Need help? Have a great idea?

[Anonymous]

The AutoCAD Electrical Design Support Systems (DSS) team would like your feedback! Based on user comments, DSS enhanced the AutoCAD Electrical 2006 print and online content by adding:

-- Help for advanced workflows
-- More procedure topics for basic AutoCAD Electrical commands
-- Circuitry and report chapters to our Getting Started Guide
-- The ability to print all or portions of the Help system
-- The Launchpad for finding the AutoCAD Electrical information you need such as FAQs, a link to the newsgroup, and What's New information.

We want to address user needs by finding out what additional changes to the Help and Getting Started Guide would make the most impact for you. For example:

-- Are there particular areas of functionality you'd like to see covered in Help?

-- Are there workflows or procedures that you would like more advanced Help on?

-- Are there areas that you'd like the Getting Started Guide to address?

-- What did you find useful in the old VIA tutorial that you'd like to see in the Help or Getting Started Guide?

With your feedback, please provide your user level: beginner, intermediate, advanced.

We look forward to hearing what you'd like to see in AutoCAD Electrical 2007 and beyond!

Thanks,
Heather Schwartz
Autodesk/AutoCAD Electrical DSS

[Anonymous]

Heather: Would like to see more documentation covering Terminal Strip editor and TS Generator. Went through my local vendors 2 day training and found it to be VERY basic.....so any added, clear, concise instructions for the basic user will be extremely helpful.

Thanks
Marty

[uncoolperson]

Short of going open source, just include Anything, everything, and whatever else....or atleast what you can.

for some of us, we need to either rewrite things, or create our own and it just isn't a good time, well it is a good time just could be easier.

[Heather S \(Autodesk\)]

The "Integraged Design Support System" IS the Help system. Our team is called the Design Support Systems team and we refer to the Help as such.

You can access the Help by:
- selecting Help > Electrical Help from the menu.
- pressing the F1 key when you are running a command
- pressing the Help button on an AutoCAD Electrical dialog box.

Thank you,
Heather Schwartz
Autodesk/AutoCAD Electrical DSS

[Heather S \(Autodesk\)]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for pointing this out - I'll make the update. The WDBLKNAM is the schematic block name (used for catalog lookup - i.e. PB11, CR) of the catalog record.

I'm glad that you are getting more comfortable with the Help system. I'm currently working on updates that I think people will be happy with in future releases of ACE. As always, please let me know if you have any more questions or comments regarding the Help.

Hope this helps!
Heather Schwartz
Autodesk/AutoCAD Electrical DSS

[Heather S \(Autodesk\)]

Hi Marty,

Thank you for your feedback. I'll add this to the wishlist for the Help. As always, if you have any more suggestions/questions/comments, feel free to post them here.

Thanks,
Heather Schwartz
Autodesk/AutoCAD Electrical DSS

[DKLeeUS]

I would like to see a tutorial on how to make a new device; for example, a power supply, throughout the *entire* process. Autodesk has the definitions for tools, etc but generally lacks how to use the tools.

First explain the BBB for a symbol with explanations for things like wdblknam, families, strategies, etc. Now the device needs to be added into the default_cat. Create footprint record in the database and lastly create the footprint file itself with Panel BBB.

Even though I'm pretty fast at the process now I was always frustrated when I looked in help on how to do a task and closed help dialog box wanting more. When everything is done correctly you realize just how great this product is and how much time it can save. Getting to that point is frustrating.

[cawaugh]

From the help file (see bmp):

"Graphics Style
Specifies the graphical appearance of the PLC module. Styles 1-5 are predefined, styles 6-9 may be user-defined. Select a style number - a sample portion of a PLC module displays.
There are about two dozen symbols (with a file name "HP?*.dwg" where "?" is the style number) associated with each style in the \Program Files\Autodesk\Acade\libs\jic1 subdirectory. To create a new style, copy an existing style's symbols to one of the unused style numbers (6-9) and edit each library symbol."

The only way that I know to access the symbols i've created using the above method is to edit the wdbb.dcl file to show them. Find and then edit the following line below (this example is what we changed our's to):

list="0=None (wire conn only)\n1=Screw\n2=Small screw\n3=Circle\n4=Circle, num inside\n5=Square, num inside\n6=Large Connector\n7=Small Connector\n8=\n9=";

Hope this helps. I do not believe they have a wizard for this.

[Anonymous]

How about an online parts library? Contributions accepted by all?

[jmburge]

Heather,
In another thread, there was mention of the ACE 2006 schematic to panel insert list and how it was different than 2005. The issue I am faced with is that I have components shown on the schematics that have multiple catalog items that I need to inserted on the panel layout. In ACE 2005, these multiple catalog items would show up on the schematic to panel insert list, but in ACE 2006 they do not. Is there another way I could get these multiple catalog items on the list? The attachment shows a list from ACE 2005.