Creating a Screen Menu

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Screen menus are to be created in a .dgnlib file pointed by MS_GUIDGNLIBLIST configuration variable. The tools required to create screen menu are available in the Screen Menu ribbon group of the Interface tab of the Admin workflow. 

I have created a few circular elements in the SampleSM.dgnlib file uploaded here. Download and keep it at a location pointed by MS_GUIDGNLIBLIST. We will use this file to create a screen menu with a tool accessible from each circle.

First, we will add icons to the circles.

1. In the Screen Menus ribbon group, select Place Icon.
   After a small pause, a window displaying all the icons in the product is opened.
   
2. In the window, navigate to the icon named ElementSelection.
   Tip: An easier way to go to an icon is by typing the icon name.
3. Click and drag the Element Selection icon into the view window within the bottom green circle.
4. Enter a data point to set its size and place it.
   
5. Repeat the icon placement as shown below.
   
    
   Following table lists each icon and its name in the Place Icon tool:
   

   Icon	Icon Name
   	PlaceSmartLine
   	PlaceCircle
   	ShowOptions
   	Move
   	PlaceBlock
   	PlaceArc
   	Copy
   	PlaceText
   	MeasureDistance

6. Press <Esc> or select the Element Selection tool to end the Place Icon command.
7. Rotate the ShowOptions icon by -45^o so that it looks like an expand icon. 
8. Move and resize each icon to fit inside the circle.

Each icon and its background circle should be grouped so that they become a single entity or cell and you can apply the key-in to it. To do so, select each icon and its background circle and press <Ctrl+G>. <Ctrl+G> is the shortcut for Group command.

Select the four yellow cells and change their level to Extended.

Now let us associate key-ins to each tool.

1. Select the bottom green circle.
2. In the Interface tab of the Admin workflow, within Screen Menu ribbon group, click the Associate Key-in button.
   The Edit Associated Command dialog opens.
3. In the dialog, make the following entries:
   • Key-in: CHOOSE ELEMENT
   • Tooltip: Element Selection
   • Shortcut Key: A
   • Close Popup – On
4. Click OK.
   
5. Now choose the following selected cells one at a time and in the Edit Associate Command dialog add values from each row mentioned in the table below.
   
   

   Key-in	Tooltip	Shortcut Key	Icon Name
   PLACE SMARTLINE	Place SmartLine	L	PlaceSmartLine
   PLACE CIRCLE ICON	Place Circle	O	PlaceCircle
   MOVE ICON	Move	M	Move
   PLACE BLOCK ICON	Place Block	B	PlaceBlock

6. For the circle that has the ShowOptions icon, make the following settings in the Edit Associated Command dialog.
   • Tooltip: Expand to show more tools
   • Shortcut Key: +
   • Close Popup – Off
     Note: The Key-in field should be left empty.
7. Now, for the yellow circles in the outermost row, use the following table:
   

   Key-in	Tooltip	Shortcut Key	Icon Name
   PLACE ARC ICON	Place Arc	R	PlaceArc
   COPY ICON	Copy	C	Copy
   TEXTEDITOR PLACE	Place Text	T	PlaceText
   MEASURE DISTANCE ICON	Measure Distance	D	MeasureDistance

This completes the command association to each grouped element. In the next blog, we will create saved views, assign keyboard shortcuts to the screen menus, and learn how to use the screen menus.