Prefabricated Cables

Prefabricated cables have a specific length and are already equipped with suitable plugs. This means that these cables are immediately ready for use without further modifications being necessary. To correctly configure prefabricated cables in the schematic, you must specify the following settings:

Activate the property Use connected devices as source and target at the cables (ID 20621). During the determination and output of the source and target of a cable the connected pins are then skipped and instead the devices connected to the cable are displayed as the source and target. This property only affects the display in the editing dialogs for cables, terminals, and plugs and the display in the reports. The cables and connections themselves are not changed.
By means of the project setting Always generate direct connections at direct connection points of pins you specify that connections at direct connection points of pins always become direct connections.
A connection between a device connection point and the direct connection point of the pin on the cable thus becomes a direct connection. Direct connections are colored, not numbered, and not routed in the schematic in accordance with the layer setting for the layer EPLAN510, internal connections / direct connections.

The joint management of male and female pins as a function (combination of male and female pins) does not make sense when using prefabricated cables and is therefore not supported.

Prefabricated cables in the parts management

Prefabricated cables are created as modules in the parts management. An assignment between the conductors of the cable and the plugs has to be carried out so that the prefabricated cables can be exchanged successfully with EPLAN Cable proD. Proceed as follows:

Create module: Create a module and select the value "Electrical engineering > Cables > Prefabricated" for the property Product grouping of this module.
Add function templates for the cable definition and for the cable connections (for example one function template with "Cable definition" and three function templates with "Conductor / wire") to this module on the Function templates tab. Enter the characteristic data for the cable in these function templates (for example Connection color / number, Connection: cross-section / diameter, etc.).
Add plug as part: Add one or two plugs as a part to the prefabricated cable in the Module tab. You require one plug part for a single-layer cable, two plug parts for a double-layer cable. To do this, click the (New) button and then click […] in the Part number column to select a part.
For the parts of the module you have to enter a DT or a DT ID as usual for identification.
Summarize function templates: Summarize the function templates of the prefabricated cable created as a module. To do this, mark the module in the tree view of the parts management and select the popup menu item Summarize function templates. This way the function templates of the plugs are summarized as subparts of the module, transferred into the tab Function templates of the module and sorted under the function templates of the cable.
If a function template for the cable definition does not yet exist, it is automatically added as a grouping element for the module at the first position of the function templates.
Assign plugs to cable connections: Then assign the pins to the cable connections. To this purpose the two columns Conductor start and Conductor end are available in the Function templates tab only for parts of the cable product subgroup "Prefabricated". Here you can carry out the assignment to the plugs for the "Conductor / wire" function templates of the cable. For a single-layer cable, an assignment is only required in the column Conductor start; for a double-layer cable, the assignment must be effected in both columns.

Assignment of pins to conductors

You have the following options for specifying the assignment of the pins to the conductors:

Position of the function template of the pins (for example "6")
Subordinate DT and pin designation (for example "X1:2")
DT ID and pin designation (for example "ID:X1:2")

You can use the check run 501039 from the message class 501 "Part master data" to check whether the assignment is correct. This check run determines prefabricated cables for which an invalid pin assignment for the cable connections is stored in the parts management.

Plugs in prefabricated cables can be screwed or welded. For welded plugs it makes sense to activate the part property Suppress in bill of materials. A part identified in this way is neither displayed in the bill of materials navigator nor output in the corresponding part assemblies and it is also not output via the interfaces for manufacturing data. In such a case only the module is output in the bill of materials and in the reports.

Tips:

To easily create a prefabricated cable as a module, you can copy an existing cable part and save the cable part as a module via the property Record type. Then check whether the product grouping is set to the "Prefabricated" product subgroup. Subsequently add the plug parts to the prefabricated cable.
Enter a subordinate DT of the cable at the plug parts. When the prefabricated cable is used in the project, the associated pins are then displayed in the device navigator below the cable DT.
If you have configured a prefabricated cable in the schematic (cable with cable definition as main function, one or two plug definitions with plugs as subordinate devices), you can also generate a new module for prefabricated cables from a new part number at the cable by using the command Generate part in the parts management.