Difference between revisions of "Customizing Equipment I/O"

Latest revision as of 13:00, 27 October 2011

Before You Start

You will need to know what Ports, Signal Types and Connector Types you are going to be using for this piece of equipment. You will also need to know what ports are Input, Output or Both.

How To Add A Single Port

Step	Description
1. Click Advanced Tools>Equipment Library OR Database>Equipment Library OR Command Line shortcut LE	This will bring you to the equipment library where you will find the piece of equipment you are wanting to customize. Equipment Library
2. After highlighting the piece of equipment you wish to modify, Click the [I/O] tab.	If this is a new piece of equipment you created, you will have a blank Input and Output Field. I/O Field
3. Click [Add Ports]	You will now have a dialog box that allows you to select all information about this port. Port Creation Window
4. After filling out the information, Click [Add Ports And Close]	As you can see in the image, I have added an RCA Port with an Audio Signal Type to the Input field. Single Port Creation
5.You can also create a port on both the Input and Output fields by selecting [Both] under the "Add To Which" List	As you can see in this image, I have added an RCA Port with an Audio Signal Type to BOTH the Input and Output field. Input & Output Port Creation

Adding Multiple Ports Of The Same Type

It is possible to add multiple ports at one time. This saves time by allowing you to make as many of the same Type of ports as you'd like, without having to add each individually.

Step	Description
1. Open up the [I/O] tab of the piece of equipment you wish to add ports to.	Refer to step 1&2 of "How To Add A Single Port" above if your unsure how to get there. Port Creation Window
2. Fill out the desired information and Check [Add Multiple Ports]	The number of zeros leading the port number is completly up to you. This is just to help you distinguish your ports. The number of zeros is also subjective to the cable number. (Example: If you have 3 leading zeros your cable will show as 0001 or 0010 or 0100 or 1000) Multiple Port Selection
3.After filling out the information, Click [Add Ports And Close]	As you can see in this image, I added 24 RCA ports with an Audio Signal Type to BOTH the Input and Output Fields. Adding Multiple Ports At A Time

Distinguishing Similar Ports

There will be times in which you need to create a number of similar ports, yet be able to distinguish them from eachother. (Example: RCA-01 Left, RCA-01 Right, RCA-01 Video)

Step	Description
1.Open up the [I/O] tab of the piece of equipment you wish to add and distinguish ports on.	Refer to step 1&2 of "How To Add A Single Port" above if your unsure how to get there. Port Creation Window
2. Fill out the port information just as you would normally do however this time, add a distinguishing character in the [Finally Append Characters] box.	This distinguishing character can be whatever you would like it to be (Example L=Left, R=Right, V=Video) Appending Characters
3. Click [Add Ports And Close]	As you can see in this image, I added an RCA port with an Audio Signal Type into the Input field and have distinguished it as a Left channel with the letter L. Appending Characters
4.You can use a combination of "Appending Characters", "Add Multiple Ports" and "Add To Both Sides" to quickly add multiple ports to your equipment.	As you can see in this image, I have added 3 RCA Left, 3 RCA Right and 3 RCA Video ports to both the Input and Output fields. You will also see WireCAD automatically organizes them for you. Appending Characters

Deleting Ports

Step	Description
1. Open up the [I/O] tab of the piece of equipment you wish to delete ports from.	Refer to step 1&2 of "How To Add A Single Port" above if your unsure how to get there.
2. Highlight which port or ports you would like to delete.	Holding down [Shift] will allow you to select a range of ports and holding down [CTRL] will allow you to select multiple individual ports. (See images] Selecting A Range Of Ports [Shift] Selecting Multiple Ports [CTRL]
3. After you have selected the ports you wish to delete, Click [Delete Selected Ports]	You will be asked to confirm you want to delete the selected ports. If you are deleting ports from both the Input and Output side, you will be asked to confirm the Input side first and then the Output Side. Confirm you want to delete these Inputs Confirm you want to delete these Outputs

Moving I/O Ports

You many need to reorganize or alter a ports location as your project progresses or when creating a new piece of equipment.

Step	Description
1. Open up the I/O tab of the piece of equipment you wish to reorganize ports on.	Refer to step 1&2 of "How To Add A Single Port" above if your unsure how to get there. (As you can see in this image, I have 3 different types of connectors and signals on both the Input and Output sides of my device.) Altering Port Order
2. Hightlight the port you wish to move and using the [Directional] buttons, move the port where you would like it to go.	As you can see in the image, you can move the port up and down on its current field, as well as move it to the opposite field (Input>Output, Output>Input). Also shown in this image is the preview window that will show you the current order of the ports. ---- Note: Moving ports from Field to Field creates a copy of that port in the new field therefore you must manually delete if from the existing field if it is no longer used. Directional Arrows and Preview Window
3. In this image, I have moved all Video and Audio Signal Types to my Output side and put both 1394 Firewire ports on my Input side.	As you can see in the preview window, everything has been updated automatically. ---- Note: You can manually refresh the preview window by clicking the [Refresh] button above the preview window or automatically by checking the [Auto Preview] box below the [Delete Selected Ports] button. Altering Port Order
4. Once you have organized the ports in the order you would like them, Click the [Set] button to assign a numerical value to each port in the Display Order field.	Display order