Copy a button with CTRL + right click, create an external reference

Hello,

I just noticed a sneaky behavior. If you duplicate a button with CTRL + right mouse click, the button is copied to the new toolbar but the submenu is linked to the original file. This is very sneaky because the tooltip says, right click = copy, left click = link.

An RUI file can be shared between multiple users and in my case, I will be traveling to different companies on different computers with probably different versions of Rhino 8 installed. So, I want the RUI file to be self-contained and not dependent on an external platform-specific file.

I just did a test with Rhino 7. Rhino 7 copies the button and submenu entirely. Rhino 8 does not serialize icons, Rhino 7 does.

I’ve been working in different companies for a few years now and have never had any problems importing my toolbars into Rhino 7. I’m afraid that with Rhino 8 I’ll end up in front of a PC with empty toolbars.

I have to recreate all the submenus one by one with each button copied one after the other. Certainly, I will not export all the icons from the default RUI file and then import them to all the buttons in my RUI file, with the aim of having them serialized in my file (of all the tests, this is the only way that allowed me to save the icons in my RUI file like Rhino 7).

Since the file contains external references to the icons, can you confirm for me or not that the image IDs <macro_item ... bitmap_id="..."> do not change depending on the platform (Windows or MacOS) and Rhino 8 version (SR6, SR10, SR11, etc…)?

thank you, jmv

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Can someone help me?
I want to have a portable RUI file.
jmv

@CallumSykes do you know this offhand?

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I think @stevebaer would know, I’m still not deep into toolbars

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I can maybe, but sorry, not home right now, just typing this on my phone…. You need to start from scratch, create an rui. Then with this rui, go to window>macros and create the macros you want - manually. Then add buttons to your .rui and reference the macros you created. Only way I know to have something completely independent.

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Ok,

I am nothing at all, I am just myself. However, the companies I work for have dozens, if not more, of workstations with Rhino installed. I am shocked to see that for the past 2 years, I have been working almost exclusively on Rhino 5 in these companies…

And yet, I think Rhino 8 can bring a real advantage (Auto-Cplane, PushPull, Window Layout, update of the UV editor, ScriptEditor, Rhino Component for GH). This time, I see a real interest in updating the licenses. I would like to use it in production to confirm this, but how can I do that if I can’t move with my configuration?

For me, it is very frustrating to feel like I have to constantly complain about issues that seem legitimate to me and that are also in your interest.

Now, I would have to redo all the toolbars of the interface without any guarantee that it would be portable. Do you find this strategically relevant? It is all the more surprising that you have implemented WindowLayouts, which will inevitably encourage users to create their own interface and potentially move it from one machine to another.

I really expected to have an answer like: “Yes, the system has changed, but no problem, Rhino will retrieve all the submenus and icons regardless of the platform, even if the default toolbars on the target platform have been modified” or: “Yes, we have given it the highest priority and we are taking it into account for the next release.”

So, it won’t be tomorrow that I can go to work with Rhino 8 in my backpack and say “Yes, yes, Rhino 8 is great, look!”

jmv

Note: Rhino is an excellent software, and I often recommend it, which is why I am taking the time to write to you.