Overview

To review and edit your lengths, press Edit Lengths in the Utilities section of the Home ribbon. All length changes are carried through to your Harness:

• Bill of Materials
• Wiring Table
• Cutlist Table
• Connection Tables

How Lengths Are Calculated

Each connection length is built from the following segments, from one end of the connection to the other:

Total Length = Connector Insertion Depth + Backshell Entry Length + Sum of Bundle Lengths + Backshell Entry Length + Connector Insertion Depth + Extra Length

• Connector Insertion Depth - the length of wire inserted into a connector. Insertion depth only applies to Connectors; Ferrules, Terminals, and Splices do not add any length at their endpoint.
• Backshell Entry Length - the length of wire inside a backshell. When a connection passes through more than one backshell, their entry lengths are added together.
• Sum of Bundle Lengths - the lengths of the harness bundles the connection is routed through. See Bundles and To Scale Drawings.
• Extra Length - an Extra Length per Connection, added once to every connection except loopbacks.

A few rules to keep in mind:

• For loopbacks (connections From and To the same connector, such as C1.1 - C1.2), the Default Loopback Length replaces the Sum of Bundle Lengths, and Extra Length is not added.
• Strip Lengths fall within the Connector Insertion Depth. They are included in your outputs for manufacturing, but they never change the Total Length.
• Any overridden value replaces the corresponding calculated value.
• Overriding the entire Length ignores all of the calculations above.

You can open this explanation at any time with the "How lengths are calculated" link at the top of the Edit Lengths dialog.

Where the Inputs Come From

Most of the inputs are defined once on the part itself, and are then used automatically everywhere that part is placed:

• Wire Insertion Depth is set on the Connector design, on each cavity in the Assembly tab.
• Wire Entry Length is set on the Backshell design, in the Assembly tab.
• Strip Length is set on Contact, Ferrule, Ring Terminal, Spade Terminal, Quick Connect Terminal, and Splice designs.

Insertion depth does not apply to pigtail connectors, whose wires are already attached, so it is turned off automatically for them.

Edit Lengths Dialog

The Edit Lengths dialog shows every connection in your harness, with a column for each input that goes into its length: From/To Insertion depth, From/To Entry length, From/To Strip length, and the total Length. Cells show N/A where an input doesn't apply, such as the insertion depth at a ferrule.

At the top of the dialog you can set two values for the whole drawing:

• Default Loopback Length - used as the length of every loopback connection (such as C1.1 - C1.2).
• Extra Length per Connection - added to the total length of every other connection.

Overriding Values

• Double-click or right-click any cell to override its value. Overridden cells are marked in the corner, and hovering over one shows the original calculated value.
• Select several rows to override or reset them all in a single action.
• Reset a value from the right-click menu to return to the calculated value.
• Use the search box to find connections in large harnesses.

Showing Lengths in Your Outputs

Insertion Depth and Entry Length can be added as columns to the Connection Table on your Top Level drawing, and to the Wiring Table, Connections, and Cutlist tabular outputs. Add them the same way as any other column, so your manufacturing documents carry the full wire preparation details. See Table Templates.