Parts and EDZ

A part is a product you can buy: part number, manufacturer, type, order number, descriptions, technical data, pictures, documents, its functions (coil, poles, contacts, PLC channels) and its drawings. Parts live in the database of the program and serve every project; a project keeps a copy of the parts it uses.

The Parts window

Parts… opens the database:

• on the left a tree: All parts, In this project, Recently used, then each manufacturer with its product groups (feed-through terminals, end brackets, end covers, contactors, PLC…);
• in the middle the list, with a search field and a filter (All parts, From manufacturers, My parts). Click a column header to sort by it, again for the other way, a third time for the usual order: the parts of the project first, then those used recently;
• on the right the card of the selected part with its data, pictures, functions, drawings, mounting points and accessories. Click a picture to enlarge it.

Import EDZ

EPLAN Data Portal packages (.edz) are imported with Import EDZ… (also in the Parts window). One package can hold many parts; all are read, with:

• the data and texts in all languages (Language of part texts in the project properties chooses which is shown; missing texts are shown in English);
• pictures and documents;
• the function template: which functions the part has and their connection designations;
• the manufacturer's schematic drawings (macro variants), e.g. the 13 variants of a PLC;
• the panel front view and the 3D model with its mounting points (see Panel layout), and where each connection is on the front of the device (Pro Panel's connection point pattern). Parts imported before this was read get it when their EDZ is imported again; Update parts from database brings it into a project;
• the accessories the manufacturer lists for the part.

The import report lists what was left out of a package, and notes on what was read.

Importing a package again updates its parts and keeps what you chose for them (drawing, 3D view, your STEP model).

Use a part

• Insert → Device from parts…: choose a part (and one of its drawings, if it has several) and click on the page. Each click places a new device with that part.
• In the properties of a device, tab Parts: add or remove parts of an existing device. A device may have several parts (a contactor with an auxiliary block).
• The Parts list tab at the bottom counts the parts of the project; Export CSV saves it.

When a device has a part, the check compares the symbols with the part: three main poles need a part with three main contacts, a fourth contact needs a part that has one.

Update parts from the database

A project keeps the parts as they were when they were used. After you change or re-import parts, Update parts from database… shows what differs and brings the project up to date, drawings included.

3D model and front view

For the panel layout each part needs a front view. It is made from the 3D model of the EDZ package as vector lines: edges, creases and the outline seen from the front.

• 3D view… in the part card shows the model from its six sides. If the manufacturer's model is turned the wrong way, pick the side that is the front and turn it by 90° until it stands right. The choice is kept with the part in the database and also works for manufacturer parts.
• Load 3D model (STEP)… reads a .step / .stp file for a part without a model, or instead of a poor one. Restore EDZ model goes back to the manufacturer's.
• Without a 3D model the manufacturer's 2D front view is used; without that, a rectangle of the part's dimensions; without dimensions, the program asks for the size when you place it.