Tool palettes don't transfer with workspace

[gregb]

I've set up three tool palettes as part of my standard office wide workspace but when I transfer the workspace to other computers the palettes don't come with the workspace. Am I wrong in assuming the palettes should be generated automatically?

[dkoch]

Yes, you are wrong (sorry). The workspace will remember palette positions, and current tool palette group, but those things need to be in place on a separate computer (assuming your tool palette files locations are on the local computer, and not network-based) for a transferred workspace to make use of them.

[nbittner673091]

Is there a method to easily copy a Tool Palettes and its groups between workstations beside the i-drop. Currently, as you stated in your post the palettes I've created appear in the customize palettes, but aren't populated with the groups. Therefore, I have to manually drag each group into the palette from the Content Browser. Any way to avoid this tedious exercise?

[dkoch]

Each AutoCAD Profile (Options dialog, Profile tab) has a Tool Palettes File Locations node on the Files tab of the Options dialog. This node can hold one or more folder locations in which the the files for that Profile's Tool palettes are drawn. (The top node is the "active" one, into which newly created or i-dropped palettes will be placed.)

If you want to copy the "local" tool palettes from one computer to another, then you will need to copy all of the folders shown under the Tool Palettes File Locations node to the other computer. These are often located in the user's "support" folder (but your installation/later changes may vary), where you will find other Tool-palette-related folders like the AuthorPalette, RegisteredTools and RegisteredTools-AutoCAD folders, which should already be in place on the other computer.

The Profiles folder is also typically located under the user's "support" folder. This folder contains the FixedProfile.aws file and folders for each AutoCAD Profile, with a Profile.aws file for each profile. The FixedProfile.aws file holds the Tool Palette Groups and which Palettes are associated with each, along with the Palette definitions and listings of tool order, among many other things. The Profile.aws file for each Profile tracks which Tool Palette Group is current for each Profile, among other things. You would also need to copy these files to the other computer to have the palette groups present and prepopulated.

I have successfully copied the local palettes and profiles when moving from one computer to another (eg, when I get a new computer at work). If you have already done some setup on the second computer, copying over the profile files may result in the things kept in the profile files being lost. You will want to back up current files before copying any files over, so that you can restore the previous files should something go amiss or you decide it would be less work to set up the Tool Palette Groups from scratch than to redo all of the other customizations.

[nbittner673091]

Thanks for the quick response. I will experiment with your suggestions, especially with the "active" location under the options tab. I had tried adding the location of the company tool catalog which is really pointless since this does not provide the actual palettes only the catalogs that are used to populate them. I will attempt making this folder active and then recreate a palette. I would hope then if I point the other workstation to this networked folder through the Options tab, the tool palette might populate with the groups. May be a fool's errand, I admit.

Seems like Autodesk should have found a way by now for the CUIx to also contain the tool palettes similar to the ribbon tabs and panels.

In ACA 2012, I had thought the tool palettes populated themselves after copying the profile and workspace from another workstation.

[dkoch]

I had tried adding the location of the company tool catalog which is really pointless since this does not provide the actual palettes only the catalogs that are used to populate them.

Even though Tool Catalogs, the file under each Tool Palette File Location (AcTpCatalog.atc) and the tool palette files in the Palettes folder below that location all use the ATC extension, you cannot point a Tool Palette File Location to your Tool Catalog and get all of the palettes inside to show in your local palettes, as the internal structure of the files is different. One you i-drop a file into your local computer (often referred to as "workspace", although this use of the term is different from (and predates) the "Workspace" that you can save within ACA/AutoCAD to store various UI arrangements), then you can copy the resultant files to another computer and point to that folder under the Tool Palette File Location.

As I mentioned previously, I have not tried this as a means of getting multiple computers to have the same local tool palettes. I have only used it to copy files from an old computer whose lease is up to the replacement computer. I put the copied folders in the equivalent location on the new computer, under my ...\Support folder, maintaining relative locations of files, and that has worked for me.