Controlling Scale of Conduit Markers on Placement Acad-e 2010

[Anonymous]

I have a problem. In two different schematics the Conduit Marker comes in at two different scales. On both schematics, Feature insertion scale is set to 2.0 - both drawing and project. Panel insertion scale is 1.0 in both schematics. I know of nowhere else insert scale is set, and all the other properties of the schematics appear to match.

In one schematic, a Conduit Marker is placed (correctly) at twice scale and the text then matches the text in the schematic. On the other schematic, the Conduit marker comes in at a scale of 1:1, and the text is half the size of everything else on the page. (Really hard to read) Everything else comes in at the proper scale. Just the Conduit marker is wrong. This seems to happen the same on all sheets of both schematics.

Can anyone else see what I'm missing?

Thank you for your help.

[dougmcalexander]

The conduit marker is created from a series of symbol blocks named WWAYL (leader from left), WWAYR (leader from right), WWAYT (leader from top), and WWAYB (leader from bottom).  You can modify the size of the balloon, the text height, and text width to suit your preferences.  Note: The feature scale multiplier affects all symbols and should be used to gently nudge the library symbols to a slightly large or smaller size to fit your drawing environment.  If you change the feature scale multiplier all symbols will be affected relative to one another.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

In researching something else, I tumbled on the solution:

In the Ribbon bar, go to Panel > Conduit Tools > Insert Marker.

In the command line - type "S" (Setup) <RET>

Change insert scale to desired value.

Scott

[dougmcalexander]

Hi Scott!  Just be aware that the scale factor defined in Setup only applies to the active session of Electrical. Once you exit and restart Electrical the scale factor defaults back to 1.00.  For a permanent size change it is best to edit the four conduit marker block files in the symbol library, namely wwayl.dwg, wwayr.dwg, wwayt.dwg, and wwayb.dwg.  The default 1.00 scale factor will then give you the size you prefer with every session of Electrical.

Hint: For those of you experimenting with conduit markers who may read this post later, be sure to Select Objects after you position the conduit marker.  This automatically adds the wires for the panel footprints you select to the conduit.  You can add them later by editing the conduit marker and clicking on "Pick Devices" or "Add Wires from List", but why not select them at the same time you insert the marker, so you don't need to edit later?

[Anonymous]

Thanks Doug. I was not aware of that.

Pity there is not a permanent setting for Panel & Conduit Marker insert scale like there is for schematic insert scale (through drawing properties).

Do you know why?

[dougmcalexander]

Are you referring to the Feature Scale Multiplier?  That should not be used for gross changes of scale.  That is for a gentle nudge up or down. If I have to change that much more than 1.3 or 0.7 I modify the entire symbol library with the Modify Symbol Library utility. The FSM can adversely affect the wire trap distance if you go too far with it.

[Anonymous]

Doug:

Yes, I am referring to FSM. We use an FSM of 2 due to the size of the company std D/A1 title block vs the size of the 1:1 IEC symbols & text. We weren't aware of the Symbol Library Utility, so we left the std symbols alone.

It would be nice to be able to preset the multiplier for panel footprints as (at least we) do not often draw sheets at 1:1. Especially as we use metric sheets. Again, was there a reason for not being able to?

[dougmcalexander]

There are scale factor fields on the Insert Component menu that allow you to scale the symbols on insert.  This is also how the competitors handle this.  But Electrical has the Modify Symbol Library utility which I prefer as a long term solution.  I have an IEC library completely scaled from metric to English so I can use IEC symbols on ANSI paper sizes without scaling.  The FSM affects such things as node dots, angled wire symbols, and even angled wires that are inserted when you start a second wire from a component that already has a wire.  When we are setting up our intelligent drawing template on day one of my class we encounter the FSM field in Drawing Properties. I always stress that the FSM should only be used for a gentle nudge up or down, nothing more.

[PatMurnen_Adsk]

It looks like there might be a global variable that can be set in the wd.env file that would preset this scale each session. You can add this line to the wd.env file

SETQ:GBL_wd_conduit_scl,2.0, conduit marker scale

where the 2.0 is the scale you want to preset.

These global variables are used by the developers and are usually not documented for the end user as they can change without notice. So you would need to test this with any new release.

[Anonymous]

Cool. That works. Thanks Pat!

Though interestingly, once I remove that line, the conduit insert scale stays set to 2.0. (You can see it in the setup dialog box that pops up when you type 'S' right after starting the conduit marker insert tool. That conduit setup must be project-wide settings?)

Scott

[PatMurnen_Adsk]

If you remove the line and exit and re-enter AutoCAD Electrical I think it would revert back to 1.0. Once you set it in the dialog it is remembered for that AcadE session, meaning until you exit AcadE altogether. Adding the line to the wd.env basically just makes AcadE think you set it to 2.0 in the dialog already.

[Anonymous]

Except it's not working that way.

What I did was enter my project, start the insert marker command, go into conduit setup and change the insert scale to 1.0. Then confirmed that the markers came in at 1.0 on all of the sheets in my test project. Exited Acad-e.

Then I added the SETQ line, went back into my project, and confirmed the insert scale was now 2.0. Slick. Exited acad-e.

When I started Acad-e back up again, the conduit insert scale was still 2.0. I confirmed the line was no longer in the wd.env file. The scale just sticks. It does not revert back. Whatever value I set will stay until I go back in and change it myself.

No that's wrong. What it seems to do is revert back to the scale the LAST conduit marker was placed at. So I have existing conduit markers already placed at 2.0. If I change the insert scale to 1.0 without placing a marker at that scale, the next time I come back in the insert scale reverts to 2.0. If I place a marker at a scale of 1.67 and leave it there, the next time I start the program, the insert scale will be 1.67. If I then DELETE the marker placed at 1.67, the next time I enter Acad-e, the marker scale is 2.0. If I go to another project with no conduit markers, it is set to 1.0.

I am running Acad-e 2010, Update #1.

[PatMurnen_Adsk]

Ok. So there must be some code in there that checks for existing conduit markers to try and use the same scale as already used. So what you describe makes sense. So if you leave the line in the wd.env then it will ensure that it is always 2.0 on projects/drawings without any markers yet.