BY JEREMY POLLARD


In my last column, I reviewed a product called Engineering Base (EB) ó an electrical diagramming tool that uses Microsoft Visio as the drawing and reporting tool, rather than AutoCAD or a proprietary drawing engine.

Radica Software has also produced an electrical diagramming tool using Visio, but it takes a different approach.

I was originally attracted to Electra 2005 because of its low price. How many times have you paid an exorbitant amount of money for a mediocre tool? Electraís price, however, does not include Visio 2003 from Microsoft. Visio 2003 is an additional cost, and must be purchased and installed first. The installation of Electra following this was painless.

Once Visio is installed, all of its features are available to the user. Any stencils that you have can be used, but they wonít have database entries like the Electra-supplied shapes. There are custom shapes that you can import into the drawing, but Iíll go into that later on in this column.

I was very impressed with the content and presentation of the help file. It is very straightforward and really demonstrates the simplicity of the product.

I started by creating a title block. The title block stencil made this easy. Then, I added a page, and the page numbering followed as you would expect. The objects were automatically positioned for me. The biggest difference between working with an automated product such as Electra 2005 and straight Visio is that the automation background code takes care of these types of tasks for you.

Putting together a three-phase power drawing was my next task.

There are three stencils that have shapes on them ó JIC, IEC and Electra. I chose the Electra stencil, and found all of the shapes I needed. When you right click on a shape, you can flip the shape vertically or horizontally, removing the need to have two shapes. You can also edit the reference data for the shape. This data is stored in a Microsoft Access database. This database holds the relationship between the objects on the page, and the associated data for generating the reports. The database is not password-protected, so you can use it outside of Electra. 

It didnít take long to place the shapes on the sheet. The text associated with the shape followed the orientation, and you can change the font size for the text associated with any shape.

The macros generated automatic wire numbering. I created a second page and put on a PLC I/O module. The number of terminals is configurable as is the orientation. Dragging and dropping the I/O is easy; however, there is no way of importing the PLC logic database, so the I/O descriptions need to be manually copied and pasted.

Adding your own schematic symbols and shapes is pretty cool. These shapes can be added to the Electra stencils. Creating your own transducer, for instance, can have the same connection points as others in the stencil.

For example, when you add an auxiliary contact from a contactor, there is no reference at the contactor that an auxiliary contact has been used. You have to add a locator to the drawing to get this information.
The product creates adequate reports. They arenít too fancy, but you can export them to Word, for instance, and jazz them up.

Do you get your moneyís worth with Electra 2005? I think so. Automatic terminal block layout tools and real-time reporting adds to the bottom line. I wouldnít use it for a $100-million project, but if you do your own drawings, and they arenít that involved, then this might be the tool for you.

If you are planning on doing bigger jobs, however, then EB would be worth the added investment in time and money.


Jeremy Pollard is a 25-year veteran of the industrial automation industry. He has worked as a systems integrator, consultant and an educator in the field. Jeremy can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .