[feature] Add labels on cable ends

[andresR8]

Hi, great work. It would be very useful to have a way to describe labels on the cable ends

[formatc1702]

Some thoughts on this:

• Strictly speaking, this should be a property of the cable (label or similar), and it should allow for different labels on either end, something like label_left and label_right.
• It would probably be more intuitive to render this information closer to the connector, rather than inside the node for the cable. The question is how to implement this.
• In the simple case, where there is no ambiguity, this could be a property of the connector itself. This would only break when there is more than one cable branching off from a connector, and each branch requiring a different label... Of course, the label attribute can be allowed for both connectors and cables and leave it up to the user.

Extrapolating from this idea, it might make sense to allow general-purpose user-defined attributes for connectors and cables, to allow for labels, but also any other information that is not covered by the standard attributes.

Example proposal:

  X1:
    type: Plug
    pincount: 4
    pn: 123
    manufacturer: ACME
    mpn: ABC
    additional_attributes:
      - Sleeving removal: 15 mm
      - Insulation removal: 2 mm
      - Label: A01-5-10
      - Tag: ABCDEFG
    additional_components:
      -
        type: Crimp
        pn: 987
        manufacturer: ACME
        mpn: ZYX
        qty_multiplier: populated
      -
        type: Housing
        pn: 345
        manufacturer: OTHER

Result:

GraphViz snippet

	X1 [label=<
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">
     X1
   </td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td>
   <table border="0"><tr><td border="1" style="rounded">1</td></tr></table>
   </td>
   <td balign="left">P/N: 123</td>
   <td balign="left">ACME: ABC</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">Plug</td>
   <td balign="left">4-pin</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1">
   <tr>
    <td align="left">Sleeving removal</td>
    <td align="left">15 mm</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td align="left">Insulation removal</td>
    <td align="left">2 mm</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td align="left">Label</td>
    <td align="left">A01-5-10</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td align="left">Tag</td>
    <td align="left">ABCDEFG</td>
   </tr>
  </table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1">
   <tr>
    <td port="p1r">1</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td port="p2r">2</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td port="p3r">3</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td port="p4r">4</td>
   </tr>
  </table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">Additional components</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tbl">
    <table border="0"><tr><td border="1" style="rounded">4</td></tr></table>
   </td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tb">4x</td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tb">Crimp</td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tb">P/N: 987</td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tbr">ACME: ZYX</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tbl">
    <table border="0"><tr><td border="1" style="rounded">6</td></tr></table>
   </td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tb">1x</td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tb">Housing</td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tb">P/N: 345</td>
   <td align="left" balign="left" sides="tbr">OTHER</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
</table>
> fillcolor=white margin=0 shape=none style=filled]
	X2 [label=<
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">X2</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">P/N: 234</td>
   <td balign="left">ACME: DEF</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">Receptacle</td>
   <td balign="left">4-pin</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1">
   <tr>
    <td port="p1l">1</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td port="p2l">2</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td port="p3l">3</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td port="p4l">4</td>
   </tr>
  </table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td balign="left">Additional components</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
 <tr><td>
  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" cellborder="1"><tr>
   <td align="left" balign="left">1 x #5 (Crimp)</td>
  </tr></table>
 </td></tr>
</table>
> fillcolor=white margin=0 shape=none style=filled]

I will welcome a PR that implements this.

[formatc1702]

Alternative implementation idea (separate and independent from the additional_attributes proposal):

• You need the label to appear in the BOM
• If multiple cables use the same type of label (but different text on it), they should count as the same BOM item, since they need to be purchased and stocked as the same item, the blank label.
  • Solution: Add a note field for additional BOM items that is ignored when checking for uniqueness

  X1:
    type: Plug
    pincount: 4
    pn: 123
    manufacturer: ACME
    mpn: ABC
    additional_components:
      -
        type: Crimp
        pn: 987
        manufacturer: ACME
        mpn: ZYX
        qty_multiplier: populated
      -
        type: Housing
        pn: 345
        manufacturer: OTHER
      -
        type: Label
        pn: 789
        note: '"A01-5-10"'

The correct rendering of the additional item table, where the note field would show the label contents, is dependent on #224 being implemented.