Component Marks in SOLIDWORKS Electrical

In SOLIDWORKS Electrical, one of the most important things to do is mark components with the appropriate component mark, or label. When a new component is added to a Schematic or Line Diagram, we have an option to either define the component we are placing as either the same as another component already defined in the project or create a new mark.

If we go with the first option, that will create an association between the two symbols in the project. When adding the symbol and creating the association to an existing component, we can use the drop-down filter in the upper-right of the symbol property menus to quickly filter by component type and quickly find the component we are wanting to associate to.

Once the component is selected it will have the same component mark as the existing component. In the component tree we can see that in the example below. In this example, I have 2 symbols on different pages representing the same component.

The other option of creating a new component and not selecting an existing will apply a new component mark. How is this mark applied and where is the mark defined?

The component mark by default will come from the symbol properties itself. As I have pictured below, we can see how when we create a new symbol or edit an existing one, we have the opportunity to define the component mark.

When a new symbol is added to a document, it will use the component mark taken from the symbol property. It will take the root and then first available number in the root and create the mark. For example, if we have a root mark of “S” and this is the first symbol of the “S” root it would become S1. If this is the second symbol and second component, it would become S2.

There is another way the Mark can be added to new components even if the symbol Mark Root is blank as shown above as well. If the symbol does not have a defined Mark, then when a new component is added, it will take the Mark Root defined by the classification that the symbol is grouped in.

The last method for creating components marks is to define a formula. This is defined at the project level.

From the Electrical Project tab, go to Project Configuration, and then the tab for Marks. In the Mark section for components, the formula Icon on the far right will allow you to specify a different formula from the system defaults, that act as described above, or you can define your own custom formula.

To summarize, there are 4 ways that a new symbol can get its mark. First, is by selecting an existing component which will create an association and display the same mark as the existing component. Second, is to have the mark defined by the symbol. If no mark is defined in the symbol, then the symbol will take the mark defined by the classification by default. Lastly a customer Formula for component marks can be defined by the project setting.

David Foster
Sr. Application Engineer Specialist, Electrical
Computer Aided Technology