A graphical terminal plan is composed of a group of wiring diagram symbols, one for each terminal block. The symbol name is defined in the parts database in the Graphical_Plan_Symbol field. By using wiring diagram symbols, the software is able to update the connection information from the compiled connection list or from the shortest distance output. By having a separate field in the database to name a graphical plan symbol (in addition to a wiring diagram symbol), the same terminals can be placed in wiring diagrams and terminal plans at the same time.

The format of the graphical plan is determined by a graphical plan template which defines the position of the wiring diagram symbols and the variables that will be filled in with connection information and other data. Templates may also include fixed text or variables that provide column headings.

The page margins entered in the Run Graphical Plan dialog are offsets from the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right sides of the page. These margins control the placement of the header blocks on the page and they also tell the software how many terminals in a strip can be placed on the page before a new page must be created. Assuming a vertical plan and automatic generation of the plans, the top margin will determine the vertical starting position relative to the boundary box of the header block. In other words, if the top margin is set to 1 inch then the top of the header block will be placed one inch from the top of the page. The left margin is used to position the header block in the horizontal direction.

Once the wiring diagram symbols representing the terminals are placed, the software can add connection information to each symbol. If the Dynamically Update Connections check box is selected in the Wiring Diagram Settings dialog, the information will be added automatically. If this setting is not turned on, you can also use the Update Wiring Diagram function to update the connection information on the drawing.

If the user has already generated a graphical plan and he or she runs this graphical plan again using the Automatically option, the software will automatically delete the old terminal plan pages and regenerate them again. If, however, the user picks By selection when trying to regenerate this plan the software will check to see if there are additional terminals that have not been placed yet, and if this is so, the software will place the remainder of the terminals and not regenerate the entire plan. The user would have to manually delete the existing strip before he would be allowed to regenerate the whole strip at one time.

When regenerating terminal plans or even creating new ones the software will perform error checking to make sure that the software doesn't overwrite existing pages that belong to other terminal strips or that contain other logical data besides the terminal plans the user is trying to regenerate. If this action would result in such an overwrite of a page the user will be given an error and not allowed to proceed.