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Need help creating a brand new database

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Message 1 of 11
designer17
803 Views, 10 Replies

Need help creating a brand new database

Hi,

 

I am completely new to Autocad Electrical and have been with tasked with creating a brand new primary database for our company.

 

I've figured out how to add custom tables to the default catalog but thats not what we want. We don't want any of the default catalog enteries associated with the new database. The plan is to figure out how to start with a blank database and add components as we go.

 

Can someone point me in the right direction?

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Message 2 of 11

It is unwise to create a database from scratch.  Many of the issues I find related to the database are the result of "customization".  I'm having to repair one right now that won't migrate forward for use with release 2015.  The structure and names of the tables have to be strictly maintained.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 3 of 11
jalger
in reply to: designer17

Hi designer17,

 

I agree with Dougs advise not to create a new database. I would make a copy to edit and leave the orginal one alone.

 

If you want to "start fresh" with an empty database thats ok, but leave all existing tables and columns the way they are.

In other words clear out all the enteries (records) but leave the structure alone. 

Then you can add in new manufacturers, and records as required.

 

If you remove the empty tables the database usually stops working, or slows down (since it looks for data that doesn't exist).

 

Any way I hope this helps,

 

Regards,

 

James

James Alger
(I'm on several hundred posts as "algerj")

Work:
Dell Precision 5530 (Xeon E 2176M)
1tb SSD, 64GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro P2000, Win10
Message 4 of 11
designer17
in reply to: jalger


@jalger wrote:

Hi designer17,

 

I agree with Dougs advise not to create a new database. I would make a copy to edit and leave the orginal one alone.

 

If you want to "start fresh" with an empty database thats ok, but leave all existing tables and columns the way they are.

In other words clear out all the enteries (records) but leave the structure alone. 

Then you can add in new manufacturers, and records as required.

 

If you remove the empty tables the database usually stops working, or slows down (since it looks for data that doesn't exist).

 

Any way I hope this helps,

 

Regards,

 

James


As mentioned before, I'm completely new to Autocad Electrical so I appreciate everyones input. I originally made a copy of the default database, renamed it to our company name and removed all the entries we do not use leaving the structure intact. Now, I am having trouble pointing acad electrical to the copied/renamed database. Ideally, I want our company named database to be stored on our server so that everyone's using the same database. Can someone tell me how to point to the renamed database if it's possible?
I've found a ton useful info on Doug's site which I'm still browsing through. Thanks Doug.  

 

Message 5 of 11
jalger
in reply to: designer17

Hi designer17,

 

Depending on which database you want to have as the primary database you may need to rename the databases.

I would recommend changing the original Database to "Default_Cat_Original.mdb" and rename your database to Default_Cat.mdb.

By default the first database is called from the catalogs Location with the name "Default_Cat.mdb".

A Secondary catalog (Assigned in the project) can originate from anywhere, and can have any name aslong as it is an Access Database (MDB).

 

To point to a network drive you need to change where the Catalogs locations are pointing to.

This is done in the "WD.env" file located in  C:\Users\<User name>\Documents\Acade 20XX\AeData.

 

You would need to change the line that says

WD_CAT,%WD_DIR%/%WD_LANG%/catalogs/,AE catalog file path

So you would type in something like  "WD_CAT, N:/network drive/networkpath/catalogs"

 

Make sure you copy all Databases from the Local Catalogs file folder into a "catalogs" folder on the network

I only recommend doing this if you have fewer then 4 or 5 people using the databases.

If you have more then that I recommend looking into the vault for sharing data.

 

If you need a few screenshots or additional info let us know (Either myself or someone on the Forums will be able to help)

 

Regards,

 

James

James Alger
(I'm on several hundred posts as "algerj")

Work:
Dell Precision 5530 (Xeon E 2176M)
1tb SSD, 64GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro P2000, Win10
Message 6 of 11
jalger
in reply to: designer17

I Almost forgot!

 

Make a backup copy of any files you are going to customize.

This is very important for the WD.env files. Some of the older version would freakout if there were spaces at the end of a pointer path.  

Always save  a copy of the original and the "updated" WD.env File.

 

Regards,

 

James

James Alger
(I'm on several hundred posts as "algerj")

Work:
Dell Precision 5530 (Xeon E 2176M)
1tb SSD, 64GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro P2000, Win10
Message 7 of 11

I'm glad you found my web site helpful.  James has advised you well.  It is better to leave the name of the main database as default_cat.mdb.  You can name the secondary copy database anything you wish.  If you follow the steps for networking that I outline on my web site, you won't need to hack your wd.env file, which I don't advise new users to do, unless they have attended my admin-level training class.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 8 of 11

Doug,

 

I followed the steps in your how-to about networking and also, followed the steps in the autocad help file About Setting Up AutoCAD Electrical for Multiple Users but I'm still having issues. Whenever I click on a component and select component edit I get multiple errors as seen in the image I attached. I get these same errors whenever I try inserting a component too.

 

Any idea what would cause these errors?

Message 9 of 11

Hard to guess from here.  Something must be amiss in your setup.  All I do to network the shared data is copy the AeData folder to the network, rename the local AeData to AeData_local (so the software no longer finds it) and add the new network path to the AeData folder to the top of the Support File Search Path. This works every time.

 

If you moved symbol library folders to the network as well, you need to edit Project Properties and select the new path for the symbol folders.  If you also moved the library menu files to the network, you must also edit the Project Properties and set the menu paths to the new location.

 

Other than symbols and menus, which can still function locally, the only folder that must absolutely be moved to the network is AeData and all its subfolders. Do not change the structure of the subfolders under AeData.  They must stay in the same order. But the path to the AeData folder must be located at the top of the Support File Search Path or Electrical will not find the data.  Note: You must close down and restart AutoCAD Electrical after these changes are made.  It reads to new Support File Search Path during startup.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 10 of 11

I think I finally got everything working properly.  I now have the databases and symbols libraries all on a shared network drive.  I copied the directories referenced in the errors to my shared drive and added the directories to my support file search paths. This resolved all the errors I was getting.

 

Thanks again Doug for all your help.

Message 11 of 11

You are more than welcome designer17!  You see, once you gathered insight into how this aspect of the software works, you were able to reason it out yourself.  That is precisely why I spend an entire day covering program infrastructure when I teach a 5-day class.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.

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