Help with Icon Menu and DAT Files

[hinschberger]

Does anyone know how to interpret this help tip from AutoCAD Electrical 2008 SP2.



This tip (below) is from the help file under Advanced Productivity.



Best practices for icon menu changes



We recommend that you create your own icon menu and leave the AutoCAD Electrical icon menu intact. This provides you with easier migration when upgrading to the next version of AutoCAD Electrical. You can set up the AutoCAD Electrical icon menu system so that you can flip back and forth between the default ACE__MENU.DAT (such as ACE_JIC_MENU.DAT) and your own "my_menu.dat."



1. Copy the standard menu into a new file name instead of creating the file from scratch. Open the new DAT file with a text editor and remove everything except for the top portion of the file (shown below).

**M0

INSERT COMPONENT: JIC SCHEMATIC SYMBOLS



Rename the title line to indicate that this is your very own personal menu file.



2. Add a line similar to the following in the ACE__MENU.DAT file.

My schem menu|mymenu.sld|$C=(c:wd_loadmenu "my_menu.dat")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)



3. In your new "my_menu.dat" file, add a line similar to the following one so that you can jump back to the default AutoCAD Electrical icon menu.

Default AutoCAD Electrical menu|back2wd.sld|$C=(c:wd_loadmenu "ACE_JIC_MENU.DAT")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)

**M0 My Menu: My Companies Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical menu|back2wd.sld|$C=(c:wd_loadmenu "ACE_JIC_MENU.DAT")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)



4. In the AutoCAD Electrical default icon menu, click the new "My menu" entry.

Your menu should immediately appear and remains the default for subsequent component inserts. If you want to go back to the AutoCAD Electrical default menu, click the "AutoCAD Electrical menu" button you added to your custom menu. AutoCAD Electrical flips back to the default icon menu and it now remains the default for subsequent inserts.



I created my very own menu.dat file. Now what? Can anyone help me understand what I do next to incorporate the dat file.



Please help. BH

[RenataP]

Are you going to AU? If so, I could sit down with you and walk you through it along with any other questions. I am stuck in the airport all day due to weather, Monday December 1.

If not...to incorporate the created dat file...
Project Manager - Go to the project you would like to use the new dat file with.
Right click on the project name and select Properties…
This brings up the [Project Properties] dialog box – select which icon menu file you are changing; Schematic or Panel and select the Browse… button
[Select “.dat” AutoCAD Electrical icon menu file] dialog box find the file you created; in my case it is ACE_JIC_MENU – Copy
Select Open button
Select OK button in side the [Project Properties] dialog box
Check out the new [Insert Component] dialog box

See some of the pics below