Control Circuit 2026 › Tutorial

Tutorial

The order to do things in, one small step at a time. Each chapter builds on the one before.

The program's built-in help is a reference: it tells you what every tool does. This tutorial is the other half: it shows you what to do first. You do not need to read the reference before you start.

Learn by doing. These chapters are only a first step: a walk through some of the program's more advanced features, not a complete course. Each one picks a handful of ideas that tend to trip people up and shows them in a small, working example.

If you would like further tutorials on a particular subject, or some direct, hands-on training for you or your team, just reach out. All contact info can be found at www.xml-control.com

Two things to know first Everything a Sheet needs lives inside the Sheet, so your projects never depend on a library that may one day be gone. And every Sheet is plain, readable XML that you can search, version and script. Read why this matters.

Chapters

  1. Chapter 1: Your First Project
    Create a project, look at its settings, place a symbol and start wiring it.
  2. Chapter 2: Understanding Wiring Tools and Methods
    Why the wire is the heart of the program, the wiring tools, three ways of working, and linking sheets with Interruption Nodes.
  3. Chapter 3: Net Names, Wire Types and Wire Groups
    The three values that make a wire smart, and the Wire Type and Wire Group libraries behind them.
  4. Chapter 4: The Connectivity Engine and a Simple Circuit
    Build a small circuit, learn what a net and a Wire Group are, run the Connectivity Engine, and meet the tools that tidy a sheet.
  5. Chapter 5: Wire Numbering
    How wires are numbered, the rules behind the numbers, placing Wire Numbering Nodes, and numbering automatically with Net Runner or by hand in Manual Mode.
  6. Chapter 6: Component Databases
    The Component Database Manager: the STARTER database, the fields a component carries, editing a schema and categories, and adding, copying and removing components.
  7. Chapter 7: Tags, Contact Roles and Component Data
    Auto Numbering the Tags on your symbols, linking contacts to their parent coil for Contact Tables and cross references, relabelling safely, and attaching component data.
  8. Chapter 8: Symbol Editor Basics
    Finding your way around the Symbol Editor, creating a custom library, and building a symbol with Pins, a Tag and data Fields.
  9. Chapter 9: The Border Editor and Manager
    Choosing a project’s Border, then customising your own copy: grid zones, logo area and title block Fields.
  10. Chapter 10: The Publisher Tools
    The Web Portal, Smart PDF, DXF Portfolio and Symbol Library PDF: what each produces and the settings behind it.
  11. Chapter 11: Symbol Library PDF Export
    Exporting a Symbol Library, or one Category, to a branded PDF catalogue: layout, content, logo, theme, watermark and footer.
  12. Chapter 12: Understanding Terminals
    Terminal Nodes, Terminal Groups and Terminal Instances: setting up a rail, validating it, numbering it, and converting a multi-tier symbol.