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 - Arranging Items: /manual/docs/arranging.html - Functional Blocks and Ports: /manual/docs/blocks.html - Terminals: /manual/docs/terminals/index.html - Adapters: /manual/docs/terminals/adapters.html - Master Library: /manual/docs/equipment-library.html - Warehouses: /manual/docs/warehouses.html - Racks and Rack Panels: /manual/docs/racks.html - Devices: /manual/docs/devices.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 - Extended Data: /manual/docs/extended-data.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 - The Forum: /manual/docs/forum.html - FAQ and Troubleshooting: /manual/docs/faq.html # Adapters Adapters are one of the families of [terminals]({{< relref "/docs/terminals" >}}). They share the other terminals' **Size**, **Style** and **Show** menus, and differ in being glued to a block's port. An adapter sits on a block's port and turns it into a different connector: an SFP cage that takes LC fibre, an RCA output that needs an XLR cable, a BNC on a device that's cabled in RJ45. The block keeps its own port, and the adapter shows what it adapts, for example **SFP to LC**. The cable plugs into the adapter, and the cable list shows the adapter at that end. ## Putting an adapter on a port Either: - Open the **Terminals** section of the left pane and drag one of the looks in its **Adapter** group onto the end of a port, or - Right-click a port and choose **Add adapter…**. It uses the look you last placed or picked. The adapter goes on the side of the block the port is on, facing away from it. If the port already had a cable, the cable moves onto the adapter. The **Add adapter** dialog then opens; **Cancel** takes the adapter back off and puts the cable back on the port. An adapter only goes on a visible port down the side of a block, and a port takes one adapter. Dropped anywhere else, it's taken back out of the drawing. ## The Adapter dialog The dialog lists the two connectors in the order the signal runs: - On an **output**, the block's connector is the **From connector** and the adapter's is the **To connector**: **SFP to LC**. - On an **input**, the cable brings the signal in, so the adapter's connector is the **From connector** and the block's is the **To connector**: **LC to SFP**. | Field | What it is | |---|---| | **From connector**, **To connector** | Pick from the connectors already used in the project and a list of common ones, or type your own. The block's connector is that port's own connector, so changing it here changes the port too. | | **Joined by** | The word between the two connectors in the label. It's **to** unless you change it; **→**, **-** and **/** are offered. | | **Manufacturer**, **Model** | The adapter's own make and model, for the bill of materials. They're separate from the block's. | | **Port name** | The name of the adapted port. It starts as the block port's name. | | **Signal type** | The adapted port's signal type. It starts as the block port's. | The line under the fields shows the label as it will read. If another port of the same device already has the port name, the dialog says so; it doesn't stop you. To change an adapter later, double-click it, or right-click it and choose **Edit adapter…**. The **To connector** you last picked for each **From connector** is remembered in your browser and filled in for you the next time. ## Moving and detaching An adapter is glued to its port: - Dragging the block brings its adapters with it, and dragging an adapter brings its block. - If the port moves, because a port was added above it or the block was resized, the adapter moves with it. - Copying a block together with its adapters copies them glued to the new block. - Deleting a block deletes its adapters. Deleting an adapter puts its cable back on the block's port. To take an adapter off, hold Shift while you drag it, or right-click it and choose **Detach from port**. It stays on the drawing as a free-standing [terminal]({{< relref "/docs/terminals" >}}). Drop it on another free port to glue it there; the dialog opens so you can check the connectors. ## What an adapter shows Adapters come in seven looks. Right-click one and use **Style** to switch between them: | Look | Shows | |---|---| | **Plain box**, **Coupler**, **Pointed end**, **Collar** | The port name over the connectors, inside the box at the cable's end | | **Rounded** | The port name over the connectors, centred in the box | | **One-line box** | The connectors alone, centred in a slimmer box | | **Taper** | A small tapered plug, with the connectors above it | The port name is drawn in red and the connectors in blue. Right-click an adapter and use **Show** to hide either, or to add its manufacturer, model, alias, location or system name above it. A Taper hides its port name until you turn it on, as the block's port name already reads beside it. An adapter is part of the block's device: it takes the block's system name, manufacturer, model, alias and location, and keeps them in step when the block changes. See {{< relref "devices" >}}. ## Adapters in reports - **Cables**: the end of a cable on an adapter shows the adapted port's name, and the whole adapter as the connector, such as **LC to SFP**. - **Bill of materials**: adapters are listed under **Adapters**, one line per make and model. An adapter without a model is listed by what it adapts, such as **SFP to LC adapter**. The cable's connector at an adapter is counted as the connector the cable plugs into (**LC**), not the whole adapter. - **Equipment**: adapters aren't listed; the block they're on is.