General

This chapter describes the various options on the General tab of the Settings dialog. Also check out the chapter on Performance Improvements when using larger projects.

Change colors

The colors show values which have been changed by the user, but why 5 colors?

This has to do with the use of a transfer file(s) where the changes are stored. It can happen that you edit data with PlantDataManager and a CAD-User edits data too. Best to explain the colors with some examples.

Yellow: This is the common behavior. You edited the data alone.

Green: You AND the CAD-User edited the data independently, but you and the CAD-User entered the same data.

Red: You AND the CAD-User edited the data independently, but you and the CAD-User entered different data.

Magenta: You typed in a different value than another PDM user.

Cyan: Another PDM user types in this value.

Since the CAD-User can edit data while you are editing the data with PlantDataManager, you have two lines at your mouse pointer if you hover over a changed field. The first line shows the data the field had before you edited it and the second line shows the current value in the database.

The colors will be shown in the views and drawings as well. The most unfavorable color will be used.

The colors will be used in the PlantDataManager Plugin too and here they are even more important, since you are about to accept or reject the data.

AutoCAD Version

Set the AutoCAD Plant 3D version your project is using. Since AutoCAD 2018 the selected version doesn't matter — typically you set the latest version installed on your machine. For Collaboration projects you must select 2023 or higher.

DWG TrueView

Path to DWG TrueView.

Path

Define the path to DWG TrueView to be able to view drawings. If nothing is selected, then drawings cannot be viewed.

Selection List Behaviour

Controls how values are entered in the data grid: whether they must come from the selection list, and whether typing is auto-completed.

Restrict values to selection list?

Limits the choice to the values which are available in the selection list.

Autocomplete

Automatically fills up the rest of the value while typing.

Others

Miscellaneous options for data refresh, project loading performance, autosave, and grouping objects that span multiple drawings.

Open the last project on startup

Opens the project that was loaded last automatically when the application is started without command line arguments. If the project was closed with Close Project, no project is opened on the next start. Off by default.

Automatically refresh data on tree node selection

Refreshes the data in the grid when the node in the tree view of the data view is selected. This can be important if data is edited while the drawings are edited at the same time. Disabling it speeds up large projects. See Performance Improvements.

Do not show Save Changes dialog when using Refresh button

Enables/disables the dialog which appears if you click the Refresh/Reload button while you have unsaved changes. If enabled, the dropdown next to it sets whether the changes are saved or lost.

Update Link Configurations when loading/updating project

Enables executing the link configurations when loading the project. If it is disabled, projects will be loaded faster. See Performance Improvements.

Update Calculations when loading/updating project

Enables executing the calculations when loading the project. If it is disabled, projects will be loaded faster. See Performance Improvements.

Purge Local Data Cache before opening a SQL Server project

When using SQL Server projects, AutoCAD Plant 3D created local data cache (SQLite) databases in the user folder. To ensure that PlantDataManager actually reads the current data from SQL Server and not the data cache files it is recommended to enable this checkbox.

Group PipeLineGroups/SignalLineGroups when existing in multiple drawings

Groups the drawing names of the drawings in which a Pipe Line Group or Signal Line Group exists.

Group Symbols when existing in multiple drawings

If a Symbol exists in more than one drawing the symbol will be grouped so you can see in which drawings the Symbol exists. The default delimiter | can be changed.

Autosave

Allows you to set an interval in minutes.

Tag Conflicts

Options for detecting and handling tag conflicts across users and drawings when a project is loaded.

Execute Tag Conflict Check when loading project

Opens the Tag Conflict Checker palette and checks for conflicts.

Reload other users' data caches when refreshing for Tag Conflicts

Reloads the data cache files of the other users when using the Refresh button in the Tag Conflict Checker palette.

Reuse existing-tags data (faster reopen)

Avoids rebuilding the Tags list every time and instead is using the cached data.

SQL Scripting

Let PlantDataManager or PlantReporter run SQL scripts automatically when a project is loaded.

Run SQL Scripts when loading project

This option allows you to let PlantDataManager or PlantReporter run SQL Scripts when the project is loaded. See Execute SQL Scripts on Project Load for details.