The following illustrations show the Connector class and the Connector Symbol, Connector MasterSymbol and Connector BlockSymbol features in the Edit Classification System [Edit class system] and Classification dialogs.

Connector Symbol | Connector MasterSymbol | Connector BlockSymbol

Class: CNSELEK|4 - Connector

The two figures below show the classification of the symbol once at global level and once at connection level. E3 would issue an error message if the symbol was not classified globally. The information at connection level cannot be processed by E3 and is ignored. The advantage of classifying at both levels is flexibility and independence from the respective target system.

Global: Class CNSELEK|4 in the "Class variables [Class variables] " dialog box

Connection level: Class CNS_CP||4||3 for 10 males and 1 PE connection in the "Class variables [Class variables] " dialog box

Note

In the context of this chapter, global contact design means that the IEC symbol for male/female (S00032/S00031) is not only set at connection level, but also globally via the CNSELEK|4 class. This serves as a fallback for a target system such as E3, which only allows the symbols S00032 and S00031 for connectors, for example. The modeler must therefore decide for himself which connector symbol must be set globally and appropriately for the function of the component. A frequent example for this situation is a connector with N symbols S00032 and 1 PE connection with symbol "S00017+RS00200". See the following three comments:

Remark 1:

This is a raw eCl@ss Advanced Import, which can be successfully exported in this form to Zuken, for example. Strictly speaking, however, the system is not fully classified here, as the IEC symbolism at connection level is obviously missing in the figure on the right (see above Fig. „Phoenix Contact: Finished contacts 1648173“). This is where the concept of the master symbol comes into play connection level

Connector BlockSymbol - Connector Symbol - Connector MasterSymbol

The idea here is, that connectors are essentially build with identical connections. So basically the global statement "this system has N times (=number of connections) females/males is sufficient.^[54]

This is accomplished in eCl@ss via the contact version AAB754 (see appendix to this chapter):

Enumeration Type AAB754 defines a connection of the type "Pin" (AAM113) (male)

Note 2: Global contact execution in CNS classification

This global contact execution is conveyed within the CNS classification system in the CNSELEK|4 class. It is also possible to assign completely separate symbols for block and master symbols. These quite specific constructs are defined in Zuken, for example, and are used to simplify working with connectors. As part of the CNS classification, we will only use the default values from the illustration for master and block symbols. The interface itself could also carry out this step. However, it makes more sense to leave this possibly even redundant step to the modeler. This achieves a certain degree of explicitness. (Since block and master symbols are generated for connectors in certain target systems, the modeler is made aware of this fact in this way)

Class CNSELEK|4 and respective values for a male global contact. Here block and master symbol are redundant (do not contain new information) and arise from simple string concatenations. At this class, only the instantiation of one single instance makes sense. (Display in PARTdataManager in the dialog area "Part information")

Note 3: Classification guideline for contacts

We will support global contact execution via CNS classification CNSELEK|4 (as far as it makes sense). Basically this serves as a fallback for Zuken E3 and its limitations. However, our main focus is on the correct IEC symbolism with function groups etc. Let's take another look at 1648173: Electrical Connection 6:1 is out of the ordinary. This is a PE connection (protective conductor?), which is certainly not correctly described by the statement all connections are S00032 (this is exactly the meaning of the global contact design in this case). We therefore have to add the missing values in Connection EclassSymbolMap (CNS_CP|4|3 ), but this is very easy in the case of connectors (support via a wizard is planned).

We can derive a recipe from a fully classified part (the following consideration is to be seen as a guide for comparable problems, which can then be solved independently). In the part, the FUNCTION_GROUP ADN293 has the following form:

ADN293 for a plug with 11 connections and 11 functions; one function is assigned to each connection.

Expanded, representative view: Each of the 10 connector contacts gets assigned S00032, the PE connection E00145.

An abstract of the eCl@ss information nearly automatically leads to the used syntax. (S00032 and E00145 only have one pin in accordance with the symbol definition.)

10 males and 1 PE connection

Symbol      ||     FunktionsNummer     ||     PinNummer in der Funktion 
S00032      ||           10            ||               1 

Note

In above table it is apparent that the connector is modelled with 10 + 1 connections, where the 11th connection is the typical PE case which is neither male nor female. A target system like E3 would fail, if the global CNSELEK|4 would not have been set. However, there are ECAD systems which are able to handle this finer modelling of a connector. So the recommendation is: Classify globally for the whole part AND on connection level in addition! Thereby the CNS classification becomes independent and flexible.

The relevant information concerning enumeration type AAB754 is summarized in the following table (eCl@ss definition).

Enumeration type AAB754 of eCl@ss 10.0 definition

The Connector [CNSELEK|4] class also contains the two features Connector Polarization and Connector Coding. They support fast recognition of which connectors are compatible and thus error-free pairing (male/female).

The characteristics are set in PARTproject, in the Class variables dialog. The entry can be made in any form, as there is a wide range of possibilities depending on the manufacturer and component.

Example with Connector Polarization feature: The value is controlled via a table variable.

Example: PARTproject -> Class variables

Example: Result in PARTdataManager