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AutoCAD to AutoCAD Electrical

42 REPLIES 42
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Message 1 of 43
Justin2012
1265 Views, 42 Replies

AutoCAD to AutoCAD Electrical

My company will be transfering from AutoCAD to AutoCAD Electrical.

 

We currently have over 1000 part #s with their respective MFG & CAT that I will like to incorporate. Can someone tell me the best approach to transition these part #s from AutoCAD Electrical?

 

Your response is highly Appreciated.

 

Justin

42 REPLIES 42
Message 21 of 43
algerj
in reply to: algerj

I love auto correct... and spell check sure didn't pick it up... ok so. 

 

"I secondary catalog can have any name but you have to specify it in the project."

 

A Secondary Catalog can have any name, but it must be set within the project.

 

~James

Message 22 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: Justin2012

Thanks for all the help!

Message 23 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

I changed the user field to our internal part number and accidentally move it location . Do you think it will messed everything?

 

I am stuck here - When I insert a component from a secondary catalog the user field which I changed to include our part number doesn't show up . This is really holding me up and I don't want to type everything again. Please let me know what I ma doing wrong?

 

Thanks,,

Message 24 of 43
algerj
in reply to: Justin2012

Hi Justin,

 

If you moved the column back to its original location and run a database repair you should be ok.

 

As for the secondary catalog issue, you should see the catalog data in your Bill of Material report.

You will have to add the field to the report but it should display information that is stored there.

 

Just so I know, did you store the Part Numbers in the secondary or the primary catalog?

 

Regards,

 

James Alger

SolidCAD

Message 25 of 43
testsubject
in reply to: Justin2012

Unfortunately, it does mess everything up.  😉

 

The left to right order of the fields in the database cannot be changed. I would also not change the name of any of the fields. You can change the order and column names in the report though with no problems.



Bob Hanrahan
Ace User since 1998
If this answered your question, please click on "Accept Solution"
Message 26 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

If you moved the column back to its original location and run a database repair you should be ok.

How do I repair the database and should I repair both the default and secondary? 

 

As for the secondary catalog issue, you should see the catalog data in your Bill of Material report.

I see the MFG and CAT but its missing our company part number and description (i.e I changed the user1 field to our company name) . This information is also missing in the enhanced attribute editor..what am I doing wrong here?

 

You will have to add the field to the report but it should display information that is stored there.

You mean add our part number field or all the field in the secondary catalog.

 

Just so I know, did you store the Part Numbers in the secondary or the primary catalog?

I stored the part numbers in the secondary catalog

 

To add to this, when I am in the secondary catalog and select a component, the "OK" is greyed out. I have to double click on it before it populate.

 

Thanks.

Message 27 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: testsubject

I used microsoft access and changed the user 1 field name to our company name and also move it to the left toward the MFG. Is that a problem?

 

Message 28 of 43
algerj
in reply to: Justin2012

Hi Justin,

 

The name change on the column was ok.

Thats why the user fields are there, but you never move them.

Leave user1 (now Justin's Partnumber)  in its original location.

( in your case you need to move it back beside  AssemblyQuantity, in fact all user fields should be between Assembly Quantity and Textvalue)

 

Repiaring the database is easy, the hard part is find the repair command in the version of MS Access your using.

I currently have Office 2007 on my machine and I can tell you the location of the repair feature.

 

Application Menu (the windows symbol in top left corner) > Manage > Compact and Repair Database

 

 

"This information is also missing in the enhanced attribute editor..what am I doing wrong here?"

 

Well unless you added an attribute to your components with "user1" you will not see this information until a report is created. You will not see it on the component. 

The Part number is stored in the project Scratch Database, along with any other descriptions that are for the Bill of Material.

 

 

"You mean add our part number field or all the field in the secondary catalog."

 

Nope its already in the catalog, you need to pull the information from the Catalog into a report.

if you go to Reports > Schematic > Reports, start a BOM Report

 

you can change how its sorted, spacing and "Change Report Format".

If you change the report format, select User1 (It may or maynot have your part number name, its doesn't matter)

User1 has your information, which will show up in the report aslong as there was something in Catalog for that component.

 

ie. component 1234 has an entry in user1 lets say "xyz" when you run the report on componet 1234 you will see xyz in the user1 column in the report.

 

 

"To add to this, when I am in the secondary catalog and select a component, the "OK" is greyed out. I have to double click on it before it populate."

 

That's normal, you have to select the part before the ok option is available... even if you type the catalog number in then click on lookup it will still make you select it (most times).

I generally tell people to use the lookup only (for newer users), yes it has to sort them, but then you know when you select a component that it will be the one you wanted.

You can speed up the look up process by changing the default filters.

 

Anyway I hope this helps,

 

Regards,

 

James Alger

SolidCAD

 

Message 29 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

Even when I select the part the OK is still greyed out. I have to double click to get it.

I added our part  number to the user1 field but it does not populate to the enhance attribute editor. What is the issue here or is it that this field is just for reports/BOM?

 

Thank you.

Message 30 of 43
algerj
in reply to: algerj

Hi Justin,

 

As I meantioned before, the user1 field is not exposed except by reports. (by Default)

If you look at your component it wiil not have a "user1" attribute showing (because there isn't one).

You could add this to your components, but it is something that is normally left for the reports.

There are some things that are only intended to be used in a report, things like voltage, type, misc1, misc2.

The User1, User2, and User3 fields are used in reports, I would just use them that way right now unless you really need them to be changed on the fly for each component.

 

Regards,

 

James Alger

SolidCAD

Message 31 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

OK, I will do it as mentioned. Thanks.

I liked the screenshot you sent about adding this part  numbers. Do you have something similar (or any reference) about building circuits and PLC from a spreadsheet?

 

Thanks again

Message 32 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

Excuse my many questions but I am geting a hand of it - I currently have a report running BUT some components will  not show MY PART NUMBER in the report unless I add the .wda file. Why will some components only show when a .wda file is added and others don't? Thanks again... 

Message 33 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: Justin2012

Please any guidance on the below question...I am still waiting,

 

Excuse my many questions but I am geting a hand of it - I currently have a report running BUT some components will  not show MY PART NUMBER in the report unless I add the .wda file. Why will some components only show when a .wda file is added and others don't? Thanks again...

Message 34 of 43
algerj
in reply to: Justin2012

Hi Justin,

 

I don't have anything created for the circuit builder; I'll have to look in to creating something for that.

The PLC utility isn't too hard to use, just make sure you have a csv file from your plc.

You can run the csv file (PLC descriptions file) through the "RSLOGIX500" command which converts the descriptions file into an excel spreadsheet that you can populate with additional addresses / component information.

 

The last thing you asked was:

"Excuse my many questions but I am geting a hand of it - I currently have a report running BUT
some components will not show MY PART NUMBER in the report unless I add
the .wda file. Why will some components only show when a .wda file is added and
others don't?"

 

I'm not sure why some of the components require the wda file to be present.

Does the problem occur with panel based components or with the schematic components?

Note: You would require the WDA file for other reports, user 1 field would only be exposed in the BOM report.

 

Regards,

James Alger

SolidCAD

Message 35 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

The problem is just with the schematic components. Will it be a porblem if a CAT data is located at both the default and secondary catalog database? 

Message 36 of 43
algerj
in reply to: Justin2012

Hi Justin,

 

It pulls the information form the main catalog into the scratch database (which generates the reports).

Before it can store the information in the scratch database, it has to choose which source its pulling its information from. (Primary [aka default] or the secondary catalog)

If the Catalog Number shows up in both of the catalogs it could be a problem. ( they might fight each other for ownership of the component information) 

 

That said, In most cases it pulls out the information from the catalog you selected.

 

Occasional when you select the secondary catalog it pulls from the Primary catalog instead of the secondary (and visa-versa, which is very rare) when the primary and secondary catalog share the same catalog number.

I would say 99.99% when there is a conflict that the primary catalog wins and passes its data in.

 

If I remember correctly your catalog, the one with your part numbers, was the secondary one.

Is that right? or was your the primary catalog

 

Normally the best thing to do is to make your catalog the primary catalog and set the default catalog as the secondary.

or

Copy and paste your company part numbers into the other catalog.

 

I hope that helps,

 

Regards,

 

James Alger

SolidCAD

 

Message 37 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

OK. I think the problem was because I have the same catalog  data on both the default and the seconadary so the default wins. How can I access the scratch database? 

Yes, the one with my part numbers is the secondary.

How can I make my catalog the primary and the default the secondary?

 

Thank you.

Message 38 of 43
algerj
in reply to: Justin2012

Hi Justin,

 

you can find the Scratch database in :

 

C:\Users\ <User Name> \AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD Electrical 20xx\Rxx.x\enu\Support\User

 

The scratch database has the same name as the project.

 

To change the Secondary to the primary you have to rename the secondary catalog to "Default_cat.mdb" , but make sure you rename the original database (Default_cat-1, or something like that) before you change the name of the secondary one. Otherwise you will lose the original database and you will have to get it from another machine.

 

Regards,

 

James Alger

SolidCAD

Message 39 of 43
algerj
in reply to: algerj

Before i forget to mention it.

 

The Scratch database is an MDB file just like the catalogs.

(incase you find other files with the project name in the same location.)

 

James

Message 40 of 43
Justin2012
in reply to: algerj

Thanks. What do I need to do to the scratch database ? Or I guess my question is, whats the use/function or help of  this database?

 

Apprecaite it.

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