Electrical Design Software | Elecdes Design Suite by Scada Systems Ltd

How to Set Preferences for Wiring Diagrams

Individual wiring diagram and terminal strip preferences are described in:

Wiring Diagram Generator Customisation Instructions


Wiring diagram preferences can be modified by clicking Preferences or Preferences for Device on the main dialog of the Wiring Diagram Generator.


The button named [Preferences] enables you to modify the global or standard preferences for the Wiring Diagram Generator and to modify preferences that relate to multiple diagrams, for example spacing between diagrams.

These preferences are used to generate the diagrams for any device that does not have its own preferences saved.

The button named [Preferences for Device] enables you to modify the preferences for a specific device.

Preferences for a device override the global or standard Wiring Diagram Generator preferences.

Preferences for a device are saved in the drawing with the wiring diagram in a block named wdPrefs and will be used whenever the diagram is refreshed.


You can use preferences saved for a device to:

  • Ensure your wiring diagram can be regenerated consistently despite future changes to the standard preferences.

  • Allow a wiring diagram to have a different appearance to other diagrams on the same drawing.

Procedure to change preferences for a specific diagram

  1. Change to the Main dialog of the Wiring Diagram Generator.

  2. Highlight one or more devices that you want to have their own specific preferences.

  3. Click Preferences for Device.

    The Wiring Diagram Generator preferences dialog will be displayed.

  4. Choose options to configure the diagram(s) for the highlighted devices as required.

    For details on the configuration options you can find on this dialog, see the Wiring Diagram Customisation instructions.

    Some of the options are inappropriate for individual diagrams and are therefore disabled when setting preferences for a device, for example the spacing between diagrams.

  5. Click [Save Changes] from the preferences dialog when you have finished.

    If you do not make any changes before you click [Save Changes] then preferences will not be saved specifically for the highlighted device(s). If you wish only to preserve the preferences that are used to create a particular diagram then you will need to make some change in the preferences to force the save, then change the setting back for the same highlighted device(s) and save again. This will cause Wirediag to save the preferences with the diagram.

  6. The device will have the word Prefs written under the Prefs column in the device list.

  7. You can highlight the same device and click [Preferences for Device] again to make further changes to the preferences saved for that device.

Procedure to remove preferences for a specific diagram from Wirediag

  1. Change to the Main dialog of the Wiring Diagram Generator.

  2. Highlight one or more devices that have their own specific preferences. They will have the word "Prefs" under the Prefs column in the device list.

  3. Click the [Remove Device Preferences] button.

  4. If it is an existing diagram ensure that you click [Create Wiring Diagram] to update the drawing.

Remove preferences for a specific diagram directly from the drawing

  1. Open the drawing containing the wiring diagram(s) from which you wish to remove preferences.

  2. Open the layers control and show or thaw the layer named WDPREFS in the drawing.

    You should see one or more blocks appear with numerous attributes. These are the wdPrefs blocks.

  3. Position of the wdPrefs block is irrelevant to Wirediag, so check the TAGNAME of the block to ensure you have the correct block for the wiring diagram.

  4. Erase the wdPrefs block to erase the preferences saved for the diagram.

  5. Enter "WDE" on the CAD package command line or select "Refresh Wiring Diagrams and Terminal Strips" on the Elecdes pull down menu to refresh the wiring diagram using the global Wiring Diagram Generator preferences.

Remove preferences from a wiring diagram anchor block

  1. Open the drawing containing the wiring diagram anchor block from which you wish to remove preferences.

  2. Edit the attributes of the block.

  3. Clear any value from the HAS_PREFS attribute of the block.

    Although the preferences attributes still contain values, they will now be ignored when the diagram is refreshed.

  4. Enter "WDE" on the CAD package command line or select "Refresh Wiring Diagrams and Terminal Strips" on the Elecdes pull down menu to refresh the wiring diagram using the global Wiring Diagram Generator preferences.

Preference storage - wdPrefs and wd_anchor blocks

Preferences for a device are saved in the drawing with the wiring diagram in the attributes of a block named wdPrefs or, if the drawing contains a wiring diagram placeholder, in the attributes of that placeholder, the wd_anchor block.

You can modify the contents of the attributes manually to change the preferences if you know the appropriate value that you need to use.

The attribute definitions in the blocks are named specifically. You should not modify the attribute definitions.

For information about the preferences or anchor blocks, see Wiring Diagram Symbols and Attributes.