AutoCAD Electrical

[#1]

Hi,

I have been using autoCAD software for a few years now, recently our company purchased AutoCAD Electrical 2010. I am having MAJOR issues with the Symbol Builder and the creation of blocks, and are looking for any assistance.

The first problem is that i am still not 100% sure what the specific attributes are and their functions.

Secondly once i have created a block and say need to add an additional wire connection how do i do this? I have opened the block (symbol) i created earlier however the "Symbol Builder Attribute Editor" palette is nowhere to be found, do i just copy and paste an existing wire connection and update the attribute details, TERM01, X2TERMDESC01 to the next number up, and how to i do preform a "test block". Is there a way of re-opening the Symbol Builder Attribute Editor to update existing blocks?

Any Assistance Would be GREATLY APPRECIATED

Many Thanks

Simon

[#2]

Simon,

When you run the new Symbol Builder, on the first dialog that comes up use
the Browse button next to the name of the symbol name to create or edit.
Browse to the symbol you already created and saved but want to change. Then
OK and you are now in the Symbol Editor mode. The Symbol Attribute Editor
palette should be visible and the attributes that are already added should
have a check mark next to them. If it isn't visible you can turn it back on
using the icon on the small symbol builder toolbar to toggle the visibility
of the palette.

Pat Murnen


wrote in message news:6258385@discussion.autodesk.com...
Hi,

I have been using autoCAD software for a few years now, recently our company
purchased AutoCAD Electrical 2010. I am having MAJOR issues with the Symbol
Builder and the creation of blocks, and are looking for any assistance.

The first problem is that i am still not 100% sure what the specific
attributes are and their functions.

Secondly once i have created a block and say need to add an additional wire
connection how do i do this? I have opened the block (symbol) i created
earlier however the "Symbol Builder Attribute Editor" palette is nowhere
to be found, do i just copy and paste an existing wire connection and update
the attribute details, TERM01, X2TERMDESC01 to the next number up, and how
to i do preform a "test block". Is there a way of re-opening the Symbol
Builder Attribute Editor to update existing blocks?

Any Assistance Would be GREATLY APPRECIATED

Many Thanks

Simon

[#3]

Pat,

I am trying to do the same thing.  I am building a symbol, using the symbol builder.  I have already made a couple.  Only later I realized that I have made a mistake.  I used the symbol builder to browse and find the file, and edited it to correct the errors I had made earlier.

AutoCAD asked me if I wanted to over write the existing files for symbol and the image and I said yes.

AutoCAD for some reason remembers the old symbol and will not let me use the corrected symbol.

I can see all the corrections I made when I open the symbol file alone.

[#4]

You do have to update any existing blocks that have been inserted so that the dwg will have the latest version loaded.

ACADE has a tool to do this but I'm not sure where it hides in the 2010 ribbon system. Look in the Cconversion Tools tab for the Swap/Update Icon and go from there.

One tip is to make sure you have selected the tick box to keep attributes in their existing locations and not move them back to the original locations.

Regards Brad

[#5]

Dear Icemanau,

I understand that the older symbol would appear the same as when it was inserted.  I am talking about new instances of the symbol after being edited.

So once again, here is what I did.

1. Made a symbol. Using symbol editor and created the dwg and png file.  The default WBlock was selected while saving the file.

2. Found that there were mistakes in it.

3. Fixed the errors and changed the appearance a little bit, again using Symbol Builder and WBlock option selected.

4. Saved it.

5. Now using the Schematics>Icon menu> Browse> point to the symbol's dwg file> Insert it into the drawing

What happens:  The symbol from step 1 shows up and not the symbol from step 4.  So it seems like AutoCAD has that symbol somewhere inside one of its share path that is not getting updated with the symbol I save in step 4.

How do I make AutoCAD realize that the symbol has changed.  Is there a step that I am missing?

Thanks!

[#6]

From the sounds of it, you already had inserted a copy of the block at some stage. Even if you deleted it, the original block reference is still in the dwg. When you insert the block again, ACAD will check the list of existing references and use the one found there rather than going back to the hard drive for a new reference.

You either have to purge the dwg of unused blocks or as I suggested, update the block.

Regards Brad

[#7]

Icemanau,

You are correct.  I did add the older symbol once and that is when I realized of the mistakes I had made. 

I tried looking for the command buttons around the swap symbol but couldnt find it.  I believe the swap block is going to do the trick itself.  I just havent had the time to use it.

Thanks!

Gagan Adibhatla