Part of successfully creating projects and schematics in SOLIDWORKS Electrical is maintaining a usable and up-to-date library of symbols, manufacturer parts, and other electrical objects. This can be done either manually or by using integrated tools to streamline the process. The Electrical Content Portal (ECP) is a fast way to get library content from a wide variety of manufacturers. Let’s dive into accessing the ECP and how to bring the downloaded components into your library.
Accessing the Electrical Content Portal
There are two main ways to access the Electrical Content Portal: the task pane interface and the web interface. You must own and log in with your 3DEXPERIENCE ID to access the portal in either interface. If you see a red bar on the top of the interface that says you still need to subscribe, then you may need to take a few additional steps to activate your access. Typically, this is a quick fix if you are a client on an active SOLIDWORKS Electrical subscription. Inside your manufacturer part or cable reference libraries, you can navigate to “Get More Content” and then select “Upgrade Subscription” to gain access to the ECP.
Upgrade Subscription inside the SOLIDWORKS Electrical library
Once your subscription has been upgraded, you’ll be able to access all of the items in the portal including gold electrical content. The task pane interface is directly integrated with SOLIDWORKS Electrical but you can also use the web portal for an alternative layout. Both the task pane and the web interface have access to the same content. You can use filters to show different suppliers, types of library content, classifications, and dates added. Once you find what you want to use, just select “Download”.
Although the ECP has over one million components, it’s also entirely possible that you may not find the specific component you’re looking for. In this case, you should request the part from the web interface by filling out the form under the “Request Content” tab. Your submission may be fulfilled by SOLIDWORKS which will save you time from having to reverse engineer a component and create the 3D model or 2D blocks from scratch.
Adding Items to Your Library
Unarchiving content inside the SOLIDWORKS Electrical library
Once you have the content downloaded from the Electrical Content Portal, the next step is to import it into your library. To do so, navigate to the appropriate library and then select “Unarchive”. Alternatively, you can select unarchive from the home tab of SOLIDWORKS Electrical. This will open a dialog where you specify the content to unarchive if the .tewzip file contains multiple components. If existing imported components are already in your library, you have the option to do nothing or update the existing component if there has been a change from the manufacturer. This ensures that part specifications in your project match what you’ll purchase and have shipped to you.
Utilizing the Electrical Content Portal is paramount when designing electrical schematics in the most efficient way possible. Fortunately, access to the Electrical Content Portal is complementary with SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic so you will have access as long as you are on an active subscription. Combining the ECP with the other benefits of SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Professional will have you on your way to a new level of electrical design. SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Professional also enables a shared content library between team members which makes synchronizing content added in your electrical library even easier.
Curious to see the other benefits of using SOLIDWORKS Electrical? Learn more by viewing the product matrix on our page here.
