Routing Conductors Manually

You can define or edit the route of a conductor manually. The route of a conductor is the list of segments through which the conductor is passing. A route is not necessarily continuous and it can contain a loop.

Important:
  • The Diameter and bend radius to its content option is not considered when using the Manual Routing command. To update the diameter of segments after a manual routing, use the Segments Diameter command. For more information, see Updating the Segments Diameter.
  • This command is action/object or object/action and it does not apply to conductor groups.
  • You can manually route conductors even if their From and To extremities are not defined. For more information, see Inserting Conductors.

The Manual Routing command can be customized with the business rules to validate segment selection and check the route's validity at the end.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin:
  • Create an electrical geometry and appropriate segments using the Electrical 3D Design app.
  • Create an electrical physical system, and insert conductors manually or import them from an XML file.
Tip: If needed, use a About the Compatibility Table to apply separation conditions when routing.
See Also
Routing Conductors Automatically

Route Conductors Manually

You can manually define a route for a conductor by selecting segments one after the other.

  1. Select a conductor in the tree to check if a route has already been defined.
    You can select any conductors, even conductors without any ends.

    In the image below, note that the ends of the conductor and a virtual line in-between are highlighted; it means that the conductor has not yet been routed.

  2. From the Conductors section of the action bar, click Manual Routing .
  3. Select one or several segments and you obtain this route:


    In our example, the route is valid because it is continuous from one end to another, but you could have an invalid route.

    If you select a branch in the tree, all the branch's segments are added to the route.

    If you have customized the command with the EWRRouting_ValidateSegmentSelectionForConductorRoute business rule, a warning may appear after each segment's selection.

    Important:
    • The elements that are not selectable (supports, ends and segments outside the electrical geometry,...) are low-lighted and this symbol is displayed as you move the pointer over them.
    • It is not possible to select multiple conductors or conductor groups and apply the route on all of them.

    • You can select the segments routed between cavities of the two devices to route the conductors.

      • If an electrical physical system is linked to an electrical geometry, only the segments in the linked electrical geometry can be selected.
      • If the electrical physical system is not linked to any electrical geometry, any segment in the data can be selected.
    Warning: It is not possible to define a partial route manually and then call the automatic routing to complete it. Both commands cannot be combined and Automatic Routing overwrites manual routes.

    It is not possible to differentiate manual routing from automatic routing in the 3D area.

    The Manual Routing command does not allow to edit the conductor's ends. If you want to modify them, double-click the conductor and the Conductor Creation dialog box appears.

  4. Click anywhere in the 3D area to validate or press Enter.

    During the execution of the command, if you want to cancel the segment selection or leave the command, press Escape.

    If you have customized the command with the EWRRouting_ValidateSegmentSelectionForConductorRoute business rule, a warning may appear after clicking the background.

Modify an Existing Route Manually

You can modify the existing route of a conductor manually by adding or removing segments.

  1. Select a conductor that has been routed.
    The route is highlighted in the work area:

    Warning: If the conductor is sharing the same segments and the same route with other conductors, a dialog box is displayed asking you to apply the route to this conductor only or to all the conductors sharing this route: n conductor(s) share the same route: (name of the conductor(s)). Do you want to modify the route of all the conductors? Yes. No. If you click Yes, you decide to modify the route of only one conductor.
  2. Click Manual Routing .
  3. To modify the route, do one or both the following:
    • To remove segments from the route, click one or more already selected segments.
    • To add segments to the route, select one or more segments.


    Even if the route is not continuous, it is possible and still valid.
  4. Click anywhere in the 3D area to validate or press Enter.
  5. To remove an existing conductor route, click Manual Routing and all the route segments to deselect them.

    If you select a branch that was already included in the route, all its segments are removed from the route.

  6. Click anywhere in the 3D area to validate or press Enter.

The next section explains routing conditions when separation codes have been assigned on conductors and segments.

Route Conductors Manually when Separation Codes exist

You can create a route or modify the existing route of a conductor manually. The manual routing takes into account separation codes defined on segments and conductors. For more information about separation code, refer to the About the Compatibility Table.

  1. Select a conductor in the tree.
    In the image below, note that the ends of the conductor and a virtual line in-between are highlighted; it means that the conductor has no route.

  2. Click Manual Routing .

    Note that two segments are displayed in transparent red because they are incompatible with the separation code of the selected conductor.

    1. If you select an incompatible segment, a warning is displayed: The selected segment xxx is not compatible with the conductor. Do you really want to add this segment to the conductor route? Yes. No.
    2. Click Yes.
      The route is applied, even if it is not valid.

    Ensure that you check the validity of the route or use the Validate Conductor Routing (EWRRouting_ValidateWireRoute) business rule.

Route Conductors Manually from one Node to another (Advanced Manual Routing)

The Automatic Routing command computes the shortest path between the device ends whereas the Manual Routing offers you the possibility to route conductors via another route even if it is not the shortest one. The Manual Routing command enables node to node routing. You do not need to select each segment to complete the route, but you can select the start and end nodes. The end device of the conductor itself can be selected as one of the node for routing. Therefore, via Manual Routing the two ends of the conductor can be directly selected and the route is computed exactly as it is for Automatic Routing. If you move the pointer over the device set as the conductor end, a flag is available to select the device as a node.

Nodes at both device ends can be selected to compute the shortest path between the two devices.

  1. Open a product containing an existing route between two devices.

    You can check the conductors' route by clicking Manual Routing and selecting a conductor in the tree.

    Notes:
    • If a conductor is defined between two devices, and Manual Routing is launched on this conductor, moving the pointer over the end devices shows all the nodes at the device. All segment extremities terminating on cavity or segment connection point on the devices are shown with flags, also a flag specific to the device is displayed to denote that any node on this device can be used to complete the route.

    • However, if the conductor is defined to a specific cavity on the device, and Manual Routing is launched on this conductor, moving the pointer over the device will show only the device specific flag because when completing the route of this conductor, the path via the cavity (conductor end) is chosen irrespective of whether it is shortest or not.

    If two conductors share the same route, a message is displayed. In our example, COND1 and SpareConductor01 share the same route:

  2. To remove segments from the route, click one or more already selected segments.


  3. Select two segment ends to complete the route:




    A message appears stating that the route is complete.

  4. Click OK to confirm.


  5. Click anywhere in the 3D area to validate or press Enter.
    This advanced functionality is useful when the network is huge, you can merely select the start and end nodes (not every segment).
    Notes: To check the route, click Manual Routing and select COND1, a message is displayed explaining that the route of the selected conductor is complete and the conductor's route is highlighted in the 3D area.

    If the conductor being routed is a spare conductor, therefore without ends defined, then the selected device is chosen as the end of the routed conductor. Distant links can be created for these devices, which is explained below.