Add Wire Numbers (3:23 min)

Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.

Transcript

00:00

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:08

Now that we've actually learned

00:09

how to insert ladders, edit wires, and do point

00:13

to point wiring, let's talk about how to get

00:16

your numbers on our drawing.

00:19

It's one of the most tedious tasks

00:20

to do if you have to do it manually.

00:23

But I don't want you to blink because it's

00:24

going to happen that fast inside of AutoCAD Electrical.

00:28

Now all we have to do, the key to setting this up the way

00:31

that you want it is making sure those settings in your drawing

00:34

properties and your project properties

00:36

are how you want them.

00:38

If you remember from our earlier lesson in those properties,

00:42

when you right click on a drawing

00:43

and you go to the drawing properties,

00:45

it is going to be looking at what we have set up

00:48

for wire number format.

00:50

Now in this case, I am just using %n,

00:53

which is the line reference number.

00:55

So that's going to be mimicked then into the wire number.

00:58

And if there are line breaks in the wires,

01:01

meaning there are additional components inserted on it,

01:04

that's when it will jump to the suffix setup.

01:07

So this is the key to making sure these

01:08

are set how you want them.

01:10

You also need to make sure that you have

01:11

where you want your wire numbers placed.

01:14

Do you want them above the wire, in line,

01:16

which you can actually define what the gap set up looks like?

01:19

So this is an intelligent gap, it's not

01:21

an actual break in the wire.

01:23

It's enough that Electrical knows

01:24

to just put that wire in there.

01:27

Or below the wire.

01:28

And if they're above or below, you

01:30

can actually have it put in leaders as needed.

01:32

You can either say you always want a leader,

01:34

you never want one.

01:35

Or if it's crammed in against other components

01:38

if it's a very busy ladder, you can have it do it as required.

01:42

So it'll see if there's a collision

01:43

and automatically throw a leader up to connect it to that wire.

01:47

You can also define whether or not

01:49

you want the wire numbers to stay centered on the wire

01:52

itself between the components that break that wire

01:55

or if you wanted it just a specific offset.

01:59

In this case, I'm going to leave it centered, my %n.

02:02

And we are ready to go.

02:04

So now, all I'm going to do is click on the wire numbers

02:07

command here.

02:09

I'm going to say you tag and re-tag all.

02:12

It should always be safe to do a re-tag.

02:14

You should never feel uncomfortable

02:16

doing that assuming you're not manually editing wire numbers,

02:20

you're instead just throwing all of your wire numbers

02:22

and utilizing those replaceable parameters

02:25

we just talked about.

02:27

So when I do that, I'm going to then hit

02:29

the Drawing Wide in this case.

02:30

You could do Project Wide.

02:32

But for demonstration purposes, we're

02:34

just going to do this, Drawing Wide.

02:36

And you'll see it populate all of the wire numbers

02:40

very quickly.

02:42

Now one of the things we have not

02:43

talked about yet in Electrical is the use of layers

02:46

other than the wire layers themselves.

02:49

And there's a reason for that.

02:50

In AutoCAD Electrical, all layer properties are used.

02:54

There's a significant amount of layers

02:56

being utilized by the software but it's doing it on its own.

03:00

So it doesn't need you to tell it what layers to put things

03:03

on, it organizes it based off of the type of component or piece

03:07

of electrical that it is.

03:08

So if you notice, all of the wire numbers came in green.

03:11

They are on their own wire layer called wire numbers.

03:16

Now please take a moment to do the very quick exercise

03:19

on adding wire numbers.

Video transcript

00:00

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:08

Now that we've actually learned

00:09

how to insert ladders, edit wires, and do point

00:13

to point wiring, let's talk about how to get

00:16

your numbers on our drawing.

00:19

It's one of the most tedious tasks

00:20

to do if you have to do it manually.

00:23

But I don't want you to blink because it's

00:24

going to happen that fast inside of AutoCAD Electrical.

00:28

Now all we have to do, the key to setting this up the way

00:31

that you want it is making sure those settings in your drawing

00:34

properties and your project properties

00:36

are how you want them.

00:38

If you remember from our earlier lesson in those properties,

00:42

when you right click on a drawing

00:43

and you go to the drawing properties,

00:45

it is going to be looking at what we have set up

00:48

for wire number format.

00:50

Now in this case, I am just using %n,

00:53

which is the line reference number.

00:55

So that's going to be mimicked then into the wire number.

00:58

And if there are line breaks in the wires,

01:01

meaning there are additional components inserted on it,

01:04

that's when it will jump to the suffix setup.

01:07

So this is the key to making sure these

01:08

are set how you want them.

01:10

You also need to make sure that you have

01:11

where you want your wire numbers placed.

01:14

Do you want them above the wire, in line,

01:16

which you can actually define what the gap set up looks like?

01:19

So this is an intelligent gap, it's not

01:21

an actual break in the wire.

01:23

It's enough that Electrical knows

01:24

to just put that wire in there.

01:27

Or below the wire.

01:28

And if they're above or below, you

01:30

can actually have it put in leaders as needed.

01:32

You can either say you always want a leader,

01:34

you never want one.

01:35

Or if it's crammed in against other components

01:38

if it's a very busy ladder, you can have it do it as required.

01:42

So it'll see if there's a collision

01:43

and automatically throw a leader up to connect it to that wire.

01:47

You can also define whether or not

01:49

you want the wire numbers to stay centered on the wire

01:52

itself between the components that break that wire

01:55

or if you wanted it just a specific offset.

01:59

In this case, I'm going to leave it centered, my %n.

02:02

And we are ready to go.

02:04

So now, all I'm going to do is click on the wire numbers

02:07

command here.

02:09

I'm going to say you tag and re-tag all.

02:12

It should always be safe to do a re-tag.

02:14

You should never feel uncomfortable

02:16

doing that assuming you're not manually editing wire numbers,

02:20

you're instead just throwing all of your wire numbers

02:22

and utilizing those replaceable parameters

02:25

we just talked about.

02:27

So when I do that, I'm going to then hit

02:29

the Drawing Wide in this case.

02:30

You could do Project Wide.

02:32

But for demonstration purposes, we're

02:34

just going to do this, Drawing Wide.

02:36

And you'll see it populate all of the wire numbers

02:40

very quickly.

02:42

Now one of the things we have not

02:43

talked about yet in Electrical is the use of layers

02:46

other than the wire layers themselves.

02:49

And there's a reason for that.

02:50

In AutoCAD Electrical, all layer properties are used.

02:54

There's a significant amount of layers

02:56

being utilized by the software but it's doing it on its own.

03:00

So it doesn't need you to tell it what layers to put things

03:03

on, it organizes it based off of the type of component or piece

03:07

of electrical that it is.

03:08

So if you notice, all of the wire numbers came in green.

03:11

They are on their own wire layer called wire numbers.

03:16

Now please take a moment to do the very quick exercise

03:19

on adding wire numbers.

Project: Add Wire Numbers

Prerequisites

Wire Numbers and Leaders

Objective: This exercise takes you through the process of inserting wire numbers automatically:

First, you add wire numbers throughout the drawing.

Then, as you enter a relay contact symbol, you see how wire numbers are updated automatically when components change the wire networks. You also add wire number copies.

Finally, you add wire numbers project-wide, sequencing through the entire project drawing list.

Instructions

1: If the Project Manager is not displayed, on the Project tab, Project Tools panel, click Manager.

2: If Schematic_Wiring_NFPA is the active project, skip to step 5. If it is open but not active, in the Project Manager, do the following:
> Right-click Schematic_Wiring_NFPA.
> Click Activate.
> Skip to step 5.

3: In the Project Manager, click Open Project.

4: Browse to where you installed the exercise files. Select Schematic_Wiring_NFPA.wdp. Click Open.

5: Click the expansion node next to Schematic_Wiring_NFPA to expand the drawing list in the manager.

6: Right-click Schematic_Wiring_NFPA_04.dwg then click Open.

7: Zoom in to rungs 407-409.

8: On the Schematic tab, Insert Wires/Wire Numbers panel, click Wire Numbers.

9: You use all of the default settings. Click Drawing-Wide.

10: Notice that a single wire number is added to each of the wire networks in the drawing.

11: Update Wire Numbers and Add Copies:
On the Schematic tab, Insert Components panel, click Icon Menu.

12: In the Insert Component dialog box, select Relays/Contacts.

13: Select Relay NO Contact.

14: Select an insertion point on rung 407 between the LS407 limit switch and the TS-A terminal.

15: In the Insert/Edit Child Component dialog box, click OK to complete the insertion of the child contact.
Notice that the new wire number is automatically added.

16: On the Schematic tab, Edit Wires/Wire Numbers panel, click Copy Wire Number.

17: Select insertion points on rungs 407, 408, and 409 just to the right of the TS-A terminals.
Notice the different colors used for the extra wire numbers.

18: Add Wire Numbers Projectwide:
On the Schematic tab, Insert Wires/Wire Numbers panel, click Wire Numbers.

19: In the Wire Tagging dialog box, click Project-Wide.

20: In the Wire Tagging (Project-wide) dialog box, click OK to accept all defaults.

21: In the Select Drawings to Process dialog box, click Do All. Click OK.

22: If requested, in the Qsave dialog box, click OK.
Notice that AutoCAD® Electrical processes each drawing that is selected and automatically adds wire numbers to all wire networks and cross-references.

23: Save the drawing file. This completes the exercise.

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Add Wire Numbers (3:23 min)

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