Embedded Drawing Backup & Recovery

Command

Prerequisites

• FireCAD must be loaded in AutoCAD
• A drawing file must be open

Overview

FireCAD can automatically embed a complete project backup inside every drawing file (.dwg) each time you save. If your project file (.atpx) is ever lost, corrupted, or inaccessible, you can recover your entire project from any drawing that was saved with the backup enabled.

The feature is enabled by default. To verify or change the setting, open the Options dialog (ATOPTIONS) and look for the checkbox labeled Embed Project Backup In Drawings.

What Gets Backed Up

The backup contains the same data stored in your .atpx project file — everything FireCAD needs to rebuild the project:

• Device placements — All devices placed in your drawings, with their positions and properties
• Circuit connections — Which devices are connected to which circuits, including addressing and sequencing
• Circuit configuration — Circuit settings, current limits, voltage drop parameters, and cable assignments
• Project settings — Options, label formats, and report configuration
• Block definitions — Device symbols and preview images used in the project

The backup is compressed to minimize the impact on drawing file size. Block definitions and other static data are written once and reused on subsequent saves, keeping save times fast after the initial backup.

Steps: Restoring from a Drawing

1. Open the drawing (.dwg) file in AutoCAD
2. Type ATRESTORE_FROM_DRAWING in the command line
3. FireCAD decompresses and validates the backup data
4. A confirmation dialog shows the backup timestamp, original project filename, compressed size, and output path
5. Click Yes to restore

The restored project file is saved as a new .atpx file in the same folder as the drawing, with a timestamped filename (e.g., MyProject-restored-20260316-143022.atpx).

The original drawing is not modified during the restore process.

Steps: Viewing Backup Information

1. Open the drawing in AutoCAD
2. Type ATBACKUP_INFO in the command line

This displays the main backup size (compressed), number of block definitions stored, metadata entries (timestamp, project name), and total recovery data size.

Automatic Crash Recovery

If AutoCAD or FireCAD closes unexpectedly (crash, power loss, forced shutdown), the project data in the working database may still be intact. The next time FireCAD starts, it automatically detects orphaned project data and prompts you to save a backup, discard the data, or keep the data for next time.

If you choose to save, the recovered project is saved with a timestamped filename (e.g., MyProject_26-03-16T14-30-45_recovered.atpx).

This crash recovery works independently of the embedded drawing backup — it recovers directly from the working database, even if the drawing backup feature is disabled.

Tips

• Keep the embedded backup enabled (the default) for an always-available safety net
• The backup is embedded in whichever drawing is active when you save — restore from the most recently saved drawing for the latest data
• The backup is fully self-contained — you can open the drawing on any computer with FireCAD installed and run ATRESTORE_FROM_DRAWING
• Typical projects add 1-5 MB to the drawing file size (compressed)
• After restoring a project, run ATVALIDATE to verify data integrity
• Use ATBACKUP_INFO to confirm that a drawing has current backup data before relying on it for recovery

Related Commands

• Restoring a Missing Drawing
• Restoring Missing Devices
• Restoring Missing Segments

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