Is there a way to show net connections via air-wires in a schematic (not the 2D PCB)

[chris_cummingsDT]

I hope I do not look too stupid. We have a schematic with a number of components and connectors on a page that are electrically connected via net neames. However, there are no actual lines on the sheet connecting them. This seems to be the modern trend in schematic generation, but for the service techs, it is harder for them to look at and make the connection in their minds.

I prefer to draw lines between connected devices, when the devices are on the same page, and it is not too burdensome. 

Is there a script or ULP or even a feature in the app that will draw basically what I would call "schematic air-wires"? Draw lines between all the connecting points of a net that do not have a line already attached.

Am I crazy?

[m.neujahr_at_moe]

Hello @chris_cummingsDT ,

I'm not realy sure if I'm right:

• You can add "labels" to you net:
  
• If you add a frame to your schematic, the sheet and position are added:
  Sheet 3, Area 1B like shown in the upper picture for "URK/DATEN"
• You can use a "Bus" with multiple nets over all sheets

For highlightning, you can use "show" or "run find.ulp"

This is my prefered hint:

• Download the Eagle-Installation-File an take a look into the "manual_en.pdf" in the installation-subfolder "doc"
  

  You will find a lot of hints.

[melisa.kaner]

Hey @chris_cummingsDT , 

There are no silly questions! And this is what the forum is perfect for. As @m.neujahr_at_moe suggested, labels may be your answer here. 

However, you'll want the Fusion 360 help docs to ensure the UI is representative and fully up to date, like this: https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=ECD-LABEL-DO.

Best regards,

Melisa

[chris_cummingsDT]

Thank you so much for the follow-up and I am very sorry it took so long for me to respond! Not just the holidays, but a hard drive crash after a storm has kept me offline for a bit.

So, the net naming is very handy. We use it extensively. It is not what I was thinking about, though. I know the ERC can tell us about nets that have no connections, but when a signal is supposed to go to more than one place, there is no great way to visualize that all the net merges were done accurately.

As an example, U1, Pin 1 carries Signal X. U2 is to receive X on pin 5. U9 is ALSO supposed to get X on pin 2, but that is actually mapped to Signal Y and thus gets connected to another net entirely. An error, to be sure, but to a QA checker, not an easy one to identify in a complex design.

The attached PDF is my crude attempt to show what I was hoping existed. It seems obvious that no one has asked before, so.... 

[m.neujahr_at_moe]

Hello @chris_cummingsDT ,

ok, this looks like a good example to use the "BUS":

• Add all signals that belong together to one "BUS"
• You can make one/two/three seperate buses to separete signals to "special classes"
  • one bus for power
  • one bus for input-signals
  • one bus for ...
• Just one example:
  One bus for "Hall-Signals"
  One bus for "PWM-Signals"
  

[chris_cummingsDT]

I do like the bus feature for cleaning up a schematic. Thanks! However, the goal of the rat's nest would be to visualize connections not otherwise obvious, when devices, even with named nets are not connected via lines on the page.

Maybe the UI would by a list of nests (browse by Nets, like we have) where a "show line" checkbox would draw lines between all devices connected to that net. Again, more just for design QC than prettying up the schematic, which I may have overstated in my original post.

Now as a matter of etiquette, I do not want to drag this out for anyone as unresolved. Should I accept one of the solutions, regardless of whether it is really the answer?

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @chris_cummingsDT,

I hope you're doing well. Only mark a post as an answer if you really feel it has resolved your issue. This isn't the support ticket system so there's no issue with keeping it alive.

One other thing to try, have you used the SHOW and SHOW @ commands. These commands highlight all the segments of a specific net. The SHOW @ command both highlights and frames all segments of a given net. Maybe that can address your need?

The design manager is another way to find all the members of a net.

Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[chris_cummingsDT]

Thanks for bringing the Show @ command to my attention, Jorge! You really know this stuff. 

It looks like that is the closest thing we can get. It would be great if that command ALSO highlighted the same net on other sheets of a multi-sheet schematic, but switching sheets clears the command. A solution to that gets us off into the weeds of another future feature I would love to see.

You know how Word will start to show multiple pages per screen of a multi-page document if you zoom out or widen the app window? I was wondering if anyone had ever thought of combining multiple schematic sheets into a "global" viewport.

You get a little of that when you bring out the Sheets Window, but that can't be undocked (but all 4 sides and be modified!) and you still have to select one to work in it. If instead, you just saw all of the sheets you have created with the grid or a shaded background and then blank-space in-between was still valid for holding objects (off-page) like clipboard area, you would just zoom in and out or pan and scroll, like we are used to doing, and the sheets could auto-arrange in a grid based on app window (viewport) aspect ratio.

Maybe food for thought.

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @chris_cummingsDT,

I hope you're doing well. Thank you for the suggestion, I'll report it as a feature request.

Best Regards,