Stardraw’s symbols library has been a work in progress for over 20 years and, since the advent of the Product Request service in 2002, the number of symbols available to subscribing customers has grown massively. Moreover, since the addition of new products into the library is based on user requests, the contents of the library reflect the products in use by the global professional AV industry. All symbols are generated in-house by Stardraw’s Symbols Department according to an established data specification. This means that regardless of the original data or what the symbols might represent, a qualitative standard is maintained. As a result, any and all symbols used in project documentation work seamlessly with each other, making the design a coherent whole.
In Stardraw Design 7.2 a product is usually represented by multiple symbols, where each symbol is appropriate for use in one of the application’s smart Drawing Modules; Block Schematics, Rack Layouts, Pictorial Schematics, Plan View or Panel Layouts. So, for example, Block Schematic symbols are focused on connectivity and show technically accurate inputs and outputs, delineated by signal type (Audio, Video, Power, etc.,) and are assigned to different layers accordingly. Rack Layout symbols by contrast are visually accurate, to-scale drawings showing high detail Front and Rear views of the product, plus a side view with demarcation for clearances that should be allowed, for example, for connectors and cables (with a safe bend radius). Plan View symbols are based on the industry standard J-STD-710.
The addition of new symbols to the library is prioritized based on user requests: those with a current subscription can visit the Stardraw website and simply enter the manufacturer and model number of the products they want to have added to the library; Stardraw’s Symbols Department does the rest. There is no cost, either to the user or the manufacturer, to request or add products to the library. Customers can even track their symbol requests via the website which gives users access to real-time data with status codes for a step-by-step view of progress.
Updates to the library are synchronized (downloaded) seamlessly each time SD7.2 is run, so long as the user has a current subscription.
“Reaching 100,000 symbols is a major milestone and a reminder of the quite staggering effort put in by our symbols department,” noted Stardraw CEO, Rob Robinson. “Quality data is a key factor in enabling Stardraw Design 7.2 to deliver productivity gains to our users and we want to thank all those who have helped us to build such a valuable and pertinent library through their product requests.”
For full details of the Stardraw library and to make product requests see https://www1.stardraw.com/stardraw/sd7/features/manufacturers
