Chapter 1 Reference Project For many companies, the default standard may not be sufficient. It is a good base for starting a drawing, but there are always specific company symbols and settings that require customizing one of the default standards. In the coming chapters, we will teach you how you can create reference projects, add symbols and annotations, and customize the AutoCAD P&ID environment so it becomes suitable for your company. First, you need to understand some basic issues concerning AutoCAD P&ID. For instance, AutoCAD P&ID is controlled by something called a project. This project contains everything you need to create process and instrument diagrams. Items such as symbols, annotations, and templates as well as the location to store your settings and drawings are all part of your project. Each project is controlled by a few important files. These files are: Project.xml PnIdPart.xml ProcessPower.dcf ProcessPower.dcfx ProjSymbStyle.dwg Where to find these files and how to customize your settings will be discussed later in this course. First, we will create a project based on one of the default standards and explain a little more about the general information and settings of a project. 1
Some extra explanation This paragraph gives you a somewhat better idea how AutoCAD P&ID communicates and functions to help you when creating your own symbols and annotations later on in this course. We tried to compress the information into two easy to understand images and some necessary explanation. The first image shows how AutoCAD P&ID uses pre-setup information to let the user create his or her P&IDs and what possibilities AutoCAD P&ID offers for sharing this information with other people. To work correctly, AutoCAD P&ID requires symbols and properties which must be stored in a project. This makes it possible to define more than one project with different styles and properties, making AutoCAD P&ID very flexible and easy to use for all types of companies. When creating and maintaining the P&ID, the user often needs to import, export and change information connected to the various components. The Data Manager in AutoCAD P&ID allows the user to fulfill this task in a very straightforward but powerful way with very few limitations. To communicate with other project members, you can use AutoCAD P&ID to publish hard copies as well as to create all kinds of reports for use throughout the entire project team. 2 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Symbols and Annotations The second image shows us how AutoCAD P&ID symbols acquire the necessary information and how they behave when placed on the drawing. Every symbol is essentially built in the same way; the symbol itself is actually a normal AutoCAD block that is converted into an AutoCAD P&ID object when placed onto the drawing. Therefore, all symbols and annotations contain standard AutoCAD Properties such as layer, color, linestyle, etc. Because the symbols have been added to the AutoCAD P&ID project, they are automatically equipped with Configuration Properties, which can be made visible using the Data Manager. The Data Manager shows us the symbols Data Properties, which can be defined by the user and which can differ for each symbol. All symbols also have Behavioral Properties which allow them to be exchanged with a different symbol or to change the flow direction of a symbol. All symbols are also equipped with a Tag, which is controlled by the Tag Format. The Tag itself can be made visible using Annotations, which are actually text that is entered using the Data Properties. 3
Create a Project First, we will create a new project which we will use in the coming chapters. To start a new Project, go to your project manager and select the pull down selection list (see image). In this selection list, you will see all the different projects that have already been created as well as the option to create a new project. In our case we will create a "New Project. When you select this option, the dialog box as shown in the next image will appear. 4 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Template: Project Details: Edit Project: The default standard you wish to use as your base. Or if you already have a reference project, the option to browse to that existing project. Name of the project, Description of the project, and the location where you would like to store the project settings and drawings. When this option is activated, AutoCAD P&ID will directly go into the settings that are used for this specific project. After you have named your project and given a description, we will edit the general project settings. When you have accepted the name, description and location of your settings and drawings by clicking the [CREATE] button, AutoCAD P&ID will switch to the dialog boxes that are necessary for editing your project settings. Note Project Settings - Project Details Each change you make will only affect the project you have just created. The changes will not affect the default standards that are shown to you when you create a new project. In most cases, you will create a reference project that will serve as your company standard, so that when you create future projects you will browse to this reference project rather than selecting one of the default standards. The dialog boxes used for the project settings also contain all the necessary information for creating custom symbols and annotations. These subjects will be addressed in another chapter this course. In this chapter, we will go deeper into the general settings required for projects. We will also show you how to add custom properties for use in your title block fields and attributes. These dialog boxes are shown in the following images. 5
The first two dialog boxes contain the "Project Details fields where you can enter all information regarding your project. As the default, some fields will already be completed, and others will be blank. The fields that have already been filled contain the information you added when creating the project, such as the project name and description as well as the default standard you used as the base for your project (see image). If required, you can also add a project number to these general project information fields. 6 Chapter 1: Reference Project
The second part of the dialog shows you the "Custom Categories fields, which are used for the general project information such as Project Data and Client Information (see image). The fields that are shown are example fields; you can delete them or add your own categories and rows so that the reference project you are creating complies with your company standard. Adding a category or row is easy to do. When you select the button [ADD] beneath the categories, a small dialog box will pop-up and ask you for a category name (see image). 7
Adding a row in your newly created category or in the existing categories is done in the same way. Select the [ADD ROW] button and a small dialog box will appear where you can add the necessary information for the row you want to add (see image). Tip The category and row you've just added can be recalled in your drawing using the field functionality. The created property can be found under the field node "CurrentPidProjectCustom" which allows you to select all your custom made properties (see image). 8 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Exercise - 1 In this exercise, you will create a new project with folders and subfolders. These folders and subfolders will have their own specific settings as shown in this exercise. Later in the course, after you have established the required structure, you will create some new drawings, so be sure to save this structure. If necessary you may need to restructure your project as shown in the courseware. Standard: Project name: Project description: Project directory: Project DWG directory: PIP AutoCAD P&ID My first Project AutoCAD P&ID Advanced Training Create a folder on your hard disk (C:) called Drawings with a subfolder called Projects Create a second folder in the Drawings folder called Project DWG, which will sit beside the project folder Before accepting these settings, make sure that the option Edit project properties after creating is deactivated. 9
When the project is created you will add several folders and subfolders using the project manager in AutoCAD P&ID. Each folder you add becomes its own folder in the "Project DWG" folder that you created on your hard disk (see image). When creating a drawing in Oil or Fuel, the template that will be used will not be selectable; however, if you make a drawing in the Cooling folder, AutoCAD P&ID should ask you which template to use. 10 Chapter 1: Reference Project
The main folders you are going to create are: Oil Fuel Cooling The subfolders in this exercise are mainly used for visual means and will inherit the same folder settings as the main folders (see image). It is possible to create physical folders for subfolders also, but in this exercise we will de-activate the "Create Folder..." option. The subfolders folders you are going to create are: in Oil in Fuel in Cooling three subfolders named Main, Secondary and Filtration. three subfolders named Gas, Gasoline and Measuring. two subfolders named Water and Air. When you have finished creating your project, your project manager should look like this: 11
When you have added all folders and subfolders correctly, your local hard disk should look like this: 12 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Project Settings - General The general settings of your project relate to how objects in the drawing should behave. For instance, they determine what happens when you have crossing lines. In this paragraph we will teach you how to read and interpret the settings that can be made here. We will start with the "End connections" (see image), which determine how most of the symbols will be connected. These end connections can be used during the generation of your process and instrumentation diagram and are selectable (with valves, for example, the end connection is done by right clicking the valve and choosing the end connection option in the pop-up menu). In AutoCAD P&ID there are already four different standard end connections available, which are stored in your "ProjSymbStyle.DWG" (located in the project folder). In many cases, it is also desirable to add your own end connections that comply with your company standards. In this case we will add an end connection called "Screwed Connection." To add your own end connection, click the [ADD] button to access a pop-up dialog box where you can name your new end connection (see image). 13
When the name has been entered, the dialog box wants to know where the block that will be used for this end connection can be found. Use the [browse] button to select the drawing that contains the block representing the screwed connection (see image). When you have selected the desired block, it will automatically be added to the project settings. Of course, it will only be added to this project, while the default standard will remain the same. Also, the selected block will be automatically copied into the ProjSymbStyle.DWG so that your project stays up-todate and all necessary information is stored with the project. Tip A very easy way to create an end connection is to add an existing one and save it with another name. As mentioned earlier, the default end connections are stored in the ProjSymbStyle.DWG. So, if you edit an existing end connection and save it with another name, it will automatically become available in the ProjSymbStyle.DWG. 14 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Creating an end connection is done using the Dynamic Block Editor. The block should look something similar to the image shown below. The complete functionality of the Dynamic Block Editor will be discussed in a later chapter. The next general setting is the "Line Settings, which are used to tell AutoCAD P&ID how the lines should react in the drawing (see image). 15
Line Crossing Style: The Line Crossing Style determines how lines should react when they cross one another. There are two different styles available, "Gap" and "Loop." The preview images show you what each option does. Gap/Loop Width is used to determine the size of the gap or the loop (in this preview the value is in inches). Manual Gap Symbol Style: When lines cross equipment, it is normal to break the line into segments. To do this, AutoCAD P&ID has a command to place a manual gap. This setting determines which gap symbol is to be used as the standard. Standoff Distance: Standoff distance determines the minimum length of a line before a second line can be drawn. Schematic Line Grips: This option sets the display mode for grips when a process line in your process and instrument diagram is selected and shows the appropriate grips that belong to this setting. There are a few additional settings remaining that can be found in the "Other Settings" node. When you select this node, the following information will appear (see image). 16 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Work History Prompts: As discussed in the basic training course, Work History can be used for keeping track of your changes and the status of your process and instrument diagrams. With this option you can determine if the work history dialog pops up when opening the drawing, when closing the drawing, or only when accessed manually. Drawing Behavior Settings: With the drawing behavior settings you can establish how lines are to behave when placed in the drawing. "Create ortho schematic line" forces AutoCAD P&ID to draw only horizontal and vertical lines. This can also be set with the AutoCAD variable "SlineOrtho". "Maintain Sline connection when moving assets" ensures that when you move an inline asset the process line will stay connected. "Interactive Zoom Factor" is used to set the degree of zooming that occurs when you select a component in the data manager. This functionality is also covered in the basic training course. P&ID DWF Output Settings: With these settings you can determine how the DWF file is generated when publishing a project, project folder or project drawing. When you select the "Edit default settings" button a dialog box will appear (see image). 17
In the dialog box, you can decide how much of the information you want to share. This will allow you to set up a DWF file with all information in it or to take out all or almost all information stored inside the drawing. Using this functionality means that these settings will be used each time you publish your project, so you should think about which settings best fit your needs. The level of information in the DWF can also be set in the publish dialog box when actually publishing the project (see image). 18 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Exercise - 2 In this exercise you will create a new end connection that is not only threaded but also welded after the pipe has been fit onto the valve. The symbol you add should look like the following image; After you've created and added the symbol to the project, save the project and test the end connection by placing a valve on a line. Then add your end connection to it by right clicking the valve. 19
Project Settings - Drawing Properties Earlier in this chapter, we covered the general information regarding the project. These properties were set for the entire project and could be used, for instance, in your title block. As we mentioned, it is also possible to add specific information regarding a drawing that is added to the project. This is done by accessing the "Drawing Properties" (see image). The dialog box has the same format as the Project Properties dialog box, except that there are now five default fields that can be used in the title block as shown in the image below. DWG Title DWG Number Author Description Area 20 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Two of these fields will already be filled in with information you entered when you initially created the drawing. AutoCAD P&ID will ask you for the Title and the Number when you first initiate the creation of the drawing (see image). Like in the project properties, it is also possible to add your own categories and rows. When you add a category, a pop-up will appear (see image) in which you can decide how the category should be named. With the "Add Row" functionality, you can add rows to the category. When you press the [add row] button, the add row pop-up will appear and you can enter the name and description of the new row (see image). 21
In this case you don t enter a value, as was done in the project details. Rather, in the description field, you actually enter a question that asks the user which information he should enter into that specific field. This method allows the entered information to stay with the individual drawing instead of being available for the entire project. If a new drawing is created, the properties will appear when you right click the drawing in the project manager and select the drawing properties option (see image). These properties are specific to each drawing and need to be added each time you create a new drawing, unlike the project properties which only have to be entered once. The custom properties you created for the drawing can also be used in the title block, just like the properties of the project. To use these properties, you need to add the required fields to your title block. In the image below, you can see where to find the properties when adding fields to your drawing. 22 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Project Settings - Paths All the settings AutoCAD P&ID uses and all the settings you have added or changed must be stored somewhere. The storage location is set in the Paths node in the project settings. When you select this node, the dialog box changes to the view shown below. You will notice that not all path settings can be changed. The top four paths are related to the work environment of your project. These are, of course, important but not essential for the use of AutoCAD P&ID. These path settings are related to your active project, so when you start a new project (for instance with this project as a reference) these paths will be set to the new project location. Taking a closer look at the three paths on the bottom half of the dialog box, you will see the files we discussed earlier this chapter (see image). 23
The ProcessPower.xml, ProcessPower.xsd and ProjSymbStyle.dwg files are copied out of your reference project when you create a new project, and they will be stored in the new project location with the exact same settings as your reference project. The last path setting is for the template file that will be used when creating new drawings. This Path can be changed of course. So when you want the project to use your template, such as the one you created in an earlier chapter, you have to change this setting and point it to the template you want. To change the template, select the dotted button behind the line and a dialog box will appear in which you can browse to your template file. Select the desired template file and accept it. The project is now set to use the template that you created. In this chapter we will not examine the Object definitions or the creation of custom reports, as these subjects will be dealt with later in this course. 24 Chapter 1: Reference Project
Exercise - 3 In this exercise, you will add properties to the project settings. The properties that you will add are designed for use with the entire project, but some of these properties must only be available on drawing level. The value of these drawing properties can be changed when you right click your drawing and go into the drawing properties. Project Level Name of the Property Value Project location New York Project Engineer Mr. Joe McDonell Contact number +1 900 555 9568 Drawing Level Name of the Property Checked by Checked date Authorized by Authorized date Description Enter name of the person who checked the drawing/system Enter the date when the drawing/system was checked Enter the name of the person who authorized the drawing/system Enter the date when the drawing/system was authorized When you've created these properties, open your template file and add these properties to your title block using the field functionality mentioned earlier. 25
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