Specification, Tables, and Filter Definition

In the net to wire process, tables are used to define the correspondences between logical and physical. The table must be created in the Engineering Specification Capture & Reuse app.

This page discusses:

Volume Specifications

An electrical specification can be created for each volume.

This specification must be assigned to the Electrical Specification Resources resource set. You must enter the specification name in the Predefined Part Type attribute of the volume reference. For more information, see Creating Specifications.

Engineering Specification Table

When you select a physical connector for a terminal block or a production break, the logical connector reference with the Predefined Part Number equal to the corresponding LogicalPN is be instantiated and the part number of the physical object is saved in the Predefined part number of the new instance.

In the Engineering Specification Capture & Reuse app, you must create a basic table as follows:

The first column contains the attribute of the logical connectors and the second column lists the part number of the corresponding physical connectors. When you select a physical connector for a terminal block or a production break, the part number of the physical object is saved in the Pre-defined part number attribute of the instantiated logical object. It ensures a traceability and consistency.

In the Properties of the table, the value for the Criteria attribute must be LogicalConnectorTable. For more information about the creation of table, see Creating Technological Tables.

Compatible Connector Table

When you want to find a compatible connector, you need to create a table referencing compatible part numbers.

In the Engineering Specification Capture & Reuse app, the Compatible Connector table must be created as follows:

In the Properties of the table, the value for the Criteria attribute must be ConnectorCompatibility.

The compatibility is based on the compatibility of the physical part number, stored in the Predefined Part Number attribute of the logical instance of the instantiated connector.

Important: A couple of compatible connectors must be defined twice on the table.

To verify the compatibility between two connectors, both physical part numbers of the instances on the table are compared. If one leads to the other, they are compatible.

Filter Definition

A part filter is a quick way of finding the parts that are compatible with a given engineering context. By creating a part filter, you restrict the choice of parts designers must design their components.

For example, when you select a volume, the filter displays the physical products (harness connectors or terminal blocks) according to the volume type (Interface or Derivation).

To define a filter, first you need to create a basic table as follows:

Part Subtype
HC: When selecting part numbers using Engineering Specification inside an interface volume
TB: When selecting part numbers using Engineering Specification inside a derivation volume
Contact: When computing contacts for cavities
Cable: When defining logical cables prefedined part numbers

Once the table is created, you must create a basic filter and define filters. For more information see Creating or Editing Part Filters.

Engineering Specification filters are used linking these Part Subtypes.