There needs to be an update to the Terminal Properties database.   Most terminals have the same number of connections on each side but with push in Spring/Tension Clamp terminals there is a growing trend to have two connections on one side and one on the other.   For Example... This is a Weidmuller 794742000 ZDU 6/3 AN BL terminal. As can be seen in the photo, one side has 1 connection while the other side has 2.   There are many brands and variations on this type of terminal which ACADE needs to keep up with.   The most urgent need at this stage would be to change the Terminal Properties database so that we can set individual connection numbers per side rather than having the one value do both sides.   Regards Brad   Show More

Currently, when two Parent components are linked as PEER components, only Descriptions, Catalog Values, Installation/Location and Ratings are updated between components when changes are made. I request that custom attributes be included as attributes that get updated when changes are made to them. Or, any change made to a component, be updated in all PEER components.   Thank you Show More

Hi Guys After you have completed your source and destiantion arrow, if you change the source wire type it does not update the destination wire type.   it would be really nice if we didnt have to manually change the destination to match the source if the wre type changes   Thanks Ian Show More

I have a lisp routone for this but I think AutoCAD Electrical should be able to handle this without a custom lisp.  When a relay, motor starter, etc. is edited and assigned a new part number, the software pops up a reminder to check all contacts and edit their pin assignments.  I think AutoCAD Electrical should offer to automatically update the pin assignments to child contacts to match the new pin list assigned to the parent.  Just reassign the pins in the same order that they were assigned previously, or go by drawing order.  And why limit this to relays and motor starters?  Offer to change pin assignments for child devices related to any type of parent, such as a disconnect switch and its child contacts, or a circuit breaker and its children.  Any time a parent device is loaded with a new and different pin list, offer to automatically update the child contacts from this new pin list. Show More

Some of us use our laptop both at the office and when traveling.  We have the AeData folder copied to the network and the network path is added to the top of the Support File Search Path.  But we still have to rename the local AeData folder or AutoCAD Electrical will continue to use it.  Please force the software to check the Support File Search Path first, before using to the local AeData folder.  Then we don't have to rename it.    Another issue is that we must adjust the path statement for PLC and Libs folders in the Support File Search Path, if these are moved to the network.  But when we want to work away from the office, these paths are not available, and when we start AutoCAD Electrical, it deletes these two path statements, since it cannot find them, rather than reverting to the local path.  This started happening with release 2014.   I think that there should be a dialog that allows us to toggle between two different Support File Search Paths.  Don't force us to  change profiles.  Include a Network/Local setup dialog inside of AutoCAD Electrical.  It should have fields with a Browse button to allow us to set up two different paths (Local and Network) to the AeData folder, Libs, PLC, Template (for drawing templates) etc., along with a button that allows us to toggle between the two paths.  If a restart is required, this procedure would offer to save all open drawings and restart AutoCAD Electrical.  This should probably be located under the main pull-down menu list, by clicking on the big "A" at the top left. Show More

Parts entered into the catalog database as subassembly components (i.e. they are assigned an Assembly List value) cannot be selected when we want to add them via Multiple Catalog for a one-off scenario.  Entering an Assembly List value prevents us from being able to select the part via the Catalog Browser. However we can have a main part number entered more than once in the database, as long as the Assembly Code fields are different for each entry, either blank, or with various Assembly Code values to make each an unique entry.  But sometimes we need to enter the same subassembly part into the database with and without an Assembly List value, so we can select it when building an assembly using the Multiple Catalog option.   The Catalog Browser edit mode will allow us to copy a row/record that is assigned an Assembly List value.  We can then blank out the Assembly List field, which should then cuse the entry to be interpreted as a unique record.  But when we click the Check, to save and close the Catalog Browser's Edit Mode, we receive a popup error, and we are not allowed to save the record.  See screen captures below:         We can make the entry by brute force, using MS Access, but we shouldn't have to.  It is dangerous to directly edit the database with MS Access, unless you possess a full understanding of how the tables must be formatted and you know how to avoid damaging the database.  The average user shouldn't be forced to edit the database with MS Access. Show More

In the Catalog Browser, if you select a different category because you had it pointing to the wrong one, the search box is rewritten to some random phrase, and you have to re-type the search phrase. Please keep the search phrase the same when the Category is changed. Show More

A terminal strip has been inserted into the panel using Terminal Strip Editor.  The wire numbers are displayed in the WIRENOL and WIRENOR attributes.  Later, the project goes through a wire number update.  The wire numbers are inserted project-wide.  The user blindly assumes that the wire numbers displayed next to the terminal strip footprint, and possibly other footprints, will be updated.  They are not updated, unless you edit each strip in the entire panel and use the Rebuild option.     To make matters worse, I unhide the P_TAGSTRIP attribute in one block per strip, to display the strip tag.  After Rebuild, I have to unhide the P_TAGSTRIP attribute for every strip again.  If project-wide wire numbers would include the panel layout and all wire number annotations, the extra work to edit with TSE, rebuild, and re-hide would be eliminated. Show More

Could we get the Drawing list report generated from project manager to contain hyperlinks to the sheets it references. I know this can be done with the use of sheet set manager.  Show More

In April 2006, the requirement for Marking the assembly SCCR rating of an Industrial Control Panel became mandated by Underwriters Laboratories for all equipment Listed to the revised UL 508A Standard for Industrial Control Panels. Please consider a future enhancement in support of SCCR ratings and analysis. Perhaps it is time to take the Power Check utility to a new level, with real-time analysis. The catalog database might require enhancements so the user can add SCCR rating data that can be pushed into the component symbols when the Catalog Number is assigned. This could be in the form of xdata, so existing symbols could be updated to include the SCCR rating. Also be sure that this data can be pushed into existing symbols via the Update from Catalog Database utility. Allow a project-wide update that pushes the SCCR data into all existing component symbols. Do this in such a way that the Power Check utility can automatically track this information in real time without the user having to manually add the power check assignments. Push the data into the existing symbols when Lookup is used to assign a part number, or if the Update From Catalog Database utility on the Project Other Tools menu panel. Add an enhancement to Power Check that automatically checks the loads against the source and provides real-time warnings if the sum of the Ioads exceeds the source rating. Also provide a SCCR analysis and rating report. Show More

Hi, When using Multilevel terminals, each level have his own number. But when creating Terminal Strip, we can see only one terminal number in the footprint. Should be a special footprint for Multilevel terminal with 2 terminal numbers or more (depending on the number of levels). Cheers! Show More

Need to add sorting by TAGS in Report Generator Bill of Material.   Show More

Hi all, Would be fantastic to have an option in the TSE (Terminal Strip Editor) to reorder the terminals in the layout (footprints) according to the order of their appearance. This option is needed when we move circuits left or right (up/down) or from one drawing to another. AutoCAD Electrical keeps the chronologic order of the terminal first inserted to the drawing/project. For this matter: inserting 4 terminals 1,2,3,4 in this order and then changing in the schematic to 1,3,2,4. The TSE will represent the terminals in their original order: 1,2,3,4 The only way to do it today is manually with the Terminal Move in the TSE. Thanks, Roy Show More

Automatically insert panel balloons for an entire drawing instead of doing it individually. I currently use an AutoLISP routine for this. I have a database that holds footprints and vectors. The vector is the x and y distance from the insert point of the footprint. The routine takes into consideration the rotation and scale of the footprint and modifies the insert point of the balloon accordingly. I currently do not modify the balloon block with this rotation/scale, but this should be an option. Furthermore, it takes into consideration multiple BOMs and spaces each balloon from the insert point accordingly as well. The vertical or horizontal spacing should be an option to the user.    The program scans the drawing, finds the footprint in the database, deletes the existing balloon if it exists, places the new one using the vector found in the database.   I personally use a normalized access database with two tables, a query, and a form. The form is for data input. The program reads only the query. Show More

    The WDTYPE attribute was introduced in release 2010 to support 1-line diagrams - allowing for the same tag to be assigned to two separate schematic symbols without receiving a tag duplication error popup.  The software sees the value of 1- (1line) in the WDTYPE attribute and understands that, even though the tag is shared by a "3-line" device elsewhere in the schematic, they are simply two iterations of the same device, viewed in two different engineering disciplines.    So, we need a similar functionality for wiring-diagram-style footprints.  When inserting a footprint from the schematic list, there are two options for footprints - the default is a standard footprint with no wire annotation data.  There is a second option, via the drop-down arrow, that allows us to choose a an alternate footprint from the Wiring Diagram Tables of the Footprint_Lookup database.  We must create these special footprints.  This is one of the possible topics my clients can choose when they hire me to teach my advanced training class. These special wiring-diagram-style footprints are essentially a copy of the standard footprint, but with special attributes that can display wiring data (i.e. wire number, wire type, device at other end) in place of details such as the contour of the symbol.  In the image below you see wiring-diagram-style footprints on the left and standard footprints on the right.  The standard footprints show contours and a graphical representation of auxiliary contacts.  The wiring-diagram-style footprints replace the contour detail with special attributes to display the wire annotation data next to the wire connections.  The illustration below shows both styles of footprints for side-by-side comparison.  In actual practice, the wiring-diagram-style footprints would normally be located on a separate drawing or drawings.     It is customary in certain industries to create a panel layout that simply shows the location of the footprints in the panel and a separate "wiring diagram" drawing is created to show specific wiring details for each device.  This can be used in conjunction with, or instead of, a From/To List.    AutoCAD Electrical allows us to create and use wiring-diagram-style footprints, but there is no real intelligence beyond filling in the wire annotation data.  We add a table to the FootPrint_Lookup database for each manufacturer but with the suffix _WD (i.e. EATON_WD).  We then edit this table and add the catalog number and the path to the alternate, wiring-diagram-style footprint block that we have prepared in advance.  This is the same method that we use to add the path to standard footprints, except that we select the EATON_WD table, as in my example, rather than the EATON table.  So when we are inserting footprints from the Schematic List we can click the drop-down arrow and change the option to Use Wiring Diagram Tables, as shown below:       Everything works as planned but...when the BOM is generated, the software counts both iterations of the footprint, the one shown in the panel layout, and the one shown in the wiring diagram.  I propose that the software be improved such that when it reads a value of WD in the WDTYPE attribute it knows not to count that footprint symbol when adding up the total quantity for the panel BOM.   There is a work-around that I have used over the years, but I believe the wiring-diagram-style footprints deserve to be treated as another iteration of the same device, viewed from a different perspective, similar to how the 1-line symbols relate to their 3-line equivalent.  So what is the work-around?  There are actually a couple of options.  Method 1) After you insert the wiring-diagram-style footprints into a separate drawing, and you annotate them, you use the Special Explode utility from the Conversion Tools menu tab to turn these symbols into "dumb" graphics.  The attribute values will become plain text, but the tag and wiring data will be displayed.  The drawback is that, if you make a subsequent change to the schematic that affects the wiring of this device, the wiring-diagram-style footprint is no loner "smart" and cannot be updated using the Wire Annotation utility.   Okay, so welcome Method 2)  After inserting the wiring-diagram-style footprints into a separate drawing, and using the Wire Annotation utility to add the wiring data, you open the Drawing Properties dialog for the wiring diagram drawing(s) and check the box labeled For Reference Only.  This will cause the software to ignore everything on this drawing when compiling a BOM.   But again, it would be better to be able to add a WDTYPE attribute to our wiring-diagram-style footprints, as we create them, and let the value of WD be interpreted by the software as a signal to ignore the device from a BOM count, but process other project-wide functions as it would for any other device. Show More

It is painful to have to edit each drawing in a project when you must tweak the page setup/plot parameters, such as plot extents, centered, monochrome, page size, plotter assignment, etc.  It would be nice if there was a drawing property setting for this and a related project property that could be pushed into any or all drawings when a global change is needed, just the same as with other drawing properties/project properties. Show More

When I add an accessory to a terminal block I have to assign it a number - why?  Makes no sense and I immediately use the terminal edit after the insertion to remove the number I've just entered. Show More

It would be nice if arcs could be assigned a wire number when they are on a defined wire layer.  For example, to make the schematic more aesthetically pleasing, I like to fillet a wire at a 90 degree connection point.  However, the resulting arc cannot be assigned a wire number and the wire is no longer a continuous length of wire, but two different wires with different wire numbers.  It should remain one continuous wire. Show More