Page 1 of 9
Note the following limitations regarding publishing and retrieving parallel connections:
It is not possible to publish to ETAP electrical items that are connected in parallel. These items will not
be published at all.
When retrieving electrical items that are connected in parallel from ETAP, the software creates a new
bus in SmartPlant Electrical and connects these items to this bus using a non-parallel connection.
When publishing junction boxes from SmartPlant Electrical to ETAP, ETAP retrieves these items as bus
nodes. When publishing these bus nodes back to SmartPlant Electrical, the software identifies them as
junction boxes. Note that the software disregards any existing circuits in the junction boxes and publishes
them as black boxes.
Top of Page
Bus
Bus
Cable
Cable
Capacitor
Capacitor
Charger
Battery charger
Contractor (ContractorType =
Contractor)
Contractor
Starter
Current transformer
Current transformer
Fuse
Fuse
HVCB
Induction motor
Lumped load
LVCB
Motorized valve
Motor
Overload heater
Overload relay
Power grid
OffSite power
Reactor
Recloser
Disconnect switch
Resistor
Heater
Heat trace
Lighting fixture
Socket outlet
Page 2 of 9
Cabinet
Instrument
Synchronous motor
Motor
SyncGenerator
Generator
Three-winding transformer
Three-winding transformer
Two-winding transformer
Two-winding transformer
Unsupported Items
A number of items are not supported by the ETAP - SmartPlant Electrical interface. Publishing an unsupported
item can have the following possible results:
Items could be skipped or ignored in the importing application. After exporting these items back to the
original application, they may be deleted or become disconnected or dissociated from their related items.
Unexpected behavior.
Instrumentation
DC systems
Multi-function relays
Single-phase systems
Transmission lines
MG sets
SVC
HVDC
Panels
Potential transformers
Inverters
Page 3 of 9
Junction boxes
When publishing junction boxes from SmartPlant Electrical to ETAP, ETAP retrieves these items as bus
nodes. When publishing these bus nodes back to SmartPlant Electrical, the software identifies them as
junction boxes. Note that the software disregards any existing circuits in the junction boxes and
publishes them as black boxes.
Local panels
DC items
Potential transformers
Top of Page
Top of Page
Page 4 of 9
Top of Page
Top of Page
This .mdb file is located in the ETAP home directory, under the specific project library > DataEx_SPEL.
SmartPlant Electrical converts this .mdb file to ETAPSPELMapping.xml and overwrites the file in the
location specified in Option Manager under ETAP - SmartPlant Electrical mapping file location.
Top of Page
4. Click Save
Top of Page
Page 5 of 9
synchronize the libraries, both applications function independently of the cable library of the other application.
However, if you synchronize the cable libraries, each application will identify the reference cables that were
specified by the other application.
To effect this synchronization, you need to export your reference cables to ETAP and import ETAP library cables
to SmartPlant Electrical. The following procedure explains how to export your reference cables by selecting the
reference power cables from the entire list of all the existing reference power cables.
1. On the Options Manager menu bar, click Interface > ETAP > Export Reference Cables.
2. On the Reference Power Cable Selection Method page of the Export SmartPlant Electrical Reference
Cables wizard, select the All power cables option.
3. Click Next.
4. On the Reference Cable Selection page, select the reference power cables that you want to export.
5. Click Finish.
The software exports the reference cables to the cable library file that you specified in Options Manager and
appends the new cables to the list of the existing cables in that library.
If you export reference cables that already exist in the cable library, the software ignores the cables that
have identical properties. The software exports only those cables whose properties differ from the cables
that already exist.
There are certain cable properties that must be defined for the reference cables prior to exporting them.
These properties form the ETAP cable headers and they are all mandatory for ETAP. In addition to the
properties required by SmartPlant Electrical to form reference cables, you must define other properties that
form the ETAP cable headers. Any reference cable that lacks even one of these property definitions is
rejected by the software after the export process. The following properties must be defined before starting
export:
Conductor Material
Frequency
Base Temperature
Installation
Insulation Material
kV Class
Number of Conductors
Source Name
Unit System
RHO
If you want to use SmartPlant Electrical cables in ETAP, you have to define all the electrical properties that
are required by ETAP. We recommend that you specify a distinct "source name" for these cables so that
they do not interfere with or override ETAP original library cables.
Top of Page
Page 6 of 9
You can synchronize the SmartPlant Electrical reference cables with the ETAP cable library of a particular ETAP
project if you want to have a commonly shared cable library. This synchronization is optional. If you do not
synchronize the libraries, both applications function independently of the cable library of the other application.
However, if you synchronize the cable libraries, each application will identify the reference cables that were
specified by the other application.
To effect this synchronization, you need to export your reference cables to ETAP and import ETAP library
cables. This procedure explains how to export your reference cables by selecting particular cable specifications.
1. On the Options Manager menu bar, click Interface > ETAP > Export Reference Cables.
2. On the Reference Power Cable Selection Method page of the Export SmartPlant Electrical Reference
Cables wizard, click the Power cables with selected cable specifications option.
3. Under Cable specifications, select the appropriate specifications and click Add.
After clicking Next, the software will display a list of reference power cables that have the cable
specifications you select on this page.
4. Click Next.
5. On the Reference Cable Selection page, select the reference cables that you need.
6. Click Finish.
The software exports the reference cables to the cable library file that you specified in Options Manager and
appends the new cables to the list of the existing cables in that library.
If you export reference cables that already exist in the cable library, the software overwrites the old cables
with the newly exported cables.
There are certain cable properties that must be defined for the reference cables prior to exporting them.
These properties form the ETAP cable headers and they are all mandatory for ETAP. In addition to the
properties required by SmartPlant Electrical to form reference cables, you must define other properties that
form the ETAP cable headers. Any reference cable that lacks even one of these property definitions is
rejected by the software after the export process. The following properties must be defined before starting
export:
Conductor Material
Frequency
Base Temperature
Installation
Insulation Material
kV Class
Number of Conductors
Source Name
Unit System
RHO
If you want to use SmartPlant Electrical cables in ETAP, you have to define all the electrical properties that
are required by ETAP. We recommend that you specify a distinct "source name" for these cables so that
Page 7 of 9
3. Under Cable details, select the required cables, click Update Cable Specifications.
You must specify an appropriate cable specification for each ETAP library cable before you import the
cables to SmartPlant Electrical.
Make sure that before you start the import process, all the source names of the ETAP library cables that
you want to import have been added to the Source name select list in the Data Dictionary.
Click the Select check box next to the cables that you want to import.
Click Select all to select all the cables in the Cable details data window.
Page 8 of 9
since the last time it was published, you must open this SLD and save it prior to publishing. If you do not do
that, the software will publish the updated items with inappropriate coordinates. As a result, ETAP will
position these SLD items in inappropriate places on ETAP drawings.
7. Right-click the new SLD drawing and then on the shortcut menu, click Publish to External Analyzing Tool.
8. On the Publish to External Analyzing Tool dialog box, save the drawing as an .xml file, which will be used
by ETAP as an import source.
Top of Page
The data transfer between SmartPlant Electrical and ETAP is based on the mapping table. Only those
properties that have been mapped with the appropriate mapping direction are propagated from SmartPlant
Electrical to ETAP. For more details, see ETAP - SmartPlant Electrical Mapped Items.
If you want to publish existing SLDs and make sure that you retain all the changes made since the last time
these SLDs were published, you must open each SLD and save it prior to publishing. If you do not do that,
the software will publish the updated items with inappropriate coordinates. As a result, ETAP will position
these SLD items in inappropriate places on ETAP drawings.
1. On the SmartPlant Electrical menu bar, click Tools > ETAP Interface > Publish All.
2. On the Publish to External Analyzing Tool dialog box, save the file as an .xml file, which will be used by
ETAP as an import source.
Top of Page
The retrieve process starts only if the ETAP project name specified in the selected .xml file is the one
specified in Options Manager. If the project name specified in Options Manager is different from the one
in the selected .xml file, the software rejects the retrieval and displays a warning message.
The software checks the mapping table revision number, which is also part of the ETAP project .xml file.
If the mapping has been modified in ETAP and no new mapping has been done, the software displays a
warning. You can continue the retrieval if you want to do so.
Once the retrieve is completed, it results in a To Do List action similar to the one used in SmartPlant
Electrical in integration. You can examine each task before committing the whole action list to your
Page 9 of 9
Create New items will be created in SmartPlant Electrical if the items are totally new in SmartPlant
Electrical. A new item in SmartPlant Electrical is an item that the software cannot identify by its
SmartPlant Electrical ID (SP_ID), ETAP IID, or SmartPlant Electrical item tag. Note that if the retrieved
item is a disconnect equipment item, the software does not check for the item tag property.
Update Existing items will be updated if SmartPlant Electrical can identify them by one of the
properties mentioned above.
Delete Items deleted in ETAP will be deleted in SmartPlant Electrical. Note that this type of task is
only possible when performing a Full Retrieve from ETAP.
Top of Page