ACA: Double-click on MText Does Not Start MText Editor

If you find that double-clicking on MText is not initiating the MTEDIT command, check the following things:

1. Is the PICKFIRST system variable set to 1? If it is set to 0, set it to 1. This is the most likely reason why the double click failed. You can also access this setting in the Options dialog, on the Selection tab, in the Selection modes area at the middle left of the tab, by checking the Noun/verb selection toggle.
   
2. Is the DBLCLKEDIT system variable set to ON? If it is set to OFF, set it to ON. This setting can also be accessed in the Options dialog, on the User Preferences tab, in the Windows Standard Behavior area at the upper left of the tab, by checking the Double click editing toggle.
   
3. If both of the above system variables are set correctly, the final step is to verify that your customization file has the appropriate double click action assigned for MTEXT. Type CUI at the Command: prompt and press the ENTER key. In the Cusomize User Interface dialog, on the Customize tab, in the upper left pane (Customizations in...), expand the node for the ACA customization (or whatever your main customization file is called), if it is not already expanded. Scroll down if necessary to find the Double Click Actions node and expand that. Look for a node under that called Mtext and, if you find it, expand it. The out-of-the-box ACA.cuix assigns the Mtext Edit command to the Mtext double-click action.
   • If the Mtext node exists, but does not have a command assigned or has a different command assigned, find the Mtext Edit... command on the Command List in the lower left. (TIP: Type mtext in the search bar at the top to narrow the items on the list and quickly find the Mtext Edit... item.) Left-click, hold and drag the Mtext Edit... item from the lower left pane to the upper right pane and drop it on the Mtext node under Double Click Actions. Select OK to save the change and return to the drawing editor, where you should now be able to double click on an MText object and enter editing mode.
   • If there is no Mtext node, you will need to add one. In the upper left pane, right click on the Double Click Actions node and select New Double Click Action from the context menu, and then immediately type Mtext to replace the default name assigned to the new node. Select the new Mtext node and, in the upper right pane, type MTEXT as the value for the Object Name property of the node (see image below). With the new node created, follow the instructions in the bullet point above to add the Mtext Edit... command as the double-click action, save your changes and return to the drawing editor.
     
4. If you have done all of the above and still are unable to double-click edit MTEXT objects, you may want to go back into the Customize User Interface dialog and see if any of the other customization files (enterprise, if you have one, or any partial customization files) have a double-click action assigned to MText; if so, try deleting all but one and see if that fixes the problem.

ACA: Double Click a Tag to Edit Property Data

I had a request today to be able to double click on a Schedule Tag, such as a Room Tag, and have the Edit Property Set Data dialog open, so that the Property Data attached to the tagged object can be edited, without having to go to the Extended Data tab of the Properties palette. I was able to grant the request; here is what I did.

The out-of-the-box ACA.cuix file already defines a Double Click Action for Multi-View Blocks (which is what Schedule Tags are), but it is set to edit the Multi-View Block definition.

As it turns out, the CUI does not have a command defined that runs the AECPROPERTYDATAEDIT command. But it is easy enough to add one.

1. Type CUI at the Command: prompt. (Or, on the Manage ribbon tab, on the Customization panel, choose the User Interface tool.)
2. Verify that the CUI dialog is fully expanded (arrow button in the lower right corner of the dialog points to the left) and that the Customize tab is the current tab (as seen in the image above).
3. In the Command List panel (lower left side; expand the panel if it is "closed"), select the Create a new command button.
   
   A new command, named Commandn will be created, where n represents an integer, most likely 1 unless you have done this before and not renamed the added command(s).
   
4. In the Properties panel (lower right side, expand the panel if it is "closed"), edit the properties of the new command as shown in the image below. I was not intending to use this command on a ribbon panel or a toolbar, so I did not create a custom button image, but used the out-of-the-box one for Property Set Definition edit. The Element ID will be automatically generated; yours may vary from what is shown here.
   
5. In the Customizations in... panel (upper left side, expand the panel if it is "closed"), expand the ACA node (if necessary) and then expand the Double Click Actions node under the ACA node.
   
6. Scroll down in the Customizations in... panel, if required,to find the Multi-View Block node under the Double Click Actions node and expand the Multi-View Block node.
   
7. In the Command List panel, left click and drag the Property Data Edit command up to the Customizations in... panel and drop it on the Multi-View block node.
   
8. The Property Data Edit command replaces Multi-View Block Edit as the Double Click Action for Multi-View Blocks.
   
9. Select OK to dismiss the Customize User Interface dialog and to register your changes.

Now when you double click on a Schedule Tag, the Edit Property Set Data dialog will open, for the object to which the Schedule Tag is attached. Note that if you double-click on a non-tag Multi-View Block, you will also get the Edit Property Set Data dialog and will be able to edit Property Data attached to that Multi-View Block, as well as add Property Sets that apply to Multi-View Blocks or remove any of the Property Sets that are attached.

If you want to edit the Multi-View Block Defintion, you can still select an instance and, on the Multi-View Block contextual ribbon tab, on the General panel, select the Edit Style tool, or right click and choose Edit Multi-View Block Definition from the context menu.

Having edited the ACA.cuix file, you will want to back up the modified version so that you can restore it later, should the CUIX file get reset by a reinstallation or lost/corrupted through some catastrophic event. Also, as always, you can click on any of the images to see a full-size version.