User Guide

7
Design and Drafting Productivity Tools
Fixed Wire Numbers and Component Tags
AutoCAD Electrical enables you to easily accom-
modate design modifications late in the cycle
without aecting previous work. When you change
the status of wire numbers and component tags to
a “fixed” format, they remain unaected during a
project-wide renumbering of wires or retagging of
components. If changes are required after the shop
floor has the designs, you can easily add new wire
numbers and device components without aecting
the existing wire numbers.
Wire Label Export for Electrical Design
Slash the time it takes to create an accurate set of
wire labels for a project. With the Wire Label Export
command, you can rapidly extract wire numbers
from an entire project and print the required labels
for each wire.
Toggle Normally Open/Normally Closed
With a single mouse-click, switch the state of a device
from normally open to normally closed and vice ver-
sa. If that device is part of a parent/child relationship,
such as a relay coil and contact, AutoCAD Electrical
automatically updates the corresponding device.
Drawing Navigation Features for Control
Designers
Quickly navigate through drawings within a project.
Use the previous/next buttons to each drawing in the
project without having to open individual files.
Device Navigation
Don’t waste any more of your valuable time manag-
ing device relationships. With AutoCAD Electrical
you can easily view and navigate relationships
between devices using the Surfer command. Simply
click a component in the panel layout drawing
and quickly “surf” to the corresponding schematic
device. This command works across multiple draw-
ings in a project and also works on devices with a
parent/child relationship, auxiliary contacts, and
item numbers.
Open and Flexible API
Create simplified custom front-end interfaces or au-
tomated workflows using an open architecture that
integrates with existing business and engineer¬ing
systems. Use the flexible and open API (applica-tion
programming interface) in AutoCAD Electrical to
extend its power and functionality to meet specific
design and drafting needs. This built-in API consists
of nearly 200 programming entry points into the
software, so users can easily integrate AutoCAD
Electrical with their existing business and engineer-
ing systems.