Off-Page Connector

Off-Page Connectors (OPCs) are PID shape components that represent interruptions in piping — connecting pipes from one P&ID to another, or to another part of the same P&ID. When the Fluidstream Simulation reaches an Off-Page Connector, fluid continues to its paired Off-Page Connector — even when that pair lives on a different sheet.

In pharmaceutical facilities, Off-Page Connectors are essential for modeling multi-drawing systems — connecting a CIP supply header on one P&ID to a process skid on another, or linking a WFI distribution loop across multiple drawings.

Off-Page Connectors pair up in two complementary ways: automatically, using their Tag/Bind matching rules across sibling sheets, and manually, when an engineer draws (or cuts) a specific cross-sheet link by hand. Both kinds of link light the connectivity bullet green and carry fluid across sheets the moment they are made.

🏷️ Classification

Off-Page Connectors are classified as the Off-Page Connector behaviour in the P&ID Components Classification system. Each OPC class defines its binding behavior through class-level attributes.

🔗 Automatic Pairing (Binding Methods)

Most Off-Page Connectors find their partner on their own. When two sheets are open as siblings (sometimes called "siamese" sheets of the same module), AseptSoft matches OPCs across them using the binding method defined on the class.

Match by tag (paired connectors with same tag)

Two OPCs are paired when their Bind values are identical.

Point-to-point (directly linked pair)

A stricter binding method requiring mutual reference. OPC A's Tag must match OPC B's Bind, and OPC B's Tag must match OPC A's Bind.

One-way (fluid exits but doesn't return)

A directional binding where OPC A's Tag points to OPC B's Bind value, but only one direction needs to match.

🖱️ OPC Connectivity Bullets and Hover Popup

AseptSoft provides a visual overlay that shows the connection status of every Off-Page Connector directly on the drawing, along with an interactive hover popup for inspecting, navigating, and authoring OPC connections.

🔵 Connectivity Bullets

When enabled, small colored circles appear at each OPC's position on the drawing:

⚙️ Enabling the OPC Bullets

The feature supports three modes:

📋 What the Hover Popup Shows

Hover over any OPC bullet to see a floating panel with detailed connectivity information. The popup is the control center for the connector: it tells you what this OPC is, who it is connected to, and lets you add or remove connections directly.

The panel always shows a This OPC summary — its Tag, Bind, sheet (PID) name, and binding mode — plus an editable description line for your own notes.

For a connected OPC, a green Connected to list shows every partner the connector currently holds. This is a list, not a single pair, because one OPC can hold several connections at once. Each row carries its own two buttons:

For an unconnected OPC, a red No connection found section appears, with an expandable list of other unconnected OPCs across the open sheets. Each entry is itself a one-click Connect target.

🧭 Cross-PID Navigation

The Navigate button on any partner row switches to the destination P&ID, selects the paired OPC, and zooms to it — so you can follow a line across sheets without hunting for the matching connector.

📊 Connectivity Graph

The popup includes a Show Connectivity Graph button that opens a full visualization window showing the entire network of OPC connections across all open P&IDs.

🔗 Authoring a Manual Cross-Sheet Connection

When automatic pairing can't express the link you need, you can draw it by hand straight from the OPC you are looking at. There are two ways to do it, both starting from the hover popup.

Option A — Click a connector out of the list

If the hovered OPC is unconnected, expand the other unconnected OPCs list in its popup and click the connector you want to pair with. The row highlights green and reads Connect as you hover it. One click makes the link.

Option B — Connect across sheets with the sheet chooser

Use this when the partner lives on a different sheet, or when you want to point at it on the drawing.

1. Hover the OPC and click Connect to another OPC… in its popup.

2. An inline sheet (PID) chooser opens. Your active sheet is listed first and highlighted; below it are the other open sibling sheets. Click the sheet that holds the partner connector.

3. If you chose a different sheet, AseptSoft activates that sheet for you, then prompts you on the drawing to pick the partner OPC.

4. Click the partner connector and press Enter to confirm. If the block you clicked holds several OPC sub-nodes, AseptSoft picks the one nearest your click point.

The moment you confirm, the green bullet lights up on both connectors and fluid flows across the sheets on the same gesture — there is no separate "rebuild" step.

🤝 Keep (join) or Replace

If either connector already has a connection when you author a new one, AseptSoft asks how the new link should fit alongside the existing ones:

✂️ Disconnecting and banning a link

To remove a connection, hover the OPC and click Disconnect on the partner row in the Connected to list. The behaviour depends on where the link came from:

• An automatic link is banned — it is removed everywhere and will not reappear the next time pairing runs.

• A hand-made link is cleared — the override is simply dropped.

🧩 Multi-OPC Blocks

A single AutoCAD block can contain multiple Off-Page Connector sub-nodes. This is configured through the Symbol Style system, where each sub-node has its own Name, Tag Pattern, Bind Pattern, and Binding Method. When you pick such a block while authoring a manual connection, AseptSoft connects the sub-node closest to where you clicked.

🌐 Cross-PID Fluid Flow

Off-Page Connectors are the mechanism for cross-PID fluid flow. When paired OPCs exist on different P&IDs — whether paired automatically or by hand — fluid can flow between drawings.

Cross-PID Stream Behavior

After any connect or disconnect, the red/green bullets re-derive across every open sheet, and — when a simulation is currently active — fluid re-flows across the affected cluster automatically.

💧 Fluid Creation

The FluidCreation property allows an Off-Page Connector to generate fluid at its endpoint. This is useful when the OPC represents a connection to an external system where fluid originates.

💊 Pharma Scenario: Connecting a CIP Supply Header Across P&IDs

Imagine a CIP system spanning two drawings:

• P&ID-001 contains the CIP skid with the caustic tank, acid tank, and supply pump.

• P&ID-003 contains a process vessel with its inlet/outlet manifold.

If the naming lines up — pair automatically:

1. On P&ID-001, place an Off-Page Connector at the end of the CIP supply header with Tag = "CIP-SUPPLY-003" and Bind = "CIP-SUPPLY-003".

2. On P&ID-003, place a matching Off-Page Connector at the start of the CIP inlet with Bind = "CIP-SUPPLY-003".

3. Set the binding method to Match by tag.

4. With both sheets open, the Fluidstream Simulation carries CIP Caustic from the skid on P&ID-001 through the OPC pair and into the vessel manifold on P&ID-003.

If the names don't match — connect by hand:

1. Open both sheets, then hover the supply-header OPC bullet on P&ID-001.

2. Click Connect to another OPC…, choose P&ID-003 from the sheet chooser, and pick the vessel-inlet connector on the drawing.

3. When prompted, choose Keep if the supply header already feeds other vessels, or Replace to make this the sole route.

4. The bullets turn green and the CIP Caustic path lights through to the vessel immediately — and your teammates see the same link when they open these sheets.

🏭 Workflow: Tracing a Cross-PID Fluid Path Using OPC Bullets

1. Enable OPC bullets in Auto mode.

2. Look for red bullets — these indicate unconnected OPCs that may be blocking cross-PID flow.

3. Hover over a green bullet to confirm the connection and review its Connected to list.

4. Click Navigate on a partner row to jump to the destination P&ID.

5. For a red bullet that should be connected, hover it and either click a connector from the unconnected list or use Connect to another OPC… to author the link by hand.

6. Run a Fluidstream Simulation to verify fluid flows through the OPC pair.

⚙️ Configuration

For defining and connecting Off-Page Connectors, refer to the Activation Settings in the classification system.

🛠️ How To: Set Up an Off-Page Connector Pair

1. Classify the OPC block as Off-Page Connector in the P&ID Components Classification window.

2. Set the Binding Method to the appropriate mode.

3. Configure the Bind Build token pattern.

4. Place matching OPCs on each P&ID with consistent Tag/Bind values, or open the sheets and connect the pair by hand from the hover popup.

5. Open both PIDs in the same module and run a Fluidstream Simulation to verify cross-PID fluid flow.

6. Enable OPC bullets to visually confirm all connections.

🔗 Related Pages

• Engineering Item — Controllable components connected via OPCs

• Source — Fluid origins that may feed into OPCs

• Fluidstream Simulations — Cross-PID fluid flow visualization

• PID Shape Components — All shape component types

• P&ID Components Classification — Classifying OPC blocks

• Activation Settings — Detailed OPC configuration

• Valve Hover Inspector — Similar hover inspection feature for valves