Using the ESI Symbol Editor, you can create custom symbols for use with devices in the PIPE-FLO and Flow of Fluids software. This article describes how to create, save, and use your own custom symbols. Anywhere that you see the name "PIPE-FLO", you may substitute "Flow of Fluids" as the directions will be exactly the same for Flow of Fluids users. From this point forward, the article will use only the PIPE-FLO program name.


Starting the Symbol Editor Program

To start the Symbol Editor program, click your Windows Start button, and choose All Programs.  Open the PIPE-FLO folder, followed by the Tools & Links folder, then click on Symbol Editor as shown in the figure below.  You can also find the Symbol Editor by browsing your computer program files, and looking in the root directory of the PIPE-FLO program for the ShapeEditor.exe file.



This will open the Symbol Editor Program.  An example of the Symbol Editor window with an open shape table is shown in the figure below.




Drawing A Custom Symbol 

1. Click the New Symbol button or choose Symbol / New from the menu to create a new symbol.  This opens the Symbol properties dialog box as shown in the figure at the right.
   
   
2. Choose a Family for the symbol from the drop down list. Symbol families include pumps, tanks, and all of the various devices in a piping system. Note: Your new symbol will only be available in the piping design software for use with devices of the corresponding type. If you create a pump, you will only be able to use the custom symbol as a pump in your piping system.
   
   
3. Give the symbol a unique Name.
   
   
4. If desired, specify the symbol's Radius. It is fine to leave this at zero and update it later as appropriate.  The radius is an optional field and does not pertain to any specific circles or segments in your shape.  Rather, it provides PIPE-FLO with the information it needs to display pipeline arrowheads, to position text for the device, and to provide a "selection radius" for the device (ie. the area around the coordinate origin of the symbol at which the device may be "selected" or highlighted on the FLO-Sheet).
   
   
5. Check any of the option check boxes you desire. 
   
   
• No Flip: By default, symbols in the piping design software rotate with the pipelines to which they are attached. Check this box to prevent rotated symbols from turning completely upside down.
• No Rotate: Prevents all symbol rotation. Check this box to ensure that the symbol is always oriented exactly as drawn, no matter what angle pipelines are drawn.
• Draw node: By default, the standard black connecting node is completely replaced by the symbol of the attached device. Check this box to keep the node for this symbol.
  
• No Skew: By default, symbols are skewed when the piping design system is set to use isometric grid lines. This tends to make the symbols look more natural in the isometric perspective. Not every symbol skews well, however. Check this box to force the symbol to draw as designed, even in isometric mode.
  
6. Click OK to create the new symbol, and begin drawing by selecting either the Draw Line button, the Draw Polygon button, or the Draw Circle button.
   
   
7. You can change the fill color for Circles and Polygons by selecting a color from the drop-down list as shown below.




8. You can change the Z-order (layer level) of the lines, polygons, and circles in your symbol by clicking the Bring Selection Forward button or the Send Selection Back button.
   
   
9. You can delete lines, polygons, and circles in your symbol by highlighting them and clicking the Delete Selection button.
   

Adding a Bounding Polygon

As described in the help file, Anatomy of a Symbol, a bounding polygon is a user defined shape that acts as an endpoint for any pipelines connecting to the symbol in PIPE-FLO. This is important to the actual functioning of the custom symbol you create. Without a bounding polygon or a defined radius, the .shape file may not work correctly in your software. 

1. Click the Bounding Polygon button to activate the bounding polygon tool.
   
   
2. Draw and manipulate the bounding polygon around the edges of your symbol as shown in the figure below, for the best results.
   

The bounding polygon is represented in the symbol editor as a red dashed line. It is not displayed within PIPE-FLO. It differs from a standard polygon in that it may not be filled with a color and there can only be one per symbol.
To radically alter the bounding polygon it may be easiest to remove it with the delete button and then redraw it.


Saving and Using Custom Symbols

The Symbol Editor stores your custom symbols in files ending with a .shape file extension, and stores them in your piping design software's "Tables" directory.  By default this is usually, the "My Documents\My Engineering Files\Tables" directory. 

Saving Symbol Files

Click the Save button or choose File / Save from the menu to save an open symbol file. The saved file will use keep its existing filename and save location, overwriting the old version. To save the file with a different name or in a different location, choose File / Save As from the menu.

Note: Because newly created files are all given the same filename, "untitled.shape," be sure to use the File / Save As menu option when saving them for the first time.

Using Custom Symbols

When saving symbol files, you may choose to save them in alternate directories but in order for PIPE-FLO to load your custom symbol, the .shape file must be saved in the "My Documents\My Engineering Files\Tables" directory.  If you create a PIPE-FLO project using custom symbols, these symbols are saved with the project itself, so you can send this project to other PIPE-FLO users, and they will be able to see your custom symbols, even if they don't have your custom shape table.

Sample Custom Symbols

These are a few of the possibilities for custom symbols. These symbols make your piping system models stand out and allow the model to look as accurate as possible.