Flipping across open drawings requiring different menus

Hi group

I have drawing types that require different menus to be loaded. In a
typical scenario I will open one drawing and the required menu group is
automatically loaded. Then in the same MDI I open another drawing that
automatically loads a different menu group.

When I flip back to the first drawing, the wrong menus are still loaded from
the second drawing. How can I make something happen automatically when I
flip over to the other drawing?

regards to all

 

Not an easy one. Start with looking over the thread "Menu loading", on a
nearly identical question, that I started on March 24 '04, and if you come
up with any good solutions, I'd love to know about them.

Kent Cooper, AIA

...

 

I will take a look Kent thanks

 

Kent, I have loaded your previous threads and read with interest.

I make the right menu load automatically with each drawing by reading from a
data file associated with that drawing when it loads. Each drawing I do has
one of these files associated with it, assuming that the drawing name I use
starts with "rcas_" (initials of my company). If it does, then the
corresponding data file is opened and read, which reveals all sorts of
wonderful stuff to AutoCad like what layer standard this drawing uses and
other variables like symbol scale last used and text style...

Anyway this is great when the drawing is first loaded, but when you open
another drawing it often reads a similar data file which makes another set
of menus corresponding to that layer standard load. Then when you flip back
to the other drawing the wrong menus are present. I guess this is a problem
with working in a MDI. We could get around this by using SDI and multiple
sessions but this seems a bit tedious.

What we need is someone brilliant (there are many in this group who are) who
knows how to capture the flip into another drawing and make something happen
just because of the flip.

best regards

 

That's why one of the responders suggested a reactor, but that's something I
don't know enough about, and don't have the time to research right now. If
that approach works, it would certainly answer my problem, and I think
yours, too.

Kent Cooper, AIA

 

Roderic,

There is the DocumentBecameCurrent reactor. However, you may want to
consider rethinking parts of your process (or not, I'm not the one to tell
you how to do things in your own firm). Have you considered storing this
document-specific information in a dictionary in the drawing itself instead
of in an external file? Then all your code can simply look at that info, not
worrying if a document was switched.

Menu switching is a pain I share with you. We switch a pulldown menu
depending on the discipline desired. But I'm working away from that, due to
the MDI. I am moving many of our pulldown discipline-specific items to tool
palettes instead, for better or worse.

Just a few thoughts.

--
R. Robert Bell


Kent, I have loaded your previous threads and read with interest.

I make the right menu load automatically with each drawing by reading from a
data file associated with that drawing when it loads. Each drawing I do has
one of these files associated with it, assuming that the drawing name I use
starts with "rcas_" (initials of my company). If it does, then the
corresponding data file is opened and read, which reveals all sorts of
wonderful stuff to AutoCad like what layer standard this drawing uses and
other variables like symbol scale last used and text style...

Anyway this is great when the drawing is first loaded, but when you open
another drawing it often reads a similar data file which makes another set
of menus corresponding to that layer standard load. Then when you flip back
to the other drawing the wrong menus are present. I guess this is a problem
with working in a MDI. We could get around this by using SDI and multiple
sessions but this seems a bit tedious.

What we need is someone brilliant (there are many in this group who are) who
knows how to capture the flip into another drawing and make something happen
just because of the flip.

 

If I knew how to do things like storing document-specific stuff right inside
the drawing, that would make me brilliant too, and I don't want to be that
good!

One day I will know how to do these things I guess...

thanks for your input Robert

 

Roderic,

Storing and retrieving data stored in Dictionaries/XRecords is not all that
tough. Here is a VBA sample:

' Written by: R. Robert Bell

Public Sub WriteXRec()
Dim myDict As AcadDictionary
Set myDict = ThisDrawing.Dictionaries.Add("Sample")

Dim myXRec As AcadXRecord
Set myXRec = myDict.AddXRecord("Test")

Dim dxfCode(0 To 1) As Integer
Dim dxfData(0 To 1)
dxfCode(0) = 1: dxfData(0) = "Hello?"
dxfCode(1) = 2: dxfData(1) = "Is there anybody out there?"
myXRec.SetXRecordData dxfCode, dxfData
End Sub

Public Sub ReadXRec()
Dim myDict As AcadDictionary
Set myDict = ThisDrawing.Dictionaries.Item("Sample")

Dim myXRec As AcadXRecord
Set myXRec = myDict.Item("Test")

Dim dxfCode, dxfData
myXRec.GetXRecordData dxfCode, dxfData

MsgBox dxfData(0) & vbCrLf & dxfData(1)
End Sub


--
R. Robert Bell


If I knew how to do things like storing document-specific stuff right inside
the drawing, that would make me brilliant too, and I don't want to be that
good!

One day I will know how to do these things I guess...

thanks for your input Robert

 

This looks like gobbledegook at first but I know it's not because the code
makes sense when you read it. I have never quite got around to learning
VBA, no excuse, I need to read the books that I purchased at great
expense...

Thanks Robert, you continue to be a teacher for many including me.

best regards