AutoCAD Electrical 2020 – Displaying Optional Accessories On Your Symbols

By Miles Nicholson

The default attributes within a schematic block for manufacturer and part information are displayed in the MFG & CAT attributes with the mandatory accessory code displayed in the attribute ASSYCODE. These attributes are set as invisible, as a default, within the schematic libraries.

You can within a schematic unhide these attributes globally within a drawing using the command Unhide Attribute (window/multiple)

A separate article on this subject can be found: Hiding/Unhiding Multiple Attributes

AutoCAD® Electrical allows up to 99 optional accessories to be defined per component and the optional accessories are not shown, as a default, within the schematic symbols. When an optional accessory is assigned to a component, the part data is assigned to the block as xdata. A separate article on assigning accessories can be found: Assigning Mandatory & Optional Accessories

How do you display the optional accessories within a schematic symbol?

For each optional accessory, MFG## & CAT## attributes are required if you want the information to be displayed. Therefore to display 3 optional accessories part information within a schematic symbol, the additional attributes of MFG01, MFG02, MFG03, CAT01, CAT02 & CAT03 would be required.

Adding the extra attributes can either be done within the master symbol within the schematic library or as a one-off within the block within the schematic.

To add an attribute on the fly to a schematic symbol, select the Schematic ribbon tab > Edit Components panel > Modify Attributes >Add Attribute

Pick the block you wish to add the additional attribute:

Define the attribute name e.g. MFG01.

The value will automatically be shown if an optional accessory has been defined to the component already:

Select  & pick and insertion position.

Repeat the process for the CAT01 attribute.

Repeat the process for ‘n’ MFG## & CAT## attributes.