AutoCAD Electrical

[#1]

I have couple of questions regarding Symbol Builingt utility.

1. I created my own symbols with default attribute size. I inserted the symbol into my drawing and decided to change the attribute size.

With new attribute size if i re-insert the symbol in my drawing the size doesn't change. However, if i insert the same symbol into a new drawing it shows the new(changed) attributes.

2. I also created some symbol with parent-children cross referencing. Its working perfectly like giving me error if i insert more than pre-defined child contacts. However, on parent symbol, the references are not displayed. Although i have inserted all the required attributes.

3. Are these problems related to Project configuration or Symbol creation problems?

Any help will be highly appreciated

Regards
Nouman

[#2]

Regarding question 1:
Sometimes when you insert a block into a drawing that is the same block name of one already existing in the drawing you will see no change. what you need to do is erase the old reference of the block then purge the blocks from the drawings. then try re-inserting the block.

The other questions I am not sure about at this time.

[#3]

Nouman I want to give you more clarification on question #1. With AutoCAD Electrical, there is no longer the need to erase all of the blocks off of the drawing and do a purge in order to get your changes to show up. (here is the reason why this happens, the way AutoCAD in general works with inserting blocks is, that if it finds that block exists on the drawing or in the drawings "nested memory", it will insert the instance from there before it takes the block from the external location. So with plain AutoCAD, your options were to erase all instances of the block on the drawing and purge, or to use the rename option to rename the existing block on the drawing so that the changed symbol would show up ) AutoCAD Electrical has a feature called SWAP BLOCK, and the feature has an option called UPDATE A BLOCK. This would be the option that you want to use in your case. The way this feature works is this, if you are swapping one block out for another, ie: two different block names, you will use the swap options. If you have made changes to a symbol and the block name has remained the same, you will want to use the UPDATE A BLOCK option. The feature will allow you to select individual instances of the symbol to swap out or update, or drawing-wide, or even project-wide. You can find this feature at: Electrical (pulldown) > Component Misc > Swap Block Pay very close attention to the options when running this utility as selecting some options will preserve your old attribute locations and size. #2 If you run an edit on it, is the information filled in and just not showing up on the drawing? What did you name your symbols, did you follow the naming convention? If you wblock through Black Box Builder (the symbol builder wizard), it will supply you a name that follows the naming convention. On this provided name, the underscore and everything before it needs to be left alone as that is the portion following the naming convention, after the underscore you can put your own description so that you may identify this symbol easier. #3 There are 2 ways that #2 could be related to project configuration or setup. One, if the parent and child are on different drawings and those two drawings are not part of the same project. Two, if the parent and child are on two different drawings and the option for Real-time coil and contact cross-referencing is not turned on. This option can be found by: pulling up the Project Dialog > selecting the MISC SETTINGS button > under the second section labeled "COMPONENT CROSS-REFERENCING OPTIONS" the first checkbox is the option for "REAL TIME INTER-DRAWING SIGNAL AND CONTACT CROSS-REFERENCING". You will want to check this option and then attempt your coil and cross-reference again. You can also run the CROSS-REFERENCE command to update all of your cross-references project-wide if you find it is needed because this option was turned off. I hope this helps!! -- Regards, Jared Bunch Technical Support Specialist Autodesk, Inc "Nouman" wrote in message news:20878839.1081980968142.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum1... > I have couple of questions regarding Symbol Builingt utility. > > 1. I created my own symbols with default attribute size. I inserted the symbol into my drawing and decided to change the attribute size. > > With new attribute size if i re-insert the symbol in my drawing the size doesn't change. However, if i insert the same symbol into a new drawing it shows the new(changed) attributes. > > 2. I also created some symbol with parent-children cross referencing. Its working perfectly like giving me error if i insert more than pre-defined child contacts. However, on parent symbol, the references are not displayed. Although i have inserted all the required attributes. > > 3. Are these problems related to Project configuration or Symbol creation problems? > > Any help will be highly appreciated > > Regards > Nouman

[#4]

To answer Question 2:

Did you assign the Xref attributes to your parent symbol? If not, see the attached document that shows the dialog boxes of the black box builder You have to open a second dialog box to find the atrribute inserts for Xrefs.

[#5]

Hi Jared,

Thanks for the help. With SWAP Block utility, the first problem is solved.

Regarding second problem my naming convention is different i.e. I changed everything including before "_". In some locations, the cross refercing list is displayed & in some its not. I am remaking my symbols and hope it works.

Thanks
Nouman

[#6]

Thanx Martin,

The problem was with my naming convention, i changed it completely.

Regards,

Nouman

[#7]

i want to create my own set of symbols or add to the predefined Autocad Electrical symbols is there a guide within the program that will help with this problem

[#8]

A good place to start is with the black box builder utility. "rodnrissa" wrote in message news:19776131.1108500428443.JavaMail.jive@jiveforum2.autodesk.com... >i want to create my own set of symbols or add to the predefined Autocad >Electrical symbols is there a guide within the program that will help with >this problem