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Image at upper left: courtesy of WABCO Transit Division of Wabtec Corporation Image at lower right: courtesy of Anderson Water Systems Ltd.
Contents
Introduction..1 1.0 Routing Paths set-up1 1.1 General setup & options 1.2 File Locations 1.2.1 Local Files 1.2.2 Network to Files 1.2.3 Mapped Drives 1.3 Setting and Checking the Paths 1.3.1 Setting the Design Library path 1.3.2 Setting the Routing Library path 1.3.3 Setting the Piping Parts Library Paths 1.3.4 Checking the Electrical Routing Library Paths 1.3.5 From-To File (Electrical) 1.3.6 Cable and Components Libraries (Electrical) 1.3.5 Standard Cables and Tubes files 1.3.6 Additional Files used by Harnessing (Electrical) 1.3.8 Additional Files used by Harnessing (Electrical) 1.4 General SolidWorks Options settings 2.0 Routing Options settings...11 2.1 Routing Use Auto Naming 2.2 Use Default Routing Template 2.3 Routing Auto Add Clip 3.0 Routing: Hints, tips & methods.13 3.1 Simple rules for Library set-up. 3.2 Simple rules for library setup - Electrical 3.3 Add to Route or just draw a line? 3.4 Regenerating and replacing route components 3.5 Electrical Schematics 3.6 Electrical Modelling - Bundles 3.7 Electrical Conduit 3.8 Creating a Conduit route 3.8.1 Conduit Route with no From-To listelectrical first 3.8.2 Conduit with a From-To listelectrical first 3.8.3 Conduit starting with an adaptor conduit first 3.9 Harnessing 3.9.1 To Create a Harness Drawing 4.0 FAQs19 4.1 Question: Why dont I see the connectors blocks in harnessing drawings? 4.2 Question: If I create a route assembly on my local machine how do I update it to a networked location? 4.3 Question: Fitting-to-fitting when and where to use it? 4.4 Question: If I see issues when using Routing what should I do? 4.5 Question: How do I work with components with Multiple CPoints? 4.6 Question: Where should I create a Harness drawing from? 4.7 Question: How do I set up Routing to work with PDMWorks?
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Introduction:
SolidWorks Routing is a powerful and versatile tool in SolidWorks Office Premium that enables pipe, tube, electrical cable/harness, and electrical conduit routes to be added to designs. This document is intended to streamline the set up and use of Routing to obtain best results. Instructions and screen images are based on SolidWorks Routing 2007.
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1.2.2 Network to Files Best practice is to copy the Design Library to a networked location which has the same directory structure as the SolidWorks installation, as shown below, and share this folder (labelled Central Library folder in the example below).
Tip: when using Network drives the folders should be read-only for safety and improved performance. 1.2.3 Mapped Drives Best practice is that the naming convention for the users Central Design Library follows that of the SolidWorks installation and that all users use the same drive letter for the mapped Design Library location. For our example we assume the Design Library is on the following mapped location:
x:\data\design library
For simplicity all users should map to this directory using the same drive letter X in this example and it is important that the relative path for each mapped drive is the same. Machine1- mapped drive should be:
x:\data\design library
Following these simple rules ensures that all downstream operations can be performed easily and Routing is easily maintained. Note: If you are using PDMWorks do NOT use mapped network drives, use UNC paths. 1.3 Setting and Checking the Paths With the directory structure from our example the Routing Directory should be at:
x:\data\design library\Routing
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Again note how the directory structure is the same as that of the SolidWorks installation. Although not essential, the Routing directory should be the top level folder and contain subfolders for Conduit, Electrical, Piping and Tubing folders, as shown below.
After deciding on the actual location for the common Design Library and subsequent Routing libraries we need to set the appropriate paths for the Design Library, Routing and finally general SolidWorks.
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1.3.1 Setting the Design Library path Tools>Options>File Locations>Design library needs to be set to:
x:\data\design library
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1.3.3 Setting the Piping Parts Library Paths Although the top level Routing directories are set-up we still have to set up the default Pipe and Elbow part locations as these will still reference the Pipe and Elbow part files which were last used for Routing. Use the following steps:
A. Open a new assembly in SolidWorksSave the assembly. B. Ensure the Routing Add-in is loaded. C. Go to Routing>Piping>Route by Drag Drop of Connector/Flange. D. Drag a Flange into the assembly to start a Route and OK/Yes to all dialogs until you get to the Route Properties Property Manager (PM) as shown on the next page.
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E. As a check, ensure the Library Folder path under Options is set to: X:\data\design library\Routing F. Set the pipe to: X:\data\design library\routing\piping\pipes\pipe.sldprt G. Set the Bends-Elbows to the desired elbow from: X:\data\design library\ routing\piping\elbows\. H. OK on the Route Properties PM and the default Location and files for Pipe and Elbow fittings are now set. You will not need to set these options again unless you move the location of the Design Library or want to change the default Pipe or Elbow.
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When a new route is created the Pipe and Elbow files specified above will be used by default. Please note the same procedure applies for Tube parts as well. 1.3.4 Checking the Electrical Routing Library Paths Although the top level Routing directories are set up we will check this with a quick test.
A. Open a new assembly in SolidWorks (save the assembly) B. Ensure the SolidWorks Routing Add-in is loaded C. Go to Routing>Electrical>Route by Drag/Drop of Connector D. Drag a Connector into the assembly to start a Route and OK/Yes to all dialogs until you get to the Route Properties Property Manager (PM) as shown below: E. Ensure the Library folder path under Options is set to: X:\data\design library. The default Electrical locations are now checked and ready to use.
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1.3.5 From-To Files (Electrical) This file is a design file rather than a library file. Each electrical route is likely to have a From-To list to import the connection information. In most cases this file needs to be a Microsoft Excel file and may be located on a networked machine, perhaps the machine used by the electrical designers. It may be sent by email, or it may be placed locally. The recommended location is the same folder as the route assembly it is used with. Once the From-To list has been imported all of its data is held in the assembly so the original file isnt needed. When the route assembly is saved a new copy of the From-To file is created named <assemblyName>-fromtolist.xml. This contains the data from the original From-To list plus some additional data such as wire lengths. This file can be used to transfer the wire lengths back to the schematic design system if supported by the design system being used. Beyond this purpose the XML file is not important to the design process. If the electrical design changes, the From-To list is likely to change and the revised Excel file can be re-imported into the route assembly to help drive the modification of the 3D route. 1.3.6 Cable and Components Libraries (Electrical) Cable and Component libraries can be created using Microsoft Excel and then imported into SolidWorks Routing. This process converts the data to XML format for convenient internal use. Alternatively, the user may build cable and component XML files manually using the tools inside of Routing. The location of the resulting cable library (cable.xml) is not critical. However the Components Library (components.xml) must be in the Electrical folder. These libraries are used during From-To list import and manual wire addition of wires & cables into a route. In both cases the user can browse to select the file he wishes to use as shown. The original Excel-based library files can be stored in a department or project location so they can be edited and re-
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1.3.7 Standard Cables and Tubes files Standard cables is a powerful and efficient way to add electrical cables that typically are do not need electrical data included and are used many times. Another special aspect of Standard Cables is that the path of each instance of a standard cable can be changed without affecting the path of other instances. The part number of the standard cable, end fitting part numbers, cable OD and length are all stored in a Microsoft Excel file. This file is best kept in the Routing folder. It is here not in the Electrical folder because it contains both electrical and tubing data and it holds references to both.
This file also holds relative path names, so if the Routing Folder and child folders are moved the cable and tube definitions will still work. The same applies for all the Standard Tubes file.
1.3.8 Additional Files used by Harnessing (Electrical) Under the Electrical folder there is a sub folder called harnessing. This contains a number of additional xml files used by harnessing for creating a harness board drawing. We recommend that these files are kept in this harnessing folder under the Electrical folder at all times. If you move the Electrical folder to a new location, move the harnessing folder too.
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1.4 General SolidWorks Options settings As a general rule if you have any locations set in Referenced Documents you should also add the Design Library Folder to the Referenced Documents section and have the Design library Folder above the existing Folder(s).
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2.1 Routing>Use Auto Naming This option enables automatic naming of all parts and assemblies created by routing.
This greatly improves workflow and usability. However the user loses the ability to control the naming of the files. NOTE: There are API notifications that can be used to automatically name the files using user defined names. These are used primarily for PDM but can be used by other applications. 2.2 Use Default Route Template This option specifies whether to use the default route template when creating a route. If turned off the start route dialog will be displayed to allow selection of the template to be used. Note: Only route assembly templates can be used. Note: Workflow is smoother with this dialog not displayed. To do this enable Auto Naming and Use default templates options. 2.3 Routing Auto Add Clip For electrical routing and flexible tube routing, if enabled this option means that whenever a clip is dropped into the active route sketch, the route will be
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extended to route through the clip. If the route has only one open end, this end will be routed through the clip. If not, the last edited open segment or a selected segment end point will be used.
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folder. A common example would be to have a subfolder for each electrical component manufacturer under electrical folder. 3.3 Use Add-to-Route or just draw a line? Using Add-to-route in a route sketch performs 3 actions. It tells the route that the selected CPoint is part of the route, creates a line to start the route from the CPoint, and it adds constraints to the line. The first element of this only needs to be done once (except for an eccentric reducer in the piping environment). Once add-to-route has been used, the route knows about that component so it doesnt need to be added again. If the component has additional CPoints you can simply draw a line 3.4 Regenerating and replacing route components If you delete the pipe and elbow components from a route then edit the route they will be recreated. This can be useful if you want to change the pipes or elbows to use a different specification or bend radius. Delete the elbows, edit the route, change the settings in the Route Properties then exit the route to recreate the pipes & elbows using the current settings. If the elbow you wish to use has a different bend radius change the radius of the arcs to match the elbow to be used (if the radius doesnt exactly match the custom/alternate elbows dialog will be displayed. Select the required elbow & configuration in the dialog. The arc radii will be adjusted and the correct elbow will be inserted. Similarly pipes will be recreated using the current pipe spec. If only some of the pipes/elbows are deleted the remaining versions will be kept. This enables a combination of original and new pipes/elbows. Note, when creating a route if you want to use a different elbow for a particular bend change the radius of the arc to use a different elbow. 3.5 Electrical Schematics If just creating a small number of connections, simple wires or cables you can work without any From-To list. For larger designs use of a From-To list is recommended. The From-To data can be generated from an electrical schematics application, from existing data held in a design database or entered manually. Numerous third party electrical design applications can be used with SolidWorks to generate the From-To data. Leading companies include: cimteam (E3 Series), Aucotec, IGE-XAO, Mentor Graphics (Vesys). Many others may be used as long as they have the ability to output a From-To list in Excel or *.XML format. SolidWorks has adopted this strategy because there are many electrical schematics applications available on the market. This process allows users to choose whichever package is best suited to their needs. It should also be noted that electrical design is typically a separate process performed by a separate department. More direct links from electrical to mechanical can desirable but not always preferred in a company. This preference will vary from company to company.
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3.6 Electrical Modelling - Bundles The electrical application models the cable/harness bundles. In a wiring harness (and some cables) groups of wires are routed together along the same route through clips, and fasteners. This route is a cable/harness bundle. Try not to think in terms of wires or cables but of bundles. This technique enables the segments of the model to be built using a single piece of a geometry (e.g. one sweep) and not multiple sweeps. This greatly speeds creation by the designer and reduces load on the system. 3.7 Electrical Conduit Conduit is essentially a mix of piping, tubing and electrical. In real designs and equipment, hard or flexible conduit is run between points, and then wires are pulled through the conduit. SolidWorks Routing supports both rigid and flexible type conduit and enables conduit routes to be created that consist of pipes, adaptors, elbows, Tees, crosses etc then allows the electrical data to be placed as just information in these routes. Therefore there is no geometric representation of the wires or cables inside the conduit segments. This is the same techniques used with the harness design that speeds creation of the design and reduces load on the system. NOTE: conduit end fittings are unique in that they have a CPoint at one end for starting the conduit run and they have an electrical CPoint on the other end for starting wires that will come out of the conduit adapter and run inside a control panel or junction box to a separate end terminal or connector. NOTE: Flattened harness drawings can not be created for Conduit routes. 3.8 Creating a Conduit Route To create a conduit route typically create the conduit route then add the electrical details including wires coming out of the ends of the conduit. An alternative method is to add conduit to an electrical route. The most common method is to just add a conduit adaptor to a junction box at one end of a route, then route away from the conduit side using straight lines and arcs. Add other conduit fittings in the same way as piping. Use split entity points to locate conduit tees. 3.8.1 Conduit Route with no From-To list: ELECTRIC portion first Therefore, to start a route drag/drop a suitable connector or select an existing CPoint for a terminal and use RMB>Start Route. This creates an electrical route. Where the wire(s) for that terminal/connector enter the conduit there will be a conduit adaptor.
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Drag/drop the adaptor component into the route to mate with the entry hole or other geometry. Enter appropriate attributes in the route properties dialog a default elbow and conduit pipe etc. Route the conduit using lines and arcs, use autoroute, route through clips etc. Add Tees, pull elbows, crosses, etc the same way you would for piping. 3.8.2 Conduit Route with a From-To list: ELECTRICAL portion first Import a From-To list in the usual way and place the connectors. Add conduit adaptors where required then use autoroute or insert splines to route from the open end of the conduit adaptor to the connector/terminal CPoints. (Please note SolidWorks Routing supports both rigid and flexible types of conduit). Route the conduit using lines and arcs, use autoroute, route through clips etc. Add Tees, pull elbows, crosses, etc the same way you would for piping. Flexible type conduit segments can be routed using spline-type auto routes. 3.8.3 Conduit Route starting with an adaptor: CONDUIT portion first Drag/drop a conduit adaptor into an existing assembly using smart mates, or manual mates to locate it in position. RMB on the conduit CPoint then select Start Route. This will create a route assembly and route feature. Continue to model the route by adding lines arcs, route through clips and autoroute. Drag/drop tees, crosses, pull elbows and additional adaptors etc, as required. To model the wires from the open end of each adaptor use Add to route on the other CPoint of the adaptor, or just create a line from the end of the existing line (at the adaptors RPoint) such that it passes straight out through the CPoint. From the end of this line, use splines or autoroute to connect to the electrical connectors or terminals. Route guidelines can be used as a guide to the required connections with conduit. Dont use the Merge/convert functions as these create harness type connections with splines, not conduit routes. 3.9 Harnessing With the exception of conduit routes, all routes are considered to be harnesses. NOTE: Route type = Cable/wire. This type is obsolete but has been retained for consistency to earlier releases. When creating routes/CPoints, use the harness sub-type. 3.9.1 To Create a Harness Drawing Open the assembly (not just the route assembly but the assembly that contains the Route Assembly). From the routing menu choose: Routing>Electrical>Harness>Wiring summary. A dialog is displayed allowing you to choose which electrical route assembly you wish to process. Select the desired assembly, select a drawing template 2006 SolidWorks Corporation 30 July 06 -Rev 3
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to use for the drawing and OK (prior to 2007 select the Create Drawing button). The harness drawing will be created. Other options on the Routing>Electrical->Harness menu allow the layout to be checked, edited, and tables to be added such as connector tables, BOM, wiring schedule etc.
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4.0 FAQs
4.1 Question: why dont I see the connectors blocks in harnessing drawings? Answer: There were numerous reasons for this the primary cause if there are no wires terminating at a connector. If a connector has no wires it is assumed that the connector itself is not required so it wont show up in the harness drawing. (This is changed in sw2007) Also in sw2006 the harnessing application looks in the Design Library folders for all of its files. It looks for the file terminals.xml under the design library. It then looks for all of the block files in the same folder. To ensure that the files are found add the folder \data\design library\routing\electrical\harnessing to your design library. In 2007 reliance on the Design Library folders has been removed. Block files are now located in the same folder (Electrical Folder) as the 3D connector models and have a name based on the name of the 3D model. So, for a connector called db9-male.sldprt the block file would be in the same folder and would be named db9-male-hblock.slddrw. 4.2 Question: If I create a route assembly on my local machine how do I update it to a networked location? Answer: There is no problem with this as long as the initial setup is done correctly. Use the same process as detailed in Section1. As an overview, all machines/users should have the same library installation and should point the library to the same folder. Typically:
\data\design library\routing
The default Pipe & Elbow files to use under this folder are:
\data\design library\routing\piping\pipes\Pipe.sldprt. \data\design library\routing\piping\elbows\Elbow.sldprt.
What is stored with the assembly is the relative name of this file:
\\piping\pipes\Pipe.sldprt \\piping\ elbows\Elbow.sldprt
You want to move the library to a network drive. Let us use the example we have already used in Section1:
x:\data\design library
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Copy the files to the new location. In SolidWorks select Tools>options Select Routing to get the routing options dialog Change the routing library path to:
x:\ data\design library\data\routing.
Important NOTE: Change the other Piping and SolidWorks paths too as described in section1 including the Design Library folder and external references paths to also use the new location. When opening existing assemblies they will find the files in the new Design Library not in the original design library. Remember that you need to update the Location of the default Pipe and Elbow files in the Route Properties PM (See Section 1.3.3) before creating new Route assemblies. Now, when you open a route part it will look for a pipe part using the changed library path and the relative path to the pipe.
x:\data\design library\data\routing\piping\pipes\pipe.sldprt
It may be worth archiving the original files as it is a good idea to only have one copy of any file available. Having multiple copies of files is a regular source of problems. Use File>Find references with the assembly open to check all references have been updated. Electrical. The overall process is the same but with one difference. The electrical application makes use of a component library file as described in section 1.6.3. This file contains additional information about the components and is also used to map a given part number to a SolidWorks document. The document names are stored in this folder as relative names so all components should be in the same folder as the library file or a sub-folder of it
4.3 Question: Fitting-to-fitting when and where to use it? Answer: Fitting to fitting is used when progressively creating a route. Place a component such as a reducer, drag/drop the next component and drag it to the CPoint of the preceding component. Before dropping, use TAB and <shift> + Left or Right arrow keys to rotate the component to the required orientation. Then drop the component. If the route is already defined there is already a component attached to the other end of the sketch line fitting to fitting cannot be used. Split the line using
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split entity then drop the new fitting and use RMB remove pipe to remove the pipe between the new fitting and the adjacent fitting. Fitting to fitting can be used for most route components 4.4 Question: If I see issues when using Routing what should I do? Answer: The most generic cause of problems in Routing is a mismatch in the Path set-up. Go through section 1 of this document and ensure all paths are correct. Use File>Find References on an assembly and ensure all paths are correct. If customers are complaining about stability then they should be advised to turn on the performance email option: Tools>Options>Enable Performance feedback. This provides SolidWorks with specific information about Crashes which is used to diagnose and fix problem areas. Customers should also ensure that they submit Problem reports through the correct channels. If SolidWorks are not made aware of these issues then we cannot fix them.
4.5 Question: How do I work with components with Multiple CPoints? Answer: If the user drops a multi-CPoint component it will drop into the active assembly and will not start a route. To start routing RMB on a CPoint and select Start route (select in FM or graphics window). This will create a route assembly and start routing but the original component will remain in the parent assembly. Carry on creating the route as normal. After exiting the route sketch select the component in the feature manager and drag it into the route assembly.
4.6 Question: Where should I create a Harness drawing from? Answer: With the route assembly open in context of its parent. Assuming that this relates to electrical routes and harness drawings.
4.7 Question: How do I set up Routing to work with PDMWorks? Answer: If you are using PDM works with a Routing Project all users must use a central Design Library and respective Routing folder. Using local copies of the Routing files will not work. If users are having problems this should be the first check that is made. Note: UNC paths must be used in Solidworks and PDMworks Mapped networks drives must NOT be used.
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If we assume the central server is named DesignLibraryServer the path to the Design Library in Solidworks should be:
\\DesignLibraryServer\design library
This is all you need to do on the SolidWorks side. To set-up PDM works launch the PDMWorks Workgroup 2007 VaultAdmin tool.
Start>All Programs>SolidWorks 2007>PDMWorks Workgroup 2007>VaultAdmin:
Navigate to the Standard libraries tab after logging in as pdmwadmin (same password). Go to the standard libraries tab and add the UNC path to the shared Routing folder. This means that the files in the Rotuing folder will not be revision managed and Routing and PDMWorks are ready for use.
Note: If this is not carried out then PDMWorks will not be synchronized with respect to the Routing Library. This will cause all the design library parts to be revision managed.
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