By default, the 🏠 Home Ribbon appears automatically when opening any compatible DWG file. However, you may not always need AseptSoft functionality — for example, when working on drawings that don't contain P&IDs. The Activation Settings let you control whether AseptSoft starts up on its own.
Access Activation Settings from the 🔌 AddIn Ribbon Activation panel. The window opens whether or not a project is loaded, so you can set your preference the moment AutoCAD starts — before opening any drawing.
🔄 Auto-Activation Settings
The Auto-Activation Settings window is built around a single master switch, with optional refinements that appear only when a project is open.
🌍 The master switch
|
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Automatically activate AseptSoft when opening drawings |
Controls whether AseptSoft springs to life on its own. When on, the AseptSoft ribbon and engine start automatically as you open drawings. When off, nothing AseptSoft-related runs in the background — no ribbon, no scanning, no automatic update checks — until you activate it by hand for the drawing you actually want to work on. |
💡 The master switch is remembered across sessions and is readable the instant AutoCAD opens, before any drawing or project is loaded. That means you can turn it off on a fresh installation straight away, without first having to open a P&ID — a casual AutoCAD-only session then stays completely unencumbered by AseptSoft.
✅ What "off" really means: with the master switch off, opening AutoCAD and browsing drawings spins up nothing from AseptSoft. The plug-in only wakes up the moment you deliberately activate it (see the Manual Activation section below). This keeps start-up fast and the ribbon bar clean when you are not doing process design.
📁 Per-project refinement
When a project is open, the window reveals an extra section so you can depart from the master switch for that specific project's drawings:
|
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Enable overrides for the current project |
Turns on a project-specific rule. While off, the project simply follows the master switch. |
|
Automatically activate AseptSoft when opening drawings within the current project |
The project-specific choice that applies once overrides are enabled — independent of the master switch. |
📄 Per-drawing refinement
Still within an open project, each individual drawing can carry its own rule, overriding both the master switch and the project rule. Tick Override next to a drawing, then set whether AseptSoft should Automatically activate for it.
📌 The per-project and per-drawing sections are visible only while a project is loaded. With no project open, the window shows just the master switch — which is all you need to decide whether AseptSoft starts up at all.
🏗️ How the rules combine
When deciding whether to activate for a given drawing, AseptSoft reads the most specific rule that applies:
|
Priority |
Level |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
🥇 Highest |
Per-drawing rule |
If set, it decides activation for that one drawing. |
|
🥈 Medium |
Per-project rule |
If set, it decides activation for every drawing in the project. |
|
🥉 Default |
Master switch |
Used whenever no project or drawing rule applies. |
🏭 Pharma Example: Your facility keeps the master switch on so AseptSoft is ready on every P&ID. The mechanical-utilities project (HVAC ductwork) doesn't need process automation — so you enable overrides for that project and switch off auto-activation there. Within that project, one drawing does contain a CIP-skid P&ID, so you tick its per-drawing override to re-enable AseptSoft for just that file.
🖱️ Manual Activation
Whenever AseptSoft has not started automatically — because the master switch is off, or a project/drawing rule disabled it — you can bring it up for the current session by hand:
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Go to the 🔌 AddIn Ribbon.
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Click Activate AseptSoft PID Ribbon for the current drawing.
This wakes AseptSoft fully — ribbon, scanning, and engine — for the current session only. It does not change the Auto-Activation Settings: the next time you open the drawing, it follows the configured rules again.
💡 Tip: Manual activation is perfect for one-off checks — for example, keeping the master switch off for fast everyday AutoCAD work, then activating on demand only when you actually need to verify a valve tag (such as XV-101) on a colleague's P&ID.
🏷️ Classification Environment
The Activation Settings also relate to the Classification Environment configured in the 🏠 Home Ribbon. The classification environment determines how AutoCAD blocks are mapped to AseptSoft PID component types (Engineering Items, Instruments, Sources, Off-Page Connectors).
When AseptSoft activates for a drawing, it uses the selected classification environment to:
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🔍 Scan the drawing for recognized block types
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🏷️ Classify blocks into component categories (Valve, Instrument, Source, Off-Page Connector, Block Valve)
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🔗 Build tags and attributes using token patterns defined in the classification
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📦 Populate the module's PID component collections
🔗 Related Pages
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Page |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Where you access Activation Settings |
|
|
Classification environment and module management |
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Overview of all ribbon tabs |