refill your coffee.

[Anonymous]

Great Idea. . .and put that backup in an easy to get to folder for the it guy. Infact why not a feature that would export the CUI and PROFILE at the same time. A no-brainer instead of tell users to export this and export that. . .. too confusing, they don't do it and then I have to get them set back up. Just send them to a folder in there user path called user backup.

[Anonymous]

I see similarities in your comments and mine. We'd like a core that users do not modify, but have a sandbox on the side where customizations could quickly and easily be created and shared.

[nate-hunt]

Thank goodness im not alone.. and maybe im not even being old and stupid..

I have been trying to use the CUI to deploy standard enterprise custom menus and apps.. we upgraded from 2005 to 2007... before everything was in MNU, Lisp and VBA... The I think the custom menus and programs took me less time to build than it did to just get the CUI working right for me with the existing functions..

GO BACK TO THE OLD WAY...

programmers and cad managers do not need autocad dumbed down for them.. (it just confuses and slows down the power users)

and hey Laurie.. we found something we agree on!!

Nate

[nate-hunt]

Someone help me out.. I dont have much constructive to say about the CUI.. Ive struggled to use it to do what I used to do with simple to use text files...

What good does it do for me?

[Anonymous]

It makes upgrading on their annual schedule much easier. It makes swapping
personal customizations between users much easier.
It makes enterprise management much more difficult, but to offset that, it
makes it much less stable, too.

At this point think they broke more than they fixed. But What good does it
do you? It allows you to use v2006+.

However I have heard of several who still maintain the mns/mnu and just
modify that and translate to cui when needed... probably a good idea, but
then you can't take advantage of some of the cute little cui whistles (or
are they bells?)


wrote in message news:5394689@discussion.autodesk.com...
Someone help me out.. I dont have much constructive to say about the CUI..
Ive struggled to use it to do what I used to do with simple to use text
files...

What good does it do for me?

[nate-hunt]

Thanks Dave,
I will keep struggling with it. If autodesk is going to push the thorn through I will have to learn to use it. I am probably a little behind since we skipped 2006. I have read through this post.. and I am reading posts from many people whos opinion's I respect... not very encouraging... menu and customization management was never a problem for me before this CUI.

" It makes swapping personal customizations between users much easier. It makes enterprise management much more difficult, but to offset that, it makes it much less stable, too."

So it makes my job harder.. 😞
Good post though autodesk, please listen to your users.

[Anonymous]

I would just like the thing to work.
After seeing it in 2 releases I find it is a waste of time and resources still.
Extremely slow with no noticeable significant gain in productivity.
Seldom updates without a complete unload/reload using menuload.
Simple toolbar management & organization has become a crapshoot.

[Anonymous]

I have not found anything AutoDesk stated about the CUI to be true in terms of managing custom interfaces.

Not one feature of it has made my life easier or more productive.

[Anonymous]

I realize this thread is getting a bit long in the tooth, but find myself agreeing with people like CCMoor more often than not. I am moving from 2005 to 2007 and this CUI issue is the single most frustrating part of the transition. The Main/Enterprise CUI is very unclear. We have been using a Network install for common resources for many years (who doesn't?) and I have found the nuances of new installs and importing of profiles very confusing. For example, I added an item to our 2005 menu in about one minute. This was to add a new line to a Pulldown (POPx) and for the life of me I cannot see a way to add this to the Enterprise CUI file without searching this DG. This is not resolved yet. And BTW, why were Pulldowns all of a sudden called Menus?
I admit to not being an expert but have been customizing AutoCAD for some 20 years, starting with shape and font files of all things, and this is it, the outright winner in frustration.

Autodesk, please hear us. Give us at least the option of editing an ascii file. Thanks

[Anonymous]

hI, Tbroekhu
actualy i am happy that they have make the Menu group easier like it is now called CUI and i am working on this to me it easier and good.
Thanks

[Anonymous]

Kulfi, are you trying to set up things over the network for other users (like Tbroekhu), or tweaking just your own setup?

I would argree it's easier for a user to tweak their own setup, but I would also agree it's more difficult to manage sharing customizations.

[Anonymous]

Content Browser is a concept I haven't quite gotten my head around yet. I'll have to walk through the tutorials for it. But still it is another interface on top of adcenter, cui, reference manager, palette editor, etc... I would think the goal is to simplify management of the entire system rather than complicate it by adding more confusing interfaces. From a management standpoint (which I would figure is their largest customers with the volume of licenses on a site) the over all management of it is still completely custom coding applications for any efficiency to speak of.

[Anonymous]

Toolbar command is now just opening the cui even which is totally inefficient. Let alone confuses the heck out of my users and destroys network productivity for them completely.

[Anonymous]

not to mention, I think Autodesk should have lost their Windows Logo compliance with that nonsense. The View, Toolbars is a standard Windows command, and a common looking dialog box for all applications.

--J

[Anonymous]

Right click to most guys here is a fairly common practice, but my general CAD users are a bit skitish when the term is brought up for displaying menu's. The Toolbar command was much more efficient in the 2004 version when they wanted to manage the interface. Workspaces are terrible for sharing as an export cui file. I keep having to go back to a text editor to even get them functional without doubling items already in their main %UserProfile% cui. Sure I can get used to it, but why bother when it is so inefficient from start to finish over previous methods?

[Anonymous]

What happened to the old "follow"command?
For the last versions of AutoCAD I have to use the UCSFOLLOW variable. This change was a step backward

[Anonymous]

Everybody else has put in their 2 cents, so I guess it's my turn.
No doubt about it the CUI is tough to use and any error, no matter how small, can trash all your menus. XML may be the flavor of the month among programmers, but it is definitely not for the average user, and believe it or not, those are the people who buy most of the AutoCAD software. While the old mnu setup was a little tricky, it could be mastered by just about anyone and was very forgiving. At my firm we have lost use of some of our best menus and toolbars because they would not convert correctly and no one here is willing to risk having to reload 2006 because they made an error in the cui. What we need is something easy, safe and simple.