Update for the Archicad 20 templates: The electrical fixture layers have new names that I hope are clearer to use. The strategy is the same.
E Symbol2, formerly E Fixt2
E Wall Fixture3, formerly E Fixt3
E Ceiling Symbol2, formerly E Fixt Clg2
E Ceiling Fixture3, formerly E Fixt Clg3
E Ext Fixture3, formerly E Fixt Ext3
E Ext Clg Fixture3, formerly E Fixt Clg3
Update again: I took the 2s and 3s off. Generally, symbols are mere symbols, and fixtures have a 3D component.
E Symbol
Wall & Floor fixtures, switches, receptacles; symbol only. Shows in Electrical Plan.
E Wall Fixture
Wall & Floor fixtures, switches, receptacles; modeled, display with symbols. Shows in Electrical Plan, A5 Interior Elevations, View Interior.
E Ceiling Symbol
Ceiling fixtures, symbol only. Shows in Electrical Plan, Reflected Ceiling Plan.
E Ceiling Fixture
Ceiling fixtures, modeled, display with symbols. Shows in Electrical Plan, Reflected Ceiling Plan, A5 Interior Elevations, View Interior.
E Ext Fixture
Exterior wall fixtures, modeled, display with symbols. Shows in 1/4" Elevations, Electrical plan.
E Ext Clg Fixture
Exterior ceiling fixtures, modeled, display with symbols. Shows in 1/4" Elevations, Electrical plan, Reflected Ceiling Plan.
Why do we need six electrical fixture layers? Read on if you're interested. I tried to modernize the names throughout but it got too confusing. The important principle is that new layers are often caused by forking an existing layer to meet new output needs.
Once upon a time there was one Electrical Fixture Layer, E Fixture. All the 'fixtures' were 2D symbols, and they all went on this layer.
Issue: Separate the Electrical and Reflected Ceiling Plans. In the RCP, you want to see the ceiling fixtures, but no other fixtures. Put the ceiling fixtures on the layer E Fixt Clg. The others, sconces, etc., stay on the renamed layer E Fixt.
Issue: Some fixtures are modeled, not just symbols. Those fixtures need to show in Interior Elevations and Interior 3D views. The ceiling and non-ceiling fixtures still need to be separated, so we add E Fixt3 for non-ceiling and E Fixt Clg3 for ceiling. We change the old layers to E Fixt2 and E Fixt Clg2 for consistency.
Issue: The modeled fixtures should not show in 1/4" Sections. But we may want to show exterior fixtures in 1/4" Elevations. Since elevations and sections share a layer combination, we need to give the exterior, modeled fixtures two new layers, E Fixt Ext3 (non-ceiling) and E Fixt Ext Clg3 (ceiling).
Summary:
All the E Fixt elements show in the electrical plan.
All the Clg elements also show in the reflected ceiling plan.
The interior modeled fixtures show in the interior elevations and interior 3D views, but not the sections.
The exterior modeled fixtures show in the 1/4" elevations.