Creating User-Defined Workbenches

This task explains how to create and customize workbenches.

  1. Select Tools > Customize or right-click any icon in any toolbar then select Customize to open the Customize dialog box:

    The symbol might be displayed next to a workbench name in the Available list to identify a workbench that has been locked by your administrator. This means that you cannot transfer the locked workbench to the Favorites list and that the workbench is not listed in the Start menu. For detailed information, refer to Administering the Workbench list.

  2. Under the Start Menu tab, you can select a workbench then click the right arrow (or right-click it then select Add) to display it in the Favorites list.

    Inversely, click the left arrow (or right-click then select Remove) to remove a workbench from the Favorites list.

  3. Repeat the previous step as many times as necessary. In our example, six workbenches have been transferred to the Favorites list:

    You can then use Ctrl, Shift, Alt and Other... to include them in the shortcut displayed in the Accelerator box.
    Other... lets you see the list of available keys. Select a key then click Add, or double-click a key.
    Whichever method you use, the corresponding choice is displayed in the Accelerator box, for example like this: Ctrl+.

    The shortcut you define appears besides the workbench name in the Start menu.

  4. Click the User Workbenches tab.

    Note that New... is available only if there is an active workbench: if no document is open, the button is grayed out.

  5. Click New... to display the New User Workbench dialog box:

  6. Enter the name for your workbench, then click OK.

    In our example, let's assume the name of the user workbench is "My Workbench". Clicking OK adds the workbench name to the list...
    ... and deactivates the current workbench, and activates "My Workbench", represented by the icon top right: .

  7. Access the Toolbars tab, then click New... to start adding toolbars to "My Workbench".

    The New Toolbar dialog box and an empty toolbar are displayed:
    In the New Toolbar dialog box:
    • the Workbenches list contains a list of all workbenches related to the current working context: in our example, a CATPart document was open when we created "My Workbench", so the list contains all workbenches that could possibly be activated in a CATPart document
    • the Toolbars list contains the toolbars belonging to the selected workbench.

  8. Select a workbench from the Workbenches list.

    The toolbars belonging to the selected workbench are displayed in the Toolbars list.

  9. Select a toolbar.

  10. Name the new toolbar to be included in your workbench.

  11. Click OK, and close the Customize dialog box.

    The contents of the toolbar are added to your empty toolbar, for example:
    You can then drag your new toolbar and dock it to the right of the application window so that your workshop now looks like this:
    Your user-defined workbench will remain active after it is created, until you activate another workbench.
    Your new workbench is added to:
    • the top of the Start menu (and to the Favorites list in the Start Menu tab)
    • the Welcome to CATIA V5 dialog box, which appears when you start a session, or when you click the icon representing the current workbench
    • the list of workbench icons accessed by right-clicking the current workbench icon.
    You can also insert your favorite workbenches in the Workbenches toolbar.

    This toolbar is activated when you select Workbenches from the toolbar list:
    The Workbenches toolbar displays the workbenches selected as favorites in the Start Menu tab of the Customize dialog box.
    In the example below, we selected the Product Structure, Real Time Rendering and Catalog Editor workbenches as favorites. Thus, the Workbenches toolbar will look like this:
    Click one of the icons to start the corresponding workbench.
 

More about favorite workbenches
 
  • When removing a dynamic (i.e. non-static and shareable) license during a session, the corresponding favorite workbench disappears from the list of favorites. From now on, when the removed license is acquired once again, the workbench automatically reappears in the list of favorites. You do not need to add it manually anymore
  • If you installed a configuration containing more than 12 workbenches (such as the "AL2" configuration), only the first 12 workbenches are displayed in the Favorites list. The other workbenches do not appear in the list
  • Your customization is stored in the settings only when exiting the session.
    If you intend to acquire or remove licenses using Tools > Options > General > Shareable Products, you need first to exit then restart your Version 5 session before accessing this tab in order to recover your customization.
    Acquiring or releasing shareable products implies that all the toolbars and menus are regenerated. The user interface is recomputed using the last settings saved and therefore, if your customization has not been previously saved, it will be lost.