etaps-drt

Import a Ground Grid in AutoCAD to ETAP AutoCAD drawings representing a Ground Grid may be imported into an ETAP project. An overview of the process is shown below:

The process involves two steps:

� Creating an ETAP Extended Markup Language (XML) file from AutoCAD � Importing the ETAP XML file into an ETAP project

Creating an ETAP XML File from AutoCAD This section explains the process of exporting the ETAP XML file from an AutoCAD drawing with the ground grid laid out.

Setting up the “ ETAP Tools” Menu in AutoCAD The ETAP tools menu allows you to access the command for exporting the Ground Grid in an AutoCAD drawing into an ETAP XML file. Following are the steps to set up the tool in AutoCAD.

For AutoCAD Versions prior to 2006 On the command line type the command MENULOAD and press the Enter key. This will show the Menu Customization editor as shown below:

Click on the Browse button and select the file ETMenu.mnu located in the folder C:\ETAP 7.0 (or current version)\AutoCAD_GGS(1). Click on the Load button to load the file as an item in Menu Groups

(1) The location may vary if ETAP is installed in a folder different from the default installation folder. In this case the contents of the file ETMenu.mnu also need to be changed.

of 5Import a Ground Grid in AutoCAD to ETAP

10/26/2012mk:@MSITStore:C:\ETAP70~1\Etaps.chm::/ETAP_Data_Exchange_rtf/Import_a_Grou...

The contents of the file ETMenu.mnu are: //ETAP Menu ***POP17 **ETAPTOOLS M_ETAPTools [ETAP Tools] M_ExportGGS [Export Ground Grid] -vbarun C:/ETAP 7.0 (or current version)/AutoCAD_GGS /ExportToETAP.dvb!ThisDrawing.ExportGridAndRods; If ETAP is installed in a folder different from the default installation folder, replace the underlined portion with the fully qualified location of the file ExportToETAP.dvb.

Click on the page Menu Bar and select the Menu Group C:\ETAP 7.0 (or current version)\AutoCAD_GGS\ETMenu.mnu. This will add the menu ETAP Tools to the Menus list as shown below:

Select the last item “Help” in the list “Menu Bar” and click on the Insert button. Finally click on the Close button. This will add the ETAP Tools menu to the AutoCAD main menu, as shown below:

For AutoCAD 2006 or later versions On the command line type the command MENULOAD and press the Enter key. This will show the Menu Customization editor as shown below:

Click on the Browse button and select the file ETMenu2006.cui located in the folder C:\ETAP 7.0 (or current version)\AutoCAD_GGS(1). Click on the Load button to load the file as an item in Menu Groups Finally click on the Close button. This will add the ETAP Tools menu to the AutoCAD 2006 main menu as shown below:



The AutoCAD main menu is displayed differently for the 2009 version but after the previous steps will still include ETAP Tools as shown below:

Creating the ETAP XML File Open the drawing file having the Ground Grid. Use the command “Export Ground Grid” in the “ETAP Tools” menu in AutoCAD to export the ground grid data into an ETAP XML file. Clicking on the command “Export Ground Grid” will prompt for selection of entities in the AutoCAD drawing that represent Ground Grid Elements as shown below.

Once the entities representing ground grid elements are selected, push the Enter button, the Default Parameters editor is shown.

Conductor Type Select the type of conductor material. The ground grid created in ETAP will have all conductors with this type of material. Rod Type



Select the type of rod material. The ground grid created in ETAP will have all rods with this type of material. AutoCAD Drawing Unit Select the current unit of measurement. The unit of rods and conductors created in ETAP will be converted into feet, inches, meters, and centimeters according to the unit systems. Offset (in ETAP Drawing Units) Type the X and Y coordinates of the top left corner of the ground grid in ETAP. OK Click on the OK button to create the ETAP XML file with the name ETAP_GGS.XML in the same location as the AutoCAD drawing file. If the file already exists, a dialog box is displayed to confirm overwriting it. Once the file is created a message as shown below is displayed.

Cancel Click on the Cancel button to cancel the creation of ETAP XML file.

AutoCAD Entity to ETAP Element Mapping Following table shows the mapping of AutoCAD entities to ETAP Ground Grid elements.

For example, a polyline in an AutoCAD drawing will be converted to one or more conductors in an ETAP project.

Importing the ETAP XML File into an ETAP Project Import the XML file created in the first step into ETAP. Open an ETAP project and drop a ground grid element on the ETAP one-line diagram. Double-click on the element to create a new ground grid presentation by selecting Finite Element Method (FEM) study model. IEEE Method study model does not support import of ground grids.

Use the command “Import From XML File…” shown below to import the ETAP XML file and create a Ground Grid.

ETAP Data Exchange

AutoCAD Entity ETAP Ground Grid Element Line One conductor Polyline One or more conductors Polygon 3-1024 conductors Rectangle 4 conductors Revision Cloud One or more conductors Circle One rod Ellipse One rod Ellipse Arc One rod Blocks Blocks will be exploded and broken down into one or more AutoCAD entity types listed

above. Other than above Disregard



ETAP Data Exchange Services Import IEEE Format Files Import Raw Data Files Import a Ground Grid in AutoCAD to ETAP PowerPlot to ETAP STAR Migration Conversion Procedure Device Conversion Details Conversion Tutorial



etaps-drt

Documents