Create and Update Drawings - Notes
- Last UpdatedAug 05, 2025
- 4 minute read
Additional notes and information on creating and updating drawings.
Template Files
Template files are used as Templates for drawings such as Installation Detail and Schematic drawings. Templates are copied to create the drawing file and are not modified graphically, except for text values (AutoCAD attribute values) that have Datalinks assigned.
When a drawing based on a Template is updated every Datalink is evaluated and translated into a value based on the current drawing's data and is placed into its corresponding drawing attribute. Datalinks are easily placed into Templates file blocks, refer to Assign Datalinks to Templates and Seed Files.
To create a drawing that uses a Template, the drawing must be assigned to a Template using the Installation Detail Drawing Information window (for Installation Detail drawings - see Add a New Installation Detail Drawing) or the Drawing Information window (for the other drawing types - see Add New Drawings).
For more details of the use of Templates and associated functionality refer to:
Seed Files
Seed Files are used as a base to start automated drawing activity and are used to create Termination and other types of drawings. Typically a Seed File contains the drawing title block, (and company logos) revision blocks etc. with attributes and Datalinks attached). When a drawing based on a Seed File is updated, every Datalink is evaluated and any change is placed into its associated drawing attribute (e.g. Title Block and revision data is updated in the drawing).
When the Update option is used, the Seed file is copied to create the Drawing file (whether the drawing file exists or not). Existing drawing files (if any) are deleted and created again.
For how to add Seed Files to a project and configure them, refer to:
Termination Diagrams and Enhanced Termination Reports
In the case of Termination Diagrams and Enhanced Termination Reports, terminations are parametrically (automatically) drawn based on the Wiring Manager's termination data for that equipment number and the Seed drawing’s parameter data.
Seed File parameters for Termination Diagrams and Enhanced Termination Reports include drawing sheet size (physical dimensions), the maximum number of terminal strips per drawing, maximum number of terminals per terminal strip/Din Rail, spacing between terminal strips etc. Refer to Seeds List for further information.
In addition to the Seed File parameters, which are defined per Seed File, AVEVA Electrical provides user project definable preference settings that control drawing parameters such as terminal height/width, cable core/wire length, text heights etc. These Project preferences are set in the Terminations Tab of the Options window.
To create a termination diagram the Equipment No field must contain a valid project equipment number from the Wiring Manager's Equipment List and there must be internal terminals/devices with cable/wire connections.
Multiple Equipment Items and Drawing Sheets
In the case of Termination Diagrams and Enhanced Termination Reports, if the selected equipment has more terminations than can fit on a single drawing sheet, additional drawing sheets will be created automatically as required when the drawing is created or updated during this procedure.
These additional sheets will be added to the Drawings List and assigned automatically generated (incremented) sheet numbers and index sheet order numbers.
If a Termination Diagram or Enhanced Termination Report drawing number is associated with more than one item of equipment, only the sheet or sheets for the item selected when the Update option was clicked are created/updated.
If an update results in the number of drawing sheets increasing or decreasing, the sheet numbers and index sheet order numbers for all subsequent drawing sheets are automatically increased or decreased as appropriate to reflect this.
Only drawing sheet numbers in the same sequence as the updated drawing are affected. So, if sheets of the Cover, Index, Notes and Reference Drawing Sheet Drawing Types are identified using a separate sequence from the Termination Diagram or Enhanced Termination Report drawing sheets with the same drawing number (e.g. by using letters), these sheet numbers will not be changed.
Distribution Diagrams and Enhanced Cable Block Diagrams
Like Termination diagrams, distribution diagrams (Single Line Diagrams and Key One Line Diagrams of both the Distribution Diagram and Designer Drawing type) and enhanced cable block diagrams are based on Seed Files which contain the drawing borders, title blocks etc. Seed File parameters include drawing sheet size and extents.
Note:
For the Designer Drawing versions of KOL and SLD drawings, a number of additional
facilities are available in AutoCAD used to create the content of these diagrams.
Refer to Designer Drawing Facilities in AutoCAD for details.
These facilities make use of the mappings that may be set up between symbol types
and AutoCAD symbol drawings. Refer to Designer Drawing Symbols for details.
For the Distribution Diagram versions of KOL and SLD drawings, the additional facilities
are not available, as the content of these drawings is defined in the Engineer module.
AutoCAD Command Line Window
The AutoCAD command line window may optionally be turned off during the drawing update procedure (see the General Tab of the Options dialog). This option is available because the drawing update process will "grab" the pointer focus to the AutoCAD command line. If the user does not notice this, and thinks they are interacting with another application, AutoCAD could crash, and the drawing could be lost.
Drawing Backup During Update
In the event that AutoCAD crashes during an update operation, drawings being updated are temporarily copied to a back-up folder. If there is a crash, they can be recovered from this folder.
The folder, called Backup, is located in the Drawings folder of the project.