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Fan In/Out Source and Destination Markers

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    There are times when you want to show source and destination markers on the individual wires of a cable, but you want to show the wires coming together to form the cable.

    When a Fan In/Out marker is inserted, AutoCAD Electrical breaks the wire and changes the layer of one side of the wire to a special layer. If you are inserting a source marker, then the wire coming out of the marker is changed. If it is a destination marker, the wire coming into the marker is changed. You can use the AutoCAD Electrical Fan In/Out - Single Line Layer command to change a wire to one of these layers.

     

    Procedures

    Add source markers

    1. Click Schematic tabInsert Wires/Wire Numbers panelSignal Arrows drop-downFan In Source.
    2. Select the style and orientation for the markers and click OK.
    3. Select the insertion point on the screen for the marker.

      The Signal-Source Code dialog box displays.

    4. Enter a source code for the marker and optionally a description. Enter a unique number/word/phrase, 32-character maximum, for AutoCAD Electrical to use to link the source wire network internally to any/all destination wire networks.
    5. Select how you want to view the signal codes used so far:
      • Display drawing-wide or project-wide pick lists of all source/destination codes used so far
      • Follow the selected wire network looking for a destination arrow at the other end. If found, repeat its signal code for this new source arrow.
      • Pick on an existing wire network. AutoCAD Electrical searches it for an existing destination arrow and retrieves its signal code for use on this new source arrow.
    6. Specify the arrow style to use for the destination signal.
    7. Click OK.

      The Source/Destination Signal Markers (for Fan In/Out) dialog box displays. You have a few options for inserting the matching destination marker:

      • Do not insert the matching destination marker.
      • Do not insert the matching destination marker after each source.
      • Insert the matching destination marker.
      • Automatically insert the matching destination markers for each source.
    Note

    If the destination wires are nearby it may be easiest to insert them right away. If they are on another drawing you can wait until later to insert them.

     

    Add destination markers

    1. Click Schematic tabInsert Wires/Wire Numbers panelSignal Arrows drop-downFan Out Destination.
    2. Select the style and orientation for the markers and click OK.
    3. Select the wire for the destination marker.

      The Insert Destination Code dialog box displays.

    4. Enter the code or select Recent to see a list of the recent markers inserted.
    5. Specify the arrow style to use for the destination signal.
    6. Continue selecting wires until all destination markers were inserted.

     

    Set marker styles and layers

    The AutoCAD Electrical Fan In/Out feature relies on layering to work. You can select the default Fan In/Out marker style here along with defining the layers for the wires.

    1. Click Schematic tabOther Tools panelDrawing Properties drop-downDrawing Properties.
    2. In the Drawing Properties dialog box, click the Style tab.

      If you have an older drawing, you may be warned about an older version of the WD_M block. If that happens, go ahead and swap the WD_M block and try again.

    3. In the Fan-In/Out Marker Style section, set the default marker style.
    4. Define the layers for the wires. Click Add to define layer names as Fan In/Out layers.
    5. Click OK.

     

    Define fan-in/out layers

    You can define a special layer or set of layers for the wires going out of a Fan In/Out Source marker and the wires coming into a Destination marker.

    1. Click Schematic tabEdit Wires/Wire Numbers panelFan In/Out - Single line Layer.

      The list displays only layers that are already assigned as Fan In/Out Layers as defined in the drawing properties setup.

    2. Use Pick if you are not sure of the layer you want, but you have a line on your drawing on that layer. You can also use it if the layer of the line is not defined as a Fan In/Out layer and you want to add it on the fly.
    3. Select whether to make the layer current.
    4. Check the box to change the existing fan in/out lines if you want to make sure that you only change the layers of wires that are already defined as Fan In/Out wires. Otherwise AutoCAD Electrical can convert any selected lines to the Fan In/Out layer.

     

    Add custom fan-in/out marker styles

    The icon menu graphics that display for the various Fan In/Out marker styles are bitmap files saved to your C:\Program Files [(x86)]\Autodesk\Acade {version}\Acade\ folder where s Fan In/Out utilities and Drawing Properties tool can access them.

    1. Create the style in AutoCAD.
    2. Zoom in to the new Fan In/Out marker style.
    3. Save the file as a bitmap using the following name definition: StylexVI.bmp and StylexVO.bmp where "x" is the fan-in/out marker style 1-9.
      Note

      If the resulting bitmap is too small or off-center, open the source drawing in AutoCAD again. Resize your AutoCAD graphics window so that it is more square. Center the image and resave. Repeat until you are satisfied with the result.

     

    References

    Fan-in/fan-out signal source

    Inserts an in-line, fan in/out source marker.

     Ribbon: Schematic tabInsert Wires/Wire Numbers panelSignal Arrows drop-downFan In Source.
     Toolbar: Signals
     Menu: WiresSignal ReferencesFan In/Out Source
     Command entry: AEFANINSRC

    Show source and destination markers on the individual wires of a cable, but show the wires coming together to form the cable.

    Uses set of in-line source/destination symbols that follow the naming format of ha#s?_inline.dwg and ha#d?_inline.dwg where # = style number and ? = 1,2,3,4 orientation number (just like with existing source/destination arrows). Running new commands inserts in-line source marker symbols and changes the connected wire on the fan-in side to be on a non-wire layer. Putting matching destination in-line markers at the fan-out end does the same. It changes the connected common wires on the fan-out side to a non-wire layer. It leaves the individual segments on the opposite side of marker on the original wire layer. The AutoCAD Electrical source/destination update or Auto Wire Number command then makes the match-up annotation, whether the fan-in/fan-out are on the same or different drawings.

    Source marker style

    Specifies the style for the source marker. Some options are: Solid (wire num/desc), Break (wire num - small gap/desc), Break (medium gap/desc), and Break (wide gap/desc).

    Wire connection orientation

    Specifies the orientation for the markers. Options are: above, below, right, or left.

    Fan-in/fan-out signal destination

    Inserts an in-line, fan in/out destination marker.

     Ribbon: Schematic tabInsert Wires/Wire Numbers panelSignal Arrows drop-downFan Out Destination.
     Toolbar: Signals
     Menu: WiresSignal ReferencesFan In/Out Destination
     Command entry: AEFANINDEST

    Show source and destination markers on the individual wires of a cable, but show the wires coming together to form the cable.

    Uses set of in-line source/destination symbols that follow the naming format of ha#s?_inline.dwg and ha#d?_inline.dwg where # = style number and ? = 1,2,3,4 orientation number (just like with existing source/destination arrows). Running new commands inserts in-line source marker symbols and changes connected wire on the fan-in side to be on a non-wire layer. Putting matching destination in-line markers at the fan-out end does the same. It changes the connected common wires on the fan-out side to non-wire layer. It leaves the individual segments on the opposite side of marker on the original wire layer. The AutoCAD Electrical source/destination update or Automatic Wire Number command then makes the match-up annotation, whether the fan-in/fan-out are on the same or different drawings.

    Destination marker style

    Specifies the style for the destination marker. Some options are: Solid (wire num/desc), Break (wire num - small gap/desc), Break (medium gap/desc), and Break (wide gap/desc).

    Wire connection orientation

    Specifies the orientation for the markers. Options are: above, below, right, or left.

    Fan-in/out - single line layer

    You can define a special layer or set of layers for the wires going out of a Fan In/Out source marker and the wires coming into a destination marker.

     Ribbon: Schematic tabEdit Wires/Wire Numbers panelFan In/Out - Single line Layer.
     Toolbar: Signals
     Menu: WiresSignal ReferencesFan In/Out - Single line Layer
     Command entry: AEFANIN

    Fan-In/Out Line Layers

    Displays only layers that are already assigned as Fan In/Out Layers as defined in the drawing properties setup.

    Pick

    Picks similar fan-in/out lines from the drawing. You can use it if the layer of the line is not defined as a Fan In/Out layer and you want to add it on the fly.

    Change existing wires only (no convert)

    Changes only the layers of wires that are already defined as Fan In/Out wires. Otherwise AutoCAD Electrical can convert any selected lines to the Fan In/Out layer.

    One pick gets all connected wires

    Changes all the wires to the selected layer that is associated with the selected wire network. If this option is not selected, only the selected wire changes.

    Make selected layer current

    Makes the selected layer the current layer.