Dialog Configure properties (user-defined properties)

In this dialog you create user-defined properties for the project or for the part. The project-specific properties are stored at the project and can be used at various objects within a project. The user-defined properties for the part are saved per parts database and can be used at the parts. You can assign these user-defined properties to a part in the parts management by means of the User-defined properties tab.

Overview of the main dialog elements:

The user-defined properties that exist in the current project / parts database are displayed on the left-hand side in the dialog in a tree and list view.

Note:

After you have assigned user-defined properties to one or several parts and have carried out a parts data synchronization, the properties for parts are displayed as well during the configuration of the project. You can recognize such user-defined properties by the fact that you are not able to edit these properties in the project and that they have the "Part" entry in the Assignment field.

Only display 'Do not use anymore':

If this check box is enabled, only properties that are marked as "Do not use anymore" are displayed in the tree and list views. For these properties, the Do not use anymore check box is enabled.

Button	Meaning
(New)	Opens the New property dialog and allows you to create a property.
(Import)	Allows you to import user-defined properties from a file in XML format.
(Export)	Allows for highlighted user-defined properties to be exported to a file in the XML format. Properties identified as "Do not use anymore" are not exported.

Click (New) above the field to create a property. Then enter a unique identifying name for the property in the New property dialog. We recommend that you start the name with your company code. The identifying name may contain upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers and the special characters ".-_&". At least one point must be used in the name; however, the point must not be at the beginning or end of the name. The string "EPLAN" at the beginning is not permitted either. Points within the name are treated as substructures and create a sub-level in the tree.

Notes:

Within a project, the identifying name must be unique and cannot be subsequently changed any more.
If the Display identifying numbers setting is active, the identifying name is displayed in the user interface. This corresponds to the display of the property numbers (IDs) of the EPLAN properties.

Find:

Into this field enter the text for which the properties are to be filtered. In the process the properties are searched for both the identifying name as well as the displayed name.

If you want to return to the original view of the properties, remove the search term from the entry field. Click (Delete) to do so.

Popup menu:

In addition, the following dialog-specific popup menu items are available:

Menu item	Meaning
Insert into list of search results	This is only possible during the configuration for the project. Checks the usage of the marked properties in the project and enters the found objects into the search results list. This way you can search for the used properties of objects, such as components, part placements, etc., in the graphic via the popup menu item Go to (graphic).

Identifying name:

Here, the unique name is displayed that you specified when you created the property. The property is managed in EPLAN under this name.

Displayed name:

Here, enter the name under which the property is displayed. Multi-lingual entry is possible.

Description

Here you can enter a describing text that is displayed for the property in the selection dialogs. Multi-lingual entry is possible.

Assignment:

Specify the objects for which the property is to be available in the drop-down list. The assignment can only be specified when creating the property and it cannot be changed any more subsequently.

Interruption point: The property is available for interruption points.
Part reference: The property is available for part references and is therefore displayed in the Parts tab of the properties dialog of main functions. In addition one indexed property is automatically generated at each object which can have a part.
Function: The property is available for any functions in all trades.
Project: The property is available in the project properties.
Page: The property is available for pages.
Connection: The property is available for connections, connection definition points, potential definition points, and net definition points.
Pre-planning: The property can be used at segments in pre-planning and when creating segment definitions.
Part: The property is available at parts. This assignment is only possible during the configuration in the parts management.

Also validate for part references:

Activate this check box if the property is also to be available as part reference property. This is only possible during the configuration in the parts management.

Field type:

You specify the characters and the format that are permitted for the user-defined property with the drop-down list. Possible field types are, for example, "Bool" (True / False), "Decimal number", "Date". "Multilingual text". This specification can only be carried out when creating the property and it cannot be changed any more subsequently.

Note:

If you want to enter values with units for a user-defined property, select the field type "Value with unit". With the exception of the following situations, this field type behaves like a "monolingual text".

If during the filtering a value with unit is specified as the filter criterion for a user-defined property (for example "1 kV"), the properties for which this value was specified with a different unit are displayed as search results (for example, "1000 V").
For values with decimal places, the decimal separators that are set for the operating system are used during the display of the properties in the graphical editor and not the entered decimal separators ("," or ".").

Translate property value:

This setting is only available for the field type "Multilingual text". Activate this check box if the value of a user property is to be taken into consideration for the automatic translation of the project or during the automatic translation in the parts management.

Display type:

From the drop-down list, select the type of input that is possible for the property. Depending on the selected field type, this list contains different entries. For the field type "Bool" you can, for example, specify whether the values are to be displayed as "Yes / No", "On / Off", etc.

The following display types are possible for the field types "Monolingual text", "Multilingual text" and "Value with unit":

Free input: Any values can be entered manually, e.g., text, numbers or numbers with units.
Selection list: Only values from a drop-down list can be selected. The possible entries in the drop-down list are defined in the Default values selection list field.
Free input with selection list: Any values can be entered manually or can be selected from a drop-down list. The possible entries in the drop-down list are defined in the Default values selection list field.
Self-extending selection list: The values can be selected from a drop-down list or entered manually. The possible entries in the drop-down list are defined in the Default values selection list field. The manually entered values extend the default values in the drop-down list.
Block property: This entry is only available for the field types "Monolingual text" and "Value with unit". You specify the associated block format in the Block format field.

Block format:

If you have selected the "Block property" entry in the Display type field, use the [...] button to open the dialog Format. There you define the properties to be combined in the block property.

After you have specified the format for the block property, a preview of the format is displayed here. The selected format elements are displayed with their symbolic representation. The format in this field can be edited directly. You can delete a format entered here, edit it manually, or copy it into the Block format field of another user-defined property of the "Block property" display type.

Category:

For display in the program, the properties are divided into different categories, that is, in groups of properties which can be displayed independently of one another. From the drop-down list, select the category to which you want to assign the property.

Default values selection list:

If you selected one of the options "Selection list", "Free input with selection list" or "Self-extending selection list" in the Display type field, define the possible entries in the drop-down list here.

Click (New) in order to generate a new row in the list, and then enter the required value. Multi-lingual entry is possible.
Using (Delete), you can delete a value no longer needed.

The arrow buttons above the field can be used to specify the order of the possible entries in the drop-down list.

Do not use anymore:

If this check box is activated, the property in the project / tab User-defined properties is not displayed anymore in the parts management. Such properties can be deleted via [Extras] > Remove properties that will not be used anymore.

Note:

In the project user-defined properties which are used in parts or other master data cannot be removed despite the activation of "Do not use anymore", until the value "0" is displayed in the Usage count column for these properties. To this purpose you must first cancel the usage (remove selected parts, forms, etc.) and remove the parts, forms, etc. no longer used by compressing the project. Only then can you delete the corresponding properties via the Remove properties that will not be used anymore menu item or a repeated compressing.

[Extras]:

Menu item	Meaning
Check usage	Fills the Usage count column in the list view with the current numbers of how frequently the respective property is used. Properties not used have the entry "0".
Set unused properties to 'Do not use anymore'	Activates the Do not use anymore setting for unused user-defined properties.
Remove properties that will not be used anymore	Deletes user-defined properties that were set to Do not use anymore.

Note:

When inserting and copying macros, the user-defined properties stored in the macro are also inserted in the project. By means of the Do not use new property configurations from macros setting you can specify whether project-specific user-defined properties can be used or not. New user-defined properties can also be inserted via other master data such as forms, plot frames, etc. These properties are also taken into consideration through the setting.