Download - AutoCAD Automation for Electrical Drawings
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UseofAutoCADAutomationforElectrical LayoutsElectricalLayouts
Rahul SrivastavaElectricalEngineeringDepartment
02.07.2015
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Contents
1. Problems and challenges in AutoCAD Drafting
2. Working with BackGround Drawing
3. AutoGeneration of Drawing Template
4. Block References and Attributes
5. BOM Extraction
6. BOM Extraction : Automation
7. AutoCAD Symbol Library
8. Benefits of Block Attributes & Other Useful Tools
9. Design tools
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1. ProblemsandchallengesinAutoCADDrafting:(1/3)
1.Backgrounddrawingrevision:
Drawingsizebecomesverylarge,resultsindifficulttoworkandfatalerrors. Current Working : None CurrentWorking:NoneEverytimeanewrevisionofplotplan,archotherdepartmentdrawingsarereleased,thatneedtobeupdatedinallElectricalDrawings.Changethetext, dimensionasperscale.
CurrentWorking:Cleaningofbackgrounddrawings,insertinginelectricallayoutsasblocks.Taskdoneforalldrawings.(Verytimeconsuming).
Key Plan Revision itself is a very time consuming and error prone taskKeyPlanRevisionitselfisaverytimeconsuminganderrorpronetask.CurrentWorking:Keyplanitselfbecomeheavytoreducethesizetakeslotoftimeandagaininsertingineachdrawingisverytimeconsumingtask.
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ProblemsandchallengesinAutoCADDrafting:(2/3)
2.DrawingQuality:
Date,revisionnumber,projectcodeetc.Current Working : Every revision of drawing it need to be check and manually entered.CurrentWorking:Everyrevisionofdrawingitneedtobecheckandmanuallyentered.Textarenotproperlyalignedandtextsizevariestoomuch.CurrentWorking:Notool/guidelineavailable.Drawingqualitydependsondesigner
workexperience.(Acomprehensiveguidelineisrequired).
Electricaltags/textandbackgroundtextmixedup.Current Working : Manually moving of background text/object to see the clear electricalCurrentWorking:Manuallymovingofbackgroundtext/objecttoseetheclearelectricaltags/texts.
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ProblemsandchallengesinAutoCADDrafting:(3/3)
3.BOMGeneration:
Manuallycountingofblocks.Current Working : By using Bcount command. Cable Trays, Wires, cables and conduits areCurrentWorking:ByusingBcountcommand.CableTrays,Wires,cablesandconduitsaremeasuredbyusingplinecommand.
Extractfrom3Dmodel(CableTrayonly).(forProposalandininitialstageof
project(IFR)themodelisnotupdated.
Nostandardsymbollibraryisavailable.Current Working : No company standard Block library is available Some projects haveCurrentWorking:NocompanystandardBlocklibraryisavailable.SomeprojectshavesymbollibrarybasedonITBrequirements.
Tagnumberrevision.CurrentWorking:Manuallyupdatingofequipmenttag.Nos.
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2.WorkingwithBackGroundDrawing
B k d d i i i P ibl S l ti
AnXrefisanexternalreference'toanotherAutoCADdrawingfile.Onefilecanreferencemany
other files and display them as if they were one These are used in larger projects for many
Backgrounddrawingrevision:PossibleSolution:
otherfilesanddisplaythemasiftheywereone.Theseareusedinlargerprojectsformany
reasons:
Theykeepthefilesizesdown.Theyallowmanyuserstoworkonindividualcomponentsofaproject.EverytimeanXrefisloaded,itisthemostrecentversionofthedrawing.Xref'scanbeupdated,added,orunattachedfromthemaindrawingatanytime.YoucanXrefdrawingsthattheythemselvesXrefotherdrawings(nesting).In these days of networks and the Internet, many projects are produced this way. PeopleInthesedaysofnetworksandtheInternet,manyprojectsareproducedthisway.Peoplefromanywhereintheworldcancollaborateonaprojectinrealtime.
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Introduction XRefWh E t l R f ?
OneofthemostpowerfultimesavingfeaturesofAutoCADistheabilitytohaveonedrawing
become part of a second drawing while maintaining the integrity and independence of the
WhyExternalReference?
becomepartofaseconddrawingwhilemaintainingtheintegrityandindependenceofthe
firstone.
Whenyoudrawingisattachedasanxref,thereferenceddrawingislinkedtothecurrent
drawing;anychangestothereferenceddrawingaredisplayedinthecurrentdrawingwhenit
isopened.
A d i b h d f l i l d i h i C lAdrawingcanbeattachedasanxreftomultipledrawingsatthesametime.Conversely,
multipledrawingscanbeattachedasexternalreferencestoasingledrawing.
ThisfeatureisprovidedbytheXREFcommand,shortforexternalreference.p y ,
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Introduction XRef
Thesymbolsthatarecarriedintoadrawingbyanexternalreferencearecalleddependent
symbols,becausetheydependontheexternalfile,notonthecurrentdrawing,fortheir
characteristics.Thesymbolshavearbitrarynamesandincludeblocks,layers,linetypes,text
styles,anddimensionstyles.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefX f M l tt
TheXREFcommandprovidesvariousoptionsforattachingandmanipulatingexternalreferencesfilesfromXrefManager.
XrefManagerpalette
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefAtt hi E t l R f DWG I DWF DGNAttachingExternalReference DWG,Image,DWF,DGN
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefE t l R f Di l bExternalReferenceDialogbox
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefA il bl ti
ReferenceType selectionhastwomodes:
Availableoptions:
Attachmentmode theexternalreferencesthatareattachedinthismodewillbeincludedinthedrawingwhenthedrawingitselfisattachedasanexternalreferencetoanotherdrawing.
Overlay mode the external references that are attached in this mode will not be included inOverlaymode theexternalreferencesthatareattachedinthismodewillnotbeincludedinthedrawingwhenthedrawingitselfisattachedasanexternalreferencetoanotherdrawing.
RetainPathselectiondetermineswhetherornotthefullpathtotheexternalreferenceissaved.
InsertionPoint,Scale, andRotation selectionaresimilartoinsertionofablock.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefD t hi E t l R f D iDetachingExternalReferenceDrawingsDetach selectionintheXrefManagerdialogbox detachesselectedexternalreferencedrawing(s)fromthecurrentdrawing.
Iftheexternalreferenceiscurrentlybeingdisplayedaspartofthecurrentdrawing,itdisappearswhenyoudetachit.
ReloadingExternalReferenceDrawingsReload selectionintheXrefManagerdialogbox updatesselectedoneormoreexternalreferencedrawingsattachedtothecurrentdrawing.g g
TheReloadselectionisprovidedtoreloadtheexternaldrawingwhensomeoneiseditingtheexternaldrawingatthesametimewhenitisattachedtoadrawingthatiscurrentlyopen.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefUnloading External Reference DrawingsUnloadingExternalReferenceDrawingsUnloadselectionintheXrefManagerdialogbox allowstounloadoneormoreexternalreferencedrawingsfromthecurrentdrawing.
UnliketheDetachoption,theUnloadoptionmerelysuppressesthedisplayandregenerationoftheexternalreferencedefinition,tohelpcurrentsessioneditingandimproveperformance.
Thisoptionisalsousefulwhenaseriesofexternalreferencedrawingsneedstobeviewedduringaprojectonanasneededbasis.Ratherthanhavingthereferencedfilesdisplayedatalltimes,itcanbereloadwhenyourequiretheinformation.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefBi di E t l R f D iBindingExternalReferenceDrawingsBind selectionintheXrefManagerdialogboxallowstomakeexternalreferencedrawingdataapermanentpartofthecurrentdrawing.
AutoCADdisplaystheBindXrefsdialogboxwithtwochoices:Bind andInsert.
Bind selectionbindstheexternalreferencedrawingasanordinaryblockinthecurrentdrawinganditrenamesthedependentsymbolsandusethemasyouwoulduseanyothernamedobjects.
Insert selection binds the external reference drawing to the current drawing as if it is insertedInsert selectionbindstheexternalreferencedrawingtothecurrentdrawingasifitisinsertedinthecurrentdrawingjustlikeinsertingadrawingwiththeINSERTcommand.
ChangingandSavingthepathBrowse selection in the Xref Manager dialog box displays Select New Path dialog box whichBrowse selectionintheX refManagerdialogboxdisplaysSelectNewPathdialogboxwhichallowstoselectdifferentpathorfilenamefortheselectedexternalreferencefile.
SavePath selectionintheXrefManagerdialogboxsavesthepathofthecurrentlyselected
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externalreferencefile.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefAddi D d t S b l t th t d iXBIND commandpermanentlyaddsselectedsubsetofexternalreferencedependentsymbolstothecurrentdrawing.
AddingDependentSymbolstothecurrentdrawing
Thedependentsymbolsincludetheblock,layer,linetype,dimensionstyle,andtextstyle.AutoCADrenamesthedependentsymbolsthatisaddedtothecurrentdrawing.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefC t lli th Di l f E t l R fTheXCLIP commandcontrolsthedisplayofunwantedinformationbyclippingtheexternalreferencedrawingsandblocks.
ControllingtheDisplayofExternalReferences
Clippingdoesnoteditorchangetheexternalreferenceorblock,itjustpreventspartoftheobjectfrombeingdisplayed.
Thedefinedclippingboundarycanbevisibleorhidden.
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ProcedureforWorkingwithXrefO ti i l dNew selection(default)definesarectangularorpolygonalclipboundaryorgeneratesapolygonalclippingboundaryfromapolyline.
Optionsinclude:
ON/OFF selectionscontrolsthedisplayoftheclippedboundary.
Clipdepth selectionsetsthefrontandbackclippingplanes.
Delete selectionremovestheclippingboundaryfortheselectedexternalreferenceorblock.
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3.AutoGenerationofDrawingTemplate
AutoGen:
DemoAutoIns:
AutoUpd:
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4.BlockReferencesandAttributesWh C t Bl k?
TheBLOCK commandenablesadesignertocreateanobjectfromoneormoreobjects,saveitunderauserspecifiedname,andlateritcanbeinsertedintothedrawing.
WhyCreateaBlock?
WhenblockreferencesareinsertedinthedrawingtheycanbescaledupordowninbothoreitheroftheXandYaxesandcanberotatedastheyareinsertedinthedrawing.
Theblockreferenceactsasasingleunitwhenoperatedonbycertainmodifycommands.
BlockreferencecanalsobedraggedanddroppedfromonedrawingtoanotherthroughDesignCenterDesignCenter.
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BlockReferencesandAttributes
CreatingBlockDefinitionBlockDefinitiondialogboxInsertingBlockReferencesInsertdialogboxNested BlocksNestedBlocksExplodeCommandMultiple Inserts of Block ReferencesMultipleInsertsofBlockReferencesBaseCommand
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BlockAttributesAtt ib t i l t t bj t th t b i l d d i bl k d fi itiAttributesarespecialtextobjectsthatcanbeincludedinablockdefinition.
Attributescanbeusedforautomaticannotationduringinsertionofablockreference.
Ifanattributeistobeusedonlytostoreinformation,specifywhetherornotitwillbevisiblewhenattributeisdefined.
If the attribute is used as a note label or callout consider the effect of scaling (whether equalIftheattributeisusedasanote,label,orcallout,considertheeffectofscaling(whetherequalorunequalX/Yfactors)androtationonthetextthatwillbedisplayed.
Thescalingfactor(s)ontheattributewillbethesameasontheblockreference.Attributetextthatisdefinedashorizontalinablockwillbedisplayedverticallywhenthatblockreferenceisinsertedwitha90degreeangleofrotation.
Allowstoextractdatafromeachinsertedblockreferenceandsavedinafileinaformthatdatabasehandlingprogramscanuse.
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BlockAttributesC t i t d ith tt ib tTAGistheidentifieroftheattributedefinitionandisdisplayedwherethisattributedefinitionislocated,depictingtextsize,style,andangleofrotation.Thetagcannotcontainspaces.Tagsappear in the block definition only not after the block reference is inserted
Componentsassociatedwithattributes:
appearintheblockdefinitiononly,notaftertheblockreferenceisinserted.
VALUE ofanattributeistheactualstringoftextthatappears(ifthevisibilitymodeissettoON)whentheblockreference(ofwhichitisapart)isinserted.Whethervisibleornot,thevalueistieddirectlytotheattribute,which,inturn,associatesitwiththeblockreference.Itisthisvaluethatiswrittentothedatabasefile.
PROMPT is what you see when inserting a block reference with an attribute whose value isPROMPT iswhatyouseewheninsertingablockreferencewithanattributewhosevalueisnotconstant.
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BlockAttributes
F i d il bl t Att ib t
ATTDEFCommand definestheattributesthatisincludedintheblockdefinition.
ATTDISP Command controls the visibility of the attributes
Four primary commands are available to manage Attributes:
ATTDISPCommand controlsthevisibilityoftheattributes.
EATTEDITCommandprovidesvariousoptionstoeditattributeswithoutexplodingtheblockreference.
EATTEXTCommand extractthedatafromthedrawingandsavestoafileinaformthatdatabasehandlingprogramscanuse.
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BlockAttributesATTDEF dATTDEFcommand
ATTDEFCommanddefinestheattributesthatisincludedintheblockdefinition.
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BlockAttributes
Blockswithattributesinsertedinamannersimilartothatforinsertingregularblockreferences.Ifthereareanynonconstantattributes,AutoCADpromptsforthevalue.
To suppress the prompts for attribute values set the system variable ATTREQ to 0 (zero) TheTosuppressthepromptsforattributevaluessetthesystemvariableATTREQ to0(zero).Thevalueswilleitherblankorsettothedefaultvaluesiftheyexist.UseEATTEDIT commandtoestablishorchangevalues.
ATTDISPcommandATTDISP Commandcontrolsthevisibilityoftheattributes.
ON selectionmakesallattributesvisible
OFF selectionmakesallattributesinvisible.
Normal selectiondisplaystheattributesthewayitwasdefined.
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BlockAttributesEATTEDIT dEATTEDITcommand
EATTEDIT Commandprovidesvariousoptionstoeditattributeswithoutexplodingtheblockreference.
EditAttributesdialogboxwithAttributetabselection
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BlockAttributesEdit Att ib t di l b ith T t ti t b l tiEditAttributesdialogboxwithTextoptionstabselection
EditAttributesdialogboxwithPropertiestabselection
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5.BOMExtractionEATTEXT dEATTEXTcommand
EATTEXTCommandextractthedatafromthedrawingandsavestoafileinaformthatdatabasehandlingprogramscanuse.
ModifyIItoolbar ChoosetheAttributeExtractcommand
Toolsmenu ChooseAttributeExtraction
On screen prompt eattext (ENTER)Onscreenprompt eattext (ENTER)
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BOMExtractionTh D t E t ti B i (P 1 f 8) l t t t bl k tt ib t d t t t blTheDataExtraction Begin(Page1of8) pageletsyouextractblockattributedatatoatableinthecurrentdrawingortoanexternalfile.
TheDataExtraction DefineDataSource(Page2of8) pageletsyouselectadrawingfilefromwhichtoextractinformationfromBlockAttributesorletsyouspecifyblocksinthecurrentdrawing.
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BOMExtractionTh D t E t ti S l t Obj t (P 3 f 8) ll t l t hi h bl k dTheDataExtraction SelectObjects(Page3of8)pageallowsyoutoselectwhichblocksandattributesintheselectedblockswillhavetheirdataextractedtothespecifiedtableand/orfile.
TheDataExtraction SelectProperties(Page4of8)page letsyouselectthepropertiesfordataextraction.
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BOMExtractionTh D t E t ti R fi D t (P 5 f 8) l t fi th l t d d t
TheDataExtraction ChooseOutput(Page6of8) pageletsyouchoosetheoutputformat.
TheDataExtraction RefineData(Page5of8) pageletsyourefinetheselecteddata.
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BOMExtractionTh D t E t ti T bl St l (P 7 f 8) l t h th t bl t lTheDataExtraction TableStyle(Page7of8) pageletsyouchoosethetablestyle.
TheDataExtraction Finishpage(Page8of8) letsyoucompletethedataextraction.
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BlockAttributesR d fi i Bl k d Att ib t
TheATTREDEF commandallowstoredefineablockreferenceandupdatesassociatedattributes.
RedefiningaBlockandAttributes
BlockAttributeManager
TheBATTMAN commandprovidesameansofmanagingBlocksthatcontainAttributes.
Allowstoeditattributedefinitionsinblocks,changetheorderinwhichAttributesarepromptedforattributevalueswheninsertingablock,andremoveattributesfromblocks.
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6.BOMExtraction:Automation
AUTOCAD BLOCKAUTOCADBLOCKLIBRARYMANAGER DEFINEATTRIBUTE(S)
INSER
FROM
DRAW RTBLOCKAN
DIT
MLIBRARYIN
TO
WING
REVISED DRAWING
IMPORTBLOCKTAGS
TAGNO.REVISEINEXCEL
TSATTRIBUTES
CURREN
T
REVISEDDRAWING
CURRENTDRAWINGBOMOFCURRENTDRAWING(INEXCEL
FORMAT)
EXPORTBLOCKATTRIBUTE(S)
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7.AutoCADSymbolLibrary:DesignCenter&ToolPalettes
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AutoCADSymbolLibrary:BlockLibraryManager
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8.BenefitsofBlockAttributes&OtherUsefulTools
ExportandImportBlockInformationfromexternalfileto/fromAutoCAD
Text Align TextAlign
AutoincrementofBlockAttribute
l IncrementTool
TextMask
AdvanceTrimCommand
Cable/conduitLengthMeasurement
LayoutstoDrawingsautogeneration
TypicalInstallationdrawingandBulkMaterialBOMgeneration
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yp g g
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9.DesignTools
CableTray
ConduitSystem
PowerPlan
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