SOLIDWORKS Electrical Getting Started

SOLIDWORKS
Electrical
Getting Started
October 16, 2017

Table of Contents
SOLIDWORKS Electrical ............................................................................................................................... 3
Launching ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Project Manager ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Changing the Project Language .............................................................................................................. 3
Application Tabs...................................................................................................................................... 4
Projects ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Sample Projects....................................................................................................................................... 5
Creating a New Project ........................................................................................................................... 5
Task Pane ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Documents Task Pane ............................................................................................................................. 6
User Documents...................................................................................................................................... 7
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Documents........................................................................................................ 7
Data Files ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Components Task Pane ........................................................................................................................... 8
Project Tab .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Process Tab ............................................................................................................................................. 9
Drawings ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Draw Tab ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Line Diagram Tab .................................................................................................................................. 11
Schematic Tab ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Schematic Wires.................................................................................................................................... 13
Drawing Scheme Wires ............................................................................................................................. 13
Inserting Symbols ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Insert Symbol Command ....................................................................................................................... 15
Symbols Palette ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Copy/Paste ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Macros Palette ...................................................................................................................................... 17
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Components ........................................................................................................ 18
Symbols and Components ..................................................................................................................... 18
Applying Manufacturers’ Parts Data..................................................................................................... 19
PLC Manager ............................................................................................................................................. 20
Wire Numbering ....................................................................................................................................... 22
888.688.3234 | GOENGINEER.COM 1
Managing Terminals.................................................................................................................................. 23
Wiring Diagram Cable Reservation ....................................................................................................... 23
Inserting Terminals ............................................................................................................................... 24
Editing Terminal Strips .......................................................................................................................... 24
Reports ...................................................................................................................................................... 26
Editing a Template ................................................................................................................................ 26
Generating Reports ............................................................................................................................... 27
Cabinet Layouts......................................................................................................................................... 28
2D Cabinet Layouts ............................................................................................................................... 28
3D Cabinet Layouts ............................................................................................................................... 29
Printing ...................................................................................................................................................... 30
SOLIDWORKS Electrical
Launching
SOLIDWORKS Electrical can be launched from the desktop shortcut or from the Windows Start,
Programs, SOLIDWORKS Electrical, SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Alternatively use the desktop shortcut.
Project Manager
On starting SOLIDWORKS Electrical the Project Manager will be automatically displayed. Through
this interface it is possible to open existing projects, create new projects, delete projects, archive,
(zip), unarchive, (unzip), create copies of projects or to change the properties of specific projects.
There are two tabs listing projects:
Recent projects: Projects recently opened in SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

All projects: All projects created/held within SOLIDWORKS Electrical.
Changing the Project Language

The SOLIDWORKS Electrical interface language can be changed via the “Tools->Interface
configuration->Application language”. Select the preferred language from the pull down and
restart the program to have the changes implemented.
Application Tabs
The number of tabs available is automatically updated by SOLIDWORKS Electrical in order to
provide tools that are relevant to the work being carried out, so that on opening a Wiring Diagram
a Line Diagram tab will be activated, for example.
Before opening a project there are a number of tabs that are available.
1. "File" Tab
Provides access to the Project Manager,
Quit the program, archive or unarchive
environments, create new drawings…
2. "Library" Tab
Provides tools to manage all the Symbol
types within SOLIDWORKS Electrical in
addition to manufacturers’ part data, and
ERP connection.
3. "Tools" Tab
This tab includes commands to modify the
application settings, chat to others
connected to the same server, and set up
graphic preferences.
4. "Help" Tab
The “Help” tab accesses a tutorial,
supporting documentation, collects
information about your system…
Projects
Projects are made up of the documents required to create an electrical project. There are a range
of different drawing types available that have different intelligence within the project itself.
Sample Projects
A number of sample projects are included in the installation, and can be used in order to help
familiarize new users with the content type available within SOLIDWORKS Electrical.
These projects can be accessed from the Project Manager, simply double click on a project to have
it opened, or select it on the list and press the “Open” icon.
Creating a New Project

There are a number of ways to create a new project:
Create an empty project: Create a project “from scratch.”

Create from a template: Creates a project from a “template” this can include an entire
drawing set previously defined by the user. This is a very useful tool when providing
projects to different customers that each require different settings, such as numbering,
drawing borders etc.
Duplicate an existing project: Creates a copy of an existing project, which can then be
modified in order to create a new project.
Task Pane
Note: The task pane can be shown or hidden from the View tab.
The task pane is displayed by default on the left hand side of the screen, here can be found listed
all of the documents held within an open project, in addition to all the Components within the
project drawing set.
Documents Task Pane

The document set contained within a project can be broken down as follows.
Project level, this contains all documentation

Book, groups documents in a set that will be printed as a set.
Folder, can be used to organize document sets in a book
Documents these are scheme’s, Wiring Diagrams, Terminal

drawings etc.
There are a range of documents available in SOLIDWORKS Electrical, some are created by the user
while others are automatically generated and maintained by the program.
User Documents
Cover Sheet A cover page for the project documentation.
A single Line Diagram representing the overall
Wiring Diagram
installation/machine etc.
Scheme Drawing Electrical schematic
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Documents

These drawings are automatically generated based on the
Terminal Strips
Terminals held with the project schemes
Reports created based on data applied to the project, BOM’s,
Reports
Parts lists, Connection reports etc.
3D Cabinets 3D assemblies managed within SOLIDWORKS
Data Files
Data files are external files that have been copied into the project, and can be in any file type
format.
DWG/DXF files are managed as SOLIDWORKS Electrical

documents, a preview of them is displayed and the can be
modified and printed.
Any other file type can be added to a project, but it is not
possible to preview or edit them within SOLIDWORKS
Electrical. In order to edit these file types it is a requirement
that a program which can open them is available on the PC.
Components Task Pane
Here can be found a list of all of the physical Components held within the project, each represents
an electrical Component and is identified by a mark value, each Component can be made up of
multiple Symbols. It is possible to apply multiple manufacturers’ parts to a Component.
An example of a Component is a coil or relay; this is represented by a coil/relay Symbol and the
various contacts within the scheme drawings, additionally it can be shown in a Wiring Diagram
and in a 3D cabinet or installation. Regardless of how many different Symbols are used, or the
drawing types they are in they are all regarded as a single Component.
Depending on drawing type the Symbol is placed in a different icon will be used.
Inserted in a Wiring Diagram

Inserted in a Scheme Drawing
Inserted in a 3D SOLIDWORKS Drawing
Inserted in a 2D “Cabinet”
Associated Connection Label
By right mouse clicking on any listed item it is possible to preview it, or go directly to it.
A Component can have several manufactures parts assigned to it, the main reference, (Base), and
auxiliaries added/assigned to the base.
Terminals have a different icon and are grouped together on the Terminal strip which they are
assigned to.
Project Tab
On opening a project the Project tab will appear and become active, there are a number of
commands related to the management of the project.
Manage project properties and configuration.

Print project documents.
Manage locations and functions.
Manage electrical data as cables, wire type, wire links, cabling order.
Manage PLC and Inputs / Outputs.
Report management and creation (drawings, reports, bill of material, cabling list, etc.).
Process Tab
Processes can be run across all drawings in a project.
Update/replace data project wide

Wire numbering.
3D SOLIDWORKS cabinet layout.
2D cabinet layout
Project translation.
Drawings
Depending on the drawing type that is open a variety of tabs will become available with
commands that are directly relevant to the drawing being worked on. The information applied to
Symbols, and wires in Wiring Diagrams and schemes provide the data used for the automatic
generation of reports etc.
Wiring Diagram
Scheme Drawing
Draw Tab
The Draw tab has commands includes all the tools necessary for drawing shapes, inserting text,
images, dimensions, etc. These commands supply only supplementary graphical information to a
scheme or Wiring Diagram rather than any intelligence. The commands are very useful when
creating Symbols.
Line Diagram Tab
Opening a Wiring Diagram will activate the Line Diagram tab, the commands here allow for the
creation and maintenance of Wiring Diagrams.
Insert Symbols and draw cables.

Insert origin/destination arrows between diagrams.
Draw function and location outlines.
Edit cabling between Components.
Schematic Tab
Opening a scheme drawing will activate the Schematic tab, the commands here allow for the
creation and maintenance of scheme drawings.
Draw electrical wires for power or command schemes.

Insert Symbols, Terminals…
Define origin/destination arrows between schemes.
Draw function and location outlines.
And more…
Schematic Wires
There is no limit to the number of wires available in any project, each wire style can be defined in
the Line Style Manager and can a unique color, numbering system, gauge, line type...Additionally
there are commands to define and draw power and/or command wires to ease design.
Drawing Scheme Wires

There are two distinct commands for drawing scheme wires:
On selecting either command the Command Panel will become active.
From here, the Line Style Manager can be accessed to select, create or modify a line style.
All line styles in the project are listed here, and are grouped by Numbering group, the numbering
group indicates that all the wires in the same group will have the same counter applied to them
when they are numbered.
Inserting Symbols
SOLIDWORKS Electrical comes with a range of electrical Symbols standards; these can be further
developed to suit individual company needs.
There are a number of ways to insert Symbols into a scheme drawing:
Insert Symbol Command

Symbols Palette
Copy/Paste
Macro Palette
Insert Symbol Command
On selecting the command the Command panel will become active.
The Other Symbol button opens the Symbols Selector dialog where another Symbol can be
selected.
Symbols Palette
On opening a Scheme Drawing two side-panel options become active Symbols and Macros.
The Symbols Palette is a shortcut to access the Symbols library.
The listed groups can be customized to provide quick access to the most commonly used Symbols,
rather than listing every Symbol available.
Using the Find option is run across all library Symbols, not only those shown.
Copy/Paste
SOLIDWORKS Electrical uses the Microsoft Windows standards for Copy [CTRL+C], Paste [CTRL+V],
Drag and Drop, Undo [CTRL+Z], Redo [CTRL+Y], etc.
Any Symbol can be copied in the same scheme, from one scheme to another, or from one project
to another.
A Symbol can be copied by pressing Ctrl + Left Clicking on it and dragging the copy to the new
location.
When a Symbol is copied, a new Component is created and the Symbol receives a new mark.
Macros Palette
Macros are a time saving feature, they can be single or multiple entities of any type, so that if
there is a certain circuit type that is often used, a DOL for example, it can be saved as a Macro and
then just be dragged into dropped in drawings.
To create new Macros simply select information in a scheme drawing and drag it into the Macro
Palette.
It should be noted that Macros are drawing type specific, so that a Scheme Macro cannot be
inserted into a Line Diagram and vice versa.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Components
A Component is by definition an electrical device. It includes devices such as circuit breakers,
contactors, Terminal strips and PLCs.
Each Component has a mark that identifies it. Typically a Component is represented by one or
more Symbols sharing the same mark, but SOLIDWORKS Electrical also manages Components
without a graphical representation in the scheme.
Symbols and Components
When a Symbol is inserted in a schematic or line diagram sheet, the Symbol editor window opens
where a new mark can be defined; on applying the mark a new electrical Component is created.
You can also associate a Location and a Function to a Component.
Symbols that have the same mark value applied to them are automatically associated to one
another and so to the same Component, unless a Manual mark is applied.
On inserting a Symbol the Symbol Properties dialog is displayed, and the Components currently in
the project are listed on the right hand side. An association is formed by selecting a listed
Component, and the Symbol becomes part of the Component.
By selecting the Manual mark option it is possible to duplicate mark values but have separate
Components.
Applying Manufacturers’ Parts Data
It is possible to create components in SOLIDWORKS Electrical without having to have any inserted
symbol, these components are stored in the SQL database only, and can have a manufacturers
part assigned to them. This allows for feasibility studies to be carried out prior to undertaking any
actual design work, as certain reports can be generated, (BOM, Parts…), based on the components
that have been created.
Alternatively, parts can be applied to the symbols inserted in drawings that make up the
component.
Generally manufacturer's parts are allocated when inserting symbols. The Symbol properties
dialog has a tab to access and search for and define references.
Use the "Search" button. You can browse the catalog using the filters to find the reference you
need.
The pin, (terminal), numbering for symbols is obtained from the manufacturers’ part. Color coding
is used to easily identify if the parts data being applied to a symbol matches correctly.
Correct The values match both the symbol and manufacturers part
Incorrect The value required by the symbol is not found in the manufacturers part
Spare The value in the manufacturers part is not found in the symbol
PLC Manager
SOLIDWORKS Electrical allows you to manage any type of PLC. It can be a single PLC or PLC with
rack and controller cards. There are two interfaces, one to manage the structure of the PLC and a
second to manage IO.
PLC drawings can be automatically generated, or individual PLC’s can be inserted into Schemes.
To launch the PLC drawing, click on the Generate / Update drawings button.
Wire Numbering
The Number Wires process applies the numbering parameters defined in the Line Style Numbering
Group to calculate the wire values.
There are options to number equipotentials or number individual wires that make up an
equipotential.
In the Line Style Manager, wires are grouped by Numbering Group, this means they share the
same counter. Each wire has a configurable wire numbering formula.
There are two commands to number wires, located in the Process tab.
Numbers wires that do not yet have a value applied to them.
Renumbers wires.
Wire mark values can also be changed using the Contextual Menu (Right Click on a wire).
Managing Terminals
SOLIDWORKS Electrical provides the opportunity to create a Wiring Diagram and generate cabling
lists prior to realizing the complete schematic design.
The Wiring Diagram lets user define the way in which Components will connect to one another
and to reserve cables that will be used in forming these connections.
Note: It is not compulsory for the Wiring Diagrams to be created before scheme design.
Wiring Diagram Cable Reservation
In order to reserve cables in a Wiring Diagram, it is a requirement that Symbols have been placed
and have been connected to one another with the Draw Cable command. It is then possible to
Right Click on a cable connecting components to access the Contextual Menu and Reserve Cables
and Cores.
This options access the Cables and Cores Reservation dialog where cables can be reserved and
then used later in the schematic design development.
Inserting Terminals
Terminals are symbols that have a distinct classification within the library. There are two
commands for inserting terminals in schemes one will insert individual, (single), terminals, another
that will insert multiple terminals.
Terminals have a mark in the same way as other symbols, but are associated to a terminal strip.
Editing Terminal Strips
The Terminal strips command is available in the Project tab.
The terminal strips are grouped by location. Each terminal strip is associated to a configuration file
used when automatically generating terminal drawings. Any terminal strip can be selected and by
pressing the Edit button they can be managed.
The Terminal Strips Editor can be used to create wiring terminals, renumber terminals, and
manage multi-level terminals.
A terminal strip drawing(s) can be created by pressing the “Generate Drawings” button.
Reports
SOLIDWORKS Electrical comes complete with a number of standard reports including:
Drawing list
BOM
Cables
Connections
The templates used for reports are configurable, so that the amount of information and position
within the report can be easily changed.
Editing a Template
The reports can be accessed from the “Reports” button on the Project tab.
By selecting any of the reports in the Report Manager, selecting the “Properties” button will open
the Report Configuration Edition dialogue.
Generating Reports
Reports can be generated in four different formats:
Drawing Sheets
Excel (XLS)
Text (TXT)
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
These formats can be created by selecting the appropriate icon in the Report Manager.
Cabinet Layouts
There are two types of cabinet layouts in SOLIDWORKS Electrical:
2D cabinet layout created and managed with SOLIDWORKS Electrical

3D cabinet layout created and managed with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D
The templates used for reports are configurable, so that the amount of information and position
within the report can be easily changed.
2D Cabinet Layouts
SOLIDWORKS Electrical includes the ability to create basic 2D cabinet layouts; this can be done by
pressing the “2D Cabinet Layout” button on the Process tab.
On opening a Cabinet Layout Drawing the side panel automatically displays a list of the materials
available for insertion. This list is populated from the information in the project.
All the listed items have a checkbox to the left of them. If the checkbox has been checked on it
indicates that the item has been inserted into the Cabinet Layout.
Right-click on any item in the Cabinet Layout list to access the Insertion Contextual Menu.
3D Cabinet Layouts
These can be created by selecting the Process tab, “SOLIDWORKS Assembly” icon.
When selected, it is possible to define the location in the project that the drawing will be created.
One cabinet layout will be created per project location.
Printing
Project documents can be printed from the Print command located on the Project tab.
Selection of the “Print” button accesses the Print Drawing Manager dialog.
It is also possible to publish project documents directly to PDF. This option is available on the
Import/Export tab with the “Export PDF Files” button.

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SOLIDWORKS

October 16, 2017

There are two tabs listing projects:

Recent projects: Projects recently opened in SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

Changing the Project Language

Creating a New Project

Create an empty project: Create a project “from scratch.”

Documents Task Pane

Project level, this contains all documentation

Documents these are scheme’s, Wiring Diagrams, Terminal

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Documents

DWG/DXF files are managed as SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Inserted in a Wiring Diagram

Manage project properties and configuration.

Processes can be run across all drawings in a project.

Update/replace data project wide

Insert Symbols and draw cables.

Draw electrical wires for power or command schemes.

Drawing Scheme Wires

On selecting either command the Command Panel will become active.

There are a number of ways to insert Symbols into a scheme drawing:

Insert Symbol Command

On selecting the command the Command panel will become active.

The Symbols Palette is a shortcut to access the Symbols library.

Symbols and Components

Applying Manufacturers’ Parts Data

Numbers wires that do not yet have a value applied to them.

Wiring Diagram Cable Reservation

Editing Terminal Strips

The Terminal strips command is available in the Project tab.

Reports can be generated in four different formats:

2D cabinet layout created and managed with SOLIDWORKS Electrical

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