About Configuring Projects for IEC or Other Drawing Standards

AutoCAD Electrical toolset has multiple configuration options so that you can configure your drawings in a manner that fits your needs.

Configure for IEC standard

Below is a list of configuration options (both project properties and drawing-specific properties) that are most commonly used when dealing with the IEC drawing standard and a description of each.

Project Properties

Project Settings Tab
Schematic Libraries	IEC-60617 standard library set IEC2 library set - text size of 2.5 for the main text items such as Component Tag, Installation, Location, Component Description, and so on. IEC4 library set - text size of 3.5 for the Component Tag and a text size of 2.7 for Installation, Location, Component Description, and so on.
Schematic Icon Menu File	Icon menu ACE_IEC-60617_MENU.DAT for the IEC-60617 library set, and an icon menu file, ACE_IEC_MENU.DAT, for the legacy IEC2 and IEC4 library sets.

Components Tab
Component TAG Format	IEC commonly uses “%S%F%N” where: %S = the sheet number %F = the component family code %N = the numbering scheme for the active drawing (either sequential or reference-based)
Component TAG Options	Defines most of the specific tagging options to conform to the IEC tagging mode. Combined Installation/Location Tag Mode: Uses the combined installation/location tag for interpreting component tag names. For example, 100CR relay contact marked with location code PNL1 is interpreted as being associated with a different relay coil than relay contact -100CR marked with location code PNL2. If this setting is not selected, both contacts are associated with the same parent relay coil, -100CR. By selecting this option, your component tags are automatically prefixed with the =, +, and - where applicable. Suppress dash when first character of tag: Suppresses any single dash character prefix in an IEC tag that does not have a leading Installation/Location prefix (for example, "-K101" dash is suppressed to "K101" but "+LOC1-K101" remains unchanged). When switched OFF, it automatically adds a single dash character to an IEC tag that does not have a leading Installation/Location prefix. For example, tag "K101" becomes "-K101" but "+LOC1-K101" remains unchanged. Note: This suppression takes place automatically in reports; and takes place graphically only when a component is inserted, edited, or retagged.
	Format Installation/Location into tag: The tag attribute shows the combined installation, location, and tag values. Suppress Installation/Location in tag when match drawing default Suppress Installation/Location in tag on reports Upon insert: automatic fill Installation/Location with drawing default or last used: If not selected, these attributes are not filled in automatically.

Components Tab

Component TAG Format

IEC commonly uses “%S%F%N” where:

%S = the sheet number
%F = the component family code
%N = the numbering scheme for the active drawing (either sequential or reference-based)

Component TAG Options

Defines most of the specific tagging options to conform to the IEC tagging mode.

Combined Installation/Location Tag Mode: Uses the combined installation/location tag for interpreting component tag names. For example, 100CR relay contact marked with location code PNL1 is interpreted as being associated with a different relay coil than relay contact -100CR marked with location code PNL2. If this setting is not selected, both contacts are associated with the same parent relay coil, -100CR.
By selecting this option, your component tags are automatically prefixed with the =, +, and - where applicable.
Suppress dash when first character of tag: Suppresses any single dash character prefix in an IEC tag that does not have a leading Installation/Location prefix (for example, "-K101" dash is suppressed to "K101" but "+LOC1-K101" remains unchanged).
When switched OFF, it automatically adds a single dash character to an IEC tag that does not have a leading Installation/Location prefix. For example, tag "K101" becomes "-K101" but "+LOC1-K101" remains unchanged.

Note: This suppression takes place automatically in reports; and takes place graphically only when a component is inserted, edited, or retagged.

Format Installation/Location into tag: The tag attribute shows the combined installation, location, and tag values.
Suppress Installation/Location in tag when match drawing default
Suppress Installation/Location in tag on reports
Upon insert: automatic fill Installation/Location with drawing default or last used: If not selected, these attributes are not filled in automatically.

Cross-reference Tab
Cross-reference Format	IEC commonly uses “%S-%N” where: %S = the sheet number %N = the reference value based on the referencing system for the drawing
Suppress Installation/Location codes when matching the drawing defaults	Select this if you want to suppress IEC prefixes. Note: You must run the Component Cross-reference command to update any existing cross-referencing text.
Component Cross-reference Display	IEC commonly uses either a graphical or table format to display the child type (Normally Open, Normally Closed or Form-C contact). Define the details of the format by clicking Setup.

Cross-reference Tab

Cross-reference Format

IEC commonly uses “%S-%N” where:

%S = the sheet number
%N = the reference value based on the referencing system for the drawing

Suppress Installation/Location codes when matching the drawing defaults

Select this if you want to suppress IEC prefixes.

Note: You must run the Component Cross-reference command to update any existing cross-referencing text.

Component Cross-reference Display

IEC commonly uses either a graphical or table format to display the child type (Normally Open, Normally Closed or Form-C contact). Define the details of the format by clicking Setup.

Styles Tab
Wire Style	IEC commonly displays wire connections as tee markers instead of connection dots. In the Wire Tee section, select the appropriate angle tee marker.

Drawing Format Tab
Ladder Defaults	IEC commonly uses Horizontal ladders.
Format Referencing	Defines the type of referencing that is used to replace the %N value for component tag and wire number formats. In IEC, the most commonly used format is X Zones. Note: If you want AutoCAD Electrical toolset to place the labels for the X-Y Grid or X Zones referencing style, use the appropriate command from the Insert Ladder toolbar. X-Y Grid: All referencing is tied to an X-Y grid system of numbers and letters along the left-hand side and top of the drawing. Set your drawing's vertical and horizontal index numbers and letters, spacing, and origin in the X-Y grid setup dialog box. Tip: Use negative spacing values for Horizontal or Vertical if you want to change the X-Y grid system's origin to be other than the upper left-hand corner of the drawing. X Zones: Similar to X-Y Grid, but there is not a Y-axis. Set your drawing's horizontal labels, spacing, and origin on the X Zones setup dialog box. Tip: Use negative zone spacing value if you want the zone reference origin to be at the right side of the drawing.
Scale	Scale for IEC drawings is normally set to mm full size.

Drawing Format Tab

Ladder Defaults

IEC commonly uses Horizontal ladders.

Format Referencing

Defines the type of referencing that is used to replace the %N value for component tag and wire number formats. In IEC, the most commonly used format is X Zones.

Note: If you want AutoCAD Electrical toolset to place the labels for the X-Y Grid or X Zones referencing style, use the appropriate command from the Insert Ladder toolbar.

X-Y Grid: All referencing is tied to an X-Y grid system of numbers and letters along the left-hand side and top of the drawing. Set your drawing's vertical and horizontal index numbers and letters, spacing, and origin in the X-Y grid setup dialog box.
Tip: Use negative spacing values for Horizontal or Vertical if you want to change the X-Y grid system's origin to be other than the upper left-hand corner of the drawing.
X Zones: Similar to X-Y Grid, but there is not a Y-axis. Set your drawing's horizontal labels, spacing, and origin on the X Zones setup dialog box.
Tip: Use negative zone spacing value if you want the zone reference origin to be at the right side of the drawing.

Scale

Scale for IEC drawings is normally set to mm full size.

Drawing Properties

Note: Options that are duplicated on the Drawing Properties and Project Properties dialog boxes are not described in this section.

Drawing Settings Tab
IEC-Style Designators	Defines the drawing defaults for Installation and Location codes. When the Combined Installation/Location tag mode option is on, the drawing values are used for components without Installation or Location values.

Automatically override family tag codes

When a component is inserted and a unique tag is assigned, the value for the %F replaceable parameter in the component tag format is pulled from the default value on the FAMILY attribute of the symbol. A family value can be overridden manually for an individual component using the Options button in the Component Tag area on the Insert/Edit Component dialog box. To override a family value automatically, create a wd_fam.dat mapping file. The wd_fam.dat file maps the default value from the FAMILY attribute to a new family value.

For example, the default family tag code for a JIC library pilot light is "LT" and generates tags such as "LT101." To override this tag code and substitute a family code of "LITE" without editing the library symbols, add this line to the wd_fam.dat file:

LT, LITE

AutoCAD Electrical toolset searches for this mapping file in the following order:

User subdirectory: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD Electrical {version}\{release}\{country code}\Support\User\
Active project's .wdp file subdirectory
All paths defined under AutoCAD Options Files Support Files Search Path

Depending on how you want to override component family names, you can move the wd_fam.dat file into the various locations mentioned above.

To always substitute a new family value for all projects you create, place the file in the User folder. (option 1)
To use AutoCAD Electrical toolset defaults most of the time but sometimes override them with project-specific defaults, place the file in the project folders for the project you want to override. You can have different defaults for each project. (option 2)
If you want a default override from the AutoCAD Electrical toolset default values, but sometimes want a project override to the global override, you will want to use option 3 and 2. Place the file somewhere in the AutoCAD support path, like “C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD {version}\Acade,” and then when you want to override these values, place the file in the project folder.