schedules

Creating Annotative Tags in AutoCAD Archtitecture

I get asked about how to create smart tags in AutoCAD MEP all the time, and I think I wrote an article on it at one time, but my memory fails me sometimes, but I ran across David Koch's blog in regards to creating smart tags that are annotative. So if you can't find this information in my search, take a look at Davids' blog.

Thanks.

This tip will enable the user to automatically calculate the volume of pipework in a system, and display it in a schedule which will update itself to reflect any changes made to the system. First of all you have to make sure that you only select pipes when creating a schedule to calculate volumes, as fittings such as reducers will not allow the formula to work (having two sizes and no actual length specified).This will produce a schedule of just pipes, as expected. You will be presented with a schedule of question marks to begin with so you need to select the schedule, right click and select “add all property sets”. Now you need to add your formula column: select and right click the schedule and select “edit schedule table style”. Then pick on “add formula column”.

You will then see the “modify Formula column” dialogue box as shown:

You will need to set all of the options as shown above, and add the formula as shown. (The highlighted parts of the formula are selected from the “insert property definitions” box below.)

Once done, if you pick OK and then OK again, your schedule should have a column added to it showing volumes (in litres) for all pipes and a total volume at the bottom.

For other units of volume e.g. cubic metres you simply need to change the ratio currently set as 0.000001 in the formula. Of course this will only ever show volumes for the pipework only and not the fittings, so you may need to add a percentage to it for a more realistic figure.

http://www.autodesk.co.uk/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=452932&id=9997264&linkID=10427447

New in AutoCAD MEP 2009, you can create your own custom panel load schedule table style to match the layout of your company’s standard panel load schedule. First, create the custom table, and then create the panel load schedule table style from the table. When creating the custom table, insert placeholder field codes where the panel and circuit data would display. When the custom panel load schedule table style is used to generate a panel load schedule, the field codes are replaced with the panel and circuit values from the Circuit Manager.

The following field codes are available specifically for use in panel load schedule tables:
(Click on image to enlarge)

Toby Smith from Autodesk created a document that outlines the steps to alter the Distribution Board schedule (altering other styles would be similar). He hopes to get a white paper published that explains the concepts and steps in more detail. I hope this document steers you in the right direction.

It is currently not possible to have a user entry column in the Panel Load Schedule that won't get replaced during a schedule update. Autodesk is hoping to add a "Comments" column in Circuit Manager but they wern't able to implement it for the 2009 release. It's something they will consider for a future enhancement.

AutoCAD MEP 2009 ‐ Update a Panel Schedule Table Style

Save a copy of the existing panel load schedule table style drawing and/or copy the desired table to a new drawing. In this example, we have saved the existing style drawing to a new file called MyPanelSchedules.dwg and deleted the ones we didn’t want.

For this example, we will alter the Distribution Board schedule and change the Wire Size column to display Circuit Rating instead.

1. Update the text in the column header to read "CIRCUIT RATING" [col I‐J‐K‐L, row 5]
2. In the next row below, delete the "?CircWires" field then right‐click in the cell and select Insert Field…
   

(Click on image to enlarge)

3. In the Field category, select AEC Circuit and select Circuit Rating for the Field name. Click OK to insert the Field Code and then click OK if necessary to close the Text Formatting dialog box.
   Now that the table has been updated to appear how we want, the Table Style needs to be updated to reflect the changes.
   
4. You can re‐use the existing table style or create a new one (recommended). To create a new table style, select Format > Table Style…or type TABLESTYLE at the command line. In the dialog box, click the New button



5. Give the table style a meaningful name – in this example we used MyDistBoard then click Continue.



6. In the next dialog box, click on the button to "Select table to start from":



7. Select the proper table and the dialog box should be updated (the "Remove" button is highlighted and the preview window updates to show the table). The other settings should be left as they are.



8. Click OK to close the dialog then click Close to exit the Table Style dialog. Save and close your drawing ‐ your new panel schedule is now ready to use.
9. Test out the new schedule by inserting a panel into a drawing (you can also test out by using a drawing or EPD that already has a panel in it too). In this example, we have inserted panel "MDP". Click on Electrical > Panels > Panel Schedule…or type PANELSCHEDULEADD at the command line.
10. In the dialog box, set the style location to the proper file (MyPanelSchedules.dwg in this example) and select the correct table style (MyDistBoard is the new one we just created).



11. Click OK to insert the schedule. Verify that the schedule reflects the changes that were made to the Circuit Rating column.