Cable List

On the Cabling tab, either clicking Cable List or selecting Cable List > Cables list pane shows or hides the Cable List pane. In this pane, you can utilize many (but not all) of the functions of the Cable Manager tool.

Opening the Cable List pane consumes a 'Cable Router' license, and closing the pane or leaving the Cabling tab releases the license again.

Changes made to cables in the Cable List pane can be reverted or re-applied using the standard Undo and Redo commands found in the Plant Modeller quick access toolbar.

Cable List pane

In the Cable List pane, you can do the following:

You can use the Routed, Not Routed, and Issues tabs to browse and manage 3D cables created in Plant/Outfitting according to their routing status.

Selecting any one of these tabs shows the total number of cables in each category after the tab's title.

These three tabs share the same Filter and Search functions, column layout, and context menu.

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You can use the External Cables tab to browse and manage cables defined in CADMATIC P&ID, CADMATIC Electrical, or third-party software.

Selecting this tab shows the total number of external cables after the tab's title.

This tab has its own Filter and Search functions, column layout, and context menu.

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On any tab, you can use the main filters, the search function, and the additional filters to find the required cables.

You can change the column layout with drag-and-drop or by clicking Columns, and sort information by clicking column headers.

Selecting one or several cables enables the applicable commands in the context menu, such as routing a cable or deleting the existing route.

Selecting cables displays their properties in the Properties pane. The (editable) attributes and the approval status of checked-out cables can be modified through the property pane.

Cable list filters | Commands for 3D cables | Commands for external cables

Cable list filters

You can filter the cable lists by selecting a suitable main filter.

Filter:

None – Select this option to list all cables.
By system – Select this option to only list the cables that use a specific system. You can select the system from the drop-down list or the object browser.
By query – Select this option to only list the cables that match a COS query. You can select the query from the drop-down list or through Manage Queries.
Cables in selected part – Select this option to only list the cables that are routed through the selected object. The object can be a cable node, cable segment, or host object of the cable routing network (cable tray, cable penetration, or conduit). You can see the object's current fill rate on this tab, and you can click Show Fill Rate View to display a fill rate view, if supported by the object.

After selecting the main filter, you can filter the cable lists further as described below.

Search – You can filter the cable lists by entering a search string. The search string can correspond to any portion of a visible column's value.

Filters for cables with issues:

Changed route – Select this option to display cables whose route has changed.
Broken route – Select this option to display cables whose route is broken.
Head/tail change – Select this option to display cables whose head or tail location has changed.

Filters for external cables:

Not created/unlinked – Select this option to display external cables that have not been created in Plant Modeller yet or have been created but are not yet linked to a 3D cable.
Linked – Select this option to display external cables that are linked to a 3D cable.

Manage Queries

In the Cable List pane, the Manage Queries button opens the Select and Manage Stored Queries for Cables dialog.

In this dialog, you can manage your COS queries that are used for filtering the cable list. These queries are private—they are not visible to other users.

To create a query, click New. Define the selection rules for the query and save it with a descriptive name along with the .cqsr extension.
To edit a query, select it and click Edit.
To delete a query, select it and click Delete.

Selecting a query and clicking OK applies that query to the cable list.

Commands for 3D cables

The context menu of the Routed, Not Routed, and Issues tabs contains the following commands.

Note: Commands that modify cables require the cables to be either checked out or at least available for check-out. They will check out (or request ownership of) cables that are available but not checked out. If cable's status is 'Approved', the user is prompted whether to allow the approvals to be revoked and then approve them again after the operation.

Action	Description
Autoroute	This command routes the selected cables using the shortest/cheapest route.
Route manually	This command opens the Manual Routing dialog where you can pick routing nodes manually. It also displays the texts "Head" and "Tail" in their respective locations within the work views. The cable node to use as the start or end node must have a node ID. You can add node IDs via Modify or Node Ids in the Cable Router tool. Using manual routing, you can make selections that auto-routing does not make: Manual routing does not check for maximum air jump length from a node to a head or tail equipment that is not in a compartment. Manual routing accepts a route from a node to a head or tail equipment that is not in the same compartment. Manual routing does not check whether the route between a node and a head or tail equipment is clear from other objects. The Manual Routing dialog contains these commands: Show/hide image Show open ends – Select this option to display a red icon on top of all cable nodes that have only one valid segment or are not connected at all. Show/hide image Clear the option to remove the icons. Set First Node – Allows selecting the cable node that connects the cable to the head equipment. The node to select must have a node ID. Selecting the node displays the label "First node" in the work view, and the name of the button changes to Remove First Node, allowing you to remove the first node if needed. Show/hide image Set Last Node – Allows selecting the cable node that connects the cable to the tail equipment. The node to select must have a node ID. Selecting the node displays the label "Last node" in the work view, and the name of the button changes to Remove Last Node, allowing you to remove the last node if needed. Show/hide image Select Manual Nodes – Allows defining a specific route for the cable by selecting any number of nodes that should be used in the route, in any order. That is, you do not need to pick all the nodes, and the picking order does not affect the routing order. Starting this command clears any previous selections except the first and the last node. When you have picked the nodes you want to use and press Enter, the program performs automatic routing to generate the segments before, between, and after the picked nodes. Each node that you manually assign with this tool is given an ordinal number. While the program is searching for the best route, you can choose to interrupt the operation if it is taking too much time. Show/hide image You can modify the generated order with the Modify Route tool. Select Nodes in Order – Allows selecting a set of nodes in sequential order from the head to the tail. Starting this command clears any previous selections except the first and the last node. Pressing Enter accepts the set and auto-routes the cable. Deselect Manual Node – Allows removing a manually defined node, but not the first or the last node, from the route. Pick the node that you want to remove and evaluate the new route that is shown in the views. Press Enter to confirm the removal. Modify Route – Allows modifying the current route by routing the cable via nodes that it did not use previously. Each node that you manually assign with this tool gets an ordinal number that designates the position of the node along the route. The tool always shows in green the nodes that you can select at the given moment. You can move the "first node" or "last node" assignment to a different node: Select the currently used first/last node and press Enter. Select the node that should become the first/last node and press Enter. You can set the cable to go via specific nodes: Select a node that is used in the route. If the route already contains manually defined nodes that have an ordinal number, selecting an automatically defined node assigns an ordinal number to that node, and the other nodes are re-numbered accordingly. You can try selecting different nodes to see how it changes the order. When the node that you want to re-assign is selected, press Enter. Now all the nodes that are not used in the route currently are displayed in green to indicate that they are possible routing points. Show/hide image Select the node to which the cable should be routed. The applicable ordinal number is assigned to that node. You can try selecting different target nodes to see how it changes the routing. The program immediately prompts you if it cannot complete the route via the selected node. When the node that you want to use is selected, press Enter. The manual routing dialog displays again. Show/hide image Select Modify Route if you want to modify another node. This way, you can route the cable via a specific route, changing the route node by node. The ordinal numbers are stored in the cable, so you can return to modify the route also later, if needed. Show/hide image Browse – Allows browsing the 3D model. Press Esc to return to the dialog. Undo – Undoes the latest action. Note that there is no Redo command in this context. OK – Accepts the currently defined route. Cancel – Cancels the modifications.
Delete route	This command deletes the route of the selected cables.
Accept changes	This command accepts the route and the head/tail changes of the selected cables.
Inspect route	This command tries to illustrate why the route of the selected cables is broken by inspecting the current route and showing all the issues in it. You can select an issue from the list, and open the context menu to see what can be done with it. Most issues enable you to at least see their location in the 3D model. The following issues can also be fixed if the cable is checked out: Missing pull marker. Missing head or tail node. The head or tail node of the route may be missing if the corresponding node has disappeared from the model and there is no suitable node at the same location. In this case, the user can specify which node to use as the head or tail node, and the cable router will try to find the route to the next valid corner node. Show/hide image
Set pull marker	This command can be used to select the cable node where you want to set the pull marker or remove the existing pull marker. Press Enter to confirm the action.
Set extra lengths	This command opens the Set Extra Lengths dialog where you can define extra length for the head and tail sections of the selected cables. Show/hide image Length / Percentage – You can define the extra length in millimeters or as a percentage of the base head or tail length. If the cable is directly routed from one equipment to another without using cable ways, you must define the extra length in millimeters. Use cable settings – Select this to take the extra head or tail length from the cable router settings described in Cables.
Ownership	Through this menu you can perform the following commands. Check out – Checks out the selected cables. Check in – Checks in the selected cables. Relinquish ownership – Relinquishes the ownership of the selected cables. Request ownership from master – Requests the ownership of the selected cables from the master server. Request ownership from replica – Requests the ownership of the selected cables from the replica server.
Properties	This command opens the Properties pane, if not open already.
Show cable view	This command opens the Cable View dialog, displaying the routes of the selected cables. You can adjust the view through Cable View Settings.
Refresh cable list	This command reloads all the details of the cables, if for some reason the information has not been updated automatically.

Commands for external cables

The context menu of the External Cables tab contains the following commands.

Action	Description
Create or link by ID	This command links the selected integration objects to 3D cables based on the cable ID. If previously linked objects have been unlinked with Unlink but keep position ID, this command is able to automatically re-link them. If an integration object has duplicates, this command selects the newest one, based on creation time in COS.
Find cable to link to	This command opens the Find and Select Objects dialog for linking the selected integration object to a 3D cable. You can use the search functions described in Find to find the required cable.
Unlink	This command unlinks the selected integration objects, including any duplicates they might have, from the 3D cables. Note: This command removes the 'Original Position Info' attribute from the 3D cable, preventing automatic re-linking. You will still be able to re-link the integration objects manually, using Find cable to link to. To unlink individual integration objects, use Details > Unlink from Model Object instead.
Unlink but keep position ID	Unlinks all integration objects, including any duplicates they might have, from the cables. Note: This command keeps the 'Original Position Info' attribute in the 3D cable, enabling Create or link by ID to re-link the integration objects.
Details	Opens the Object Details dialog. Show/hide image This dialog displays a tab for each integration object with the given position ID. On each tab, you can see the attributes of the integration object and the possible link to a 3D cable. If there are multiple tabs of the same type, it means that the integration object has duplicates in COS. If the integration object is linked to the wrong (or non-existing) 3D cable, or the integration object is a duplicate of the intended integration object, you should unlink the object, then correct the linking, and possibly request the project administrator to delete any unwanted duplicates from COS. Unlink from Model Object – Unlinks the integration object from the 3D cable. Tip: Instead of unlinking integration objects one by one, you can use Unlink or Unlink but keep position ID to unlink all of them at once.
Show head and tail	This command opens the Cable View dialog, displaying the head and tail objects of the selected cable, if they are found in the model. You can adjust the view through Cable View Settings.
Refresh cable list	This command reloads all the details of the external cables, if for some reason the information has not been updated automatically.