About Updating Your Design

You can update your design using the Update command.

This page discusses:

Overview

The point of updating a representation is to make the app take your very last operation into account. Although some operations such as confirming the creation of features (clicking OK) do not require you to use the Update capability (by default the app automatically does it), some changes to sketches, features etc. require the rebuild of the representation.

To warn you that an update is needed, the app displays the update symbol next to the representation's name and shows the geometry in bright red.

Two Update Modes

To update your design, the app provides two update modes:

  • automatic update, available in Me > PreferencesInfrastructure > 3D Shape Infrastructure. If selected, the app performs updates automatically when needed.
  • manual update, available in Me > PreferencesInfrastructure > 3D Shape Infrastructure lets you control the updates of your design. What you have to do is just click Update All whenever you wish to integrate modifications.
More about the Update All Command

The Update All command synchronizes copied solids linked to external references, but also updates the whole geometry of the representation. For information about external references, see Handling 3D Shapes in a Multi-document Environment in the Part Design User's Guide.

There are cases where the command also displays the Replace Viewer window. This window either helps you redefine directions if needed or is merely informative and therefore lets you check the validity of your geometry.

Tip: You can click Manual Update mode from the Standard Area section of the action bar if you are working in Part Design, Functional Plastic Parts, or FreeStyle Shape, Optimizer And Profiler. It changes the update mode.
Updating features by choice
To update one or more features of your choice, select the required features, right-click any of the selected features, and select Local Update.

Updating In Functional Plastic Parts

Contrary to Part Design app, Functional Plastic Parts does not run update processes once you have clicked on OK from any dialog box to confirm your current operation. In Manual Update mode, you always need to click on the Update icon to integrate the modifications to the geometry. If, for example, you have just edited a feature and clicked OK to confirm the operation, the geometry turns red to indicate that an update is required, nevertheless, updating immediately is not mandatory: you still can go on designing your 3D shape.

This specific behavior helps you control the app performance. Indeed, whenever you update your geometry, this is costly in terms of performance, this is why the manual update has been designed so as to let you modify the geometry as much as you want.

When designing, we therefore recommend the use of the Manual option.

Visualizing Updates

Besides the update modes, you can also choose to visualize the update process on the geometry as it is happening. To do so, select Activate Local Visualization from the Me > Preferences > Infrastructure > 3D Shape Infrastructure > General tab.

When this option is selected, as soon as you have clicked Update :

  • the geometry disappears from the screen;
  • each element is displayed as it is updated, including elements in No Show mode. Once they have been updated, they remain in No Show mode.

Canceling Updates

You can cancel your updates by clicking the Cancel button available in the Updatingdialog box.

Previewing Geometry

The Preview button from definition dialog boxes gives you an idea of the results, even if the Manual mode is on, the app launches an update operation. Because that is a costly process, you should use that capability only when necessary.