Examine Geometry Journal

[cowski]

I've put together a journal that encapsulates my strategy for finding problematic geometry when a solid body doesn't pass the examine geometry solid/face checks. The journal will prompt you to select a solid body then it will run some geometry checks. If it does not pass the checks, the journal will search for the last feature in the history tree where the solid does pass the checks. This gives a good indication of where to start looking for the problematic geometry.

The journal is not in a "finished" state, but seems to work well enough to be useful. I could use some "beta testers", because I only have a couple files with known problems to test with at the moment.
Feedback can be left here or directed to the email address in the comments section of the journal file.

Thanks!

From the journal file usage notes:

[COLOR=green]'Journal runs geometry checks (body structure, body consistency, face-face intersect, face self-intersect)[/color]
[COLOR=green]'on the selected solid. You do not need to window select the geometry (as you do with the examine geometry command),[/color]
[COLOR=green]'the journal will automatically select the faces of the selected solid body.[/color]

[COLOR=green]'If the solid does not pass one of the initial checks, the journal will search for the last feature in the history tree[/color]
[COLOR=green]'where the target solid passed all the checks. This feature will be made the current feature.[/color]

[COLOR=green]'** Note: This does not necessarily mean that the next feature is causing the failure, but should serve as[/color]
[COLOR=green]'         a good starting point in your search for the bad geometry.[/color]
[COLOR=green]'         For example: suppose you have a file with 1000 features and the journal indicates feature 882 is the[/color]
[COLOR=green]'         last valid state of the solid; this does not necessarily mean that SUBTRACT(883) is the problem.[/color]
[COLOR=green]'         Perhaps the real problem is the geometry in THROUGH_CURVE_MESH(876) that trims the tool body of SUBTRACT(883).[/color]
[COLOR=green]'         In this case, the journal simply indicates that the geometry that contributes to SUBTRACT(883) needs to be investigated.[/color]

[COLOR=green]'Usage notes:[/color]
[COLOR=green]'    The journal will prompt for the selection of a solid body.[/color]
[COLOR=green]'    If the body passes all the checks, a note indicating success will be written to the Information Window[/color]
[COLOR=green]'    If the body fails a check, the journal will search for the last feature in the history tree where the selected body[/color]
[COLOR=green]'      passed all the checks.[/color]
[COLOR=green]'    The journal works best on parts that are fully parameterized and have no suppressed features or features with errors.[/color]
[COLOR=green]'    There is no point of running this journal on a solid body that is a "body" feature (imported body), the examine geometry[/color]
[COLOR=green]'      will serve better in this case.[/color]

examine_geometry.vb

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[cowski]

Forgot to mention: the journal was written & tested on NX8, but I believe it will work as far back as NX6 (confirmation of that would be appreciated).

Thanks

www.nxjournaling.com