July 18, 2022, Littleton, CO.

SBS has launched Automated Utility Design (AUD) version 8.4. The newest version provides over 20 new product enhancements as well as resolving several issues from the previous 8.3 version.

With the latest enhancements in version 8.4, you can now more efficiently produce quality designs. Here are our top five favorite updates:

  • Two new commands: AUDCOPY and AUDPASTE
    • These commands provide the ability to copy and paste features, including linear features, within the current design or into new designs, while maintaining connectivity, containment, and attribution of the features being copied.
    • Default Copy and Paste options can be specified in AUDOPTIONS and are presented as keyword selections when executing the commands.
    • Additionally, copied features can be exported to a GeoJSON format for use in external applications that support that format (see below).
  • JSON and GeoJSON formats
    • The AUDCOPY command can be configured to export copied features and their relationships to a .json file that can be used as data for the AUDPASTE command.
    • Alternatively, .geojson files from the Export option of AUDCOPY will save to a GeoJSON compliant format with the basic geometry and attribute data for use with GeoJSON compliant external applications.
  • Inventor part definition .inz import
    • The Part Editor can now import the new .inz file format exported from the SBS Substation Design Suite Inex Inventor tool.
    • When imported, either the entire top-level assembly or any level of nested subcomponents can be extracted to equivalent AutoCAD block-based parts with AUD compatible ports, drawing properties, and clearance tagged solid geometry.
  • Assembly feature templates with multiple point and line objects
    • A new optional data model and feature class is now available for creating assemblies. The assembly data model may be included by specifying the 5.1.1 data model in a TemplateSpec.xml when creating a template.
    • To use the assembly capabilities, assign a model and part where the Part dwg is itself an AUD industry model drawing with features. When digitized, the part drawing features will be copied into the main drawing and associated to the assembly feature.
  • Automatic part import and model creation from available blocks
    • A checkbox option is now available in the Part Editor refresh and import windows to enable automatic creation and updating of corresponding models when parts are imported.

We hope you enjoy these new updates as much as we do. If you’re interested in learning more about AUD version 8.4, please contact us at support@spatialbiz.com or view the Automated Utility Design 8.4 Release Notes available from the SBS Support Site. Click here to review the Release Notes or download the newest version.