Working with CADMATIC Electrical

CADMATIC Electrical and CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting can be used in the same design project, and there are various possibilities for using integrated data.

About the Software Applications

CADMATIC Electrical is an electrical design software that provides design and documentation tools for electrical engineering and automation engineering: for building electrification (BIM/3D), industrial electrical and automation engineering, layout design of switchboards, and designing of distribution networks.

CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting is a 3D design software package for creating the 3D model and production documents for a whole construction project. This software package contains several applications that can contribute to and utilize the integration of electrical data.

  • In the CADMATIC Plant Modeller application, the Cable Router tool utilizes the 3D model to automatically route cables based on a nodal network created from the cable trays, cable pipes, and penetrations in the 3D model. Once the cables have been routed, the program can make an approximation of the required cable length and calculate the fill rates for the cableways and penetrations, allowing the cabling designers to ensure that the cables will fit to the selected routes. The cable routing tool also makes it possible to create drawings of the cable routes.

  • CADMATIC P&ID allows creating Process & Instrumentation Diagrams, and it is fully integrated with CADMATIC Plant Modeller. The P&ID data and objects can be used as routing assistance in the 3D model.

CADMATIC eShare is an information management software for viewing the 3D model and the latest document publications, as well as additional data collected from other sources like PDM and ERP, via a single portal.

The picture below shows how data is transferred between CADMATIC Electrical and the other CADMATIC products.

Accordingly, CADMATIC P&ID is one of the first modules that can be used in the project timeline. As soon as the required equipment, valves, and instruments are defined in a P&ID diagram, they can be transferred to CADMATIC Electrical as project devices, and utilized in cabling or wiring diagrams, drawings, and project object lists. The benefit of using a centralized import is that the imported data transfer objects are equally available in both Electrical and Plant Modeller, but if this is not needed, the Electrical software has its own import mechanism that can be used for importing devices.

CADMATIC Web API is the foundation for integration with any external software systems. Importing data from a PLM or ERP system and storing the data in COS as External Data Management (EDM) objects makes these objects available also in the device import list to Electrical. Also here the benefit is that the centralized import makes the device list and the attribute data equally available for users in CADMATIC P&ID, CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting, and CADMATIC Electrical, and the data is not linked to any specific design site but is replicated to everyone.

About Cable Integration

Cables designed in CADMATIC Electrical can be sent to the COS server as "Diagram Cable" objects. If the cables become redundant, the electrical designer can remove the cables as needed. Eventually, the equipment, the valves, and the instruments will be added to the 3D model, and electrical cables can be routed between them.

In the Cable Router tool, the 3D cabling designer can see the new cables sent by CADMATIC Electrical in the Not created diagram cables section. The cables have the head and tail equipment information, cable material information, and a set of extra attributes like notes, extra information status, and so on. When the head and tail equipment exist in the 3D model and the cable trays form a sufficient route between the equipment, the cables can be automatically routed. The route's length is calculated, and the CADMATIC Electrical software can get the routed length of the cables and use this information in the electrical design.

Besides cables, also specific equipment can be sent from CADMATIC Electrical to CADMATIC Plant Modeller, using the COS object type "Electrical Device". A typical use case would be to send light fixtures, surveillance cameras, cash registers and other such electrical devices, or data for electrical cabinets, to the 3D model.

About Electrical Device Integration

The integration of electrical devices is based on template IDs that identify a given part. If template IDs are not available for the Electrical product, the CADMATIC Plant Modeller user must manually select the correct part from COS when inserting equipment to the 3D model.

The CADMATIC example project contains templates for typical electrical devices such as light fixtures, signs, telephones, surveillance cameras, and so on. These component models can have instance parameters defined in CADMATIC Electrical, but if instance parameters are not defined, then the default size is used when inserting the part. Project administrators can also make their own templates.

Electrical devices require Systems and data attributes to be mapped.

Priority Order of Electrical Device Attributes

Importing an electrical device from CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting to CADMATIC Electrical imports the attributes from the associated integration objects. If multiple objects have the same attribute but their values are not the same, the program selects the attribute value to use based on the following priority order:

  1. EDM Object

  2. EPD Object

  3. 3D Model Object

  4. Component Model

  5. Part Size

If for example the "Requires electricity" (.IJ) attribute is assigned to both EPD object and Component Model, then the value used in the import is taken from the EPD object.

Modeling Electrical Devices in Component Modeller

When using Component Modeller to create a component model (GDL) for an electrical device, consider the following:

  • Use X, Y, Z to name the parameters (according to the axis directions), and define all parameters as instance parameters that have minimum and maximum values. See Parameters.

    Note: Some equipment might not need all the parameters if they are irrelevant to the model. Parts such as levers and buttons are not parametric.

  • Set the component's origin on the surface where the equipment is attached to a wall or ceiling.

    The location must match the location of the origin of the component in the Electrical application.

    Note: The component model does not need other nodes than the node in the origin.

  • Set the component's orientation to match the orientation of the component in the Electrical application.

  • Define at least one parametric model for the component and assign the attribute "Electrical Template ID" (_S0) to the parametric model. See Parametric models.

Setting Up the Integration

Before electrical designers can use the integration between CADMATIC Electrical and CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting, the administrators must do the following:

  • Set up the design projects in CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting and CADMATIC Electrical as usual, and add the current electrical document to the project with the Add document to project command of the Electrical project tree.

  • Set up the COS server as follows:

    • Create user accounts for all CADMATIC Electrical users who will be using the integration and set these user accounts to use Windows authentication. For general information on user accounts, see User Accounts.

    • Allow cable attributes to be exported from CADMATIC Electrical by assigning the relevant attributes to the "Diagram Cable" COS object type. For general information on attributes, see Attributes.

    • Allow electrical device attributes to be exported from CADMATIC Electrical by assigning the relevant attributes to the "Electrical Device" COS object type. For general information on attributes, see Attributes.

  • If eShare integration is to be used, make sure the Plant Modeller project is connected to eShare. See Managing project settings.

  • Create a Plant Modeller Service Instance that manages diagram integration (transferring of data between P&ID and Plant Modeller). See Administrating Plant Modeller services.

  • In CADMATIC Electrical, select Integrations on the Electrical tab and then on the Integrations tab, in the COS project group click Select. Then select the Plant Modeller project's *.pms folder. This connects the Electrical software to the project database in the COS server and enables all the other commands on the Integrations tab. See Using the Integration.

    Note: If the COS network uses replication, this action is to be performed on the site where Electrical is installed. The integration-related commands will then be run on that site, and the integration data is replicated in the COS network as usual.

  • Define the integration mappings. See Defining Integration Mappings.

Defining Integration Mappings

Open the Integration tab by clicking Integrations on the Electrical tab. The Integration tab contains various commands that allow you to map the data that is defined in CADMATIC Electrical to the data that is defined in CADMATIC Plant/Outfitting. These mappings enable proper data transfer between the software systems.

  • Cables group > Settings menu > Map Cable Types – CADMATIC Electrical cable types can be mapped to Plant Modeller Catalog Part IDs. Multiple cable types can be mapped to one Catalog Part ID.

    Note: These mappings are stored in COS. All the other mappings are stored in the Settings subfolder of a CADMATIC Electrical project.

  • Cables group > Settings menu > Map Cable Data – CADMATIC Electrical cable data can be mapped to cable attributes in COS. Cable data travels in one direction only, from CADMATIC Electrical to Cable Router.

  • Cables group > Settings menu > Map Systems – Multiple CADMATIC Electrical Cable Systems can be mapped to one System in COS.

  • Cables group > Settings menu > Map Interference classes – CADMATIC Electrical cables have a property named "Class" that can be mapped to "Interference Class" in COS. Multiple Classes can be mapped to one Interference Class.

  • Devices group > Settings menu > Map Data for Device Import – If electrical devices such as instruments defined in published diagrams are to be imported to CADMATIC Electrical, then the Device Data must be mapped. The command shows the attributes which are defined as integration attributes in CADMATIC P&ID. The P&ID administrator defines these attributes in the Database Table Manager tool by selecting the COS tag value of the Externally Provided P&ID Data (EPD) object to use for a given SQL column, so that it will be published as an integration attribute.

    Note: Another source for getting device data (for example, for electrical cabinets) to CADMATIC Electrical can be PLM or ERP software, if such integration has been created via XML import or CADMATIC Web API. The imported devices will also list all objects which can be found in COS as External Data Management (EDM) objects.

  • Devices group > Settings menu > Map Data for Device Export – If devices such as light fixtures are sent from CADMATIC Electrical to CADMATIC Plant Modeller, the data to be displayed in Plant Modeller must be mapped.

  • Devices group > Settings menu > Map Systems for Device Export – Multiple CADMATIC Electrical Device Systems can be mapped to one System in COS.

Using the Integration

In CADMATIC Electrical, the integration-related commands can be found on the Integrations tab which you can open by clicking Integrations on the Electrical tab.

Export / Synchronize Cables

You can use CADMATIC Electrical to export cables to Plant Modeller. The cables are exported using the "Diagram Cable" COS object type and they can be managed as diagram cables in the Cable Router tool.

You can also perform this export/synchronization action to update or remove previously exported cables and to retrieve cable lengths from Cable Router to Electrical.

Prerequisites

  • You have defined the cable material mappings, as described in Defining Integration Mappings.
  • The cables have been drawn between head and tail objects that will be inserted to the 3D model. Although the Cable Router tool supports virtual cable end points defined as coordinate values, in Electrical integration the head and the tail must be actual model objects.

Do the following:

  1. Select Electrical tab > Other functions group > Integrations.

  2. In the Cables group, click Export/Sync. The Synchronize Cable data dialog opens.

  3. Select whether to export all cables or just specific ones.

  4. Select Synchronize previously exported cables if you want existing cables to be updated or removed (if they no longer exist in Electrical) and cable lengths of already routed cables to be retrieved from Cable Router.

  5. Click OK.

    The data is updated to COS, and the cabling designer can select a cable for routing from the Not created diagram cables view of the Cable Router. For more information on the Cable Router, see Cables.

    Note: If a cable is changed after the cable has been created in the 3D model, the changed attribute values are shown automatically for the diagram cable, but the From/head and To/tail changes are only visible when using the Compare tool of the Cable Router. There is also the possibility to change the attribute values in Cable Router, if the COS tag has been assigned to the "Cable" COS object type. Such differences in attribute values are also visible in the comparison tool.

Import Devices

You can use CADMATIC Electrical to import electrical devices from Plant Modeller.

You can also perform this import/synchronization action to update previously imported devices.

Prerequisites

  • You have defined the required mappings with the Devices group > Settings menu > Map Data for Device Import function.

Do the following:

  1. Select Electrical tab > Other functions group > Integrations.

  2. In the Devices group, click Import/Sync. The Select devices you want to import dialog opens, displaying a list of objects that have a position ID defined in P&ID or in external software and which are present in the COS server as EPD or EDM objects (or both).

  3. Select the devices you want to import, and click OK.

    The data is retrieved to the CADMATIC Electrical database and can be used when inserting devices to drawings.

Export / Synchronize Devices to 3D Model

You can use CADMATIC Electrical to export electrical devices to Plant Modeller. The devices are exported using the "Electrical Device" COS object type and they are available when inserting equipment to the 3D model.

Inserting the equipment becomes more automatic if the exported device data includes location and transformation, as well as a template ID. The template ID is an attribute of the parametric model in Plant Modeller. In Electrical drawings, a device must have a 3D occurrence symbol that has the same name as the template ID; the 3D symbol is usually defined in the Electrical product model. If the ID is not available, the Plant Modeller user must select the appropriate part from the part library and specify the correct location manually. For information on inserting electrical devices and other integration objects to the 3D model, see Insert.

The devices that have been inserted to the 3D model form a link between the "Electrical Device" COS object and the inserted 3D model object. The 3D model objects work exactly like any other 3D model objects, but they have additional data attributes that come from CADMATIC Electrical. Notice that a single 3D model object can be linked to several integration COS objects if they come from different sources. See Integration object attributes.

If any information, such as a mapped attribute or System changes in Electrical, then the device must be exported again.

Prerequisites

  • You have defined the required mappings with the Devices group > Settings menu > Map Data for Device Export and Map Systems for Device Export functions.

Do the following:

  1. Select Electrical tab > Other functions group > Integrations.

  2. In the Devices group, click Export/Sync. The Export / synchronize Devices dialog opens.

  3. Select whether to export all devices or just specific ones.

  4. Select Synchronize previously exported devices if you want existing devices to be updated or removed (if they no longer exist in Electrical).

  5. Click OK.

Publish Electrical Drawings to eShare

CADMATIC Electrical can publish documents to CADMATIC eShare, using the same publishing mechanism that Plant Modeller, Piping Isometrics & Spools and P&ID use, as described in Working with CADMATIC eShare. However, the documents published by Electrical are different from those published by the other CADMATIC applications in that they are not stored in the COS database, they are stored as files.

Prerequisites

  • The Plant Modeller project is connected to eShare.

  • Electrical and Plant Modeller use the same method (letters, numbers) for indicating document revisions. The default zero revision in Electrical is "0", and if this is used then it must also be defined as the zero revision in Plant Modeller, in File > Environment > All Library and Project > [library] > Configuration > Common > Document revising and publishing.

  • You have defined the settings for creating PDF files in File > Print Settings.

  • You have selected the metadata to include in the published document in eShare group > Settings.

Do the following:

  • In the eShare group, select Publish.

    The publishing creates a PDF version of the electrical layout. Multi-page documents are automatically printed as a multi-page PDF. In eShare, the position IDs of the objects automatically link the drawing object to the corresponding object in the 3D model, or to some other type of source data which is available to eShare.

Error Log

If reading of electrical devices from COS to CADMATIC Electrical fails, the application only shows a simple error message and an error code. More detailed information about the error that occurred can be found in the error log file:

Copy 
%AppData%/elec_dll_log.txt

Related Topics

CADMATIC Electrical Premium Online Help: Integration between Electrical and Plant Modeller