Simple Wires Help

- Getting Started: /manual/docs/getting-started.html
- Projects Dashboard: /manual/docs/projects.html
- Sharing Projects: /manual/docs/sharing.html
- Drawings and the Start Page: /manual/docs/drawings.html
- The Drawing Editor: /manual/docs/editor.html
- Functional Blocks and Ports: /manual/docs/blocks.html
- Master Library: /manual/docs/equipment-library.html
- Warehouses: /manual/docs/warehouses.html
- Racks and Rack Panels: /manual/docs/racks.html
- Drawing Cables: /manual/docs/cables.html
- Off Sheet Pointers: /manual/docs/off-sheet-pointers.html
- Shapes, Text and Images: /manual/docs/shapes-text-images.html
- Page Setup and Drawing Settings: /manual/docs/page-setup.html
- Printing and Exporting: /manual/docs/print-export.html
- Project Data Grids: /manual/docs/project-data.html
- Signal Types: /manual/docs/signal-types.html
- Drawing Revisions: /manual/docs/revisions.html
- Teams: /manual/docs/teams.html
- Billing and Plans: /manual/docs/billing.html
- Your Account: /manual/docs/account.html
- Themes and Appearance: /manual/docs/appearance.html
- Keyboard Shortcuts: /manual/docs/keyboard-shortcuts.html
- FAQ and Troubleshooting: /manual/docs/faq.html


# Functional Blocks and Ports

A functional block stands for one piece of equipment in a block diagram. Its ports are the equipment's
inputs and outputs, and the cables you draw between ports become your cable list. This page covers placing
and naming blocks, working with ports, and arranging blocks on the page.

## Anatomy of a functional block

{{< screenshot name="blocks-anatomy" alt="A functional block with its Manufacturer, Model, SysName, Alias and Location labels, port names and connectors" >}}

- **Manufacturer**, **Model** and **SysName** sit above the block, and **Alias** and **Location** below it.
  Drag a label to move it.
- Inputs are on the left side and outputs on the right. Each port has a **port name**, shown inside the
  block, and a **connector**, shown outside it next to a short colored stub. The stub's color comes from the
  port's signal type.
- Hover over a block to see its manufacturer, model and input and output counts.

Each kind of label has its own **Text Kind** (for example **SysName** or **Left Ports**), so you can style
them separately on the **Text** tab. See [Text]({{< relref "shapes-text-images#text" >}}).

## Placing a block

1. Open the drawing and expand **Functional Block Prototypes** in the library pane.
2. Drag the prototype closest to what you need onto the canvas.
3. Name the block and its ports (see below), and add or remove ports to match the equipment.

Prototypes are generic blocks with a few ports and placeholder names. New blocks use the stroke, fill and
text style set under **Settings** (**Active Stroke**, **Active Fill** and **Active Text Style**); see
[Page Setup and Drawing Settings]({{< relref "page-setup" >}}).

You can also place a block that already has the right ports from the Master Library, or reuse one you saved
in a warehouse. See [Master Library]({{< relref "equipment-library" >}}) and
[Warehouses]({{< relref "warehouses" >}}).

To resize a block, select it and drag a square handle. The ports spread out evenly along the block's
height. To rotate it, drag the round handle.

## Naming blocks

Click a label to edit it. A small card opens beside the label, naming the field you're editing and showing
the text at a readable size however far you've zoomed out. The label itself stays outlined on the drawing.

- Type the new text, then press <kbd>Enter</kbd>, press <kbd>Tab</kbd> or click elsewhere to save it.
- Press <kbd>Esc</kbd> to leave the label as it was.
- On a label that can hold several lines, press <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Enter</kbd> to start a new line.

{{< screenshot name="blocks-text-card" alt="The text editing card open under a block's SysName, with the label outlined on the drawing" >}}

| Label | Use it for |
|---|---|
| **Manufacturer** | The equipment maker. |
| **Model** | The model name or number. |
| **SysName** | A unique name for this unit in the system, such as `SPK-10` or `SRVR-01`. |
| **Alias** | A second, friendly name, such as what the operators call it. |
| **Location** | Where the unit lives. For rack panels mounted in a rack this is filled in for you; see [Racks and Rack Panels]({{< relref "racks" >}}). |

These names are carried into the cables connected to the block, and appear in the Equipment and Cables
grids. See [Project Data Grids]({{< relref "project-data#equipment" >}}).

To hide or show labels, select one or more blocks and right-click one. Under **Labels**, a tick shows which
labels the block you clicked is showing: **Manufacturer**, **Model**, **SysName**, **Alias** and
**Location**. Click one to switch it. Every selected block follows the one you clicked, so a mixed selection
ends up the same. **Show all labels** and **Hide all labels** switch every label at once.

### How to name things

Choose names that will still be right after the next revision of the design. Equipment gets back-ordered,
fails in the field and gets swapped for a different model, so avoid names that depend on details that can
change.

- **SysName** is the unit's identity. Build it from a short, abstract type prefix and a number: `SPK-10`
  survives a change of speaker model, `ATLAS12INCH70V-10` does not. Keep every SysName unique in the
  project, so each unit can be found.
- **Alias** holds the name people outside engineering use. Engineering may know twenty video servers as
  `SRVR-01` to `SRVR-20`, while operations knows `SRVR-01` as "Ingest Server". Think of Alias as the
  friendly, operational, functional or logical name. It is also a handy place to note the source that feeds
  a downstream device, such as naming a distribution amplifier after the source it feeds.
- **Projects and drawings** deserve names that stay true over time. "My New Project" won't be new next
  year; "Summer 2026 Studio Modifications" still makes sense. Use readable drawing names rather than bare
  numbers.

## Ports and connectors

Right-click the body of a block, or one of its port names, for the block menu. Its commands are grouped under
headings, and settings you can switch on and off show a tick when they're on.

- Under **Ports**:
  - **Add left port** and **Add right port** add one port to that side, named `PORT`*n* with connector
    `CONN`*n* and the **Default** signal type.
  - **Add ports…** opens the Add Ports dialog; see [Adding ports](#adding-ports).
  - **Show all ports** brings back hidden ports.
  - **Signal types for editing** swaps connectors for signal types; see
    [Port signal types](#port-signal-types).
- Under **Labels**, the label ticks and **Show all labels** / **Hide all labels**; see
  [Naming blocks](#naming-blocks).
- Under **Master Library**, **Upload this block** adds the block to the shared Master Library; see
  [Master Library]({{< relref "equipment-library#uploading-equipment-to-the-master-library" >}}).

{{< screenshot name="blocks-block-menu" alt="The block context menu with its Ports, Labels and Master Library headings and ticked labels" >}}

Right-click a connector label or port stub for the port menu:

- Under **This port**:
  - **Move port up** and **Move port down** change the port's order on its side.
  - **Hide port** hides the port.
  - **Remove port** deletes it.
- Under **Ports**:
  - **Show all ports** shows hidden ports again.
  - **Remove side ports** deletes every port on that side.
  - **Signal types for editing**, as above.
- Under **Connectors**, **Show all connectors** and **Hide all connectors** show or hide the connector labels
  on the selected blocks.

Commands that change a block's ports are hidden while the block's position is locked.

<!-- VERIFY: what happens to a cable attached to a port when that port is removed (cable deleted, or reattached to the block body)? -->

{{< screenshot name="blocks-port-menu" alt="The port context menu, with its This port, Ports and Connectors headings, opened by right-clicking a connector label" >}}

## Adding ports

The **Add Ports** dialog adds one or many named ports at once. It works on every functional block in the
selection.

1. Select the block, or several blocks.
2. Right-click the body of a block or one of its port names and choose **Add Ports ...**.
3. Under **Add to Which Side**, pick **Left**, **Right** or **Both**.
4. Under **Port Data**, enter the **Port Name**, the **Port Connector** and the **Port Signal Type**. The
   signal type list comes from the project's signal types.
5. To add a numbered series of ports, check **Add Multiples** under **Add Multiple Ports** and fill in:
   - **Count**: how many ports to add.
   - **Starting At**: the first number in the series.
   - **Leading Zero Count**: the minimum number of digits in the number. With **2**, port 1 becomes `01`;
     with **3** it becomes `001`. The most is **4**.
   - **Finally Append Characters**: text added after the number.
6. Click **Do It!**.

Without **Add Multiples**, the dialog adds one port with exactly the name you typed to each chosen side.

With **Add Multiples**, each port is named *Port Name* + *number* + *appended characters*, with nothing
added in between. For example, **Port Name** `SDI IN `, **Count** `4`, **Starting At** `1`,
**Leading Zero Count** `2` and **Finally Append Characters** ` A` give `SDI IN 01 A` to `SDI IN 04 A`.
Include a trailing space in the port name if you want a space before the number. Every port in the series
gets the same connector and signal type.

New ports go below any existing ports on that side, and copy the text style of the first port already on
that side. On an empty side they use **Settings > Active Text Style**.

{{< screenshot name="blocks-add-ports-dialog" alt="The Add Ports dialog with Both sides chosen and Add Multiples filled in" >}}

## Renaming ports and connectors

1. Click the port name or connector label you want to change. The editing card opens beside it.
2. Type the new name.
3. Press <kbd>Enter</kbd> or click outside the card.

Cables already connected to the port pick up the new port name and connector.

## Port signal types

Every port has a signal type, such as SDI, AES or Default, chosen from the project's
[Signal Types]({{< relref "signal-types" >}}). The signal type sets the color of the port stub and, when
you connect a cable, the cable's color, width and cable type. Signal types are normally hidden.

To change the signal type of ports:

1. Show the signal types in place of the connector labels. Either:
   - select the blocks, right-click one and tick **Signal types for editing**, or
   - choose **View > Show/Hide Signal Types for Editing** to show them on every block in the drawing.
2. Click a port's signal type. A list of the project's signal types opens beside it, sorted A to Z. Each row
   shows the type's color, its cable type and the number the next cable of that type will get when cables
   are numbered.
3. Type a few letters to narrow the list; it matches names, cable types and number prefixes. Click a type,
   or move to it with the arrow keys and press <kbd>Enter</kbd>. Press <kbd>Esc</kbd>, or click away, to
   leave the signal type as it was.
4. Untick **Signal types for editing**, or repeat the View command, to put the connector labels back.

When you change the signal type of a port that has a cable, the port is recolored and the cable follows the
new signal type, the same way it does when you apply the
[Signal Types]({{< relref "signal-types" >}}) grid:

- It takes the new color, width and line type, unless you set its color by hand.
- It takes the new cable manufacturer and cable type, unless you set them by hand.
- Its cable number stays as it is.
- The port at the other end of the cable takes the same signal type.

**Undo** reverses the whole change.

{{< screenshot name="blocks-signal-types-editing" alt="A functional block showing signal types in place of connectors, with the signal type list open on one port" >}}

## Lock Position and Count in BOM

The top of the **General** tab has two checkboxes that apply to the selected items.

- **Lock Position** keeps an item where it is. You can still select it and edit its text, but you can't
  move, resize or rotate it, and the commands that add or remove ports are hidden. Locking a cable also
  locks the blocks at both of its ends; see [Cable properties]({{< relref "cables#cable-properties" >}}).
- **Count in BOM** decides whether the item is counted in the Bill of Materials. It is on for new
  functional blocks and racks, and off for rack panels. See
  [Bill of Materials]({{< relref "project-data#bill-of-materials" >}}).

## Grouping, aligning and stacking

Select two or more items, then use the **Edit** menu.

**Grouping**

- **Make Group** joins the selection into one group you can select and move as a unit. You can still move
  items inside it, and the group's outline grows or shrinks to fit.
- **Make Fixed Group** joins the selection so the items keep their positions relative to each other and
  move only as a whole.
- **Make Collapsible Group** adds a button to the group that collapses it to a small box and expands it
  again. Cables to the group's items reroute as it collapses.
- **Ungroup** separates a selected group back into its items.

Right-click a group to ungroup it or change it to another kind of group. Click the group's title to rename
it.

> [!NOTE]
> **Make Fixed Group** and **Make Collapsible Group** aren't available on the Free plan. See
> [Billing and Plans]({{< relref "billing#plans" >}}).

**Alignment**

**Lefts**, **Rights**, **Tops** and **Bottoms** line up the selected items with the edge of the item that is
furthest in that direction. For example, **Lefts** moves every item so its left edge matches the left-most
item.

**Z-Order**

**Bring Forward** and **Send Backward** move the selected items one step in front of or behind other items
that overlap them. Click again to move another step.

<!-- VERIFY: Z-Order steps are relative (each click adds or subtracts 1 from the item's zOrder); confirm an item moves in front of an overlapping item with default order after one click. -->