Construct the Fiber Optic Cable Favorite

These steps walk you through building a 144–count fiber optic cable. For any count, the process is the same, where you typically start with a single buffer tube with a desired number of fibers, copy and paste it with common attributes, and then return to each tube and fiber and add the unique attributes.

In ArcMap, apply a Stored Display that includes your fiber features.
Start Editing.
In the Table of Contents, click the Features pane.
Navigate to the folder that will contain your fiber favorites.
1. If you do not have a favorite folder yet, right-click a desired location and choose Create Favorite Category, name it, then click OK.
Right-click the favorite folder and choose Create Favorite.
On the Select a Target dialog, choose Fiber Cable, then click OK. The Create Favorite dialog opens.
For Description, type a descriptive name such as 144 Count Distribution
Fill out as many common fields as you can for the cable.
TIP:
- This is a favorite that will be used over and over again. You do not want to enter information such as Name, Date Installed, Installed by, or any other unique identifiers, as these vary from cable to cable. Instead, focus on attributes that are common for these types of cables. For example, if your company always uses the same Manufacturer, Contractor, Enclosure Type, etc., fill those fields in as defaults for the fiber users.
- When creating a favorite, there are many attribute fields to populate. When inside the Create Favorite dialog, press the Up and Down keys to move through the fields, and press the Enter key to activate the field.
IMPORTANT: You might be wondering if you need to type in the various model names. The answer is no. These automatically populate when you bring the favorite into the ArcFM Attribute Editor > Targets tab, which occurs before you sketch the favorite on the map. In other words, given the auto-updaters assigned to these fields, the application handles the model names fields for you.
Click Apply.
Expand the favorite to see its child relationships.
Right-click F_BUFFERTUBE and choose Add Related Object.

IMPORTANT: In the standard data model, Buffer Tubes only have unique attributes such as color, number, and name. Thus, for now leave the buffer tube un-attributed. When all tubes are in place, you return and add the unique attributes.
Expand BufferTube to see its relationships.
Right-click F_FIBER and choose Add Related Object.
Fill out as many common fields as you can for the fiber.

IMPORTANT: As a friendly reminder, stick to common attributes for now. After copying and pasting, you return to each fiber and add unique attributes such as number and color. Because you will ultimately paste this fiber many times, double-check the attributes for accuracy.
Click Apply.
Right-click Strand and choose Copy.
Right-click F_FIBER and choose Paste (or press Ctrl + V).
Repeat 10 more times so that you have 12 Strands total.
This has been a good amount of work so far, and it would be wise to save at this point:
1. In the Create Favorite dialog, click Create, then click Close.
2. On the Editor toolbar, click Editor > Save Edits.
3. When prompted to save changes to feature favorites, click Yes.
4. To continue editing the favorite, in the Table of Contents > Features pane, right-click the Cables and choose Edit Favorite.
Expand the relationships again until you see all the Strands.
Click the top-most Strand so that it is highlighted in blue.
For Description, type Blue

IMPORTANT: These steps follow the standard color-coding pattern used by the Fiber Optic Association (FOA)
Add the Color and Name attributes for the Blue fiber.
1. Color: Blue
2. Name: BL
  
  IMPORTANT: You might be wondering about the Num field at this point. Eventually, this is populated, but because each tube has a Blue fiber, do not populate this field just yet. After copying and pasting it throughout the tubes, you return and provide the unique number. Otherwise you would be copying the wrong number for all subsequent tubes.
Click Apply.
Click the second Strand so that it is highlighted.
For Description, type Orange
Add the Color and Name attributes for the Orange fiber
1. Color: Orange
2. Name: OR
Click Apply.
Repeat this process until all Strands have a Description, Color, and Name, all corresponding to your color-coding system (again, these steps use the standard system as approved by FOA).
Save your favorite, and then return to editing the favorite.
You currently have a single tube with 12 fibers, all with common attributes. To build out the remaining tubes:
1. Right-click the BufferTube and choose Copy.
2. Right-click the F_BUFFERTUBE relationship and choose Paste (or press Ctrl + V).
3. Repeat 10 more times so that you have 12 BufferTubes total.
4. Click Apply.
5. Save the favorite.
6. Return to editing the favorite.
It is time to make the buffer tubes and fibers unique. For buffer tubes, this means adding a Description, Position, Num, Color, and Name. For fibers, the only remaining attribute is the Num.
Click on the top-most BufferTube and add the unique attributes:
1. Description: Blue
2. Position: 1
3. Num: 1
4. Color: Blue
5. Name: BL
Click Apply.
Under the Blue buffer tube, expand F_FIBER to see the individual fibers.
Proceeding through each fiber, add the Num attribute, starting with the number 1 for the Blue fiber, 2 for the Orange fiber, 3 for the Green fiber, etc., ending with the number 12 for the Aqua fiber.
Click Apply.

Use the following table as a guide to populate all the BufferTube attributes and the fiber numbers.

TIP:

These are a lot of identifying numbers. Remember each tube’s fibers should end at an increment of 12.
It is recommended to save after completing each tube, at the very least.

BufferTube Description	BufferTube Position	BufferTube Number	BufferTube Color	BufferTube Name	Fiber Color	Fiber Num
Blue	1	1	Blue	BL	Blue	1
					Orange	2
					Green	3
					Brown	4
					Slate	5
					White	6
					Red	7
					Black	8
					Yellow	9
					Violet	10
					Rose	11
					Aqua	12
Orange	2	2	Orange	OR	Blue	13
					Orange	14
					Green	15
					Brown	16
					Slate	17
					White	18
					Red	19
					Black	20
					Yellow	21
					Violet	22
					Rose	23
					Aqua	24
Green	3	3	Green	GR	Blue	25
					Orange	26
					Green	27
					Brown	28
					Slate	29
					White	30
					Red	31
					Black	32
					Yellow	33
					Violet	34
					Rose	35
					Aqua	36
Brown	4	4	Brown	BR	Blue	37
					Orange	38
					Green	39
					Brown	40
					Slate	41
					White	42
					Red	43
					Black	44
					Yellow	45
					Violet	46
					Rose	47
					Aqua	48
Slate	5	5	Slate	SL	Blue	49
					Orange	50
					Green	51
					Brown	52
					Slate	53
					White	54
					Red	55
					Black	56
					Yellow	57
					Violet	58
					Rose	59
					Aqua	60
White	6	6	White	WH	Blue	61
					Orange	62
					Green	63
					Brown	64
					Slate	65
					White	66
					Red	67
					Black	68
					Yellow	69
					Violet	70
					Rose	71
					Aqua	72
Red	7	7	Red	RD	Blue	73
					Orange	74
					Green	75
					Brown	76
					Slate	77
					White	78
					Red	79
					Black	80
					Yellow	81
					Violet	82
					Rose	83
					Aqua	84
Black	8	8	Black	BK	Blue	85
					Orange	86
					Green	87
					Brown	88
					Slate	89
					White	90
					Red	91
					Black	92
					Yellow	93
					Violet	94
					Rose	95
					Aqua	96
Yellow	9	9	Yellow	YL	Blue	97
					Orange	98
					Green	99
					Brown	100
					Slate	101
					White	102
					Red	103
					Black	104
					Yellow	105
					Violet	106
					Rose	107
					Aqua	108
Violet	10	10	Violet	VL	Blue	109
					Orange	110
					Green	111
					Brown	112
					Slate	113
					White	114
					Red	115
					Black	116
					Yellow	117
					Violet	118
					Rose	119
					Aqua	120
Rose	11	11	Rose	RS	Blue	121
					Orange	122
					Green	123
					Brown	124
					Slate	125
					White	126
					Red	127
					Black	128
					Yellow	129
					Violet	130
					Rose	131
					Aqua	132
Aqua	12	12	Aqua	AQ	Blue	133
					Orange	134
					Green	135
					Brown	136
					Slate	137
					White	138
					Red	139
					Black	140
					Yellow	141
					Violet	142
					Rose	143
					Aqua	144

Save the favorite.