#13. Macros, symbols and title blocks

#Macros

A macro is a piece of schematic to reuse: a motor starter, an emergency stop circuit, an outgoing feeder with inverter.

#Creating a macro

1. Select the circuit in the schematic (window selection).
2. Right click ▸ Create macro from selection… (or from the Macros tab of the library).
3. Type name, category and description.

#Inserting a macro

1. In the Macros tab of the library click on the macro.
2. Click in the page: the point clicked is the top left corner of the circuit.

On insertion tags, wire numbers, terminals, PLC channels and cables are renumbered; coil and contacts copied together stay linked. Macros are in the personal library, available in all projects, and are exchanged as .ecmacro files (File ▸ Import ▸ Macros… and the export button in the Macros tab).

#Component editor

The editor draws a component from scratch or modifies an existing one: basic symbols, personal symbols, components imported from QElectroTech or EPLAN, including the black boxes of EDZ parts.

The 3P motor protection switch open in the editor: on the left the objects to add, in the centre the drawing with the connection points, on the right the properties.

• In the schematic: right click on the component ▸ Edit the component…. In the library: New symbol…, or right click on a symbol.
• Choose an object in the panel on the left and click (or drag) in the drawing:

• The component texts show the device data in the schematic (properties, part, function and location). Description and technical data placed here are not repeated under the tag.
• Select and move: click to select, drag to move, Del to delete. Dimensions and angles are corrected in the panel on the right.
• On the right also name, category, IEC 81346 letter, role (device, coil with cross-references, NO/NC/changeover contact, terminal) and description.
• The mouse wheel zooms.

#Saving

Basic symbols are not overwritten: Save creates a personal copy with the same name, which replaces them in the components of the project and also in the library, in the same tile: taking it again from the library gives the modified version. Back to the basic symbol (in the editor) puts the original back in the library. The modified black box of an EPLAN part remains the symbol of that part. When used in a project, the symbol is copied into the .ecad file.

#QElectroTech components

File ▸ Import ▸ QElectroTech symbols… (or Import components… in the library) reads the components of QElectroTech: .elmt files, .qet projects with their elements, or .zip or .7z archives of whole folders, like the official collection downloaded from GitHub.

• The graphics are converted (lines, rectangles, circles, ellipses, arcs, polygons, texts) with the terminals and their names.
• The type becomes the role: coil with cross-references, NO/NC contact with automatic numbering, terminal, interruption point.
• The tag letter comes from type and name: circuit breakers and disconnectors Q, fuses and thermal overload relays F, coils K.
• The scale is 10 px = 4 mm; terminals off the grid are brought onto the grid with a short connecting segment, so wires snap to them.
• The components stay in the personal library; when you insert one it is copied into the project.

Caution: on GitHub download the real file with Raw or Download raw file. Saving the web page gives an HTML file that does not contain the component.

The QElectroTech collection is © The QElectroTech team, licence CC-BY 3.0: use in schematics is free; OpenWiring does not include their symbols, you import them yourself.

#Included title blocks

Besides Standard, With revision table and Compact, the program includes six complete title blocks, designed for different kinds of work:

They are chosen in the project properties (Title block ▸ Template) or in those of a page. The particular fields of each template (for example {campo:Matricola}) appear in the Project properties, ready to be filled in. For each included title block you can choose Customise… and start from that drawing.

#Custom title blocks

You can also draw your own company's title block.

The standard title block open in the editor, with the list of placeholders on the right.

1. Project ▸ Title block: customise or draw…, or Customise… / New… in the project properties.
2. Draw with lines, rectangles, circles, texts and the logo area. The title block area is 390 × 35 mm.
3. In the texts use the placeholders: a click on a placeholder of the list adds it to the selected text.
4. Preview with data shows the title block filled with the project data.
5. Save and use in the project.

#Placeholders

A fallback value is written after a bar: {cliente|—}. The fallback value can itself contain a placeholder: {campo:Macchina|{progetto}} writes the Macchina field and, if it is empty, the project name. A text with all placeholders empty is not printed.

#Importing a title block from DXF

Import DXF… in the editor brings into the template a title block drawn in AutoCAD or another CAD: lines, polylines, circles, arcs, texts and blocks. Attributes become placeholders (PROGETTO → {progetto}, DATA → {data}, FOGLIO → {pagina}…). If it is larger than the title block area it is scaled down.

Saved title blocks stay in the personal library for all projects and are copied into the project file. Each page can use a different title block; the title block applies on screen, in the PDF and in the DXF.

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