Feature Editor tab

The Feature Editor tab enables you to create and edit features that are used for 2D feature milling strategies and turning strategies.

To display the Feature Editor tab click Feature Group tab > Edit panel > Feature Editor.

This tab contains the following:

Detect panel

Detect Features — Click to display the Interactive Feature Detection dialog.

Create 2D Features panel

Pocket — Select an item from the Pocket menu to create new pocket features:

• Rectangular pocket — Click to create a rectangular pocket feature.
• Circular pocket — Click to create a circular pocket feature.
• Freeform pocket — Click to create a freeform pocket feature from curves or surfaces.

Boss — Select an item from the Boss menu to create new boss features:

• Rectangular boss — Click to create a rectangular boss feature.
• Circular boss — Click to create a circular boss feature.
• Freeform boss — Click to create a freeform boss feature from curves or surfaces.

Slot — Click to create a slot feature from a curve.

Face — Select an item from the Face menu to create new milling face features:

• Unbounded Milling Face — Click to create an unbounded face feature.
• Bounded Milling Face — Click to create a bounded face feature from a curve.

Side — Click to create a side feature from curves or surfaces. Use this option to create features for side faces, cavities, or non-symmetrical channels.

Create Turning Features panel

Profile — Click to create a turning profile feature from a curve.

Groove — Select an item from the Groove menu to create new turning groove features.

• Freeform Groove — Click to create a freeform groove feature from a curve.
• Parametric Groove — Click to create a groove feature from specified parameters.

Turning face — Click to create a turning face feature.

Bore — Click create a bore feature from a curve.

Edit panel

Settings — Click to edit the selected feature.

Open Regions — Click to edit the open regions of a selected pocket using the Open Region Editor tab.

Delete Selected — Click to delete a selected feature.

Feature Colour — Click to edit the colour of a selected feature.

Feature Hierarchy — Click to display the 2D Feature Hierarchy dialog.

Profile Curve — Click to edit the profile curve of a selected feature using the Curve Editor tab.

Tolerance panel

Tolerance — Controls whether the feature you are creating is treated as a child of a larger feature. If the distance between the features is less than or equal to the specified tolerance, the new feature is treated as a child of the existing feature; if the distance between the features is greater than the specified tolerance, the features are treated as separate and the new feature has a new Z level in the hierarchy.

For example, if you create a boss feature within a pocket feature:

• A small tolerance requires the lower face of the boss to lie on, or close to, the lower face of the pocket to recognise the boss as the pocket's child feature.
• A large tolerance value enables the boss feature to be recognised as a child if it is slightly misplaced.

Selection panel

Select — Select an option from the Select menu to control how to select features. The selected features are yellow, the available features are purple:

• Select All — Click to select all features.
• Select Toggle — Click to deselect the selected features and select the deselected features.
• Select Invalid — Click to select all the invalid features in the model.

Utilities panel

Snap when Resizing — Click to toggle between: snapping using the intelligent cursor; or disabling snapping.

The CTRL key temporarily disables snapping.

History panel

Undo — Click to undo your changes.

Redo — Click to reinstate the changes you have undone.

Finish panel

Accept — Click to accept and keep all the created features and close the Feature Editor tab

Cancel — Click to delete all the created features and close the Feature Editor tab.