create bar with lisp commands

7/31/2019 Create Bar With Lisp Commands

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From the Trenches: Looking for an easier way to access your custom LISP

routines? This user-written tutorial will walk you through the toolbar

creation process.

Have you ever needed to create your own toolbar or command in AutoCAD? Maybeyou have some custom LISP routines you been using for years, and you need to add

them to your current version of AutoCAD. Sometimes a toolbar may be an easier way

to get to those custom routinesand creating one is a simple process. (Note: This

tutorial was created with AutoCAD 2009, but the process is virtually identical through

more recent releases.)

Almost all commands will now allow linking an icon. So to start, we need the icons,

and a folder to store them in. The icons must be in BMP format, and 64 x 64 pixels

will work fine. You can use Microsoft Paint to create them. As for the folder, check

out Tools > Options > Files to see where AutoCAD looks for the icons.

Next is the folder where your LISP files or scripts are located. These need to be in the

support path, and can be on a local drive or network location if you want to share them

(the same goes for the icons). Keeping them separate from the program files/AutoCAD

directory makes it easier to upgrade or do a repair, because you don't have to worry

about them being deleted during an uninstall.


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Once your icons and folders are ready, start in the Customize User Interface (CUI):

Type CUI in the Command line to open it. First create a new CUIX file (again, this is

one of the safe ways to keep your custom toolbars/ribbons/etc. from being deleted and

to allow sharing). Expand the CUI and click on the Transfer tab. On the right side,

click on the icon to create a new Customization file, choose Save As, provide a name

for the CUIX, and set the location in the folder you have listed in your Options

Support files.

After you create the file, go back to the left and click on the Customize tab. All you

did was create an empty CUIX file; now we need to load it and add our toolbars or

ribbon tabs/panels. Scroll down to the Partial CUI Files in the tree at the left, right-

click, choose Load Partial Customization File, and browse to the file you created.


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Once you load it, the partial CUIX should be displayed in the pull-down list at the top

if not, switch to it. This is where we want to create your custom toolbar. Expand the

tree for the toolbar section, right-click on the toolbar, and select New Toolbar.

The right side of the CUI changes its display and allows you to name the tool. The

default name is "Toolbar1"; rename it by typing over the name. You can leave the rest

of the options as the default settings.


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Now we just need to create the commands to add to our toolbar. At the bottom section

of the CUI are the commands for the custom CUIX file. Create a new command by

selecting the icon with a star and an orange sun on it.

As the right-side display changes, we'll start to fill in our parameters for that

command. Provide a name for the custom command, and set the macro to run it. This

can be the command to run a LISP routine, or you can create your own macro. Next,

select the image(s) to use for that command.

Now we have a complete command in the command list; the next step is to add that


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command to the toolbar. Do so by simply selecting and dragging it to the toolbar

above it.

Create the rest of your commands, and drag those up to your toolbar as well. When

you're finished, select All Customization Files from the pull-down list. Current

workspace in the tree on the left, then on the right side expand the tree for the toolbar,

and you should see your new toolbar.

If you don't see it, you can load that toolbar into the workspace by clicking on theCustomize Workspace button on the right, then expanding the Partial CUI Files on the

left, expanding your custom CUIX, and placing a checkmark in the box for the tool.

When you are done, click Apply, then OK to close the CUI, and you should have your

new toolbars. These same steps will allow you to create a new ribbon tab and panel

with your custom commands as well. Just remember: a command goes in a panel, and

a panel goes in a tab of the ribbon. Create the tab first, followed by the panel; place the

commands on the panel, then drag the panel to the tab.

create bar with lisp commands

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