Designing a New System Using Your Live Hardware as a Template

To create a new system, you can use a connected hardware system as a template to modify or add devices to in the Design view of SystemDesigner.

  1. Navigate to the Design view.
  2. On the palette, click Unplaced Live Hardware.
    Note The devices on the Unplaced Live Hardware palette have same configuration as the matching device on the Live diagram. However, devices on the Design diagram do not change when modifications occur to a matching device on the Live diagram. Additionally, SystemDesigner does not remove a device from the Design diagram after you remove the matching device from the Live diagram.
  3. Select All to add all discovered hardware devices to the Design diagram.
  4. Optional: Considering your system requirements, customize the system in any of the following ways:
    • From the palette, add hardware devices to the Design diagram.
    • Wire the compatible device ports together based on the port configurations of the device. For example, downstream device ports connect to upstream device ports.
      Note If a wire appears broken, the connected devices are not compatible. In the Item tab, select Documentation » Manual to review device specifications.
    • Rename the device names to something more useful or identifiable for you and your team.
    • Add comments and images to the Design diagram to include notes about the system. Refer to Annotating the Design View for more information.
  5. After you complete your system design, click File » Save SystemDesigner.
  6. On the document toolbar, click Create SystemDesigner Report to capture the system for you to share or retain as a CSV file.