Handling Partial CUI Files From Vertical Applications

When managing multiple AutoCAD profiles and multiple vertical applications there are a few things that are important to keep in mind. One item is the CUI file that your profile points to. Let's say you have an AutoCAD based user profile that is pointing to the delivered acad.CUIX file that is located in your %RoamableRootFolder%\\support folder. When an AutoCAD vertical application is launched it often times partially loads a CUI file (or many) into the acad.CUIX file. When a CUI file is partially loaded into the acad.CUIX this definition takes place within the CUIX file itself and is not controlled by the profile. This means that any profile that also points to the delivered acad.CUIX file will also have the partially loaded CUI content. Even though the program may not be loaded the CUI content is which results in having "unresolved" CUI files: (this post uses Integraph's CADWorx Plant which is an AutoCAD vertical application).

Several vertical applications load themselves into AutoCAD by partially attaching their CUI(s) to the main AutoCAD CUI as shown above. This can be controlled but there are some downsides. One way to control this is to still create different profiles for each vertical application and actually point to a unique main AutoCAD CUI for each profile. The vertical application profile will then partially load into the unique AutoCAD CUI. The downside to this method is the users will not have any custom workspaces or content from profile to profile because the main AutoCAD CUI is different in each profile. Another way this can be controlled (which is the method I choose) is to manually unload unneeded partially loaded CUI files from the main AutoCAD CUI file.

To do this:

1. Launch vertical application X (in this example CADWorx Plant). Application X will partially load its CUI into the main AutoCAD CUI

2. Now launch AutoCAD into a different profile. Notice the CUI from Application X is still partially loaded but unresolved. This is because we are still pointing to the same main AutoCAD CUI file.

3. Open the Customization User Interface (CUI)

4. Expand the main AutoCAD CUI | Partial Customization Files node

6. Right click on any extra CUI files and select Unload

This does not cause any harm to the vertical application X. When it is launched again it will partially reload the CUI files if necessary.

This method of handling partially loaded CUI files from vertical applications does require the users to be responsible for maintaining their environment. One of the reasons I am comfortable with this approach though is having extra CUI files partially loaded is more of an annoyance rather than a disruption (in most cases). If the users choose to not manage their CUI files most vertical applications still function properly. A second reason I choose this method is it keeps flexibility in the environment by allowing users to customize their main AutoCAD CUI file and have those customizations available in all of their profiles.

Note, if you have your own custom CUI files that are being deployed from a network location using the Enterprise CUI file is a very streamlined way for managing these. This concept is covered in previous posts.