Panel Footprint from catalogue not found in file paths

[bkehn]

Good afternoon ACAD E,

I have what I think is a simple issue. I can navigate the footprint catalog browser and insert a CR from the table onto my panel. 

Then, I try to insert a FP from the schematic list which is not yet associated with a footprint block. When prompted I select Option 3, "Pick" and then select the FP on my panel which is similar in size to the one I want to now insert.

In this example, the existing FP block name is "ABCRC340". I get an error message that "ABCRC340.dwg" is not found. And it lists the 20 different paths that it searched in. Why couldn't AutoCAD find the FP if it exists in the catalog browser? It clearly exists somewhere, but I don't understand how to point to it. 

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[chenj · Accepted solution]

Hi，You can try the following steps：

1.Select "Panel">"Footprint Database Editor"

2. Click "Edit Existing Table"(If the manufacturer table already exists) or "Create New Table"(If the manufacturer table does not exist).

3. In this example, select "Edit Existing Table", and then select "AB".

4. As shown in the following figure, you can add, delete and edit records.

5. Enter the Catalog Number and select "Browse" to find the path where the panel symbol block is located.

Note: The Catalog Number may contain wildcards. Wildcard characters include：

  *——match any characters

  ？——match any single character

  #——match any single numeric digit

  @——match any single alphabetic character

6. Finally, you can insert a panel symbol block file from the schematic list.

[rhesusminus]

So, the file ABCRC340.dwg does not exist in any of the 20 paths searched. Where IS it located? You don't write anything about this...

[bkehn]

Thanks Chenj. That is a good step by step explanation of how to edit a db if I had possession of a .dwg that I wanted to use. In this case I'm more confused about finding where a dwg is coming from. 

[bkehn]

Thanks Rhesusminus. I was actually under the impression that the catalog browser was a giant database of parts that all had footprints already imported and stored in Autocad's file structure on my C drive somehow. But the more I look into this, the more I doubt that that is the case. So I probably need to close this thread and keep learning about the SW. 

But here's another set of screen shots/error messages. I tried to duplicate my procedure this morning: 

1.) On the schematic tab, I selected insert from catalog browser and when I hover over the symbol it shows that there's no symbol associated with this item. 

So it directs me to this screen where I select my familiar "Coil" symbol. 

Then I get this error message which I don't understand. 

I move to a panel dwg, and insert FP from schematic list

Here is my block and it's name. But like I said before, I have no idea what the path is for this block. Maybe it doesn't matter. 

-BK

[PeytonHarriss]

@bkehn 

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Autodesk\(Your version of Autocad)\Libs\panel

Make sure you have footprint libraries in the path above.

[Icemanau]

To specify which libraries to use, go to the Project Properties and in the first tab, set them to look at the appropriate directories.

ACADE will search the libraries in the listed order for a dwg file matching the name of the part you are trying to insert. This includes footprints in either the Panel or Panel_mm libraries.

Side note - each schematic library has essentially the same files but with different scaling/attributes depending on the library selected. These are based on the various common dwg standards.

Regards Brad

[bkehn]

Thanks Icemanau, 

I wonder if I could have the wrong paths listed in the project settings. Can they search subfolders? 

For example, this is the paths list from my project settings. 

But my actual C drive directory looks like this, with sub folders for AB, ABB, etc. (Then inside "AB" is another large set of subfolders before the .dwg files are found. )

[PeytonHarriss]

For some of these entries, you'll want to change the manufacturer to AB instead of Allen Bradley unless you have a special folder for Allen Bradley that has that MFG tag associated with it.  

you might want to go to your schematic and do a catalog check to see if your symbol is being associated to the right part of you database.