A quick symbol for devices you rarely use: a box with terminals on any side

[ispyisail]

To wire a device you only use once, such as a particular drive, a 24 V power supply or a controller, you first have to draw its symbol in the symbol editor. Proposed: a dialog that makes that symbol for you.

You fill in:

• the name, label, manufacturer, reference and the other usual fields;
• the terminals on each side (left, right, top, bottom): how many, and a name for each. Names can be filled in for you as 1, 2, 3… or L1 L2 L3 / U V W, and a blank entry leaves a gap between groups.

The box sizes itself from the number of terminals and the length of their names, and a preview updates as you type. Every terminal lands on the grid, so wires run straight, and terminals on opposite sides line up (L1 opposite U). You can add extra space, but never squeeze the box smaller.

The result is an ordinary symbol, saved in the project's own collection and placed like any other. Wires, labels, the parts list, terminal strips and exports all work as usual. Each terminal keeps a lasting identity, so you could reopen the device later and add or rename terminals, and the box would regrow without losing its wires.

Each step would be its own pull request:

1. Create and place a device.
2. Edit a placed device, keeping its wires.
3. Save settings as presets ("VSD 3-phase"), and copy a device to your own collection.

Not included: sizes in millimetres or to scale (discussion #745), and a picture inside the box. #410 asked for a resizable item for cabinet layouts; this covers only its "terminals on a plain box" part.

Questions:

• Is this wanted?
• Is Edit → Add → Generic device… (also on the right-click menu of an empty folio) the right place?
• If a device was copied several times and you edit one copy, should the change apply to every copy or only to that one? Proposed: ask each time.

[arummler]

That ressembles
https://github.com/asnigma/qet_gen_element
which is advertised in the "Side project" tab. I was looking at those entries and IMHO they should be either integrated into the main program as native functions or retired. In this case it is a small seld-contained function and it has not been updated in years. Might not even work anymore.

Difference: that one was just to generate a fixed element quickly while yours is a dynamic element. Personally I think 2d/3d design still requires more decisions about the design approach before going into such a detailed implementation as already discussed elsewhere. But both an element generator as well as a dynamic element (and the possibility to go from latter to former might make sense).

[ispyisail]

Built as #1418. It became a three-page wizard (terminals per side, then names, then manufacturer) with a preview beside every page, instead of one dialog.

@arummler: names can be typed the way qet_gen_element does it (In{5}, Q{z5}), plus ranges and gaps, so its job is covered inside QElectroTech. Editing a placed device, so it regrows and keeps its wires, is the next PR.