Drawing symbols and nodes

[D3syn3rMike]

I've stumbled into making symbols for some simple wiring diagrams using standard 2D drawings. It appears I can make symbols and add "nodes" to them:


"you can add nodes (also referred to as pins) as valid wire attach points on components and connectors"


...from Pro/E help file re: Detailed Drawings.What I can't find or understand is how adding nodes is useful. I can't snap lines to them, and they are not really discussed anywhere else in the help files. Am I wasting my time making symbols with nodes or are they useful for an add-on which I don't have?

 

[LOOregano]

I read about those too and have been wondering the same thing. I just put dots in an ISO hydraulic/pneumatic symbol to represent intersections to meet the ISO Standards. If someone knows a good use of nodes please let us know.


Also, do you know of a way to rearange Symbol groups without having to delete and recreate them? This has been driving me crazy for months and I have not found a way to manipulate (or even rename) symbol groups and subgroups which have already been created. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[dr_gallup]

I think (but don't really know) that those nodes are only useful it you have Routed System Designer (RSD) extension which lets you make 3D wiring harnesses, etc. and then create schematic drawings. Be good if some RSD gurus could spill the beans.

 

[D3syn3rMike]

I don't know about editing symbol groups. I kind of gave up a while ago, it was beginning to get too tedious with little return on investment.


I have RSD Lite, which came with Pro/Cabling and Piping extension (not to be confused with Pro/Diagram). The process of creating a template, library, schematic or wiring diagram, importing that data into a 3D model in Pro/E, and creating a 3D harness is the most tedious process that I've played with in the Pro/E suite.


I had hoped that I could make, for example, a cable assembly package complete with wiring diagram, BOM, and assembly instructions, etc. in one drawing. Problem is that RSD Lite will only export .xml files to import into Pro/E to make 3D harnesses. My EEs do not have RSD or RSD Lite (just MS Visio). RSD Lite will not save as .pdf, so I can not share any schematics with my EEs. They only way for me to share information with anybody is to print out a schematic made in RSD Lite, or make a Pro/E drawing and save as .pdf, or go through the tedious process of a 3D harness and flatten the harness in a drawing and save as .pdf. Additionally, RSD Lite will not save as .dxf, so I can not import in a 2D schematic/diagram into a drawing.


My only alternative was to make a diagram in a Pro/E drawing, which is where I stumbled into the symbols and nodes, but any diagram made that way is not parametric nor linked to a 3D model.