Restoring a Missing Drawing

Anthony Conte

February 19, 2026 15:16

Command

Command	Description
`ATRESTORE_MISSING_DRAWING`	Restore a drawing whose file has been deleted or lost

Prerequisites

A FireCAD project must be open
A drawing must be selected in the Project Tree palette
The drawing's .dwg file must not exist (it is missing — that's why you're restoring)

Overview

The ATRESTORE_MISSING_DRAWING command recreates a drawing file from the project database. When a .dwg file is lost or accidentally deleted but the project database still contains the drawing's device, circuit, and segment data, this command rebuilds the drawing from that data.

The restored drawing uses a template file as the base (for layers, styles, and settings), then places all devices and segments from the database into the new file.

Steps

Select the missing drawing in the Project Tree palette
Type ATRESTORE_MISSING_DRAWING in the AutoCAD command line
FireCAD confirms that the drawing file is missing
An Open File dialog appears — select a template (.dwt) or drawing (.dwg) file to use as the base
- The dialog initially opens to the AutoCAD Templates folder
Click Open
FireCAD:
- Copies the template file to the original drawing path
- Recreates all devices and segments from the database
- Refreshes all labels with a full cache reload
- Reroutes all wirepaths
- Updates segment layer colors
- Zooms to the drawing extents

What Gets Restored

Data	Restored?
Devices (from EntitiesTable)	Yes — block references recreated from database
Segments (from SegmentTable)	Yes — wirepath geometry recreated
Circuits	Yes — connections preserved in database
Circuit devices	Yes — assignments preserved in database
Drawing layouts	No — uses the template's layouts
Title blocks	No — uses the template's title block
Custom layers/styles	No — uses the template's layers and styles
Non-FireCAD geometry	No — only FireCAD-managed objects are restored

Important Notes

This command only restores FireCAD-managed objects (devices and segments). Any custom geometry, notes, dimensions, or non-FireCAD objects from the original drawing are not recoverable.
The template you select provides the drawing's foundation (layers, text styles, dimension styles, layouts). Choose a template that matches your project standards.
After restoration, review the drawing to verify all devices are placed correctly and wirepaths are routed as expected.

Tips

Keep regular backups of your .dwg files to avoid needing this command
Use a project template file that has all your standard layers and styles pre-configured
After restoration, run ATVALIDATE to check for any data inconsistencies

Related Commands

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