Standard parts
A standard part is a ready-drawn part from the standard part library: screws, nuts, bearings, profiles, symbols for electrical, hydraulics, sanitary, architecture and much more. The library lies on the server in the folder normteile/ next to the program, organised in folders and subfolders. You choose a part in the panel Standard parts, place it with the mouse and adjust rotation and scale while placing. Your own parts can be saved from any drawing as a standard part file.
Step by step: Insert a standard part, Save a standard part. Commands: Save standard part from selection, Insert local standard part, Edit local standard part. Panel and placement HUD: Inserting and editing standard parts.
Library and folder tree
At start-up the program reads the whole folder tree under normteile/ from the server — including empty folders, so that you can click down to the desired subfolder. The selection field at the top of the panel shows the path (normteile › Maschinenbau › Schrauben); the tiles below show the subfolders (with folder icon) and the standard parts of the open folder with their preview image. The tile .. leads one level up. When you add files on the server, ⟳ Reload the list from the server is enough. Without a folder normteile/ the panel reports No standard parts found (folder normteile/ on the server).
Upload files and folders containing umlauts to the server in UTF-8. From Windows, some FTP clients store the names in Windows-1252; since program version v3.0.37 the program still shows them, but reports n name(s) were not stored in UTF-8 and asks for a new upload. Up to v3.0.36 the list stayed empty altogether in that case.
Live search
The search field searches across all folders by name or folder path; several words must all occur (M6 4762 finds the ISO 4762 screws M6). The hits show their folder; a right-click on a hit tile opens its folder. Esc clears the field. Without hits: No standard part matches the search.
Inserting and placing
A click on a tile loads the part from the server and attaches it to the mouse. The insertion point of the part (for screws the head bearing surface on the axis, for nuts, washers and symbols the centre) sits at the snap point under the mouse. The placement HUD at the bottom shows angle, factor, mirror, Base, Measure angle and Done; the keys R, Shift+R, H, V, +, −, B and the mouse wheel with Ctrl or Alt act directly (placement HUD). Every click places a part and reports Element(s) pasted (n×) — keep clicking or ESC to finish; Esc, right-click or Done end (Placement finished — n standard part(s) inserted).
Without the check box Insert as block, the elements of the standard part enter the drawing as a group (Element(s) pasted.) — together with their own dimensions, hatches, welds and constraints, if the part brings any. Afterwards they can be changed individually.
Insert as block
With the check box, every inserted standard part immediately becomes a block with the name of the part. The BOM data are taken from the part file: designation, article number, standard, material, unit, weight, supplier, price and remark from the field bom; if it is missing, title, article number, notes and tags of the field meta are used. This way the standard part counts in the parts list and can carry balloons. If the drawing already contains a block with the same name and the same geometry, it is reused — the new instance counts towards the existing item; with different geometry, Name (2) is created. This is the recommended way for purchased parts.
On current layer
Standard parts bring their own layers: NT-Kontur (solid), NT-Mittellinie (dash-dot), NT-Verdeckt (dashed), NT-Gewinde and NT-Dünn (thin); landscape and utility line symbols bring further layers per medium. On the first insertion these layers are created in the drawing. With the check box On current layer the part lands completely on the active layer instead — colour, width and line type from the layer, the standard part layers are not created. Both check boxes are kept as settings.
Saving your own standard parts
Save standard part from selection writes the selected elements — with dimensions, hatches, constraints, welds, groups and blocks — as file Name.json into the download folder. The insertion point is the origin of the drawing; therefore draw the part so that its insertion point lies at (0, 0). On the server, place the file in normteile/<category>/ and reload the list. For a part without server access there is Insert local standard part directly from the file.
Editing local standard parts
Edit local standard part opens a standard part file as a working drawing: the current drawing is replaced after confirmation (Ctrl+Z brings it back), the part lies in original coordinates, and a point marks the insertion point. Change, select everything and Save as standard part again — this creates a new version of the file.
File format
A standard part file is a JSON file with the identifier liberodraft-part: name, insertion point, preview image, elements, dimensions, hatches, constraints, welds, groups, layers, block definitions and the fields bom and meta for the parts list. Files without this identifier are rejected (Invalid standard part file). Block files .ldblk are a different format (Block files).
Disclaimer
Under the list stands the note No warranty: check the dimensions and standard conformity of inserted standard parts yourself before use; the detailed version is found in the info window ℹ. The library is a drawing aid, not a replacement for the standard or the manufacturer's data sheet.