Location of file for PLC database

[CarlMarcotte3044]

Hello,

Im trying to find the location of the file containing the information that is in setting dialog box of the PLC database file editor.

Thanks

[electricman1]

Open the PLC Database File Editor, the filename and extension will be shown on the upper section.

[CarlMarcotte3044]

Hi,

   Its not the information of the PLC database  file editor, its the one for the terminal block setting has show in the below image.

Thanks for your help

[NW299]

Hello,

Did you find the location for these files under the settings tab?

Thanks

[Icemanau]

OK, ACADE uses discrete blocks to build the PLC module on the go. These blocks are located in the same directory that is used for all your normal blocks.

If you look at the Terminal Block Settings dialog, the first column gives you the file name for each block used.

As you select the different styles, you can see the file names change in response. The only change being the third character which indicates what style has been selected.

Now the first 5 styles come premade with styles 6-9 being for the users to populate if a non standard style is required.

If you want to create a PLC style, copy the blocks for the style that comes closest to what you require, to a separate location.

Rename all the block files (both Horizontal and Vertical) to suit the new style you are creating (in other words change the third character to a number between 6-9 which matches the new style number).

It's recommended that you NOT overwrite or change the original blocks as that could cause problems with style differences later on.

Once you have renamed all the blocks, go through and modify them to what you actually need.

Next, when all the blocks have been changed to suit your new style, Copy them back to the same location as the original files.

Finally, you need to go to either the Project settings -> Style tab or the Dwg Settings -> Styles tab and select the new style. If it's a new project, go with the project settings and make sure to apply the new settings to each dwg you add or create. If it's an older project, you can either just change the settings on those dwgs which already have a PLC module or change the settings on the project and do a settings compare/update via the project manager for each dwg.

One thing to note, to update a PLC module already existing in the dwg, you need to delete the module, purge the unused blocks from the dwg and then re-insert the block. If you don't do this, then you will still get the original style modules being inserted.

Regards Brad

[NW299]

Hey Brad

Thanks for the response.

We already have the new styles made. and these blocks are on a network location for which the PLC editor is currently mapped to. But the issue is the settings is not stored with these files. so no one else in our team can use these edited blocks to build PLCs as the settings are stored somewhere on the local PC, I assume. We are planning to share the PLC settings via network. Are these settings stored in like an MDB file somewhere?

Thanks

[CarlMarcotte3044]

Hello,

  I did find the location of the file with all the setting of the PLC terminal block. Like i said before, its not the dwg file that i need the location but the file containing the information that link the dwg file to the way it will be insert in the drawing. 

  Here the name of the file that can be open with notepad : wdmbblks.bsf.

  The location of the file should be : C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD Electrical 201x\Rxx\enu\Support

  The reason that i need that was to be able to backup the file in case of hard drive failure and that i would not have to rebuild my PLC terminal listing again.

regard

[testsubject]

All the settings are stored in ACE_PLC.mdb which is located in the AEDATA folder. You need to move this to your network folder so that everyone can access it.

By default it is stored in C:\users\{username}\Documents\Acade 2019\AeData\en-US\plc (this is for ACE 2019; it is slightly different for earlier releases)

[NW299]

Hello

I wouldn't have found that file even if I took a year. Lol.

Thanks for the location. one quick question though. Is there a way I can make this file as primary? I want to share this file on a network path and have autocad address this file before the default one in the location you mentioned.

If I copy this file into the shared drive and rename the original, it works. but I would prefer doing this without having to change the original file name.

Thanks

[testsubject]

I would recommend following the info on this link:

http://www.ecadconsultant.com/tips.html#Networking

It details how to setup a network configuration for use with AutoCAD Electrical.

[NW299]

Hello Bob,

That looks like a very informative link.

Thanks for sharing. Will go through it.