Electrical Design Software | Elecdes Design Suite by Scada Systems Ltd

Symbol Customisation

Customization of 2D Panel Layout Symbols

For the customization 2D Panel Layout component symbols please go through the Symbol Customisation for 2D Panel Layouts guide

Notes for all Elecdes component and conductor symbols

  • Modification of an existing symbol will require modifications to both the horizontal and vertical (H and V) symbol files (not for xsym and reference symbols) .

  • When creating a new symbol the recommended practice is to copy an existing, similar symbol and its menu entry, then modify these to represent the new symbol.

  • For symbols in the SCHE subdirectory, a similar symbol is one that has the same terminal arrangement (and BUSW code) as the symbol you wish to create.

  • For all BUSW codes other than 999, there is a finite number of terminal arrangements for devices that Elecdes can recognise and an example of each will be found in the SCHE subdirectory.

  • User-customised versions of standard EDS symbols can be placed in the USER_SYMB directory. EDS will always check the USER_SYMB directory for any symbol before checking the normal directory.

Symbol Location

If you have customised versions of symbols in different directories and you are unsure which symbol Elecdes is inserting, you can enable the option Report path of inserted symbols on the Elecdes Preferences, General page. This will cause Elecdes to report on the CAD package command line the full path to each symbol that is inserted.

Procedure

Creating a New Symbol or Altering the Appearance of an Existing Symbol

  • Run a CAD session.

  • If you are altering an existing symbol: Load the symbol with the "OPEN" command from the appropriate directory.

  • If you are creating a new symbol: In the appropriate directory, copy a similar existing symbol's V and H file to a new name (for xsym and reference symbols, copy a single file) e.g. copy ?ifu2.dwg to ?ifu3.dwg

  • Edit the graphical part of the symbol to your new, desired appearance (lines, arcs, etc.). If major changes are made to the graphical appearance of the symbol, ensure the insertion point of the symbol remains unchanged.

  • MOVE attributes to new locations, change attribute layers, colours, sizes etc. and make attributes invisible, or visible, as required.

  • For Devices and Terminals: If the component size has changed, use the AutoCAD Properties to modify the DEFAULT value in the "LENGTH" attribute. This value should be set to the new symbol length in drawing units.

  • Save the symbol to the appropriate directory using the SAVE command.

  • If you have problems with connectivity to your new symbol in the conductor reports, check the LENGTH attribute and the BUSW attribute are set correctly. If you are using the BUSW value 999 refer to Symbol Connectivity Testing.

Adding Attributes to Component Symbols

You may alter and/or add new attributes.

  • If you add an attribute, you should add a field / column with the same name to the image file templates of the Global Editor (e.g. template_$DEVIC.DBF). This will cause the attribute to be available when inserting the symbol and also when editing the component with the Global Editor. See How to Customise the Format of the Image Database Files (Global Editor).

Attributes of Symbols

Modify attributes in existing symbols

Device Symbol Attributes

Device Symbol: BUSW attribute

Panel Symbol Attributes

Connection Symbol Attributes

Terminal Symbol: BUSW attribute

Instrument Tag Attributes

Reference List Symbol Attributes

Hydraulic Symbol Attributes

Extra Parts Table Block Attributes

Column Header Block Attributes

Extended Entity Attributes (or EE Attributes)

There are seven simulated attributes for each component block type within Elecdes. These attributes are stored as extended entity data on each symbol. They cannot be made visible on a drawing, as they are not proper attribute entities. The data contained in these attributes will be shown in the Elecdes reports if a suitable field or column exists in the report.

EE attributes do not require any modification to the symbol. They are added to the symbols in each drawing by Elecdes. Use EE attributes to add an attribute to ALL of the symbols of one type, provided that the attribute does not need to be visible on the drawing.

  • EE attributes are configured in the EDS INI file: EL32.INI, in the [Common] section.

  • Each block type has seven lines configuring seven EE attributes.

  • Each attribute configuration has a name, followed by a comma, followed by the length of data it can contain. The name must not be longer than 255 characters and can contain letters, digits and the underscore character. The width must be between 1 and 255.

  • Some examples from the default configuration of EDS are as follows:

    [Common] 
    DEV_EE_COL1=EE_USER1,40First EE attribute for a device symbol: named EE_USER1 and 40 chars long.
    DEV_EE_COL2=EE_USER2,40 
    DEV_EE_COL3=EE_USER3,40 
    TER_EE_COL1=EE_USER1,40First EE attribute for a terminal symbol: also named EE_USER1 and also 40 chars long.
    TER_EE_COL2=EE_USER2,40 
    CAB_EE_COL1=ROUTE_MAN,40First EE attribute for a cable core (conductor) symbol, which is named ROUTE_MAN by default.
    CAB_EE_COL2=LENGTH_MAN,40 
    CAB_EE_COL3=HARNESS,40 
    CAB_EE_COL4=EMC,40 
    CAB_EE_COL5=EE_USER5,40 

Adding long attribute names to your symbol

Elecdes allows you to add an attribute which is only 255 characters long. For using symbols containing long attributes names ( i.e. more than 10 characters up-to 255 characters ) in Elecdes you will need to add them to Attributemap.dbf file. See how to use symbols with long Attributes names for Reporting, Global Editing and Updating.

Adding a Menu Entry for the New Symbol