Thursday, October 11, 2012

Controlling What Table Is Selected For Catalog Lookup

Seen this before? My symbol is a push button so why doesn't Electrical automatically go to the push buttons? What actually drives what table is used?
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The catalog database has many different tables. AutoCAD Electrical determines which table to use based on either the block name or the value contained in the WDBLKNAM attribute in the block. WDBLKNAM takes precedence over the block name. If no attribute named WDBLKNAM is present, AutoCAD Electrical defaults back to the block name. Either way, the following rules apply. For this test lets assume the block name is HPB12_Stan:

  1. The leading direction character is removed (H or V) and the database is searched for a table named PB12_Stan.
  2. If no table was found and the name is longer than seven characters, Electrical will begin removing characters from the right side until only seven characters remain. In this example, the tables PB12_Sta, and PB12_St would be searched for in descending order.
  3. If no table was found, Electrical searched for the family specific table. The family is based on the 2nd and 3rd digits in the block name.
  4. If no family specific table was found, Electrical checks the projects properties so see if this project allows searching the miscellaneous table. If so the MISC_CAT table is used.
  5. If all of these methods fail, the search ends and Electrical prompts the user to begin a new table for this new component type.
    • Here the user must choose between making a new table based on the family, (2nd and 3rd digits) or making a new table based on the block name.

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Note: Be sure to include an H or V in the front of the value used in the WDBLKNAM since the same rules apply. Using LT1_Test will take you to the T1 (Terminals) table because in step 1 the first character is removed.

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