About Design Errors and Messages

Use Design Doctor and Sketch Doctor to find design errors in models, sketches, drawings, and assemblies.

Design errors sometimes occur if your changes interfere with other features. For example, an error occurs if:

• You specify a fillet radius that is larger than the edge where you apply it.
• You set an extrusion to act as a cut where no intersection occurs.

If problems occur during an operation, a message dialog box displays an error list. Design failures display in red underlined text. If you select a design failure message in the list, the location of the failure highlights in the graphics window.

An error tracking and recovery system helps you detect and correct design problems as you work.

Design Doctor

The Design Doctor, an error tracking and recovery system, helps you detect and correct design problems as you work.

When there are unresolved errors in a model, a red cross appears on the Quick Access toolbar or in the message dialog. You can click the red cross to open the Design Doctor and work on the errors.

Sketch errors

Sketches form the basis of most model features. Finding an error in a sketch requires that you understand the relationships among all of the pieces of sketch geometry. Also, be aware of how you plan to use the sketch to create subsequent model features.

If your sketch includes imported geometry that another designer created, identifying design errors can be challenging. Imported sketches sometimes cause unexpected behavior because of the way the geometry was created in the exporting system. Common issues include the following:

• Imported geometry that appears to define a closed region can have small gaps between lines and arcs. These gaps prevent the region from behaving as expected during the creation of a solid feature.
• Lines that appear to be perpendicular do not actually measure 90 degrees. This issue might not become apparent until you attempt to assemble the part.

The Sketch Doctor, part of the Design Doctor, can help you find problems with open regions. Issues involving incorrect angles or dimensions require closer scrutiny.

Assembly errors(not available in Inventor LT)

When you work in an assembly, you can view the errors in all components.

If you delete a component that contains a dependent assembly feature, the assembly feature “goes sick,” and the dependent assembly sketches remain in the browser. In the Design Doctor, you can replace the deleted component with a new component using the Redefine command.

Best Practices for Fixing Errors

When fixing several errors, work from the top of the list or browser to the bottom. Features with dependencies appear below the features on which they depend.