How to configure your Axiom pull-down menu

Sample of the Axiom pull-down menu in MicroStation V8

by Rick Sewell, Customer Support
Since I am in the Axiom Support Department, I hear many common issues that people have. One frequent topic is the Axiom pull-down menu. How to display only the products that the designers use is one of the queries that I run into again and again.

I am writing this article in an effort to
make this information more accessible
to our users. Call me with any additional questions you may have.

Axiom pull-down menu basics
What displays on your Axiom pull-down menu is determined by the contents of
a simple text file. This text file is called "aximenu.cfg". The "aximenu.cfg" file
can be modified in various ways to customize the Axiom pull-down menu.

The "aximenu.cfg" file is located in the "aximenu" folder that is directly underneath your Axiom base directory
(the location where you installed your Axiom products). The default location
for the Axiom base directory for V7 is "C:\program files\axiom\v7\" and for V8
the location is "C:\program files\axiom\v8\".

Part 1 - How to remove items from your menu
Often it is beneficial to change which products are displayed for individual users. It removes the potential confusion of which products are available for use. Also, in some cases, administrators like to restrict the use of particular programs - kind of like when IT removes the "Games" folder before giving you your new computer. (Who'd have thought Solitaire wasn't billable time?)

Below is an excerpt from a modified V8 "aximenu.cfg" file with its corresponding Axiom pull-down menu display:

A V8 "aximenu.cfg" file with its corresponding Axiom pull-down menu desplay

Each product listed on the Axiom pull-down menu has two consecutive entries in the "aximenu.cfg" file. To cause a particular product to not display you can "comment" the two lines for that product. By "comment" I mean that it causes those two lines to be nothing more than comments in the file - as opposed to something that is actually read and loaded.

To comment a product, simply place a colon (:) in front of it. For example, perhaps I only want my users to use DgnCompare for V8. Look at the illustrations below to see how simple it is.

To comment out a product, simply place a colon (:) in front of each of the two lines representing that product.

Note that you do need to restart MicroStation in order for any modifications to the "aximenu.cfg" file to take effect.