Workbenches: Difference between revisions

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Note that sometimes a Workbench is referred to as a ''Module''. However, Workbenches and Modules are different entities. A Module is any extension of FreeCAD, while a Workbench is a special GUI configuration that groups some toolbars and menus. Usually every Module contains its own Workbench, hence the cross-use of the name.
Note that sometimes a Workbench is referred to as a ''Module''. However, Workbenches and Modules are different entities. A Module is any extension of FreeCAD, while a Workbench is a special type of Module with a GUI configuration (toolbars and menus).


== Built-in workbenches == <!--T:10-->
== Built-in workbenches == <!--T:10-->

=== Current === <!--T:52-->


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The following workbenches are available on every FreeCAD installation:
The following workbenches are bundled with every FreeCAD installation:


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* [[Image:Workbench_Arch.svg|24px]] The [[Arch Module|Arch Workbench]] for working with architectural elements.
* [[Image:Freecad.svg|32px]] [[Std_Base|Std Base]]. This is not really a workbench, but rather a category of 'standard' commands and tools that can be used in all workbenches.
* <s>[[Image:Workbench_Complete.svg|24px]] The [[Complete_Workbench|Complete Workbench]] hold all commands and features from all the modules and workbenches which met certain quality criteria.</s> '''<small>Deprecated in v0.17</small>'''
* [[Image:Workbench_Draft.svg|24px]] The [[Draft Module|Draft Workbench]] contains 2D tools and basic 2D and 3D CAD operations.
* [[Image:Workbench_Drawing.svg|24px]] The [[Drawing Module|Drawing Workbench]] for displaying your 3D work on a 2D sheet.
* [[Image:Workbench_FEM.svg|24px]] The [[FEM Module|FEM Workbench]] provides Finite Element Analysis (FEA) workflow.


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* [[Image:Workbench_Image.svg|24px]] The [[Image Module|Image Workbench]] for working with bitmap images.
* [[Image:Workbench_Arch.svg|32px]] The [[Arch_Workbench|Arch Workbench]] for working with architectural elements.
* [[Image:Workbench_Inspection.svg|24px]] The [[Inspection Workbench|Inspection Workbench]] is made to give you specific tools for examination of shapes. It is still in development.
* [[Image:Workbench_Mesh.svg|24px]] The [[Mesh Module|Mesh Workbench]] for working with triangulated meshes.
* [[Image:Workbench_OpenSCAD.svg|24px]] The [[OpenSCAD Module|OpenSCAD Workbench]] for interoperability with OpenSCAD and repairing Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) model history.
* [[Image:Workbench_Part.svg|24px]] The [[Part Module|Part Workbench]] for working with CAD parts.


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* [[Image:Workbench_PartDesign.svg|24px]] The [[PartDesign Workbench|Part Design Workbench]] for building Part shapes from sketches.
* [[Image:Workbench_Draft.svg|32px]] The [[Draft_Workbench|Draft Workbench]] contains 2D tools and basic 2D and 3D CAD operations.
* [[Image:Workbench_Path.svg|24px]] The [[Path_Workbench|Path Workbench]] is used to produce G-Code instructions. It is still in a stage of development.
* [[Image:Workbench_Plot.svg|24px]] The [[Plot Module|Plot Workbench]] is used to edit and save output plots created from other modules and tools.
* [[Image:Workbench_Points.svg|24px]] The [[Points_Module|Points Workbench]] for working with point clouds.
* [[Image:Workbench_Raytracing.svg|24px]] The [[Raytracing Module|Raytracing Workbench]] for working with ray-tracing (rendering)


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* [[Image:Workbench_FEM.svg|32px]] The [[FEM_Workbench|FEM Workbench]] provides Finite Element Analysis (FEA) workflow.
* [[Image:Workbench_Reverse_Engineering.svg|24px]] The [[Reverse Engineering Workbench|Reverse Engineering Workbench]] is intended to provide specific tools to convert shapes/solids/meshes into parametric FreeCAD-compatible features. (under development)
* [[Image:Workbench_Robot.svg|24px]] The [[Robot_Workbench|Robot Workbench]] for studying robot movements.
* [[Image:Workbench_Ship.svg|24px]] The [[Ship Workbench|Ship Workbench]] FreeCAD-Ship works over Ship entities, that must be created on top of provided geometry.
* [[Image:Workbench_Sketcher.svg|24px]] The [[Sketcher Module|Sketcher Workbench]] for working with geometry-constrained sketches.
* [[Image:Workbench_Spreadsheet.svg|24px]] The [[Spreadsheet Module|Spreadsheet Workbench]] for creating and manipulating spreadsheet data.


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* [[Image:Workbench_Start.svg|24px]] The [[Start_Workbench|Start Workbench]] allows you to quickly jump to one of the most common workbenches.
* [[Image:Workbench_Inspection.svg|32px]] The [[Inspection_Workbench|Inspection Workbench]] is made to give you specific tools for examination of shapes. It is still under development.

* [[Image:Workbench_Surface.svg|24px]] The [[Surface_Module|Surface workbench]] provides tools to create and modify surfaces. It is similar as the Part Shape builder Face from edges.
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* [[Image:Workbench_TechDraw.svg|24px]] The [[TechDraw Module|TechDraw Workbench]] is the more advanced and feature-rich successor of [[Drawing Module|Drawing]]
* [[Image:Workbench_Test.svg|24px]] The [[Debugging|Test Framework Workbench]] is for debugging FreeCAD.
* [[Image:Workbench_Mesh.svg|32px]] The [[Mesh_Workbench|Mesh Workbench]] for working with triangulated meshes.

* [[Image:Workbench_Web.svg|24px]] The [[Web Workbench|Web Workbench]] provides you with a browser window instead of the 3D-View within FreeCAD.
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* [[Image:Workbench_OpenSCAD.svg|32px]] The [[OpenSCAD_Workbench|OpenSCAD Workbench]] for interoperability with OpenSCAD and repairing [[constructive solid geometry|constructive solid geometry]] (CSG) model history.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Part.svg|32px]] The [[Part_Workbench|Part Workbench]] for working with geometric primitives and boolean operations.

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* [[Image:Workbench_PartDesign.svg|32px]] The [[PartDesign_Workbench|Part Design Workbench]] for building Part shapes from sketches.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Path.svg|32px]] The [[Path_Workbench|Path Workbench]] is used to produce G-Code instructions. It is still under development.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Points.svg|32px]] The [[Points_Workbench|Points Workbench]] for working with point clouds.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Reverse_Engineering.svg|32px]] The [[Reverse_Engineering_Workbench|Reverse Engineering Workbench]] is intended to provide specific tools to convert shapes/solids/meshes into parametric FreeCAD-compatible features. It is still under development.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Robot.svg|32px]] The [[Robot_Workbench|Robot Workbench]] for studying robot movements.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Sketcher.svg|32px]] The [[Sketcher_Workbench|Sketcher Workbench]] for working with geometry-constrained sketches.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Spreadsheet.svg|32px]] The [[Spreadsheet_Workbench|Spreadsheet Workbench]] for creating and manipulating spreadsheet data.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Start.svg|32px]] The [[Start_Workbench|Start Center Workbench]] allows you to quickly jump to one of the most common workbenches.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Surface.svg|32px]] The [[Surface_Workbench|Surface Workbench]] provides tools to create and modify surfaces. It is similar to the [[Part_Builder|Part Builder]] Face from edges option.

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* [[Image:Workbench_TechDraw.svg|32px]] The [[TechDraw_Workbench|TechDraw Workbench]] for producing technical drawings from 3D models. It is the successor of the [[Drawing_Workbench|Drawing Workbench]].

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* [[Image:Workbench_Test.svg|32px]] The [[Testing|Test Framework Workbench]] is for debugging FreeCAD.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Web.svg|32px]] The [[Web_Workbench|Web Workbench]] provides you with a browser window instead of the [[3D_view|3D view]] within FreeCAD.

=== Obsolete === <!--T:50-->

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The following workbenches are no longer included after version 0.20:

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* [[Image:Workbench_Drawing.svg|32px]] The [[Drawing_Workbench|Drawing Workbench]] was used for producing technical drawings. The [[TechDraw_Workbench|TechDraw Workbench]] is its more advanced replacement.

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* [[Image:Workbench_Image.svg|32px]] The [[Image_Workbench|Image Workbench]] was used for working with bitmap images. It functionality has been integrated in [[Std_Base|Std Base]]. See [[Std_Import|Std Import]] and [[Std_ViewLoadImage|Std ViewLoadImage]].

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* [[Image:Workbench_Raytracing.svg|32px]] The [[Raytracing_Workbench|Raytracing Workbench]] was used for ray-tracing (rendering). The external [https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-render Render Workbench] should be used instead.


== External workbenches == <!--T:11-->
== External workbenches == <!--T:11-->


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FreeCAD workbenches are easy to program in [[Python|Python]], there are therefore many people developing additional workbenches outside of the FreeCAD main developers.
FreeCAD workbenches are easy to program in [[Python|Python]], there are therefore many people developing additional workbenches outside of the FreeCAD main development area.


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The [[external workbenches|external workbenches]] page has some information and tutorials on some of them, and the [https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-addons FreeCAD Addons] project aims at gathering them and making them easily installable from within FreeCAD.
The [[external workbenches|external workbenches]] page lists all that are known to this community. Most are easily installable from within FreeCAD, using the [[Std_AddonMgr|Addon Manager]], found under menu {{MenuCommand|Tools [[Image:Std_AddonMgr.svg|24px]] Addon manager}}.


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New workbenches are in development, stay tuned!


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Revision as of 15:29, 3 May 2023

FreeCAD, like many modern design applications such as Revit or CATIA, is based on the concept of Workbench. A workbench can be considered as a set of tools specially grouped for a certain task. In a traditional furniture workshop, you would have a work table for the person who works with wood, another one for the one who works with metal pieces, and maybe a third one for the guy who mounts all the pieces together.

In FreeCAD, the same concept applies. Tools are grouped into workbenches according to the tasks they are related to.

When you switch from one workbench to another, the tools available on the interface change. Toolbars, command bars and possibly other parts of the interface switch to the new workbench, but the contents of your scene doesn't change. You could, for example, start drawing 2D shapes with the Draft Workbench, then work further on them with the Part Workbench.

Note that sometimes a Workbench is referred to as a Module. However, Workbenches and Modules are different entities. A Module is any extension of FreeCAD, while a Workbench is a special type of Module with a GUI configuration (toolbars and menus).

Built-in workbenches

Current

The following workbenches are bundled with every FreeCAD installation:

  • Std Base. This is not really a workbench, but rather a category of 'standard' commands and tools that can be used in all workbenches.
  • The FEM Workbench provides Finite Element Analysis (FEA) workflow.
  • The Inspection Workbench is made to give you specific tools for examination of shapes. It is still under development.
  • The Part Workbench for working with geometric primitives and boolean operations.
  • The Path Workbench is used to produce G-Code instructions. It is still under development.
  • The Reverse Engineering Workbench is intended to provide specific tools to convert shapes/solids/meshes into parametric FreeCAD-compatible features. It is still under development.

Obsolete

The following workbenches are no longer included after version 0.20:

External workbenches

FreeCAD workbenches are easy to program in Python, there are therefore many people developing additional workbenches outside of the FreeCAD main development area.

The external workbenches page lists all that are known to this community. Most are easily installable from within FreeCAD, using the Addon Manager, found under menu Tools → Addon manager.