The Verify Menu option displays a collection of commands that allow you to verify geometry and data associated with the current file.

ViaCAD Designer

XYZ…

The Verify XYZ option displays a dialog box with the selected point model space coordinate displayed within the fields.

Tip: The Verify XYZ dialog can also be used to modify the selected point.

Angle 3 Pts

The Angle 3 Pts dialog is used to display the angle between three user supplied points.

Dist Pt–Pt

The Dist. Pt-Pt command is used to verify global coordinate distances. The dialog displays the distance in the current unit value and breaks down the distance into its dx, dy, and dz components.

Minimum Distance

The Minimum Distance command is used to calculate the minimum distance between two entities. Acceptable paired entities include curve/curve, curve/surface, surface/surface, curve/solid, surface/solid, solid/solid.

Length

The Verify Length command calculates the length of a curve.

Perimeter

Objects that are selected will be used to calculate the perimeter. Objects must be selected prior to selecting the Perimeter option from the menu.

Area

The Verify Area command calculates the area of a surface or solid. In the case of a solid, the area is the sum of the individual face areas.

Volume

The Volume command prompts a dialog which displays the amount of three-dimensional space a selection occupies.

Properties

The Properties command in the Verify menu calculates area and mass properties.

Planar Properties

Properties are calculated when either curves or surfaces are selected. When selecting curves, the command requires they form a closed shape without overlapping elements.

Perimeter

Sums the length of all the curves or surfaceedges.

Area

Calculates the 2D planar area or 3D surface area.

Centroid

Calculates the 2D area centroid. This value is not calculated for a non-planar surface.

Prin. Moments

Calculates the principle moments of inertia for a 2D planar object. This value is not calculated for a non-planar object.

X-Axis

Calculates the principle x axis of a 2D planar object. This value is not calculated for a non-planar object.

Y-Axis

Calculates the principle y axis of a 2D planar object. This value is not calculated for a non-planar object.

Point at CG

Creates a point entity at the centroid for 2D planar objects.

ASCII

Dumps the results into a text ASCII file.

Pr Axis Lines

Creates two lines corresponding to the principle axis lines. This object is only valid for 2D planar objects.

Mass Properties

Selecting one or more solid objects will display the Mass Properties dialog. The mass properties information for a solid includes volume, weight, Density, CG (Center of Gravity), inertia, and Moments data. The mass properties command will accept more than one object selected. If more than one object is selected, the dialog will calculate the results as a combined assembly.

Using the Mass Properties Command

Select one or more solids. All selected objects will be used for the assembly calculations. Pick the Verify: Properties menu item to display the Mass Properties dialog box. If a single object is selected, the Object drop-down list is disabled and the object’s values are displayed.

If 2 or more objects are selected, the Object drop-down list is enabled and the assembly’s values are displayed.

Selecting from the Object drop-down list changes the current object.

The current object is highlighted in the drawing. If the current object is the assembly, all the assembly’s objects are highlighted.

An object’s density value may be changed at any time using the Material drop-down list or the Density edit field. Changing the density of the assembly will change the density of all objects in the assembly. All computed values are updated as density changes are made.

The displayed units may be changed at any time using the Units drop-down list or the Use ounces/ grams checkbox. All computed values are updated as unit changes are made.

Selecting the Create: Point at C.G. checkbox enables the creation of a point entity at the center of gravity of each object in the assembly and at the center of gravity of the assembly itself (if applicable).

Selecting the Create: ASCII File checkbox enables the creation of an ASCII dump file containing the mass property values for each object in the assembly and for the assembly itself (if applicable).

Selecting the Create: PR. Axis Lines checkbox enables the creation of a principle axis triad (3-line entities) at the center of gravity of each object in the assembly and at the center of gravity of the assembly itself (if applicable).

Pressing the OK button will save the density values for each object and perform any selected Create options. Pressing the Cancel button will discard any density changes and ignore any selected Create options.

Example Mass Properties ASCII File

---

Mass Properties for *ASSEMBLY*

---

Volume: 134.18740 in3

Weight: 0.00000 Pounds

C.G.: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

Ix Iy Iz: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Iyz Izx Ixy: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

---

Mass Properties for My Block

---

Volume: 50.96510 in3

Weight: 0.00000 Pounds

C.G.: -0.65655 6.20481 1.47284

Ix Iy Iz: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Iyz Izx Ixy: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Pr. Moments: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Pr. X Axis: 1.00000 0.00000 0.00000

Pr. Y Axis: 0.00000 1.00000 0.00000

Pr. Z Axis: 0.00000 0.00000 1.00000

---

Mass Properties for My Other Block

---

Volume: 83.22229 in3

Weight: 0.00000 Pounds

C.G.: 5.08555 9.38822 4.37342

Ix Iy Iz: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Iyz Izx Ixy: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Pr. Moments: 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 (lb-in2)

Pr. X Axis: 1.00000 0.00000 0.00000

Pr. Y Axis: 0.00000 1.00000 0.00000

Pr. Z Axis: 0.00000 0.00000 1.00000

Interference

The Interference command checks to see if any two solids overlap. You can pick two or more solids to check interference between.

Solid 1

The entity name of the first solid analyzed.

Solid 2

The entity name of the next solid analyzed.

Interference

The entity name corresponding to the solid that will get created if Keep intersection solid is checked.

Volume

The volume of interference between Solid 1 and Solid 2.

CG

The centroid of interference between Solid 1 and Solid 2.

Keep Intersection

Keeps the solid of intersection between Solid 1 and Solid 2.

Print

Sends the results to the printer.

Save

Saves the results to a text file.

Show Direction

The Show Direction command displays the starting direction of a curve and the positive direction for a surface. When you show the direction on an object, it will stay shown until you turn it off with the Show Direction command.

Bounding Box

The Bounding Box command creates a transparent solid rectangle tightly fit about an object’s extent. The length, width, and height of the rectangle are displayed in the data entry window. The bounding box is always aligned with the global coordinate system axis.

Show Curvature

The Show Curvature displays the curvature of a curve or surface of the selected object. It will stay shown until you turn it off with the same command. By keeping on the curvature display, you can perform dynamic modifications of the curve and immediately see the effect of curvature.

Curvature Circle

The Curvature Circle option creates a dynamic circle that is located next to the cursor and selected curve. The curvature circle is the circle that best approximates a circle at the location along the selected curve. As you move your cursor over the selected curve, the circle center and diameter update, including the Data Entry Fields. To end the command, press the mouse button. A circle is created at the cursor location. You can use the Undo function to remove the circle.

Curvature Settings

The Curvature Settings dialog box is located in the Verify menu. The dialog box controls the number of evaluations used to display curvature and a scale factor useful for increasing or decreasing the magnitude of the curvature.

Curvature Settings Dialog

Object Counts

The Verify Object Counts displays a dialog box that helps you examine object counts in your drawing. The pull-down menu on the top allows for calculating counts for all, selected, visible, work layer only, and hidden objects. In addition, the Object Counts dialog box displays information related to memory and the display list.

Check Object

The Check Object command examines 1 or more objects for potential problems. Potential problems include geometry and topological errors. Some example conditions examined include:

1. Improper tolerances between vertices, edges, and faces(gaps).
2. Improper orientations of edges and faces.
3. Curve or surface discontinuities.
4. Self-intersecting geometry.
5. Bad representations of analytic or NURBS data.
6. Incorrect trimming curve information.

Many of these conditions arise from data that is imported from other modeling systems. It is a good idea to use check object on imported data.

Save As

Saves the check object dialog ASCII content to a text file.

Repair

Attempts to repair data that is determined bad.

Next Object Moves the scroll bar to the data associated with the next object.

Tip: Use the Stitch command as an alternative to the repair button. The stitch button will work on a solid and provides access to a variety of healing and repair options not available in the Check Object repair button.

Surface Analysis

The Surface Analysis command displays a menu with four options that include curvature, draft angle, normals, and zebra plots.

Surface Analysis Menu

Curvature

The Curvature Analysis displays color analysis for Gaussian, Mean, Min Radius, and Max Radius of curvature.

Gaussian Curvature

The “A” call-out points to a Red overloaded histogram bin. This occurs when the user edits the min/max values such that the histogram scale becomes too small. The “B” call-out points to the user selected “value of interest”. The user selects the color by clicking with the left mouse button on the color bar. The surface colors will change to black at the specified value. Also, the corresponding histogram bin will change to yellow at this location. If the user has edited the min/max values, selecting a radio button will reset the values back to the defaults.

Draft Angle

The Draft Angle Plot provides mold interference checking. The user can specify the minimum and maximum draft angle limits. This dialog also supports a user selected “value of interest”.

Zebra

The Surface Zebra Plot provides a quick check of a surface’s smoothness. The view eye point will affect a zebra plot. A zebra plot maps stripes onto a surface or solid, and several stripe options exist including: horizontal, vertical, wide, and narrow.

Environment Map

An Environment Map applies an image mapped to an object. Like zebra plots, environment maps are useful to find inconsistencies with surfaces, especially at the location where two surfaces join together.