Ran into a weird support question. Per the image below the pipe are not connected, but there are no leak symbols. After some system variable sleuthing, the GRIDMODE system variable was causing this snafu. GRIDMODE=1 It doesn’t create problems with all models, but definitely with the model from the client, there was an issue. GRIDMODE=0
Tips, Tricks, and Insight into Process and Power Software
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Report Items By Line Number in Plant 3D
The other day a client needed a report of items by Line Number. A common way to get the report would be to group by the PipeRunComponent_LineNumberTag. That report ends up excluding all fasteners. So, the typically, an incorrect report by line number would look something like this: Noticing the Group and Sort panel at
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Migrating Specs and Catalogs in Plant 3D
As with all new versions, the topic of migrating specs comes up. In my experience, I’ve run into two little tricks that clarify the process of migrating content to a new version. Migration Location When you migrate specs, the spec editor is not modifying the spec or catalog that you select, it makes a
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Creating a Custom Valve
Recently, a client mentioned that they couldn’t locate threaded plug valves in the catalogs. Today’s post will show how to create a custom valve from scratch. Today we will use a Tufline Sleeved Plug valve: http://www.cranechempharma.com/chempharma/products/valves/xomox-sleeved-plug-valves/screwed-end-sleeved-plug-valves&brandid=6FDB472B-D7F3-EA31-D0E970EBF58FA22A Downloads Overview Below is an overview of the process we will use. Locate the data sheet. Select the sizes
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Modifying the Pipe Gap in Plant 3D 2014
The first thing I noticed when I placed a pipe gap in 2014 is that there was no hatch on the closed part of the gap. In the companies I’ve worked, the standard gap always include a solid hatch. Much like the isometric organization, the orthographic drawings have a drawing that contains blocks used.
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AutoCAD Plant 3D 2014–New Features
Over the last few days, I’ve been digging through Plant and learning about the new features. While there are not many major new features, I’ve been told that 2014 has fixed hundreds of bugs. Plant 2014 does have some much needed improvements in a couple key areas, and I’ll walk through some of these in
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Turning Off the Spec Break in AutoCAD Isometrics
While there is no button to click to turn off spec breaks in AutoCAD Isometrics, you can do it via the xml. Locate the Default theme AnnotationsScheme for your style’s isoconfig.xml. The easiest way is probably to do a search for SpecBreaker. Under SpecBreaker, you will have to add an Enabled attribute like so:
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Plant 3D SP 1 Data Integrity Hotfix Installation
Recently, we ran into an issue installing the data integrity hotfix for Plant 3D SP 1. The issue is that when opening the report creator, the PnPDataObjects.dll cannot be loaded. Users get a warning dialog like this: The source of the problem is that certain actions in Windows can mark some files as unsecure. Meaning
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Component Properties For Plant 3D Catalogs
Recently, I wrote about mapping custom PnID class to Plant 3D parts. In that post we discussed an enumeration xml which contains some interesting settings. This post will detail the default settings that should be populated for valves so that they can pick up the correct mappings for validation. In addition the file also
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Mapping New Valve Types in Plant 3D
A client asked how to map custom items in the catalogs from PnID to Plant 3D. In doing some research, I found out some more key settings in Plant 3D. It turns out that you can’t (AFAIK) customize the Component Categories or Piping components: The question was how to I map a custom class in
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