Pull-down menu elements too big

[samuel.krueger]

Hi,

How can I change the amount of space the commands take up in my pull-down menu (AutoCAD 2010)?

I'm talking about the normal Windows-style menu. The one you have to get from the top left corner and has things like File:Open. I want the commands to take up no more vertical space than a normal Windows menu, but they have icons and about 1.5cm of empty vertical space between each command.

Thanks!

[irneb]

Congrats on your 1st post ... won't say welcome since you've been a member nearly as long as I

Do you have large icons turned on maybe? Also the BMP file you link into the CUI may be too large and I don't think Acad scales them to suit. For small icons the BMP needs to be 16x16 ... at least that's the size of the standard icons.

[RobertB]

The OP appears to be talking about the Application menu, not AutoCAD's pulldown menus. There is no procedure of which I am aware to alter the display of the Application menu.

[samuel.krueger]

irneb: I may have large icons turned on, but I've dug through the CUI and can't find anything to change. What am I looking for?

RobertB: Yes, I'm talking about the application menu - but now that you mention AutoCAD pull-down menus I'm confused because I don't know how those are different. I'm talking about the menus that used to be arrayed across the top of the screen (File, Edit, Tools, etc.), but in the ribbon-based interface are consolidated as a drop-down button/menu in the top left corner with a big blue T (I'm using Topobase, so it's a T. Used to be an M for AutoCAD Map, and I've seen it as a big red A for AutoCAD. Same thing).

Thanks!

[RobertB]

RobertB: Yes, I'm talking about the application menu - but now that you mention AutoCAD pull-down menus I'm confused because I don't know how those are different. I'm talking about the menus that used to be arrayed across the top of the screen (File, Edit, Tools, etc.), but in the ribbon-based interface are consolidated as a drop-down button/menu in the top left corner with a big blue T (I'm using Topobase, so it's a T. Used to be an M for AutoCAD Map, and I've seen it as a big red A for AutoCAD. Same thing).

It sounds like you are still confused. Pulldown menus are those interface elements that are displayed in the legacy menu bar (MenuBar system variable). The Application menu is not customizable, whereas pulldows are. The Ribbon is not "consolidated as a drop-down button/menu in the top left corner", it is the interface element as shown in the attached screenshot.

[samuel.krueger]

RobertB: Thank you for the amazing graphic.

I am talking about the Application Menu. The reason this bothers me is, as you can see in my screenshot, you don't get to see all the commands under one group ("File") at once - rather, you get a mini-menu-window with tiny scroll-arrows at the top and bottom that you have to hover over in order to scroll. This causes a big slowdown in the workflow. I'd like the mini-menu-window to contain more or all the commands in a group so that the need to scroll is reduced. You're saying the application menu can't be customized at all?

[irneb]

Not the size of each it seems.

This is something coming from the supposedly "new" field of User Interface Design. One of their premise is to not "clutter" the user with too much options / info. While this sounds "nice" I don't agree with it, because practically it means: "Blank space around the options the user does get". Which in turn means the user has to perform multiple searches and / or browsing (like scrolling) to get to the actual "option" (s)he wanted.

It only works for very simplistic programs like text editors. For something like AC (which has 100's if not 1000's of commands) it's simply impractical ... ... scratch that it's stupid!

[rkmcswain]

How can I change the amount of space the commands take up in my pull-down menu (AutoCAD 2010)?

I am talking about the Application Menu. The reason this bothers me is, as you can see in my screenshot, you don't get to see all the commands under one group ("File") at once - rather, you get a mini-menu-window with tiny scroll-arrows at the top and bottom that you have to hover over in order to scroll.

Your original post said AutoCAD 2010, but your screenshot looks like 2009....?

[RobertB]

RobertB: Thank you for the amazing graphic.

I am talking about the Application Menu. The reason this bothers me is, as you can see in my screenshot, you don't get to see all the commands under one group ("File") at once - rather, you get a mini-menu-window with tiny scroll-arrows at the top and bottom that you have to hover over in order to scroll. This causes a big slowdown in the workflow. I'd like the mini-menu-window to contain more or all the commands in a group so that the need to scroll is reduced. You're saying the application menu can't be customized at all?

You cannot customize anything in the application menu. Sorry.

The autoscrolling section is particularly irksome on large monitors. Make a wish!

[RobertB]

Your original post said AutoCAD 2010, but your screenshot looks like 2009....?

I don't think so, since the big letter is blue, not red. That looks like 2010.