Cable Inventory

The Cable Inventory (Pro feature) feature allows you to create and manage a standardized list of cable types for your projects. By defining cables with lengths, units, connectors, and inventory SKUs, you can organize your connections and generate accurate cable reports.

Note

Please note that in the app Cables are different from Connections. Connections are the connections between gear, while cables represent an inventory item in your real world inventory.

Cables can be assigned to connections to add additional information to the connection, such as the cable length and inventory SKU, and keep track of inventory counts.

Managing Your Cable Inventory

To add, edit, or delete cables in your inventory, use the Cable Inventory Manager. You can access it in several ways:

• Main Menu Bar: Navigate to File > Managers > Cable Inventory Manager.
• Toolbar: Click the Managers icon in the main toolbar, then select Cable Inventory Manager.
• Keyboard Shortcut: Press Ctrl + I.

For detailed instructions on managing cables, see the Cable Inventory Manager page.

Assigning Cables to Connections

Once you’ve defined cables in your inventory, you can assign them to connections in your project to specify which cable type is used for each connection.

In the Drawing

Default Cables

When you select a cable to be used as the default for a connection type, it will automatically be assigned to all new connections of that connection type. You can mark a cable as the default by checking the Default checkbox in the Cable Inventory Manager.

You can only have one default cable per connection type. When you run out of stock, you will be prompted to select a new default cable for that connection type.

Note

Cable and connection compatibility is determined by both sides of the connection. For example, if you draw a connection from a RJ45 port to an EtherCON port, the app will first check for RJ45 default cables and assign your RJ45 default cable to the connection.

If there are no RJ45 cables available, it will then check for default cables for the EtherCON connection type and assign the default EtherCON cable if available.

Manually

Right-click on any connection in the drawing to access cable assignment options:

• Assign Cable: Appears when no cable is currently assigned.
• Change Cable: Appears when a cable is already assigned.
• Remove Cable: Appears when a cable is already assigned.

Select your desired option and choose from the dropdown list of available cables.

Only cables that are compatible with the connection type will be allowed to be assigned. If you have selected Generic as the connection type, the assignment will skip the compatibility check.

Note

Choosing “Unassigned” will remove the cable assignment from the connection when changing a cable.

In Reports

On a Connection report, you’ll find a Cable column where you can:

1. Click on the Cable column for any connection.
2. Select a cable from the dropdown list or choose “Unassigned” to remove the cable assignment.

When you assign a cable, the Cable Length, Cable Unit, and Cable Inventory SKU columns automatically populate with information from your selected cable.

Tip

Just like all editable fields in reports, you can also copy and paste cable assignments from one connection to another, including bulk editing multiple connections at once.

Viewing Cable Information

You can view cable information in several places:

• Cable Inventory Manager: Displays all cables in your inventory with their details.
• Connection Report: Shows the cable’s name and automatically populates length, unit, and SKU information.
• Connection Hover Card: When you hover over a connection, the info card displays “Cable: [Cable Name]” or “Cable: Unassigned” (e.g., “Cable: RJ45 - 10m” or “Cable: Unassigned”).

Cable Names and Sorting

GearConnect uses friendly names to make cable identification easier in dropdown lists and reports.

All reports will default to the standard name, but you can customize it by editing the Name field in the Cable Inventory Manager, at which point the Custom names rule will apply.

Name Display

• Standard names: Appear as-is (like “RJ45 - 10m” or “XLR3 - 25’”).
• Custom names: Shows the name plus the standard name (e.g., “Jumper (XLR3 - 2’)”).

Sort Order

In cable selection dropdowns, cables are sorted by:

• Unit: Feet appear before meters.
• Length: Shortest to longest.

The “Unassigned” option always appears at the top of the list.

Managing Stock Levels

As you assign cables to connections, the app automatically tracks your stock levels. This is determined by the Inventory Quantity field in the Cable Inventory Manager. When you assign a cable to a connection, the app will:

• Decrease the Inventory Quantity by 1 for that cable.
• Increase the Used count for that cable in the Cable Inventory Manager.

If you drop below 50% of your stock level, the app will warn you that you are running low on stock.

If you run out of stock, the app will prompt you to select a new default cable for that connection type.

If you try to assign a cable that is out of stock, the app will display an error message and prevent the assignment.

Note this will not prevent you from creating the connection, but it will not receive a cable assignment until you select a valid cable.

At this point you can either:

• Replenish your stock: Add more cables to your inventory.
• Select a different cable: Choose a different cable from your inventory that is in stock.
• Remove the cable assignment: If the cable is not essential, you can remove the assignment from the connection.