Glossary

From FreeCAD Documentation
Revision as of 13:54, 24 March 2014 by Bejant (talk | contribs) (→‎B)

This page is a glossary of common FreeCAD terms and definitions.

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A

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Arc
A portion or segment of a circle.
Arch
A workbench used primarily for modeling buildings and structures. Closely related to the Draft Workbench.
Assembly
1.  A set of parts that have defined positions in relation to each other.
2.  A workbench which aims to facilitate the creation of assemblies. It is currently in development and not yet part of FreeCAD.
Axis
An imaginary line through the origin of the workspace. There are 3 normal axes. They have the classic names of X, Y and Z. X is side to side. Y is up and down. Z is in and out of the page/screen.

B

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Blueprint
Old term used for drawing, and coined for its original reproduction process.
brep
Native file format for Open CASCADE and shared by a few applications. FreeCAD can save in *.brep format.
B-rep
Stands for boundary representation, which is one of two types of 3D models that FreeCAD supports (the other being mesh).
Boolean Logic
A method of data manipulation by using of the operands: And, Or, Not.
Boolean Operation
A method of manipulating objects by using Boolean Logic. In FreeCAD, the Boolean Operations are: Union, Difference, Intersection, and Section.
BSpline
<To be added.>


C

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Chamfer
The cutting off of an edge, at an angle, to get rid of its sharpness.
Clipping Plane
The clipping plane is used to cut away at the model in the 3D view. It is just a visual aid and does not actually cut the model.
Clone
<To be added.>
Coin
Also called Coin3D. Third-party software library used for 3D representation by FreeCAD.
COLLADA
An interchange file format for mesh models. File extension is *.dae.
Constraint
A restriction on the geometric relationship between primitives in a Sketch.
Coordinate
A number which defines the position of an object in space in reference to a coordinate system.
Coplanar
Existing on the same plane.
Cut
<To be added.>

D

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Difference
<To be added.>
Draft
1.  A FreeCAD Workbench used primarily for 2 dimensional work.
2.  A relief angle on a mold to allow removal of the finished product. See PartDesign Draft.
Drawing
1.  A FreeCAD Workbench used to generate 2D representations of a model, also called drawings. {{defn|no=2|defn=Describes a representation of geometry through the use of two-dimensional views. Also called plan.

E

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Edge
1.  A segment joining two vertices. This segment can be a straight line or a curve.
2.  The joining line between two faces. It can be curved or straight.
Extrude
A general term for extending a 2D object into 3D along 1 direction. See also Pad.

F

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Face
A 2 dimensional topological construct. For example, a cube has 6 Faces.
Facet
<To be added.>
FC
short for FreeCAD.
Feature
A step in a 3d part's evolution in the Part Design Workbench workflow. Examples are Pad, Pocket, Groove, Fillet, etc.
Fillet
A rounded relief or cut at an edge added for a finished appearance and to break sharp edges. See Part Fillet and PartDesign Fillet.
Frenet
<To be added.>
Fuse
<To be added.>

G

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Geometric modeling kernel
Also called CAD kernel. A set of complex software libraries responsible for the creation of 3D shapes. All operations on objects (extrude, boolean operations, chamfer, fillet) rely on the geometric modeling kernel.
Git
Distributed revision control system used by FreeCAD to host and manage its code base.
Group
<To be added.>
GUI
Graphical User Interface. Allows users to interact with FreeCAD through graphical icons and the mouse pointer.

H

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I

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IGES
A file format for the exchange of product data models. Files extensions are *.iges, *.igs. See also STEP.
Intersection
<To be added.>

J

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K

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L

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Line
A straight path between two points.
Lock
<To be added.>
Loft
<To be added.>

M

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Macro
<To be added.>
Mantis
Bug tracking system used by the FreeCAD project.
Mesh
<To be added.>
Model
Also called 3D model. Computer representation of a three-dimensional part or assembly.
MultiTransform
<To be added.>

N

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O

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OCE
Open CASCADE Community Edition. It provides patches, improvements and experiments contributed by users over the official Open CASCADE library. FreeCAD is known to work on either OCC or OCE.
Open CASCADE
The geometric modeling kernel (software library) underlying FreeCAD. Also called OCC or OCCT. See also OCE. http://www.opencascade.org/
OpenSCAD
<To be added.>
Origin
The center of the coordinate system. Everything goes out from here in either the positive or negative directions. As is our view of the universe with Earth being the “origin”.
Orthographic
<To be added.>

P

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Pad
An extension of a Sketch in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the Sketch. See also Extrude.
Part
1.  A FreeCAD Workbench primarily used for a Constructive Solid Geometry workflow.
2.  A unibody solid. The lowest level component in an assembly.
Perspective
<To be added.>
Placement
<To be added.>
Planar
<To be added.>
Plane
<To be added.>
Plot
<To be added.>
Pocket
A Feature that removes material from a solid based on a Sketch.
Point
An item used to reference a single area in the 3D workspace. A “point” is dimensionless. It has a dimension on the screen, usually represented by a “dot” only so we can see where it is. See also Vertex.
Polygon mesh
See [1]
Polyline
<To be added.>
Python
<To be added.>

Q

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Quebec
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

R

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Revolve
<To be added.>
Robot
<To be added.>
Rotate
<To be added.>

S

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Section
<To be added.>
Shape
<To be added.>
Sketch
A constrained 2D depiction of an object fixed to a plane or a Face.
Sketcher
A workbench used to create 2D geometry by use of constraints.
Stable
A nickname for the last general release version of the FreeCAD software. This is typically the version available from sources other than the FreeCAD project. Compare with Unstable.
STEP
An ISO standard (ISO 10303) for the exchange of 3D data and product manufacturing information. It replaces IGES. File extensions are *.step, *.stp.
SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics. A vector graphics file format.
Sweep
<To be added.>

T

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Task panel
<To be added.>
Thickness
1.  A measure of how thick a shape is.
2.  A Part Workbench tool to hollow out a solid and leave a defined uniform thickness.
Toggle
<To be added.>
Torus
A primitive shape.
Tracker
Short for bug tracker, the online software application used to keep track of reported bugs or feature requests. See also Mantis.

U

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Union
<To be added.>
Unstable
A nickname for a very recent version of the FreeCAD software. This version will contain many changes recently implemented by the developers. It does not typically fail or produce wrong results, but it has not completed testing.
Upgrade
<To be added.>

V

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Vector
<To be added.>
Vertex
A lone point in space, or the corner of a shape where edges meet.

W

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Wire
<To be added.>
Workbench
Also called module, the workbench groups a set of tools dedicated for a specific task.

X

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X
Commonly refers to the X axis.

Y

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Y
Commonly refers to the Y axis.

Z

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Z
Commonly refers to the Z axis.