Drawing Configuration Category

The Drawing Configuration Category is divided into the following sub-categories:

Grid Sub-Category

The fields in the Grid application pane are used to set up the dimensions and other elements of the drawing grid or grids.

Multiple grids may be defined. If multiple grids are defined they will be used by all project drawings, for example, the drawings will include all the defined grids. A grid called Default Grid is supplied with the application.

The application pane is divided into the following sections.

Top Section

This section is used to add, edit and delete grids, and to export them to replace the default template for use when creating drawings.

To select a grid to be edited, pick it from the Template Name field list.

By default, all drawings will use the same grid/template. If drawings are to be able to use different grid/templates (as created using this window), check the Single Template Per Drawing checkbox. Grids must be exported before they are available to be assigned to drawings in the AVEVA P&ID Drawing Properties dialog.

Add a Drawing Grid

To add a new grid, press Add. The following dialog is then displayed:

Enter a unique name for the grid and click OK. The grid is then created and the following message is then displayed:

Once a grid is created it is added to the list in the Grid Name field.

Edit a Drawing Grid

To edit a grid, select its name from the list in the Grid Name field. Details of the grid are then displayed in the rest of the window.

Note: Once all the required changes have been made, press Update to save the changes.

The following message is then displayed:

Delete a Drawing Grid

To delete a grid, select its name from the list in the Grid Name field. Details of the grid are then displayed in the rest of the window. Press Delete.

A message is then displayed requesting that the user confirm the deletion. Press Yes to proceed. Another message is displayed once the grid is deleted.

At least one grid must exist in a project, therefore if there is only one grid defined, it cannot be deleted. A message is displayed to inform the user of this if this is attempted.

Export Drawing Grids to Template Files

To export the current grids to replace the default drawing template file, for use when creating new drawings, press Export All Grids.

The export will then take place. The file is saved in the project’s PROJMET folder, overwriting the existing default template file (Grid-Metric.dwt for metric projects, Grid-Imperial.dwt for Imperial projects). A message will be displayed when the export is complete.

New drawings will use the settings in the revised template by default. To update existing drawings with the revised template, refer to Update Drawing Grids.

Drawing Frame Settings Section

This section contains the following settings:

• Drawing Length and Height fields. These fields specify the length and height of the drawing grid.

• Horizontal Start, Mid and End Distance fields are used to specify the horizontal dimensions of the drawing frame grid.

• The Horizontal Start field is used to set the distance from the left-hand edge (0,0) of the sheet to the left-hand edge of the frame.

• The Horizontal Mid field is used to set the length of AVEVA P&ID grid squares within the frame.

• The Horizontal End field is used to set the distance from the right-hand edge of the frame to the right-hand edge of the sheet.

• The Vertical Start, Mid and End Distance fields are used to specify the vertical dimensions of the drawing frame grid.

• The Vertical End field is used to set the distance from the top edge of the sheet to the top edge of the frame.

• The Vertical Mid field is used to set the height of AVEVA P&ID grid squares within the frame.

• The Vertical Start field is used to set the distance from the bottom edge of the frame (0,0) to the bottom edge of the sheet.

• The Starting Point of Grid X and Y fields are used to set the starting point (for example, the bottom left-hand corner) of the grid.

Only objects within the limits of drawings, as specified here using Drawing Length and Height fields, will be validated.

If multiple grids are to be defined, users should make sure that their areas do not overlap.

Grid Settings Section

This section contains the following settings:

• Vertical Grid Direction. This is a group of two buttons - Up and Down. It is only possible to have one button selected at a time. Depending on the button selected, the grid will increment from the top or the bottom along the Y-axis.

• Horizontal Grid Direction. This is a group of two buttons - Left and Right. It is only possible to have one button selected at a time. Depending on the button selected, the grid will increment from the left or from the right along the X-axis.

• Vertical and Horizontal Grid Type. This is a group of two buttons - Letters and Numbers. It is only possible to have one button select at a time. Depending on the button selected, the X and Y-axes are assigned either letters or numbers.

• In the Starting with letter and Starting with number fields enter the first letter and the first number of each axis.

If multiple grids are to be defined, users should make sure that numbers and letters are not used in more than one grid.

Note: Once all the required changes have been made, press Update to save the changes.

Common Settings Section

This section contains the following settings:

• Grid Spacing field. This field is used to specify the size of the AutoCAD grid spaces.

  Note: The AutoCAD grid is a separate feature from the AVEVA P&ID grid.

• Snap Spacing field. This field is used to specify the size of the snap spacing. Usually, the snap spacing is set first and then the grid spacing is set to match the snap spacing. AVEVA P&ID grid and snap definitions will override AutoCAD settings so snap and grid settings must always be defined in the project configuration to suit the symbol set in use.

• Grid Letters to Ignore field. This field is used to specify the grid letters to ignore, for example, I and O, which may be confused with one and zero. List the letters to be excluded, using commas as separators, or enter NONE.

  Note: The AutoCAD drawing grid, and the AVEVA P&ID drawing grid are two distinct features. The AutoCAD drawing grid is a standard AutoCAD feature switched on by pressing GRID at the bottom of the P&ID drawing pane. The AutoCAD drawing grid is a grid of dots laid over the P&ID as a drawing aid. The Grid Spacing field described above is used to specify the size of the grid squares.

  Note: All grid calculations performed by AVEVA P&ID assume that the border sheet has its bottom left corner at the 0,0 AutoCAD coordinate. If this is not the case grid references will not be correct, and some items could report to be off of the grid.

Labels Sub-Category

The Labels sub-category is used to configure how project drawings themselves (as opposed to items on these drawings) are labelled with a drawing title, and positional settings for drawing label types.

Drawing Labels Section

This section contains the following settings:

• If the design area of drawings is required as part of the drawing title label, and is also to be used as a prefix for instrument/equipment labels, check the Design Area from Title Block used for Instrument Label Field 1 checkbox.

• If the project number is to be part of the drawing title label, check the Place Project Number Label as part of Drawing Title checkbox.

• Number of Design Area Labels to place, Number of Drawing Number Labels to place and Number of Project Number Labels to place. Several labels may be placed for Drawing Area, Drawing Number and Project Number when using the Add a Title to a Drawing and enter Drawing Sheet Attributes procedure. Enter the number of labels required for each in the three fields provided.

Drawing Labels Settings Section

This section is used to specify the positions of labels that may be used to label the drawing.

Different label settings can be assigned to different drawing grids. The drawings that use a grid will adopt the grid’s settings. Select the grid in question from the Grid Name field list (this option is only applicable if the Single Template per Drawing checkbox is checked in the Grid Sub-Category).

The grid lists all the label types of the drawing properties under the Label Type heading. The description of each of the label types is displayed under the Description heading. Label types and descriptions cannot be edited.

If a label is to be placed in its default position on the drawing, select N from the list in the Fix Position field. If a label is to be placed at specified coordinates, select Y.

Note: Some drawing properties are not placed on drawings by default, for example, minimum and maximum line and loop numbers. However, if coordinates are entered for them, they will be placed at these coordinates.

Enter the X and Y coordinates of the label in the X and Y fields.

For the drawing title label and type (XDT) an Y offset may also be entered. This is because drawing title label may consist of multiple lines (up to 5). The Y offset specifies the vertical gap between each line. If any drawing title is to consist of more than one line, enter a number in the Y Offset (XDT Only) field.

Note: The offset number should be negative, as second and subsequent lines should be placed below the first line.

Layers Sub-Category

The Layers application pane is used to edit these layers and to add new layers as required.

AVEVA P&ID is supplied with layers already set up for pipes, equipment, instruments, labels, revisions etc.

Note: The [PARENT] layer is applicable to Item types and Label types. For example, if a label layer is set to [PARENT] for the XPI label type (Pipe label), then the layer of XPI labels in project drawings would in turn be set to the layer of their parent pipes.

Note: The [DEFAULT] layer is the layer used for customized pipe labels (pipes can be labelled with customized labels consisting of specific pipe properties selected by the user when labelling).
Other label and item types should not be assigned to this layer.

Note: The AS_LOCKLAYER is the layer used to lock items. Locked items cannot be modified by the user.

Edit the Layers with Import from Excel Spreadsheets

The layers can be efficiently edited by exporting them to an Excel spreadsheet, editing it in that spreadsheet, and then by importing the amended list back into AVEVA P&ID.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Select the layer to be exported from the Layers list.

2. Select the Export to Excel link. A message is then displayed requesting that the user confirm that the export is to take place:

   

3. Click Yes. The selected layer is then exported to a spreadsheet. When the export is complete, a message is displayed to inform the user of this, and giving the location of the exported file. For example:

   

4. The layer can now be edited in Excel. Click the Open Excel link to open it.

   Note: The Open Excel and Import from Excel links are disabled until an export takes place, and disabled again once the changed layers are imported back into AVEVA P&ID.

5. Add, edit and delete the layers as required, and then save the file.

6. To import the layers back into AVEVA P&ID, select the Import from Excel link. A message is then displayed requesting that the user confirm that the import is to take place. Click Yes to continue.

7. The layers list is then updated to reflect the changes made in the spreadsheet.

Create a new Drawing Layer

If a layer is to be created, select . The following dialog box is then displayed:

Enter a unique value for the drawing layer and click OK.

The dialog box will be closed and the entered new value will be displayed in the Drawing Layer column. The colour code will be set automatically to the default value, but may be amended.

To edit a drawing layer name, select and enter the new value in the dialog that is then displayed.

Enter a Colour Code

Scroll to the row in question. The colour box dialog button is displayed:

On selection of the button, the colour selection dialog box is displayed:

The Colour Code can be selected by the following methods:

• Selection of one of the colours shown in the palette

• By manually entering the Colour Code field

The Assume Owner Colour and Assume ByLayer options are not applicable in this case.

Following selection, press OK. The selected colour code will then be displayed in the grid.

If the colour of an existing layer is changed, drawings will be updated with the new colour when they are reloaded.

Edit Layer Transparency

The Transparency field is used to specify the visual transparency of the layer when layer transparency is selected on a drawing. Input a value between 0 and 90 to specify the amount of transparency for the layer. A value of 0 will display the layer as solid, a value of 90 will display the layer with the strongest transparency.

Settings Sub-Category

The Settings application pane is divided into the following sections.

User Defined Sheet Attributes Section

This section is used to enter the field names for the Sheet Attribute fields on the Advanced Drawing Properties sheet. These fields are used to enter drawing sheet properties in addition to those of the drawing title.

As required, enter meaningful field titles in the ten fields provided.

The first field on the Advanced Drawing Properties sheet will always display the Design Area Attribute, though the field name may still be changed if required.

If required, from the adjacent lists select a list of values that must be selected from to complete the fields on the Advanced Drawing Properties sheet. Leave a list set to <NONE> when this is not required for a field.

Note: Before Access by Area security can be enabled for the project, the list of project design areas must be selected from the list of lists of values adjacent to the Design Area Attribute field. Refer to AVEVA P&ID Security help for details of Access by Area security.

The attributes entered or selected from a list in the Advanced Drawing Properties sheet are not used to label the drawing sheet themselves, but the values may be properties that are common to many items on the drawing, for example, the design area, and may be "inherited" into label fields of these items. This inheritance is set up for each category of item (e.g. equipment) using the appropriate Configuration Category pane.

If the Entity selected is added to the current selection set checkbox is checked, when items are selected on a drawing they are added to the current set of selected items. If the checkbox is unchecked then selecting an item will result in any items previously selected being deselected. The default setting of the checkbox is unchecked.

If the Shift key is held down while selecting items, this is reversed, for example, if the checkbox is checked and the Shift key is held down while selecting items then selecting an item will result in any items previously selected being deselected. If checkbox is not checked and the Shift key is held down while selecting objects, they are added to the current set of selected items

Property Filter Rules Section

The list of values available in a drawing for specifying pipe properties, the symbols available for a drawing, and the datasets available for a drawing may be restricted to those that have names that include a particular value.

This value is derived from the attributes of the drawing. The specific drawing attributes that make up this value and their order are specified using facilities available in the Property Filter Rules section.

If a filter value is to be used, check the Apply Filter Rules checkbox.

To set up the filter value, select the green button next to the Filter properties based on sheet property values field.

The Select Property Filter Rules dialog is then displayed:

From the lists of values, select the drawing attribute fields from which the filter value is to be derived, in the required order.

For example, if Design Area Attribute, Sheet Attribute 1 and Sheet Attribute 2 were selected from the Field 1, 2 and 3 list of values, then the filter value will be a concatenation of those values as entered for the drawing in the Drawing Properties dialog.

Therefore if the drawing attributes were as in the above example, the filter value would be 722.

If different attributes are selected in the Select Property Filter Rules dialog, or the same attributes in a different order, that would set the filter value to a different value. For example, if Sheet Attribute 1, Sheet Attribute 2 and Design Area Attribute are selected from the Field 1, 2 and 3 list of values, then the filter value would be 227.

Once the required attributes have been selected, click OK. The Select Property Filter Rules dialog will then close. The Filter properties based on sheet property values field will display the numbers of the selected attribute fields (e.g. Design Area Attribute is field 1, Sheet Attribute 1 is field 2 etc).

Refer to Create Pipe Property, Symbol and DataSet Filters based on Drawing Attributes for how filter rules are applied.

Drawing Title Settings Section

In the Multiline Title Text Defined Width field, enter the maximum width that each line of the drawing title text may be (as entered in the Drawing Properties dialog) before wrapping onto the next line. The default value is 300.

Drawing Description Settings Section

Check the Show Drawing Description Dialog box checkbox if the Description dialog is to be displayed automatically when saving changes to a drawing while closing and during the (Legacy only) Synchronisation process.

Drawing Registry Settings Section

If, when assigning a number to a drawing in the AVEVA P&ID Drawing properties dialog, only drawing numbers from the project drawing registry may be selected, check the Use Drawing Registry checkbox.

If the checkbox is unchecked, any drawing number may be entered in the dialog, and the list of drawing numbers in the drawing registry is not available.

A drawing registry consists of the drawings in the project database, accessible using AVEVA P&ID Reports.

Audit on Open Section

Drawing labels may sometimes be erroneously displaced by the application  (their X-coordinates are slightly decreased). Check the Automatically Fix Drawing On Open checkbox if drawing labels are to be automatically moved back to their correct positions when drawings are opened.

Validation Sub-Category

This sub-category is used to specify the permitted format of entries into selected drawing properties fields.

In the fields provided, enter the following characters as required:

For example, if AaN is entered for the Design area Attribute field, when a user is completing this field in the Drawing Properties dialog, the first character must be an uppercase letter, the second a lower case letter, and the third a number.

The Advanced Format Options dialog is available from the button adjacent to each field.

To test how the validation will work in practice, make an entry in the Test Data field of the Test tab, and click Test. A message will be displayed indicating whether or not the test data would be a valid entry.

To directly edit the regular expression that comprises the validation entry, select the Advanced tab. The expression is displayed in the Regular Expression field and may be amended as required. For help on editing Regular Expressions, click on the help link displayed on this tab.

Drawing List Sub-Category

The Drawing List sub-category is used to define the ranges of incremental numbers that can be used in the automatic tagging of pipes, instruments, equipment and valves (refer to Automatic Tags). An exclusive range of numbers may be defined for each project drawing and item type.

To populate the grid with all project drawings, select Scan Drawings. All the project drawings will then be listed under the Drawing + Sheet heading.

To change or delete drawing names:

8. Edit or delete the drawing and sheet names in the Drawing and Sheet column.

   Note: The duration of the renaming process increases exponentially with each additional drawing, therefore it is not recommended that more than 50 drawings are renamed at once.

9. Next, select Rename/Delete Drawings. The following message will then be displayed:

   

10. Make sure all the drawings that are been edited are closed in AVEVA P&ID. Click Yes to continue.

11. If any of the drawings are currently open, a message is displayed requesting that the user close them, and the rename will not take place.

12. If the drawings in question are not open, their names are then changed or deleted.

13. The drawings are then automatically synchronised with and consolidated in the P&ID Reports database. The progress of the processes are displayed on screen:

    

14. Once the processes are complete, a message is displayed to inform the user that the drawing or drawings have been successfully renamed.

To delete unreferenced drawings, for example, drawings that are listed in the database but are not present as files in the Drawings folder, select Delete Unreferenced Drawing(s).