Defining Available Terminals for Wiring

If you do not show certain terminals in your schematics that are actually a part of the circuit you must declare those terminals in the wiring rule file and create a rule for them. You must create the terminal layout symbols that include the attribute SDWReservedTerminal with an assigned value of SDW . Only terminals with SDW assigned to this attribute will be assigned automatically by the Shortest Distance program. Then, in the wiring rule file you must create a section under your rule set where you declare your terminals. For example:

- <TerminalDesignations>

<TerminalDesignation terminal="L" enclosure="LEFTPANEL" />

<TerminalDesignation terminal="R" enclosure="RIGHTPANEL" />

<TerminalDesignation terminal="T" enclosure="TOP" />

</TerminalDesignations>

You begin the section with the <TerminalDesignations> heading and end it with </TerminalDesignations>.

terminal="Terminal Designation" - This can be any letter designation that you want to use to represent a terminal located in the enclosure.
enclosure="Name of the panel that the terminal is located in" - The enclosure value should be the name of the panel where the terminal is located.

Optional Commands for Plugs

maxConnections=1 - This designates a plug rather than a terminal. For example:

<TerminalDesignation terminal="LEFT_P" enclosure="LEFT" maxConnection="1" />

match = "match_type:group_name=regular_expression" - match_type="DeviceID" which means the program should use an expression named "regular_expression" to interpret the device ID. For example:

<TerminalDesignation terminal="H_P" enclosure="HORIZONTAL_HARNESS" maxConnection="1" match="DeviceID:P=^P.*"/>

Here, P is the group name which matches any plug where the device ID begins with the letter P. One possible use for this would be to ensure that two plugs always connect male to female based on device ID.