With this version the dialog Edit cable has been revised and improved. In the new dialog Edit cable you can now – in addition to assigning the cable connections to the function templates of the cable part – also view and edit the device-specific properties of a cable. To this purpose the information on the cable and cable connections are clearly displayed in two tables arranged on top of each other. Similar to the dialog Edit terminal strip specific information is now graphically visualized in separate columns, for example connection color, shields or pair index.
Displaying the cable information
In the Cable information table the device-specific properties of the cable, such the assigned part or length of the cable, are displayed in one row. Further columns, for example with information on the source and target of the cable, can be shown as required by using the popup menu item Configure representation.
The first part assigned to the cable definition is indicated in the Part number [1] column. If necessary, you can show additional columns for further parts via the popup menu item Configure representation. In the columns for the part numbers you can call the part selection by using the [...] button and select a different part there.
With the popup menu you now have the possibility in this table to open the dialog Device selection and use the connection properties to select a suitable cable part as the device.
After the selection of a new part the associated function templates are displayed immediately in the table Connections.
Assigning the cable connections
Function templates and connections are now displayed in one shared table instead of two separate tables. In the Connections table the cable connections defined in the project for the cable are displayed with their targets as well as the function templates of the cable parts assigned to the cable. The sequence corresponds to the display in the tree view of the cable navigator.
You can use the arrow buttons as in the past to change the assignment of cable connections to the connections of the cable part (function templates). Because moving now takes place within a single table only, the assignment is more clearly structured and intuitive.
The popup menu in this table offers different possibilities to edit the connections. This way you can, for example, generate a new cable connection, delete non-placed cable connections or add possible cable connections via the action Collect cable connections.
Display in the graphical preview
If a cell of the Cable information table is selected, the image of this part is displayed in the graphical preview - provided a part is entered at the cable. The image is updated when another part is selected.
If a cell of the Connections table is marked, the page on which the connection is located is displayed in the graphical preview. The position of the corresponding connection is highlighted by a marker in the preview.
Visualization of the connection color
In the Color (graphic) column the color of a connection is displayed through a graphic which corresponds to the color code entered in the Connection color / number property. If a color code is entered in this property that is not defined in the project settings (dialog Settings: Connection colors) or a different value, for example a color name or a connection number, a black, labeled graphic is displayed.
Example:The following example shows possible entries for the Connection color / number property and the associated visualization in the Color (graphic) column.
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Connection color / number |
Color (graphic) |
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Visualization of the shields
The Shield (graphic) column shows through a graphic whether the connection is shielded and visualizes the extent of the shield. The connection point of the shield is represented by a point. If the shielded connections are arranged in sequence, an oval graphic similar to that in the schematic is displayed. Otherwise the graphic is interrupted.
If several shields are available, they are displayed next to each other.
The following example shows a cable with three shields.
At such a layout the entries in the columns Connection color / number, Color (graphic), Shielded by and the associated visualization could be displayed as follows in the column Shield (graphic) in the dialog Edit cable:
Visualization of the pair index
The Pair index (Graphic) column shows through a graphic (small point) whether a pair index is entered at the connection and visualizes which cable connections are paired and belong together. If the pair index contains a point as a separator, only the component before the dot is considered for the association. This means that connections with the pair indexes "2", "2.1" and "2.2" belong together.
The following example shows possible entries for the Pair index property and the associated visualization in the Pair index (graphic) column.
Compatibility to previous versions
By default the new Edit cable dialog is now called in the EPLAN Platform. For compatibility reasons the old dialog Edit cable is also still available to you and can be called up using the command Edit cable (compatibility). (To this purpose you first have to Customize the ribbon and then assign the desired command to a user-defined command group.)
See also