Electrical Connection Navigator

The Electrical Connection Navigator provides the interface for creating, editing, importing, and exporting connection and component data and for tracking routing status information from session to session.

The connection list information is necessary to assign wires and cables to paths in the assembly. The navigator maintains one entry for each wire (or conductor) in the work part. Each component (device or connector) referenced by a connection must have an entry in the component list and a Unique ID assigned to it to enable the routing of the connection. Various information is required to perform specific tasks in the Routing Electrical program. Routing Electrical uses the connection and component lists to identify a route for each connection and stores its connection and routing status information in the work part.

Where do I find it?

The Electrical Connection Navigator is available on the Resource Bar.

Smart fields

Not all smart fields are required to utilize the functionality of the connection list. The available smart fields for the connection list are:

Name	Description
unique_id	The wire ID
from_comp	The device ID from which the wire connects
from_conn	The connector ID from which the wire connects
from_port	The port ID (or pin ID) from which the wire connects
to_comp	The device ID to which the wire connects
to_conn	The connector ID to which the wire connects
to_port	The port ID (or pin ID) to which the wire connects
length	The length of the wire as modeled
multiplier	A factor used to determine the cut length from the length
offset	A factor used to determine the cut length from the length
cut_length	A value derived from the length by applying the multiplier and the offset
fabrication	The name of the fabrication (also known as harness name)
stock	The name of the wire stock
routed	Indicates that the wire is routed (system assigned)
system_level	The name of the system in which the connection lives
intermed_comp	The base name for intermediate equipment (e.g., the first intermediate equipment's field name is intermed_comp_1)

Any boxes defined must match types with boxes created in the route list. For example, if you specified a dumb field description in the first Connection List File Format (and Connection Navigator) section as a string, any other file format used for import with a description box would have to define it as a string also.

Required fields by function

Function	Required fields
Display Logical Connectivity	from_comp, from_conn, from_port, to_comp, to_conn, to_port (if connectors are not used, from_conn/to_conn are not required); unique_id is also required to label the connections.
Auto Route (calculate length)	from_comp, from_conn, from_port, to_comp, to_conn, to_port, plus other smart fields required to determine the outer diameter. In the component list, boxes used to assign components are also required. Record lengths will not be calculated accurately if the outer diameter cannot be determined.
Auto Route (assign stock)	Once length is determined, additional boxes are required to determine which stock to assign. These depend on how the part family tables are set up for Routing Electrical — potentially gauge, type, w_spec, and color. Internally, the system uses the stock smart field in the connection list.
System View	One or more connections must have the system_level smart field defined in order for the View→System menu to become available on the Connection List Navigator's white-space list menu.

How do I

• Auto-route connections to terminal ports
• Auto-route connections between harness components
• Auto-route connections with mixed level terminal definitions

Related topics

• Display Formats
• The Create Connection Wizard
• Electrical Component Navigator
• Working with connections
• Electrical Connection Navigator interface
• Electrical Connection Navigator list-oriented shortcut menu and toolbar commands
• Exporting route list data for use by ECAD products
• Connection List Properties
• Electrical Connection Navigator shortcut menu and toolbar commands
• Route list data management in Teamcenter Integration