I have an existing AutoCAD image partial *.mns menu file that I wish to use in IntelliCAD. I need to know what changes must be made to the menu file so that Icad can read it.

railbuff,

From IntelliCAD Help:
You can customize a current menu and save your changes as an IntelliCAD menu file. You can also load both existing IntelliCAD (*.icm) and AutoCAD (*.mnu, *.mns) menu files.

To load a *.mns select Tools-->Customise from the pull-down menu.

Select the Toolbars tab and select the Import Button.

The "Files of Type" dropdown has *.mns as an option.

Remember to select the tick box "Append to existing Toolbars" when selecting the *.mns file otherwise the only menu will be the AutoCAD menu.

Hi John,
Thanks for your reply. I do not have a problem appending my menu headings into the Icad menu bar. Where the problem lies is after I click on one of my headings which causes a dropdown list to appear. From the list I then effectively select an image menu. It is this that does not appear. I have tried to interpret the instructions in 'imagemenu.txt' (found in the Icad folder) but cannot interpret them. Do you know of another description that will give me a 'blow by blow' account as to what I have to modify.

Thanks

railbuff,

I am having difficulty trying to workout what you want to achieve.

imagemenu.txt is a text file explaining the SDS setup for IntelliCAD 2000.

IntelliCAD has undergone changes to the image drivers since the 2000 version was released.

I think Visio (the owners of IntelliCAD 98 and 2000) used Hitachi drivers and the ITC now use DaVinci drivers.

Am I right in assuming you are trying to use an AutoCAD menu that calls images and its not working?

Hi John,

Yes, you are correct, I am trying to call up an AutoCAD image menu. I have it in the search path and the menu heading appear on the menu bar. When I click on my menu headings the drop down appears, but nothing happens when I then click on any of the dropdown headings that would normally call up the appropriate image file.

Regards

Pete Davenport (Railbuff)

railbuff,

What is the command issued from selecting an image?

You can find this out by selecting Tools-->Customize then select the Menu tab.

Expand the Image Menu and select a command and let me know what's text is in the command box.

Typically:

$i=ELECTRICAL.alarms1 $i=ELECTRICAL.*

appears in the command box

Regards

Peter

railbuff,

What we have here is a slide library menu and you must have the slide library in the path of IntelliCAD

Image tile menu macros can perform the same function as other menu macros; however, you cannot use the menu macro repetition feature. These menu macros can contain menu commands, including $I= commands. It is possible, therefore, to construct hierarchical image tile menus in which a selection displays another image tile menu, and so on. Because the activation of these menus is sequential rather than nested, the complexity of the structures you can create has no limits.
Display of Image Tile Menus
The $I= macro command calls the image tile menu. Before you can display an image tile menu you must load it using the following syntax:
$I=[menugroup.]menuname
The $I=* macro command displays the currently loaded image tile menu. For example, the following macros load and display the IMAGE_POLY image tile menu in acad.mnu.
$I=image_poly $I=*

Hi John,

Really appreciate your help. Am still not understanding fully, so I show below the relevant parts of my *mns partial menu. Could I impose on you to indicate the necessary changes




***MENUGROUP=ELECTRICAL

***POP1
[Y32.2(Imp.)]
[Y32.2 ELECTRICAL SYMBOLS]
[For Imperial Size Sheets]
[--]
[Set Parameters]^C^C_grid 0.4;_snap 0.2;_linetype;_l;drain,pilot,enclosure;fplines;;
[Previous Image Menu]^C^C$i=ELECTRICAL.*;
[Previous Symbol]^C^C_insert;;
[--]
[->Qwikpik]
[Battery]^C^C_insert 6el1x2 \;;\
[Bell]^C^C_insert 6el0y1 \;;\
[->&next]
[Motor Ser]^C^C_insert 6el5n \;;\
[Motor Shnt]^C^C_insert 6el5p \;;\
[Thrm'stat.NC]^C^C_insert 6el0j \;;\
[<-<-Transformer]^C^C_insert 6el1b \;;\
[--]
[Alarms/Indicators...]$i=ELECTRICAL.alarms1 i=ELECTRICAL.*
[->Basic Components]
[Resistors/Capacitors...]$i=ELECTRICAL.basics1 $i=ELECTRICAL.*
[<-Miscellaneous...]$i=ELECTRICAL.basics2 $i=ELECTRICAL.*
[->Circuit Protection]
[Single Pole...]$i=ELECTRICAL.prot1 $i=ELECTRICAL.*
[Two Pole...]$i=ELECTRICAL.prot2 $i=ELECTRICAL.*
[Three Pole...]$i=ELECTRICAL.prot3 $i=ELECTRICAL.*

***IMAGE
**ALARMS1
[ALARMS ]
[an60(iel0y1,Bell)]^C^C_insert 6el0y1 \;;\
[an60(iel0y2,Buzzer)]^C^C_insert 6el0y2 \;;\
[an60(iel0y3,Speaker)]^C^C_insert 6el0y3 \;;\
[an60(iel0y4,Speaker-Bidirec.)]^C^C_insert 6el0y4 \;;\
[an60(iel0y5,Bell-Single Strike)]^C^C_insert 6el0y5 \;;\
[an60(iel0y6,Microphone)]^C^C_insert 6el0y6 \;;\
[an60(iel0y7,Headphone)]^C^C_insert 6el0y7 \;;\
[an60(iel0y8,Headphone/Microphone)]^C^C_insert 6el0y8 \;;\
[an60(iel0x3,Siren)]^C^C_insert 6el0x3 \;;\
[an60(iel0x4,Horn)]^C^C_insert 6el0x4 \;;\
[an60(iel0x1,Signal Lamp)]^C^C_insert 6el0x1 \;;\
[an60(iel0x2,Signal Lamp-Flasher)]^C^C_insert 6el0x2 \;;\
[an60(iel4z1,Lamp)]^C^C_insert 6el4z1 \;;\
[an60(iel4z2,Neon-ac)]^C^C_insert 6el4z2 \;;\
[an60(iel4z3,Neon-dc)]^C^C_insert 6el4z3 \;;\
[an60(iel4z4,Flash Tube)]^C^C_insert 6el4z4 \;;\
[an60(iel4z5,Incandescent lamp)]^C^C_insert 6el4z5 \;;\
[an60(iel4z6,Fluorescent-Cold Cathode)]^C^C_insert 6el4z6 \;;\
[an60(iel4z7,Fluorescent)]^C^C_insert 6el4z7 \;;\

**BASICS1
[RESISTORS & CAPACITORS]
[ba60(iel1q,Resistor-Fixed)]^C^C_insert 6el1q \;;\
[ba60(iel1g,Resistor-Adjustable)]^C^C_insert 6el1g \;;\
[ba60(iel1p,Rheostat-Preset)]^C^C_insert 6el1p \;;\
[ba60(iel1m,Rheostat-Adjustable)]^C^C_insert 6el1m \;;\
[ba60(iel1r,Resistor-Preset)]^C^C_insert 6el1r \;;\
[ba60(iel1u,Resistor-Power-Fixed)]^C^C_insert 6el1u \;;\
[ba60(iel1n,Rheostat-Adjustable)]^C^C_insert 6el1n \;;\
[ba60(iel1d,Resistor-Rotary)]^C^C_insert 6el1d \;;\
[ba60(iel1j,Capacitor-Polarized)]^C^C_insert 6el1j \;;\
[ba60(iel1l,Capacitor-Polarized)]^C^C_insert 6el1l \;;\
[ba60(iel1k,Capacitor-Fixed)]^C^C_insert 6el1k \;;\
[ba60(iel1s,Capacitor-Variable)]^C^C_insert 6el1s \;;\
[iec61702(blank,-----------------)]
[iec61702(blank,OTHER SUB-MENUS)]
[iec61702(blank,-----------------)]
[ Miscell. Items...>]$i=ELECTRICAL.basics2 $i=ELECTRICAL.*


**BASICS2
[MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS]
[ba60(iel1v,Terminal/Connection)]^C^C_insert 6el1v \;;\
[ba60(iel1v1,Vertical Connection)]^C^C_insert 6el1v1 \;;\
[ba60(iel1v2,Horizontal Connection)]^C^C_insert 6el1v2 \;;\
[ba60(iel1w,Frame)]^C^C_insert 6el1w \;;\
[ba60(iel1x1,Cell)]^C^C_insert 6el1x1 \;;\
[ba60(iel1x2,Multi-Cell)]^C^C_insert 6el1x2 \;;\
[ba60(iel1w1,Ground)]^C^C_insert 6el1w1 \;;\
[ba60(iel1y,Fusible Link)]^C^C_insert 6el1y \;;\
[ba60(iel0t1,Safety Interlock-n.c.)]^C^C_insert 6el0t1 \;;\
[ba60(iel0t2,Safety Interlock-n.o.)]^C^C_insert 6el0t2 \;;\
[ba60(iel1z,Slip Ring)]^C^C_insert 6el1z \;;\
[iec61702(blank,-----------------)]
[iec61702(blank,OTHER SUB-MENUS)]
[iec61702(blank,-----------------)]
[ Resistors & Caps...>]$i=ELECTRICAL.basics1 $i=ELECTRICAL.*

railbuff,

The menu has a slide file that is displayed when the menu item is selected.

It is similar to the right hand side of Explore Blocks in IntelliCAD.

These slide files have a selection menu so you can select the block you want.

The slide file/s and blocks must reside on your system and in the path to enable these slide files to correctly display.

As an example:

***IMAGE
**ALARMS1
[ALARMS ]
[an60(iel0y1,Bell)]^C^C_insert 6el0y1 \;;\
[an60(iel0y2,Buzzer)]^C^C_insert 6el0y2 \;;\

Selecting ALARMS will select a window with slides (drawings) images of a Bell and a Buzzer along with the other items (up to 20 slides per window) with an associated menu on the side with the names Bell, Buzzer etc. to allow the user to select the name of the item they want.

The ^C^C_insert 6eloy1 means:
^C = Escape. We escape twice to back out of any commands that are currently active, as we cannot run another command when another is running.

_insert 6eloy1 = Insert a block named 6eloy1 into our drawing and the block must be in the path otherwise IntelliCAD will not be able to find it and no block will be inserted.

This method allows the user to select slides (drawings) representing the blocks and groups like blocks in one window. It also reduces the options on a pull-down menu when there are many blocks that can be selected.

I trust this explains what is happening so you need to have the slide files and all the blocks installed on your computer and have these referenced in a path for IntelliCAD to access them via the menu.

Thank you for your post. I have double checked and the menu file, blocks and *.slb files are definitely in the search paths. I have also invoked (xload "imagemenu") on the command line. The AutoCAD partial menu headings appear on the menu bar and when I click on say "Y32.2(Imp)", the drop down appears. The "Qwickpik" feature works, but when I click on the image menus below "Quickpik", the dropdown menu disappears and the following appears on the command line. Still feel that something needs to be changed in the menu, but still mystified as to what, and to what.


: $i=ELECTRICAL.alarms1
: $i=ELECTRICAL.*

Really appreciate your help.

Railbuff

I have this working on my laptop, at home at the mo'

In the early days of Intellicad ( 98 ) image menus were NOT supported, someone wrote a utility (dcl, lsp) I still use this today on my Intellicad 4.???. When I get the chance I'll post what info I have.

HTH
SteveN

Railbuff

Here is one of my menu tiles:

Pick on the image for a larger pic

Is this what you are trying to achieve

SteveN

Hi Steve,
That is exactly what I am trying to achieve. So what do I have to do to modify my existing menu, which works great in AutoCAD, so it will work in IntelliCAD 6.3?

Regards

Pete

Pete

Can you get to the same position as in my pic
If I understand you post then the answer is NO

SteveN