AutoCAD Electrical 2017 - What’s New In AutoCAD Electrical 2017

By Miles Nicholson

Microsoft® SQL™ Server Support for Catalogue Data

AutoCAD Electrical now supports SQL Server for your catalogue data OR you can remain with Microsoft Access. You can create an SQL Server instance and migrate the default Microsoft Access based catalogue and footprint databases to your SQL Server instance.

You can either choose to configure your SQL Server instance when you are installing AutoCAD Electrical 2017 or set up your SQL Server from the product.

Deployment Mode

In the deployment mode, you can connect to your SQL Server instance, which is already created by your database/system administrator. For creating an SQL Server instance, use the Autodesk Content Migration Utility for AutoCAD Electrical, which is a tool that helps in creating and migrating your database from Microsoft® Access to Microsoft® SQL™ Server.

Standalone Mode

In the standalone mode, you can configure your SQL Server from the product. Use the AECATALOGCONFIG command to open the Configure Database dialog box that allows you to connect, and then select your catalogue and footprint databases on an SQL Server instance.

Autodesk® Content Migration Utility for AutoCAD® Electrical

Content Migration Utility, is a lightweight GUI-based migration tool that allows you to create AutoCAD Electrical catalogue database (catalogue and footprint databases) on an SQL Server instance. Using the same utility, you can migrate the default catalogue data, which is furnished in Microsoft® Access tables to an SQL Server instance.

In the Create and Migrate database workflow, the utility prompts you to connect to an instance of SQL Server. After a successful connection, the utility allows you to name your catalogue and footprint target database tables in SQL Server. Once you have created your target databases, use the utility to navigate and select your existing catalogue and footprint databases (.mdb) to begin the migration process.

In the Migrate database workflow, the utility prompts you to select the catalogue and footprint databases, which exists on the SQL Server. After you have selected, the utility allows you to navigate and select your existing catalogue and footprint databases (.mdb) to begin the migration process.

AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor Combined Bill of Material Report

If your project is linked to an Inventor assembly as part of an electromechanical project, you can generate a combined Bill of Material report. An option to include the Inventor parts is now available when you generate either a Schematic or Panel Bill of Material report.

With this option, any electrical parts on your Inventor assembly are included in the report. The Source column in the report indicates whether the component is from AutoCAD Electrical, Inventor, or linked and represented in both.

The option to Include Inventor Parts is also added to the Report Format File Setup for both the Panel and Schematic Bill of Material reports.

Check this option and add it to your .set files to pre-set this option in your format file. If you use Automatic Reports and want to include the Inventor parts, make sure to check this option when creating your format .set files.

Ignore Errors in Electrical Audit

Once you have determined an error is not something that you need to fix, you can set the error's status to Ignored.

Ignored errors are indicated in the Status column.

Once you have marked the errors you want to ignore, you can hide those errors.

The error status is remembered each time you run the audit and across sessions of AutoCAD Electrical.

Ignored errors are included in the output text file when you export, even if they are hidden in the dialog. If an error has been marked as ignored, it is indicated in the Status column in the text file.

Link Components in the Location View Tab

When you work in an electromechanical project, you can now link the AutoCAD Electrical component to the Inventor part right on the Location View tab of Project Manager.

On the Location View tab, right-click either the AutoCAD Electrical component or Inventor part in the tree and click Assign to Existing in Component Tree.

Find and select the other representation in the tree. In this example, since I started with the AutoCAD Electrical component, I select the Inventor pushbutton.

The components are now linked, but there are some differences.

You can resolve these differences on the Details pane in the Location View tab.

Insert and Link Connector in the Location View Tab

If your Inventor assembly in the electromechanical project contains connectors, you can now insert them from the Location View tab. Select any node or a specific connector in the tree and right-click to insert.

The Connector Selection dialog box opens where you can insert the connectors and wire them based on the Inventor data.

The connectors inserted are automatically linked to the Inventor connectors.

Project Level Node in Location View Tab

The Location View tab of Project Manager now includes a project level node. Select this node when you want to view or export the entire project from the Details and Connections panels.

Resequence Item Numbers

Item number resequencing is updated as follows:

• Drawings are no longer opened for processing, improving the performance.
• The manufacturers are sorted across the project, not per drawing.
• The entire project is always processed, keeping item numbers in sync for components with the same catalogue.
• The project property, Reset with each Drawing, has been removed and is no longer valid.

Note: Use the AEITEMRESEQUENCEMODE system variable to return to the pre-2017 item number resequencing method.

Item Number Balloon Update

If you change your drawing's balloon setup in the Panel Drawing Configuration, you now can update all the existing balloons.

After you OK, each balloon on the active drawing updates to match the balloon setup.

Security Updates

To minimize the possibility of loading and executing malicious code, some files previously installed in the public folder, C:\Users\Public\Documents\Autodesk\Acade {version}\Support\{language code}, are now installed in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD {version}\Acade\Support\{language code}\Shared\.

These files include the sample user post .lsp and .dcl files, and a few other support files. To modify these files you may need to move them to another folder and add that folder to the TRUSTEDPATHS system variable setting.

Miscellaneous Enhancements

• When you insert panel footprints from a schematic list, the sort settings are now saved across sessions.
• You can now sort the terminal strips in the Terminal Strip Table Generator by clicking the column header. The terminal strips are generated in the sorted order.

• When you add or edit signal arrows, related source and destination arrows are updated automatically, even if they are on other drawings.
• The product now supports Installation, Location, and Tag values of up to 255 characters each. Where Installation, Location, and Tag values are concatenated, the concatenated string allows a maximum of 255 characters.