AutoCAD Automation for Electrical Drawings

UseofAutoCADAutomationforElectrical LayoutsElectricalLayouts

Rahul SrivastavaElectricalEngineeringDepartment

02.07.2015

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.

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

9.DesignTools

CableTray

ConduitSystem

PowerPlan

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