A cable is an assembly of one or more conductors or fiber optic strands, often within a protective sheath. In the cable-specific properties you can determine the cable's characteristics. The following properties are available:

Property	Description
Outside diameter	Mandatory property. Outside diameter of a cable including insulation. By clicking the AutoCompute link, the outside diameter can be calculated in accordance with the cable content defined in the Wire list section.
Min. bending radius	Minimally permitted radius of bending according to the data sheet of the cable used. Note: It is determined in multiples of the Outside diameter value.
Max. voltage	Maximally permitted voltage for safe operation.
Fixed length	Enter a length value here if the cable is supplied in a fixed length.

Wire list

This section serves to define the cable content. The following properties are available:

• Wire: A wire provides electrical connectivity between pins. Typically it has a core of drawn or rolled metal whose length exceeds its diameter.

  Note:

  A wire cannot be created separately in the wire list. It must always be part of some insulator or twisted bundle.

• Insulator: A device that is used to electrically isolate a conductor or electrical device from ground or a different electrical potential.

  Note:

  An insulator should be used as a superior node for wires and shields.

• Shield: A metallic layer placed around an insulated conductor or group of conductors to prevent electrostatic or electromagnetic interference between the enclosed wires and external fields. A shield can be braided or protect the wires by means of foil wrap, foil-backed tape, a metallic tube, or conductive material. If the shield is conductive, it can be connected or disconnected in the popup menu by right-clicking it in the scene or tree view or by using dedicated buttons / in the Properties panel, when a shield end is selected.

  Note:

  A shield can only be created as a subnode of an insulator. A Shield node may contain further wires, insulators, shields, twisted bundles, and strains.

• Twisted: A twisted bundle is a cable type that consists of two (or more) independently insulated wires twisted around one another. Usage of wires twisted together helps to reduce cross-talk and electromagnetic induction.

  Note:

  The Twisted option itself does not contain any wires. These have to be added manually into the Twisted node.

• Strain relief: A stranded wire which does not provide electrical connectivity. It serves to increase the cable's mechanical resistance (especially the pulling force).

  Note:

  A strain can only be used as part of an insulator or shield.

The available properties of the individual cable components are listed in the following table:

Available properties	Wire	Insulator	Shield	Twisted	Strain relief
Name	●	●	●	●	●
Color	●	●	●	-	-
Min. bending radius factor	●	-	-	-	-
Product color	●	●	●	-	-
Cross-section	●	-	●*	-	-
Imprint	●	●	●	-	-
Material	●	●	●	-	-
Max. current	●	-	-	-	-
Max. voltage	●	-	-	-	-
Resistance	●	-	-	-	-
Outside diameter	●	-	-	-	-
Strands	●	-	-	-	-
Insulation	●**	-	-	-	-
Thickness	-	●	-	-	-
Conductive	-	-	●	-	-
Twist factor	-	-	-	●	-
Multi-color	●	-	-	-	-
Stripe color	●	-	-	-	-

* Available only for activated Conductive option.

** If this check box is not activated, the wire outside diameter is calculated automatically.

Name - item name.

Color - color of the cable (wire, insulator, etc.) when it is placed in the EPLAN Harness proD workspace / workdesk.

Product color - system of different colors or stripes used to identify components of cables such as the individual conductors or groups of conductors. In an EPLAN Platform library the name of the cable wire or cable shield is also mapped to this property.

Cross-section - "metal" cross-section of the wire, usually in [mm²] or [AWG].

Imprint - printed number or a combination of characters and numbers which are printed on a wire for identification.

Material - material from which a wire, insulator, or shield is made.

Max. current - maximally permitted current for safe operation.

Max. voltage - maximally permitted voltage for safe operation.

Resistance - maximally permitted electrical resistance a wire can have.

Insulation - if activated, the outside diameter can be entered manually; if not activated, the outside diameter is calculated automatically.

Outside diameter - outside diameter of the wire including its insulation.

Strands - number of strands of which a wire is composed.

Thickness - wall thickness of an insulator.

Conductive - shield option. If activated, a shield can be connected to a pin or mapped to a grouped pin as a wire.

Twist factor - number of twists per length unit.

Multi-color - makes the Stripe color option available.

Mapping

Cable mapping is a technique which allows you to define a unit - a cable with connectable objects (including wiring definitions) - directly in the EPLAN Harness proD library.

In the Connectable objects section you can (using the part navigator) assign connectable objects (connectors, connectable objects, terminals, assemblies) to both cable ends (but you can also assign just one connectable object to one end). Then you can determine a wiring in the Wire / pin mapping table. To do so select a pin from the drop-down list for each wire and connectable object. If you want to leave some wires un-connected, activate the corresponding check box.

When placing such a cable in EPLAN Harness proD Studio, the mapped connectable objects are inserted together with the cable.