How to Draw Electrical Symbols in Autocad 2010

AutoCAD Electrical supplies two default icon menus: one for schematic symbols and the other for panel symbols. Each menu is driven by a text file. AutoCAD Electrical defaults to icon menu ACE_<standard>_MENU.DAT (where <standard> = JIC, IEC, GB, HYD, JIS, PID, or PNEU) for schematic symbols and ACE_PANEL_MENU.DAT for panel symbols. These menu files are located in

• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD Electrical {version}\{release}\{country code}\Support\
• Windows Vista: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD Electrical {version}\{release}\{country code}\Support\

You modify or expand the icon menus by editing the underlying icon menu text file. You can use a generic text editor and edit it manually or you can use the AutoCAD Electrical Icon Menu Wizard.

Use the Icon Menu Wizard dialog box to select the function to be performed when the icon is selected from the icon menu.

• Add component: Inserts a symbol
• Add circuit: Inserts a prebuilt circuit. This causes AutoCAD Electrical to insert and explode the .dwg name supplied.
• Add new submenu: Starts a new submenu.
• Add command: Performs a command. Use Command for inserting three-phase schematic symbols and panel footprints.

Add components to the icon menu

The Icon Menu Wizard can be used to add or modify icons for both the schematic and panel symbol libraries.

1. Create an AutoCAD Electrical compatible library symbol. For schematic symbols, follow the guidelines regarding the symbol ".dwg" file naming convention and required attributes .
2. Click Schematic tab Other Tools panel Icon Menu Wizard . Enter AEMENUWIZ at the command prompt.
3. In the Select Menu File dialog box, select to modify the schematic menu file, and click OK.
4. In the Icon Menu Wizard dialog box, select Add Component to add a new icon to the menu.

   NoteYou can also right-click in empty space and select Add icon Component.

   

   Three pieces of information are needed for the new icon button.

5. On the Add Icon - Component dialog box, specify the image file name and graphic to appear in the icon button. The image name can be manually typed into the edit box. You can browse to an existing .sld or .png file to assign to the icon, use an image file that matches the active drawing name, use an image file that matches a picked block on the drawing, or use an image with the same name as the block name entered for the block name.

   NoteBrowse cannot be used if you are using a slide library (instead of individual <slide>.sld files). Manually enter these as "library name(slide name)". For example, "S1(hpb11)."

   If you have not created the slide image and want to have it created automatically from the current screen image, select Create PNG from current screen image. The Icon Menu Wizard runs the AutoCAD MSLIDE command on your current screen image to create the .png and .sld file. If the file does not exist, then Create PNG from the current screen image is selected by default. If you do not want to create the image from the current drawing's displayed image, switch it off. If you want to redo an existing image, click this switch on.

6. Specify the block name to insert on the icon. The symbol's file name can be typed into the edit box or you can browse for an existing WBlocked ".dwg" file to assign to the icon, insert the full active drawing as a block, or select an existing block on the current drawing.
7. Click OK.

   The new menu button appears in the menu and the text you entered for the icon label appears in the tooltip or in the list if you set the viewing option to either Icon with text or List view.

   

8. Select the appropriate Insert Component command and test your new symbol insert.

Add an icon menu page

You can add new menu pages to the AutoCAD Electrical icon menu, and then populate them with your own custom symbols. Each new page can have icon selections that cascade down to other new menu pages. Once you click OK, your trigger icon and new submenu page are added.

1. On the Icon Menu Wizard dialog box, select Add New submenu to add a new icon to the menu.

   NoteYou can also right-click in empty space and select New Submenu.

   The Create New Submenu dialog box appears. Here you can select the function that will be performed when the icon is selected from the icon menu.

   Three pieces of information are needed to trigger the new menu page.

2. On the Create New Submenu dialog box, specify the image file name and .sld or .png graphic to appear in the icon button. The image name can be manually typed into the edit box. You can browse to an existing .sld or .png file to assign to the icon, use an image file that matches the active drawing name, use an image file that matches a picked block on the drawing, or use an image file with the same name as the block name entered for the block name.

   NoteBrowse cannot be used if you are using a slide library (instead of individual <slide>.sld files). Manually enter these as "library name(slide name)".

3. Specify the submenu's title.
4. Click OK.
5. Select the appropriate Insert Component command and test your new symbol insert.

Add an icon to trigger a command

An icon can be configured to trigger an AutoCAD command, trigger an AutoCAD Electrical command, or run a program. For example, "Rectangle" can be typed into the edit box so that every time you click the box, it runs the AutoCAD Rectangle command.

1. On the Icon Menu Wizard dialog box, click Add Command.

   NoteYou can also right-click in empty space and select Add icon Command.

2. On the Add Icon - Command dialog box, specify the name to appear on the icon and the image file to use on the icon button.
3. Specify the command to execute when the icon button is selected.

   Click List to select from a list of AutoCAD Electrical Commands for Panel and Schematic multi-pole symbol inserts. This makes it easier for you to build the appropriate command to insert a multi-pole symbol or a panel symbol. To see the command line parameters for a specific AutoCAD Electrical command, select the command in the list and the parameters display at the right. If quotation marks are shown, then enclose the parameter value within quotation marks.

   NoteIf you select an API command that requires parameters you must manually enter the additional parameters as indicated. Commands that require parameters should be inside of parenthesis. If you use one of the AutoCAD commands from the list, no parenthesis are needed. For example, to add an icon that inserts a black flush push button, Allen-Bradley, catalog number 800T-A2A, with no rotation, select the command WD_INFP from the list. When you return to the Command dialog box, you must enter in the rest of the parameters.

   • "family" is used for the catalog file lookup table name
   • "mfg" is used for the footprint lookup
   • "cat" is the actual catalog number
   • "assycode" is the catalog number assembly code (often blank)
   • "footprint" is the library symbol name

   WD_INFP "PB11" "AB" "800T-A2A" "" "AB/ABPB3"

4. Click OK.

Add circuits to the icon menu

Add Circuit is the same as Insert Command except that the block file is made up of more than one AutoCAD Electrical block definitions and related wire lines.

1. On the Icon Menu Wizard dialog box, click Add Add circuit.

   NoteYou can also right-click in empty space and select Add icon Add circuit.

   Three pieces of information are needed for the new icon button.

2. On the Add Existing Circuit dialog box, specify the image file name and .sld or .png graphic to appear in the icon button. The image name can be manually typed into the edit box. You can browse to an existing .sld or .png file to assign to the icon, use an image file that matches the active drawing name, use an image file that matches a picked block on the drawing, or use an image file with the same name as the block name entered for the block name.

   NoteBrowse cannot be used if you are using a slide library (instead of individual <slide>.sld files). Manually enter these as "library name(slide name)".

3. Specify the circuit name to insert on the icon. The symbol's file name can be typed into the edit box or you can browse for an existing WBlocked ".dwg" file to assign to the icon or insert the full active drawing as a block.
4. Click OK.

   The new menu button appears in the menu.

5. Select the appropriate Insert Component command and test your new symbol insert.

Change the icon's image

There are times when you might want to change the image associated with an icon menu choice. The AutoCAD Electrical Icon Menu Wizard provides a quick, easy way to reassign or reshoot a slide image. Slides can be saved as individual files in the AutoCAD Electrical search path or they can be maintained inside of a library of slide files called the slide library.

NoteIf you make custom slides or slide libraries for the menu, copy them to the same subdirectory as the menu file since AutoCAD Electrical looks for menu slides in the active icon menu file's directory.

1. On the Icon Menu Wizard dialog box, right-click an icon button to edit and select Properties.
2. On the Properties dialog box, specify the image file name and .sld or .png graphic to appear in the icon button. The image name can be manually typed into the edit box. You can browse to an existing .sld or .png file to assign to the icon, use an image file that matches the active drawing name, use an image file that matches a picked block on the drawing, or use an image file with the same name as the block name entered for the block name.

   If you have not created the .png image and want to have it created automatically from the current screen image, select Create PNG from current screen image. The Icon Menu Wizard runs the AutoCAD MSLIDE command on your current screen image to create the .png and .sld file. If the file does not exist, then Create PNG from current screen image is selected by default. If you do not want to create the image from the current drawing's displayed image, switch it off. If you want to redo an existing image, click this switch on.

   NoteBrowse cannot be used if you are using a slide library (instead of individual <slide>.sld files). Manually enter these as "library name(slide name)".

3. Click OK.

   The new menu button appears in the menu.

4. Select the appropriate Insert Component command and test your new symbol insert.

Edit the DAT file with a text editor

There may be times when you want to bypass the Icon Menu Wizard and edit the menu DAT file directly. It is important to maintain the menu file structure, otherwise your menu may not activate properly. An AutoCAD Electrical menu ".dat" file is a text file that can be viewed and edited with any text editor (ex: WordPad or Notepad). See Overview of the icon menu file .

Best practices for icon menu changes

We recommend that you create your own icon menu and leave the AutoCAD Electrical icon menu intact. This provides you with easier migration when upgrading to the next version of AutoCAD Electrical. You can set up the AutoCAD Electrical icon menu system so that you can flip back and forth between the default ACE_<standard>_MENU.DAT (such as ACE_JIC_MENU.DAT) and your own "my_menu.dat."

1. Copy the standard menu into a new file name instead of creating the file from scratch. Open the new DAT file with a text editor and remove everything except for the top portion of the file (shown below).

   **M0

   D0

   JIC: Schematic Symbols

   NoteThe line "D0" is only needed if the menu must be compatible with AutoCAD Electrical versions prior to 2008.

   Rename the title line to indicate that this is your very own personal menu file.

2. Add a line like the following in the ACE_<standard>_MENU.DAT file.

   My schematic menu|mymenu.sld|$C=(c:wd_loadmenu "my_menu.dat")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)

   NoteMake sure this text is all on one line.

3. In your new "my_menu.dat" file, add a line like the following one so that you can jump back to the default AutoCAD Electrical icon menu.

   Default AutoCAD Electrical menu|back2wd.sld|$C=(c:wd_loadmenu "ACE_JIC_MENU.DAT")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)

   The result should be:

   **M0

   D0

   My Menu: My Companies Symbols

   AutoCAD Electrical menu|back2wd.sld|$C=(c:wd_loadmenu "ACE_JIC_MENU.DAT")(c:wd_insym_go2menu 0)

4. In the AutoCAD Electrical default icon menu, click the new "My menu" entry.

   Your menu should immediately appear and remains the default for subsequent component inserts. If you want to go back to the AutoCAD Electrical default menu, click the "AutoCAD Electrical menu" button you added to your custom menu. AutoCAD Electrical flips back to the default icon menu and it now remains the default for subsequent inserts.

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Source: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACAD_E/2010/ENU/AutoCAD%20Electrical%202010%20Help/files/WSa5366f3b42cc8b681a5f23010bf283afcb-5265.htm

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