What is the difference between symbol and block in AutoCAD electrical?
Accepted solution
For the most part -- and take that with a big grain of salt because so many people do things so differently in this software:
'Block' is mostly an AutoCAD term, although it has seeped its way into the drafting world to become an almost generic noun. In the region where I live, people often say 'coke' as a generic word for soda...it's sort of the same thing with blocks. All a block is, is a collection of graphics. When there is something that you need a whole lot, making a block means you only have to draw it once. Many people keep their own library of the blocks they draw over the course of their careers. ACADE comes with most of the blocks you need already set up in predefined symbol libraries.
'Symbol' is not really an ACADE term, so much as it is an industry term. That one word can encompass not just schematic components, but also bits of notation that aren't components. For example, on a BOM drawing that uses balloons to label the parts, the balloon itself can be thought of as a symbol. But it's definitely not a component.
Within the framework of ACADE, however, you can take 'component' to mean any device on the machine or system you are designing. Anything from a control relay to a brake resistor to a pneumatic valve can be thought of as a component. These components are depicted in your schematic, using symbols from the library.
Things change a little bit once you move on the the panel layout drawings. Here, we have representations of the components we drew in the schematic, but these aren't called symbols; they're 'footprints'. 'Footprint' is also a generic term, and it refers to the amount of physical space a component takes up in the panel. In its most basic form, a footprint is simply a rectangle drawn to the correct size of the component it represents. It doesn't have to include any graphics beyond that. However, most panel drawings that I've seen tend to have a lot more detail.
Note that footprints, while not the same thing as a schematic symbols, are still blocks.
This software will maintain a link between a component's schematic representation and its footprint. This, and almost all other intelligence that is part of ACADE, is accomplished by the presence of certain things inside the blocks. So it is very important to use what comes with ACADE, or to learn how to build the blocks yourself.
Hope this helps,
Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician
'Block' is mostly an AutoCAD term, although it has seeped its way into the drafting world to become an almost generic noun. In the region where I live, people often say 'coke' as a generic word for soda...it's sort of the same thing with blocks. All a block is, is a collection of graphics. When there is something that you need a whole lot, making a block means you only have to draw it once. Many people keep their own library of the blocks they draw over the course of their careers. ACADE comes with most of the blocks you need already set up in predefined symbol libraries.
'Symbol' is not really an ACADE term, so much as it is an industry term. That one word can encompass not just schematic components, but also bits of notation that aren't components. For example, on a BOM drawing that uses balloons to label the parts, the balloon itself can be thought of as a symbol. But it's definitely not a component.
Within the framework of ACADE, however, you can take 'component' to mean any device on the machine or system you are designing. Anything from a control relay to a brake resistor to a pneumatic valve can be thought of as a component. These components are depicted in your schematic, using symbols from the library.
Things change a little bit once you move on the the panel layout drawings. Here, we have representations of the components we drew in the schematic, but these aren't called symbols; they're 'footprints'. 'Footprint' is also a generic term, and it refers to the amount of physical space a component takes up in the panel. In its most basic form, a footprint is simply a rectangle drawn to the correct size of the component it represents. It doesn't have to include any graphics beyond that. However, most panel drawings that I've seen tend to have a lot more detail.
Note that footprints, while not the same thing as a schematic symbols, are still blocks.
This software will maintain a link between a component's schematic representation and its footprint. This, and almost all other intelligence that is part of ACADE, is accomplished by the presence of certain things inside the blocks. So it is very important to use what comes with ACADE, or to learn how to build the blocks yourself.
Hope this helps,
Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician