Adding Cross Reference (XREF) Info To Footprints – AutoCAD Electrical

Today I was asked how to pull cross reference info from the parent symbol into a footprint. This works great on child components. Simply add an XREF attribute to a child component (if its missing) and on placement it auto populates with the parents sheet and reference location. However add an XREF to a footprint and nothing happens to it.
Out of the box, footprints do not pull this information even if the footprint contains an XREF attribute. However this information is available because multiple commands reference the footprints back to the parent symbol. None is more visible than the Surfer



In the surfer dialog above we can clearly see a reference between the parent, a child, and the footprint. So the question is, how do we go about getting this information info the footprint?
Below is a nifty utility wrote by Nate Holt back in 2009. (I tested it in 2014 and it still works great) It uses the same calls to the database that the Surfer users to capture this information and then writes it into an attribute named XREF on all the selected footprints.
Simple APPLOAD it and then type the command PANEL_CROSSREF

Add an XREF attribute                 Run the command                   Select the footprint                 Press enter…
      

Flattening 3D Models Into 2D Footprints – FLATSHOT

It seems many vendors are no longer offering 2D drawings of their components and are instead posting 3D models. This makes for a very large drawing and affects overall performance.

This isn’t a problem. Using FLATSHOT, an existing AutoCAD command, the 3D model can easily be broken into 2D top and side views. Insert the model into a drawing by itself. Use the ViewCube to rotate the model as needed.

Now type in the command FLATSHOT.

Set the destination for the new 2D block. In this example I will simply insert it back on the same drawing. However a footprint could be exported directly to the Custom Footprint folder from here.

Next you configure the lines. Checking ‘Show’ under Obscured lines will add hidden lines to the footprint.

Press Create and verify the new 2D block is as desired.

 

 

I have seen a few other ways to do this type of thing but personally FLATSHOT is my favorite. Its simple yet has a number of options. And its already a part of the software.