2012

customization files; you can use macros and advanced entries such as DIESEL
expressions and AutoLISP routines.
However, you no longer perform customization tasks by creating or editing
MNU or MNS text files by hand. All customizations are done through the
program interface, in the Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor.
Menu Files Versus Customization Files
In releases prior to AutoCAD 2006, you customized the user interface by editing
an MNU or MNS file in an ASCII text editor such as Notepad. You manually
entered and verified customization data in the text file, which could be a
tedious and error-prone process. As a result, a simple syntax error (such as
mismatched parentheses) in the text file could invalidate the entire menu file,
leading you back to the text file to investigate where you made the error.
With the Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor, you drag a command to a
menu or toolbar or right-click to add, delete, or modify a user interface element.
The Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor displays element properties and a
list of options to choose from. This prevents you from creating syntax errors
or spelling mistakes that may have occurred when you manually entered text
in an MNU or MNS file.
The MNU and MNS files used in the past have been replaced with just one
file type, the XML-based CUIx file. CUIx is the successor to the CUI file format
which was introduced in AutoCAD 2006.
The XML-based format of the CUIx file allows the product to track
customizations. When upgrading to a future version of the program, all of
your customizations are automatically integrated into the new release. The
XML format also supports a backward-compatible customization file. This
means that you can view a CUIx file from a future version in the previous
release while preserving the customization data from the future version.
However, you cannot modify the future version's CUIx file in the previous
release. For more information about migrating customization data, see
Transfer
and Migrate Customization
on page 379.
The following table lists the menu files that previously shipped with the
product and shows how those files are mapped to AutoCAD 2012.
Menu files mapped to CUIx files
Description of changeIn Auto-
CAD 2012
DescriptionMenu file
An XML file that defines
most user interface ele-
CUIxASCII text file. In previous re-
leases, defined most user inter-
MNU
How Customization Has Changed | 97