Topic: AutoCAD tool pallettes... why don't you use them?

[gmyroup]

I did a poll a while ago on how users executed most of their commands and found only a small (5%) percentage of the respondents used tool pallettes as their main means of command execution.

My question is... why are pallettes so unpopular?

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jerry Myroup

[JCTER]

Probably because Tool Pallets are not set up OOTB for command usage, for the most part.  Sure there are -some- command sets on the tool pallets, but not really as a main interface.

Plus, whether you use the Ribbon or Toolbars or Keyboard, these options all have one thing in common... you don't have to click around to find the command you want to use, most of the time, for routine usage.  The Ribbon being the worst of the three of these still has -contextual- tabs that pop up which serve the purpose of putting the commands you will most likely need, in yo' face, right when you'd want them.

Toolbars are always there, so require no "page flipping" to get to them like pallets do.

Pallets are also extremely... and I mean -extremely- inefficient at using screen real estate.  Look at the square pixellage real estate that one command would take up on a pallet and compare that to an icon.

I will leave the advantage of keyboarding out since this is likely a GUI-focused topic.

[sinc]

Palettes are nice for certain commands and functionality.

I could not imagine trying to use them as the "main means of command execution", however...

The wording of your question seems to pre-suppose that we SHOULD want to use Palettes this way...  Why do you make that assumption?

[gmyroup]

I am very interested in the short comings of pallettes. I believe they can be a more productive tool.

I've been working on a pallette driven interface for AutoCAD (via an add-in) that will hopefully make using them more desireable. The main idea behind this add-in is to temporarily pop-up a pallette centered about the user's cursor location where the user can quickly pick the desired command and have the pallette automatically disappear. Which pallette is displayed is determined by the mouse action the user performs (i.e. click, double-click, delayed click, drag-right, drag-left, drag-up, drag-down, drag from an entity, drag to an entity, drag over entities).

[nivuahc]

I make extensive use of them in our office for standard symbols/tools/etc.

[JCTER]

I make extensive use of them in our office for standard symbols/tools/etc.

Block insertion is about the only thing I use them for.

[nivuahc]

I make extensive use of them in our office for standard symbols/tools/etc.

Block insertion is about the only thing I use them for.

When I write a small routine to help out in the office (like creating a particular multileader style and starting the mleader command on the appropriate layer) I add it to our standard tool palette, which is on our network, and everyone has it available. I use it for all of our standard blocks as well, but most of them get inserted via some routine or another so 99% of my palettes are Lisp commands

[dgorsman]

Using them for straight blocks is a little difficult, with different clients having different standards (even for layers, let alone source blocks) that would mean needing a set of palettes for each client.  Thats a lot of work for upkeep.  I do use them for command tools, and am migrating some of our shorter menus to palettes.  The *big* reason for not using palettes is buggered up palette group control.  That makes keeping users up-to-date with the newest palettes too difficult (I'm *not* writing a custom copy-local for this).

[sinc]

I've been working on a pallette driven interface for AutoCAD (via an add-in) that will hopefully make using them more desireable.

OK, that explains your interest in them.

Personally, I don't think I would have much of an interest in that sort of thing, although I admit it's a bit hard to say without actually trying it.

But Autocad has attempted to do something a little bit like that, with its "Quick Properties" palette.  I quickly disabled the thing, because it gets in the way, and is all-around really annoying.  Although I've heard it's possible to lock it into a specific position, rather than let it follow the cursor, and some people actually seem to like the Quick Properties palette in that configuration.  So I've been thinking of playing with it a bit in that mode, to see if I like it.  But the palette that automatically opened next to the cursor location quickly drove me batty.

[alanjt]

But the palette that automatically opened next to the cursor location quickly drove me batty.

I really liked the idea of the Quick Palette, but with the everything becoming more grip oriented, it just became annoying. I also wasn't a fan of the initial load time. When in a really big project, I actually had it crash Autocad.

[TimSpangler]

I use quick menus now for things like text, dims.  I use 3 letter command calls to replace the right click menu with my quick menu.  The tool palette idea may not be so bad

[sinc]

I think I could possibly get into it if the palette appeared next to cursor in response to a very specific mouse gesture.  It's the palette that automatically pops open next to the cursor that bugs me.  But I could see getting used to a palette that "behaved better", if you catch my drift...

Sill, possibly not as the primary method of command entry in general, but I could imagine that being a handy way to invoke/control certain commands...  Basically, it would be much like the current right-click menu, but with the extra capabilities and possibilities of a palette...

[LE3]

I never have been a fan of these items... but can say that if you use MEP(2010 or 2009) basically all it is available via palette (maybe because I am not an user, but required to use the program to test my apps).

I still get requirements of making COM wrappers to have access to the properties palette or new objects... and users like them, since we put a lot of features in them and they can manipulate the objects easier.

my 0.02 cts.

[rkmcswain]

We use them, mostly for entity construction on predefined layers, etc. Unfortunately, Tool Palettes are one of those half-baked features that was released, bragged on for a year, and then forgotten for the most part.

There is still.... no easy way to create and share TP groups among a group of users. If you create a TP from a drawing full of blocks, and then add or remove blocks from that drawing, the TP does not update (like Design Center does). There is no way to ensure the order of items in the palette without editing the XML file, etc. etc. How do you share a set of tool palettes among dozens of users and ensure that one of them doesn't add/delete/change tools?

[JCTER]

^That's why a customized Ribbon tab is nice.  Partial CUI file, ftw.  However... it's a pain in the BUUUTTTTTTTTT to initially set up, and requires a lot of tedious repetitious work.  Once done, though, it's pretty sweet.