• Connector—A part or assembly that serves to connect the harness electrically into a piece of equipment or another harness. You must designate a part as a connector, and define one or more coordinate systems, with the z axis pointing outwards, to use as an entry port before you can route the wire or cable to it. Wires or cables need not end at a connector, they can be terminated in space.

• In-line connector—An inline connector is a male-female pair assembly. It must have an assembly level coordinate system on either side representing an entry point and an exit point. When placed on an existing cable, an inline connector splits the cable into two separately-named entities. The length of each entity is calculated from the entry or exit location point. Internal lengths are added through the entry port int_length parameter on the component.

• Splice—A part or assembly that electrically connects wires within a harness. Wires can stop at or pass through a splice. A splice does not split the wire into two entities.

• Mechanical Component—A part or assembly that serves as a mechanical support for the wiring harness. A mechanical component is a necessary part or assembly in manufacturing a grommet or a formed support piece. Wires must pass completely through this type of component to be electrically meaningful. If you stop routing at a component, the wire is considered incomplete.

◦ Custom Component—A component that has no parameters but, in other capabilities, is exactly like a splice. Used for items that would not need a reference designator.

◦ Attached Component—A component that was referenced while routing a harness and then attached to the harness using the Components > Attach to Harness command. The referenced component at the routing location must have a coordinate system as the reference so that you can attach it to a harness.