Cadtales

Customize User Interface

AutoCAD 2006/7 incorporated a totally new feature called Customize User Interface, or CUI. With this tool, any user can tailor the drawing environment to suit any project, need or personal preference.

CUI is a program within AutoCAD that employs Windows Drag & Drop functionality to easily customize Toolbars and Tool Palettes, create Workspaces, assign commands, create/edit Macros, define DIESEL strings, add Tooltips and provide descriptive text on the status line.

Help is just a click away. For example, to learn how to add or change a Toolbar, just click on Help, select the Content tab, expand (click the plus sign (+)) Customization Guide, expand Customize the User Interface and click on Customize Toolbars; then move to the right pane, select the Concepts tab and read the overview.

Change to the Procedures tab, scroll down and find the seven subject categories for customizing Toolbars.

Each subject category is an instruction set for opening the CUI program, selecting a tool category, creating or editing an existing feature, then saving your work in the default environment or an Enterprise customization file (for sharing with others).

Following on with our Toolbar example select the “To create a flyout toolbar from scratch” instruction set. Read about the process on the Concepts tab then select the Procedures tab. Click the “To create a flyout toolbar from scratch” again to read & follow the instructions. (Print the instruction page if you want a ready reference while practicing).

Customize the user interface
Type “cui” [Enter] at the keyboard or follow the instructions to open CUI. When the program opens note the four main areas. The “Customizations in” window contains a list of the customizable tools in the current environment. You can filter this list by selecting the button in the upper-right corner of the “Customizations in” window. The Command List window contains a list of standard commands available in your version of AutoCAD. The Button Image window shows the current image file associated with the highlighted command. The Properties window lists the default and user definable properties of the highlighted command.

Expand the Toolbars category. Right-click a Toolbar title or a Toolbar name to create a New >Toolbar. Expand any Toolbar name and you will see a list of discrete commands, each, preceded by a star symbol.

Note: Click any Toolbar name or command to see the Command List, Button Image and Properties windows update with the current configuration for the chosen command or Toolbar.

You can right-click any command for a local menu to Insert a Separator (blank line), create a New >Toolbar or >Flyout, Delete a command or to utilize Window’s Find and Replace feature.



Continuing with our Toolbar example, scroll down to the Draw toolbar, right-click on the toolbar name and click New >Flyout. Right-click and rename the Flyout “Text 2.” You can move any toolbar or command up or down the list by Click & Dragging, releasing the button when the black position line is where you want it.

Now that we have a Toolbar place holder for our command Icons switch your focus to the Command List window, scroll down to Multiline Text (Source = ACAD), Click & Drag the command up to the new toolbar name you created. Be sure the cursor is on the Test 2 name and you see a small black position arrow to the right. Release the pick button. If you miss, just Click & Drag again or Delete and repeat the operation.



Repeat the process above for the Single Line Text (Source = ACAD) command, and any other commands you wish to add to this or any other Toolbar. Since we are adding standard AutoCAD commands to our new Toolbar we can retain the default settings in the Button Image and Properties windows. Close the CUI program and test your new Icon Toolbar.

The “A” symbol indicates this is a Text command Icon. The small arrow indicates the Icon is a Flyout with additional command Icons. Click once to activate the Text command. Click & Hold on the Icon to activate the Flyout. Drag the cursor to the command you want and release. The newly selected Icon will be the default command on the Flyout until changed.


CUI files have a “.cui” extension and are stored in the AutoCAD Support directory. For the complete directory path open the Options dialog box (right click in the drawing area, or on the command line). Go to the Files Tab. Expand (click the “+” sign) the Customization Files<Main Customization File entries. Note the file path to your CUI files. The last entry in that path file is the default CUI configuration AutoCAD will use at startup.

If you plan to edit/customize a CUI file, it is best practice to leave the original CUI files intact, make a backup before proceeding, and give your customized CUI files unique names.