Miscellaneous (additional features) > Converting symbols and projects created before cadett ELSA 7.7

Before cadett ELSA 7.7, which was released in 2004, symbols in cadett ELSA were simpler than after that update. After the update, all cadett ELSA symbols contains a backup of the symbol database information, stored within the block itself. That was not the case before. Another important feature that was introduced in cadett ELSA 7.7 was a direction for each connection point. Before that, the line break feature had to guess about the directions of the lines, which in most cases worked fine, but not always.

The update procedure for cadett ELSA 7.7 included an update of all user defined symbols, which required a good deal of manual involvement since the directions of all connection points had to be checked and corrected for errors manually. Most users did a proper job with the update, but for various reasons, some chose to procrastinate the procedure, and in some cases symbols in use today are still not updated. Such symbols are handled in compatibility mode by cadett ELSA, which means that the old "guessing method" about line directions is still used. The lack of a symbol database backup in the blocks makes it impossible to recreate such symbols in a cadett ELSA installation that projects are exported to, unless the symbols are also specifically and manually exported alongside.

If you encounter such symbols in your own symbol library, it is a good idea to finally make the proper update. Better late than even later! The routines to make the updates are still available in cadett ELSA, and they work perfectly fine, even in the latest version.

In this topic, a brief description of the update procedure from versions older than cadett ELSA 7.7 is provided.

1.Convert your user defined symbols using the script sequence 0UPDATE_SYMBOLS_TO_77 in the Script Generator. Try to find a simple filter so that you do not have to run through the standard symbols. Hopefully you have used a special first letter in the names of your symbols, which makes this simple!

2.Plot your user defined symbols using the Plot symbol library... command. This is done as described below.

3.In the Project Module, create a new project using the symbol library where the user defined symbols are located.

4.In the Drawing Manager, create a new drawing sheet in the new project.

5.Open the new drawing sheet.

6.In the Tools tab of the ribbon menu, please navigate to the Symbols slide-out panel, where you find the Plot symbol library... command. Select that command.

7.With the Load button, load an appropriate setting, dependant on the drawing frame you are using:

- SymbPlotIEC.SPI in IEC and IEC1082 for ELSA50 or ELSA70 drawing frame.
- SymbPlotDIN.SPI in DIN5 for MGPROTO drawing frame

8.Run the utility using the Generate button.

9.Plot the drawing sheets presenting your user defined symbols, with your ordinary plot script sequence.

10.Check your symbols in the plotted sheets. The directions of the connection points are marked with arrows. They should be directed as the lines normally are. Mark all errors with a pen!

11.Use the Symbol Generator to correct all marked errors! The directions are corrected with the Rotate command applied on the connection point objects.

12.Update your projects using the 0UPDATE_INSERTS script sequence in the Script Generator. You might - as an alternative - create a script sequence of your own, which is somewhat more restrained than 0UPDATE_INSERTS. The standard script sequence replaces all symbols with the current versions. Terminals, cables and other symbols that may be adjusted in different ways, will therefore also be replaced, which may result in a less than perfect result. Limiting the update to only the affected symbols might therefore give a better result, with less manual adjustment work afterwards.

13.Enjoy the new version and all its new features!