fryeguy

I am having some trouble with wire length in packages.
I am creating a distributed audio package containing speakers with wire that is an accessory of the speaker.

I would like to pre-determine the length of the wire from within the package . It appears that because the wire is an accessory I cannot change the length.

When I add this package to a project it adds the wire with the default wire length which is not the amount I want for the package.

Am I missing something or is this the way ti is intended to work?

My understanding is that a package should give me more flexibility.
It feels like I get more restrictions.

The other very important issue is that I want to see the installed price of a package (including accessories with accurate wire lenghts) from within MMPD. Otherwise managing packages is a real pain.

fryeguy

Does nobody have any comments here?

Is everyone happy with the way packages work?

Is anybody even out there?

RandyB

Yes we're out here.

Unfortunately, being able to change the wire length when a wire is an accessory in a package is difficult with the current data schema, so it is something we'll look at for a future version.

Can you describe in a little more detail what part of the installed price is not working for packages?

fryeguy

If I have a package that contains several items including different wire accessories, and the accessory wires are shown as zero feet in the package, there is no way of determining the value of the package without adding it to a project and assigning lengths to the accessory wires. This adjusts both the labor and equipment costs associated with the package.

HeatherM

Well, for a different approach to your wire length issue you can try this:

Build Wiring Packages that contain the wires you use for each assembly you install.

Example:

Package name

Wiring Package - Distributed Audio - Speakers and Source Control

Within a package, you can capture typical wiring topologies, hide the wire from appearing in the proposal, define a wire length that is different from the default wire length for the project, and define a default head end for the wire.

This is an excerpt from the thread below if you want to read the full details of it:
Just getting started...Have a few questions

Heather