What is a User Menu?
In an earlier post (#2: Workspace Customization - Using a VBA macro sub as a Command), I noted that there are many Commands - found in Options>Workspace>Customization>Commands - that can be used with CorelDRAW's workspace customization.
Sort of tucked away in the User Menus section of the Commands, there is something named "New Menu":
This isn't quite like most of the other Commands. When this is dragged to a Toolbar or Menu, it creates a new User Menu.
The purpose of a user menu is to hold other Commands. Click on a user menu, and it "flies out" to display the Commands contained within it.
Just as other Commands, a User Menu:
Creating a User Menu and Adding Commands to It.
After dragging "New Menu" to a Toolbar, a new entry appears in the User Menus, named "_ENG Custom Menu":
It's probably a good idea to change the default "_ENG Custom Menu" to a more descriptive caption. As with other Commands, one can also specify a tooltip and an icon.
Commands can be added to this user menu by using CorelDRAW's drag-and-drop workspace customization. Here, I've added the Commands for 1/2 pt, 1 pt, and 2 pt outline width:
The same toolbar stretched to be horizontal:
This is a video showing the steps described above, and also showing those outline width Commands being applied to a selected Curve:
Adding a User Menu to a Menu.
As noted in a bullet point earlier in this post, a user menu can also be used on a menu. In this example, I have added our user menu (and a separator above it) to the bottom of the "Edit" menu on CorelDRAW's menu bar:
This is a video showing the addition of our user menu and a separator to the "Edit" menu. It also shows the outline width Commands being applied to a selected Curve through the Edit menu:
Accessing a User Menu by a Shortcut Key.
A very cool thing about a user menu is that, when accessed by using a shortcut key, the menu appears at the cursor location. This has the advantage that the menu appears "right where you are"; no need to fly the cursor to some distant part of the application window. It is worth noting that the user menu does not need to be used on any toolbar or menu; you can access it exclusively by shortcut key if that suits your preferred way of working.
Accessed in this way, this is our user menu as it appears at the cursor location:
This is a video showing the assignment of a shortcut key to that user menu. It also shows how outline width Commands can be applied to a selected Curve after using the shortcut key to make the user menu appear :
Keyboard shortcuts within menus.
When a menu is open, a Command on that menu can be accessible through a keyboard shortcut based on one of the characters in the caption for the Command. The character for the shortcut key is defined by putting an ampersand (&) in front of that character in the caption for the Command:
When viewed in a menu, the letter "x" in "Text Properties" is underlined - and that Command can be accessed by pressing the "x" key..
That user menu contains a number of macro subs that I use as shortcuts to access dockers. I have "D" assigned as a shortcut key for that menu, and use it as an alternative to remembering a shortcut key for each of those subs.
That suits the way I work, and I find it to be fairly quick. It requires either "D" plus one mouse click, or "D" plus one additional keystroke (if I use a keyboard shortcut within the menu). This video shows both ways:
It's your workspace. Make it your own!
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