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Cables CableTerminal

From FreeCAD Documentation

Cables CableTerminal

Menu location
None
Workbenches
Cables
Default shortcut
None
Introduced in version
0.3.0
See also
Cables Cable, Cables CableConnector, Cables ElectricalDevice, Cables AttachWireToTerminal, Cables DetachWireFromTerminal

Description[edit | edit source]

The CableTerminal is a dependent object and cannot be created directly.

It represents electrical connection point for Cable. It can be created as a child object during creation of: CableConnector, ElectricalDevice. Its main purpose is to indicate position for cable end inside connector or electrical device. If more cable wires have to be connected to single terminal it can be split into segments allowing more items to connect to them. The CableTerminal is fully parametric, which means it has configurable length, number of allowed connections and placement relative to its parent.

The CableTerminal is prepared to be a part of electrical net and has properties: Pin Name, Node Name and Connected Wires which can be used for net analysis in future releases of Cables Workbench. Each terminal represents single pin or connection point inside connector or electrical device.

Important: the real relation between CableTerminal and its parent is reversed to avoid cyclic dependencies and to speed up recalculation. This has some consequences (see Notes).

Example of two terminals. On the left: single terminal with one segment. Only one wire can be connected here. On the right: single terminal with 3 segments. Up to three wires can be connected here.

Usage[edit | edit source]

The CableTerminal object cannot be created directly. It is made during creation of: CableConnector, ElectricalDevice depending on Number Of Terminals property of these objects.

Notes[edit | edit source]

  • The CableTerminal has reversed relation with its parent to avoid cyclic dependencies. It is shown as a child in the Tree View only for visual organization of objects. Undesirable consequence: when a parent is copied, all its child terminals must always be manually copied with it.
  • The CableTerminal has two supporting commands: Attach Wire to Terminal, Detach Wire from Terminal. They allow easy connection and disconnection of WireFlex objects to CableTerminal. It is strongly recommended tu use the above commands when connecting the terminal to wire because they perform necessary changes to terminal properties in the background.
  • The CableTerminal properties are set upon creation by its parent object. Some of them can be changed manually later.
  • If a Cable is built upon connected WireFlex the value of DataStripped Wire Length property of a cable needs to be higher than the terminal length (DataLength). Some other cable and WireFlex properties may need to be adjusted (like e.g. Boundary Segment Start or Boundary Segment End) for the connection to display correctly.

Properties[edit | edit source]

Data[edit | edit source]

Attachment

  • DataAttachment Offset (Placement): Contains offset placement relative to terminal parent object. It is set upon terminal creation, but can be adjusted according to user needs.

Net

  • DataConnected Wires (StringList): (read only) Contains the list of connected wires with number of connection. This property is updated automatically on terminal object recompute. The connected wires are not real child objects of the terminal. They are only visible as children in the Tree View.
  • DataNode Name (String): Contains the name of terminal node. The node name should be the same for all terminals connected to each other by electrical wires. The Node Name refers to 'Node' definition in electrical network. In current version the Node Name is not verified automatically between connected terminals.
  • DataPin Name (String): Contains the functional name of the pin or connection point in a connector or electrical device.

Terminal

  • DataLength (Length): Contains the length of the terminal
  • DataNumber Of Connections (Integer): Contains the number of connection segments in the terminal.
  • DataSpacing (Length): Contains the distance between connection segments in the terminal.