Project Data Grids

The Project Data menu opens grids that collect data from every drawing in the project: the equipment you have placed, the cables you have drawn, and a bill of materials. Use them to check the design, find an item, and export lists to Excel.

The grids read the saved drawings. When you open a grid, Simple Wires saves the drawing you are working on first.

Menu item Grid
Project Data > Equipment Equipment
Project Data > Cables Cables
Project Data > Bill of Materials Bill of Materials
Project Data > Signal Types See Signal Types
Project Data > Drawings and Revisions See Drawing Revisions

A grid replaces the drawing and hides the side panes. To go back to a drawing, choose it from File > Open, or click Show Me on a row.

Working with the grids

The Equipment, Cables and Bill of Materials grids share the same tools.

The Cables grid with the group panel, search box, export button and filter row labelled
Sort
Click a column header to sort by that column. Click it again to reverse the order.
Filter
Type in the filter row just below the column headers to show only matching rows. Each column has its own filter cell.
Search
Type in the Search… box at the top right to find rows that contain the text in any column.
Group
Drag a column header into the bar above the grid (Drag a column header here to group by that column). Rows are grouped under each value of that column; click a group row to expand or collapse it. Drag more headers to group within groups. To remove a grouping, drag the header back into the header row.
Resize columns
Drag the edge of a column header.
Page
Use the page numbers at the bottom of the grid to move between pages, and the page size selector to show 30, 50 or 100 rows per page.
Export to Excel
Choose File > Export to Excel, or click the Export all data button at the top right of the grid. Your browser downloads an Excel file named after the project, such as Project Name Cables List.

Show Me

The Equipment and Cables grids have a Show Me button at the start of each row. Click it to open the drawing that holds that item. Simple Wires centers the block or cable on screen and selects it.

A drawing opened from Show Me with the matching block selected and centered

Equipment

Project Data > Equipment lists every block in every drawing of the project, including racks and rack panels. Each row shows:

Column Contents
Action The Show Me button.
Manufacturer The block’s manufacturer.
Model The block’s model.
SysName The block’s system name.
Alias The block’s alias.
Location The block’s location.
Drawing Name The drawing the block is on.
The Equipment grid grouped by Drawing Name

Editing the equipment list

If you can edit the project, you can correct equipment details in the grid instead of opening each drawing.

  1. Click a Manufacturer, Model, SysName, Alias or Location cell.
  2. Type the new value.
  3. Press Enter or click another cell.

The change is saved to the drawing straight away. The cables connected to that block pick up the new text, so the Cables grid and cable data stay in step. If someone has that drawing open, their copy updates.

You can’t edit Drawing Name here. To rename a drawing, see Drawings and the Start Page.

Cables

Project Data > Cables lists every cable in every drawing, with the full detail of both ends. The grid is read-only; change cables in the drawing. Each row includes:

  • Drawing Name, Cable No, Signal Type and Length.
  • The cable type: Cable Manu and Cable Type.
  • The From end: manufacturer, model, system name, alias, location, port name and port connector.
  • The To end: the same details for the destination.
  • Is Off Sheet Pointed and Is Off Sheet Pointed Right.
The Cables grid showing From and To columns for several cables

A cable that runs between drawings through off sheet pointers appears twice, once for each drawing. Both rows have Is Off Sheet Pointed checked. The row for the destination drawing also has Is Off Sheet Pointed Right checked. To list each cable once, filter Is Off Sheet Pointed Right to unchecked.

The grid opens ungrouped each time.

Bill of Materials

Project Data > Bill of Materials counts what the project needs. The grid is read-only and opens grouped by Item Class. Each row shows Manufacturer, Model and Item Count.

The Bill of Materials grid grouped by Item Class with Equipment, Cable Types, From Connectors and To Connectors groups
Item Class What is counted
Equipment Blocks, racks and rack panels with Count in BOM turned on, grouped by manufacturer and model. Off sheet pointers are never counted.
Cable Types Cables grouped by cable manufacturer and type. If you have entered cable lengths, Item Count is the total length; a cable without a length counts as 1.
From Connectors The connector at the From end of each cable, grouped by connector name.
To Connectors The connector at the To end of each cable, grouped by connector name.

A cable that runs through off sheet pointers is counted once.

The Bill of Materials is built fresh from the saved drawings each time you open it.

Why rack panels are missing from the BOM

Rack panels are placed with Count in BOM turned off, so they don’t appear under Equipment until you turn it on. Blocks and racks are placed with it turned on.

To include a rack panel:

  1. Open the drawing and select the rack panel.
  2. On the General tab of the right pane, turn on Count in BOM.
  3. Save the drawing, then open Project Data > Bill of Materials again.

The same checkbox removes any block from the count. A block also needs both a manufacturer and a model to be counted. See Racks and Rack Panels.

Backward Printing and Exporting Signal Types Forward