CADWorx Plant Professional

CADWorx 2012 Release

Posted on June 20, 2011 215 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, CADWorx Update
For a while now we’ve been informing people that they should get the latest download
of CADWorx 2010 (Nov. 10 build) to use some new features like the discontinuity
view palette and the HVAC catalog. 
To allow users to run  the latest CADWorx 2010 features with AutoCAD 2012,
Intergraph released CADWorx 2012. 
Existing CADWorx users wishing to upgrade to CADWorx 2012 may contact their
local 
CADWorx reseller at http://www.coade.com/dealer.shtml to arrange an 
upgrade. Alternatively, users may also request an upgrade by completing the online
form at 
http://www.coade.com/Sales/Upgrades.shtml.
CADWorx 2012CADWorx Plant Professional

Loading Equipment with CADWorx Plant

Posted on May 31, 2011 231 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx Setup On
AutoCAD, Equipment,Plant
Pretty frequently  we get asked how to load equipment in CADWorx Plant.  Today
I’m going to walk through how CADWorx get’s loaded into AutoCAD.  To learn how
this works we will discuss the support file search paths, and files that AutoCAD loads
automatically. Since I am a big fan of knowing why things work, we’ll cover some
CAD theory to start with, and the list the steps towards the end.
AutoCAD has a behind the scenes feature called “Support File Search Paths” which is
stored in the profile.  By having a list of folders to search through, AutoCAD let’s us
specify a file name (in lisp or even at the command line for certain commands) and
locates the file from the search paths associated with the current profile.  AutoCAD
also uses search paths to load some files, like the acaddoc.lsp, acad.lsp, and acad.rx. 
AutoCAD loads the first file it finds in the search paths.
Because CADWorx uses the acad.rx mechanism to load, CADWorx creates a profile
that has the installation directories’ support folder as the first item in the list. 
CADWorx wants to be first because it must ensure that no other acad.rx is found
before the one in the Support folder.  That being said, if you can guarantee that a
folder you want to use is going to be read first, you can move it to the top as long as it
does not contain an acad.rx.  We do this most often for P&ID so that network blocks
are found before installed blocks.
So, putting the pieces together.  To load CADWorx Equipment into CADWorx Plant,
we will need to edit the C:\CADWorx 2010\Plant\Support\acad.rx, and add a line to
load the CADWorx Equipment arx file, and then we will need to add a support file
search path to the Support folder for CADWorx Equipment.
After you’ve edited the acad.rx it should look like this (the sls.arx is for people with
builds from Nov. 10, 2010 forward):
You support file search path should include the path to the Equipment folder similar to
below:

You may be tempted to run P&ID inside of Plant too, but I have run into lots of little
problems (double-click broken sometimes, P&ID turns O-Snaps off), so I recommend
against it.
CADWorx EquipmentCADWorx Plant ProfessionalLoading Equipment

SPECVIEW–Quick changes
Posted on May 10, 2011 215 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, Plant
It’s funny how topics are brought to mind.  Every time I install or update CADWorx, I
have a couple tweaks that I always make.  First I always want Equipment loaded
inside of Plant, and second I always change my spec view settings.  Today we’ll go
over some quick changes I like to make on the Spec View Palette.  Incidentally, I just
realized that KP did a post on this almost exactly a year ago, which goes over some
great options if you really want to have some fun.
So here’s a screen shot of my settings:
I click show optional because I want to be able to place my optional components
without my SPECOPTIONTOGGLE on, and I always want to see socket weld and
threaded.  Generally, you shouldn’t have Show All Components checked, because you
can’t take advantage of one of the key features of the palette – it auto-filters
components based on size and availability in your spec. 
Last, I also choose the View 3  because it’s laid out exactly like the spec editor so I’m
more familiar with it.  Below is a view of my working spec editor. 
CADWorx Plant ProfessionalSpecsSPECVIEW

Disconnects in ISOGEN
Posted on April 8, 2011 216 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, ISOGEN, Plant
For many years, troubleshooting pipe connectivity for ISOGEN was…well, annoying
to say the least.  Typically, the process went something like this:

1. Run an iso/isos.
2. Get a list of lines with disconnects.
3. View the generated failed iso’s to see where the disconnect was shown.
4. Fix the disconnects that were indicated.
5. Isolate lines that couldn’t have drawings generated.
6. Erase half the line and see if it would iso.  If it did, then the other half contained the error. 
Repeat until the error located.

I got away from using the CONTINUITY command because it really didn’t seem to
show all that much (and I got tired of erasing those little bubbles).
Thankfully, the latest update of CADWorx 2010 contains an AWESOME new tool. 
You will probably want to create a PGP entry for this one –
DISCONTINUITYVIEW.  Alternatively, get used to entering DIS + TAB and you’ll
get to the command fairly quickly as well.  In any case, below is an image of the
wonderful new palette.

  So, what’s the big deal?  One button.  Yep. 

One button transforms the steps above (all 6 repeated on multiple lines ) to this:

or this:
All of the lines in your model, including x-refs!  I can’t tell you how excited I was
about this feature. It literally (and I remember those days) can cut days/weeks off
production time.  Here’s a rundown of the rest of the buttons. My second favorite is
the scissors.  If you select components that are overlapping items (the same
components placed EXACTLY on top of each other) and then push this handy button,
CADWorx clears out the extras leaving one in the model so you can iso the line
correctly.
I hope you enjoy the discontinuity palette as much as I do!
CADWorx Plant Professional

Line View settings

Posted on April 1, 2011 213 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, Plant, Products
I’ve started working on a line number filter app to go out in our CADWorx Properties
palette program.  For a while, I’ve wanted an easy way to take a filter, and save for
later use. 
For information about filters, check out the Common List Dialog in the CADWorx
help file.
Basically, you can use a string like *124*,*NG* to list all the lines that have 124
somewhere in the line number or NG somewhere in the line number.  This type of
filtering is available whenever the common list dialog is used and also in the line view
palette where a selecting lines to display.
My thoughts are to have an app that will pull the filter from your clipboard when you
click a save button, and then write the filter to a file to retrieve later.  Also, you should
be able to assign a name to the filter to remember why you saved it.
So, I’m looking for feedback here, what do you think a filter save program should do?
CADWorx Plant ProfessionalLine View palette

Project Setup: The XREF command

Posted on March 14, 2011 226 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, CADWorx Setup On
AutoCAD,Plant
I thought it’d be worth the time to dig into the XREF command options a little more. 
Two in particular can have a big impact on model portability, the reference type, and
the path type options.
Path Type
The options available for path type are Full path, Relative path or No Path. However,
if you are in a temporary drawing, the relative path option is not available to you.  So,
before you attach xref’s you should save the current drawing where you will need to
store it.
The full path type is most suitable for reference files that are specific to your company
or location.  The full path contains the entire file name in the reference to locate the
drawing file.  The path will include the drive letter and the entire folder structure
down to the file (P:\Projects\Project subfolder\Drawing.dwg). For example, a
reference to a different project or go-by drawing file that you won’t pass on to other
people may use a full path.  Because the entire file path is included, in order to
properly view the files without editing the location, the structure must be duplicated. 
Personally, I have spent a lot of time going through drawings fixing the external
reference path.  So far, I haven’t run across a good way to change the path in a bunch
of drawings at one time, so if you know one, please let me know.
The No path and relative path options are to be used with drawings that you will end
up sharing.  The No path option is the simplest as it requires that the drawing be stored
in the same folder as the current drawing. 
The relative path option is probably the most used.  AutoCAD has a mechanism used
tocalculate a relative folder path which allows us to link files pretty easily.  If you’re
path is really complicated, AutoCAD may not be able to calculate the path which will
force you to use a Full path.
My personal favorite is to use the etransmit command, and specify that all the
included files have relative links.  The etransmit command also has an option to bind
and save the files to previous version making this the easiest way to send information
to clients.  Of course, when you’re working with 3D models, the command may take a
long time due to large file sizes, so make sure you leave enough time to process your
files.

Reference Type
The reference type option is confusing at first for people who aren’t used to thinking
about it.  Most of the time we work with other drawing files like they are blocks…
they just come in every time we want them.  The Attach reference type acts most like
a block.  It’s going to pull the file specified every time it can (even if you already have
it in a different drawing that is already referenced).  Because it always brings the
drawing in, the Attach option can cause circular references.  In general, you nearly
always want to use the Overlay option.  However, just because there can be bad side
effects doesn’t mean the attach option shouldn’t be used.
Let’s assume we have 3 drawings, 1 steel model (steel.dwg), a piping model
(piping.dwg), and an equipment model (equip.dwg). 
As a piper, every time I open up the piping.dwg, I need to see the equipment.  In
addition, I want anyone who uses my piping model as an xref, to see the equipment. 
Otherwise, my steel guy will have to figure out what pieces of equipment need to be
inserted into my piping model.  In this situation, the reference type should be set to
attachment so that everyone will always see my equipment with the steel.
Let’s look at this from the other side, as a steel designer I need to see the piping and
equipment.  However, I don’t want anyone who references my model to see the piping
and the equipment (especially the pipers!).  In this situation (and most others) the
reference type should be set to overlay, since I’m not concerned that my reference to
piping/equipment get passed on downstream.
Hopefully, that explanation is clear.  Like I said, this concept can take a while to wrap
your head around, but once you do, it can solve a lot of problems.
On the troubleshooting side, often times when creating piping layouts, designers may
wonder where a piece of equipment is.  If you can see it in the piping model, but not
in the layout drawing chances are it got referenced as an overlay instead of an
attachment.
CADWorx Plant ProfessionalCADWorx Plant Professional Project Setup

Project Setup: 5 Tips for setting up Model files CADWorx

Plant Professional
Posted on January 31, 2011 273 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, CADWorx Setup On
AutoCAD,Equipment, P&ID, Steel 0 Comments
Today’s article is going to cover one of the most important topics in project setup,
creating external references.
Major decisions in setting up a folder structure:
1. Do we need to show equipment without piping  (GA’s?).
2. Where are we going to store our models?
3. What are we going to call them?
The results of these decisions are up to you and will vary with company.  In this post
on setting up equipment models we discussed the effects of decision 1. Here’s a few
tips for storing files.

1. Use a template to create the models.  In our sample setup, we are going to use the
coordinates template from our post on creating a project ucs.
2. The more folders you use, the more times you (and everyone else) will have to click to get
to a particular file.  Keep your folder structure to a minimum, so you can spend more time
working on the file, and less time explaining where it is and getting to it.
3. Setting up a standard file naming system will help navigation (and allow you to use less
folders).  For our sample project our model naming convention will be Area N Type.dwg
where N is a number larger than 0 and Type is a selection from the following (Piping,
Equipment, Overall).  I like to use Area at the start because most of our work in done in
these models, so you don’t have to scroll far to find them.
4. Store a configuration file in the folders.  CADWorx will automatically use the cfg from
the current folder when it opens a drawing.  The only downside I’ve found to this is that
currently the NUMBERPID/NUMBERSET (Process Drawings) prompt to select a
database instead of using the db from the cfg.  This only occurs if the P&ID’s are kept in
separate folders from the piping models.
5. Make a shortcut in your open dialog box, it beats navigation to the project folder every
time.
In the walkthrough sample, I created an Area 1 Equipment.dwg file using the
Coordinates.dwt template, and for our purposes, we will use the following project
folder structure:

As you can guess, the blocks folder is for project specific blocks.  Reference materials
will hold cut sheets or other relevant project information.  The Drawings folder will
hold all my models and drawings.
The individual equipment models (one per equipment tag) are stored in the equipment
folder since there could be many files.  The Master Models folder will hold Building
models (multiple areas all grouped together).  The external reference hierarchy will
look something like this:

This allows other disciplines to reference an entire building at one time if they need it,
and give the ability to isolate sections of it for better performance.  In the next post
we’ll discuss how external references should be created/setup.
CADWorx Plant ProfessionalCADWorx Plant Professional Project Setup

5 Tips on using CADWorx Equipment in CADWorx Plant

Professional
Posted on January 14, 2011 224 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, Equipment, Plant 0
Comments
Before moving on to the next article on Project Setup, I wanted to cover a few tips that
help us in the CADWorx Equipment environment (in no particular order).  This article
will cover loading equipment into plant, using multiple equipment tags in a drawing
file, the reference line, Isogen & Equipment, and the fastest way to model (have to
read down for this!).
1. Load Equipment into CADWorx Plant.  Personally, I always run CADWorx
Equipment inside of CADWorx Plant. The down side is that you miss seeing some of
the data from the tooltips in Plant.  Click here for instructions on loading
Equipment inside of CADWorx Plant Professional.
2. You can use the same equipment name for multiple equipment items in a single
drawing file.  When it comes to complicated pieces of equipment, some time it’s too
hard to make it all under a single equipment tag.  You can use the dropdown to switch
between different equipment items.  We discussed converting existing
equipment  hereusing this technique.

3. The reference line can also be a great time saver.  Instead of having to calculate the
distances from dimensions from the start of the cylinder or head, we can set up a
reference to match the dimensions given in our cut sheet.
4.  Isogen and Equipment – When I first started using CADWorx my co-workers and I
had several long discussions on what to model, and how we were going to model. 
Steel was almost a no-brainer, but some felt we could get by without modeling in
CADWorx Equipment since it was another application to learn.  At the end of the
project, we all ended up agreeing – model virtually everything.  Equipment is nice
because you get standard nozzle callouts on your Isogen isometrics.  While there are
other ways to put nozzle callouts on an iso, They are formatted slightly different from
Equipment, so my recommendation is that all piping/equipment connections are done
with CADWorx Equipment.  The other part of this tip: don’t use equipment to model
an inline item.  When running an Isometric CADWorx uses the line number to walk
down the components.  When CADWorx Equipment model is in the line, you will get
a disconnect.
5.  The fastest way to model using CADWorx Equipment? Don’t. Yes, I said that.
This tip really needs to be in the hands of the project manager or someone who has
input on deliverables from Equipment vendors.  If you are having Equipment designed
as part of your project, do everything in your power to have your vendor use PV Elite
to design the vessels, and the manager should make the PV Elite files (.pvi) a
deliverable required from the vendor. From there you have a 1-click Import to model
the vessel in Equipment.
CADWorx EquipmentCADWorx Plant Professional

ISOGEN and Victaulic pipe in CADWorx Plant Professional

Posted on November 30, 2010 254 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, ISOGEN, Plant
During my free time, I sometimes peruse help files…I know it’s a bad habit, but I
can’t stop.    While reading through the skeys.pdf (C:\CADWorx 2010\Plant\Isogen\
Isogen_Utils) I ran across a skey that I would have had use for, but was not aware of. 
By default if you use a victualic spec, the ISOGEN iso will look something like this:
So, let’s say I want my isometric to look more like victaulic fittings (and less messy
on the elbows), what can I do?  The answer from the skeys.pdf is two words (CLVT,
ELCL). 
What we will do to make our isometric more correct is overwrite the couplings and
elbows with the appropriate identifiers and skeys.  The coupling should have an id
(identifier) of CLAMP and an skey of CLVT.
The elbows should be changed to have a Skey of ELCL (the identifier is still
ELBOW).
With those settings applied to all the elbows and couplings, our isometric looks like
this:

Much cleaner, eh?

One last tip if you aren’t concerned too much about visualizing a clamp.  You can turn
AutoWeldGap On (=1), and define a weld with the id=CLAMP skey=CLVT.  Then
you would get a “clamp” placed automatically at the elbows.  Off course it still looks
like a weld, but your BOM is correct and the appearance of the isometric wouldn’t
change.  Using a weld or a coupling comes down to a matter of preference, but at least
you have options.
As always Contact Us if you need specs done, or customization!
Happy Piping!
CADWorx Plant ProfessionalISOGENsymbols editing

ECAD Database for CADWorx

Posted on October 28, 2010 223 by Dave Wolfe 226 Posted in CADWorx, Database, ECAD
Database,ISOGEN, P&ID
We are proud to announce that the ECAD Database for CADWorx will be available in our store soon. 
We showed it briefly at CADWorx University 2010, and since then have gotten more features
included.

Download the feature walk through: ECAD Database for CADWorx Readme (189 downloads)

The goal in creating this database was to add functionality that users request on a regular basis. The
highlights include aiding the process of creating a line list, populating the drawing names for process
lines, and matched equipment, importing data from a project, exporting a pipeline attributes file to
ISOGEN, export a query to Excel with a button, some general form cleanup, and linking to a SQL
database. Also included with the database are a database.tbl (P&ID database table file) and a batch
to allow using the database as the default when creating a new project.

On a personal note, I wish I would have had this when I was designing as it would have made my life
much easier.  This database brings additional functionality that reflects years of learning P&ID.  For
the first time, you can have drawing names for linked lines in your line lists.  Also, with this database,
it’s easy to test what your project will look like since we import the data from other projects leaving
your live project secure.

To whet your appetite included in this post is a link to download a pdf walking through all the feature
included in the ECAD Database for CADWorx.  We’d love to hear any thoughts or ideas, so feel free
to Contact Us.