Manually Designating Connector and Entry Ports Page 1 of 3

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Concept: Manually Designating Connector and Entry

Ports
Designating Components as Connectors
An assembly component must be designated as a connector before you can use it as a connector in a cabling
assembly.

Figure 1 – Specifying a Component to Designate

Designation makes the component eligible to carry pin and entry port information for cabling.

Figure 2 – Defining the Entry Port

Cabling also supports the concept of sub-connectors.

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Figure 3 – Port Type Options

An example of sub-connectors is the individual contacts on a relay. In a 3-D assembly, the relay assembly would
contain the parts for the individual contacts.

You can change the designation of a connector by designating it again or by modifying its parameters.

Entry Ports
You specify coordinate systems for the entry ports on the connector. The entry ports define the location where
wires enter a connector. The coordinate systems for the entry ports must be created in the part model before the
part is designated as a connector.

When routing wires, you can use the RMB > Allow undesignated CSYS option. This enables you to select
previously undesignated coordinate systems and designate them on-the-fly.

Designate Steps
Use the following steps to designate components:

1. Select the component that is to be the connector.

2. Define the connector parameters (optional).

3. Define the sub-connector (optional).

4. Select the entry ports:

◦ Select the coordinate system on the connector model to which the wires route.

◦ You can select multiple coordinate systems by pressing CTRL.

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6. Specify the port type:

◦ Wire – Only allows a single wire

connection into this port type.

◦ Round – Allows multiple wires into this

port type. As subsequent wires are
created, they are arranged into
concentric rings around the initial wire.

◦ Flat – Allows multiple wires into this port

type. As subsequent wires are created,
they are arranged into a flat row from the
initial wire.

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