AutoCad Electrical

In AutoCad electrical there is an "Icon Menu" on the Schematic tab that you can pull in modules from different vendors. they point to a ACE.MDB file. i'm wondering if there is a way to update that data from different vendors? there are some AB modules i would like to pull in but are not on the list. ANy ideas?? Thanks.

The "PLC Database File Editor" is on a drop down on the "Other Tools" section of the "Schematic" ribbon in AutoCAD Electrical 2011. It takes a while to understand how the database works, but you can create any sort of module you want once you understand it.

dginbuffalo said:

In AutoCad electrical there is an "Icon Menu" on the Schematic tab that you can pull in modules from different vendors. they point to a ACE.MDB file. i'm wondering if there is a way to update that data from different vendors? there are some AB modules i would like to pull in but are not on the list. ANy ideas?? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Just went through this the other day to add a 1756-OW16I module. There is a tool that allows you to edit and create modules in the ACE.MDB file. Once you find where this tool is as the previous post states:

"PLC Database File Editor" is on a drop down on the "Other Tools" section of the "Schematic" ribbon in AutoCAD Electrical

Edit an existing module so you can how a module is structured. It is also a good idea to have a wiring diagram handy of the module you want to add, as you will be entering a function for terminal on the new module.

I find sometimes its easier to add components and part numbers directly into to Access database especially if you need to add a lot of part numbers or a whole new MFG. The path to the database on my XP machine is \My Documents\Acade 2012\AeData\PLC. Then open the ace_plc.mdb and on the left are all the tables. You will also see in the path \My Documents\Acade 2012\AeData\Catalog the default_cat.mdb this is where MFG part#'s are stored based on the family ie CR, LT, SS .... you will also see the footprint_lookup.mdb this is where Autocad looks at the part # then decides which DWG to use for the footprint.
All the schematic and footprint DWG's are located here C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Autodesk\Acade 2011\Libs.
For me looking at these databases really helped me understand how the whole catalog/footprint features of ACADE work.

O-ya I forgot to mention in the path My Documents\Acade 2011\AeData\Catalogs you will also see the wddinrl.xls file this is where the Din-rail and Wire Duct info is stored. I think this is the only way to add Din-rail and Wire Duct.