I recieved an email from a customer on how to add a slide menu to AutoCAD 2006.

Question:
I like to create my own pull down menus with slides for inserting blocks. As you know, we would create a file.mnu and created the companion file.slb. With 2006 this has apparently changed but I can't find instructions on how to do this in 2006. Can you point me in the correct direction? Can I still create the file.mnu and AutoCAD will convert it to the file.cui file?

Reply:
AutoCAD 2006 will convert a previous MNU file to a .cui file.  From there you can use the CUI editor to edit it or add new elements. Use the CUI command to access the CUI Editor.

To add slides in the CUI you define them in the CUI under the legacy node option for tile menus. There are topics in the AutoCAD 2006 Help file for tile menus. Search for the topic "Create Image Tile Menus".

From the AutoCAD 2006 Help
To create an image tile menu and assign an image tile slide

1. Click Tools >menu  >Customize  >Interface or use the CUI command.
2. In the Customize User Interface dialog box, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus    sign (+) next to Legacy to expand the list.
3. In the Legacy list, right-click Image Tile Menu. Click New Image Tile Menu. A new image tile menu (named ImageTileMenu1)    is placed at the bottom of the Image Tile Menus tree.

4. Do one of the following:
   Enter a new name over the ImageTileMenu1 text.
   Right-click ImageTileMenu1. Click Rename. Then, enter a new image tile name.
5. In the Command List pane, drag a command to the new image tile menu in the Customizations In <file name> pane.
6.In the Properties pane, enter properties for the new image tile slide.
7. When you finish, click OK.

There is a published white paper on this Customizing the AutoCAD 2006 Interface" (http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/AutoCAD_2006_Customization_White_Paper_Final.pdf).
Also have a look at the videos posted on this blog previously for more CUI tutorials. (http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2005/05/autocad_2006_tu.html).

The free AUGIWorld magazine also had some good information on the CUI feature. All you need to do is become a member of AUGI which is free. Go to http://www.augi.com. You can then find the AUGIWorld archives in PDF format from http://www.augi.com/publications/.

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley