Customizing VX
You can customize VX by creating User
Tool Bars of your favorite commands. You can also assign frequently
used commands to keyboard keys. To
access the functionality, select User
from the Pull Down Menu bar and
refer to the topics below.
User > [Toolbar name] (All Levels)
At the Part Level, select User > [Toolbar name] to show or hide the a User Tool Bar. The check mark indicates that the tool bar is currently displayed. User Tool Bars are also available at the Sketch and Drawing Sheet Level.
User Tool Bars can be moved and docked just like standard VX tool bars. See Customize the User Tool Bar below to learn how to create your own tool bars.
You can Customize your own User Tool Bars
User > Customize... (All Levels)
To create your own User Tool Bar, select User > Customize... to display the VX Customize Form and then select the New... tab and enter a name for the tool bar. Your tool bar can contain standard VX icons or you can create your own custom buttons and icons.
VX Customize Form
List - The list displays the available custom toolbars.
New... - This button brings up the New Toolbar dialog. It allows you to create and name a custom toolbar. A default name is displayed but it can be edited. When OK is selected, the toolbar name is added to the toolbar list.
Rename... - This button displays the Rename Toolbar dialog. It allows you to change the name of a selected custom toolbar.
Delete - This button removes the custom toolbar selected in the toolbar list.
Label - For custom buttons, enter the label text that you want to appear on the face of the button. For standard VX icons, the file name of the VX icon appears here. For custom icons, enter your file name here (e.g., my_icon.bmp).
Command
- Enter the command’s function name. This
command will be executed when the User Tool Bar icon or button is selected.
Refer to the Tips and
Techniques box below for obtaining function names.
Hint - Enter the user hint that will be displayed when the cursor passes over the icon or button.
Add, Delete - Use these buttons to add or delete an icon or button to/from your User Tool Bar. To delete, first select the icon or button from your User Tool Bar and then pick Delete.
Keyboard Map - See Customizing the Keyboard below
When the form is displayed, the cursor will change to a 
when
it passes over a tool bar or tool tab. This indicates
that you are in customize mode and that the icon can be added to your
User Tool Bar when selected.
Complete the Label, Command and Hint fields for your custom button. If you don’t know the command name, just select the command from a standard VX tool bar and then customize the label and hint fields. Pick the Add button to add the button to your tool bar.
You can create your own icons for a User Tool Bar as long as you place them in the "\supp" folder of your user directory. They should be in the Windows Bitmap (*.bmp) format. The recommended icon sizes include 16x16, 24x24 and 36x36 pixels. The icon background color should be transparent and the top left pixel in each icon should be the background color. To use your icon instead of a button, enter its file name in the Label field (e.g., my_icon.bmp).
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Enter $report in the Text Input Field and press <enter> to enable event reporting. Information about all command activity (including function names) will be displayed in the message area. You can then copy and paste the name into the VX Customize Form. Also, if you select an icon or button from your User Tool Bar, the form will propagate with that item’s information. |
User > Customize... > Keyboard Map (All Levels)
VX comes preconfigured with a standard set of keyboard shortcuts for many VX commands. Refer to the following topics for more information.
To customize the keyboard to execute your own set of VX commands, select User > Customize... to display the VX Customize Form and then select the Keyboard Map... button. You can create shortcut keys for any command within the active VX level (e.g., File, Object, Part, Sketch, etc.). You can also assign more than one shortcut key for any command.
Keyboard Map
Target - This indicates the current active VX level (e.g., Target).
Keys - Type in the keyboard combination you wish to assign to a VX command and then press the <Enter> key. The key combo will be added to Keys list and the Command field will become active.
Reset All - Resets all keyboard keys (within the active target only) to the default VX configuration.
Command - Enter the command’s function name. This command will be executed when the keyboard key(s) are selected. Refer to the Tips & Techniques box above about how to obtain function names.
User Tool Bars are stored in
the files "Ui<toolbar name>.t"
(e.g., UiCustomPart1.t). The
shortcut keyboard assignments for all VX levels are stored in the "VxKeyMap.Vxt" file. These files
are located in the "\supp"
folder of your user directory and can be exchanged
among users. These
files and any custom bitmap icon files (see above) accessed by the User
Tool Bars must remain in the "\supp"
folder.
The user toolbars "UiUmPart.t", "UiUmSketch.t",
and "UiUmSheet.t" created
prior to VX 10.1 will be tagged as shared toolbars and then loaded into
their appropriate target level.
Tool bar icons that toggle functionality
on and off such as the Toggle
Dimensions command are currently not supported on User Tool Bars.
For submenu icons on the Tool
Tabs, left-click-hold the top level icon to display the submenu and
then drag to select the submenu icon.
For User Tool Bars created prior to VX v7.1, create a "\supp" folder in your user directory and then copy the file "driver\supp\UiUserPart.t" to "supp\UiUmPart.t" and your new User Tool Bar will be recognized.
To obtain the function name for any command
