Dialog Insert center

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Dialog Insert center

After the installation the Insert center presents itself as a drop-down and size-adjusting flyout. With the buttons (Pin) and (Unpin) you can determine whether the flyout remains pinned or can be unpinned. In the unpinned state, the Insert center is hidden and only visible as a vertically positioned Insert center tab. Clicking the tab or pressing the [Ins] key displays the Insert center again. If the Insert center is pinned and if it was set to a specific size, the dialog memory saves this information after exiting the program and opens them the next time you start them in the previous state.

In the start view of the Insert center the folders for the quick access Last used, Tags and Favorites as well as for the object types Symbols, Devices and Window macros / symbol macros are shown. Depending on the object type you branch to folders below, which display the hierarchy levels of the used symbol libraries, system or project parts or the macro directories.

If you click a folder which contains objects, a preview of the objects in the form of tiles is shown. To insert mark the objects shown in the preview and drag them into the graphical editor.

Which object types you can insert depends on whether a project page or a layout space is opened. In project pages you can insert symbols, window macros / symbol macros or devices, in the layout space only window macros / symbol macros or devices.

If different representation types are saved in a window and / or symbol macro and if you have opened a specific page type in the graphical editor which matches one of the representation types available in the macro, the window or symbol macro is inserted in the corresponding representation type using the Insert center.

In the project-specific settings you can specify which Company standards and standards are to be taken into consideration when inserting macros or devices. If you configure the schematics with these settings, the selected company standard and/or the standard in the title bar of the Insert center are displayed.

Overview of the main dialog elements:

Find

With the Find field the Insert center provides the possibility of a search which covers all object types. If you only search within one specific object type, a menu is available via the button before the search field which allows you to restrict the search scope accordingly. For the search you can use additional logic operators, such as "AND", "OR", "NOT" as well as placeholder characters. The Insert center also allows a search for objects which are assigned to a tag.

Breadcrumb trail

The breadcrumb trail indicates in which folder structure of the Insert center you are located. In addition, different buttons are available in the breadcrumb trail to switch the currently set folder and to move to the desired objects.

Button	Meaning
	Opens a menu from where - depending on the currently selected folder - you can switch to a folder of the same, higher or lower hierarchy level.
	Makes it possible to return immediately to the standard view of the Insert center, which is also possible via the Home entry.
	Makes it possible to navigate one hierarchy level up in the folder structure.
	Makes it possible to select other folders or return to the standard view. Shows at the same time that the folder structure shown in the breadcrumb trail cannot be displayed fully anymore because of its length. To make the entire folder structure visible you can further extend the dialog of the Insert center.

Folders for the quick access

Recent :

This provides you with a preview of the most recently inserted objects. The number of displayed objects encompasses a maximum of 20 entries that can be assigned to different object types. The most recently inserted object is always positioned as a tile at the top in the first position in the preview area.

Note:

In the preview you are also shown the most recently used symbol and macro variant for the most recently used objects.

Favorites :

You can define objects as favorites which you require repeatedly for insertion. This folder provides you with a preview of all objects identified as favorites. You will see an object identified as favorite in the preview tile at the filled icon . Favorites are saved in the user-specific settings and can be exported and imported. Furthermore favorites are available non-project-specifically for insertion. A maximum of 5000 favorites can be defined.

Note:

Only the first variant of an object displayed in the preview tile can be defined as a favorite.

Tags :

An object can be assigned to one or more randomly selected tags. With this folder you branch to further folders that are named after tags assigned by you. For each tag the number of objects assigned by you is displayed next to the folder. A mouse click on the tag opens the preview and the objects contained in it. That fact that a tag is assigned to an object is indicated by the filled icon in the preview tile. Tags are saved in the company-specific settings and can be exported and imported. A maximum of 5000 tags can be assigned to an object.

If you have assigned multiple tags to an object, all further tag folders are displayed above the preview tiles and offered for selection after a tag folder has been selected.

Note:

A tag can only be identified at the first variant of an object displayed in the preview tile.

Folders for object types

Symbols :

With this you branch to the symbol libraries stored in the currently open project including the contained symbols. Depending on the currently selected folder, all symbols of the folders located in the hierarchy levels below are displayed in the preview. Which variant of the symbol is displayed as the default variant in the preview tile, depends on which setting was made at the individual symbol and for the entire symbol library. By preference the default variant set at the symbol is displayed.

Devices :

With this you access the devices available in the part selection. Different contents can be shown in the preview tile for devices: If you have opened a project page and if the corresponding information is stored at the part, either an image of the part, a macro (variant "A"), a graphical macro (variant "A") or the function template (variant "A") are displayed. If you have opened a layout space and if the information is available at the part, either an image of the part, a graphical macro (variant "A") or a macro (variant "A") is displayed. If none of this information is stored at the part, a camera symbol for the missing graphic is shown instead in both cases.

Notes:

EPLAN offers the possibility to use the parts database set in the parts management or the parts (project parts) stored in the project when inserting devices. This can be specified via the command path File > Settings > Project > "Project name" > Management > Part selection.
EPLAN allows restricting parts in the part selection via the Parts pre-filtering and / or Parts preselection. This restriction also affects the Insert center with regard to the selection possibility of devices. If one or both restrictions were made in the settings provided, this is shown in the Insert center with the icon and a corresponding Tooltip text.
With the user settings you can configure the tree view for the parts management. The configuration also affects the display in the part selection and thus also the Insert center with regard to the display of the folders for devices.

Window macros / symbol macros :

With this you branch to the window and symbol macros in the set macro directory. Depending on the currently opened page type or layout space - if available - the macro graphic of variant "A" matching the representation type is automatically displayed in the preview tile.

Note:

For the Insert center EPLAN does not directly use the macro directory for window and symbol macros but a macro collection which is generated from this directory.

Preview

If you click a folder which contains objects, a preview of the objects in the form of tiles is shown. The visualized contents of a preview tile depend on the selected object type. A symbol or macro graphic is always displayed for a symbol or a macro. For a device the preview depends on the information stored at the part, The following sequence applies in this context: If an image file is stored at the part, it is shown. If a macro is stored, the macro graphic is displayed. If a symbol is assigned to a function template, the symbol graphic is displayed. If neither an image file nor a macro or symbol graphic is available for the device, a camera symbol is displayed.

Within the preview tiles different icons are available which allow you to define favorites, assign tags to objects or select the variants of an object. The icons have the following meaning:

Icon	Meaning
	Object identified as favorite
	Object not identified as favorite
	Object to which a tag is assigned
	Object to which no tag is assigned
	Number of available variants of an object
	Variant name (A - H)

In addition, the symbol name (for symbols), the part number (for devices) or the macro name (for window and symbol macros) is displayed in the preview tile as identification of the object. Part numbers which are wider than the preview tile due their length are wrapped and displayed in two line.

Info area

Below the preview the most important properties for all preview tiles available in the preview are displayed in a configured table. Depending on the object type in the selected preview tile the table columns show different properties. With the popup menu item Configure representation you can show further properties and determine the display sequence of the properties.

When you select a preview tile, the row with the associated properties of this object is marked in the table. Conversely the associated preview tile is marked when you click a table row. Double-click one of the column headers in the table and with that perform an alphanumerically ascending or descending sorting of the property values. This way the display of the tiles in the preview changes as well.

From the table it is possible with a double click on the table cell to insert the corresponding object into the schematic.

If you have defined Favorites for more than one object type when selecting the quick access folder Favorites, the properties of the objects are displayed in corresponding tabs of the table which are named in accordance with the corresponding object types.

With this popup menu item Open hyperlink you can open external documents or an image file at parts for devices, in as far as these are assigned to the part in the parts management.

Popup menu:

The popup menu provides - depending on the field type (e.g. date, integer, multilingual) - the following menu items that are, depending on the situation, available for influencing the table or editing the values in the fields. You can find an overview of these popup menu items in the section Popup menu items.