You can also use the Routing Electrical
Library Wizard to help you create, edit, and import electrical
cable and component data.A cable/wire library is an .xml file that defines the attributes of the cables and wires, such as specification number, size, color, description, and so on. You need a cable/wire library if you want to assign electrical attributes to the route.
A wire has a single conductor. A cable has two or more conductors, called cores, bundled together.
To create a cable/wire library, do one of the following:
Create the data in an Excel spreadsheet, and import it into the SolidWorks software.
Use the sample cable/wire library provided with the SolidWorks software, and edit it to define the wires you need.
You can also use the Routing Electrical
Library Wizard to help you create, edit, and import electrical
cable and component data.
The cable/wire library contains the following fields.
|
Field |
Description |
|
Part number |
A unique value for each wire or cable. Leave blank for cable cores. If you are cross-referencing data from a from-to list, the value in this field must match the value in the Wire spec field in the from-to list. |
|
Cable name |
A unique value for each cable, and the same value for each core of the cable. Leave blank for wires. |
|
Wire name |
A unique name for each wire or core. When naming the cores in a cable, each name must be unique within the cable, but the same names can be used in other cables. |
|
Wire/Cable Diameter |
The external diameter of the cable, wire, or core, including insulation. |
|
Size |
The size of the wire or core, for example 16AWG, 2.5mm, and so on. This field is for information only; the value is not used by the software. |
|
Color |
The color of the wire or core. For example, red, RB, Red/Blue, and so on. This field is for information only; the value is not used by the software. |
|
Display color |
The SolidWorks color for display of the wire or cable, from the list of available colors. This color is used only when a route segment contains only a single wire or core. |
|
Description |
A text description of the wire or cable. This field is for information only; the value is not used by the software. |
|
Min Bend Radius |
The minimum allowable bend radius of the cable, core, or wire. Use with Routing Options Enable minimum bend radius check and Enable minimum bend radius check for wires. |
To create an Excel file for import into a cable/wire library:
Create an Excel file containing the fields listed in the table above. Keep the following in mind:
A cable needs one row to define the cable, plus a row to define each core.
A wire needs only a single row.
The unit of measure for the wire/cable diameter is meters. After import, the value in the library displays in different units (such as millimeters or inches) depending on the units in the SolidWorks document where you import the data.
The data must start in column A, but does not need to start in the first row.
Part number must be the first field, and must be in column A. The order of the remaining fields is unimportant.
You can use different header names for the fields in the Excel file and cross-reference the names to the library header fields when you import the Excel file.
To import an Excel file into a cable/wire library:
Click Routing, Electrical, Import Cable Library.
Set options in the PropertyManager.
Click 
.
The Excel file is imported into a cable/wire library (XML file).
To edit an existing cable/wire library:
Click Routing,
Electrical, Open
Cable/Wire Library.
The Cable/Wire Library dialog
box appears and displays the most recently accessed library.
In the dialog box:
Click Browse and select the path to the library file you want to display.
Select Cable Library or Wire Library to change between the cable list and the wire list.
Double-click in any field and type to change the value in that field.
Click Save to save the edited values in the existing library, or Save As to save the edited values in a new file.
Click OK.