8.3 The 2D diagram

Diagram mode draws the same rig as a schematic.

The 2D signal diagram — Figure 8.3 The demo rig as a schematic. Each device shows its ports; a cable’s name rides both ends of its run. Five devices here — two players, a switch and the two machines — with four cables between them. A device with no place in the 3D scene would be marked UNPLACED; every device here has one.

Drag a port to a port to create a cable.
Drag an edge’s middle segment to route it by hand; only the interior corners are stored. Double-click a cable to drop that hand-dressing and return to the automatic route.
Port labels track their side — inputs on the left, outputs on the right. A bidirectional port shows both, and only one cable can occupy it at a time.
Export PNG writes the diagram out as an image.

Unplaced devices

A device can be marked unplaced: it exists in the signal path but has no position in the venue — the front-of-house rack nobody modelled. It draws nothing in 3D, and its cables report no length (the browser shows —), but it is a full participant in the diagram.

Sections

+ Section draws a named frame around part of the diagram. Membership is geometric, never a stored link: whatever node’s centre is inside the frame belongs to it, so devices join and leave simply by being dragged across the border. Dragging the frame moves every member with it, as one undo entry.