Guiding Cables with Cable scheduler
You can "guide" a cable (control the creation of its route) by instructing Cable Scheduler that you want it to travel through a set of raceway segments (trays). The trays may form all of the route or part of it. Each guiding tray's inclusion in the route may be optional or compulsory. The trays are considered to be WAYPOINTS when used as guides for routing a cable. When a set of trays is made in to a list for guiding a cable it is known as a PARTIAL RACEWAY GROUP.
Waypoints
For any cable, you can specify that it must pass through several waypoints along its route. A waypoint is a raceway segment (tray etc) that should be included in the route a cable. For example you could dictate that all cables going to a particular building must pass through a particular man hole to avoid a hazardous zone nearby. The tray inside that manhole would be set as one or several waypoints. A Guide can have up to 250 waypoints. The waypoints are output to EDS in a file in a file <project>CableWaypoint.DBF. This file contains each cable name, followed by the waypoint raceway segments (trays).
All waypoint functionality is achieved by creating a guiding Partial Raceway Group. This group is a list of the segments you wish to use as waypoints for any cable. This list must be in the correct order for your cable.
Compulsory vs. Optional Waypoints
Waypoints can be optional or compulsory. A compulsory waypoint MUST be used in a cables route. If a route cannot be found without that compulsory waypoint then the route will fail or produce errors alerting you to the fact that your waypoint was missed.
An optional waypoint tray will be included in a route if possible, however if not possible (maybe it that tray was already full) then the optional waypoint tray will still cause the route of the cable to be directed through trays nearby that optional waypoint tray. Optional waypoints will provide a loose guide to a cables route even if not included in that route.
Compulsory waypoints are generally used in the Guide Cable routing functions. However the Home Run guiding function uses optional waypoints.
Routing with Waypoints
For any waypoint, the auto routing function will attempt to find the shortest route for the cable that also passes through the specified waypoints, in order.
Waypoints assist the route tracing process. During the route tracing, the procedure uses the next waypoint as a target instead of the final destination. Without waypoints, the route tracing procedure will target the final destination at all times. Using waypoints for targets can substantially reduce the time taken to find the correct route if that route must deviate from the usual direction towards the destination.
Raceway Groups
All waypoint functionality is achieved by creating a guiding "Raceway Group". This group is a list of the segments you wish to use as waypoints for any cable. This list must be in the correct order for your cable.
For more information on Raceway groups.
Raceway Groups : a route or guide for a cable
Cable Context Menu
Guiding and Routing functions for Cables are accessible from the context menu of a cable (either in the tree, or in a list view).
The Optional Routing /Guiding methods
For more information on the methods of Guiding cables and Raceway groups.
Guide cables with a group of waypoints
Guide cables with the same waypoints used by another cable
Route cables exactly the same as another cable