How do I keep a specific child object location from showing on parent XREF?

[pqphillips]

Okay, a little backstory...

Y'know how on single phase ladder runs it's customary to add the text to the outside of the ladder to indicate what that specific rung is for? Typically, it is handled by either plain text or by having component attributes moved to the outside, to make it look like this:

Well, I decided to up the game a bit and created a child symbol containing only the attributes and have the insertion point on the right side of the ladder so I could line it all up. The theory is that I insert this child symbol, associate it with the parent, and it pulls the info in, showing the descriptions outside the ladder. Easy peasy, right?

Well, the issue is the XREFs. Specifically that the XREF on the parent is showing the location of that child. Is there a way to block that XREF capability for that specific child component while still allowing other XREFs to show up?

[jseefdrumr]

Couple of suggestions...

You could totally remove the XREF attribute from the parent symbol, but I would advise against that in a general sense just because there may come a day when you need to actually make use of it. However, for things like Ethernet switches, which have no auxiliary contacts or other things that might need cross referencing, it should be fine. In my eye, it would depend on how necessary the XREF attribute is to that particular symbol, especially if one symbol is used to represent different components.

The other option is to just hide the XREF attribute. You can hide individual attributes without affecting the rest of the symbol. There are (at least) two ways to hide XREF attributes:

1. Schematic>Edit Components>Component Cross Reference (pull down arrow)>Hide/Unhide Cross Referencing
2. Schematic>Edit Components>Move/Show Attribute (pull down arrow)>Hide Attribute

I actually use the Hide Attribute tool so much that I added to my macros.

[pqphillips]

Yeah, I should have clarified further my reasoning for asking if this was possible.

The SW15502 device is a parent, yes, and the side text is a child.

There is also another child being used on a networking drawing that is essentially a true-to-life representation of the switch with attributes and connection points. The purpose for that is to interconnect the power and communication drawings so if one updates, so does the other.

In essence, this is why I wanted the ability to have the parent "ignore" the side text child for XREF purposes. I do want the parent to have the XREF for the communications drawing child.

Removing the XREF attribute entirely is a no-go because of the need for cross referencing with the communications drawing, and the same goes for hiding the XREF.

I really don't think there's a way to do what I want to do, as XREFs seem to be set in stone in terms of how they function, so I compromised and created another parent symbol with the exact same setup as the side text block, inserted it where I wanted it, and used the "Pick" option under the descriptions to match them to the switch.

It requires editing that component separately if I update the switch (or any other item I use it for), but it works.

[rhesusminus · Accepted solution]

Just make sure the child symbol has an attribute named CONTACT with a (default) value NULL.

This will exclude this child symbol from the xref on the parent symbol.

Read more here: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-electrical/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/201...

[JeffatPrimex]

Quickest way I do that is just use the attribute hide tool.

[rhesusminus]

Except... that will hide the xrefs to ALL child objects.

[pqphillips]

Thank you, resusminus! That did it. 

You are a gentleman and a scholar.

[rhesusminus]

Well, thank you.

Can I get the gentleman part in writing so I can use it on my Tinder profile 😄 ?

[pqphillips]

Yeah, because "Some random dude on the internet said I was a gentleman once" is not gonna be taken with a grain of salt the size of Mt Everest...

[JeffatPrimex]

I must have missed something over the last 15 years, just how does hiding the xref attribute on the parent cause all the child xref attributes to hide?

[pqphillips]

It doesn't, and that's not what we are trying to do. I want only one of the XREFs on the parent to be invisible, not all.

[rhesusminus]

I wrote that all the xrefs (cross-references) TO the child objects will be hidden. Not the xrefs ON the child objects.