Extracting AVEVA PID Files

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Last UpdatedJul 02, 2025
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The AutoCAD 2D extractor can also extract and process the AVEVA P&ID .dwg files along with the tags, attributes and graphical data as defined in AVEVA P&ID. The following settings are available for AVEVA P&ID files, under the Extractor for AutoCAD settings:

Create Pipeline Model

The Create Pipeline Model option sets the Object ID (tag) of all piping segments which are part of a single Pipeline to the Object ID of the Pipeline and enables all of them to be highlighted as a single object when viewed in AIM.

In the following example a pipeline consists of three segments, each containing a valve and an Instrument:

Segment 1:

Segment 2:

Segment 3:

When the "Create Pipeline Model" option is not selected, the Pipeline won’t be highlighted when the user hovers over it:

When the "Create Pipeline Model" option is selected, all three segments of the Pipeline are highlighted together when the user hovers over it:

The Object ID of the Pipeline can change when using this option, depending on whether it’s derived from the pipeline’s attributes, for example, when it includes Process links, Reducers, Sub Pipes, and so on, and whether the "Hotspot Branch Pipes" option is used.

Case 1:

In this example, a pipeline’s tag is partly defined by its diameter, and it contains a Reducer, hence the pipeline contains more than one value for the diameter.

When the "Create Pipeline Model" option is selected, the Pipeline Object ID would be set with its original size:

When the "Create Pipeline Model" option is not selected then two Pipelines are created, one with the original size and the other with the size modified by the Reducer:

Case 2 (with the "Hotspot Branch Pipes" option selected):

The Pipeline has a Process Link attached which has an Insulation table property.

If the Pipeline ID is appended with the Insulation table property value, then both the Pipeline and Process Link would have the same Object ID.

Case 3 (with the "Hotspot Branch Pipes" option selected):

The Pipeline has an Insulation table and a Process Link attached which has a different Insulation table property.

The Process link Object ID is modified to include the Pipeline’s Insulation table property value. Both the Pipeline and Process Link would have the same Object ID.
Use Annotation

In an AVEVA P&ID Drawing, you can maintain multiple Tag rules for Pipeline Element type and can select any of these to place any number of Annotations (labels) over the Pipeline segments.

Creation of Multiple Tag rules for Pipeline in Aveva P&ID Application:

The first rule has been set to the [DEFAULT], which would be used to set the Default tag of a Pipeline, for example, "40-SL-96-BBU3-6L".

Multiple Annotations can then be added over the Pipeline using the Add Label box from the context menu options of the selected Pipeline:

The following is an example of a Pipeline with multiple Annotations/labels added:

Note: None of the added Annotations over the drawing ("BBU3-SL-40", "40-96-SL", "SL-40", "96-SL-40-6L") need to be the [DEFAULT] tag of the Pipeline ("40-SL-96-BBU3-6L").

The Gateway provides an option "Use Annotation" under the "AVEVA P&ID" section in the Extract tab, to use the Annotation values for the Pipeline’s tag rather than the Default value.

When the "Use Annotation" option is selected along with "Create Pipeline Model", the Gateway sets the largest Annotation as the Pipeline's tag value (that is, Object ID in EIWM and vNet ID in SVG).

In case of the above Pipeline, this would be 96-SL-40-6L.

The following is the screenshot of the Hotspotting of the same pipeline in AIM:

When the user does not select the "Use Annotation" option and only selects "Create Pipeline Model", the Gateway will use the Pipeline's Default tag value.

In case of the above Pipeline, this would be "40-SL-96-BBU3-6L".

The following is the screenshot of the Hotspotting of the same pipeline in AIM when "Use Annotation" is not selected:

This option works only in combination with the "Create Pipeline Model" option: if "Create Pipeline Model" option is not selected then the Pipeline Model is not created and Highlight and Hotspotting happens only over the individual labels.
Hotspot Branch Pipes: Select this box to hot-spot the branch pipes in the drawing and export it to an SVG file. By default, this box is cleared.

In a P&ID Drawing, Pipelines are often designed with Branch Pipes. The Gateway option "Hotspot Branch Pipes" allows the user to choose whether or not to include the Pipeline’s Branches as part of the hotspot. If selected, then both the main pipeline and its branches are hotspotted with the same ID of the Pipeline.

When this option is selected along with the "Create Pipeline Model" option then the entire Pipeline and its Branches are highlighted when any of the components are selected. If the "Create Pipeline Model" option is not selected, then only their tag IDs are displayed.

Hotspotting in AIM when the "Hotspot Branch Pipes" option is cleared and "Create Pipeline Model" option is selected:

Hotspotting in AIM when the "Hotspot Branch Pipes" option is selected and "Create Pipeline Model" option is selected:

Both the main pipeline and its branches are highlighted and hotspotted.

When hovered on Main pipeline:

When hovered on Branch:

Hotspotting in AIM when the "Hotspot Branch Pipes" option is selected and "Create Pipeline Model" option is cleared:
Export Instrument Alarms

Select the Export Instrument Alarms box, if you want to include the instrument alarms in the output. The box is selected by default.

When selected, the "Export Instrument Alarms" option will extract the Instrument alarms, irrespective of the "Create Pipeline Model" setting. Each Instrument alarm object will have an association to its owning Instrument with the type "is a part of".

Note: When Export Instrument Alarms box is selected in the legacy Gateway for AVEVA P&ID the alarms were associated with an incorrect parent instrument, for example, named as 061-PIC-121, but the actual parent should be 061-PIC121 (no dash between Type and Number). This has been corrected in the EIWM files produced by the Gateway for 2D Data.

Add Pipe Connector "is a part of"

Pipe Connectors in an AVEVA P&ID drawing are extracted by the Gateway as Pipe Connector objects. If this option is selected, then an "is a part of" association is also created between the Pipe Connector and the Pipeline objects.

Example of a Pipe Connector (object with label "905681") in an AVEVA P&ID drawing:

With this option selected, the Connector Object "905681" will have an additional "is a part of" association with the Pipeline object "25-RV-90009-BFU3", so that the output EIWM will be

The associated Pipeline object ID might vary depending on the combinations of the multiple options present under the "AVEVA P&ID" section. For instance, if the "Create Pipeline Model" and "Hotspot Branch Pipes" options are also selected, the Pipe Connector object will have an association "is a part of" with the Pipeline "40-RV-90009-BFU3", instead of "25-RV-90009-BFU3".
Use Equipment Display Tag

In an AVEVA P&ID Drawing, the user can invoke multiple Tag rules for Equipment Element type and can set any one of them as the Display Tag over the Drawing instead of the Default Tag naming rule.

For example, in the below AVEVA P&ID label settings for Equipment, Naming rule 1 is set to ‘True’ and so becomes the Default naming rule.

Setting a different Display Tag for selected Equipment:

The AVEVA P&ID user can then change the display tag for any Equipment and choose the required naming rule by simply using the context menu options of the selected Equipment.

Example of an Equipment in AVEVA P&ID with Display tag set using the default naming rule:

Example of the same Equipment with Display tag set using a different naming rule:

Although this display tag function in AVEVA P&ID may change what is displayed in the AVEVA P&ID drawing, the saved DWG files still contains the data needed to derive the Default naming rule value, which the Gateway user might want to continue to use as the Object ID of the Equipment object in AIM.

In such cases, the Gateway user has the "Use Equipment Display Tag" option to either use the display tag as the Object ID of the Equipment or instead use the Default naming rule as the Object ID.

Note: The Equipment text in the SVG is not affected, and remains the same as displayed in AVEVA P&ID.

When creating a new project, the default value for this option is cleared.

Hotspotting of Equipment in AIM when the Gateway option is selected:

Hotspotting of Equipment in AIM when the Gateway option is not selected:

Extraction of SPP Tag Data

SPP (Special Piping Items) Tag Data is the information available in the XDATA of elements such as Line Fittings, Valves and Reducers.

When an Object ID is created with the SPP properties, AVEVA P&ID considers only those SPP properties that are added as text/labels over the Drawing. The Gateway sets the "AvevaPIDTag" attribute value in two ways:

Adhering to the Tag naming rules set for the element types that support them.
Using the direct tag value if a value is set in Tag Properties.

Line Fittings:

For Line Fitting objects the text displaying the tag values is derived from the Tag Properties of the Line Fitting objects in the AVEVA P&ID Application, for example:

Depending on the tag rules defined, these might result in tags like:

Line fitting in Input P&ID Drawing:

These property values are stored as SPP TAG DATA in the DWG file as XData:

The Gateway extracts all of these attributes and follows the same tag rules to compose the ObjectIDs and hotspots in the output EIWM and SVG:

Hotspotting in Output SVG:

Note: The SPP TAG DATA is exported as attributes of the Object irrespective of their presence in the Drawing as text.

Valves and Reducers:

In the case of Valves and Reducers the SPP TAG DATA is present as a separate SPP Properties window of the element in the AVEVA P&ID Application, for example: