troubleshooting

Troubleshooting and CAD terms

Diagnose common selection, sketch, rebuild, import, and export problems.

A tool will not accept my selection#

Check the active selection prompt. A body, face, edge, sketch edge, closed profile, plane, axis, and path are different inputs. Rotate or zoom to expose overlapping geometry, or select the whole object from Browser. Face-backed sketches require a real planar model face.

A sketch does not create a selectable profile#

Look for gaps, overlaps, branches, or self-intersections. Use Edit Points, Trim, Extend, or Repair where appropriate. Construction geometry cannot bound a solid profile. A closed shaded region is the profile to select in Model.

A feature preview or rebuild fails#

Reduce values that consume nearby geometry, verify every required reference, and confirm that the requested operation actually intersects its target. Earlier history edits can remove or renumber dependent topology. Restore a valid source, use Relink for supported projected references, or undo the upstream edit.

An expression is invalid#

Confirm every variable name exists and the final result has the correct type. Distances, angles, and unitless numbers cannot be added interchangeably. Check closing parentheses, unit spellings, exponents, and division by zero.

Imported or exported geometry looks wrong#

Confirm source units and placement. STEP imports editable exact bodies; STL imports a non-CAD reference mesh. STL export is tessellated and lacks design history. Use 3MF when supported color metadata matters and STEP when exact solid interchange matters.

Glossary#

• Body: a solid model object produced by one or more history features.
• Feature: an ordered modeling operation that creates or changes design state.
• Sketch: editable 2D geometry placed on a plane or planar face.
• Profile: a closed sketch region that can drive a solid feature.
• Constraint: a geometric relationship controlling sketch shape or position.
• Construction geometry: non-profile reference geometry used for alignment and constraints.
• Reference: a plane, axis, face, edge, profile, or path used by another operation.
• Join, Cut, Intersect: add material, subtract material, or keep only shared volume.