TECHNICAL WHITEPAPER

Edit Block Attributes

Title Block Update

Swap and Update Blocks While Mapping Attributes

Copy Project

Toggle NO/NC

Batch Plot

Easily Customizable Block/Icon Menu

Batch Block Update

Batch Language Conversion

In This IssueNow that AutoCAD Electrical comes with Autodesk’s Product Design Suite Premium and Ultimate, many companies now have access to this powerful software package. However, more and more I’m seeing companies choose to not install it. “We don’t create schematics” they say.

A few weeks ago I was onsite and listening to a company’s needs. Several of their needs could easily be solved if they had Electrical installed. They owned many seats of Product Design Suite but this group only used the AutoCAD Mechanical portion of it. Their Inventor group didn’t have Electrical installed either. Maybe if users could see some of these features, they might think twice when choosing what software to exclude from their install.

To use these features you will need to open the drawings using AutoCAD Electrical. Other than a hidden block or two, nothing else will be added to your drawings. More detailed information can be found online on any one of these topics.

Edit Block Attributes

AutoCAD Electrical has a lot of easy to use attribute tools for existing blocks. Without editing or exploding a block users can hide, move, add, rename, stretch, change justification and more. All of these changes only affect a single block instance and not the block definition. AutoCAD’s Enhanced Attribute Editor can do many of these but it does them one attribute at a time. With these tools (Figure 1) I can modify multiple attributes from several blocks at the same time.

I can also add an additional attribute to a single block. There are times where an additional line of description text would be nice. Add an attribute named DESC3 and then double click on the block. DESC3 will be a new attribute listed waiting for a value.

Mechanical uses for AutoCAD Electrical

Title Block Update

Typically all the drawing title blocks in a project share much of the same information. Using the “Title Block Update” utility from the Project tab, you can automatically update all the title blocks in the entire project with mapped information. Project Descriptions can be pushed to ALL title blocks in the project. Drawing Settings can be pushed to each individual drawing’s title block.

To get this one to work involves setting up three files.

1. A project file (.wdp) for each project. a. This file is created when creating a New Project. (Figure 2)

2. A shared Project Line Description file (.wdl) a. This is simply a text file named “default_wdtitle.wdl” and placed in a shared folder between all users. Using a text

editor like Notepad name the project descriptions lines using the following format. This helps the users know what information to place into each line.

b. LINE1=Title 1: LINE2=Title 2: LINE3=Title 3:

Figure 1 - A list of AutoCAD Electrical’s attribute editing tools.

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3. And a Title Block Mapping file (.wdt). a. This file is created by the Title Block Setup wizard. It’s found on the Project tab. You will specify the name of any

block(s) that will require attributes to be updated. Then map the project and drawing descriptions to those attributes.

After setting up these three files, add all necessary drawings to the new project and you’re ready to start pushing descriptions to title blocks.

Swap and Update Blocks while Mapping Attributes

I know the AutoCAD’s Express Tools has a feature called Replace Block. However it leaves copies of the original attributes inside the new block along with all of the old blocks attributes. AutoCAD Electrical’s Swap/Update Block command allows the use of an attribute mapping file. Attribute values are written out to a scratch file and then written back into the newly placed blocks. This can be done project wide as well. I have used this several times now for companies who needed all their title blocks swapped out for new ones.

Simply add several hundred dwg’s into a temporary project and then run this utility project wide. Remove all of the drawings and repeat the process.

Copy Project

If you have a series of drawings, with a project name in each drawing’s file name, and wish to copy all of them to start a new project, try Copy Project. This utility has a nifty find and replace feature that can be used when renaming all of the project drawings.

Create a temporary project file and add all of the drawings into the project. Then start the Copy Project command.

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This command switches a symbol with another while at the same time carrying all of the attribute values with it. In the electrical world it’s used mostly for switching a symbol from normally open to normally closed. However I can think of several other uses:

• Switching from a ‘proto’ title block to a ‘released’ title block• Switching DIP switch positions• Front and side views of hardware• Hinges or doors shown in two different positions

From a mechanical perspective, all you need to know about this command is that both block names are the same except for the 5th character. The fifth character is either a one or a two. Insert both of these blocks into your drawing and start toggling.

Page 2 • Mechanical uses for AutoCAD Electrical

Batch Plot

AutoCAD has its Publish option. However this method uses page setups. Too often the drawings are missing the needed page setup. Also, removing unwanted layouts or model space tabs from the Publish dialog can be tiresome. Using Electrical’s Batch Plot utility allows global plot s ettings as well as page setups and pc3 files. (Figure 4)

There’s also an option for running a pre or post script on each drawing during the Batch Plot process! (Figure 5)

Figure 4 - Set what is to be printed, and at what scale, using AutoCAD Electrical’s

batch plot configuration settings.

Figure 5 - More options when running AutoCAD

Electrical’s batch plot. Run scripts, .pc4 files and set the

print order.

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Easily Customizable Block/Icon Menu

This menu is filled with Electrical symbols. (Figure 6) It supports submenus and can scale blocks on insert. It is also very easy to modify. (Figure 7) Simply specify a .png image as the icon and then browse out to the desired block drawing file.

Batch Block Update

AutoCAD Electrical has a command that is used for modifying an entire symbol library. There are a number of features that could be used in manufacturing. Maybe a bunch of fastener blocks are metric and you wish to scale them down, or you need to run a LISP on every block to add some needed attributes. This utility can also change all attributes to a new text height or style. (Figure 8)

This utility has you select a folder and then processes all the drawings in that folder at once.

Page 3 • Mechanical uses for AutoCAD Electrical

Batch Language ConversionMany standard electrical phrases are included in this database and it is quite easy to modify. (Figure 9) All block text and attributes can then be converted project wide. After the utility completes, it displays a list of all text that was not swapped.

Figure 6 - The default Icon Menu can be easily customized as a simple block insertion menu.

Figure 7 - Editing the Icon Menu is as simple as specifying an image file and the

desired block.

Figure 8 - Modifying all of your blocks at once is a snap with the Symbol

Library Update tool.

Figure 9 - The Language Lookup contains a lot of electrical related words

already. And this database makes it quite easy to add more.

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About the Author: Stan Wile

Stan Wile is a Solutions Consultant with IMAGINiT Technologies, specializing in manufacturing environments. He has implemented the Autodesk® manufacturing products with several industries including the extrusion, automotive, furniture, and custom machinery markets. He has extensive experience and a comprehensive understanding of the technical, practical business, and human dimensions of implementation. Stan is an ATC certified instructor and he provides training, support, and implementation for AutoCAD®, AutoCAD® Mechanical, AutoCAD® Electrical, Autodesk® Data Management, Showcase, Autodesk Inventor, and iLogic. He also maintains an AutoCAD Electrical dedicated blog at http://myacade.blogspot.com/.

And that’s not all…There are a number of other features that I can see uses for in the mechanical world as well. How about a project wide table of contents, or attribute templates for consistent looking blocks? Did I mention the P&ID, hydraulic, and pneumatic symbols that are included? I could go on and on... There is a ton of power lying dormant waiting on a chance to ease your workload. Give AutoCAD Electrical a try.