Part and Body containers

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tonyaimer
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Part and Body containers

Post by tonyaimer »

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Can someone give a simplistic explanation of "Part and Body containers at the root of a document" please.

I am wanting to use Assembly4 and the overview mentions this and I am not in a position
to explain this to anyone else so it means I don't understand it! I think I might have an idea
as to what this means but I am not sure at all.

I know that the PartWB is something I am not presently using and someone else once
said that "part" was an overused word in FreeCAD.

Regards


Tony Aimer
drmacro
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by drmacro »

You can see my post here to start your thinking:

https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 08#p617708

You can see https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Part_and_PartDesign for more discussion about Part vs. Part Design.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Spock: "...His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking."
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by user1234 »

tonyaimer wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:50 pm Can someone give a simplistic explanation of "Part and Body containers at the root of a document" please.
I do not use assembly modules, also it is very specific from the usecase of the work (steelwork it will be handled different as machine constructing).

How i use it (and works for me very well). A Part (and its container) defines my drawing+manufacturing/purchase limit. For example a VSTI screw will be always purchased with a sealing. So the Body of the sealing and the screw itself are in the Part. Similar is a bearing with outer ring, inner ring, roller elements, cage, sealing (if it has one).

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Also i handle Parts, they are welded (drawing+manufacturing). So i can make a drawing out of it and and every element of it (Body) stays where it belongs, in the drawing and in 3D. Also when i have to move the welded part, i move the Part, and not every small element of it (that would be annoying af). And when i do not want to manufacturing it, i have the drawing and purchase it. Also then in the BoM it is one Part, like it is in real life. Steelworkers would probably build the structure different, since they have a different workflow and manufacturing structure (ERP).


2.png
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Yes here are missing the weling seams atm.


Besides that, a Part Container can be also a Assembly container, if you write the property Type = Assembly. Then its icon changes (and nothing more happens atm).


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user1234
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wandererfan
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by wandererfan »

tonyaimer wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:50 pm Can someone give a simplistic explanation of "Part and Body containers at the root of a document" please.
Simplistic explanation of Part vs Body here: https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 30#p609930

Not sure about the "at the root of the document" bit, but it appears to be telling you a) don't use things that are already inside an App::Part container, but use the App::Part itself and b) don't use the construction history steps of a Body, but only the Body itself.

And yes, "part" is way over-used. Vastly over-simplified:

"part" is a object created in the Part workbench, which might be better called the Shape workbench or the Constructive Solid Geometry workbench. This is the original FreeCAD object and is used as a catch-all term for anything that has a shape.

PartDesign workbench is actually a Body (blue step icon) design workbench. A Body is the result of a series of (usually) sketch based construction steps.

App::Part (yellow step icon) is a container that can hold pretty much any FreeCAD object and move them in concert.
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by thomas-neemann »

wandererfan wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 5:42 pm ...
App::Part (yellow step icon) is a container that can hold pretty much any FreeCAD object and move them in concert.
yes, even meshes and point clouds
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tonyaimer
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by tonyaimer »

Thanks to all who have commented on my post.

I am fully aware of the difference between partWB and partdesignWB but in trying to follow the assembly 4 documents it seems that I can have several bodies in a part but that I need the initial part container to assemble into.

It would seem that you cannot assemble bodies into bodies?

That is where my thinking stands at present.

Confirmation of that would be helpful

Regards


Tony Aimer
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by Bance »

tonyaimer wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 2:53 pmIt would seem that you cannot assemble bodies into bodies?
This is true, a body in FC is a single solid, therefore it cannot be an assembly.

A Part container is different it may contain any kind of FC object, because it is a container not a thing in itself. A Part container can contain other Part containers, this is how an assembly can be built.

FC does not have a "native assembly WB" but the possibility is there and the Part container was designed with this in mind.

I do not use assembly WB's so I cannot comment on why they are required for ASS4, but I imagine it is for similar reasons.
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by onekk »

wandererfan wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 5:42 pm "part" is a object created in the Part workbench, which might be better called the Shape workbench or the Constructive Solid Geometry workbench. This is the original FreeCAD object and is used as a catch-all term for anything that has a shape.

But Part can do even BREP, and fairly well, as you have BREP tools, like extrude and rotate and all the commands to make faces and shells and solid, plus many other things.

But maybe I'm wrong about CSG and BREP differences?

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thomas-neemann
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by thomas-neemann »

Bance wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 3:46 pm ...
I do not use assembly WB's.....
I don't use them either. It's nice to read something like that, it's rare here
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Re: Part and Body containers

Post by adrianinsaval »

tonyaimer wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 2:53 pm it seems that I can have several bodies in a part but that I need the initial part container to assemble into.

It would seem that you cannot assemble bodies into bodies?
That is correct. It would be easier if you linked the asm4 document that you are mentioning so we can see in what context this is mentioned and give you better answers.
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