One of the most important parts of any AV system design software is - accurate product libraries. Manufacturers are encouraged to design their equipment libraries for AVSnap using the following guidelines. Offering these libraries will allow AV system designers to use AVSnap and specify equipment from different manufacturers.
The first step in designing libraries is to create a folder with a company name. Since AVSnap allows users to load all libraries within a folder, assigning a company name to a library folder is highly recommended.
Product libraries should be broken down into product groups, similar to catalog chapters. This will give user a better overview of product range and will save considerable time selecting product items. A manufacturer product line may be broken up into product groups, price range groups, connectivity groups, or whatever system works for the creator of the library.
All products created in the library are automatically sorted alphabetically when a library is added to the project. An item Model Number should be entered in the Model Name field on the symbol property page.
The very first symbol in your library should contain the library name, manufacturer name, date of creation, revision letter, and any other pertinent information. The first symbol should not contain any text in the Model Number field. This will assure that this symbol always will be displayed as a first symbol in the library.
For best display results use Arial font size 10 as default. Format text to justify to the Top and the Left of the text box.
Once library is saved this information will be part of the first library symbol, and will remain in the first position in the library when the library is opened.
To make sure that components created by different manufacturers align properly and facilitate easy system layout follow the settings in Page Setup:
The Origin object should be located upper, left snap point of a symbol. The position of inputs and outputs snap points should always be on the 0.1 inch grid. The outline of the component should be drawn on the .025 grid with line thickness of 1 pt. Make sure that that Origin object is positioned behind the snap point. This can be done by selecting the Origin object and pressing shortcut "[" (Send to Back).
Each Snap point (red) has a set of properties that can be accessed by double clicking on any Snap point. Connector and signal types associated with each Snap point may be specified as needed.
Each symbol may have up four different display variations in the library:
1. Diagram Symbol - all inputs and outputs depicted including the power and IR control inputs. This is the most extensive symbol and should represent the symbol functionality as close as possible. This symbol is used to for drawing system diagrams.
2. Outline Symbol - represents a line drawing version of the actual component, Snap points are located in the connector center.
3. Photographic symbol -This symbol uses a photo of a component with white background.
4. Metric Symbol - can be used to create symbol using "mm" or as a custom version of a component.
Although creating libraries in this format is optional, it provides the most flexibility in designing block diagrams, system diagrams, system layout, and routing cables.
In general, the more information is provided with a symbol, the better is integration components into a system design and lower the risk of incorrect wiring and system assembly.
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