Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published September 2008

Exporting Your Custom Toolbar

The Customize User Interface (CUI) has a quirk or two, but once you find out what they are, you can manage quite nicely. In the case of exporting your custom toolbar, you need to have somewhere for the toolbar to go before you can send it there. That ‘somewhere’ is a customization file - a new CUI. The procedure given has been successful in transferring toolbars between AutoCAD 2008 and 2009 (LT versions included).

Insurance Policy Statement: Export AutoCAD 200x Settings. The process of exporting a toolbar involves the Customize User Interface. Prior to modifying the CUI, it's always a good idea to have a back-up, just in case you encounter "unexpected results". To that end, I want to remind you about Export AutoCAD 200x Settings [June 2007]. This utility can be found from the Windows Start button, then All ProgramsAutodeskAutoCAD 200xMigrate Custom SettingsExport AutoCAD 200x Settings. The result is a .ZIP file such that if you gom up the menus in the CUI, use the Import utility to put Humpty Dumpty back up on the wall.

Memo: The following instructions are based upon you having a toolbar to transfer. To create a new toolbar, take a look at Michael's Corner, January 2006.

Instructions to Transfer Your Custom Toolbar to Another Computer

1. Open the Customize User Interface by typing CUI, then press <Enter>.
2. At the top of the CUI, click the Transfer tab.
3. In the right pane, click the button with the starburst on it for Create a New Customization File, then click Save.
4. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder you want to save the new CUI, then enter a name and click Save. The name of your CUI will be displayed in the dropdown list. In this exercise I named it ct_sept08.
5. Now click the Customize tab.
6. Navigate to the location of your custom toolbar. As was suggested in the January 2006 article, your toolbar would ideally be located under Partial CUI FilesCUSTOMToolbar.

7. Right-click on your custom toolbar, then click Copy. In this exercise I'm copying the toolbar I made when I was training Allsteel.
8. Click the Transfer tab, then right-click on the Toolbars node for your new CUI, and click Paste.
9. Click Save to save your custom CUI, then click OK to close the CUI dialog box.

At this point, you have a .CUI containing a single toolbar. The CUI file can obviously contain lots of additional customization elements, but the point of this exercise is to be able to transfer the toolbar to another system. The next few steps show you how to do just that.

10. After copying your custom CUI to the other system, launch the CUI and click the Transfer tab.
11. Click the Open Customization File button then navigate to where you copied your custom CUI and open it.

12. On the Transfer tab, expand the Toolbars node to display the custom toolbar, then right-click on the custom toolbar and click Copy.
13. Now click the Customize tab.
14. Navigate to Partial CUI FilesCUSTOMToolbar, then right-click the Toolbar node and click Paste.

Bottom line, I would prefer that you customize a tool palette which has far and away more potential than a customized toolbar. However, if you're going to customize your toolbar, at least now you know how to transfer it from system A to system B.

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