Autodesk Plant 3d Spec Editor
Oliverio Gallman
When selecting / deselecting component sizes for a specific component in the spec editor, all check boxes have to be induvidualy selected. Especialy with components with a lot of different sizes like reducers and reducing tee's this is very time consuming. Is there a way to select multiple at the same time (in almost every program "shift" is used for this).
Plant 3D 2022...it appears this is still a problem. Now that I've warn out the space bar across nine versions of the software, any plans for a fix? This is pretty well the only 3D piping platform on the market that makes this so difficult. Of course, we could import these specs from Autoplant...but then we'll just use Bentley's product.
Plant 3D is generally a solid product...but when the people making the decision about what platform to use (CAD Admins) are the people facing the worst efficiency issues in the software (Admin interfaces, such as spec editors)...well...lets just say Autodesk's market share on this product could be bigger.
Perhaps any light at thee end of the endless click tunnel? I have to agree with @chris.perryYFTJY been using plant since 2012, Autodesk can reeeeeaaaally spend more time on UI improvements for Plant 3D... my wish list is becoming a "reasons not to use Plant 3D" list.
Hello.
I have a question about the specification editor. When I export the information to excel format, it creates an .xls file with multiple tabs and it takes a long time to generate.
Does anyone know how I can generate excel file in a single tab?.
From my experience, the main use of exporting a catalog is to update part descriptions and materials. Say I want to change all parts from 304 to 316, Add a NACE specification or conform to a clients item designation standard, this is now a time consuming exercise. Previously I could export to one sheet and just do a find and replace, maybe a few other excel functions, and bam. Done. Import and save. Now creating new catalogs to confirm to project specs takes days. I can't even export or import a full catalog. The thing just hangs.
It seems the original reason for having the export/import function has been lost. I can not see where in my day to day use of plant 3D, the ability to edit dimensions in a spreadsheet would actually help me. Valves and instruments are basically the only things that need regular dimension editing. This is not worth the trade off for what is lost by not being able to quick export to one tab, and be able to import back without issue.
Spec Editor is really very slow and complicated to edit specifications and catalogs.
It has practically not evolved since the initial version of Plant 3D.
I do not know why, it is better to export in multiple tabs, but I think it would be a good option to choose if we want everything in one.
In my case it is slower to export and also slower to edit in multiple sheets.
Still having the same problem with exporting the full catalogue and having it be too slow - at least 10mins
Absolutely no hope of importing the full catalogue.
As for the comment on the multiple tabs in the excel document - change the find and replace to search WITHIN the workbook rather than just the sheet.
I'm in the process of creating new catalog content for a metric environment with nominal diameters expressed in inches. Everything is looking as I expect, except now having created a reducing component the size is being shown as, for example, 2"x1.5mm in the part sizes list box of the catalog editor.
I have been able to replicate the issue by changing values in the property editor. If for a reducer the nominal units for both port S1 and port S2 are set to inches, and the port unit for both S1 and S2 are set to mm, the issue appears in the list of family sizes. I'm working in the 2024 edition.
as @h_eger said, do not mix units within your catalogs/spec/custom parts. If you want to define the part in mm, use ND for the nominal pipe diameters. If you wish to define the part in inches, use NPS for the nominal pipe diameters.
The only issue comes when you want to connect a metric part (with ND) to an imperial part (with NPS) you will need to have the necessary simple and compound joints in your project setup. Also to be able to connect ND to NPS you would need to make sure you have included the correct fasteners in your spec.
Thank-you @Michiel.Valcke for the introduction the NominalDiameterMap.csv. As is usual it seems support or instruction around this is not as clear as I would like (as it's not saying exactly how the file is consumed) but I have a sense. The online reference I found was as follows. If you're aware of a better reference, please do advise.
Did I miss something, I did not see a list that matched what I'm seeing in the spec editor. This is new to me so I may not understand without more clarification. Example Iso Type ELBOW, Iso Symbol Key ELBW. As I am trying to create a FRP spec I have to open the ASME catalog to check and see what is there to know what to put in my new catalog. I'm also unsure of what to put in for Gasket Std and under End types what does MJM, MJP and PFS mean?
As far as creating new items, that's what all of us do, we find the most similar component, and use that type and skey. The type is used to organize items in the BOM, and then the skey is the block that gets inserted. So, unless you get into custom stuff, you can choose the item you want from the type list, and pair it with the appropriate symbol. Some items only have one field, like PIPE or GASKET is in the type field, but there is no corresponding key. Most of what people learn is just by looking at the existing catalogs.
It looks like the links in your first post are broken, unfortunately. Really appreciate the tip about the end codes! Do you know of a similar list for the abbreviations in the Spec Editor? I've gotten to the point of understanding many of them (i.e. LR = Long Radius), but would love to see a list for all those component abbreviations as well. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Hope all is well and have a most blessed day!
Recently I had a client who was using Alternate Units in his dimensioning to show the Imperial dimension with the metric conversion in brackets like the 2'-10 1/4" dimension in the image to the right. However, when they use the Ortho Annotation to add something like the Nominal Diameter to pipe, flange, reducer, tee, and valve, the only option is to show the Imperial Size. There is not an out-of-box method to show the Metric Size in brackets, just like the dimension.
Their first thought was to define a calculating property that converts the size to metric. The problem with this method is while you can multiply 8 x 25.4, the result would be 203.2, which would not be a valid metric pipe size. Plus, there is not a method in the calculating property to round, and even if there were rounding a straight conversion like that would not always give you the correct actual metric pipe size. The solution? Define a property in the Spec that you can input the correct metric size for each Imperial size of pipe, flange, valves, fittings, and even bolts. Then pass that information right into the components within your drawings, annotations, reports, etc. Sounds simple, but there are a couple of tricks that you need to know to pull this off, and we are going to use this example to walk you through step by step with Custom Spec Property Definitions and Custom Project Property Definitions.
The majority of our work takes place in the Spec Editor mainly because that is where we will initially input all the data. My personal opinion is that you close Plant 3D when you modify a project spec, but that is your call. I have found that things just seem to work better that way. Open the Spec Editor and then open the specific Spec you would like to modify. I am using the CS150 spec, which is, for the most part, out-of-the-box. The exception is that I have added additional sizes beyond 24", slip-on flanges, removed some valves I didn't need and added some custom Instruments. I only mention this so that when you see some of these in the images, you don't email me to complain those items are not in your spec. However, everything we are doing can be performed on the out-of-the-box CS150 spec as well as any other spec you might want to try this on.
Now comes the part that will feel so very time consuming, but in reality, it does not take very long at all. It's just monotonous. I did my entire spec in less than an hour, and that included a couple of sanity breaks. The property has been created for every part since we used "All Part Groups", but the data has only been added to Pipe, assuming you only have one pipe definition in your spec as I have. You will need to add the values to every item in the Spec. In my case, I added the metric sizes to every Flange, Blind Flange, Elbow, Tee, Valve, Olet, Cap, Gasket, Strainer, and Instrument.
Bolts are the one item I did completely different. I still used the SizeMetric property, but I wanted the size of the bolt, not the size of the pipe. Also, bolt lengths are calculated when placed in your model based on flange thickness. Because of this, I only included the Bolt Size in the Spec and will need to enter the lengths after the fact via the Data Manager.
On a side note, let's say this is not something I am going to use in every project, but I use this same spec in every project. It does not hurt a thing having this property and data in my spec if I do not need it in the project. I am in complete control of when I need to show the data and when I don't, but once it is entered, I should not have to enter it again, and the data will be there ready to go when I do need it.
One last comment regarding the specs: If I add new items to the spec from the catalog or additional sizes, I will need to add the Size Metric data to those items. That's just the nature of the beast and no different than anything else I add to a spec.
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