There are ample posts about the problems users and developers experience with toolbars, RUI files, plug-in RUI files and their customisation. Instead of going on a rant about this (again), I would like you to consider to re-implement the system from the ground up, as the current system is too confusing and error-prone to try to fix.
I personally would not mind that this would introduce system that works but that is not backwards compatible with the current RUI system. Maybe a RUI converter would solve that problem going forward to V6.
Some of the problems I experience:
the toolbar editor is confusing to use. Really, this should be intuitive and easy.
there are multiple ways to achieve things, like adding or editing a button. They do not seem to have the same effect, sometimes the one way works, sometimes the other.
sometimes unable to add/change button icons; after a restart the changes are lost.
there is confusion over when toolbars are part of a plug-in and when they are in the default.rui file (do buttons get copied? Why? Why do I get “toolbar 00”, “toolbar 01”, etc.)
the toolbar layout gets fubar’d randomly. The only solution is ResetToolbars (why is that command even present?), which forces uses to redo their customizations.
settings are stored not only in RUI files but also in the registry. When working with multiple Rhino instances, this gets confusing fast. As you seem to have solved this with the Rhino app and document settings for V6, why not also with the toolbars?
This list is by no means complete. I hope you will consider to build a new system for toolbars from the ground up. I would be happy to provide you with more input if needed.
That came in with V5. Prior to that it was pretty easy and straightforward.
Yes, this is extremely confusing, even within the default workspace. Because if you want to add a tab to a group, you are actually copying the toolbar, so you end up inadvertently with multiple copies of the same. Nobody knows the differences between groups, toolbars, tabs, etc…
Too much customization simply makes for confusion.
I could not agree more. I believe that after V5 was introduced with the workspace editor ; I gave up on ranting about it and just left it be. I’m lucky enough that my toolbars stay in place and only every now and than I forget to close all instances before I close an instance with edited toolbars.
Thinking about this; my customized (G)UI is one of the reasons I hardly ever use V6. There is no straightforward way to port my customized GUI, it feels like settings are all over the place. In my case mainly the buttons and toolbars in one place and the aliases in another. Also I’m afraid all my customizations on V6 will at some point be in need of a complete overhaul either because an update or simply because I want to add all the new V6 features. In the end I realize this is mainly a lack of time and apparent dedication on my part.
I never adopted the tabbed system with volatile sidebars because they were not organized to my liking and re-ordering all of that apparently never was worth the time. It’s sad because I know how much effort and time was spend to set this up for V5 and I feel guilty of it because of my numerous rants on a need to improve the decades old paradigm.
As for Mennos list of needs, from my point of view I would need a system that has one package to port it all. Below an illustration of the toolbar file exported from V5 imported in V6. This still leaves all the aliases, displaymodes, other rhino settings.
This is on @JohnM 's list to get to soon. He is finishing up another project right now and I’d rather he didn’t focus on this until the other project is finished.
