Automatically Sync External Data to AutoCAD Plant 3D

Create or select a data source

Open the RKCadTools tab → Data Bridge panel → Data Sources, or type P3DBRIDGE_DATASOURCES.

1. Click + and give the source a clear name, e.g. Equipment list 2025.
2. Select Scope: PnID classes for 2D schematic data, or Plant 3D classes for 3D piping/equipment data.
3. Select Type: SQLite, Excel (.xlsx/.xls), SQL Server, or OData. (The Area (geometric) type belongs to the separate Area guide and isn’t used here.)
4. Fill in Connection. The field accepts the variable %General:Project_Path% for the project folder, and the … button can browse to a file.
5. For Excel: set Header row to the row number where the column headers are. Rows above it are ignored.
6. Click Test connection, then select Table/View — the dropdown only fills in after a valid connection.
7. Under Classes, check which Plant 3D/PnID classes the source applies to. Checking a parent node includes its subclasses.
8. Use Preview first 20 rows to see the source’s actual column names and content before you map anything.

Create the configuration

Open Setup in the Data Bridge panel, or type P3DBRIDGE_CONFIG.

1. Click + Add under Configurations.
2. Name the job, e.g. Equipment data from Excel.
3. Select the data source you created in step 1 under Data source.
4. Set Type to Plant 3D Properties (writes to PnP class data) or AutoCAD Properties (writes layer/color/linetype on the drawing entity itself).
5. Leave Run mode on Automatic sync. Interactive lookup is a separate workflow (the P3DBRIDGE_LOOKUP command) that only runs when a user manually picks an external row — it never takes part in automatic sync and isn’t covered by this guide.
6. Check Enabled. A configuration can be saved without running by clearing this checkbox — useful if it’s meant to be reused later.
7. Set Priority. Lower numbers run first; ties are broken alphabetically by name.

Set conditions and match logic

Under Lookup conditions, add one row per condition that decides which external row matches each Plant 3D object.

1. Click + Add for each condition.
2. Choose a Condition: Equals matches against an external column. IsEmpty/IsNotEmpty and Regex/RegexNotMatch only test the object’s own property value and don’t look up the external source at all.
3. With more than one condition, choose the logic: ALL requires every condition to match; ANY lets the first matching row win.

Map external data to Plant 3D properties

Add one row per property under Property mappings. The left side is the field on the Plant 3D object; the middle is the column in the external source.

1. Click + Add for each mapping.
2. Select an editable target field in Plant 3D Property.
3. Select the source’s column in External property, or type a fixed value in Static value — if Static value is filled in, External property is ignored for that row.
4. Use the Map empty values checkbox to control whether empty external values should be written (clears the field) or skipped (keeps the existing value). Turned off, an existing Plant 3D/AutoCAD value is kept when the source’s field is empty.
5. Under If no match in external data, choose: Do nothing keeps existing values on objects with no match; Clear values clears the mapped properties.

Save and run a preview

1. Click OK to save the configuration.
2. Select Preview in the Data Bridge panel, or type P3DBRIDGE_PREVIEW.
3. Review the before/after list in the preview window (see the next section for how to use it).
4. Nothing is written until you accept and click Apply in that window.

Choose how syncing happens

At the top of the Setup window, you can set three independent checkboxes:

1. Sync automatically when drawing is opened — runs all enabled configurations when a drawing is opened.
2. Sync automatically when drawing is saved — runs them again every time the drawing is saved.
3. Skip sync preview dialog (apply automatically) — off by default, so the review window always shows first. Turned on, Sync and Sync Open write all changes immediately with no review.

That last checkbox can also be toggled without opening Setup: the ribbon button Show Sync Preview (the P3DBRIDGE_TOGGLEPREVIEW command) flips the same setting and prints a confirmation on the command line.

Review the grid

Each row is one object (Tag, Class, Key, and Drawing). The remaining columns are the properties that actually change, shown as old value → new value. Only objects with at least one change are shown. Objects where Clear values will clear a field are marked as “no match”.

Search and filter

The search box understands the same syntax as Data Manager: use a space to require multiple words, | when either value is acceptable, quotes for an exact phrase, and Field:value to search a single column. Right-click in the search box to insert a column name. Example: DN100|DN150 water finds rows with water and either DN100 or DN150. A list pasted from Excel is automatically turned into value|value.

Accept, or apply everything

Select one or more cells (or whole rows) and click Accept to move just those to “accepted” — the window stays open, and nothing is written yet. Click Apply all instead to accept and write everything in one go. Once at least one change has been accepted with Accept, the Apply (N) button appears — it writes only the accepted changes and closes the window.

Cancel or close

There’s no separate “Cancel” button. Close the window (the X at the top) to back out. If you’ve already accepted something with Accept, the dialog asks first: “Discard all accepted changes and close?” — so you don’t close it by mistake.

Right-click: zoom and copy

Right-click a row for Zoom to object, Copy row, or Search this column.