What is a good software for electrical wiring diagram? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: thephantom1492
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2020, 10:31:38 pm
content: I have a wiring diagram to do, about 200 wires, with many junctions, and like 40 connectors... Being able to move the wires is a must, which lots of cad fail to keep connected. Ideally would like to be able to change the color of the wires, but that is not mandatory.What do you guys suggest?

author: wizard69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2020, 11:40:00 pm
content: If you are talking free you have the following possibilities:KiCAD. More oriented to electronics but I can imagine it would work with electrical diagrams with a long learning period.XFig. Rather old "CAD" programDIA. A "diagraming" program. I haven't used it much as it had issue sin the early days, much better in more recent forms though.Then you have this list of stuff I never heard of:https://www.edrawsoft.com/top-6-wiring-diagram-software.htmlThen there is: QElectroTech. To be perfectly honest I tried this software and hated it with a passion but it might suit your needs. Here is the web site:https://qelectrotech.org/Finally there are the basic CAD programs like QCad, FreeCAD ad others that really don't fit the needs for generating diagrams.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 09, 2020, 07:47:09 pm
content: I use KiCad for wiring diagrams, I have just done a few rather large ones spanning A1 sheets (not printable), You can't change wire colours but you can drag them around easily or move them, your choice. Keyboard shortcuts make work painless. You can even do a little 45 degree shamfer in the corners, bit tedious but i love the effect.The other good thing about it is that you can highlight a net which may get round your need for colours, wires are by default green and when you highlight one it goes pink so you can easily see where it goes. As for things like wire colours i would write it in text. You can change most colour settings

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2020, 11:17:23 pm
content: I've foundGraphvizuseful for the preliminary work in similar situations (mapping connections, although not electrical connections).The idea is that you write a simple text file, using the Graphviz DOT language, to describe the connectors, and the connections between the connectors, and let Graphviz draw the initial graph. Then you use Dia or Inkscape or whatever tool you like, to redraw the proper wiring diagram. Here, Graphviz is basically a tool to help you see what kind of connections you will eventually have, so you can decide on how to place the connectors before drawing the connections.For example, to describe a split extension cable, one might useCode:graph {rankdir="LR";Junction1 [ shape=record label="Junction 1|{<n> N|<l> L|<g> G}" ];Plug1 [ shape=record label="Plug 1|{<n> N|<l> L|<g> G}" ];Socket1 [ shape=record label="Socket 1|{<n> N|<l> L|<g> G}" ];Socket2 [ shape=record label="Socket 2|{<n> N|<l> L|<g> G}" ];Junction1:n -- Plug1:n [ color=grey ];Junction1:l -- Plug1:l [ color=black ];Junction1:g -- Plug1:g [ color=green ];Junction1:n -- Socket1:n [ color=grey ];Junction1:l -- Socket1:l [ color=black ];Junction1:g -- Socket1:g [ color=green ];Junction1:n -- Socket2:n [ color=grey ];Junction1:l -- Socket2:l [ color=black ];Junction1:g -- Socket2:g [ color=green ];}which producesGraphviz isn't useful for such small diagrams, or diagrams where you already know how you want to lay things around; but from the first post it looks like this is one of the cases where you are still mapping the wiring out, and for that, Graphviz can be of help. You could also addpos=x,yattributes to specific nodes (Junction1, Plug1, Socket1, Socket2) to fix their location, but I never bother; I just let Graphviz (dot,fdp,neato,circo, or one of the other tools in the Graphviz pack) do its thing, look at it and think about it a while, then draw my own in whatever tool I like, placing the nodes (junctions and connectors) first.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 10, 2020, 07:47:47 am
content: i can't see how it helps, usually you knw what it will look like and while representing it takes some fiddling time arranging things it just has to be done. I practically pick pin-outs that are not already decided based on how the wiring goes on the diagram in a clear way avoiding too many crosses. If I am going through a large bulkhead connector I really don't care which pin is which, i prefer a neat diagram.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2020, 11:17:10 am
content: Quote from: Simon on September 10, 2020, 07:47:47 amIf you do, Graphviz won't be of help, I agree.It's just that OP said they want the software to let them drag things around, with the connections adjusting automatically. (The ones I use, only Dia handles that well.)To me, that indicates they are not sure what it will/should look like, yet. That is the exact part where Graphviz can help; not with final diagrams.As an example, I've used Graphviz for exactly that reason when mapping out navigation in web sites. I used some scripts to scrape out the navigation links in the old site, to estimate how much the new plan would likely change over time. You'd think they would be very straight forward (and for the navigation menu/bar, they tend to be; but the sites I worked on, hadpartialtranslations to different languages, making everything more complicated than you'd think), but overall it was eye-opening. Human expectations do not always match existing reality!Similarly, when doing schematics in EasyEda, I end up doing several "sketches" first, to see what the connections and wiringcouldbe – especially just placing the components and looking at the ratlines and rotating the components to see which way would work best –, and experimenting/testing for a while before starting the "real" schematic from scratch.That reminds me:EasyEdadoes allow coloring the wires/connections as you wish. Of course, it is online-only, although you can export the designs in various formats. For example, inthissketch of a design, I used black for ground, red for VCC, and blue for signals. (Using single line segments – i.e., "any angle" – initially, you can move components around and have the connections look like ratlines, for easier placement testing; then you can replace them with proper wires/buses.)

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 10, 2020, 12:03:05 pm
content: well yes you may need help working out how the diagram may flow but ultimately you have to lay it yourself wire by wire. KiCad does have tools and if you use them right you can make significant changes with minimal work. But you won't find a software that completely shows you the best locations for things and does the final diagram. What you suggest allows you to plan it, then you draw it with something else which is the way to go if you need help with the planning.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2020, 02:50:28 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on September 10, 2020, 12:03:05 pmYes, exactly.A couple of hundred wires across a few dozen junctions is complex enough for me to need planning help. YMMV. I would not be surprised if those with experience in similar situations already know a few typical patterns, and can see how to lay it all out from the get go.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2020, 09:31:26 pm
content: I've found that the tools that I already have, and comfortable with are the best, even if it is not 100% suited to the task. So I started using Altium for architecture drawings, instead of Visio. I hadto make a dxf drawing for a 2D object, I just did it in the PCB editor. I had to create a step file for something, So just quickly throw it together on a PCB. I could either do it with the tools that I already know how to use, and take a little longer, or spend days understanding how other tools work. And only consider new tools, if I'm bored and want some challenge, want to learn, or it would take much less time with that.mod: Probably I just became old in this instant.