Custom toolbar icon path resetting itself

I am using AutoCAD 2008

I have set up a toolbar with custom icons and have copied the icons onto a network drive under a certain path.

I have set up the AutoCAD Files setting for Custom icons and for support files to look to the custom path on the network drive containing the icons.

Everything works perfectly untill I try to migrate the toolbar. I use the CUI transfer file to export the toolbar in question.

To test the migration I do the following

1. Delete the toolbar and its associated tools

2. Reset autocad

3. Use the migration file to import the exported toolbar with the associated tools

The questionmark icons appear and the search path for the icons is reset to the default ACAD Icons locations under Documents and settings. Bear in mind that the support path and custom icons settings still point to the network path containing the icons.

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong here... Does the migration file even contain the icon path or not....

Thanks in advance

I am using AutoCAD 2008

 

I have set up a toolbar with custom icons and have copied the icons onto a network drive under a certain path.

 

I have set up the AutoCAD Files setting for Custom icons and for support files to look to the custom path on the network drive containing the icons.

 

Everything works perfectly untill I try to migrate the toolbar. I use the CUI transfer file to export the toolbar in question.

 

To test the migration I do the following

1. Delete the toolbar and its associated tools

2. Reset autocad

3. Use the migration file to import the exported toolbar with the associated tools

 

The questionmark icons appear and the search path for the icons is reset to the default ACAD Icons locations under Documents and settings. Bear in mind that the support path and custom icons settings still point to the network path containing the icons.

 

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong here... Does the migration file even contain the icon path or not....

 

Thanks in advance

A couple things could be happening here. In the Customize User Interface, if the icon is a full path (with a mapped drive or something), that path may fail on other computers. I use only the icon name.

Second, I add that icon location to the support file search path as well as the Custom Icon Location support path.

A couple things could be happening here. In the Customize User Interface, if the icon is a full path (with a mapped drive or something), that path may fail on other computers. I use only the icon name.

Second, I add that icon location to the support file search path as well as the Custom Icon Location support path.

Unfortunately neither.

The testing was done on the same computer so the path couldn't be an issue. And besides the network drives have the same drive mapping for all users.

And I have added the icon location to both the support path and the custom icons path.

Is there a reason why the cui file that you exported is not in the same folder as the icons ?

Is there a reason why the cui file that you exported is not in the same folder as the icons ?

Sort of....

I have created a system of tool palettes and combined them with a toolbar to switch between groups.

Now to implement those I envisaged every user transfering the toolbar from a cui file. So the installation would be done via modification of the base cui file not through a custom cui.

I assume you're trying to say that if i exported the cui file and the icons to the same location and possibly loaded the cui as a partial or enterprise file that the toolbar icons would work.

While on the topic is there a way to automatically enable enterprise toolbars for all workspaces instead of doing it manually.

Are you giving your icons your own names?

I have had problems in the past with this sort of thing if I had given the icons a name rather than letting Autocad call them 'ICON-12345' etc.

If I let Autocad name them then the problem went away.

If I named them myself then I had to reset the icon path path in the properties for each button when transfered to a different PC.

The testing was done on the same computer so the path couldn't be an issue. And besides the network drives have the same drive mapping for all users.

 

And I have added the icon location to both the support path and the custom icons path.

Did you delete the .mnr files?

Are you giving your icons your own names?

 

I have had problems in the past with this sort of thing if I had given the icons a name rather than letting Autocad call them 'ICON-12345' etc.

 

If I let Autocad name them then the problem went away.

If I named them myself then I had to reset the icon path path in the properties for each button when transfered to a different PC.

I created the icons in an external program and opend the bmp from cui editor. There was no initiative from AutoCADs side to provide own names.

Did you delete the .mnr files?

I didn't have any contact with the .mnr files at all. Because I understood that all the customization related to the .mnr files was done through the cui edito since its implementation. I might be quite wrong there.. if so please direct me.

I created the icons in an external program and opend the bmp from cui editor. There was no initiative from AutoCADs side to provide own names.

I'm not sure what he's talking about either. I've generated all my icons in an external program and have had no issues.

I didn't have any contact with the .mnr files at all. Because I understood that all the customization related to the .mnr files was done through the cui edito since its implementation. I might be quite wrong there.. if so please direct me.

.mnr files are Menu Resource files created by AutoCad upon the loading of a menu (.cui). These are automatically generated and if any updates are done to the icons, the .mnr files should be deleted, to allow for AutoCad to automatically re-generate them. These should be located in the same folder as the .cui files.

Having said all that, I re-read your OP, and I'm not sure what you mean by "Use the migration file to import the exported toolbar with the associated tools". Or for that matter, how you are 'exporting' the toolbar. Could you expand on what you mean?

Having said all that, I re-read your OP, and I'm not sure what you mean by "Use the migration file to import the exported toolbar with the associated tools". Or for that matter, how you are 'exporting' the toolbar. Could you expand on what you mean?

By migration file I meant a cui file... I'm still somewhat new with the terminology.

I exported the toolbar by creating a blank cui file and copying the toolbar from my main cui file to that blank one. I would then save the new cui file and to test everything I would erase the toolbar from my main cui file, restart autocad and then used the cui editor to reinstall the toolbar from the custom cui file.

I am currently modifying that idea to place the toolbar on a shared netowrk based enterprise cui file. But I still have to resolve the icon issues I guess.....

I'm learning as I go... and this forum is a great help

By migration file I meant a cui file... I'm still somewhat new with the terminology.

 

I exported the toolbar by creating a blank cui file and copying the toolbar from my main cui file to that blank one. I would then save the new cui file and to test everything I would erase the toolbar from my main cui file, restart autocad and then used the cui editor to reinstall the toolbar from the custom cui file.

 

I am currently modifying that idea to place the toolbar on a shared netowrk based enterprise cui file. But I still have to resolve the icon issues I guess.....

 

I'm learning as I go... and this forum is a great help

Okay, so you're doing menuload, finding the new .cui file, and loading it. You then are able to see that toolbar, but your icons are not showing up. Right?

If this is the case, then the .mnr files won't matter, because they should be generated fresh from the action of loading the menu. So after you load the new menu, when you go into the cui editor, what's the value (may be a path) of the images (Small image and Large image are typically the same)?

I would suggest not doing enterprise, but that's another discussion.

Well it would seem I resolved the problem... the icon paths aren't resetting themselves anymore.

I guess the problem was in the method of toolbar importing. In the beggining I used the transfer option. While now I'm pointing autocad to the cui file to use it as an enterprise file. This causes no more problems with icons and leaves the field open for later customization if neccesary.