About Symbol Naming Conventions

AutoCAD Electrical toolset depends on a specific naming convention to enable some of its automation features to work. Though not mandatory, follow the naming convention outlined in the following section if you create new AutoCAD Electrical toolset-smart symbols for use with AutoCAD Electrical toolset. Custom symbols can take full advantage of the AutoCAD Electrical toolset features.

Components - General

Schematic components such as relays, switches, pilot lights, and discrete motor control devices (but not PLC I/O symbols) follow this naming convention:

Important: Do not use "HH", "HV", "VH", or "VV" as the first two characters of a symbol block name.

Examples:

HCR1.dwg

Control relay coil, horizontal rung insertion

VCR1.dwg

Control relay coil, vertical rung insertion

HCR21.dwg

Horizontal relay contact, N.O.

HCR22.dwg

Horizontal relay contact, N.C.

HCR22T.dwg

Horizontal relay contact, N.C., with in-line terminal numbers

VPB11.dwg

Vertical push button, parent contact, N.O.

VPB21.dwg

Vertical push button, child contact, N.O.

HLS11.dwg

Horizontal limit switch, parent, N.O.

HLS11H.dwg

Horizontal limit switch, parent, N.O. Held closed

VLT1RP.dwg

Vertical pilot light, red, press-to-test

HW01.dwg

Horizontal cable marker, no wire number change through it

Cable Marker Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset cable conductor marker symbols follow this convention:

Examples:

HW01.dwg

Parent cable conductor marker, horizontal wire insertion

HW02.dwg

Child cable marker, horizontal wire insertion

VW01.dwg

Parent cable conductor marker, vertical wire insertion

VW02.dwg

Child cable marker, vertical wire insertion

Component Location Mark Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset expects the location symbol names to begin with the characters "WDXX."

Configuration and Ladder Master Line Reference Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset expects to find these block inserts:

WD_M.dwg

Block insert consisting of about 50 invisible attributes. They carry the settings of the drawing.

WD_PNLM.dwg

Optional block insert consisting of several invisible attributes. They carry the settings of the drawing for panel layout functions.

WD_MLRH.dwg

Block insert that carries the first line reference number of a ladder and additional information such as rung spacing and ladder length.

WD_MLRV.dwg

Same as previous symbol, but for a ladder that lies on its side.

WD_MLRHX.dwg

Optional, user-defined alternative to WD_MLRH.dwg. AutoCAD Electrical toolset uses this symbol name when you select 'User Block' from the Line Reference Numbers subdialog box of the Drawing Properties Drawing Format dialog box (on the Drawing Properties Drawing Format dialog box, Format Referencing section, select Reference Numbers and click Setup).

WD_MLRVX.dwg

Same as previous symbol, but for a ladder that lies on its side.

Note: The ladder line reference block used by AutoCAD Electrical toolset is determined by the ladder reference configuration selected in the Format Referencing section of the Drawing Properties Drawing Format dialog box.

Connector Symbols

Examples:

HCN1_14P.dwg

Horizontal parent - single (plug) wiring connects from left or bottom

VCN2_18P.dwg

Vertical child - single (plug) wiring connects from left or bottom

HCN1_11J.dwg

Horizontal parent - single (receptacle) wiring connects from right or top

VCN2_12P.dwg

Vertical child - single (plug) wiring connects from right or top

Upon completion of the parametric build connector, a unique new block definition is created. Each connector is labeled with a unique naming convention within the same project.

HCN1_14P_nnn

Horizontal connector; where “nnn” is a random number for uniqueness

VCN1_18P_nnn

Vertical connector; where “nnn” is a random number for uniqueness

Hydraulic Symbols

The maximum number of characters for the block name is 32.

Example:

HCYL1_plunger_cyl.dwg

Horizontal standalone cylinder; plunger_cyl is the meaningful name for the symbol

Inline Wire Marker Symbols

Construct dumb inline wire marker symbols with a tiny piece of "pigtail" line entity at each connection point. It can be small, but it must be present for AutoCAD Electrical toolset to correctly "see" the in-line inserted block as it traces the wire network. Inline wire marker symbols follow this naming convention:

Example:

HT0_RED.dwg

"RED" inline marker, horizontal wire insert

One-line Symbols

One-line symbols follow the same naming convention as schematic parent and child symbols. To make the symbol names unique, the one-line symbol block names have a “1-” suffix. However, the symbol name does not define the symbol as a one-line symbol. A one-line symbol is defined by the existence of a WDTYPE attribute with a value of “1-” on the symbol, or a value of “1-1” for a one-line bus-tap symbol.

The bus-tap symbol can have two functions:

On a dual circuit one-line template, there are three bus-tap symbols. One at the normal point where the circuit ties into the bus. There is another version of the symbol on each of the two circuit "legs", each marking the point where that part of the dual circuit starts. These bus-tap symbols allow various reports to report accurately on a one-line circuit, whether a single circuit or a dual circuit representation.

The following bus-tap symbols are supplied:

Note:

A WDTYPE attribute with a “1-1” value, identifies a bus-tap symbol.

P&ID Symbols

The maximum number of characters for the block name is 32.

Example:

VTK1_ver_tank.dwg

Vertical standalone cyclone; ver_tank is the meaningful name for the symbol

Panel Layout Footprint Symbols

There is not a required naming convention to follow, but the name must adhere to the AutoCAD 32-character block name limit.

Parametric Twisted Pair Symbols

A parametrically generated twisted pair representation consists to two instances of the same symbol (there are no parent/child versions). This symbol must carry attribute ACE_FLAG with a value of "3." Parametric twisted pair symbols follow this naming convention:

Examples:

HT0_TW.dwg

Horizontal parametric connector symbol

VT0_TW.dwg

Vertical parametric connector symbol

PLC I/O Parametric Build Symbols

These symbols begin with "HP" or "VP" (horizontal rung versus vertical) followed by a digit 1 through 9. The digit corresponds to the selected PLC module style or look. (1 through 5 are provided in the AutoCAD Electrical toolset library, 6 through 9 can be user-defined).

Plug/Jack Connector Pin Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset connector symbols follow this convention:

Splice Symbols

Splices follow this naming convention:

Examples:

HSP1001.dwg

Horizontal splice #1

VSP1001.dwg

Vertical splice #1

HSP1003.dwg

Horizontal splice #3

Source/Destination Wire Signal Arrow Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset wire signal arrow symbols follow this convention:

You can create your own arrow styles using these unused digits (for example, HA5S... and HA5D...). For example, copy Autodesk\Acade {version}\Libs\jic1\ha1s*.dwg to ha5s*.dwg and Autodesk\Acade {version}\Libs\jic1\ha1d*.dwg to ha5d*.dwg. Access each copied arrow symbols in AutoCAD and edit to suit. Then, to access your new arrow style, set the default arrow style to "5" in the Drawing Properties Styles dialog box.

Standalone Cross-reference Symbols:

Same naming convention as the Source/Destination Signal symbols (that is, HA?S* and HA?D*) but without a WIRENO attribute present on the symbol.

Stand-alone PLC I/O Point Symbols

These symbols begin with "PLCIO" and can be up to 32 characters long. There is no naming convention referenced by AutoCAD Electrical toolset other than the "PLCIO" prefix.

Examples:

PLCIO50E1761-L16AWA.dwg

AB 1761 model L16-AWA with 0.5 unit rung spacing

PLCIOI1T.dwg

Standalone input point, single wire connection

Standalone Terminal Symbols

Stand-alone terminals follow this naming convention:

Examples:

HT0001.dwg

Square terminal with annotation, wire number does not change

HT1001.dwg

Same as previous symbol, but wire number changes through the terminal

HT0_01.dwg

Dumb, square terminal with no annotation, no wire number change

User-defined Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset user-defined symbols follow this convention:

Wire Dot Symbols

AutoCAD Electrical toolset expects this symbol name to be "WDDOT.dwg."

Wire Number Symbols

An AutoCAD Electrical toolset wire number is a block insert consisting of a single wire number attribute. The origin of the block insert lies on its wire with the wire number attribute floating above, below, or off to the side of the insertion point of the block.

Examples:

WD_WNH.dwg

Wire number for horizontal wire insertion

WD_WNV.dwg

Wire number for vertical wire insertion

WD_WCH.dwg

Extra wire number copy for horizontal wire

WD_WCV.dwg

Extra wire number copy for vertical wire

AutoCAD Electrical toolset also supports inline wire numbers that follow the value of the main wire number. An inline wire marker has a block name that follows that of a terminal symbol that does not trigger a wire number change.

Examples:

HT0_W1.dwg

Inline wire number marker, horizontal wire insertion, short wire number

HT0_W3.dwg

Inline wire number marker, horizontal wire insertion, longer wire number

VT0_W1.dwg

Inline wire number marker, vertical wire insertion, short wire number

VT0_W2.dwg

Inline wire number, vertical wire insertion, medium wire width, vertical wire insertion

Family type

The second and third characters of the symbol name are reserved for family type (for example, PB for push buttons, CR for control relays, LS for limit switches). The family type can be used to determine the catalog lookup table name and the tag name for a component. The library symbols supplied with AutoCAD Electrical toolset use the following family types.

Family Type

Description

AM

Ammeters

AN

Buzzers, horns, bells

BA

Batteries

BV

Ball Valves

C0, CN

Connectors/pins

CA

Capacitors

CB

Circuit breakers

CR

Control relays

DB

Distribution blocks

DI

Diodes

DN

Device networks

DR

Drives

DS

Disconnect switches

DV

Device boxes

EN

Enclosures/hardware

FL

Level switches

FM

Frequency meters

FS

Flow sensors

FT

Foot switches

FU

Fuses

GV

Gate valves

LR

Latching relays

LS

Limit switches

LT

Lights, pilot lights

LV

Globe valves

MO

Motors

MS

Motor starters/contactors

OL

Overloads

PB

Push buttons

PC

Pull cord switches

PE

Photo switches

PG

A-plug switches

PM

Power meters

PS

Pressure switches

PW

Power supplies

PX

Proximity switches

RE

Resistors

SP

Splices

SS

Selector switches

SU

Surge suppressors

SV

Solenoids

SW, TG

Toggle switches

T0, T1

Terminals

TC

Thermocouples

TD

Timer relays

TS

Temperature switches

VM

Volt meters

VR

Variable resistors

WO

Cables, multi-conductor cables

XF

Transformers