CADWorx Plant Isogen Training v23
CADWorx Plant Isogen Training v23
CADWorx Plant Isogen Training v23
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Assumptions
It is assumed you already have a working knowledge of CADWorx Plant and a strong familiarity
with the Windows Operating System.
Experience with coding in SQL, XML, or VBScript languages is highly recommended for the
advanced exercises later in this guide.
Introduction to I-Configure
Isogen is the world's leading solution for the total automation of piping isometric
drawing production and is the de facto standard CAD system for drawing piping
isometrics. Eliminating the need to manually edit isometric drawings significantly
reduces fabrication and on-site construction errors. Consistent drawing content is
provided through isometric repeatability, which ensures that the number
of drawings, basic content, and spool and weld numbers following pipe design changes
remain consistent.
Isogen is highly configurable and is the most automated engine available today for
piping isometric drawing production. The system can be fully customized to meet users'
specific requirements, working practices, and drawing standards. Being data-driven and
data centric, Isogen can produce drawings in all commonly used 2D CAD formats
including AutoCAD, MicroStation, and Intergraph
SmartSketch®.
The new Isogen Configuration option inside I-Configure, simplifies the customization of
piping isometric drawings and reports produced by Isogen. Isogen Configuration
provides an intuitive, visual approach to setting isometric drawing style properties and
provides easy access to Isogen's substantial array of controls and files. Graphically
select the options you want and immediately see the impact spontaneous style
modifications have on drawing output using the built-in drawing previewer. Isogen
Configuration optimizes the use of Isogen and unlocks its powerful capabilities in a
user friendly way, making it easier for CADWorx users to set-up their project
deliverables, and do it faster!
I-Configure is the graphical user interface (GUI) that allows quick and convenient
editing of Isogens control files.It breaks down different areas of the Isogen style into easy to
manage menus and provides a live preview of most changes made to the style within the editor.
I-Configure can also be launched from within CADWorx via the I-Configure button on the
CADWorx Plant I > Isogen panel:
After clicking on either icon, the I-Configure splash screen will display:
The I-Configure splash screen displays the major I-Configure release version and does not
match the CADWorx Plant release version. For example, the splash screen shows 2016 when
launched in 2019 CADWorx.
1. Launch I-Configure. You may do this from the Start Menu, or from within
CADWorx Plant.
After launching, the splash screen will display and I-Configure will load. Without any
previously connected Isogen styles, the windows will be blank:
Advanced: I-Configure loads the list of Project Directories from the IsoDirList.xml in
C:\ProgramData\Alias. To permanently remove the list of styles in I-Configure, you can delete
the .xml file and I-Configure will re-create it when launched again. This does not delete the
actual control files for those styles. You can still re-connect to them afterward.
2. At the top left corner of I-Configure, click the New Isometric Directory icon.
3. You can also select File > New > Isometric Directory…
4. Navigate to your C: drive and click the Make New Folder button to create a new
directory folder.
5. Name the new directory Isogen_Training
6. Select the Isogen_Training folder you created and click OK.
8. Change the New Project Name field to Training, then click the Application pulldown and
select CADWorx. This enables the styles as CADWorx styles and allows for custom
attribute population.
I-Configure creates new Isogen styles for CADWorx from the selected templates.
11. Expand the Training Project Folder with the plus sign to view the available
styles within the project folder.
Notice we have templates for a variety of purposes. These can all be used
immediately or edited prior to use. Keep in mind the folder structure we see in I-
Configure exists on your C:\ drive.
The following prompt appears asking you to confirm the styles deletion:
Keep in mind there is no undo option here. Deletions are permanent, and they do not
just remove the style from the list… they delete the actual physical folder from the C:\
drive. Notice in the File Explorer image above, the style is not present.
This holds true for Projects and Isometric Directories.
If you delete it from I-Configure, it deletes it from the computer.
The only exception is for network drives.
Just as we easily deleted a single style, we can add a single style back.
14. Click the Training project folder to select it, then click on the New Style icon:
If you want to remove an Isogen style Directory from I-Configure, the correct way to do it is by
disconnecting from it.
17. Select the Isogen_Training directory from the list, then click the Disconnect From
Isometric Directory icon:
Disconnecting does not delete anything, and you can always reconnect to it later.
18. Click the Connect to Isometric Directory icon.
This reconnects our Isometric Directory and the Projects and Styles within it.
In some cases, an administrator may need to manually clear the I-Configure directory list. Some
older Project Manager style imports, or even I-Configure styles, once connected but not existing,
are not able to be removed as the needed files are no longer present.
You can clear the list of directories within I-Configure by navigating to C:\ProgramData\Alias (or
type %ProgramData% in Windows File Explorer, and deleting the IsoDirList.xml file.
This XML file contains a list of all the Isogen Directories pathed in I-Configure for the user:
You may also edit this carefully with an XML editor or Notepad if needed.
Just as the IsoDirList.xml contains a list of the Directories, each Directory contains a list of the
Projects within it. For example, the ProjectList.xml file within C:\Isogen_Training looks like this:
Certainly not the strongest password, but you get the idea!
When we have the Project selected, we can see that it has it’s AccessRights set to
ReadOnly and who has locked it:
Selecting a style will also show that the CanWrite variable is False:
In order to unlock a style for editing, the Administrator must return to the Project Access
Rights and change from Read-Only to Write.
Since we are going to do quite a bit of editing, we want to unlock our styles for now.
5. Select the Training project from the list on the left and go to Tools > Project Access
Rights
6. Set the access rights to Write, key in your password (1234) and click OK.
Command: ISOGENOUT
Since we have a useable Isogen Directory in I-Configure, the Select Isogen Style window
appears with the directory already pathed.
CADWorx prompts you to enter an option for selection, or to toggle the Single PCF
generation on or off.
Line number selection lets you select the line numbers you want to generate an Iso for
from a list of all line numbers in the model.
Select components lets you select the components manually.
Toggle Single PCF allows you to toggle if the software creates a single PCF for all line
numbers or creates a PCF for each line number. Select the check box to create a single PCF
or clear the box to create multiple PCFs.
4. Type “S” for Select Components then press Enter.
5. Select the entire model, then press Enter.
CADWorx will send the piping component data to Isogen for processing and provide details in
the command line including the Directory of the Isogen style, the Project, the Style used, the
method used (“S” for Select Components), how many entities were sent to Isogen, the name of
the plot file and the location of the log file.
The CADWorx Isogen Results window also opens. Since we had a successful plot file creation,
the Isogen Results window reports that the Isogen export was successful, how many plot files
were produced, and the file path of the plot files.
Since we manually selected the components to run, and there are no stop signs present in the
model, all components were generated on a single sheet.
The plot file was written to the C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-Basic\Drawings path by
default. This path is customizable within I-Configure.
7. Close the Isometric drawing and return to the CADWorx model.
8. Click Isogenout or run the ISOGENOUT command.
9. Click OK in the Select Isogen Style window. The Final-Basic style should
already be selected.
10. Prompted to enter a selection option, type “L” for Line Number then press Enter.
After selecting Line Number, we are prompted on the command line to either pick the line
number from a list or pick the line number by clicking on a component.
11. Type “L” for List then press Enter.
The Select Item window opens. Here we can select which line numbers in the model
we want to send to Isogen. You can filter results in large models using the filter field at the top
of the screen, and you are also given the ability to specify whether a Single PCF file is created.
12. Uncheck Single PCF
If Single PCF is checked, only a single PCF file is created and both line numbers are
generated on a single plot file.
It would also create an Isometric named after one line number if a line reference macro is used
to name the drawing, as the current style uses.
13. Select both line numbers shown in the list then click OK.
CADWorx creates two PCF files in the Isogen Project’s Inputs folder and sends the
components to Isogen.
Isogen Batch skips the style selection window and uses the last style that was run.
2. Select both lines from the line list, then click OK.
The drawing is currently generating on an A2 sheet size. We will change the backing
sheet (the border template) and the sheet size.
The units are generating as Metric. We will change these to Imperial.
On the new backing sheet, we have CAD attributes that we want to map Isogen
attributes to so Isogen fills these in automatically.
We will change the bill of material to match the new backing sheets border and
columns.
We’ll increase the dimension standout.
Some existing attributes such as the Pipeline Reference need to be removed to
accommodate attribute mapping instead.
8. Expand the second result, Drawing Manager\Drawing File then the Template
File and click the DXF Units pulldown to set the units to Inch.
We’ve changed the drawing units and set the units for the backing sheet, now lets also adjust
the units that are displayed to us within the Editor.
9. At the top left corner, click the ECP menu and select Options
10. Set the Drawing Units to inches as shown below, then click OK.
11. At the bottom right corner of the editor, click Save then Exit.
Since we are changing how I-Configure displays all units in the editor, it’s best to reload the
editor in the new unit format.
12. Back in the main window, select the Final-Basic style and click Edit.
Notice we get an updated preview of the style on the right, showing the new border.
Since the border is larger now (ANSI D size), we need to increase the available drawing area
and adjust the position of the Bill of Material (BOM)
14. Near the bottom right corner of the editor, click Drawing Setup Tool
The Drawing Setup Tool gives us quick access to many different options and allows us to
visually adjust the drawing rea, positions of material lists and attributes, and enable Weld Lists
or Cut Lists.
15. Click the Drawing Size pulldown, highlighted below, and change the size to ANSI “D”
The light green border updates to show the approximate size of our sheet.
16. At the top left corner of the Drawing Setup Tool, click Drawing Areas
The Drawing Areas tab lets us adjust the drawing area that Isogen will position the isometric
drawing within. A green border with grip points will outline the current area. On the left side of
the Drawing Setup Tool there is a panel that allows you to enter exact values.
17. Click on the grip points along the green drawing area border and practice repositioning
it, then position the border like the image below:
Now that we are close to where we want the border to be, we can round off the actual position.
18. Match the values in the image below to finalize our drawing area.
Note: Sometimes Isogen can slightly exceed the allowed area, so it’s best to give a slight buffer
space from the actual limits of the borders drawing area.
Now that we’ve corrected the drawing area for the new sheet size, we need to reposition the bill
of materials.
19. Click on the Material List tab at the top of the Drawing Setup Tool.
The Material List tab opens and displays the current position, as well as column data of the
material list.
Notice our material list is still positioned for an A2 sheet. To adjust this, we can use the RED
rectangular grip at the top left corner of the material lists. Individual column adjustments can be
made using the GREEN rectangles at the top of each column.
20. Using the mouse wheel, zoom in and view the RED and GREEN rectangles.
21. Now zoom back out and click and drag the RED rectangle to the position shown below
within our bill of material border.
Tip: You can hold down the middle mouse button then drag to pan.
This position won’t be the final location. Remember this is an approximate location. We will
round off it’s position within the Material List panel to the far left of the Drawing Setup Tool.
Notice if you mouse over one of the green rectangles you get a tooltip describing what column
position it controls.
We need to remove this Item Code column from our Isometric drawing as our new border is not
setup to utilize it.
Also notice that our bill of material contains two separate sections – Section 1 and Section 2.
The border that is set up on our backing sheet contains a separate section for this which is
named Assembly Materials. We will need to position the second section within the Assembly
Materials limits.
On the far left of the Drawing Setup Tool we can see the sections listed, their content, direction,
the maximum row entries, and the position offset of secondary lists.
22. Click on any of the BLUE rectangles (the Section 2 list) and drag down to position them
just below the Assembly Materials border.
23. In the Material List panel on the far left, click on the Item Code column and then click the
Red X icon to delete it.
We should now be left with just four columns: PT-NO, N.S., Description, and QTY:
24. Now click each of the GREEN rectangles to reposition them as shown below. Hover
your mouse over them to identify the column before positioning it. The order of columns
will need to be re-arranged.
Isogens PT-NO column is commonly called the “Item” or “Mark” column and is not a
components part/manufacturer/order number.
26. When finished, click the OK button at the top left corner of the Drawing Setup Tool.
We’ve made quite a few changes already, so let’s run some test Iso’s to see our progress.
28. Return to CADWorx Plant and type the ISOGENBATCH command.
29. Select just the 1020 line number to send to Isogen and click OK.
30. Type “Y” for yes to the drawing results when prompted.
While our bill of material looks mostly squared away, we created a new issue when we swapped
our border template. Notice in the top left corner we have two north arrows?
One north arrow is being generated by Isogen, and one is a static north arrow on the backing
sheet itself.
Let’s remove the static north arrow and let Isogen handle our north arrow generation.
To do this, we need to edit the backing sheet in a plain CAD session without CADWorx loaded.
We do this because CADWorx products write product specific blocks (CPM, CEM, CFM) to any
drawing it opens – these blocks can be version specific and could potentially cause problems if
an older block is nested in a future product version’s drawing.
Let’s continue to the next exercise and take a look at the backing sheet.
3. Run the EXPLODE command on the block to explode it. Notice the attribute information
becomes visible. We can also select the North Arrow now.
4. Draw a window around the North Arrow and press the Delete key.
We could do other modifications while we are in here, but this is all we need for now.
5. Type the BLOCK command, then select the PDS block name from the pull down at the
top. This is the name of the existing block.
6. Check the Specify On-Screen box under Entities, and the Convert to block radial
button, then click OK.
7. We are prompted that the block definition already exists. Click Yes to redefine.
8. Select the entire backing sheet/border including all attributes and press Enter.
9. Prompted to Edit Attributes, click OK.
10. Press Ctrl-Shift-S, or go to File > Save As and save this modified drawing over the old
one as a 2007 version .dwg.
Important: Isogen compatibility is limited with dwg versions exceeding 2007. Drawings
saved above 2007 version may not function.
11. Prompted with a Confirm Save As warning, click Yes.
12. Return to CADWorx Plant, close the last Iso drawing we created and run
ISOGENBATCH on the 1020 line again. Type “Y” to open when prompted.
The static north arrow is now gone. Now we simply need to reposition the Isogen generated
north arrow.
13. Return to I-Configure and exit the Final-Basic style editor. While this is not required
when editing styles, we want to reload the backing sheet change we made when
removing the north arrow.
14. Select Final-Basic and click Edit after exiting. This takes us right back into the style
editor.
15. In the main edit window under the Drawing Area pane, click Content.
Tip: While we walk through the actual locations of the following settings, searching for
“North” would get you there faster.
16. Expand North Arrow, then click False next to Show Enclosure. This removes the
enclosure around the north arrow.
The current position of the North Arrow is based on the drawing area. Since we originally
accommodated for a static north arrow when we set our drawing area, we can decrease the
margin at the top of the drawing area so Isogen can utilize the space and place the north arrow
closer to the corner of our border.
Lets adjust the position of the north arrow manually.
17. Click the Drawing Setup Tool at the bottom right corner of the screen.
18. Click the Attributes tab along the top of the Drawing Setup Tool window.
Technically the North Arrow is an attribute and is automatically generated by Isogen unless
added to the Attribute list with a position of 0,0. The act of adding the north arrow attribute to a
position of 0,0 actually suppresses the north arrow, so if you want to use a static north arrow on
the backing sheet, you can suppress the system generated north arrow in this manner.
Without a North Arrow position specified via attributes, the north arrow is placed at the top left
corner of the useable drawing area. You can move it outside of the drawing area by positioning
its attributes field location.
Since we want to make use of the extra drawing space, we will still adjust our drawing area after
positioning the north arrow.
19. Click the Add/Remove Attributes button on the far left.
21. At the bottom of the Drawing Setup Tool, scroll down the list of placed Attributes and
click on the NORTH-ARROW-POSITION attribute, then find it in the drawing area.
Tip: Hover your mouse over the attribute the identify it.
22. The placed attribute is a small rectangle. Click on the rectangle and hold the mouse
button to drag it closer to the position shown below at the top left corner of the sheet.
23. Click the NORTH-ARROW-POSITION attribute in the Attributes list again and enter the
X, Y, and Text Height values to match the image below.
If you already know where you want to position the north arrow, you can skip dragging it
into position and just enter its X and Y data. The purpose of dragging the north arrow
attribute into position first is to familiarize yourself with moving attributes and
demonstrating you can move it into position and then fine tune the X, and Y values
afterwards.
With our North Arrow position finalized, lets adjust the drawing area.
24. Click on the Drawing Area tab and adjust the Top Drawing Area Margin to 0.2 as
shown below.
25. Click OK at the top left corner of the Drawing Setup Tool to return to the main style edit
window.
Note: Going forward, exiting the Drawing Setup Tool and Saving the style changes will
not be visually represented in the guide. Instead, you will be told to “Exit the Drawing
Setup Tool” and “Save the Style”
27. Return to CADWorx Plant and close any existing Isometric drawings you have open.
28. Run the ISOGENBATCH command on the 1020 line, typing “Y” when prompted to open
drawings.
Our isogen style now outputs a system generated North Arrow at the top left corner of the
screen.
29. Close the Iso drawing and return to the I-Configure Style Editor.
31. Click on Standard Dimensions and change the Format to a Composite style.
35. Continue scrolling down and set the Overall standout to 1.00
Our preview window on the right should reflect updated standout dimensions.
Now let’s remove some of the Isogen attributes that are generating on our backing sheet.
1. The Pipeline Reference (line number) is being generated twice. One is a CAD
attribute field that is generating the name of the drawing, the other (the black text
version) is being generated by Isogen.
2. This is a date attribute being generated by Isogen.
3. This is a pipeline specification attribute being generated by Isogen.
This particular border is intended to use CAD Attribute Population Mapping via Isogen to
populate CAD Attributes on the backing sheet with data from an external file. While we can
place the equivalent attributes using I-Configure and have Isogen populate them from pipeline
data or project defaults, mapping attribute population to a CAD attribute allows us to query the
attributes in drawings whereas Isogen generated attributes are plain text.
36. Open the Drawing Setup Tool and click on the Attributes tab.
37. Shift-Select (Hold down shift, click the first attribute, and the second to last attribute) all
attributes in the attribute list except for the NORTH-ARROW-POSITION
38. With all attributes selected (except the north arrow!) click the Delete button.
I-Configure reads the block from our backing sheet and displays all attributes within it. Here we
just need to click the pull downs next to the appropriate attribute and map it to the Isogen
equivalent.
Don’t worry, we won’t populate all of this in this training, just a few!
3. Find the follow drawing attributes on the left and match them to the pull down values
shown on the right:
a. INSULTHK = Misc Spec1
b. INSULTYPE = Insulation Spec
c. SPEC = Pipe Spec
d. LINE-NO = Pipeline Reference
These are convenient because its information Isogen can read straight from the PCF file about
the pipeline.
If the information you want to populate isn’t contained within the PCF file, we can add it to the
Project Defaults if it applies to the entire project, or create an external line list that contains line
numbers and attributes that apply to that line number for Isogen to utilize.
If you exited your style editor, remember you can find Attribute Display under the
Drawing Border pane, then expand Backing Sheet Data.
7. Save the style, then exit the style – this should return you to the main I-Configure
window that lists the Isogen Directories.
8. Click on the Project Directory to select it as shown below.
9. With the Project Directory selected, click on the Edit menu at the top left corner, then
click Project Defaults..
11. Scroll down slightly until you see Project Identifier in the list of attributes, then double-
click it to open the Attribute window.
12. In the Default Value field, type Training then click OK. This will apply to all styles
within this project.
Notice this window looks like the one we were just in. Any values here will override the defaults
we set in I-Configure. These defaults can will be written to the config file if used. You can
override attribute values or uncheck any overridden values and they will not be used when
Isogen is ran.
15. Leave these blank and click OK to exit.
16. Type ISOGENBATCH and run another Iso on the 1020 drawing.
Notice our PROJECT NO field now populates “Training” per the default value we set in I-
Configure for all the styles within the project. Remember that for this to work on other styles,
they too would need attribute mapping set up.
So far, we’ve seen how to map CAD attributes to Isogen, and how to populate default attribute
values for a project. Later in this guide we will look at creating a pipeline attributes file that
contains line information and how to make Isogen read the line list and populate our attributes
for us.
17. Close the Isometric drawing and continue to the next exercise.
Double-clicking on the pipe support opens the Pipe Support Assembly Edit window.
4. Click the Isogen button at the bottom of the window to open the Isogen Data menu.
Tip: You can also type the ICEDIT command and select the pipe support. This will bypass
the Pipe Support Assembly Edit window and go straight to the Isogen Data menu.
5. In the Isogen Data window, click the ellipsis next to Detail Sketch and load the
DetailSample.dwg from C:\IsogenTrainingModels\Details
We’ve specified the drawing file we want this support to use for its detail sketch, but Isogen
doesn’t know where the folder for the detail sketches are located. We need to specify this in the
Isogen style via I-Configure.
6. Click OK to exit the Isogen Data window, then exit the Pipe Support Assembly Data
window.
7. Minimize CADWorx Plant and return to I-Configure. If you’ve exited the style, select
Final-Basic and click Edit.
8. In the Drawing Area pane, click Detail Sketches
9. Expand Settings and click the ellipsis next to the Path field to specify the
C:\IsogenTrainingModels\Details.
Tip: The details drawing is usually located within the Isogen Styles subdirectory, or the
Projects subdirectory. It is located in the IsogenTraining folder for training purposes, but
you can specify any location as your detail sketch folder for a particular style.
10. After specifying the Path, match the values in the image below:
11. Save the Isogen style and return to the 8-S150-1030-150.dwg drawing in CADWorx
Plant.
12. Run another Isogenbatch command on the 1030 line and open the Isometric drawing
result.
Tip: The detail sketch is actually an XREF that is automatically added to the Isometric drawing,
therefore it is controlled by the Xref Database Fade Control (in BricsCAD under Options). It is
shown here with a Fade value of 30.
Because the detail sketch is an XREF, the drawing should ideally be sent to someone at another
location via Etransmit if they are not able to access the original path of the Xref.
When creating Detail Sketches, it is recommended that your detail sketch size match the actual
size inserted into the Isometric drawing. E.g. the detail sketch here is within a 2” x 2” limit.
This detail sketch was also saved down to 2007 .DWG version.
One additional point of interest you should be aware of is that our margin at the top of our
drawing area has increased. Isogen increases the drawing margin at the top of our drawing to
make room for multiple detail sketches.
13. Exit the Isometric drawing and return to the style editor.
Let’s touch up the Isogen style a bit more. We’ve already set the font and text height on the
material list and detail sketch, but our drawing area is still generating from its original settings.
1. Return to the Final-Basic style editor.
2. In the Drawing Area pane, click Text
3. Expand Settings, then set the Custom Size and Font values to match below
Note: It is recommended you only use AutoDesk fonts for AutoCAD or BricsCAD
applications. Not all fonts that are available are fully supported as some are intended for
other piping applications.
Now our drawing area text should match the rest of the text on our Isometric drawing.
4. In the Isogen Configuration window, in the Dimensions pane, click Display Format.
5. Expand Imperial Dimensions and Coordinates, then set the display format to Space
Dash.
6. Click the radial button for Use feet and inches if above [ ] inches and type 12 in the
field, as shown below.
If you leave this value at 0, you would get just inches. E.g. 36” instead of 3’
Next, we’ll alter the layer and scale of fittings to make them standout more.
7. SAVE THE STYLE!
8. Return to the main Isogen Configuration window and in the Drawing Area pane, click
Graphics.
This is a list of all definitions that have been added to the style. There are many more available
for different objects or entities. What we are going to change is the General Fittings, and all of
the Valve definitions.
Here we can change what layer the group of components are generated on, the scale, the line
thickness and the color.
12. SAVE THE STYLE!
13. Still in the Drawing Area > Graphics menu, click Layers and expand the layers list by
clicking the arrow to the right.
Here we can define colors for the layers of our components we defined above.
14. Set the Fittings layer to use color 6 (Magenta) as shown below.
15. Save the style when finished and return to CADWorx Plant to run another test Isometric.
The results should look like the image below:
Notice our fittings, flanges, valves, supports, tees and elbows (bends) are on the new layer.
Some of the line thicknesses have been adjusted, and some scales have been modified.
This particular backing sheet we are using has a layout tab designed for plotting. You can add
this to any backing sheet.
16. Click the ISO layout tab at the bottom left corner of our CAD drawing area.
In the next exercise, we will enable a Weld List and a Cut List to generate on our backing sheet.
We’ll need to enable both the Weld List and the Cut List in our Isogen style, then position them
and add the desired columns.
1. Close any open Isometric drawings and return to the Final-Basic style in I-Configure.
2. Click on Drawing Setup Tool
3. At the bottom right corner of the Drawing Setup Tool window, in the Reports section,
check the boxes to enable the Weld and Cut Lists.
Notice we now get tabs for the Weld List and Cut List at the top of the Drawing Setup Tool.
While we could configure most of what we need here, lets go and modify the lists from within the
normal edit window.
4. Click OK to exit the Drawing Setup Tool.
5. From the main Configuration/Edit window, navigate to the Cut List by going to Cut
Pieces > Drawing Cut List > Settings
Notice that the Cut List check box is activated. This is the same switch that we enabled in the
Drawing Setup Tool. Our Active List is set to UserDefined which gives us full control over the
contents and position.
8. Skip the down to the User Defined Columns menu, expand Columns add the
attributes and offsets shown in the image below.
These will be the attributes that generate in our Weld List columns. Make sure you get
the offsets!
9. When finished, click on the User Defined menu above the User Defined Columns.
10. Fill out the data on the User Defined menu to match the image below:
11. When finished, check the drawing preview window to the right of the editor.
You should see a preview sample of a cut list:
12. Go back to the main Configuration/Editor window and save your style.
13. Now navigate to the Weld List from Welds and Joints > Drawing Weld List > Settings
The weld list is enabled, and we are using a User Defined style.
14. Click on the User Defined Columns menu and expand Columns.
15. Add the columns and offsets shown in the image below.
16. Click on the User Defined menu above User Defined Columns.
17. Fill out the data on the User Defined menu to match the values shown in the image
below.
We should now have a sample preview of a weld list showing on the preview window to the
right.
18. When finished, return to the main Configuration/Editor window and save your style.
Since we will want to easily match the welds in our weld list to the drawing, we need to enable
weld identifiers on our drawing. Note, for Weld Lists to successfully overflow to additional
sheets, weld identifiers must be enabled.
19. From the Isogen Configuration/Editor window, click on Numbering under Welds and
Joints.
20. Click on the Controls menu and match the information in the image below:
Take a few moments and find the following switches or settings in your I-Configure style and
match them to the images.
1. Change the Linear Quantity Style for the Material List, below:
3. In the Piping Component’s Alternative Texts, change the Flange, Gasket, and Bolt
Part Number prefix to “F”, “G”, and “B” as shown below:
4. Modify the Continuation’s Name Style to include the Pipe Reference, and the
Continuation Name to True.
5. Save the style changes and return to CADWorx and run another Isogenbatch on the
1030 line. Our style should look like the below image:
Tip: When using AutoCAD Field Attributes, such as the one populating the drawing name above,
you can hide the grey field by setting the FIELDDISPLAY variable to 0 for off.
You can set this in the styles backing sheet so it is always off. In the image above, a REGEN
command was required to update the field and hide the grey box.
The next section of the guide will dive deeper into Isogens capabilities.
Notice that we receive command line feedback that the line was not successful, and contains an
error.
4. When prompted for an option for selection, type “L” then press Enter.
5. Prompted to select a component or show a line list, type “L” and press Enter.
6. Select the 2”-DC-150 line from the list and click OK.
Now we receive the Isogen Results window, along with some additional information.
Sometimes there is information here that is easy to understand, such as the below content:
While there are many more errors in the results window, this is telling us that an Olet is not
connected to the main line. Sometimes this results window can be helpful in troubleshooting why
your Isogen style failed, though sometimes the errors can be quite obscure.
In the event that you can not determine what is causing the line to fail, you can click the View
Extraction Logs button:
The View Extraction Logs window contains all of the log files written by Isogen during the run
attempt. You can double-click on a log file to view the contents (we will examine the pisogen.log
later in this class to troubleshoot custom scripting) or click the Collect Data button to gather all
of the style control files and log files to be sent to Hexagon support for troubleshooting.
After clicking Collect Data, the Collect Data window opens and shows all of the files that were
gathered. Notice the Isogen style control files are present (.alt, .bdf, .ddf, .mld, .opl, .pos, .wdf)
as well as all of the drawings, font file, .fls file etc… you can click the Add File… button to add
any additional files that might be missing.
If you click the Collect button at the bottom left, the files will be compressed into a .zip folder.
You can then click Send as Email or Save As to save it and then attach it to a support ticket.
7. Click OK or Cancel to close out of any Isogen windows you have open and return to the
model.
To troubleshoot what is causing our Iso failure, we can first start by Isolating that line number.
8. Open the CADWorx Plant Line View palette:
The reason we want to check the Line View’s line number Isolate is, for Isometrics generated by
line number (such as an ISOGENBATCH), any component in the middle of the pipeline that is
not on the correct line number would show as a gap to Isogen, resulting in a disconnect.
Here we can see that a Valve disappears from our line when we isolate the line. This means it is
not on the 2”-DC-150 line number:
This alone would cause our line to fail and needs to be resolved.
11. Click the View All button at the top of the Line View palette, followed by the Reload
button.
Get in the habit of refreshing your Line View list constantly. It is not a live view!
13. Prompted to select a component to set a line number, click any pipe.
1. Apply the new line number to the valve component by clicking the Assign button in the
Line Number pulldown on the CADWorx Plant ribbon.
4. Isolate the line again with the Line View palette to make sure everything looks correct.
Remember to Refresh List before Isolating!!
We’ve fixed a major issue already, but if we were to run the Iso again it would still fail.
This is a good time to use the Discontinuity View palette to troubleshoot disconnects.
5. Open the Discontinuity View palette by clicking on its icon in the Palettes panel of the
CADWorx Plant ribbon.
There are color settings and filter settings you can apply here as well, but we’ll just look
at it in it’s default state.
7. Click the Refresh icon at the top left and a list of all Disconnects, Overlaps, or Not On
Line errors should show:
We can see components under the 2”-DC-150 line number, what gap they report if any, the long
description of affected components, the category and component type, as well as the X,Y,Z
coordinates.
8. Click on the first Disconnected component in the list. This should be a disconnect
between a 90 LR ELL and a Pipe.
Notice when you click on the first disconnect, it also shows the component it expects to
relate to.
We can clearly see the gap here. In this case, this model is using modeled welds and one was
left off after a copy at this connection or was accidently deleted.
9. Click the Spec View palette Icon in the Palettes panel of the CADWorx Plant ribbon.
11. Select the Inch_Specs.prj from the IsogenTrainingModels folder, then click Open.
12. On the Spec View palette, set the specification to 150 and the size to 2”
While we’ve filled the gap with a weld, we still may have a disconnect issue from this
component. The inserted end recognized what it is attached to, but the other end of the weld
does not recognize the Elbow without being re-associated.
15. Click on just the Elbow component next to the weld and notice there is a Plus Grip
denoting an open connection on the weld end.
Sometimes this can happen in a high-coordinate environment where components can no longer
accurately track their position.
16. To resolve this, run the REASSOCIATEMODEL command on the entire model, then
check the elbow to make sure there is no plus grip on the weld end.
18. Return to the DiscContinuity View palette and click the Refresh icon. Notice the first
disconnect is no longer present and is resolved.
While there is a discontinuity type called “Not on Line”, CADWorx refers to a support that is not
attached to the pipes centerline as a Disconnected component. In this case, the Ubolt has been
inserted incorrectly and needs to be attached to the pipes center line.
We actually have two ubolts in our list with the same issue, so we can resolve them both now.
20. Type the MOVE command and move the Ubolt onto the pipes centerline by using its
insertion point as the base point. Snap it into position on the pipes centerline by using
the PERPENDICULAR snap to snap just below support.
21. Repeat the same steps for the other Ubolt support.
23. Click on the next entry in our list, the WELD-O-LET, BW, ASTM A105
Notice this entry is reported as Not on Line. Not on Line issues are usually O-lets.
In this instance, we can’t move just the O-let. We’ll need to move the entire branch down. If this
branch was connected to another component, we could just come back and lengthen the pipe to
re-connect it.
24. Using the Olets insertion point as a base, use the MOVE command to move it down and
snap onto the pipe centerline with the Perpindicular snap.
25. Refresh your Discontinuity palette when finished and verify the O-Let entry is no longer
present.
Our remaining DisContinuity Palette entries are Overlaps. These are overlapping components.
In this case, an accidental import caused a duplicate of the entire model on top of itself. We can
easily resolve these by using the Remove Selected Overlaps icon at the top of the palette.
CADWorx will remove the duplicates and leave only one component behind.
27. Hold down the Shift key and select the first Overlap entry, then select the last Overlap
entry to highlight all overlaps:
28. With the overlaps selected, click the Remove Selected Overlaps icon at the top of the
DisContinuity View Palette.
CADWorx may appear frozen while it works to remove all overlaps, let it finish.
After the overlaps are removed, our DisContinuity View Palette should be cleared of any
reported issues.
29. Save the model and run an ISOGENOUT command. Select by line number and List
and generate an Iso on the 2”-DC-150 line number.
If a line still fails but you’ve resolved all of the entries on the DisContuinity View Palette, try
Isolating it and manually looking for plus grips that don’t belong. Depending on the type of
disconnect, or the tolerance values set, it may not be reported. Using the
REASSOCIATEMODEL command is a good “refresh” prior to looking for plus grips to ensure
that all connections are updated. Remember that some components have plus grips in the
middle of them, such as pipes or reducers. Don’t confuse these for the plus grips at the end
connections.
If you are having issues running an ISOGENBATCH command on a line, troubleshoot adjacent
lines. Isogen will read the continuation line numbers as well and if a continuation line has a
disconnect, (i.e. Line A is connected to Line B), then the batch may fail.
Proper modeling techniques should prevent almost all disconnect issues, such as using the
router to model. Copy-pasting, moving, or mirroring are common culprits.
User shape components may also cause problems if not created correctly, or if they are
assigned incompatible SKEYS. To test a line with a user shape, Isolate just the user shape and
try to run an Iso on the individual component. If it does not generate, it may be the cause of the
failure.
For the purpose of this training, we are not going to replace the CAD attributes present on our
backing sheet. Instead, we will add a “Note” attribute in the “Notes:” field. This will not be a CAD
attribute on the backing sheet - Isogen will place it automatically with whatever data we have
added to the lines Note field in the line list .ATT file.
Although we are only demonstrating a single attribute with the .ATT file method, you can use the
same method to generate additional attributes such as the Project No, Line Number, Service,
etc..
5. Exit Notepad or the text editor you used to view the txt file.
6. Open a Windows File Explorer and navigate to the C:\IsogenTrainingModels folder.
7. Right-click on the Training_Pipeline_Attributes.txt file and select Rename and rename
the extension of the file to .att
10. Expand Pipeline Attributes and click the Enabled checkbox to enable a pipeline
attributes file.
11. Click the ellipsis next to Path and browse to C:\IsogenTrainingModels and select the
Training_Pipeline_Attributes.att file, then click Open.
12. Expand the Data field and type “FULL-REFERENCE -900” in the window.
The -900 series of attributes are the attributes we are going to use to map our pipeline data to.
Now we need to create a Function Definition File (.fdf) to map our attribute values that we
created in our Training_Pipeline_Attributes.att file, such as 1LINE REF and 2NOTE to a valid
Isogen attribute such as -900 and -901.
The next entries are mapping -900 series attributes to our .att attributes.
Now that we’ve created the .FDF file, we need to path Isogen to it.
The only thing left to do is to place -900 series attributes on the backing sheet. Since we are
only going to use 2NOTE, we will place a single attribute.
25. At the bottom of the screen, add the Attribute101 attribute to the backing sheet with the
settings shown below:
26. Click OK to exit the Drawing Setup Tool, then Save the style and return to CADWorx.
Remember you can use any of the 900-999 (Attribute100-199) series in your pipe line list.
In the next exercise we will look at a similar route that can populate the CAD attributes on the
backing sheet we’ve already mapped. This route will let us use an Excel format .csv file and
since we are generating values within a CAD attribute, it can be queried from the model files vs.
the plain text Isogen generates.
For this exercise, we will need to utilize the Get External Data (GED) functionality. This is built
into Isogen and is used to manipulate data in spreadsheets or databases to set attributes or
properties of pipelines and components. Later in this training, you will see how you can utilize it
to place information on an Iso, manipulate a database, or to replace default attributes with
information from a spreadsheet.
Several different steps are required for the POD Graphics Processor to be set up correctly.
These are:
a) POD Graphics Config file (XML) creation and linking to the Isometric style.
b) GED Configuration file (XML) creation.
c) Defining a named range in the external data source spreadsheet. The size range needs
to cover all the required records and fields in the spreadsheet.
d) Specifying the POD Graphics Pre-Processor in the Iso Style.
e) Enabling PCF Attributes from the CADWorx Config File.
f) Mapping PCF Attributes to the DWG backing sheet attributes. (We did this earlier!)
4. Open the AdvancedData folder and right click inside of it. Select New > Text
Document.
5. Name the new text file PODProcessor.xml (delete the original .txt file extension)
It is suggested that you use an XML File editor to edit the PODProcessor.xml and other XML
files we create in this class, but this training guide will assume you only have Notepad installed.
Notepad++ is a free file editor that reads XML files and is a great tool to use for this purpose.
7. Right-click on the PODProcessor.xml file and select Open With > Notepad
8. Type in the information shown below. Do not use the space bar for indentations.
Indentations shown are made with the TAB key.
The comments in angle brackets that follows the GET-EXTERNAL-DATA function are
not needed for the code to work, but it is good practice to comment any code you write
so that you understand what it does if you ever need to return and edit it. This is
especially helpful for others not familiar with what the functions in your file do.
Notice we used a file path macro called $STYLE$ here. This is a relative path macro that points
to the styles folder and keeps us from having to specify a specific path that might change
depending on where we move the Isogen style. For example, if you initially set this style up on a
network drive called Z:/, you would have to edit any file paths in these xml files if you later
moved the style to another network drive called Y:/
9. When finished, save the file.
In the PODProcessor.xml, we pointed to a file called PODProcessorSettings.xml that does not
exist yet. This will be our GED file that we’ll need to create in a bit.
10. Open I-Configure and edit the Final-Basic style.
11. Go to Drawing Manager > Input Files > Summary and expand the Input Files menu.
12. Click the pulldown next to the empty field at the bottom of the Type list and add the
PODGRAPHICS-CONFIG-FILE Type to the list.
13. Click the ellipsis to the right of the Path field and select the PODProcessor.xml file you
created in C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-Basic\AdvancedData
I-Configure will recognize this is a relative path and add the $STYLE$ macro to the path name.
14. Save the style.
19. Right-click on the PODProcessor.xml file and select Open With > Notepad
20. Type in the information shown below. Do not use the space bar for indentations.
Indentations shown are made with the TAB key.
Indentations are not required and are only to improve readability. You may skip the
comments in this code if you wish. It is recommended you save the GED file to the same
location as your POD Graphics Config file.
Now we need to set up the external data source. In this case, we will use an Excel file.
22. In a Windows File Explorer, navigate to C:\IsogenTrainingModels
23. Right click on the PipelineAttributes.xls file and select Copy.
24. Now navigate to C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-Basic\AdvancedData
25. Right click inside of the AdvancedData folder and select Paste.
26. Double-click the copied PipelineAttributes.xls file to open it with Excel.
We’ve already set up some random sample values within a few columns to use. These include
the Line Number, Operating Pressure, Operating Temperature, Design Pressure and
Design Temperature columns.
Each line number row contains its own information and can be unique to that line number. When
Isogen executes our POD Graphics Config file, it will then read our GED file which in turn calls
on the values for any line number in the Excel file that matches the line number of the pipeline in
our Isometric drawing.
You can add more columns as needed, but we are just going to demonstrate with the columns
already entered.
There is one additional step that you must take for an Excel file, and that is to set up a Named
Range.
27. In the Excel file, click on the Name Manager in the Defined Names section of the
Formulas tab.
If we were using an Access Database (MDB), we could simply specify what table and
column we wanted to use, but Excel requires a Named range be established and it is the
named range that is referenced like a table.
28. Click the New button in the Name Manager.
This step is very important. Not only must we create the Named Range, we must also make
sure the Named Range matches what we specified in the SQL query of our
PODProcessorSettings.xml:
30. Click the arrow icon at the bottom right corner of the New Name window to select our
cell range.
31. Hold down the SHIFT key and click the A1 column then the E5 column to select the cell
range shown below.
You’d normally want a larger range selected, but this works for this exercise. If we tried
to add more line numbers to our Excel file however, any line numbers outside of the
named range would not yield results.
32. Your New Name – Refers to: window should look like the below image.
33. Click the icon at the bottom right corner when the cell range has been selected.
35. Click Close at the bottom of the Name Manager when finished.
39. Expand the Settings menu and click on the ellipsis next to POD-processor.
40. Navigate out to C:\CADWorx 2019\Plant\Isogen\I-Configure and select the
PODGraphicsProcessor.exe.
41. Click Open.
Note: The Attributes display by numerical order starting with the first digit. For example,
ATTRIBUTE4 will be between 39 and 40. ATTRIBUTE 9 would be between 89 and 90,
etc..
45. Save the Isogen style.
46. Return to the 8-S150-1030-150.dwg in CADWorx Plant and generate a new Isometric
using the ISOGENBATCH command on the 1030 line.
Ideally, we would not want to use a mixture of attribute population methods. Once you’ve
enabled the POD Graphics Processor to handle attribute population to backing sheet attributes,
you could replace the Isogen generated -900 series attribute population in the style.
You could easily spend several days learning everything about this, so lets do some hands on
exercises to demonstrate some of the functionality you can achieve. Additional documentation
provided by Alias (developers of Isogen) is included in the IsogenTrainingModels\Alias folder.
Notice we have created a COMPONENTS table that contains individual components and their
data, a PIPELINES table that contains the line number and it’s pipeline data, and a WELDS
table that contains weld data.
This is the database that we will use as our external data source for Isogen to pull information
from, though it could just as easily be in Excel form.
4. Close the Training.mdb file.
5. In Windows File Explorer, navigate to C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-
Basic\AdvancedData
6. Right click inside of the Advanced Data folder and select New > Text Document.
7. Name the new text file GetExternalData.xml (delete the original .txt file extension)
Remember, it is suggested that you use an XML File editor to edit the XML files. XML
editors can help you troubleshoot your code and make writing them easier.
9. Right-click on the GetExternalData.xml file and select Open With > Notepad
We already have a GED file called PODProcessorSettings.xml, but that is using the
PODGRAPHICS-CONFIG-FILE input and will not let us do some of the things we want to
achieve. For this, we will be using the REPORTING-CONFIG-FILE input type.
10. Enter the code shown in the image below. Save and exit the file when done.
We’ve pointed our GED file to the Training.mdb, stated that we want to retrieve all data from the
PIPELINES table where the [LINE_NUM] value equals our pipeline reference (line number) and
then we mapped Isogen attributes to our database columns.
Now that we have our GED file, we need to create a new XML script file that will call the
GetExternalData.xml we just created.
11. In Windows File Explorer, navigate to C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-
Basic\AdvancedData
12. Right click inside of the Advanced Data folder and select New > Text Document.
13. Name the new text file IsogenReportingScript.xml (delete the original .txt file
extension)
Remember, it is suggested that you use an XML File editor to edit the XML files. XML
editors can help you troubleshoot your code and make writing them easier.
15. Right-click on the IsogenReportingScript.xml file and select Open With > Notepad
16. Enter the code shown below. Save and exit when finished.
So far we have created our GED file and our Isogen Reporting script. Now we tell Isogen to call
on the reporting script when it runs so it can find our GED file.
17. Open I-Configure and edit the Final-Basic style. In the Drawing Manager category
pane, click Input Files.
18. Add the REPORTING-CONFIG-FILE type to the list, then click the ellipsis and select the
IsogenReportingScript.xml from the Final-Basic styles AdvancedData folder.
21. Open a Windows File Explorer and type %TEMP% in the address bar. Press Enter.
22. Find the pisogen.log file in the Temp folder and double-click it to view.
Sorting by Date modified may make this easier as it should be one of the most recent
files created.
There is a lot of information in the pisogen.log file, but what we are looking for is that Isogen has
found our GetExternalData.xml, read it, processed it, connected to our Training.mdb file, and
successfully mapped our attributes.
23. Scroll down in the text file until you see the Processing GET-EXTERNAL-DATA
commands from Configuration File… line.
Step 1 above shows that Isogen found our GetExternalData.xml and executed it.
Step 2 above shows that it read our xml and the database connection to Training.mdb was
successful.
If you do not see this section, look for an “Error” entry. The log file should tell you what issues it
ran into when attempting to execute our script. This usually points to syntax errors.
24. Scroll further down in the log file. You should see the results of the external mapping:
Step 3 shows each attribute being mapped to our external data, and what the value is set to.
Step 4 shows that the Get External Data was successful.
Again, all we have done is import data into the POD file. We are not displaying this data on the
drawing or in a report yet.
We will come back to this data later.
3. When finished, return to CADWorx and run an ISOGENBATCH command on the 1030
pipeline in the 8-S150-1030-150.dwg.
4. Close the Isometric drawing it generates, then go to %TEMP% in Windows File Explorer
to view the pisogen.log file.
5. Scroll down the pisogen.log file until you find the >>> Processing VBScript macro
definition line. You should see the script executing.
If you view the border in the preview window, you should see the new weld table area
appear:
5. Click OK to exit the Drawing Setup Tool and save the Final-Basic style.
6. Close the Final-Basic style edit/configuration window to return to the initial I-Configure
screen.
7. At the top left corner of I-Configure, click on the Training project to highlight it.
8. With the project highlighted, Click Edit > Project Defaults at the top of the screen.
14. Once you have configured the attributes, click OK to exit the Training Project Defaults.
15. Select the Final-Basic style and click EDIT, then open the Drawing Setup Tool.
16. In the Drawing Setup Tool, click the Attributes tab.
17. Add the following attributes to the WELD COUNT border within the drawing area:
Since we squeezed in a small Weld Count border, we are leaving the Text Height at .1
We aren’t placing attributes for the Total Diam. fields as they will be generated by the Isogen
Reporting Script later.
18. When finished placing and positioning the attributes, click OK to exit the Drawing Setup
Tool.
19. Save the Final-Basic style.
The next step is to add a bit of code to our GetExternalData.xml
20. Open the GetExternalData.xml from C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-
Basic\AdvancedData in Notepad.
21. Add the code shown on the next page to the GED file.
The code is spaced out to make it easier to read, but you can condense it more if you wish, such
as the example below:
<COMPONENT>
<MDB> C:\IsogenTrainingModels\Training.mdb </MDB>
<EXECUTE Criteria="'$M.Group$'='Welds'">
<SQL> SELECT IIF('$C.CATEGORY$'='FABRICATION',1,0) AS GEDFabricationFlag </SQL>
<EXTERNAL-MAP Name="WELD-ATTRIBUTE2" ExternalName="GEDFabricationFlag"/>
</EXECUTE>
<EXECUTE Criteria="'$M.Group$'='Welds'">
<SQL> SELECT IIF('$C.CATEGORY$'='ERECTION',1,0) AS GEDErectionFlag </SQL>
<EXTERNAL-MAP Name="WELD-ATTRIBUTE3" ExternalName="GEDErectionFlag"/>
</EXECUTE>
<EXECUTE Criteria="'$M.Group$' = 'Welds'">
<SQL> SELECT IIF('$C.CATEGORY$'='OFFSHORE',1,0) AS GEDOffshoreFlag </SQL>
<EXTERNAL-MAP Name="WELD-ATTRIBUTE4" ExternalName="GEDOffshoreFlag"/>
</EXECUTE>
</COMPONENT>
Since this code is a little denser, it will also be rewritten on the next page. Though the formatting is
slightly different to maintain similar line length, referencing it as well as the image above may help.
25. Save the IsogenReportingScript.xml file when finished.
<GET-EXTERNAL-DATA
File="$STYLE$\AdvancedData\GetExternalData.xml"
LogFile="$STYLE$\AdvancedData\GetExternalData.log" />
<TABLE
Name= 'WeldTable'
Source= 'Components'>
<COLUMNS>
<COLUMN Name="Group" Content="M.Group" />
<COLUMN Name="Status" Content= "C.STATUS" />
<COLUMN Name="Size1" Content = "C.SIZE1" />
<COLUMN Name="Category" Content="C.CATEGORY" />
<COLUMN Name="FabricationFlag" Content="C.WELD-ATTRIBUTE2" />
<COLUMN Name="ErectionFlag" Content="C.WELD-ATTRIBUTE3" />
<COLUMN Name="OffshoreFlag" Content="C.WELD-ATTRIBUTE4" />
<COLUMN Name="SheetNo" Content="C.SheetNumber"/>
</COLUMNS>
<GROUPBYTABLE
Name="GroupedWelds"
Filter= "(Group='Welds' AND (ISNULL(STATUS,'X') = 'X' OR Status='STANDARD' OR Status=''))"
Fields="Size1,SUM(FabricationFlag) FabQTY,SUM(ErectionFlag) ErecQTY,SUM(OffshoreFlag) OffQTY"
GroupBy= "Size1">
<VIEW
Name='V1'
Sort="SheetNo, Size1 ASC"
DisplayBySheet="True"
Direction="Down"
Spacing="5"
MaxRows="4" >
</VIEW>
</GROUPBYTABLE>
<GROUPBYTABLE
Name="GroupedWeldTotals"
Filter= "(Group='Welds' AND (ISNULL(STATUS,'X') = 'X' OR Status='STANDARD' OR Status=''))"
Fields="SUM(FabricationFlag) FabQTY,SUM(ErectionFlag) ErecQTY,SUM(OffshoreFlag) OffQTY"
GroupBy="SheetNo">
<VIEW
Name="V2"
Sort="SheetNo ASC"
DisplayBySheet="True"
Direction="Down"
Spacing="5"
MaxRows= "4">
</VIEW>
</GROUPBYTABLE>
</TABLE>
Remember, this code goes inside of the <ISOGEN-REPORTING> tags and under the
<GET-EXTERNAL-DATA> … tag, as shown in the image on the previous page.
26. Return to CADWorx Plant and run an ISOGENBATCH command on the 1030 pipeline
of the 8-S150-1030-150.dwg.
27. Your results should look like the image below:
We now have Isogen counting the size, and our total welds per type, then generating the
sum of each weld type.
The next part, the Total Diam. will be tackled in the following exercise.
28. Close your Isometric drawing.
We will use this to output the total weld diameter based on category. We will place attributes on
the backing sheet, assign default string values to those attributes, and then have the REPLACE
function replace the string text that would generate within the attributes with total weld diameter
from the POD file.
20. Exit the Final-Basic style (if open) and click on the Training Project.
21. Click Edit > Project Defaults
Make sure you change the Display Name and Set Value!
24. Click OK to exit the Training Project Defaults window when done.
If we left it at this point, the attributes would come in when we generate an Isometric, but they
would come in with the defaults we assigned them:
We need Isogen to replace these text strings with the actual diameter, so we’ll have to write
some more code.
<EXTERNAL-MAP
Name="WELD-ATTRIBUTE20"
ExternalName="WW" />
</EXECUTE>
<EXECUTE
Criteria="'$M.ComponentType$' = 'Site-Weld' AND '$C.STATUS$' <> 'DOTTED-UNDIMENSIONED' AND
'$C.STATUS$' <> 'DOTTED-DIMENSIONED'">
<EXTERNAL-MAP
Name="WELD-ATTRIBUTE21"
ExternalName="SW" />
</EXECUTE>
<EXECUTE
Criteria="'$M.ComponentType$' = 'Offshore-Weld' AND '$C.STATUS$' <> 'DOTTED-UNDIMENSIONED' AND
'$C.STATUS$' <> 'DOTTED-DIMENSIONED'">
<EXTERNAL-MAP
Name="WELD-ATTRIBUTE22"
ExternalName="OW" />
</EXECUTE>
Note: The “EXECUTE Criteria..” lines have no carriage return (Enter/Return), it wraps to the next
line due to the text size of the above code. The image at the top of the page shows it correctly.
Here we are telling Isogen to replace the default strings with the SumBySheet of the
specific component weld attributes.
33. Save the IsogenReportingScript.xml and exit when finished.
34. Return to CADWorx Plant and run an ISOGENBATCH command on the 1030
pipeline of the 8-S150-1030-150.dwg.
You should get the following results:
</JOINT>
We selected the type of information we wanted to apply to attributes, then created the columns
we wanted to see in our report. Then we specified the type of report and the location as well as
the name.
5. Save the IsogenReportingScript.xml file and return to CADWorx Plant.
6. Run an ISOGENBATCH command on the 1030 pipeline.
7. If successful, Isogen should generate the following .xlsx file in
C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-Basic\Reports
Notice each weld entry also specifies the component it is attached to in the Component1 and
Component2 columns.
8. Close the Weld report .xlsx file.
<MAPPING>
<WALL-THICKNESS> WALL-THICKNESS </WALL-THICKNESS>
<OUTSIDE-DIAMETER> OUTSIDE-DIAMETER </OUTSIDE-DIAMETER>
</MAPPING>
</HGG>
</FABRICATION-INTERFACE>
<MDB>
C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-Basic\AdvancedData\LookupTables.mdb
</MDB>
<EXECUTE
Criteria="'$M.Group$' <> 'Welds' AND '$M.Group$' <> 'Gaskets' AND '$M.Group$' <>
'Bolts' AND '$M.Group$' <> 'Supports'">
<SQL>
SELECT * FROM [OD_WT] WHERE '$C.PIPING-SPEC$' = [PipeSpec] AND $C.Size1$ = NS
</SQL>
<MATERIAL>
<EXTERNAL-MAP Name="OUTSIDE-DIAMETER" ExternalName="OD"/>
<EXTERNAL-MAP Name="WALL-THICKNESS" ExternalName="WT"/>
</MATERIAL>
</EXECUTE>
</COMPONENT>
The <MAPPING> tag identifies where the Wall Thickness, Outside Diameter, and Bevel Angle
are stored in the POD file.
Wall Thickness and Outside Diameter can be obtained from the GED if the values are available
in a look up table – such as our LookupTable.mdb.
10. Save the GetExternalData.xml when finished.
11. Return to CADWorx and run an ISOGENBATCH command on the 1030 pipeline of the
8-S150-1030-150.dwg.
12. After the Isometric is generated, open Windows File Explorer and navigate to
C:\Isogen_Training\Training\Final-Basic\Reports.
Data in the FIX file, which includes the pipe, parts, welds, coordinates, and keypoints, is sorted
and presented in a logical order. Isogen uses this data to calculate information, such as local
coordinates, that is required for fabrication. Also, because the FIX file uses the same weld, part,
and pipe cut piece numbering as in the drawing, the potential for data inconsistencies is greatly
reduced. To produce an Isogen FIX output file, you must include a FABRICATION-INTERFACE
element within the Isogen Reporting configuration file.
Work Pieces: During isometric drawing generation, Isogen Reporting produces one FIX file for
each PCF (pipeline or system). The FIX file contains one or more pipelines, each of which
contains one or more spools. Each spool is composed of work pieces. A work piece is a
container for the pipe, part, and weld objects contained within the spool.
The spool shown in the following example includes:
three pipes (cut pieces)
four parts (weld neck flange, reducer, slip-on flange, and elbow)
seven welds to be done in the workshop (welds #3 and #6 represent connections
between the work pieces)
In turn, this spool can be split into three work pieces, including the welds that connect them.
Each work piece contains one of the pipe cut pieces and any parts that are welded to it.
In the FIX file output, each work piece typically contains the following objects, along with the
object attributes from the original PCF or IDF.
A section of pipe, that is, a single cut piece. Each cut piece contains any needed holes
with a description of the required bending.
Welds
Parts or fittings that are welded to the pipe
Where possible, the FIX file also contains standard attributes for key properties such as wall
thickness, material, and piping specification.
The work piece ID is derived from the spool ID and the cut piece ID. For example, a
work piece that is based on cut piece A in spool 1 is given the work piece ID 1_A.
Each work piece is ordered, or sorted, into the sequence of the Isogen-generated
drawing.
Where the spool contains more than one work piece, the connection between the work
pieces is also described.
Attributes: All spool attributes, user-specified and calculated, are output to the Spool object
in the .FIX file.
Attribute metadata: Objects in the FIX file (Pipelines, Spools, Pipe, Parts and Welds) have
a set of attributes. The FIX file contains all attributes that contain a value. Each of the
following is listed for each attribute:
The underlying name of the attribute, which is fixed
The user-specified display name
The data type (string, number)
The units type (millimetre or inch)
That’s probably the easiest line of code we’ve written since we started this training!
Remember there are additional files in the C:\IsogenTrainingModels\Alias folder that list all of
the attributes you can reference, as well as primer slides on SQL, XML, the GED, Isogen
Reporting, and the POD file.
These go into a lot of detail on the capabilities of these different areas, provide examples, and
can help you create your own custom solutions.
There is also a sample of different Isogen Report capabilities in the IR_Standard_Reports.xml
file.
13. Click to select a component from the main 4” line, then select a component on
the 2” bypass line.
All components should now be selected.
18. Delete the ball valve, flanges and gaskets and welds shown below:
19. Generate another ISOGENBATCH Isometric drawing on the 1020 line and view
the Iso.
Notice even though we have a different number of components and welds, the
numbering of our welds remains the same:
The Weld List on the Isometric processes the welds with the assigned original weld numbers,
and our components are also processed with their original mark numbers.
Enabling repeatability can prevent someone from having to go and manually renumber these
welds or components if the model is adjusted, especially if fabrication has already started on it.
20. Close the Isometric and double click on the weld shown in the image below:
21. Click the Isogen button at the bottom of the Component Edit window.
Tip: You can also go directly there by typing ICEDIT and clicking the weld.
The repeatability information has been written to each component in the model. The weld has a
Mark value of 9 which correlates to its weld number.
22. Close the Isogen Data window, and the Component Edit data window if open.
23. Now type the ICEDIT command and select the Control Valve.
The Control Valve is assigned mark 12, which correlates to it’s component Mark/Item number in
the BOM.
If you need to reset your repeatability information on components, you can clear it by typing the
ISOGENRESET command. You can select to clear the repeat information on specific
components, entire lines or select the entire model.
In this exercise, we will look at both modifying existing Isometric SKEYs (Symbols) and adding a
new symbol.
For this, we will utilize the Symbol Editor which is installed along with CADWorx Plant.
In this exercise, we will redefine the control valve SKEY Symbol to make a small modification.
You can redefine SKEYS to completely change how they look, or simply alter them slightly.
Currently, our Control Valve SKEY looks like this on our Isometric:
We aren’t changing much about the original symbol. We’re just adding to small graphic elements
to it, and increase the scale for the individual symbol slightly.
1. Launch the Symbol Editor from either the bottom right corner of the Isogen pane in the
CADWorx Plant I ribbon within CADWorx Plant, or from the Start Menu under Start >
CADWorx 2019 > Symbol Editor.
2. Expand the All Symbols > Instruments > Control Valve group and right-click on the
CV** SKEY.
3. Select New Symbol.
To redefine an SKEY, we must overwrite the default with a new symbol of the same
name.
The New Symbol window appears show the current symbol that is selected as the default
description and graphic.
4. Name the symbol CV** and check the box to Copy original symbol graphics. Click
OK.
Copying the original graphics of the symbol makes the task of redefining it easier. Usually you
can just modify the existing graphic as needed. At the very least, it gives you the working scale
and allows you to draw a symbol the same size – whereas with a new symbol you may not be
sure of the size you’ve drawn it until you run an Isometric with it.
The double asterix following the CV allows this symbol to adopt the appropriate end type
dynamically. This symbol would work on a SW, THRD, or Flanged end type.
The new symbol opens in a graphical editor in the main window. Here you can use various tools
to draw a new shape or select existing lines to move or modify them with square grips at their
end points. You can also select and delete existing lines.
For this exercise, we are just going two small lines above and below the symbol.
6. Click each point within the space to draw the lines as shown below.
The Symbol Editor also allows us to scale up individual symbols. We’ve adjusted the scale on
some component groups already via the I-Configure Definitions menu, but if you want just one
symbol larger, you can do it through the Symbol Editor.
7. Right-click on the CV** symbol in the Library Explorer to the left of the Symbol Editor
and select Properties.
In the Symbol Properties menu, we can adjust the Scale, SKEY, Spindle (if applicable), and
layout options including dimensioning, orientation or whether it allows a flow arrow. The flow
arrow option must be enabled in Isogen for the flow arrow to work.
All we are doing here is increase the scale of the Control Valve.
Before we configure Isogen to use this new symbol, we want to also add a completely new
symbol.
Tip: Try to keep new symbols within their logical group, or one very similar – as some symbols
will not function with certain components if their end type conditions or do not match. In other
words, if you are making a Thermowell SKEY, try using the Blind Flange group or a CAP group,
not an Angle Valve group.
9. Return to CADWorx Plant and add a ½” Sock-o-let to one of the vertical lines next to the
Control Valve as shown below:
10. Double-click on the Olet and modify the Component Property data as shown below:
11. Leave the Component Edit window open and return to the Symbol Editor.
12. Expand the All Symbols > Fittings > Sockolet group and right click on the SK**
SKEY.
13. Select New Symbol.
14. Name this new symbol DPII (two i’s) and change its description as shown below. Check
the box to Copy original symbol graphics.
This is the sockolet symbol. The green point is the start point, and the red point is the end
point. We want our DPI symbol to sit a bit outside of the pipe, not on it, so we’ll adjust it’s
location from the start point slightly and change how this symbol looks.
16. Click the Draw Circle button at the top of the screen, and draw a circle approximately
twice the size of the current Olet symbol.
19. Zoom in slightly and click on the green start point. Positioning it approximately 2 grid
squares to the left of the circle. If you are zoomed in to far, you’ll see smaller squares. In
that case, go by the large set of grid squares.
20. Move the red end point to the opposite side of the circle. Place this on the edge of the
circle itself, as shown below:
21. Use the Draw Line tool and the Draw Rectangle tool to model two lines on the left side
of the circle on either side of the start point and the arrow in the middle.
Your SKEY symbol should look like the below image when complete:
Now that we’ve redefined an existing symbol and created a new symbol with a new SKEY, we
need to tell Isogen to use these symbols instead of the defaults.
22. In the Symbols Editor, click the File pulldown menu then select Export Isogen
Symbols..
23. Save this to a new folder called Symbols within our Final-Basic folder.
24. Name the file Final_Basic_Symbols.asc
You’ll need to create the Symbols folder!
Note: You can also save this to an XML format using the File > Save
Since the new SKEY symbol we created is an instrument, we’ll want it to appear with any other
instruments in our BOM. To do this, we need to define a Material Transfer.
Here we can specify a specific SKEY to appear with another identifier group in the bill of
material. We want to make sure our customized Olet appears next to Instruments in our BOM
and not with other Olets. You can transfer all SKEY’s within an Identifier group to a new group or
specify a specific SKEY to transfer.
To determine what Identifier we are working with for our Olet, we can reference the
SymbolKeys.pdf found in C:\CADWorx 20XX\Plant\Isogen\I-Configure\resdlls\0009
This will tell us what Identifier we need. In this case, we have multiple identifiers we can use.
We’ll need to tell Isogen to transfer the SKEY DPII from the 40 identifier group to the
Instruments group to make it behave like an Instrument.
32. Return to I-Configure and add the following information to the Material Group Transfer >
Transfers menu:
33. Save the Isogen style when done and return to CADWorx Plant.
34. If your Sockolets Component Edit window is still open, click on the Isogen menu button
at the bottom left. Alternatively, you can type ICEDIT and then click the Olet to go
straight to the Isogen Edit menu.
35. In the Symbol Information section at the top left of the Isogen Data window, check the
Overwrite box next to SKEY and type in the new SKEY DPII
36. Click OK to exit the Isogen Data window when finished. Click OK to exit the Component
Edit window to finish if still open.
37. Run an ISOGENBATCH command and select the 1020 line number to generate an
Isometric.
Note: If your Isometric fails, you may need to clear the Repeatability settings depending on
how much you’ve done to this model. Use the ISOGENRESET command for this.
Your Isometric should generate with a Control Valve symbol that looks like the image below:
It should also generate with the repurposed sockolet component as a custom symbol
instrument:
There is a lot of customization that can be done with Isogen and the Symbol Editor. Ask your
instructor if you have anything you are trying to achieve for your projects!