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]

After using the CUI much longer, I have found that I want to reverse my previous position of support (in hopes that it would get better). I am finding that what I really liked were some of the new features like palettes and the clunky dynamic blocks. So I was willing to forgive some problems. Now I am at the point of giving up on the stuff.

I am asking. How can this new system (having used both 2006 and 2007) forget settings, revert back to old, and generally mess up even simple commands. The delays in opening don't bother me much, but doing things one at a time drilling through things much slower than I could hunt-and-peck type even if I were still in Junior High School was extremely irritating. I opened up the XML to edit and the menu is so full of excess bloat that I closed it back up and quit.

I have given up on further customization of this version (07) to the way I work. I am tired of wondering where things have gone or why they reverted back to a previous incarnation. But maybe I am the only one who is experiencing this.

If this system was more user friendly (like the old text editor method) I would still be at it.

When I first picked up AutoCAD version 9 because someone else in our group recommended it and bought it for our new computers, I did not like its interface (looked like the cheap and cheesy Generic Cadd) nor its lack of usability. I immediately found that I could program it into something more usable than what I had come from: Cadvance (buildings) and PCCAD (printed circuit board and routing, of course AutoCAD could not replace this but I had moved on from the boards). As such, I became converted.

XML - Oh boy, (sarcastic) I can hardly wait (MS Office and Open Office). I had enough of HTML when throwing together an Intranet site years ago. It does have potential --- I hope. This sits me back to wish for the simpler days of programing in assembly language (for those who may not be familiar, this language is as low as you can go, it gives names to 1's and 0's and expects you to figure out what to do with that information and I never got good at it because I did not like documentation).

[Anonymous]

I hate to bring this up again, but this issue that I posted over a year ago
is still a huge headache:

* I'd like for it to be much easier for administrators to edit the
Enterprise CUI in place. Prior to CUIs, most administrators just used
permissions on the enterprise-wise MNx. The current method for setting the
Enterprise CUI as the Main CUI is much more cumbersome. I use a separate
profile for editing the Enterprise CUI and its partials, but even still this
method for editing seems like an afterthought.

In 2008, when I switch the enterprise to the main, and the main to the
enterprise in a temporary profile, I sometimes end up with double menus on
the menubar. I have to admit that it's less flaky than it was two years
ago, but it's still such a half @553d feature. Great idea, horrible
implementation.

--
Ralph Sanchez
www.texupport.net


"Ralph Sanchez" wrote in message
news:5148711@discussion.autodesk.com...
Doug,

I'm currently running Land Desktop 2006, so hopefully at least some of these
have been addressed in 2007.

I knew the MNx method very well, but unlike most, I did feel like there
was room for improvement. When I initially read about the CUI feature, I
was pretty excited about it. I like the idea that any menu entry only has
to be defined once, and then it can be called from a Toolbar or a Pulldown.
Of course, like everyone else, I was extremely let down by the delivered
product. The CUI interface is bloated, cumbersome, precarious and just
generally unintuitive. In short, it seems like it was rushed to market
(which is the underlying theme of 75% of my posts here). The main issues
that I have with it are as follows:

* It's slow to open. Don't pat yourselves on the back that you've reduced
the load time from 10 seconds in 2006 to 8 seconds in 2007.

* Fix this issue with *UNRESOLVED* pulldowns that actually work.
http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=404331

* Fix this issue with the scattered toolbars.
http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4986614

* Restore the ability to drag and drop buttons onto custom Toolbars in the
AutoCAD session without going into the CUI editor. All of my users used to
be very comfortable with creating their own toolbars graphically. The
novice users didn't necessarily know (or care) what MNx file their toolbars
lived in, but the method was intuitive enough for them to create exactly
what they needed. Even better, the advanced users knew to create their
custom toolbars in a separate MNx file so it could easily be applied to
future upgrades. Now, both novice and advanced users are confused.
"Partial WHAT?"

* Like Martti mentioned, we need documentation! When using a Main CUI and
several partials as well as an Enterprise CUI with several partials, what is
the order of precedence for things like temporary overrides, mouse buttons,
accelerator keys, etc?

* I'd like for it to be much easier for administrators to edit the
Enterprise CUI in place. Prior to CUIs, most administrators just used
permissions on the enterprise-wise MNx. The current method or setting the
Enterprise CUI as the Main CUI is much more cumbersome. I use a separate
profile for editing the Enterprise CUI and its partials, but even still this
method for editing seems like an afterthought.

* The drag and drop interface seems to be a lot more flaky than any other
application I've ever used. I'm not sure if it's just too sensitive or if
it's misinterpreting the position of my pointer, but I usually have to
position commands twice to get them exactly where I want them.

* Like others who have posted in this thread, I think it might make more
sense for workspaces to be stored in the profile rather than in the CUI
file(s). But I do like the idea of using both enterprise-wide workspaces
and user-defined workspaces.

* I have several users that want their toolbars to stay put when switching
workspaces (as with Menu Palettes in LDT). As of 2006, this is only an
option for dockable windows.

* I haven't seen anyone else post about this, so I'm not sure if it's a LDT
specific issue, or if I did something wrong... On all of my systems
hitting OK in the CUI editor does not save the changes. We all have to hit
APPLY before hitting OK to save changes. In every other application I've
ever used, OK implies an Apply.

* Address the most common issues from this thread, and issue them as a SP2
for 2006 and SP1 for 2007. Please don't make us wait for 2008. The
non-subscription customers who bought 2006 deserve better than what they
got, and many of us who are on subscription don't intend on upgrading every
year.

--
Ralph Sanchez
http://www.texupport.net
--


wrote in message news:5146408@discussion.autodesk.com...
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]

How can we convert CUI file from 2008 to 2006 cuz i have done a mistake and customize all my menu in 2008 but i need it in 2006.
Pls Guide

[Anonymous]

I am new to my position, as CADD Manager for a 100 person firm. I have been using AutoCAD since vr 1.4. I have used most of the different methods of customization that Autodesk has provided over the years.

I happen to like the new CUI interface. I find it MUCH easier to program in than having to remember all of the syntax and POP3 commands.

One of the things that I do to be able to go backwards is to save a set of files, before I make any major changes. I also have a separate area of our office network for development. Only I am pathed into this area, and I can make all the mistakes I want, before it goes out to my end users.

I have created a fully functional menu (with the CUI editor) in just a months worth of work. My whole company is now using it, and they seem to really like all of the customization that I have included.

I think that most of the people who have complained about the CUI editor just don't like change. If that is the case, do they still use version 9?

Come on, bring yourselves into the 21st century!

[Anonymous]

>I think that most of the people who have complained about the CUI editor just don't like change.

Oh, please. That's asinine. Read the thread, and read the equally long thread on the philosophy of the CUI. Some very serious people, who have no objection to change, have had serious reservations about basic flaws in the design of the thing.

[Steve_Johnson]

> I think that most of the people who have complained about
> the CUI editor just don't like change.

Well, you think wrong then. Most people love change, as long as it's change for the better. Other kinds of change don't fare so well, and quite rightly so. Lots of other things have significantly changed in AutoCAD without anything like this level of complaint. Why do you think that might be?

[Anonymous]

I am late to this post but I can say without a doubt the CUI is the worst thing that was ever done to AutoCAD. What used to take seconds now takes minutes. I find nothing intuitive about the CUI. In 2006 dragging a new command to a toolbar and having it change to a totally different command was infuriating. In every other major change of commands I believe we could still use the old command. Now I cannot do that and I am forced to use the CUI aka Crappy Useless Interface. I noticed in one post about embracing change and I like changes if they are an improvement and make my job easier. The CUI cost me time every week fixing peoples problems. I used to daily make some tweak to a toolbar icon for some repetitive task as it was so easy. Now I avoid making these changes because I am forced to use the CUI and it takes way too much time. The only thing I have seen that I like is the fixed path to the icons. However; just recently I had a toolbar that lost all of its' icons. When I went into the CUI all of the paths were showing but NO icons. When I clicked on the path to browse to it I was taken to the correct folder and yet I still had to go to each icon and pick the path to the same file that was already showing. I could add a whole lot more aggravations that I have had with the CUI but they would have to add another hard disk to store all of them. If only we would have been given the option to continue to use the MNS file or the CUI. Being forced to use something that is a handicap is just terrible. Jack Foster CUI Hater Extraordinary.

[Anonymous]

I've just become resigned to the fact that Autodesk has long since discarded
its reputation of providing products that are aimed at enhancing useability,
and opted for the (as Tony T. referred to it) interface for chimpanzees.
Autodesk doesn't really care so much about designing a product for existing
customers as much as trying to get new "chimpanzees" into the fold...

John

"jackfoster" wrote in message news:5907531@discussion.autodesk.com...
I am late to this post but I can say without a doubt the CUI is the worst
thing that was ever done to AutoCAD. What used to take seconds now takes
minutes. I find nothing intuitive about the CUI. In 2006 dragging a new
command to a toolbar and having it change to a totally different command was
infuriating. In every other major change of commands I believe we could
still use the old command. Now I cannot do that and I am forced to use the
CUI aka Crappy Useless Interface. I noticed in one post about embracing
change and I like changes if they are an improvement and make my job easier.
The CUI cost me time every week fixing peoples problems. I used to daily
make some tweak to a toolbar icon for some repetitive task as it was so
easy. Now I avoid making these changes because I am forced to use the CUI
and it takes way too much time. The only thing I have seen that I like is
the fixed path to the icons. However; just recently I had a toolbar that
lost all of its' icons. When I went into the CUI all of the paths were
showing but NO icons. When I clicked on the path to browse to it I was
taken to the correct folder and yet I still had to go to each icon and pick
the path to the same file that was already showing. I could add a whole lot
more aggravations that I have had with the CUI but they would have to add
another hard disk to store all of them. If only we would have been given
the option to continue to use the MNS file or the CUI. Being forced to use
something that is a handicap is just terrible. Jack Foster CUI Hater
Extraordinary.

[Anonymous]

I was just in touch with Subscription Support and they told me if you edit a CUI with 2008 then you can not edit it with 2006. I also needed to keep my CUI in 2006 for some user's but it is not possible. In 2006 it becomes a read only file. I even tried to manually search and replace the strings that looked like they were what controlled this but it still would not work. You can create a DWG in 2008 and open it with 2000 and DXF it out and go even further back. However, the CUI won't go backwards at all. Ridiculous to say the least. Worst thing ever done to AutoCAD. Forcing everyone to use the CUI is WRONG!

[scot-65]

D C,
Anybody who has written HTML by hand understands what XML and the CUI is trying to do.
Each tag defines a field inside a table; weather used as a search data or as a display.
What I do not like about the CUI language is too long a character for these tags.
For example: Using in HTML is equal to in the CUI. Shorten this and the file size will be greatly reduced and the CUI will (might) load faster.
There are also tags "reserved" for future use. Make up your mind now and either use them or remove them.
I also understand it takes resources to load all the images (icons). There is not much one can do here to speed this up. If somehow use a progressive load of the images might speed things up?
Next item:
I want to minimize the bottom-left pane and the top-right pane to do my editing. When I hit "Apply", they magically reappear (I think). Remember from last time what has been minimized and what is opened will make me feel better the next time I want to use the CUI editor.
Another Item:
Some rows require a separate window to apply text while others can just edit the particular cell in the table (4th pane). Make up your mind and use one or the other, not both.

If I am slightly off here, it's because I have not used the CUI in quite a while and trying to remember the items that bothered me.
Scot-65

[johnfalky]

As a long time ACAD user, and yes being late to this string (because my employer just installed this package) I really wonder what is going on at Autodesk. Do they ever listen to anybody? Putting up a string about a defective software package is just too late, and not agressively correcting the issues show that the customer relations learning curve at Autodesk is similar to General Motors. I am stuck with 2006 now, little or no IT support to address the issues, such as pulldown menus waiting anywhere from 10 seconds to 4 seconds to appear, or the menus simply not responding at all. Acad 2006 to put it politely for reading purposes, should have been canceled and buyers given a refund for this software Edsel. If I had any say, my corporation would go back to 2005 and sue Autodesk for the productivity decline. Maybe THAT is what needs to happen. Please Autodesk, no more garbage and get off the upgrade and yearly release marketing-driven gewgaw fake trim treadmill. I need functional CAD, no fix soon, bye bye Autocad,