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Manual / Electrical & Wiring

Terminal and Wire Numbering (TCOUNT / Re-tag)

Number terminals and wires with TCOUNT, and fix addresses/wire numbers on copied drawing pages.

What it does

Electrical drawings contain many terminal and wire numbers in sequence. TCOUNT adds sequence numbers to all the selected text in one step.

Where to find it

  • Ribbon: Annotate › Text & Tables › Number Text
  • Command line: TCOUNT (Alias TC)

Format

TCOUNT [start] [step] [p=prefix] [s=suffix] [pick] [over]

Option Meaning
start First number (default 1)
step Increment (default 1)
p= Prefix, for example p=X1:
s= Suffix
pick Number in the order you click (the default is by position, top to bottom, left to right)
over Replace all of the existing text (without it, the number is added in front of the existing text)

Steps: number terminals X1:1 to X1:8

  1. Draw one terminal with the text ?, then ARRAY it to make the full set.
  2. Select all of the text (for example QSELECT text and then click to remove the ones you do not want, or FIND ?).
  3. Type TCOUNT 1 1 p=X1: over and press Enter.

Terminal strip before numbering
Terminal strip before numbering

After TCOUNT: X1:1 to X1:8
After TCOUNT: X1:1 to X1:8

Wire numbers by row

  • Wire numbers 101, 102, ...: TCOUNT 101 1 over
  • Terminal numbers in steps of 2: TCOUNT 1 2 p=X2:

Fix addresses and wire numbers on copied pages

When you copy a finished IO drawing page to make the next group, Wiring Wizard (the Pattern page field) automatically changes the addresses %I0.0 → %I8.0 and the 3-digit wire numbers (for example 200 → 300) in the text. For special cases, use FIND to replace word by word, for example FIND %I0. %I8.

Try it: X2 terminal strip for a pump panel

Twelve terminals on a DIN rail with the wires coming in from above. Draw one terminal, array it, then two TCOUNT runs write every terminal number and wire number in order.

  1. One terminal: REC 0,0 → 12 Tab 26, screw C 6,19 radius 2.5, wire L 6,26 → 6,50.
  2. Placeholders with DT, Text height 2.5: a ? at about 1.5,5 (terminal number) and a ? at about 7,36 (wire number).
  3. Select the five objects and type ARRAYRECT 12 12 0. You now have 12 terminals.
  4. Drag a window from left to right around the bottom row of ? only (about -2,2 to 146,10) and type TCOUNT 1 1 p=X2: over. They become X2:1 to X2:12.
  5. Window the upper row of ? (about -2,33 to 146,41) and type TCOUNT 201 1 over. The wires are now 201 to 212.
  6. Title: DT with height 4, X2 PUMP PANEL TERMINALS at about 0,-10.

Terminal strip X2:1 to X2:12 with wire numbers 201 to 212
Terminal strip X2:1 to X2:12 with wire numbers 201 to 212

Challenge: Make it a double-level strip: copy the row up by 60 and number it with TCOUNT 13 1 p=X2: over and TCOUNT 213 1 over.

See also