Add a Custom Tool to the Tools Menu Using the XML Configuration File

One way to add an application to the Logix Designer application Tools menu so that you can launch it from within the Logix Designer application is to edit the XML Configuration file. This file is a simple text file that you can edit using a text editor such as Notepad.
TIP: If you add more than 16 applications to the XML Configuration file, only the first 16 appear in the Tools menu in the Logix Designer application. These applications are added to the bottom of the main Tools menu.
To add a custom tool to the tools menu using the XML configuration file:
  1. Open a text editor such as Notepad.
  2. Navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSLogix 5000\Common directory and open the XML Configuration file named CustomToolsMenu.xml.
    When you first open this configuration file, it is configured so that the ControlFLASH Plus™ application appears in and can be launched from the Tools menu. To enable this, the configuration file looks like the following.
    
              
          <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
    
              
          <CustomToolsContent SchemaRevision="1.0">
    
              
          <CustomTool>
    
              
          <Command>ControlFLASH_Plus.exe</Command>
    
              
          <WorkingDirectory></WorkingDirectory>
    
              
          <Arguments<>/Arguments>
    
              
          <ToolName>ControlFLASH Plus</ToolName>
    
              
          <StatusBarText>Transfer control to ControlFLASH Plus</StatusBarText>
    
              
          <ToolbarIcon></ToolbarIcon>
    
              
          </CustomTool>
    Immediately following the ControlFLASH Plus section, you will find an empty CustomTool section that you can use as a template for adding your own applications. This section looks like the following.
    
              
          <CustomTool>
    
              
          <Command></Command>
    
              
          <WorkingDirectory></WorkingDirectory>
    
              
          <Arguments<>/Arguments>
    
              
          <ToolName></ToolName>
    
              
          <StatusBarText></StatusBarText>
    
              
          <ToolbarIcon></ToolbarIcon>
    
              
          </CustomTool>
    And finally, immediately following the blank template section, you find the final line of the configuration file.
    
              
          </CustomToolsContent>
  3. If you want to add another application to the Tools menu, copy this blank template section, and continue with the remaining steps.
  4. Paste the copied text immediately before the </CustomToolsContent> tag (that is, the last line of the XML configuration file).
  5. In between the <Command> and </Command> tags, enter the path of the executable that launches the tool you’d like to add to the menu (for example, C:\Windows\notepad.exe).
    IMPORTANT: The path to the application is required information for adding it to the Tools menu. When you enter this path, you must enter the full path, the name, and the file extension of the application. In some cases, you may be able to enter just the name of the application (as in the case of ControlFLASH Plus.exe above) if the application creates a registry key during its installation.
    TIP: Path information in the configuration file is not case sensitive and can include spaces, but must NOT be surrounded by quotation marks.
  6. If you wish to, you can enter the location of the initial drive and working directory of your application; type this path between the <Working Directory> and </Working Directory> tags.
    For example, if you want C:\Temp to be your initial working directory, the line would look like the following:
          <WorkingDirectory>C:\Temp</WorkingDirectory>
    TIP: The Working Directory is optional. If you do not specify a path, the Logix Designer application will not specify the initial working directory of your application.
  7. If you wish to, you can enter a command line argument string for your application; type the command line argument string between the <Argument> and </Argument> tags.
    For example, if you want Notepad to open a file named foo.txt, the line would look like the following:
          <Argument>C:\Temp\foo.txt</Argument>
    TIP: The command line argument string is optional. If you do not specify it, no command line arguments are passed to your application.
  8. Between the <ToolName> and </ToolName> tags, enter the name of the tool as you wish for it to appear in the Tools menu.
    If you want to use a Shortcut key for launching the application, place an & (or the XML entity reference &amp;) directly before the letter you would like to use as the shortcut key. In the ControlFLASH Plus example, the n will be used as the shortcut key. Once you have specified the letter you want to use, you can use the shortcut by pressing Alt+T to access the Tools menu, and then by pressing Alt+ the letter you specified to launch your application.
    TIP: The Tool Name is optional. If you do not specify a name to use in the Tools menu, the application’s executable file name appears in the Tools menu. The Tool Name is also used as the text that appears in the Custom Tool's Tooltip, which appears when you hover the mouse over the application's button in the Custom Tools toolbar.
  9. Between the <StatusBarText> and </StatusBarText> tags, enter the text that you want to display in the status bar; this text appears when the mouse is over the application’s name in the Tools menu or over its icon in the Custom Tools toolbar.
    TIP: The Status Bar text is optional. If you do not specify text to display, the status line displays the word Launch, and then the Tool Name you specified for your application.
  10. If you wish to, you can specify the image you would like to appear on the button that launches your application from the Custom Tools toolbar; type the path to the file containing the image you want to use between the <ToolbarIcon> and </ToolbarIcon> tags.
    For example, if you want to use a file named notepad.bmp that is located in the C:\Program Files directory, the line would look like this:
     <ToolbarIcon>C:\Program Files\notepad.bmp</ToolbarIcon>
    TIP: The Toolbar Icon is optional. If you do not specify an image to use, the Logix Designer application tries to use the icon from your application's executable, if possible. If this image can’t be loaded, another default icon is used. You may use files with a .bmp, .ico, or .exe extension. If you specify an .exe file, the Logix Designer application uses the first small icon successfully extracted from that file, which is usually the .exe application's main small icon.
  11. Once you have added all of the applications you want to appear in the Tools menu, Save and Close the XML Configuration file.
    TIP:
    • If the XML Configuration file contains errors for any of the applications you have entered, you are notified when you try to launch the application that has an error.
    • If you make changes to this file while the Logix Designer application is open, you must close the application and reopen it in order to see your changes to the Tools menu.
    • If the XML Configuration file cannot be loaded by the Logix Designer application for any reason, it is backed up in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSLogix 5000\Common directory and a new XML Configuration file is generated in its place. In the new XML Configuration file, you find a comment containing a detailed description of the error along with the name and path of the backup of your original XML Configuration file.
    TIP: Once you have completed your edits to the XML Configuration file, you can transfer your custom tools configurations to different machines simply by copying this file and pasting it into the same directory on the other machine(s).
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