Diagram Workbench
Id: diagram · Eighth entry in the workbench dropdown
Diagram draws wiring and systems diagrams: devices placed from their parts, and point-to-point connections between their pins. What it produces is the connection list. It runs eCAD's sheet editor on the document's wiring diagram in place of the 3D view.
What it offers
Diagram creates no features. It adds:
- the diagram editor, drawn in place of the 3D view (The eCAD editor);
- the Assembly parts pane, listing the parts that can be placed (brought to the front when you enter the workbench, unless you left another tab in front of it), and the Inspector pane, for the selection;
- the editor's commands in the workbench row (below).
A wiring diagram has no nets and no board. Each pin takes one connection, dragged from pin to pin with Select, so the row carries neither the net tools nor the board.
Harness and BOM
Place native occurrences from Assembly parts, then connect their pins. A diagram is a view of the assembly: every device on it is an assembly component, added through Add component, and deleting a device here deletes the assembly component it is (and takes it off the PCB with it), in one undo step. Duplicate on a device whose part has every occurrence on the sheet adds another occurrence to the assembly and puts its symbol in your hand. The optional BOM Reference_Designator labels the device; its native instance identity binds the sheet entry to the assembly. The pin label resolves to its part's connection-point endpoint. A connection with no matching endpoint stays on the sheet but makes no harness wire, and a notice says which pin did not resolve. A part edited in its own open tab reaches the sheet when you switch back, with a notice and Undo. A device whose part file changed while the sheet was not open is ringed in amber, and the card over the sheet offers Update parts, as in PCB.
Each connection also becomes a harness wire. Its connection ID and stock part number appear in the BOM; its cut quantity is the current routed length plus the harness's per-wire cut margin. An unrouted connection has no invented cut length. Manual harness wires remain independent. Drawing or deleting a Diagram wire and its harness connection is one undo step.
Toolbar buttons
Two of their own, which are eCAD's own commands, lit and greyed by eCAD's own rules:
| Button | Id | Offered | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select | diagram.sheet.tool.select | always | Picks and drags devices and wire segments; drag from pin to pin to connect |
| Rotate 90° | diagram.sheet.place.rotate | while placing a part | Turns the part being placed a quarter turn |
Undo and Redo are the main toolbar's own, so the row carries neither. With the pointer over the editor, the mouse wheel zooms without fixed limits; the Zoom buttons have the same range. F fits it (the main toolbar's Zoom to fit does not). Keys reach the editor wherever the pointer is, unless a text field has the keyboard. The selection is deleted with Delete, turned with R and duplicated with Ctrl+D, as in eCAD's own editor. Pressing Select or Escape puts any tool down, which is why the row has no "Done" buttons.
Choosing this workbench while a sketch is being edited finishes the sketch, as its Finish button does, so the drawing is kept.