AutoCAD Electrical 2022: A Tutorial Approach, 3rd Edition

 Chapter 1

Introduction to AutoCAD Electrical 2022

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Install and configure AutoCAD Electrical 2022

• Start AutoCAD Electrical

• Understand components of the initial AutoCAD Electrical screen

• Invoke AutoCAD Electrical commands

• Use various commands to save a file

• Exit AutoCAD Electrical

• Create and manage workspaces

• Use various options in AutoCAD Electrical help

INTRODUCTION

AutoCAD Electrical is a purpose-built controls design software. This software is used to create electrical schematic drawings and panel drawings. AutoCAD Electrical contains various schematic and panel symbols. These symbols, which are mostly the AutoCAD blocks with attributes, carry the intelligence of AutoCAD Electrical drawings. The standard symbol libraries such as JIC, IEC, JIS, and GB, which contain these symbols also get installed with the installation of AutoCAD Electrical. Besides all tools of AutoCAD software, AutoCAD Electrical also contains other electrical tools. You can use these tools for designing control systems speedily, economically, and accurately. As AutoCAD Electrical is compatible with AutoCAD, it is recommended to use the AutoCAD Electrical tools instead of AutoCAD tools when designing electrical circuits. However, AutoCAD Electrical drawings can be edited by using AutoCAD LT or AutoCAD. The all-inclusive symbol libraries and mechanized tasks help in increasing productivity and removing errors, and in providing exact information to the users.

GETTING STARTED WITH AUTOCAD ELECTRICAL 2022

You can start AutoCAD Electrical by double-clicking on its shortcut icon on the desktop of your computer. You can also load AutoCAD Electrical from the Windows taskbar by using the Start button at the bottom left corner of the screen (default position). To do so, choose the Start button to display a menu. Next, choose AutoCAD Electrical 2022 - English > AutoCAD Electrical 2022 - English, as shown in Figure 1-1; the AutoCAD Electrical 2022 interface is displayed with the Start tab chosen by default. In this tab, you need to choose the New button to create a new drawing or you can choose the Open button to open an existing drawing.

Figure 1-1 Starting AutoCAD Electrical 2022

AUTOCAD ELECTRICAL INTERFACE COMPONENTS 

There are various components in the interface of AutoCAD Electrical including the drawing area, Command window, Ribbon, Application Menu, menu bar, Tool Palettes, PROJECT MANAGER, Model and Layout tabs, Application Status Bar, several toolbars, and so on, refer to Figure 1-2. A title bar containing AutoCADElectrical symbol and the current drawing name is displayed on top of the screen. Also, the screen has the standard window buttons such as close, minimize, and maximize on the top right corner. These buttons have the same functions as in any other standard window.

Figure 1-2 AutoCAD Electrical interface components

Start Tab

The Start tab remains open by default in the initial interface of AutoCAD Electrical 2022. It displays the commonly used options used in AutoCAD Electrical, refer to Figure 1-3. These options are briefly explained next.

Figure 1-3 The Start tab in AutoCAD Electrical 2022 interface

Open/New

Choose the Open button to open an existing file and choose the New button to start a new work from a blank slate or template.

Autodesk Docs

Using Autodesk Docs, you can open or save files to the drives connected to your system. Note that you need to have Desktop Connector installed to access the connected drives on Autodesk Docs.

Desktop Connector

Desktop Connector is a desktop service that integrates an Autodesk data management source (or data source) with your desktop folder and file structure for easy file management. The files in the data source are replicated in a connected drive. You can manage files in the data source through the connected drive just as you would do in any other folder on your machine. Note that changes that you make in the connected drive will be automatically uploaded to the data source.

Recent

When you choose this option, all files you recently worked on are displayed in the Recent area.

Learning

When you click on the Learning option, the Learning page will be displayed. The Learning page provides tools to help you learn AutoCAD Electrical, explore the product, learn new or improve existing skills, discover what has changed in the product, or receive relevant notifications. It also contains the Tips, Videos, and Online Resources sections which can help you learn more about the software.

Drawing Area

The drawing area covers the major portion of the screen. In this area, you can draw objects and use commands. To draw objects, you need to define the coordinate points that can be selected by using the pointing device. The position of the pointing device is represented on the screen by the cursor. There is a coordinate system icon at the lower left corner of the drawing area.

Tip

You can hide all screen components such as toolbars, PROJECT MANAGER, and Ribbon displayed on the screen by pressing the CTRL+0 keys or by choosing the Clean Screen option from the View menu. To turn on the display of the above mentioned screen components again, press the CTRL+0 keys. Note that the 0 key on the numeric keypad of the keyboard cannot be used for the Clear Screen option.

Command Window

The command window at the bottom of the drawing area has the Command prompt where you can enter the required commands. It also displays subsequent prompt sequences and messages. You can change the size of the window and also view all the previously used commands by placing the cursor on the top edge (double line bar known as the grab bar) and then dragging it. You can also press the F2 key to display AutoCAD Text Window which displays the previously used commands and prompts.

AutoCorrect the Command Name

If you type a wrong command name at the Command prompt, a suggestion list with most relevant commands will be displayed, refer to Figure 1-4. You can invoke the desired command by selecting the respective option from this list.

Figure 1-4 Suggestion list with relevant commands

AutoComplete the Command Name

When you start typing a command name at the Command prompt, the complete name of the command will be displayed automatically. Also, a list of corresponding commands will be displayed, as shown in Figure 1-5. The commands that have not been used for a long time will be grouped in folders at the bottom of the list.

Figure 1-5 Command line displaying complete command name

Internet Search

You can get more information about a command by using the Search in Help and Search on Internet buttons available adjacent to the command name in the Command line, refer to Figure 1-6. If you choose the Search in Help button, the AutoCAD Electrical 2022 - Help window will be displayed. In this window, you can find information about the command. By using the Search on Internet button, you can find information about the command on the internet.

Figure 1-6 The Search in Help and Search on Internet buttons displayed in the suggestion list

Input Search Options

In AutoCAD Electrical, you can enable or disable the functions such as AutoComplete and AutoCorrect by using the options available in the Input Search Options dialog box. To invoke this dialog box, right-click on the Command prompt; a shortcut menu will be displayed. Next, choose Input Search Options from the shortcut menu; theInput Search Options dialog box will be displayed, refer to Figure 1-7. Now, you can enable or disable the required functions by using this dialog box.

Figure 1-7 The Input Search Options dialog box

Application Status Bar

The Application Status Bar is displayed at the bottom of the screen, refer to Figure 1-8. It contains some useful information and buttons that help in changing the status of some AutoCAD and AutoCAD Electrical functions easily. You can toggle between on and off states of most of these buttons by choosing them. Some of these buttons are not available by default. To display/hide buttons in the Application Status Bar, choose the Customization button at the extreme bottom right corner of the Application Status Bar; a flyout will be displayed. Next, choose the desired options from this flyout. The most commonly used buttons in the Application Status Bar are discussed next.

Figure 1-8 The Application Status Bar

Drawing Coordinates

The coordinate information is displayed on the left corner of the Application Status Bar. You can choose the Coordinates option from the flyout that is displayed on choosing the Customization button to turn the coordinate display on and off.

Snap Mode

The snap mode allows you to move the cursor in fixed increments. If the snap mode is on, the Snap Mode button will be chosen in the Application Status Bar; otherwise, it will be deactivated. You can also use the F9 function key as a toggle key to turn the snap off or on.

Grid Display

The grid lines are used as reference lines to draw objects in AutoCAD Electrical. Choose the Grid Display button to display the grid lines on the screen. The F7 function key can be used to turn the grid display on or off.

Ortho Mode

If the Ortho Mode button is chosen in the Application Status Bar, you can draw lines at right angles only. You can use the F8 function key to turn the ortho mode on or off.

Polar Tracking

If you turn the polar tracking on, the movement of the cursor will be restricted along a path based on the angle set in the polar angle settings. Choosing the Polar Tracking button in the Application Status Bar turns the polar tracking on or off. You can also use the F10 function key to turn the polar tracking on or off. Note that turning the polar tracking on automatically turns off the ortho mode.

Object Snap

The Object Snap button is a toggle button and is used to turn object snap on or off. You can also use the F3 function key to turn the object snap on or off.

3D Object Snap

The 3D Object Snap button is a toggle button and is used to turn 3D object snap on or off. You can also use the F4 function key to turn the 3D object snap on or off.

Object Snap Tracking

This button is used to turn the object snap tracking on or off. You can also use the F11 function key to turn the object snap tracking on or off.

Dynamic UCS

This button enables you to use the dynamic UCS. You can also use the F6 function key or CTRL + D keys to turn the dynamic UCS on or off.

Dynamic Input

The Dynamic Input button is used to turn the Dynamic Input mode on or off. You can also use the F12 function key to turn this mode on or off. Turning it on facilitates the heads-up design approach because all commands, prompts, and dimensional inputs will now be displayed in the drawing area and you do not need to look at the Command prompt all the time. This saves the design time and also increases the efficiency of the user. If the Dynamic Input mode is turned on, you can enter commands through the Pointer Input boxes, and numerical values through the Dimensional Input boxes. Also, you can select the command options with the help of Dynamic Prompt options in the graphics window.

Show/Hide Lineweight

This button is used to turn the display of lineweights on or off in the drawing. If this button is not chosen, the display of lineweight will be turned off.

Transparency

This button is used to turn on or off the transparency of layers and objects.

Quick Properties

If you select a sketched entity and choose the Quick Properties button in the Application Status Bar, the properties of the selected entity will be displayed in a panel.

Model or Paper Space

This button is used to toggle between model space and paper space. The model space is used to work in a drawing area. Paper space is used to prepare your drawing for printing.

Show annotation objects

This button is used to control the visibility of the annotative objects that do not support the current annotation scale in the drawing area.

Add Scales to annotative objects when the annotative scale changes

This button, if chosen, automatically adds all the annotation scales that are set current to all the annotative objects present in the drawing.

Annotation Scale of the current view

This button controls the size and display of the annotative objects in the model space.

Workspace Switching

When you choose the Workspace Switching button, a flyout is displayed. This flyout contains predefined workspaces and options such as Workspace Settings, Customize, and so on. The options in this flyout will be discussed later in detail.

Customization

The Customization button is available at the lower right corner of the Application Status Bar and is used to add or remove buttons from the Application Status Bar.

Navigation Bar

In AutoCAD Electrical, the navigation tools are grouped together and are available in the drawing area, as shown in Figure 1-9. The tools in the Navigation Bar are discussed next.

Figure 1-9 Tools in the Navigation Bar

Full Navigation Wheel

The Full Navigation Wheel has a set of navigation tools that can be used for panning, zooming, and so on.

Pan

This tool allows you to view the portion of the drawing that is outside the current display area. To do so, choose this button in the Application Status Bar, press and hold the left mouse button and then drag the drawing area. Press ESC to exit this command.

Zoom Extents

Choose one of the tools from the group to zoom the view of the drawing on the screen as per your requirement without affecting the actual size of the objects.

Orbit

This set of tools is used to rotate the view in 3D space.

ShowMotion

Choose this button to capture different views in a sequence and animate them when required.

Project Database Service

The Project Database Service (PDS) updates the scratch project database automatically. It is also used to save all non-AutoCAD Electrical attributes from block files into the project. Also, if the drawing files of a project are not found in the respective folder, an error message will be displayed in the Project Database Service message box.

Units

This button is used to display and control the units of drawing. It has a flyout that displays all the unit systems available for drawing.

Lock UI

This button is used to dock/undock the toolbars, panels, and windows.

Clean Screen

The Clean Screen button is located at the lower right corner of the screen. When you choose this button, all displayed toolbars, except the command window, Application Status Bar, and menu bar, disappear and the expanded view of the drawing is displayed. The expanded view of the drawing area can also be displayed by choosing View > Clean Screen from the Menu Bar or by using the CTRL+0 keys. Choose the Clean Screen button again to restore the previous display state.

INVOKING COMMANDS IN AUTOCAD ELECTRICAL

When AutoCAD Electrical is started, you can invoke AutoCAD Electrical commands to perform any operation. For example, to draw a wire, first you need to invoke the AEWIRE command and then define the start point and endpoint of the wire. Similarly, if you want to trim wires, you must invoke the AETRIM command and then select wires for trimming. AutoCAD Electrical provides the following options to invoke a command:

Keyboard Ribbon Application Menu Toolbar

Marking Menu Shortcut menu Menu Bar Tool Palettes

Keyboard

You can invoke any AutoCAD Electrical command from the keyboard by entering the name of the command at the Command prompt and then pressing the ENTER key. If the Dynamic Input mode is on and the cursor is in the drawing area, by default the command will be entered through the Pointer Input box. The Pointer Input box is a small box displayed on the right of the cursor, as shown in Figure 1-10.

Figure 1-10 The Pointer Input box displayed

However, if the cursor is currently placed on any toolbar or menu bar, or if the Dynamic Input mode is turned off, the command will be entered through the Command prompt. Before you enter a command, the Command prompt is displayed as the last line in the command window area. If it is not displayed, you must cancel the existing command by pressing the ESC key. The following example shows how to invoke the AEWIRE command using the keyboard:

Command: AEWIRE 

Ribbon

Most of the commands used for creating, modifying, and annotating components are available in the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 1-11.

Figure 1-11 The Ribbon for the ACADE & 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace

When you start AutoCAD Electrical session for the first time, by default the Ribbon is displayed horizontally below the Quick Access Toolbar. The Ribbon consists of various tabs. These tabs have different panels, which in turn, have tools arranged in rows. Some of the panels and tools have a small black down arrow. This indicates that the corresponding panels and tools have some more buttons in the form of drop-down. Click on this down arrow to access the hidden tools. If you choose a tool from the drop-down, the corresponding command will be invoked and the tool chosen will be displayed in the panel. For example, to move components using the Move Component option, click on the down arrow next to the Scoot tool in the Edit Components panel of the Schematic tab; a drop-down will be displayed. Choose the Move Component tool from the drop-down and move components. Choose the down arrow to expand the panel. You will notice that a push pin is available at the left end of the panel. Click on the push pin to keep the panel in the expanded state.

You can reorder panels in a tab. To do so, press and hold the left mouse button on the panel to be moved and then drag it to the required position. To undock the Ribbon, right-click on the blank space in the Ribbon and choose the Undock option from the shortcut menu displayed. You can move, resize, anchor, and auto-hide the Ribbon using the shortcut menu that will be displayed when you right-click on the heading strip. To anchor the floating Ribbon vertically to the left or right of the drawing area, right-click on its heading strip; a shortcut menu will be displayed. Choose the corresponding option from this shortcut menu. The Auto-hide toggle button on the right of the Express Tools tab will hide the Ribbon into the heading strip and will display it only when you move the cursor over this strip.

You can customize the display of tabs and panels in the Ribbon. To do so, right-click on any one of the buttons in the Ribbon; a shortcut menu will be displayed. On moving the cursor over one of the options in the shortcut menu, a cascading menu will be displayed with a tick mark before all options indicating that the corresponding tab or panel will be displayed in the Ribbon. Select/clear the appropriate option to display/hide a particular tab or panel.

Application Menu

You can invoke various commands from the Application Menu. To do so, choose the Application button available at the top left corner of the AutoCAD Electrical window; the Application Menu will be displayed, refer to Figure 1-12.

Figure 1-12 The Application Menu

You can search for a command using the search field on the top of the Application Menu. To search for a command, enter the complete or partial name of the commandin the search field; a list displaying all possible commands will be displayed. If you click on a command from the list, the corresponding command will get activated.

By default, the Recent Documents button is chosen in the Application Menu. As a result, the recently opened drawings will be listed. If you have opened multipledrawing files, choose the Open Documents button; the documents that are opened will be listed in the Application Menu. To set the preferences of the file, choose theOptions button available at the bottom of the Application Menu. To exit AutoCAD Electrical, choose the Exit AutoCAD Electrical button next to the Options button.

Menu Bar

You can also select commands from the menu bar. Menu bar is not displayed by default. To invoke the menu bar, choose the down arrow in the Quick Access Toolbar; a flyout will be displayed. Choose the Show Menu Bar option from the flyout; the menu bar will be displayed. As you move the cursor over the menu bar, different titles will be highlighted. You can choose the desired item from the menu bar by clicking on it. Once the item is chosen, the corresponding menu will be displayed directly under the title. Some of the menu items display an arrow on their right indicating that they have a cascading menu. The cascading menu provides various options to execute AutoCAD Electrical commands. You can display the cascading menu by choosing the menu item or by moving the arrow pointer to the right of that item. You can then choose any item from the cascading menu by clicking on it. For example, to insert a ladder, choose Wires from the menu bar and then choose the Ladders option; a cascading menu will be displayed, as shown in Figure 1-13. From the cascading menu, choose the Insert Ladder option.

Figure 1-13 The cascading menu

Toolbar

Toolbars are not displayed by default. To display a toolbar, first invoke the menu bar and then choose Tools > Toolbars > ELECTRICAL from it; the list of toolbars will be displayed. Select the required toolbar. In a toolbar, a set of tools representing various AutoCAD Electrical commands are grouped together. When you move the cursor over a tool in a toolbar, the tool will be lifted. The tooltip (name of the tool) and a brief description related to that tool will also be displayed below the tool. Once you locate the desired tool, the command associated with it can be invoked by choosing it. For example, you can invoke the AEWIRE command by choosing the Insert Wire tool from the ACE:Main Electrical toolbar.

Some of the tools in a toolbar have a small triangular arrow at its lower right corner. This arrow indicates that the tool has a flyout attached to it. If you hold cursor on the triangular arrow button, a flyout containing the options for thecommand will be displayed, as shown in Figure 1-14. Choose the desired option from the toolbar; a command will be displayed in the command window. The ACE:Main Electrical and ACE:Panel Layout toolbars are shown in Figures 1-15 and 1-16, respectively.

Figure 1-14 The flyout

Figure 1-15 The ACE:Main Electrical toolbar

Figure 1-16 The ACE:Panel Layout toolbar

Moving and Resizing Toolbars

Toolbars can be moved anywhere on the screen by placing the cursor on the strip and then dragging it to the desired location. You must hold the cursor down while dragging. While moving toolbars, you can dock them to the top or sides of the screen by dropping them in the docking area. You can prevent docking toolbars, as and when needed, by holding the CTRL key while moving the toolbar to a desired location. You can also change the size of toolbars by placing the cursor anywhere on the border of the toolbar where it takes the shape of a double-sided arrow, as shown in Figure 1-17, and then pulling it in the required direction, as shown in Figure 1-18. You can also customize toolbars to meet your requirements.

Figure 1-17 Resizing the ACE:Main Electrical toolbar

Figure 1-18 The ACE:Main Electrical toolbar resized

Marking Menu

AutoCAD Electrical provides you with marking menus which are displayed on right-clicking on an AutoCAD Electrical Object. By using the marking menus, you can easily invoke the commands, if the toolbar is not displayed in the drawing area. These marking menus are context-sensitive, which means that the commands or tools in this menu will be displayed based on the object selected. Figure 1-19 shows a marking menu that is displayed on right-clicking on a component and Figure 1-20 shows a marking menu that is displayed on right-clicking on a wire. Figure 1-21 shows a marking menu that is displayed on right-clicking on a footprint. There are two basic modes for command selection: Menu mode and Mark mode. These modes are discussed next.

Figure 1-19 The marking menu displayed on right-clicking on a component

Figure 1-20 The marking menu displayed on right-clicking on a wire

Figure 1-21 The marking menu displayed on right-clicking on a footprint

Menu Mode

You can invoke the Menu mode by right-clicking on an object. When you invoke this mode, a marking menu will be displayed, showing the commands related to that object. Move the cursor over the command to be executed and click on it; the selected command will be executed. To exit the marking menu, click at the center of the menu or click anywhere outside the menu. If you press the ESC key, the command in progress will be cancelled.

Mark Mode

Mark mode is similar to Menu mode. The only difference between them is that in this mode, you need to immediately move the cursor along the direction of the desired command after right-clicking on the component. On doing so, a rubber band line connected with the cursor is displayed. Release the mouse button on the command to be executed.

Shortcut Menu

If you right-click in the drawing area, the AutoCAD shortcut menu will be displayed. This shortcut menu contains the commonly used commands of Windows and an option to select the previously invoked commands again, as shown in Figure 1-22. If you right-click in the drawing area while a command is active, a shortcut menu will be displayed containing the options of that particular command. Figure 1-23 shows the shortcut menu displayed while the AEWIRE command is active.

When you right-click on the command window, a shortcut menu will be displayed. This shortcut menu displays the six most recently used commands and some of the window options like Copy and Paste, as shown in Figure 1-24.

Figure 1-22 The shortcut menu showing the recently used commands

Figure 1-23 The shortcut menu displayed on right-clicking in the drawing area with the AEWIRE command active

Figure 1-24 Command window shortcut menu

The commands and their prompt entries are displayed in the History window (previous command lines not visible) and can be selected, copied, and pasted in the command line using the shortcut menu. As you press the up arrow key, the previously entered commands will be displayed in the command window. Once the desired command is displayed at the Command prompt, you can execute it by simply pressing the ENTER key.

When you right-click in the coordinate display area of the Status Bar, a shortcut menu will be displayed. This shortcut menu contains options to modify the display of coordinates, refer to Figure 1-25. You can also right-click on any of the toolbars to display a shortcut menu from where you can choose any toolbar to be displayed.

Figure 1-25 The shortcut menu displayed

Tool Palettes

The Tool Palettes, as shown in Figure 1-26, is an easy and convenient way of placing components in the current drawing. By default, the Tool Palettes is not displayed. To invoke the Tool Palettes, choose Tools > Palettes > Tool Palettes from the menu bar or choose the CTRL+3 keys to display the Tool Palettes as a window on the left of the drawing area. You can resize the Tool Palettes by using the resizingcursor that is displayed when you place the cursor on the top or bottom of the Tool Palettes. The Tool Palettes contains different commands for inserting components in Imperial and Metric units. When you move the Tool Palettes in the drawing area and right-click on its title bar, a shortcut menu is displayed, as shown in Figure 1-27. Using this shortcut menu, you can turn on or off the Tool Palettes. Also, you can move, change size, close, auto-hide, and dock the Tool Palettes. Also, you can create new palette, rename it, and customize palettes and commands by choosing the desired option from the shortcut menu.

Figure 1-26 The Tool Palettes

Figure 1-27 Shortcut menu displayed on right-clicking on the title bar of the Tool Palettes

File Tabs

The File Tabs button is available in the Interface panel of the View tab. It is used to toggle the display of the File tab bar which displays all opened files. You can easily switch between multiple opened drawings by clicking on them.

Note

The View tab is not displayed by default in the AutoCAD Electrical interface. To display it, right-click on the Ribbon; a shortcut menu will be displayed. Next, choose Show Tabs > View from the shortcut menu.

You can also create a new drawing file by clicking on the (+) sign available at the end of the file tabs. Figure 1-28 shows the File Tabs button chosen in the Ribbon and the File tab bar displayed at the bottom of the Ribbon.

Figure 1-28 The File Tabs button chosen in the Ribbon and File tab bar displayed at the bottom of the Ribbon

In the File tab bar, all the added tabs get arranged in a sequence in which the respective drawings are created. You can change the sequence of the tabs in the File tab bar by using the left mouse button. To do so, press and hold the left mouse button on any tab and drag it to the desired location. If a large number of files are opened, some of the files will not be visible in the File tab bar and therefore an overflow symbol will be displayed on the right end of the File tab bar, refer to Figure 1-29. To open a tab which is not visible in the File tab bar, click on the overflow symbol; the names of all the tabs will be displayed in a flyout, refer to Figure 1-29. Also, when you move the cursor on a tab name, previews of the Model and Layouts will be displayed, refer to Figure 1-29. You can open the desired environment by clicking on its preview.

Figure 1-29 Flyout with file tab names and preview of their respective drawings

If you move the cursor over a file tab, the preview of the model and layout will be displayed. When you move the cursor over any preview in the file tab, the corresponding preview will be displayed in an enlarged form in the drawing area, refer to Figure 1-30.

Figure 1-30 Previews of model and layout

There are two buttons available on the top of the preview window: Plot and Publish. By using Plot, you can plot the drawing and by using Publish, you can publish the drawing. When you right-click on a file tab, a shortcut menu containing various options such as New, Open, Save, Save As, Close, and so on will be displayed, refer to Figure 1-31. You can choose the option from the shortcut menu as per your requirement.

Figure 1-31 Shortcut menu displayed on right-clicking on the File tab bar

There are two icons displayed on the file tab: Asterisk and Lock. The Asterisk icon indicates that the file is modified but not saved. The Lock icon indicates that the file is locked and the changes cannot be saved with the original file name, although you can use the SaveAs tool to create another copy.

To open a drawing as a locked file, first choose the Open option from the shortcut menu displayed on right-clicking over the file tab; the Select File dialog box will be displayed. Select the desired file and then select the Open Read-Only option from the Open drop-down list. On doing so, the file will be opened as a locked file in the drawing area. You can also open the file as a locked file by using the Open button from the Quick Access Bar.

PROJECT MANAGER

The PROJECT MANAGER is used to create new projects, add new drawings to a project, re-order drawing files, access the existing projects, or modify the existing information in a project, refer to Figure 1-32. By default, the PROJECT MANAGER is opened and docked on the left of your screen. The PROJECT MANAGER displays