BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise 2017 Configuration Guide

Configuring the AutoCAD P&ID link

All of the standard AutoCAD link features are available in AutoCAD P&ID plus the commands that are described in the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise User's Guide.

You can configure two parts of the AutoCAD P&ID link:

• Property synchronization as described in the following task.
• Project file synchronization to the local or shared workspace as described in Configuring project file synchronization.

Synchronizing properties between AutoCAD P&ID project files and the vault is supported. Configuring this property synchronization is done similar to configuring standard AutoCAD document property synchronization as described in Configuring AutoCAD document property synchronization.

Note    If AutoCAD P&ID is used with the Meridian Asset Management Module, consider configuring the AutoCAD P&ID link that is included with that module instead. It provides functionality for linking AutoCAD P&ID drawing tags to Meridian documents and managing synchronization states. For more information, see the Meridian Asset Management Module Administrator's Guide.

To configure property synchronization:

1. In Configurator, expand Environment in the configuration tree and select Application Link Settings. The settings for each link appear in property pages in the right pane.
2. Click the AutoCAD tab. The AutoCAD link’s settings page appears in the right pane.

3. Click the Edit button to modify the settings.

   Tip    To export the settings file to your computer, click the Export button. This can be useful if you would rather edit the file in your favorite text editor. You can then copy your changes to the Clipboard and paste them into Configurator.

4. Locate the sections of the file labeled [PnID_Project] and [PnID_Drawings]. The section [PnID_Project] controls property synchronization with AutoCAD P&ID project files. The section [PnID_Drawings] controls property synchronization with AutoCAD P&ID drawing files. If the sections do not exist, you can create them. The lines in these sections specify the AutoCAD P&ID project properties that you want to synchronize.

5. On consecutive lines in each section, list the document property names that you want to synchronize, one line per property. For each property, specify the vault property set and property name to which you want it synchronized.You can type comments in the file by beginning each line with a semicolon (;).

   Tip    You can find the names of property sets and properties on the Properties page of each document type, as described in Creating and editing document types.

   Also specify a flag if the document property (not vault property) should be read-only (RO) or write-only (WO). By default, document properties are read/write (RW). Use the following format for each line:

   <CategoryType.CategoryName.PropertyName>=<PropertySet.PropertyName>,<Flag>

   The AutoCAD P&ID link supports the Project and Drawing category types, not the Pick List type. If the category type is omitted, the type is taken from the section name (for example, Drawing for properties listed in the PnID_Drawings section. If the category name is omitted, the category General is assumed.

   The following properties are predefined as read-only (RO) and cannot be updated in the project:

   • Project.General.Source_Project
   • Drawing.General.PnPDrawingGuid
   • Drawing.General.DWG_Title

   The following example maps the project property Source_Project to the Meridian property Project such that the project name is read from AutoCAD P&ID and written to Meridian and not vice versa:

   Project.General.Source_Project=Custom.Project, RO 

   Note    Although Meridian internal properties can be synchronized to document properties, you should never attempt to update internal properties or else Access denied errors can occur. Flag all properties linked to Meridian internal properties as write-only (WO). Only write to Meridian properties (the RO, RW, or no flags) in the Custom property set.

6. Click OK to save your changes.
7. Test the link thoroughly by synchronizing each property. You can do this by changing the property values for a project file in the vault and property values in a project file and confirming that the synchronization occurs the way that you expect. You can manually synchronize properties with the Meridian client applications as described in the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise User’s Guide.

By default, the AutoCAD P&ID link synchronizes properties automatically from the vault to the project files when the files are opened. The properties are synchronized from the project files to the vault when the files are closed. You can configure when these synchronizations occur by adding AutoUpdate settings to the [PnID_Project] and [PnID_Drawings] sections as appropriate for your needs. The values of AutoUpdate are as follows:

0 - Updates are disabled on OPEN on SAVE
1 - Updates are enabled on OPEN, but disabled on SAVE
2 - Updates are enabled on SAVE, but disabled on OPEN
3 - Updates are always enabled (the default)