In this video, we’re going to talk about some of the Illustrative Devices in the System view. Illustrative Devices are objects in the System view that represent other external devices or signals. Illustrative Devices are helpful for documenting connections, naming sources, and showing network topology.
The first Illustrative Device is the Generic Input Source. The default Generic Input source has no inputs and one output. We can change the number of inputs, outputs, and bidirectional ports in the Options section of the Properties. Let’s give this object two outputs. The Properties window also has the usual naming and workspace location, so I could rename the object “CD Player”. Notice how both outputs have now inherited the name of the object. This Generic Input can now be routed into an analog input, digital input, or control input. The connection wires will also inherit the wiring color for the appropriate connection type. Once the connection is made, our named sources will now be visible on the device in the System view, and in the component list of the Virtual view. Additionally, we can right-click on the object in the System view and select “Edit Signal Names” to individually name each signal. Let’s name these “CD Player Left” and “CD Player Right”, and they will show on the object and the names will still follow to the device and Virtual view. 
Multiple devices can be added to the System view by holding ALT while dragging the object into the System view. This window will pop up, asking for the Device Name, Starting Number, and Count, or how many of the objects needed. Let’s say we’ve got a group of microphones coming in. Name of the device is Microphone, and I’m going to leave the number sign for automatic numbers. This is our first batch of mics, so I’ll leave the starting number at 1. There’s 8 mics total, so I’ll change the count to 8. Once finished, click ADD, and the microphones will be placed into the System view, already named and numbered for us to connect to our main device. 
Let’s quickly cover a few more of the Illustrative Devices. Generic Output Destination behaves similarly to the Generic Input, but the default object is 1 input with no outputs. This could represent a recording device, or I could change this to a 2 input, 2 output object to represent an amplifier. Remember that these connections do not actually affect audio flow and are purely representational. Finally, we also have Network Switch objects to document network connectivity. The number of copper and fiber ports can set in the Options section of the Properties window.