If you are referring to input/output stubs that connect to cables and doglegs, then yes, this can be done.  For example:

1) Save your Pictorial symbol under My Libraries (drag it into a folder under My Libraries)

2) In the Library List doubleclick on the symbol and open it for editing

3) Add the IO stub, e.g. drag in an IO stub symbol from Blocks | Generic Components | Inputs | AudioI-P, ensuring that the inner end of the stub meets the red outline of the Pictorial symbol (You may also want to delete the IO stub text)

4) Save and close the symbol

5) Drag the symbol into a drawing - cables and doglegs will attach to the new IO stub

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Is there a way to add connectors to symbols in pictoral or rack view?

Not all of the symbols I use in schematic view are converted to pictoral views. Not a problem, as I can often just draw a block and lable it. But I when I want to show a connection to that block....

I do a lot of "Wiring Risers" where I only want to show the field wiring of a system. So I often only want to show, say a line from the main equipment rack to a speaker or microphone wall jack.

Hi Greg,

Sure - please email your drawing to techsupport@stardraw.com and we'll be happy to check it out.

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Rob,

Can I send you a sample of a drawing that it causing problems and have you take a look at it??

Many thanks

Greg

Hi Greg,

Improved User Interface for connections is high on our wishlist for future development, unfortunately it's not something that will be added into current versions because of compatibility issues.  Please bear with us on this one. 

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Hi,

I have read through these threads and really relate to this problem.

Still seem to be having problems with connecting cables to symbol's.

The only way for me to be certain that the connections are made is to move each object one at a time.

It's really frustrating. Is it not possible to have some kind of indication for this, a symbol at the connection point showing it's not connected or maybe a line colour change to denote the same??

I'm working on a design with a lot of connections and when I produce a cable report it gets tricky.

I would be happy to send the file and hopefully you can tell me what I'm doing wrong...

Many thanks

Greg

Hi Rob,

here is another one related to connector snaps:

If I have connected a dogleg or a cable successfully to a symbol connector and then I copy it by using the rectangular array function the copied cables or doglegs will not connect to the symbol. So if I move the symbol the first cable drawn manually will stay connected but not the copied ones.

This happens for any copied cable or symbol so it seems as if connections are only foregoing for manually drawn cables or doglegs. It is the same the other way around, if a symbol is inserted or copied to already existing cable ends they will not connect, right? Or is there a way to make this work? If yes, please pass, I'd really need it.

As a mixing console manufacturer our block symbols can have several hundred connections. Drawing these connections manually is not a desired way of working.

If a symbol including a successfully connected cable is copied the connection will remain in the copy, thats fine.

Additionally to my yesterday suggests I would like to add that also interconnections between cables and doglegs should be treated as valid connections. So I could use e.g. 2 doglegs with their ends connected to each other and they will behave as connected to each other.

Cheers,

henning / yamaha

 

Hi Rob,

well, this is at least an explanation how these connectors are generated, thanks. Why isn't it explained in the help files and tutorials?

I imagine there can be a lot of traps in this. If e.g. the 'connector' line doesn't cross or touch the outline, what will happen? This can easily be the case if nudge settings have been slightly wrong which is the case for many, many symbol files! By the way: Even the original Stardraw block symbol template has a grid setting of 2.5mm but a nudge setting of 2.54mm. It is very easy to make a lot of useless symbol files with this template. I got a bit mad until I found out.

However I will check my symbols for this kind of stuff and try to find out if the problems are somehow related to such issues.

I will mail you a symbol file which doesn't work. For most connectors the snap will snap inside the outline right beside a text like this:

Please try it! It depends a bit on the zoom factor but at 1:1 it already behaves like that, smaller will make it worse.

I would urgently recommend to make this 'connector creating' by the software somehow transparent to the user. It would be much easier if there was a clearly defined connector object one could insert and see. Make for example an option to show all valid connections by a kind of symbol (a cross or something similar). I am sure everybody would use that option while drawing cables and doglegs.

A huge benefit of connector objects would be that even if symbols are deleted and others inserted but with their connectors on exactly the same connector positions it could be reconned as a connection. I don't know if this should already work in current Stardraw version, at least I can't make it work like that.

Another thing: There is a tool which is really missing in Stardraw. It is about stretching objects. I know this from AutoCad but you can find it in any standard CAD software and it is very difficult to live without it once being used to it. You select an area and it will mark all nodes of objects within that area. Then when moving the area all nodes within the selected area are moved but the objects keep their structure. So objects that exceed the selected area are stretched or compressed, depending on direction of movement. This is extremly useful for to edit larger bundles of wires, cables or doglegs at once. As far as I can see does Stardraw only allow to edit the entire object or one node at a time. For a lot of objects this is too time consuming. With Stardraw it happens quite often that something in a larger context of a drawing has to be moved and you find yourself endlesly moving singular nodes around.

Please reply, I will track answers and comments,

Henning / Yamaha

 

We'd be very interested in seeing the anomalous connector behaviour you've described, particularly snapping inside the symbol.  Can you email a drawing that shows the problem to techsupport@stardraw.com? Thanks.

Connectors are indeed special objects - they are created on-the-fly when a symbol is inserted into a document.  Connectors are created at the point where a cyan I/O stub meets the red rectangle that is the symbol's outline.  Connectors cannot be created, edited or deleted manually.

Cables and Doglegs behave the way they do (differently) by design.  The Dogleg has a relatively simple set of circumstances in which it can be used, so the way it resizes makes sense, for a Dogleg.  A Cable, by contrast, has infinitely varied uses and configurations, so no pseudo-intelligent behaviour could realistically cater for all eventualities.  Consequently, only the last node on the Cable moves when a symbol it's connected to is moved.  It is intended that other nodes on the Cable can be moved, if they need to be, using the Edit Node cursor.  Having said this, we are looking at ways to enhance the behaviour of interconnections - suggestions are welcomed.  We agree that visual cues indicating connection status would be advantageous.

I hope this is helpful - please feel free to post further comments or suggestions to this thread.

Rob

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Hi everybody,

I have exactly the same problem. Sometimes it snaps to a connector, sometimes not. And I do everything as it is suggested.

Sometimes a dogleg snaps to somewhere inside a symbol - even beside the grid - when I want it to snap on a connector.

The connector concept is anyway extremely confusing in Stardraw. It isn't explained what a connector at all is, how is it defined? I have been looking through all help resources, not even the word is in the index. I would have thought it is a special object I could insert in symbols but it is obviously just a line or what?

And why do only doglegs snap to connectors in a way that when I move the object the dogleg stretches itself and stays connected? Why do cables not behave like that? How shall I make a complex interconnection and then move an object with 100 connections or so? It would be much more logic if especially cables would do the same, doglegs are much too poor as a tool for large drawings I think.

And also there should be a visual control over where a connection point is (however Stardraw defines that) and I should be able to see if a dogleg has snapped to a connector or not. The only way to check it is obviously to connect and then move the object. If you are lucky the dogleg will follow. If you just made 150 connections you may have bad luck.

I'd really appreciate a comment on this or a hint where possibly a more deep explanantion can be found. I am just busy waisting hours of lifetime.

HK / Yamaha