Adding Routes

Complete the following steps to add a route:

1. Launch NI MAX with NI Switch Executive.
2. Expand Devices and Interfaces»NI Switch Executive Virtual Devices.
3. Select the NI Switch Executive virtual device that you want to modify.
4. Click the Routes/Groups tab.
5. Click to add a new route. A new route appears selected in the list of routes.
6. Type a name for the route in the Name textbox or accept the predefined alias of the route.
7. Type any comments you may have in the Comment field.
8. Select the default multiconnect behavior intended for the route in the Multiconnect Mode drop-down listbox:
   • Multiconnect Routes—Allows NI Switch Executive to use this route between multiple calls.
   • No Multiconnect—Prevents sharing between multiple calls.
9. Click the Route Groups tab.
10. Select the route group(s) that you want to associate with the route from the Available Route Groups listbox and click to move the route groups to the Parent Route Groups list.

    Tip  You can also associate a route with a route group by dragging the route and dropping it on top of the route group in the Routes and Route Groups listbox.

    Route groups help NI Switch Executive identify unintentional cross-connects. For example, if you are creating a test system, it is likely that you are using multiple routes at the same time. To ensure that these routes do not cross paths unintentionally, they must be dependent on one another. Use groups to prevent future errors when using your NI Switch Executive virtual device.
11. (Optional) Click the Route Specifications tab and set route constraints. The values in this tab filter endpoints in the Visual Route Editor window based on the specifications of the route and/or the wiring mode of the switch module.

    Tip  You can use scientific units in this tab. For example, instead of entering 1000000, you can enter 1M, or you can enter 1m for 0.001.

12. Complete the following steps to define endpoints—or the beginning and end of the route path—using the two tables in the Visual Route Editor window as shown in the following figure:

    

    1. Select the first endpoint of the route in the Endpoint 1 table.
    2. Select the second endpoint of the route in the Endpoint 2 table. The path editor automatically populates with the route specification string that designates your route path.

       Tip  Experiment with route selections to see how your changes affect the route specification string of a route path.

       Status icons, and , below the path editor indicate if there are any errors or warnings or if the path is valid.
    3. (Optional) Click Channels Only to enable visibility of the switch box between the Endpoint 1 and Endpoint 2 tables, as show in the following figure:

       

       Note  By default, the switch box does not display between the Endpoint 1 and Endpoint 2 tables. If you do not see the switch box, click Channels Only.

       If the two endpoints can be connected, a solid black line displays between the two selected endpoints, indicating that the path is complete.

       

       If the route path is invalid, the lines between the channels display as dashed red lines.

       

       If you want to modify the path selected, you can use the path editor to make your changes.

13. (Optional) Define hardwires to complete the route.
    • If the two endpoints are in separate switch modules physically connected by a hardwire, use the drop-down listbox that opens between the two endpoint tables to select another hardwire to complete the route. You can use the drop-down listbox to manually select different routing channels and hardwires.

      

      Note  The drop-down listbox will only display if the switch box has been enabled by clicking Channels Only.

    • If the two endpoints of a route are in separate switch modules connected by one or more intermediate switches, you must define the hardwires that connect them.

    Note  Hardwires are defined by a user. For information about defining new hardwires, refer to Adding Hardwires to Define Multidevice Topologies.

14. (Optional) Click Retry to attempt rerouting if you made changes to your virtual device configuration that might cause a route to become invalid, for example, adding/removing hardwires or exclusions.
15. Click on the NI Switch Executive taskbar to save the changes.