Ribbon tabs control the display and order in which ribbon panels are displayed on the ribbon. You add ribbon tabs to a workspace to control which ribbon tabs are displayed on the ribbon.

Ribbon tabs do not contain any commands or controls like a ribbon panel does; instead, they manage the display of ribbon panels on the ribbon. Once a ribbon tab is created, you can then add references to any of the ribbon panels from the Panels node under the Ribbon node in the Customizations In <file name> pane to the ribbon tab. After references to ribbon panels are added to a ribbon tab, you can control the initial display order in which ribbon panels appear on a ribbon tab from the ribbon tab’s node in the Customizations In <file name> pane.

In the Workspace Contents pane, you add and remove ribbon tabs from the ribbon, which is controlled by the current workspace. Once a ribbon tab has been added to a workspace, you can control the order in which the tab is displayed on the ribbon by expanding the Ribbon Tabs node under the Workspace Contents pane.

From the Workspace Contents pane, you can control the default display of ribbon tabs and panels; this allows you to keep the associations of ribbon tabs and panels with a workspace, but turn it off. You can also control the tool palette group associated with a ribbon tab, and the collapse behavior, resize order, and orientation of a ribbon panel from the Workspace Contents pane.

The following table describes the properties for the Home - 2D ribbon tab as they appear in the Properties pane.

Show Me: Create a Ribbon Tab

The following animation shows how to create a ribbon tab, add ribbon panels to a ribbon tab, and control the display of a ribbon tab on the ribbon through a workspace.

Click the Play arrow to start the animation.

Procedure

To create a ribbon tab

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Ribbon to expand it.
3. Right-click Tabs and click New Tab.

   

   A new ribbon tab (named New Tab) is placed at the bottom of the Tabs node.

4. Right-click New Tab. Click Rename. Enter a new name for the ribbon tab.
5. Select the new ribbon tab in the tree view, and update the Properties pane:
   • In the Display Text box, enter a text string that will appear on the ribbon tab.
   • In the Contextual Display Type box, specify how the ribbon tab should be displayed on the ribbon when used with a contextual ribbon tab state.
   • In the Default Display box, specify if the ribbon tab should be displayed by default when the CUIx file is loaded as a partial customization file.
   • In the Workspace Behavior box, specify if the ribbon tab is merged or added to the ribbon when the CUIx file is loaded as a partial file.
   • In the KeyTip box, enter a text string that can be used to access the ribbon tab from the keyboard.
   • In the Aliases box, enter an alias for the ribbon tab.

   

6. Click Apply.

To remove a ribbon tab

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Ribbon to expand it.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Tabs to expand it.
4. Right-click the ribbon tab that you want to remove. Click Remove.

   

   WarningThere is no way to undo the removal of a user interface element, so be careful when removing user interface elements. If you remove the wrong user interface element, the best thing to do is click Cancel to not save changes, but this will also undo any other changes that you might have made.
5. Click Apply.

To add a ribbon panel to a ribbon tab

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Ribbon to expand it.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Tabs to expand it.
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the ribbon tab where you want to add a ribbon panel.
5. Click the plus sign (+) next to Panels to expand it.
6. Drag a ribbon panel from the Panels node to a ribbon tab. Use the visual indicator bar to specify the position of the ribbon panel on the ribbon tab.

   

7. Click Apply.

To remove a ribbon panel from a ribbon tab

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Ribbon to expand it.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Tabs to expand it.
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the ribbon tab where you want to remove a ribbon panel.
5. Right-click the ribbon panel that you want to remove. Click Remove.

   

   WarningThere is no way to undo the removal of a user interface element, so be careful when removing user interface elements. If you remove the wrong user interface element, the best thing to do is click Cancel to not save changes, but this will also undo any other changes that you might have made.
6. Click Apply.

To set the initial position of a ribbon panel on a ribbon tab

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Ribbon to expand it.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Tabs to expand it.
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the ribbon tab where you want to reposition a ribbon panel.
5. Select the ribbon panel that you want to reposition and drag it to a new location.

   

   A visual indicator bar is displayed between the ribbon panels indicating the placement of the ribbon panel when you release the pointing device button.

6. Once the splitter bar is in the place where you want to insert the ribbon panel, release the pointing device button.
7. Click Apply.

To set the resize style of a ribbon panel on a ribbon tab

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Ribbon to expand it.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Tabs to expand it.
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the ribbon tab that contains the ribbon panel for which you want to adjust the resize style.
5. Select the ribbon panel that you want to change.
6. In the Properties pane, Resize Style, select an option (Collapse as Needed, Never Collapse, or Collapse Last).
7. Click Apply.

Quick Reference

Commands

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

RIBBON

Opens the ribbon window.

RIBBONCLOSE

Closes the ribbon window.