Patch Bays - D-Tools Forum

08-06-2007, 08:18 PM

I would like to request, and or ask, how best to deal with the patch bay issue. We work with multiple audio and video patch bays and placing a full size bay on a drawing uses too much space. The only way I have been able to get around this is to create individule patches with the same part number and include the extension single. I have had a similar experience with large routers such as Extron 32 x 32 crosspoint. This router uses 5 connections per input and output. With 160 connections per side we had trouble getting the block on the drawing.

Thanks for your help.

Reed Phillips · 08-06-2007, 08:54 PM

I agree John. We talked about this some time ago. The commercial world makes significant use of patch bays and other equipment like mixing consoles that can have hundreds of I/Os. We need to come up with a well thought out set of solutions in this area. Have you seen a tool that we should benchmark for this feature?

08-06-2007, 09:07 PM

One of the other companies( which will remain un-named) does a good job. Not so good on other things.

avzone · 08-06-2007, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by ctadjb1

One of the other companies( which will remain un-named) does a good job. Not so good on other things.

Well, that was helpful. Seriously, what's wrong with naming the company? Are you prone to lightning strikes?

It would certainly help D-Tools and everyone else in the community.

08-07-2007, 01:08 PM

Verry well, I think Vidcad did a good job on their handling of patch bays and switchers. I was not happy with their ideas for sharing data or the support of their product. I have an engineer that has 12+ years experence using their product and would be happy to assist the development team.

08-07-2007, 08:38 PM

I thought I had the answer. I created a single patch and was going to attach a custom stencil to match the industry standard for a patch. But nooooooo. you can't use a custom stencil in a schematic drawing. Please explain the logic of that to me. You can with any of the other drawings.

RandyB · 08-07-2007, 09:52 PM

Can you elaborate on what you're trying to do? The only part of a schematic page that is restricted is the schematic shape, because that shape is created and managed by code. You should be able to drop your own shapes onto a schematic page; they just won't be recognized for wire connection reports.

I want to be sure what you're trying to do in case we need to add some functionality to the schematic page.

08-07-2007, 10:16 PM

The industry normal for a patch symbol in a schematic drawing is not a block. Nor are they represented as a single panel. Normaly each patch is seperate so it may be placed anywhere in the drawing. It is represented by a single line with arrow heads on each end. A red (A) appears on one side and a red (B) on the other. In the middle section is the information on the type, location, and patch number. I was able to build a stencil that looked like this symbol. However as you stated, it can not be used for connection points in the drawing. In other software the symbol is user defined. I still don't understand why this can be done in the other drawings and not in schematic as other software packages do. This creates a problem for many of us in the commercial world and limits using the software on larger projects.

RandyB · 08-08-2007, 10:59 PM

OK, got it. This is a feature that we are already discussing for a future release. We definitely agree that it is something that is needed for commercial integrators, together with off-page references (wires that connect to a drawing on another page). If you have any other suggestions for improvement in this area, please post them in a new thread or send an email to beta@d-tools.com

Also, would you be willing to meet at some point in the future to go over ideas like this? Send me an email at beta@d-tools.com if you are.

Thanks for the post. Keep 'em coming.