CAESAR II – Network Configuration for Multiple Users

For larger companies that have multiple CAESAR II users, dealing with differences in the user’s settings can be an issue.  Each user may have their own set of database settings for expansion joints, load cases, units, materials, and valves/flanges that are specified in the “caesar.cfg” on that user’s machine.  What often happens during the course of a project is that User A will change a property for a material type in the CAESAR II file and that property does not exist for User B in their material database.  When User B opens the CII File they get a nice error message that looks something like the below:

Basically, CAESAR II recognizes that there’s a difference between User A’s material input and what User B has in their material database, and is asking how to rectify the difference.  If we clicked “No” at this point, then we’ve just reverted the material properties back to what User B has in their default database, which may not be what was needed for the project.

The risk for potential issues is very high when a user selects this option and collaboration is seen as a negative.

Fortunately, there is a simple way to avoid these risks and share settings globally across one project.

A lesser known capability introduced in CAESAR II 2014 is to set an “Alternate CAESAR II Distributed Data Path” shown here:

Distributed Data Path is a networked System directory that multiple users can connect to.  By default a user’s System directory is located at “C:\ProgramData\Intergraph CAS\CAESAR II\7.00\System”.

Let’s walk through how to set up this option.  Before we begin, let’s understand a very important distinction with the caesar.cfg file.  There’s a caesar.cfg located in your “System directory”, as well as a caesar.cfg located in your current “data directory”.  When you first open up CAESAR II, the large CONFIGURE button on the Ribbon will allow you to modify attributes for both the System and Data Directory *.cfg files.  The System Data Directory is the one we want to move to the network.

If I were to go to my Piping Input Screen, and then choose configure, I’m only modifying configuration settings for the current data directory. This means that the following steps that we are about to take to modify the caesar.cfg will need to be done from the main screen, not the piping input screen.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s what you need to do to set up a Networked Directory for your CAESAR II users:

1. Open CAESAR II, and click on Tools> Configuration/Setup > Database Definitions > Alternate CAESAR II Distributed Data
2. Click on the three ellipses.

3. Here I’ve placed a folder on the network titled “C2_Network_LOC”

4. Copy the System folder, located in C:\ProgramData\Intergraph CAS\CAESAR II\7.00\System to the …\C2_Network_LOC\   The full path to my new network system folder is now \\Instructor-pc\c\TRANSFER\C2_Network_LOC\System
5. Click on SAVE, located at the upper left hand corner of the Configuration editor.
6. Now we need to check to make sure we can read the new networked system directory. To do this, we will perform a check by renaming a networked data table that we can see.  Navigate to your new System folder located in …\C2_Network_LOC\System, and find “UMAT1.UMD”.  Copy this file, and rename it to “UMAT1_NET.UMD”.
7. Back in CAESAR II, open up the configuration editor again. Tools> Configuration/Setup > Database Definitions.
8. Find the value that says “User Material Database Filename” and choose the dropdown on the right hand side. You should see “UMAT1_NET.UMD” as a selection.

9. If you do not see UMAT1_NET.UMD, start over with step 1 and try again.
10. If you do see UMAT1_NET.UMD, then you are successful. A networked System directory has now been created.

On User B’s computer:

11. Open CAESAR II, and click on Tools> Configuration/Setup > Database Definitions > Alternate CAESAR II Distributed Data
12. Click on the three ellipses.

13. Open the directory in \\Instructor-pc\c\TRANSFER\C2_Network_LOC\ (which was created by User A).
14. Click on “User Material Database Filename” and verify that you can select UMAT1_NET.UMD. This computer is now connected to the networked material database.

Repeat these steps for any other computer you wish to connect to this same location.

Project Management Notes

Material File Updates

Some closing remarks on the behavior of CAESAR II in terms of project management.  If you go to Tools > Open System Folder, this will open up the Networked system directory that you have created.  No longer does this function send you to your local System directory while the Alternative Distributed Data Directory has been set.

Now that you can edit a material database that is shared with multiple users, there is an important final step to take when adding or modifying materials. The *.UMD file can be modified in CAESAR II to add new materials by accessing the Materials icon on the Home tab.  To learn how to do this, reference my earlier blog posts on the subject.

After you click “Save Material,” close the dialog, and then Close out CAESAR II entirely. Only then will a new UMAT1_NET.UMD file get generated with these new material properties.  If you do not take this step and close out of the program, other users will not receive the updated attributes you have inserted into the material database.

Change Management

Now that a caesar.cfg file exists that can be pinged by multiple users, here’s a quick tip on how to record changes that you’ve made to the caesar.cfg as you develop a baseline for attributes for a project.  The way that CAESAR II “saves” a new configuration file, is by opening it up and overwriting 97 rows of data to the file “caesar.cfg”.  If you place any data on the 98^th row, you can effectively add comments into the *.cfg file to help document your project.

Open up the caesar.cfg file located in your …\C2_Network_LOC\System directory.   Scroll down to the bottom of the .cfg itself.

On the 98^th row, you can add in your own comments to this file.  For example, the steps involved to create this post have been added as follows.  Each time you save changes to the *.cfg, these changes will not be overwritten.

Thank you,
George Montgomery, EIT
Analysis Application Engineer
ECE Design
www.ecedesign.com
www.cadworxblog.com
For Support: support@ecedesign.com

All

ECE just released a new Specific On Topic (SPOT) Training Video on CADWorx Plant: Starting a New Project and Specification.  If you are just starting out with CADWorx Plant Professional, upgrading from a legacy version or just want to review the process, I would urge you to take a look at this video.

The SPOT Training Video goes into details on the following topics:

• Creating the project
• Creating a new Specification
• Importing an existing Specification

Please take a look in our CADWorx Plant Professional Beginner Training Videos Section to view this video.

(Please note that you must be logged in with the correct access to view this video)

Thank you

Jeffrey Suffet

Let’s get started with the new CADWorx 2015 Plant Profession ISOGEN Interface – Enterprise Control Panel (ECP).  Below are the main areas:

1. ISOGEN Configuration Menu
2. Navigation Bar/Breadcrumb trail
3. Search Box
4. Category/Editing Pane
5. Drawing Set-Up Tool

SECTION 1: ISOGEN Configuration Menu – The ISOGEN Configuration menu provides access to online help and printed documentation, the Technical User Forum on Linked In, the information needed when entering service requests into Smart Support or emailing support@ecedesign.com, and access to the Options Screen. 

1. Home – Selecting this menu item will bring the user back to the Main ECP screen as shown in Figure 1 above.

2. Options – The Options dialog allows switching the interface from mm to in or in to mm.

3. Help – The Help Menu provides access to the all the help files, printed documentation, User Forums and the venerable “About Screen” for program information.

SECTION 2: Navigation Bar: Breadcrumb Trail

I-Configure organizes the hundreds of ISOGEN drawing controls using a hierarchical structure that consists of three levels of content:

• Style Category – This is the current ISOGEN Style Sheet to be edited.
• Style Group – This is the current style options group
• Option Group – This is the current options group

The breadcrumb trail hierarchy allows one-click access to freely move through and configure ISOGEN settings.

1. Style – ECE-Fab
2. Style category – Drawing Area
3. Style group – Piping Components
4. Option group – the list of options displayed in the panel below the Style group
   The breadcrumb trail indicates in which collection of drawing properties you are, and more importantly
   allows you to navigate your way through the product to find other collections of drawing properties. The
   breadcrumb trail starts with the name of the active style. After this, the active style category is listed,
   followed by the active style group.

SECTION 3: Search Box

The search box is a helpful tool to find settings. It works as most search boxes do, in that you type a string and it will display the results if found.

There are also additional features that can assist those who are transitioning from previous versions. By using the enhanced search features as shown in Figure 6 you can find specific Option Switches, Alternate Text switches, or I-Configure switches.

SECTION 4: Category Pane

The Category pane is full of hyperlinks to quickly navigate you to a main Option Group to check out the switches shown inside. However, once a link is selected you will quickly be transported to an enhanced user interface. This editing pane is where you will see a list of switches on the left and an example iso on the right.

In the options switch pane on the left, you will see a list of switches. Some are graphical and some are textual. If you are unsure what the switch does, you can click on the information button to see a brief description. The graphical switches show you how that switch will impact your iso. Some of the graphical switches give you the ability to see a flyout with all of the options available. See figure 7 below for an example of the options switch pane area.

In the example pane you will see an example iso. This iso will update when changes are made in the left options switch pane. There are some navigation tools in the upper right, but you can navigate the example area similar to CADWorx,  using middle mouse button panning and zooming. You can also double click a component and it will navigate you in the options switch pane to view the available switches.

SECTION 5: Drawing Setup Tool

The Drawing Setup Tool hasn’t been updated much since the previous release of I-Configure. But if you are coming from Project Manager, this tool is a huge time saver. In the drawing setup tool you can control your titleblock, the location of the BOM, North Arrow, and other Attributes, all in an easy to follow graphical interface.

Across the top you will find several tabs to help navigate you through the process of setting up your drawing area.

The first tab is Basic Setup. In here you will find settings to setup the overall feel of your iso. In the Backing sheet area you will choose which titleblock will be inserted, along with the size and units of that titleblock. Note, you will need to have your units set to decimal in your titleblock in order to use the inches units in the Drawing Setup Tool.

In the Reports area, you will select what type of lists you want to have shown on the drawing. You can have three types of reports:

• User Defined Material List – BOM
• User Defined Weld List – Weld List
• User Defined Cut List – Cut/Spool List

The “Number of sections” applies to the User Defined Material List option. One Section would be used for a  combined material list (Fabrication, Erection, Misc, & Offshore components together). Your other options are Two or Three sections where the components are broken up into different sections in the BOM area. In Figure 9, I have shown a combined material list with a cut list.

In the drawing area, you will notice a green boundary. This boundary is the area in which is considered the plotable area. Your titleblock and all switches must fall within this boundary in order for ISOGEN to work properly.

The next tab is Drawing Areas. In this tab you will be able to select the drawing area for the ISO. You will also be able to set the location of your lists just by dragging the box/icons around on the screen. For those of you who like more precise control, you can also type in the exact coordinates in the panel on the left.

The next tab is Material List. Note this is only available if User Defined Material List is selected on the Basic Setup tab as shown in Figure 9. In this tab you will be able to determine which columns are shown in your material list. You can also change several other properties, either by moving them in the drawing area or changing their values in the panel on the left.

Our next section is the Cut List. Again this is only available if User Defined Cut List is selected on the Basic Setup tab as shown in Figure 9. Similar to the Material list, this tab allows you to set which columns are visible and what their values will be set to.

If you had selected User Defined Weld List you would see another tab across the top to set those settings. In our case we only have the Attributes tab left. In here we will be able to have different ISOGEN attributes be placed as AutoCAD DText in the ISOGEN drawing output file. This tab is similar to the other tab, where you can modify properties, by either moving them in the drawing area, or by changing the text in the panel at the bottom.

Now that we have visited each of these tabs, its time to save and start running some iso’s.

Keep in mind that as you work in this nice graphical interface, you can still find all of these settings back in the previous category pane. Once you are happy with your settings you will need to Save and Exit the ECP and finally Export your settings for ISOGEN to read them. There are many switches in ISOGEN and hopefully this gets you started in learning where to find them in the new interface.

Now that we have gone through the new Interface, we thought it would be good to demonstrate.  Below is our latest ISOGEN Training Video:

‘Clamp’ symbols can show up on piping isometric drawings when modeling hygienic mechanical joints like the Tri-Clamp®.
The Isogen SKEY for Tri-Clamp end type needs to include a ‘CL’ for this graphic to come out.  CADWorx users need to know that by default the SKEY for a Tri-Clamp by Butt-Weld ferrule comes across as MPBW so the clamp graphic will not show for a Tri-Clamp joint.  If a clamp graphic is desired the SKEY for Tri-Clamp ferrules must be changed from MPBW to CLBW.  Here is what the difference looks like and please note that it is not necessary to have a clamp in the CADWorx model…

ECE recommends making the SKEY override in the Project (PRJ) file.  In this way every Tri-Clamp ferrule will be populated with the desired SKEY automatically.
This is done by browsing to a ferrule, under the flange section, and then typing in the Isogen Symbol Information. Unfortunately, these fields are always blank even though CADWorx does assign an SKEY.  Perhaps someday CADWorx development will populate these fields so we know what will be passing to the models and isogen when adding a new component.  Anyway, this example calls for the Identifier to be CONNECTOR and the the SKEY to be CLBW (Clamp x Buttweld) as illustrated below.  These overrides are simply typed into the fields.  One Applied and Saved, this SKEY will pass to the CADWorx model and be flagged automatically as an override.

Another option to consider is simply overriding the SKEYs on components after they are placed into the model.  This is accomplished by using the CEDIT command then clicking the ISOGEN button.  Within the Isogen Data dialog one can check the Override for the SKEY and type in ‘CLBW’ as shown below.    By the way, this is exactly what it will look like if the ISOGEN Symbol Information is changed in the PRJ file as described above.

SKEYs define so much of the graphics output for Isogen.  It is important for users to know they have controls within the CADWorx Specification Editor and the Component Edit (CEDIT) dialog box to set SKEYs.  Users also have an SKEY Symbol Editor where they can design custom symbols or modify standard symbols to meet specific requirements.   Taking control of SKEYs will definitely improve isogen output quality so it is worth getting to know more about them.

Here are some links a few ECE Training Videos that have more information on SKEYs.  Please note that both videos require you to log in with the proper access level:

1. SKEY Editor Overview

2. CEDIT Dialog – A Deep Dive

Bill Vasey