you would think this would be something they have out of the box. (this is for version 2011 MEP, should be similar for earlier versions)
For all of those of us that do not use spagetti on our electrical drawings, we kind of need this functionality.
So I went and added a list to select the switch leg from. You don’t have to do this, but I thought it might help those that want it all very standardized. If you open stylemanager from the MANAGE ribbon tab you will find the Multi-Purpose Ojbects folder. There is an item called List Definitions. Right click on that and hit NEW. I named mine SwitchLegs. On the APPLIES TO tab I checked the Manual Property check box. On the ITEMS tab I checked the “Allow individual property values to vary from this list” check box (that is up to you). I added items “a” through “z” omitting a few that we don’t use here such as “e” “l” and “o”. “l” looks to much like a 1 and “o” looks like a zero, so the cct 3″o” might look like 30 depending on the font. We don’t use “e” because we sometimes use E13 to designate emergency circuit numbers, and 13e might confuse some people. Anyway, on to the next step.
Next under “Documentation Objects” in the stylemanager we need to select Property Set Definitions. I chose to add to the DeviceObject instead of creating my own. I went to the defition tab for the DeviceObject and selected the “Add Manual Property Definition” button. I named it SwitchLeg and hit OK. I changed the Type for my new property to LIST. I selected teh “switchlegs” list I created earlier. I changed the format to Unformatted.
I then added a Formula Property Definition which I named CCTLeg. I doubleclicked on CircuitNumber in the “Insert Property Definitions” box. Then I doubleclicked on SwitchLeg in the ”Insert Property Definitions” box. Then hit the OK button.
Hit OK.
Type BE at the command prompt. Select the Aecb_Circuit_Number_G block. In block editor Save Block as THEM_CCT_Leg (obviously you can name it whatever you like). Change the attdef to have a tag of DEVICEOBJECT:CCTLEG prompt “CircuitLeg?” Default 3a. Save and close block editor.
Back to the Multi-Purpose Ojbects folder in StyleManager. Go to Multi-View Block Definitions. Right click on Aecb_Device_Circuit_Tag (if this is not in the drawing, clost out of stylemanager and insert a device tag from the elec tool pallete). Select copy. Right click on the Multi-View Block Definitions, select paste. I named mine THEM_Device_Circuit_Tag_SwitchLeg. Nothing like a nice short name. Click on the one you just selected and select the “View Blocks” tab. Add the THEM_CCT_Leg tot he View Blocks box for the General Display Representations. Remove the Aecb_Circuit_Number_G block from the box. Hit OK.
In Autocad you can add a device tag to a luminaire. Then click on the newly placed device tag and go to the properties dialog box. Change the definition (Under Design Tab, General Section) to THEM_Device_Circuit_Tag_SwitchLeg
Go to extended data and you should see a manual property for the switch leg. Change it to the letter you like. The cct should say 3a now, assuming you have the lighting fixture on cct 3. Otherwise if it is not yet cct’ed it will say NAa.
Hopefully that is complete and accurate so next time I have to do it, it will be easier.
I hope to add screen shots in the future.