Description of the behavior of the auto-connection feature
Components can be automatically connected by selecting the desired items of the
schematic, and either clicking the Automatically connect selected
items option on the right-click menu (Figure 1) or pressing the keyboard
shortcut Ctrl + Spacebar. Please keep in mind that each
auto-connection step is performed using the keyboard shortcut in the animated examples
of this document.
Figure 1. Right-click menu option
The algorithm will try to determine the intended connection based on type,
position and number of unconnected terminals of every selected item. Components that are
selected but don't have terminals available for connection are removed from the
calculation, which means the command may be reissued several times and new connections
made in each step. Furthermore, if the creation of both PE and SP connections is
possible with the selected items, PE connections are made first, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. PE-type connections have preference over SP-type connections
Several types of connections can be performed by selecting items appropriately. Let's go
over examples of each type.
Connect exactly two components
By selecting exactly two components, you
can create series or parallel connections between them. The relative position between
the components and the position of the unconnected terminals will determine the
resulting connections, as can be seen in Figure 3 and
Figure 4.
Figure 3. Connect exactly two components - series
Figure 4. Connect exactly two components - parallel
If one component is placed at the side of the other one, and the wires that would
leave their terminals have different directions (horizontal / vertical), the connection
depicted in Figure 5 is
performed.
Figure 5. Connect exactly two components - between terminals on a side
Multi-component series and parallel connections
Several components may be
connected in parallel or series at a time. The algorithm will calculate a score based on
the relative position of the components and how many connections will be created. In
case equal scores are calculated, preferences are top -> down and left -> right. As a
rule of thumb, with a smaller amount of components selected there is a higher chance the
algorithm will interpret the intended connections correctly. Figure 2 shows parallel and series
connections being created by repeatedly issuing the command.
Figure 6. Connecting several components in series or parallel at a time
Connect to existing wires
The connection to existing wires allows you to
easily connect components such as three-phase loads and filters in parallel. There are a
few different behaviors to be aware of. Let's start with Figure 7. Wires that would leave the
terminals in a straight line must intersect segments of the selected wires. A junction
will be created in the intersection point, and everything reconnected to it. The
algorithm will try to match the order of the connections, which is the most common case.
If a different order for the connections is needed, it will have to be done manually.
Figure 7. Connect to wires in front of terminals
If junctions are selected and positioned in the half-plane space defined by the
selected component's side, its terminals will be connected directly to those junctions,
as shown in Figure 8Figure 8. Connect to junctions
Figure 9 and Figure 10 show two
forms that a component can be added to a parallel set. Notice that in the second example
R1 is ignored by the algorithm, since all of its terminals are already connected. Figure 9. Connect to wires - adding component to parallel set 1
Figure 10. Connect to wires - adding component to parallel set 2
Connect one side of a component with many terminals to several
components
The terminals at the side of a component C may be connected to several
other components if they are positioned in the half-plane space defined by the side of
the component C and are positioned approximately in parallel to the line that intersects
C's terminals. In Figure 8, for
example, the right side terminals of Bus Split 1 are intersected by a virtual vertical
line, and the Probe components are also approximately positioned vertically in relation
to each other. Figure 11. Connecting the side of one component to several others
Short-circuit the terminals on a side of a single
component
Short-circuiting of the terminals is a useful complement to Connect to existing wires. After adding a load in
parallel, for example, the auto-connection command can be repeated to short the opposite
side. An odd number of terminals will be shorted at the center, and an even number will
be shorted at the first terminal. As Figure 12 shows, if a component
terminal is already connected a component, the short-circuit junction will be created at
that terminal. Figure 12. Single-component connection (short terminals)
Connect terminals by proximity
The last connection mode is triggered by
holding Ctrl and dragging components. When terminals are
colliding and ready for connection, they will turn red. Pressing
Spacebar at this point will confirm the connections. This
mode is especially useful when some component terminals must be skipped. Figure 13. Connect by terminal proximity
