Partial CUI & "Context Menu for Default Mode" issue

[nbawden]

I like to alter the Shortcut Menu "Context Menu for Default Mode" to add various commands (existing AutoCAD commands and a few lisp routines).

Previously I had been doing this by simply editing the main CUI file and replacing the existing one on every user's computer (either acad.cui or c3d.cui). This is no longer practical or viable and I am trying to improve how this is done. I would prefer to do this via loading a partial CUI instead through either acad.lsp, acaddoc.lsp or a .bundle setup.

My questions are:

1) Can I append to or replace the Shortcut Menu "Context Menu for Default Mode"? We use AutoCAD & Civil3D and both of these have Repeat %s at the top of this shortcut menu. It as after this command and separator and before any others (which varies depending on which software we are running) that we want to append our additions to.

2) If I can do this, how do I go about it? From what I have read there are issues with altering shortcut menus via partial cuis but am getting a little lost with what is being said.

[dbroad]

I am not sure that I can help but I think rather than editing each user's cui, you should follow AU speakers' recommendations about partial and enterprise CUI's.  Sounds like you need to make changes to the enterprise CUI.  I haven't read this article thoroughly but this might touch on what you want to accomplish.

http://aucache.autodesk.com/au2009/sessions/5375/AU09_SpeakerHandout_AU222-1.pdf

[nbawden]

Thanks dbroad,

That document looks quite handy in general.

Unfortunately it appears to confirm my suspicions that I can't do what I want to with the context menu. I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and just create a custom ribbon tab through a partial CUI.

This seems to be the more elegant solution going forward from a mantenance perspective. Using the ribbon though is slower than the shortcut menu and requires me to create a bunch of icons - a graphic artist I am not!

[dbroad]

If your purpose is to manage content instead of to create new commands, then tool palettes will create the graphics for you as you populate them.  That is much superior than using the ribbon for that purpose.  The ribbon should be for commands.  You should only need to create graphics for commands that you write vs. Autocad commands.  All Autocad commands have their own icons.  I agree that the icons put an additional burden on developers of new commands.

[nbawden]

Thanks - I am now experimenting with both ribbon & tool palette. Both have their pros and cons.

There is also the Quick Access Toolbar that would have been perfect to use (always available and takes up no space) but that has the same restrictions as shortcut menus.

[dgorsman]

Create two placeholder icons, one large and one small, to hold space until you can come up with something useful.  There is also the option of text-only Ribbon buttons, although they still work better with an icon even if its not shown.