AutoCAD Electrical Custom Menu Linking

Issue:

You want to create a Custom Icon Menu, but you don’t want to heavily edit or replace the default Icon Menu. The example provided in the help system is confusing or does not appear to work. Since you are limited to a single Schematic Icon Menu and a single Panel Icon Menu per project, the ability to reference other Icon Menus would be helpful.

For reference, please see the following example from the 2024 version of the AutoCAD Electrical Online Help:

https://help.autodesk.com/view/ACAD_E/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-2EB02BA2-48E7-4B65-B59B-A3223704AAE8

Causes:

The information provided in the help system makes certain assumptions which are not obvious in the limited documentation available.  The assumption is that the users will recognize LISP and understand the requirements needed for the sample code to work.  This leads to most users not being able to successfully create the Icon Menu links based on the information provided.

Solution:

While there are multiple ways to address this issue, the following information is what I’ve found to be the simplest path for users who would like to create an alternative Icon Menu while maintaining access to the preferred default Icon Menu.

This example assumes that you have already created your Custom Icon Menu.  This is typically done by copying a Default Icon Menu and modifying the copy either through the Icon Menu Wizard or through a text editor (MS Notepad, Notepad++, etc.).

Using the Icon Menu Wizard you can start by editing the menu you intend to use as your primary Icon Menu.

This can be your custom menu or one of the default menus.

Once you have the Wizard open, you just need to add a custom command to the menu.

In the Command Properties window, you will apply the following information:

1. Name of the menu you are connecting to, whether that is a custom menu or a default menu.
2. This is the Image that will be used as the “Icon” in the Icon Menu. This must either be a “.PNG” or a “.SLB”
3. This is the command that will load the desired menu using the following syntax: (c:wd_loadmenu "{menu name}.dat")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)

Replace {menu name} in the string above with the name of the Icon Menu file that you are linking to, similar to what is shown in the image below.

Once this has been done in the primary Icon Menu, you would repeat the process in the other Icon Menu using the same steps, just changing the name of the target Icon Menu so it is connecting to the desired menu.

If you choose not to create an icon for the menu link, a default placeholder which looks like this will be inserted:

When editing the Icon Menus, you can switch the menu that you are editing by browsing to the desired location without having to switch the Icon Menu settings in the Project Properties.

If you choose to change the Default Menu files and you want to keep the .SLB files in a different location from the default, you will want to update this section in your Environment file as well:

* Menu & Slide Path

************************************************************************************

*WD_MENU,%DS_DIR%/my_menu.dat,to override default schem icon menu

*WD_PMENU,%DS_DIR%/mypnlmnu.dat,to override default panel layout icon menu

*WD_SLB,x:/some path/,to override path pointing to ".slb" slide lib support files

NOTE:  Prior to making any changes, be sure that you make backups of your current files and document both the original file locations as well as the new target locations.  This will allow you to quickly revert to a functional state if any changes you make fail to function as anticipated.

For further reference regarding the AutoCAD Electrical Icon Menu file (from the Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical 2024 Online Help):

https://help.autodesk.com/view/ACAD_E/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-E5A20D91-975E-4402-AA3C-29B43BAEAFFB

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Sr. Technical Support Specialist, Manufacturing

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