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Equipment Item Linked Symbols


spettitt

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I’m looking at the workflow of Equipment Items where the appearance on the Eq Item is replaced with a symbol. A while ago, some work was done on automating the acquisition & display of the correct symbol to match the Eq item. I remember that the first iteration of it wasn’t quite there, but it appears that more work has been done since with the ‘Get 3D Symbols for Equipment’ checkbox in the Create Equipment modal.

 

Can you clarify what the current functionality is and how it works please?

 

  • Should it find symbols from stock libraries and Workgroups?
  • How does it find the association? Just by Equipment Item Name = Symbol Name?
  • Can an Equipment Item be saved with the symbol pre-attached, in a way that I can insert it with one operation and/or Create Equipment will find it?

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hello @spettitt,

 

This is a bit hidden from the user and not that easy to edit. We have done an internal research to see which make/models in our database already have symbols for them in the default content. After this, a new column was added to the device database file with the symbol name in it. So basically we have hardcoded fixed symbol names for the makes/models in the default content.

 

This is looking for symbols in the Entertainment folder and I think that it should consider workgroup data too, if it is placed in this folder.

 

If you want to add or edit the symbol mapping, you will have to manually edit the device database file and make the changes there, as there is no UI added for this. As always, editing this file directly can cause issues if you mess up the formatting, so do this carefully with backups and on your own responsibility.

 

If the symbol mapping is correctly set, then the equipment item will be created with this symbol selected when using Create Equipment command.

 

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

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Thanks @Nikolay Zhelyazkov. That works for me using Device Builder and a stock definition. I can see the extra tabbed column in the text file.

 

For a lot of reasons, we store our device library as symbols rather than the text definitions, so adding the symbol name in the text file isn't an option to us. At the point of insertion via Device Builder, is the target symbol name being stored in a hidden record on the Device? In which case, I could inject this field in our Device Symbol library?

 

Or at point of Create Equipment, is it then doing a lookup back to the text file to get the symbol name? If so, I could keep the text file updated in our workgroup even if we don't use it for insertion of Devices. Presumably, as long as the Make and Model match.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello I tes the equipment item, and have a problem 

If I put an equipment item who use a symbol, in my case a speaker.
So in sheet layer I put a graphic legend but speaker arent recognized ... 

 

If I put speaker on my drawing and attached equipment item to it, I can use my graphic legend to legend the speaker on the drawing 

image.thumb.png.4fc2ae82d9737a0ee002f1ece8f2cc8a.png
Graphic legend is by speaker record, so may I can attach speaker record to equipment item  but it's loosing time
Or I can use graphic legend by nequipment item , but I've to build new one or modify existing one

So it will be nice if when using equipment item who use a symbol, it "takes" it record too :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
On 12/20/2023 at 12:08 AM, Ben3B said:

Hello I tes the equipment item, and have a problem 

If I put an equipment item who use a symbol, in my case a speaker.
So in sheet layer I put a graphic legend but speaker arent recognized ... 

 

If I put speaker on my drawing and attached equipment item to it, I can use my graphic legend to legend the speaker on the drawing 

image.thumb.png.4fc2ae82d9737a0ee002f1ece8f2cc8a.png
Graphic legend is by speaker record, so may I can attach speaker record to equipment item  but it's loosing time
Or I can use graphic legend by nequipment item , but I've to build new one or modify existing one

So it will be nice if when using equipment item who use a symbol, it "takes" it record too 🙂

Hello @Ben3B and Happy New Year! 🙂

 

Can you share a test file showing this?

 

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

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  • 4 months later...
On 11/7/2023 at 8:34 AM, spettitt said:

Thanks @Nikolay Zhelyazkov, this works great from the workgroup. Nice work.

 

@spettitt How did you get this to work from the workgroup?

 

I've just recently started to create realistic rack views and trying to have my symbols used for equipment items in the workgroup folder. Tried following what @Nikolay Zhelyazkov recommended but doesn't seem to be working for me.

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Find the file ConnectCAD Devices DB.txt located here in your Workgroup folder:
 

\Libraries\Defaults\ConnectCAD\ConnectCAD_Database

 

I strongly recommend getting ModernCSV to edit it, which lets you edit it in a spreadsheet interface to avoid accidentally messing up the syntax.

The first column is Make, second is Model. These must match what is listed for Make and Model on the schematic Device.

 

The 23rd column is the name of the symbol that will be retrieved from the Workgroup library. It will only look in the Entertainment Folder, so make sure you're storing your symbols in there.

image.thumb.png.1737a17152477fdb02312eadf50cbc65.png

 

The ones in between are the ones you would use if you were storing devices in this way for use by Device Builder. We store as Symbols instead, which helps as we have signal types not covered by the stock definitions.

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On 5/4/2024 at 8:13 AM, spettitt said:

Find the file ConnectCAD Devices DB.txt located here in your Workgroup folder:
 

\Libraries\Defaults\ConnectCAD\ConnectCAD_Database

 

I strongly recommend getting ModernCSV to edit it, which lets you edit it in a spreadsheet interface to avoid accidentally messing up the syntax.

The first column is Make, second is Model. These must match what is listed for Make and Model on the schematic Device.

 

The 23rd column is the name of the symbol that will be retrieved from the Workgroup library. It will only look in the Entertainment Folder, so make sure you're storing your symbols in there.

image.thumb.png.1737a17152477fdb02312eadf50cbc65.png

 

The ones in between are the ones you would use if you were storing devices in this way for use by Device Builder. We store as Symbols instead, which helps as we have signal types not covered by the stock definitions.

Ahhh gotcha, you're having it do it automatically with the 'Create Equipment' command or 'Get 3D Symbols for Equipment'. 

 

I have my file with my 3D symbols in the Entertainment Folder, I was just trying to see them within the Equipment Item OIP after checking the 'Use Symbol' box and then selecting the symbol. If you look at the screenshot you'll see that it doesn't give me my file as an option to select 3D symbols from.

 

Screenshot2024-05-10at9_56_13AM.thumb.png.5ac5ea739b8d33dac579d41a4d4cac6e.png

 

 

Do your 3D symbols show up here as well? Or have you only been able to get it with doing it like you stated above?

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33 minutes ago, t-bud said:

Is there a place that shows what each field of the database represents?

I don't think so - it's not a database that is really designed to be interacted with directly by the user. It is the database that is used as the source for the device builder, and if you were to click 'Save to Database' in the OIP of a device, it would go there, too.

 

You shouldn't need to do anything with the intermediate columns as any of your changes using above tools/buttons should be dealing with that for you.

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Just now, spettitt said:

I don't think so - it's not a database that is really designed to be interacted with directly by the user. It is the database that is used as the source for the device builder, and if you were to click 'Save to Database' in the OIP of a device, it would go there, too.

 

You shouldn't need to do anything with the intermediate columns as any of your changes using above tools/buttons should be dealing with that for you.

If you did want to see what the columns store, you could write a device back there and have a look what appears in the columns. I know it's physical data and socket data but have never had a reason to look at it myself.

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On 5/10/2024 at 2:57 PM, Rabbit Abbott said:

Ahhh gotcha, you're having it do it automatically with the 'Create Equipment' command or 'Get 3D Symbols for Equipment'. 

 

I have my file with my 3D symbols in the Entertainment Folder, I was just trying to see them within the Equipment Item OIP after checking the 'Use Symbol' box and then selecting the symbol. If you look at the screenshot you'll see that it doesn't give me my file as an option to select 3D symbols from.

 

Screenshot2024-05-10at9_56_13AM.thumb.png.5ac5ea739b8d33dac579d41a4d4cac6e.png

 

 

Do your 3D symbols show up here as well? Or have you only been able to get it with doing it like you stated above?

Mmm, what folder in entertainment have you put them in?

 

Unlike the Create Equipment command, last time I tried the OIP picker seems filtered to just a few named folders for some reason - audio control, lighting control and a few others. Really, it should show everything in Entertainment.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/15/2024 at 2:19 PM, spettitt said:

Mmm, what folder in entertainment have you put them in?

 

Unlike the Create Equipment command, last time I tried the OIP picker seems filtered to just a few named folders for some reason - audio control, lighting control and a few others. Really, it should show everything in Entertainment.

I have it in the root of the Entertainment Folder. No subfolder.

 

I feel like that's probably what I'm experiencing, is that I can't see them in the OIP picker.

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3 minutes ago, Rabbit Abbott said:

I have it in the root of the Entertainment Folder. No subfolder.

 

I feel like that's probably what I'm experiencing, is that I can't see them in the OIP picker.

Interesting - maybe try dropping your file in the 'Audio Controls' folder in your Workgroup>Entertainment and see what happens.

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17 hours ago, spettitt said:

Interesting - maybe try dropping your file in the 'Audio Controls' folder in your Workgroup>Entertainment and see what happens.

I can confirm that putting it in the 'Audio Bumpers' folder did allow it to show up within the OIP picker. I didn't even think to try that!

 

Thanks for the help on this one! It's definitely weird that it doesn't show anything within the Entertainment Folder though.

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39 minutes ago, Rabbit Abbott said:

I can confirm that putting it in the 'Audio Bumpers' folder did allow it to show up within the OIP picker. I didn't even think to try that!

 

Thanks for the help on this one! It's definitely weird that it doesn't show anything within the Entertainment Folder though.

Yes, it should be changed to be anything in Entertainment. I believe there is an outstanding request for this lodged. So much falls outside of Audio/Lighting/Video as well - comms, networking etc.

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  • 3 months later...

@Conrad Preen @Nikolay Zhelyazkov We are trying to adopt a workflow that allows us to import all of our equipment items from a CSV, enabling us to quickly use the “Create Equipment” function to generate our schematic devices. I have successfully linked these symbols using the method of editing the ConnectCAD Devices DB.txt file to match the names. However, I am encountering a few issues.

 

I am currently testing a display record to attach to all of our displays in order to run some reports. I have set this up to automatically add the record when the symbol is dropped into the file, which works well. However, the record does not remain attached when using the “Create Equipment” function, requiring me to add it manually. Should this process happen automatically?

 

Additionally, on my schematic symbol, I would like to be able to pull data from the equipment item. I can do this with the “Link Text to Record” feature for my TV record, but I am unable to link ConnectCAD text link data when using a custom 3D symbol. Is this something that could be an option in the near future so that I can link ConnectCAD data to my symbol?

 

I have attached a few photos below as well as the file for reference.

Screenshot 2024-09-05 at 4.25.25 PM.png

Screenshot 2024-09-05 at 4.25.31 PM.png

Screenshot 2024-09-05 at 4.24.19 PM.png

Screenshot 2024-09-05 at 4.23.35 PM.png

PLAYGROUND V3.vwx

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi @Collin Klein,

 

thanks for the detailed post explaining your workflow!

 

11 hours ago, Collin Klein said:

We are trying to adopt a workflow that allows us to import all of our equipment items from a CSV, enabling us to quickly use the “Create Equipment” function to generate our schematic devices

This part has me a bit confused. Create Equipment creates an Equipment Item for each unique schematic device that it finds - so it can't create schematic devices from equipment. Perhaps it's the other way around? Are you creating schematic devices using Create Devices from Worksheet and then using Create Equipment to create their corresponding Equipment Items?

 

11 hours ago, Collin Klein said:

However, the record does not remain attached when using the “Create Equipment” function, requiring me to add it manually. Should this process happen automatically?

No. Other users might not find that convenient. Bear in mind that you can have more than one schematic device referring to the same piece of physical equipment. If they all have the same name then they refer to the same real-world thing. For example, you might have the same network switch on a power schematic and on a network schematic on another layer. ConnectCAD is good with that provided the same socket doesn't appear twice inside the devices with the same name. Users may want to have records attached to device instances that would have no place attached to equipment.

 

None of what you want is impossible. You can extend Vectorworks to accommodate your particular workflow using Vectorscript or Python. In fact that's that's how ConnectCAD was born more than 20 years ago. I don't like repetitive work so I started writing scripts to automate various tasks, then I joined them up. You can do the same. If you come up against any road-blocks reach out and we will help you.

 

Best

 

Conrad

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