change jic to iec

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone. ..pls helpe me to change jic to iec in autocad electrical 2014...

[dougmcalexander · Accepted solution]

First be sure that you have one or more of the IEC libraries installed.  Go to Windows Control Panel and select the Programs and Features option.  Select AutoCAD Electrical from the list and click Uninstall/Change.  Click Add/Remove Features.  The first screen will allow you to add or remove manufacturer parts data. The next screen allows you to select or deselect symbol libraries. 

Avoid the IEEE library.  It is not accurate, and even if it was accurate it would be more appropriate for circuit board schematics than for industrial control systems. 

The IEC Legacy library uses the graphical symbols defined in IEC60617, with 1-letter tags (a.k.a. Device ID letters) based on IEC61346.  The IEC60617 library uses the same graphical symbols defined in IEC60617 but with the optional 2-letter tags defined in IEC81346.

One advantage of AutoCAD Electrical over many of its competitors is that you can assign the active symbol library on a per-project basis.  We right-click on the project name in the Project Manager and we assign the schematic library and panel footprint library there.  So I can work on a design for the American market using the NFPA library, yet activate a project for a European customer and the software automatically switches to the IEC libraries I assigned to the European project.  The competitive programs use a global symbol library setting so you would be required to change the active symbol library each time you switch from an American project to a European project and back to the American project again.

Hint 1: If you edit the WD.ENV (design environment) file you can set the libraries you wish to use as defaults.  This way you can right-click on a project, select properties, click on the category Schematic Library, click the button at the right labeled Default, and the software will automatically assign the schematic libraries you prefer to the project.   You can do this for the panel footprint library as well as the menus.   Note that the program searches the library folder list in order when looking for the symbol blocks. 

Hint 2: You could select a JIC menu but assign an IEC library and the software will allow you to click on a familiar JIC icon yet it will insert an IEC equivalent.  The reverse is possible as well.  And you could assign the IEC menu but use the NFPA schematic symbols.  The symbol file names (a.k.a. block names} are the same in all library folders.  This makes the library swap utility possibility.  It just switches the blocks on the drawings for blocks of the same name from a different library folder.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for your help. ..it really wonderful. ..thank you again my friend

[ccad2509]

One advantage of AutoCAD Electrical over many of its competitors is that you can assign the active symbol library on a per-project basis.  We right-click on the project name in the Project Manager and we assign the schematic library and panel footprint library there.  So I can work on a design for the American market using the NFPA library, yet activate a project for a European customer and the software automatically switches to the IEC libraries I assigned to the European project.  The competitive programs use a global symbol library setting so you would be required to change the active symbol library each time you switch from an American project to a European project and back to the American project again.

WRONG ON MULTIPLE LEVELS

the big advantage that Eplan has over Acade is the symbols are mapped across standards so a proximity switch has the same symbol code as an IEC /NFPA/GHSOT etc etc standards and all you need to do to swap all symbols in a project is change the symbol library in the settings and it will switch out all the symbols instantly without the need to do a block swap or modify your settings and change you icon menu file

you can also have up to  19 different symbol libraries all running simultaneously in the same project (20th being a reserved symbol file ) and you can insert any symbol from the normal symbol insertion menu without having to change the equivalent icon menu file settings something Acade can’t do without some nifty customisation

Do your research before you make patently false claims?

[dougmcalexander]

I'm sorry SHMLSUR but you will have to excuse CCAD2509. He has an axe to grind. Some of us are still trying to figure out why he continues to use AutoCAD Electrical when he has such superior software at his disposal.

I know it isn't helpful for a new user of AutoCAD Electrical to be bombarded with commentary that isn't helpful for your question.

I have taught classes in Europe and the South Pacific where the IEC standard is the norm. Some of these people mention that when they try to sell their equipment to North America the customers want ANSI symbols, but they aren't familiar enough with ANSI symbols to be able to choose based upon the appearance of the symbols. Some programs have you select from thumbnails of the symbols so you have to be able to recognize the shape or you have to read a description if available. With AutoCAD Electrical the icons in the icon menu simply map to a block in the assigned library that the icon is programmed to look for. So the icon itself is not what you are inserting. Therefore you can set a project to use an IEC menu to select from icon shapes you recognize, while also directing AutoCAD Electrical to insert the associated block that the icon is mapped to from a different library folder. I teach Americans the above concept but in reverse.

AutoCAD Electrical also has the ability to swap all symbols in a project using automation, in case you have already shipped a panel to a customer and they ask for the drawings to be changed to symbols they recognize. So if I send a panel to Texas and they don't want IEC symbols, I use the Library Swap tool to convert all symbols to the NFPA library, which uses ANSI symbols and NFPA tag letters. Now the interesting thing is that the Texans might not mind that the tag letters aren't American. I have actually had this happen. They just want symbols that they recognize. So when AutoCAD Electrical swaps the symbols it intentionally leaves the tag letters alone. This would save me from flying to Texas to relabel all of the components in the panel. But, if the Texans insist that I also retag the components to match the letters in NFPA-79 Annex-E I can execute the Retag utility project-wide.

AutoCAD Electrical is very flexible when it comes to adapting to local design standards. It is possible because of the forethought of Nate Holt, the original developer of the software.

[ccad2509]

Doug nice to see you haven’t change same long responses with no real answer with shameless self promotion

In your long diatribe I see you didn’t even apologise for not telling the truth (by design or by ignorance)

Anybody who disagrees with your standpoint is either working for some competing company (which I’m not)

Have an axe to grind (no but when you mislead people with your long overly complicated answers and evasions someone needs to put you in your place)

I was just thinking back to some of our last encounters where you abused me and stated that SQL was no good for dwg format and in your opinion all

system that used SQL were fundamentally flawed and prone to failure)

What have you got to say about that now!!!!!!!

FYI I’m back because I’m ripping out an Acade installation and installing Eplan as again ACADE has failed to meet client requirements

[Anonymous]

I have a project built with JIC components and our European customer is asking for certain components to be changed to IEC (Relays, fuses, contactors).  Is it possible to change just those items to IEC or do I have to delete ALL JIC components (wire identifications, ground symbols, switches, etc., etc.) from the whole project?  I updated my schematic library path and schematic Icon Menu File path, but still inserts as JIC.

TLDR; Can you have a mix of JIC and IEC components in the same project?

[dougmcalexander]

There is a utility called Library Swap.  It is available from the Swap/Update Block dialog.  It is in the category labeled Option B.

You can actually set your project menu assignment to JIC or NFPA but set the symbol library path to one of the IEC library folders and the software will insert symbols from the IEC library even though you are selecting from the JIC or NFPA menu.  Note however that the block names are the same for each library folder.  So, if you attempt to insert an IEC symbol block named HCR1, and there is already a HCR1 in the drawing, AutoCAD Electrical will use the block that is already in the drawing.  If the one that is already in the drawing was inserted from the JIC folder, you will get another just like it. This is an old AutoCAD trick.  It is faster to copy a block from RAM then it is to pull it off the hard drive.  You see, the drawing you have open is temporarily in RAM, until you close it.

The easiest way to handle your scenario is by using the Library Swap utility.  Be sure to set the scale to 0.03937.  You can click 1/25.4 and the software will calculate the scale factor for you.  The IEC symbol blocks are sized for metric dimensions, so you need to scale them down to fit your ANSI size drawing environment.  The great thing about the Library Swap utility is that it will handle the scale down process while inserting the IEC symbol blocks.

Hint:  The JIC symbols are outdated.  The JIC has been defunct for decades.  The NFPA symbols are updated.  There are also more symbols in the NFPA library folder that have IEC equivalent symbols.  This helps the Library Swap utility do a better job for you.

[dougmcalexander]

As an addendum to the previous post, I want to mention that the Library Swap utility does not automatically retag the symbols to IEC tag letters.  This is intentional.  If the panel is already built and labeled, you might not wish to relabel all of the components.  Sometimes an IEC customer will accept the North American tag letters, as long as the symbols look familiar to them.  But, in case you have a customer who insists that the tag letters also match the IEC, run the Retag Components utility after you perform the Library Swap.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, although I had to do it slightly differently. My drawing is a mixture of JIC (small stuff like wire labels and cable markers)  and our own library (Relays, Fuses, etc.).  So in this case the relay was named HCR1_DC (from our library) which doesn't match evenly with the standard libraries, so the "Library Swap" option didn't work.  I then tried the "Update a Block" option (Under Swap/Update -> Option B still), I was able to navigate to the IEC library and insert the block I needed.

As for the tagging, I had already went through and re-tagged the components a while ago so we could get correct tags while I got this sorted out.

Thanks again for the quick solution!

[dougmcalexander]

I applaud your ingenuity.  Let me offer a tip.  Any time you wish to use a modified version of an existing symbol, copy the symbol from the AutoCAD Electrical library folder to a folder named Custom Symbols.  Just create this Custom Symbols folder inside of the Libs folder.  Do not change the name of the symbol you copied.  Modify the symbol as desired, but only modify the one in your Custom Symbols folder.  Next, open Project Properties and add the Custom Symbols folder to the top of the schematic symbol library list.  You can leave JIC, or preferably, NFPA, as the second entry in the list.  When you click to insert HCR1 the software will look first for HCR1 inside of the Custom Symbols folder.  This workflow allows you to use a customized symbol that can be swapped to an IEC equivalent.  And, once you use Library Swap, you simply run the Retag Components utility project-wide and the software will convert the tags to IEC tag letters for you.

Hint: Add the Custom Symbols folder to the schematic library path statement in the WD.ENV file and you can use the Default button in Project Properties schematic library assignment to auto-assign the library paths in order.