CuixBuilder

Command-line tool that generates AutoCAD partial CUIX files from a JSON config. No XML editing required.

What it does

Takes a simple JSON description of your ribbon layout and produces a ready-to-load .cuix file with:

• Ribbon tab + panels + buttons
• Auto-generated colored BMP icons (or use your own)
• Correct ^C^C macro formatting for commands and LISP expressions

Load the output in AutoCAD with CUILOAD.

Requirements

• .NET 10 SDK (Windows)
• Windows only (AutoCAD CUIX is Windows-specific)

Build

dotnet build -c Release

Output: bin\Release\net10.0-windows\CuixBuilder.exe

Usage

# Generate from JSON config
CuixBuilder config.json

# Generate a demo CUIX
CuixBuilder MyPlugin.cuix

JSON config format

{
  "pluginName": "DrawingTools",
  "displayName": "Drawing Tools",
  "tab": "Drawing Tools",
  "outputPath": "DrawingTools.cuix",
  "panels": [
    {
      "name": "My Tools",
      "buttons": [
        {
          "label": "Quick Leader",
          "command": "QLEADER",
          "tooltip": "Draw a quick leader"
        },
        {
          "label": "Hello World",
          "command": "(progn (prompt \"\\nHello!\") (princ))",
          "tooltip": "Prints Hello to command line"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Button command field

Input	Behavior
ZOOM	→ ^C^CZOOM
(progn ...)	→ ^C^C(progn ...)
^C^CZOOM	→ passed through unchanged

Button imagePath field

• Omit or set to null → auto-generated colored placeholder BMP
• Provide path to a 16×16 or 32×32 BMP → embedded in CUIX

Load in AutoCAD

CUILOAD → browse to DrawingTools.cuix

The ribbon tab appears immediately. No restart required.

License

MIT