Schematic / Guide / Getting started

Getting started

Industrial UI Schematic draws electrical schematics: devices with tags, cross-references, terminals, cables, PLC channels, reports and the panel layout, all kept in one project.

The program runs on your computer. It keeps projects, parts, symbols and macros in its own database and shows the editor in its own window. The program sends nothing anywhere by itself (when you connect Claude, what Claude reads becomes part of your conversation with it: see Claude).

Start the program

Start Industrial UI Schematic (iui-schematic.exe on Windows, Industrial UI Schematic.app on macOS). The editor opens in the program's window. Close the window when you are done: what is not saved yet is saved first, then the program ends. Starting the program again while it runs brings its window to the front.

The same editor also opens in a browser at http://127.0.0.1:8790 — for a second screen, or another project beside the open one: View → Open in browser (in the program's window). A project is edited in one place at a time; elsewhere it opens read-only.

In the program's window, exporting a file (PDF, .iusch, CSV) asks where to save it in the system's Save dialog, and Open after saving shows the PDF in the system's viewer.

Option	What it does
`--port 8790`	Another port, when 8790 is taken.
`--data <folder>`	Folder of the database `schematic.db`. Default: next to the program (the macOS `.app`: `~/Library/Application Support/Industrial UI Schematic`).
`--browser`	Show the editor in your browser instead of the window.
`--no-browser`	Neither window nor browser; open the address yourself.

Back up by copying schematic.db while the program is stopped. To move a single project to another computer, export it with File → Export .iusch…

License

The program needs a license for the computer it runs on. Until one is installed, the program shows the License Activation page instead of the editor:

Copy the hardware code (HWID) from the page and get a trial or a license for it in your account at industrialui.pro (Schematic · free trial).
Load the license.key file you receive on the same page and click Install license. The editor opens; no restart is needed.

The license is kept as license.key next to schematic.db. A license of Industrial UI SCADA does not fit the schematic editor: the editor has a hardware code of its own. The code is made of the board of the computer and the installation of the system: switching Wi-Fi off, other networks, USB adapters or docks do not change it; a new mainboard or a new installation of Windows or Linux does (then get the license again for the new code). iui-schematic --hwid shows the code without starting the program.

License… (Help menu) shows whom the license is issued to, until when, and the hardware code. Load a new license.key there with Replace license… to renew. Two weeks before the end the status bar shows License until …; click it to open the same window. A license that runs out while the program is running lets you work until the program is stopped; on the next start the activation page comes back.

The window

Menu bar and toolbar at the top. The toolbar holds the tools: select, symbol, wire, text, shapes, zoom.
Left panel with three tabs: Pages (the page tree), Symbols (the symbol library) and Devices (devices and the functions still to draw or place).
Page tabs and the drawing in the middle. Several pages can be open as tabs.
Bottom panel with tables: Messages, Devices, Connections, Terminals, PLC I/O and Parts list.
Properties panel on the right: the properties of what is selected, or of the page when nothing is.
Status bar at the bottom: hints for the current tool, the zoom, the paper and whether the project is saved.

Saving

There is no Save button to remember. Every change is saved to the database about a second later; the status bar shows Saved. File → Save now (Mod+S) saves at once.

A project is edited in one browser tab at a time. Another tab or another browser shows it read-only, with a banner, until the first one is closed.

First steps

Create a project: New project. Fill in the title block data in Project properties….
Add pages with New page…. Each page has a number, a title and, if you like, a function (=) and a location (+).
Place symbols from the Symbols tab (Insert → Symbol… opens it) and draw wires with the Wire tool (W). Symbols on one line connect by themselves.
Give devices their tags and descriptions in the Properties panel. Contacts with the tag of a coil become its contacts, with cross-references.
Run Check project (Mod+Shift+K) now and then. Problems are listed in the Messages tab; click one to go there.
Make the reports with Reports… and the PDF with Export PDF….

The fastest way to see everything at work is the example project: Open example project. Each time it opens as a new copy, so you can change it freely.

Mouse and keys

Zoom with the mouse wheel (or pinch on a trackpad); pan with the middle button or Space + drag. View → Mouse wheel zooms switches the wheel to scrolling.
Mod in this guide is Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows and Linux.
Esc cancels the current tool and goes back to Select.
All shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts.

Light or dark

View → System theme / Light theme / Dark theme: the program is light or dark as the system is (System, the default, follows it as it changes), or as you choose; the choice is remembered. In the dark theme the sheet is dark too: what is drawn black on paper is light, and colours too dark to be seen there (a dark blue or brown wire, grey labels) are shown lighter. Only the screen changes: the project, PDFs and pictures of pages stay as on white paper.