Customizing AutoCAD P&ID

8/16/2019 Customizing AutoCAD P&ID

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Customizing AutoCAD P&IDDavid Wolfe – ECAD, Inc.Sam Sharp – ECAD, Inc.

PD1748 In this class, you will learn how to create and customize a sample AutoCAD !IDsoftware pro"ect. We will show you how to customize a title #loc$ to include company information, modify

AutoCAD !ID to use your own layerin% system, and create company #loc$s for your pro"ect. &he classwill cover how class structure affects sym#ol creation and how dynamic #loc$ tools wor$ with AutoCAD!ID. 'ou will also learn how to wor$ with pro"ect fields and find out where pro"ect settin%s are stored.

Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will #e a#le to(

• Customize a title #loc$ to include company information.

• )sin% custom layers

• Create new #loc$s

• *odify pro"ect fields

About the SpeakerDavid Wolfe has extensive experience customizing AutoCAD using Lisp, VBA, and .Net. e is a !rocess

and !o"er #pecialist "ith $CAD, %nc. and trains clients ho" to use and implement the AutoCAD !lant

Design #uite. is experience helps him tailor AutoCAD installations to meet compan& standards and

helps students get 'uic(l& up to speed using industr& )est practices.

Customizing a title block to include Company Information+ne of the advanta%es of usin% a pro"ectcentric approach to !ID-s is easy title #loc$ mana%ement.

)sin% AutoCAD !ID, you can modify title #loc$s in a pro"ect from the pro"ect mana%er. ein% a#le to

modify drawin% and revision information from the title #loc$ allows users to avoid repetitive, time

consumin% attri#ute edits manually.

Organizing your Title lock Information

&itle #loc$s attri#utes can #e #ro$en down into two types, drawin% attri#utes and pro"ect attri#utes.

AutoCAD !ID allows definin% custom properties at #oth the pro"ect level and the drawin% level. ro"ect

properties are availa#le under ro"ect Details.


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Customizing AutoCAD P&ID

Creating !roject "ields

)nder pro"ect details, you can add cate%ories of properties as well as new properties. /emem#er that

properties created here should #e applica#le to multiple drawin%s. &he values for the properties will #e

set here as well. 0eep in mind that if you want the properties to display in a particular order, you should

create them in that order as there is no editin% your field order.

1or our title #loc$ the default pro"ect setup includes all the necessary properties.

Create Custom #ra$ing !roperties

Drawin% properties are availa#le under 2eneral Settin%s 3 Drawin% roperties.

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A%ain, you may create cate%ories to or%anize your properties. &he same rule for property and cate%ory

order applies to drawin% properties. *a$e a list of what properties you will need first and then create

them in the order you need. In our e5ample, we will create the Current /evision cate%ory, addin% the

/evision Date, /evision y, and /evision Description properties.

)sers will #e a#le to access and modify the properties #y ri%htclic$in% on a drawin% in the pro"ect

mana%er, and selectin% properties.

'ou should create a property for every field that a user would need to edit in the title #loc$. &hat way, all

of the title #loc$s may #e filled out from the pro"ect mana%er without havin% to open every drawin%. 1or

our pro"ect we will create the followin% cate%ories and properties(

• Current /evision

o Drawn y

o Drawn y Date

o Chec$ed y

o Chec$ed y Date

o Approved y

o Approved y Date

• 2eneral

o Scale

• /evision 6ine 7 86ine 7 – 6ine 9:

o ;um#er o Date

o y

o Description

o Approved y

• /eference Drawin% 87 – 9:

o Drawin% ;um#er

o &itle


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%eferencing !roperties &sing "ields

In order to use our new properties, we will have to use AutoCAD fields in our title #loc$s. 1ields may #e

used in te5t or attri#utes #y ri%htclic$in% and selectin% insert field.

1or our properties, we will use the ro"ect field cate%ory.

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We can add a field referencin% the pro"ect properties #y usin% the Currentro"ectCustom cate%ory and

selectin% Client Information and then company name.

Custom drawin% properties are availa#le usin% the CurrentDw%Custom cate%ory and selectin% one of the

cate%ories and properties you created.

Create lank !roperties Template

&he #est way to %et started is to create a new drawin% in a pro"ect. We will insert our title #loc$, modify it

to use the properties necessary, and then create a template from the new drawin%. )sin% a drawin% that

is currently in the pro"ect allows us to set our default values to #lan$ so we don-t %et the pes$y >>>>

sounds.

When usin% fields we must also put our title #loc$s on a layer that we can loc$. )sers tend to for%et they

are supposed to use the pro"ect mana%er, so loc$in% the layer serves as a reminder. Also, we need to

$eep our field update settin%s in mind 8althou%h lant updates fields well:.

In options under )ser references, AutoCAD stores a couple system varia#les. 1irst we can have AutoCAD display a field #ac$%round so that we $now where our fields are. Also, the field update settin%s

are availa#le. Sometimes people may ma$e a chan%e and wonder why the value on the drawin% hasn-t

chan%e. &he field update settin%s controls when fields will #e updated in the drawin%s.

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In our pro"ect, we will create a new drawin% called t#sample.dw%. &hen we will insert our company title

#loc$ 8ECADipin%order@ouston:. +nce the title #loc$ is inserted, we can add the fields for our

properties. A couple of these deserve special mention. ;otice that when insertin% fields, it-s "ust li$e

puttin% in te5t. So for the CityState attri#ute, we can insert the pro"ect field for the city and then a B, B and

then insert the state field. ;otice also that we can format the letter case.

&he second attri#ute we should mention is the revision. Some may have noticed that I did not include a

current revision property. A revision num#er property is included in the pro"ect #y default and is availa#le

under CurrentDw%Custom 3 2eneral 3 /evision. ecause this is the revision the pro%ram fills out, I

prefer to use this #uiltin property, #ut the choice is yours.

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After the title #loc$ is filled in, create a layer for it, and loc$ the layer. At this point, ma$e sure to include

your default styles 8annotation, dimension, multileader: and layers as the current drawin% will #ecome

our template file.

&he last step is to modify all the drawin% properties with Alt79. &he Alt79 is called a non#rea$in%

space and allows us to put a #lan$ value for an attri#ute. @avin% this value in our attri#utes allows us to

avoid havin% the pes$y >>>> si%ns in our new drawin%s.

When you have completed your setup, do a SaveAs and choose .dwt. Save the template to a location of

your choosin%. +pen pro"ect setup, %o to !ID DW2 Settin%s 3 aths and for the Drawin% &emplate

8DW&: property, pic$ the template we created. 1rom now on when creatin% a new !ID, your drawin%swill come in usin% your custom properties. &his tip was from &omislav on the forums

http(forums.autodes$.comt?AutoCADID1ields@owtohideuotuotfrom#lan$fieldsm

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'odifying the Symbol Layers

After add our layers to the pro"sym#olstyle.dw%, we can select the new layer to place o#"ects on #y

clic$in% the Edit Sym#ol #utton.

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Create ne$ blocks Another $ey to customizin% your AutoCAD !ID setup is to add your own custom sym#ols. In this section

we will show how to customize several types of #loc$ content. &o $now where to create the #loc$s in the

pro"ect, we need to e5amine the pro"ect class structure.

Class Structure

&he most important aspect of the class structure used #y AutoCAD !ID is inheritance. AutoCAD !ID

uses four top level classes – En%ineerin% Items, ;onEn%ineerin% Items, ipe 6ine 2roup, and Si%nal

6ine 2roup.

Inheritance starts from the top level class and applies the parent-s properties and sym#ols to the child

classes. roperties and sym#ols passed down to children are readonly from the child.

&he other $ey to class structure and #loc$ creation is that the properties of a class are applied to all of the

sym#ols for that class 8e5cept for inherited sym#ols:.

1or e5ample, to create #all valve that is flan%ed on insertion, you have to create a new su#class of the

#all valve and then create sym#ol with the applica#le settin%s on the child class.

Creating (alves that Insert $ith )nd Connections

efore openin% pro"ect setup, ma$e sure your tool palette %roup is set to I and the current palette is

valves. +ne of the first steps in customizin% is to create valves of commonly used end types in our valves

tool palette. &o create soc$et weld and flan%ed #all valves, open pro"ect setup to !ID DW2 Settin%s 3

!ID Class Definitions 3 En%ineerin% Items 3 Inline Assets 3 @and Halves 3 all Halve. /i%htclic$ and

choose ;ew. Create a class called allHalveSoc$etWeld. After creatin% that class, create another one

called allHalve1lan%ed.

Creatin% the new classes allows us to use the same properties from the all Halve class, #ut with different

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Since the all Halve Style is inherited from the parent all Halve class, we need to create a new sym#ol to

display our flan%e end types. We can use the same #loc$ as the #all valve. Select the all Halve –

1lan%ed class, and clic$ Add Sym#ols. )se the #rowse #utton to select the pro"Sym#olStyle.dw% for the

current pro"ect. Select the I all Halve #loc$, and set Sym#ol ;ame to all Halve – 1lan%ed.

In the properties list, chan%e the EndConnections property for the all Halve – 1lan%ed sym#ol to1lan%ed.

With the correct settin%s applied, we can add our new flan%ed #all valve to our current tool palette. Clic$

Add to &ool alette. 'ou can or%anize your sym#ol on your palettes, once it has #een added.

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If you are usin% lant


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Annotation formats have a feature called tar%et o#"ect, whose meanin% is not o#vious. &he point of the

tar%et o#"ect settin% is to allow definin% an annotation format for multiple class types. 1or e5ample, the

ta% format we started with can #e used for any o#"ect that has &a% property. In our case, we want

information from a specific class – the ipe 6ine Se%ments class. 1or the first su# part, clic$ the pump

icon to launch the Select Class roperty dialo%. )nchec$ use tar%et o#"ect property, navi%ate to the ipe

6ine Se%ments class and select insulation type. /epeat the process for the second su# part, e5cept

choose the Insulation &hic$ness property. Save the chan%es to the #loc$.

&o have the annotation in whenever insulation is placed, we will set the AnnotationStyle;ame to

Insulation. Insert the insulation #loc$ into a line to test it. We can create other sym#ols in the same class

to show lines with heat tracin% as well.

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'odify !roject "ields

Create a ne$ !roperty

Even thou%h we have an insulation display #loc$ wor$in%, we don-t want it to show up in any reports wecreate. &o that end, we will create a new property that we can use to e5clude items. We will want to #e

a#le to use the property for any En%ineerin% Item, so we will have to create it for that class.

&he property types help lant $now what $ind of formattin% your new property should use. Strin% type is

the most %eneral and will let you enter any value. ;umeric will restrict your input to num#ers, while

oolean will use chec$ #o5es and store true or false values. Sym#ol list is use for options li$e end typesand open or closed valves. Selection list is one of the most fle5i#le allowin% you to define a list of options.

Acuisition allows you to reference a property from another item. 1or e5ample, you can use an

acuisition property to %et the euipment ta% related to a nozzle.

Apply #efault (alues

We will use a oolean property. With the E5clude1rom/eport property created, find the Insulation

Display Class and set E5clude1rom/eport to &rue.

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&pdate %eport

With our data setup we can create a report. &he uery for specialty items should filter out values where

E5clude1rom/eport is true where E5clude 1rom report is set to BK3 &rueL.

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Customizing AutoCAD P&ID