About Exporting to Autodesk Inventor Professional Cable and Harness

You can export wire list information from AutoCAD Electrical toolset and directly import it into Autodesk Inventor Professional Cable & Harness. In order to merge electrical and mechanical data, you must first create a one-to-one mapping from the electrical data to the mechanical assembly. Make sure the following are correctly set up before running the report.

Pin numbers on component symbols

The pin numbers on the component symbols in AutoCAD Electrical toolset must correspond to the Pin Name property on the equivalent pin in Autodesk Inventor Professional Cable & Harness. Use the Pin Properties dialog box in Autodesk Inventor Professional Cable & Harness to change the pin name property. The pin number is the TERMxx attribute value on an AutoCAD Electrical toolset component or terminal.

Component tags

Each component is defined with a unique Tag ID classified as the Component Tag. The component tags on each component in AutoCAD Electrical toolset must correspond to the unique identifier or reference designator (RefDes property value) for the corresponding electrical part instance in the designated harness assembly in the Cable & Harness application. Use the Part Properties dialog box in Autodesk Inventor Professional Cable & Harness to change the RefDes property.

You can define attributes on components in AutoCAD Electrical toolset that can map to properties when exported to Autodesk Inventor Professional. These attributes can be component definition (catalog database) or component occurrence specific. Use the Edit Component tool to edit the occurrence of a component. Upon selection of a catalog number from the AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog database, component definition properties can be applied to the component occurrence and the information exported into the XML file.

Note: When you apply additional parts to the component occurrence, their respective component definition properties can also be applied in the overall component occurrence. Up to ten additional part numbers can be applied to the occurrence of a component. Each of these catalog numbers can have their own set of component definition properties.

Wires

In order to map wires from the schematic to the 3D design, each wire needs a persistent tag or number used to uniquely identify it within the design. The wire number in AutoCAD Electrical toolset is used as the Wire ID property value in Cable & Harness. The cabling application needs a From/To list with a unique identifier to track inputs from multiple wire lists and to know when wires have moved or been updated on subsequent imports. The wires in the schematic must be fixed, mapped to a wire in the Cable & Harness Wire Library, and have distinct wires into the same pin.

Note: The wire number must be unique for individual From and To connections and a wire network ladder style cannot be used.

You can define attributes and properties on a wire that can map to properties when exported to Autodesk Inventor Professional. These attributes can be wire definition (wire type) or wire occurrence specific. Use the Edit Wire Number tool to edit the wire number. Upon selection of a wire type from the Set/Edit Wire Type dialog box, wire definition properties can be applied to the wire layer occurrence and the information exported into the XML file.

Wire layers

Not all nets in a schematic are physical wires; some are representative of other types of connections, such as those made by attaching a component to a bus bar. When attempts are made to map these nets in a harness assembly, the corresponding pins/parts are often not present. Only the nets that are to be mapped into wires in 3D should be drawn with a layer identified as a wire for inclusion in the output report file for Autodesk Inventor Professional Cable & Harness. If a wire that is included in the custom report output file is not recognized as a library wire in the Cable & Harness Library during the Import Wire List process, the wire occurrence will not be imported.

The layers defined in AutoCAD Electrical toolset must first be defined as valid wire layers. Each AutoCAD Electrical toolset wire layer must then correspond to a valid library wire in the Cable & Harness Library. While the wire layer in AutoCAD Electrical toolset is just a label or name, the Cable & Harness wire definition defines how the wire is displayed - including size (outer diameter and gauge) and color.

Cables

When cables are used in the schematic, the name of the cable conductor (wire) layer defined in the drawing of AutoCAD Electrical toolset must correspond to a valid cable definition in the Cable & Harness Library. The Wire Color/ID of each conductor in AutoCAD Electrical toolset must correspond to a Conductor ID used in that cable definition in the Cable & Harness Library. This Wire Color/ID can be overwritten on each cable conductor occurrence by selecting Edit Component on a cable marker and making the change in the Insert / Edit Cable Marker dialog box. The Conductor list in the AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog can also be changed to reflect the same Conductor ID used in Cable & Harness.

The cable occurrence definition is made up of one parent symbol and multiple children symbols depending on the number of wires included. Upon selection of a catalog number from the AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog database, component definition properties can be applied to the component occurrence and the information exported into the XML file.

Note: When you apply additional parts to the component occurrence, their respective component definition properties can also be applied in the overall component occurrence. Up to ten additional part numbers can be applied to the occurrence of a component. Each of these catalog numbers can have their own set of component definition properties.

Splices

Each splice is defined with a Splice ID (component tag). The Splice ID in AutoCAD Electrical toolset is used as the RefDes property value in Cable & Harness. Use the Edit Component tool to edit the splice component. Upon selection of a catalog number from the AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog database, splice definition properties can be applied to the component occurrence and the information exported into the XML file.

Note: When you apply additional parts to the component occurrence, their respective splice definition properties can also be applied in the overall component occurrence. Up to ten additional part numbers can be applied to the occurrence of a component. Each of these catalog numbers can have their own set of component definition properties.

Branches and Ts in nets

Branches and Ts in nets are not valid on nets imported into Cable & Harness. These types of representations map to multiple possible physical configurations. The exact physical intent of each wire must be depicted in the wiring diagram. Both non-physical and physical splices must be used so that each net that represents a wire has only two nodes: a From and a To. In AutoCAD Electrical toolset, direct connections into a component must be created (no Ts) so that each physical wire has a definitive From component/pin and a To component/pin.

AutoCAD Electrical Toolset attributes mapped to Autodesk Inventor Professional properties

There are four Autodesk Inventor Professional assembly entity types that get AutoCAD Electrical toolset attributes: components, wires, cable, and splices.

Attribute TAG	Attribute Type	Description
Component Properties
INST & LOC	Occurrence	Installation and Location code; associated to the component tag (RefDes)
TAG1 & TAG2	Occurrence	Component TAG - RefDes property name
DESC1- DESC3	Occurrence	Descriptions used to describe the component
CAT	Occurrence	Main AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog number - Part Number property name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
MFG	Occurrence	Manufacturer - Vendor of Part Number property name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
ASSYCODE	Occurrence	Assembly code for part - if part is a subset of an assembly
CAT01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM part numbers
MFG01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM Manufacturer associated to the Multiple BOM part numbers
ASSYCODE01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM Assembly codes associated to the Multiple BOM part numbers
RATING1-12	Occurrence	Rating information associated to the component definition
FAMILY	Definition	Family code definition - FAMILY attribute on AutoCAD Electrical toolset block file
WDBLKNAM	Definition	Block name definition used for catalog lookup
Wire Properties
WIRENO	Occurrence	Unique wire number ID - AutoCAD Electrical toolset wire number
LAYER NAME	Occurrence	Wire layer name (AutoCAD Layer) - Wire Definition name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
Layer Name - Wire Properties Xrecords	Definition	Wire layer properties (Xrecords on AutoCAD layer) - Definition custom properties on the wire number in Autodesk Inventor Professional
WIRENO attributes WIRENO01-10	Occurrence	Wire attributes on wire number block file - Occurrence custom properties on the wire number in Autodesk Inventor Professional
Cable ID Properties
INST & LOC	Occurrence	Installation and Location code; associated to the component tag (RefDes)
TAG1 & TAG2	Occurrence	Component TAG - RefDes property name
RATING1	Occurrence	Cable conductor ID; AutoCAD Electrical toolset Rating1 attribute - Cable Wire name in Autodesk Inventor Professional; add a numeric value along with the conductor color
DESC1- DESC3	Occurrence	Descriptions used to describe the component
CAT	Occurrence	Main AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog number - Part Number property name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
MFG	Occurrence	Manufacturer - Vendor of Part Number property name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
ASSYCODE	Occurrence	Assembly code for part - if part is a subset of an assembly
CAT01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM part numbers
MFG01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM Manufacturer associated to the Multiple BOM part numbers
ASSYCODE01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM Assembly codes associated to the Multiple BOM part numbers
FAMILY	Definition	Family code definition - FAMILY attribute on AutoCAD Electrical toolset block file
WDBLKNAM	Definition	Block name definition used for catalog lookup
Splice Properties
INST & LOC	Occurrence	Installation and Location code; associated to the component tag (RefDes)
TAG1	Occurrence	Component TAG - RefDes property name
DESC1- DESC3	Occurrence	Descriptions used to describe the component
CAT	Occurrence	Main AutoCAD Electrical toolset catalog number - Part Number property name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
MFG	Occurrence	Manufacturer - Vendor of Part Number property name in Autodesk Inventor Professional
ASSYCODE	Occurrence	Assembly code for part - if part is a subset of an assembly
CAT01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM part numbers
MFG01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM Manufacturer associated to the Multiple BOM part numbers
ASSYCODE01-10	Occurrence	Multiple BOM Assembly codes associated to the Multiple BOM part numbers
RATING1-12	Occurrence	Rating information associated to the component definition
FAMILY	Definition	Family code definition - FAMILY attribute on AutoCAD Electrical toolset block file
WDBLKNAM	Definition	Block name definition used for catalog lookup