Create and Edit Symbols

The “New Symbol” and the “Edit Symbol” functions, also available through the Project menu, when activated switch to a different workspace with a limited set of tools: in this environment you can draw, modify and save symbols and symbol views. 

You can either create a new symbol from scratch or create a new symbol from the selection: in this case you can also activate this function through the Radial Menu for a quicker workflow. This way the selected objects are now visible in the “Edit Symbol” environment whereas all the other elements of the drawing are hidden. 

Create a new symbol: 

  1. Select “New Symbol” on the Project menu; 
  2. The Environment turns to the “Edit Symbol” context with a limited set of tools and the “New Symbol” dialog opens; this dialog is divided into four sections:
  • Symbol Name;
  • View;
  • Attributes;
  • Insertion Points;
  1. Draw the symbol;
  2. Type the symbol name; 
  3. Select the destination folder through the folder button; 
  4. Use the “+” button to add a new view; 
  5. Type the view name; 
  6. Set the attributes;
  7. Insert the attributes in the drawing of the symbol view;
  8. Place the Insertion Points on the desired locations of the symbol view;
  9. Press the “Save” button on the dialog. 

Attributes of the Symbol

Attributes are information added to the current view of the symbol: these information are defined by an ID, a Prompt, showing on screen, and a Default value which will be displayed in the project.

The Attributes section of the New Symbol dialog shows: 

  • The menu of the existing attributes of the view (visible when editing a symbol and its attributes);
  • The Add button to create a new attribute;
  • The button to remove the selected attributes,
  • The “Edit attribute” button to modify the currently selected attribute.

Since attributes are a sub-class of text, they can get text properties such as font, font size, alignment, style and rotation angle: the “Define Attribute” window displays all these information and options.

To insert the attribute, just click on the desired location of the symbol view.

Edit a Symbol

To edit a symbol you can click on the Edit button of the selected symbol on the Settings window, or select the symbol on the drawing and either choose “Edit Symbol” on the Project menu or use the Radial Menu. 

The “Edit Symbol” workspace opens and you can modify the symbol, add views to the symbol by pushing the “+” button of the dialog or delete views through the “-” button, change the attributes of the view.

By pushing the “Save” button, the environment turns back to “Drawing”. Changes made to a symbol are immediately visible in all the symbol duplicates of the drawing.