topic Re: Converting Existing Symbols in AutoCAD Electrical Forum

Converting Existing Symbols

jallenDBQ7U — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 16:06:22 GMT

Is there a shortcut for creating a new symbol from an existing symbol on a drawing?

If you open a drawing completed by a different person you might find symbols (or blocks) in use that you want to put into your library. The symbol label they used might be a conflict with an existing symbol file name you have in your library or they may not even be using "built-in" icon menu file naming for their symbols.

How do you approach this to do it the quickest way? I usually copy it to the clipboard and paste it into a blank drawing. I then explode it and then make sure it has all attributes, etc. before creating a new symbol with symbol builder. Are there any shortcuts for this? When I right-click on a symbol in a drawing I see no ability to export it.

Unfortunately I work at a place where we have numerous engineers doing things different ways. We also have a lot of drawings with different amounts of AutoCAD Electrical in use.

Re: Converting Existing Symbols

jseefdrumr — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 17:08:20 GMT

I really hate it for you, this is one of the worst possible working environments for an ACADE user. There's no easy solution here because of that.

Really, I think it might pay off for you to take a really deep dive into the Symbol Builder and become familiar with its inner workings. IMHO this will be the best all-around solution for you. And I say that reluctantly, because I don't use it. I feel like it's a little heavy for my needs and gets in the way as much as it helps. But that's because I create my symbols either from scratch or by modifying an existing one. At this point I know what needs to be in there and what doesn't, and I just do it on my own. For me, that's fastest.

For you, though, that's NOT the case. Unfortunately. So I think your best path is to start a symbol library for yourself where you keep all these critters. Maybe even organize it by the engineer, lol. How to integrate it into your existing library and/or Icon Menu is up to you.

Creating that library would happen slowly, over time, on a symbol-by-symbol basis. As you come across each one, here's what you'd need to do:

1. Start out by saving the original block, as it exists in the drawing, in your new library location.

2. Open Symbol Builder. Use it to ensure your block goes to the proper family and has all needed attributes. It can also convert text into attributes. Give it a proper insertion point, etc. There's an audit feature too, but be aware that it flags all kinds of things as errors that aren't necessarily errors - it depends on the block and how you're going to use it.

3. Use the Swap/Update Block tool to get this new block definition into your existing drawing.

What really sucks here is that you'll be doing that all the time. But, as you re-encounter the blocks you've already fixed, it's a matter of simply using Swap/Update Block to bring in ACADE version of that engineer's symbol. There might even be some instances where you can just edit the blocks they use, if they keep them on a server you can access. Or, overwrite theirs with yours. But, that could cause tension between you and them. In my experience, engineers do things we hate because it happens to be a way that's familiar or easy to them. Most often, I have to just let them be and fix stuff on my own in the background. And when it all comes down to it, yeah I'm doing more work so they can do less, but the reality is, that's good for me and the company. I get more hours and more money, and the company saved a little bit of money by not paying the engineer big dollars to do something a technician or drafter can do more cheaply.

Still, I don't envy your position. At all. Let us know what more we can do to help.

Re: Converting Existing Symbols

jallenDBQ7U — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 19:22:46 GMT

Our standard is that we have no standard. lol. My previous project used almost all features in AutoCAD Electrical. I am now working on a project where only a portion of AE is used. We are using an older similar project to create a new project.

I am extremely comfortable with all the requirements for manually creating a symbol, but I need to create myself some templates based on horizontal versus vertical, left versus right, and spacing to make the process fast. I can currently do it quicker in Symbol Builder since it will get the terminal labels done faster and audit problems when I try to convert somebody else's work.

Here is an example of attempting to use Symbol Builder to convert work by someone else to save time. It looks like all of the required attributes might be there, but Symbol Builder doesn't recognize any of the wire connection terminals because they have an additional character in the attributes.

Re: Converting Existing Symbols

jseefdrumr — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 19:48:04 GMT

You might be able to use the Find/Replace functions to mass-edit the wire connection attributes. Especially in blocks like the one in your screenshot. It would suck to do all those individually.

Re: Converting Existing Symbols

jallenDBQ7U — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 20:26:10 GMT

Where do I find the Find and Replace command you are talking about? I found several Find & Replace commands but none seem to work for Attribute name. The toolbar for Attribute Edits has no Find & Replace option.

Re: Converting Existing Symbols

rhesusminus — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 00:13:11 GMT

Just a couple of tips, if you're not aware of them.

1. You can use the RENAME command in AutoCAD Electrical to rename blocks, if other users haven't been using the correct naming scheme.

2. You can edit a symbol in the symbol builder directly. In the first dialog that appears, select the correct block name (maybe the renamed version?) from the drop-down list. If it's correctly built, you can now easily save it to your symbol library from there.

Re: Converting Existing Symbols

jallenDBQ7U — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 13:08:25 GMT

This is what I have been doing once I got enough time to get it organized. Symbol Builder works fairly decent, but maybe it needs an attribute spell checker. lol. A large number of the symbols I obtain for use are on an existing drawing, but not in a symbol file or wblock.

We also get a few drawings from customers for situations where we must match their current drawing style and/or utilize existing equipment as well. This is what causes most of our Standards issues.