property dialog off screen

Eric Zuercher

Running version 11.3.

One of my users has "lost" his property dialog/bar/palette off the left side of the screen.  It was undocked at the time.  He can see the "shadow" but he can't grab it to pull it back where he can see it. 

Any ideas?

Thanks
Eric

martin@enco.us

Are you comfortable with running regedit?

On my system the key that holds the location for this window is named PROPERTIES.  It is located at
 HKEY_Current_User\Software\Bricsys\Bricscad\V13\en_US\Profiles\Default\Toolbars\

When docked on the right the value is      show right 0 0 240 214

If I undock the Properties Box and drag it to the middle of the screen the value changes to     show floating 774 292 240 500

You should be able to edit the key to change the first two numbers in the "show floating" value to something like 200 200.  This should get the Properties Box back on the screen.  Be sure that Bricscad is not running when you run regedit.

Louis_Verdonck

Such problems are easily solved if you start Bricscad using a 'blank' profile, which uses hard-coded settings. Choose 'User Profile Manager' in the Tools menu, then click the Create button and name the new profile. Select the newly created profile and click the 'Set Current' button. Close and restart Bricscad.

Jason Bourhill

@ Louis,

Creating a new blank profile would fix this problem, however it would mean the user would lose all other settings in the process. Really needs something in the CUI to allow toolbar locations to be reset. The current arrangement causes real issues with laptop users using external monitors as their main screen in the office. You lose access to toolbars etc. when you use your laptop elsewhere. Ideally BricsCAD would recognise this and react more gracefully.

You can a simple batch file in windows to import your profile, which is useful if you're setting profiles on multiple machines. See this post on BricsCAD Profile Importer. You could do something similar to reset a profile back to defaults. Batch would look something like this

[code]: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Profile Reset Batch
@echo off

: Import a profile into the registry
: Windows 7/Vista May need to run as Admin, or choose Yes if prompted by UAC.
reg import "MyProfileName.arg" >nul
: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------[/code]

Per this previous post Profile from one user to another, you don't need to import all keys, you could just reset the toolbar and dialogs.

Of course this is not something you should do without make sure that you have backed up your original settings first!!

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts

Scott McKenzie

 I encountered this problem recently, I usually run BricsCAD on my secondary monitor, while using the laptop out of the office where I only had my primary monitor, the main application was on the main monitor, but all other dialogue boxes were floating in space.  To fix this, I plugged in another monitor that I found in a back room.  Using the display settings, I switched the side that the secondary monitor appeared on until I located the hiding dialogue boxes, I dragged the dialogue boxes back onto the laptop's monitor, disconnected everything and all was well...

Eric Zuercher

The Regedit solution worked perfectly.  Thank you H Martin Shoemaker!

Eric

Jason Bourhill

@ Scott,

Because the BricsCAD launches Drawing Explorer modally you can actually reset the window position using LISP. Following code will do it (also attach). I've experience the issue you describe myself, as well as other users. Interestingly in testing just now I can't get BricsCAD to do it, in V11, 12 or 13. Explorer window opens on my main screen no matter what. I guess that it may occur only in some cases.

[code]; RESET EXPLORER WINDOW
; Resets the Explorer Window Location by deleting the registry key where these settings are stored
;
; NOTE
; This technique will not work on Toolbars. BricsCAD loads these registry settings on running, then writes back out on closing.
; Deleting a Toolbar key during a session has no effect.
; This application is intended for BRICSCAD ONLY.
;
; Checked on BricsCAD V11, V12, V13 en_US

(defun C:ResetExplorerWindow ( / prognm basekey vendor version local profilenm curprofilekey profilesection ProfileKeyValue Profilekey)
 (setq prognm (getvar "PROGRAM")) ; find Program name
 (if (= prognm "BRICSCAD") ; If BricsCAD
    (progn ; THEN proceed
        ; Need to determine key location, which will be something like
        ; HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Bricsys\\Bricscad\\V13\\en_US\\Profiles\\default\\Dialogs\\Drawing Explorer" "Window Rectangle"
        ; build it by collecting details on the actual version of BricsCAD running
        (setq
            basekey "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software" ; base registry key
            vendor (getvar "VENDORNAME") ; Program Vendor "Bricsys"
            version (strcat "V" (substr (getvar "_VERNUM") 1 2)) ; Base version number from full "13.1.11 -> V13"
            local (getvar "Locale") ; Localised version "en_use"
            Profiles "Profiles"
            profilenm (getvar "CPROFILE") ; current profile name
        )
        ; Concatenate together to find the current profile location
        (setq curprofilekey (strcat basekey "\\" vendor "\\" prognm "\\" version "\\" local "\\" profiles "\\" profilenm "\\"))
        ; Set the specific profile key details
        (setq
            profilesection "Dialogs\\Drawing Explorer" ; set specific profile section
            ThisProfileKey (strcat curprofilekey profilesection) ; set specific key we want to work with
            ProfileKeyValue "Window Rectangle" ; set specific value we want to change
        )
        (initget "Yes No") ; set keyword(s) for getkword
        (if (= "Yes" (getkword "\nAbout to reset Drawing Explorer window position. Do you want to proceed? [Yes/No] :")) ; prompt user with choice
            ;if Yes THEN reset the registry key
            (progn
                (vl-registry-delete ThisProfilekey ProfileKeyValue) ; Delete the registry key, forces a reset next time Drawing Explorer runs
                ;(vl-registry-write ThisProfilekey ProfileKeyValue "") ; Alternatively you could set to something else.
                (princ (strcat "\nReset key: " ThisProfilekey " : " ProfileKeyValue))
            ); end progn
            ; ELSE confirm to the user that nothing has been done
            (princ "\nNo Changes Made")
        ); end if
    ); end progn
    ; ELSE inform the user that they are not using BricsCAD
    (princ "\nThis utility is BricsCAD only. visit http://www.bricscad.com for more details")
 ); end if
(prin1)
)

(defun C:REW () (C:ResetExplorerWindow)) ; define quick key

(prompt "\nReset Explorer Window Loaded, To run Type: RESETEXPLORERWINDOW or REW")
(prin1)[/code]

As the above is playing with the registry it comes with the usual warnings. Backup your stuff before playing.

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts

ResetExplorerWindow.lsp

Jason Bourhill

woops, missed localising a few of the variables. Update one is attached

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts

ResetExplorerWindow.lsp

Scott McKenzie

 Hi Jason:

Interesting, that would be a very handy snipped of code to throw into my startup routines - one that I can run in that, "where is the window" moment.

Scott

Scott Block

Here's how you can do it with bricscad open:

1. ensure that the attribute window you want to move is open
2. bring up the move option from the Windows tool bar at the bottom by right clicking on the window you want to move
3. use the arrows on your keyboard to move the window back into view. If left arrow doesn't work, try using right arrow and vice-versa for the other directions. It will depend on where your current monitor was in relation to the monitors you are no longer connected. For me, the window was opened on screens that were to the right so I had to use the left arrow to bring it into view. 

Note that if you move your mouse while doing this, you will lose control of the window and have to repeat the steps above.

Hope this helps.

how to move an attribute that's hidden.jpg

Liam Callaghan

 Hey guys,

Been at this for 3 hours now and can't find the properties dialog anywhere, previously I used the regedit and reset it that way but wont seem to work this morning.  Just about to uninstall and reinstall Bricscad so if anyone has any ideas they would be much appreciated.

Working from two offices with two different monitor set ups, its happened a few times but usually been a quick fix with the registry update.

Cheers,

L.

Liam Callaghan

 Bah!  

I didn't have it on the correct profile in the Regedit...

frustration galore!

Jason Bourhill

Hi Liam,

Recent releases of BricsCAD from V15 on have introduced WORKSPACE, which allows the user to control toolbar, menu, property bar display. WORKSPACE settings are saved to the root cui. Earlier releases of BricsCAD saved details to the registry.

To fix, run CUI and on the Workspace tab select the 'Properties' palette for you current work space. In the details area change the state of the palette to one of the docked option. This will bring it back onto your screen.

You may want to consider creating a workspace for when you're solely from your laptop. e.g. a copy of your current workspace, but with all palettes & toolbars docked. Finally, you can prevent changes being saved to your workspace by turning WSAUTOSAVE off.

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts

PropertyBar-Dock.png

Liam Callaghan

Thanks Jason!