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Announcement
September 4, 2013

Posted on September 4, 3013 by Todd Schmoock, Synergis Manufacturing Solutions Engineer:
AutoCAD Electrical allows you to define a secondary catalog to search.  Setting this option up gives the user an ability to store additional manufacturer part numbers in a totally separate database.

Identifying a Secondary AutoCAD Electrical Catalog

1.  Create your secondary catalog database.  Some options are:

  • Copy the “default_cat.mdb” file and add, or remove, records as desired.
  • Install AutoCAD Electrical on a machine just to define the database.  During the installation when asked to identify vendors select only the required vendors for the project being created.  After installation copy the database to the desired path and remove the installation of AutoCAD Electrical.
  • Open an existing project which contains the desired vendor information and use the “Create Project-Specific Catalog Database” tool on the Project tab.  This tool extracts all the catalog data from the project.  After running this tool move the database to the desired path.

2.  Right-click on the project file and select properties.
3.  On the Project Settings tab in the Catalog Lookup File Preference area select the “Other File” button:

4.  In the Catalog Lookup File dialog select the second option “Optional: Define…”

5.  Browse the location where you copied the new database file as defined in step 1.

6.  Select OK.

7.  During a “Lookup” to add catalog information use the “Secondary File” option:

By defining a secondary database you can avoid adding information that is not used often to the main catalog database.  This is also useful for keeping custom catalog information separate from out-of-the-box information so when you upgrade all that is required is a copy and replace with the new version’s database.  It is definitely worth trying on a project to see if you like it.
Let us know what we can do to help you stay ahead.  Contact us or subscribe to the blog.
-Todd
Check out some of Todd’s previous posts:

Todd has over 20 years experience in the mechanical engineering field. Ten years of this time was spent as a documentation specialist/designer at Honeywell, Inc. where he worked on several government contracts which required strict drafting and design documentation in accordance with government standards. Additional experience comes from working in the technical ceramic, elevator, and specialty gas industry designing equipment for each of these fields. Todd joined Synergis in 2003 as a Design Solutions Engineer where he began providing assistance to customers through training and consulting, helpdesk support, as well as providing pre-sales support. Todd was recently promoted to Director of Manufacturing Solutions.
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