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rotate components

11 REPLIES 11
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Message 1 of 12
Anonymous
2809 Views, 11 Replies

rotate components

when i try to rotate a default blocks 180deg, then move it, it rotates back to default. is there a way to bypass this short of drawing a new block? i'm trying to insert a dual tapped transformer. by default the high side is dual tapped , but i would like the low side dual tapped 120/240, so i would just rotate the entire block, then rotate the individual attributes thru the acade tool. but when i scoot the component, everything reverts back to orginal.
11 REPLIES 11
Message 2 of 12
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

we created multiple blocks to handle this problem
just so we don't have to rearrange the attributes
Message 3 of 12
mike.jenningsWRFST
in reply to: Anonymous

So... is there no way to rotate a standard component block other than deleting it and re-inserting in the other orientation?

 

I cannot find any other articles, help files or posts that deals with this, or even states that there is no rotate option.  Surly Autodesk can implement a function to rotate between the two models (vertical and horizontal) if they exist.

 

After 18 years from this original post this is still not an option!

Message 4 of 12
pmccutcheon
in reply to: Anonymous

I know it doesn't help, but we have different versions of the block. 

(?is there a better way)

 

Creation:

-insert the original

-explode

-mirror

-diddle the attribute(S) justification; eg a lot of "right" are going to change to "left"

-also look at the TERM attributes, the X1,X4 etc stuff gives the direction the wire is coming from, have to change these

-make new block

-test, fix, repeat

 

I suppose if schematic flow is generally left-to-right we don't have a lot of blocks that we need to flip

 

Message 5 of 12
jseefdrumr
in reply to: Anonymous

ACADE can't handle blocks that are rotated or mirrored, largely because of the wire connection attributes (X?TERM?? is what those attributes are named). Those have set values which tell the software which direction a wire attaches from. For example: if a symbol is set up for all the wires to approach from the right, and you mirror that block or rotate it 180 degrees, the attributes are still telling ACADE that the wires should attach from the right side of the block.

 

Note that this original post  is from 2004. I'm not sure what HELP said about symbol orientation back then, but nowadays it's stated pretty clearly that every symbol needs to have a horizontal and vertical version. If you need a mirrored version, or one that is rotated 180 degrees, you'll need to have separate versions for that orientation as well.

 

That being said, if you do have a vertical version AND horizontal version of a block, using the Move Component command to move that component from a horizontal wire to a vertical wire (or vice versa) will bring in the correctly-oriented symbol. But I can't think of a circumstance where you can rotate or mirror a symbol and still have the wire connections work.

 



Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician


Message 6 of 12
mike.jenningsWRFST
in reply to: Anonymous

Thanks for the replies.  Yes I'm aware that there are separate blocks for vertical and horizontal orientations.  However, I occasionally place block either by forgetting to tick the Horizontal box or when routing wires find that I need the part in the opposite orientation.  It would be beneficial to change between horizontal and vertical bocks once placed rather than delete and re-insert, particularly when all the attributes had been filled in.

 

I don't see an option moving the component to switch between orientation of blocks. 

 

I admit that I'm very new to this and I may be missing some tricks, but at the moment, it is quite frustrating.  I always try and resist the urge to use the standard ACAD rotate command!!

 

I'm also aware that this is a 2004 post, but again I struggle to find any reference when doing web-searches on the subject.

 

Message 7 of 12
jseefdrumr
in reply to: Anonymous

There's no need to delete and re-insert, if you've already created both the horizontal and vertical versions of a block.

 

When you're moving a  component using ACADE's Move Component command, it doesn't ask you whether or not you want to use a different orientation of a block. It just knows that when you click on the new wire that it needs the other orientation. This doesn't become evident until the very last click, though. So, if it started out on a horizontal wire, and you move it to a vertical wire, clicking on that wire to finish placing the symbol will automatically give you the vertical version of that block, and it will keep all the attribute values. This is dependent on the following things:

 

*blocks are properly named according to the Symbol Naming Conventions, found in HELP

*the opposite version of that block must already exist and be in a folder that is part of ACADE's search tree

 



Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician


Message 8 of 12
david_brude
in reply to: Anonymous

There is a way that you could flip a symbol (Mirror) 180 degrees with a switch but it's somewhat unorthodox and there is a caveat. That caveat is that the terminal numbers would need adjusting.  So if you want to flip the primary side from left to right do the following. First;  Create 2 symbols of your transformer with mirrored geometry and with the correct wire cut attribute orientation for each version. Name the first block as HTR11TEST and the 2nd HTR12TEST. Then by using the toggle no/nc button the symbol will swap the block left or right. That button looks for no/nc place holder in the symbol naming (1or2). After you have flipped the block use Block Swap/Update to update the terminals by selecting No, discard all old values. You will have to retag the transformer after this.

You could do the same for a vertically oriented symbol as well. The key is using the no/nc place holder in the symbol name.

Watch the attached video to see how it works.

Regards,

David Brude

Message 9 of 12
ecadtanic
in reply to: david_brude


// ecadtanic@gmail.com //
Message 10 of 12
ecadtanic
in reply to: Anonymous


// ecadtanic@gmail.com //
Message 11 of 12

If the block has symmetrical wire connections, there is a tool to mirror the graphics.

 

In the rotary menu, look at the extra options in the bottom section. There is a Reverse/Flip command.

Reverse does as it says and reverses the component while the Flip mirrors the component.

It is recommended to only do this to the graphics as it doesn't change the wire connections.

 

For non symmetrical blocks, I suggest creating a reversed block by copying the original block, modifying the copy and adding a 'Reversed' onto the end of the name.

 

Regards Brad

 



Icemanau (NNTP handle: Brad Coleman
AutoCAD Electrical User and IT Hardware Support

Message 12 of 12
pmccutcheon
in reply to: Icemanau

that's quite nice ... I  had "thought" that command only worked if there was already a predefined flipped block ... ie I thought it only worked if I had already setup left and right blocks, and the command just selected between them ... but it works on any old block, quite a nice tip, thanks

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