solvecraft/docs/book/src/reference/glossary.md

Glossary

This page sets SolidCraft's ubiquitous language: one agreed term for each idea, defined once and used the same way in labels, command ids, parameter keys, the design file, the docs, the MCP tools and every translation.

Two rules apply:

• One idea, one term. When this page names a term for an idea, use that term, not a synonym.
• One term, one idea. A word that means two things gets two qualified terms (for example construction entity and construction plane), and each meaning gets its own entry in the message catalogues.

A pull request that adds a new idea (a command, a parameter, a file key, a panel) adds its term here. A pull request that renames a label, id or key to match this page keeps the old id or key working as an alias and lists it in docs/compatibility.md.

How an entry reads

Each entry gives the term and a definition: one short sentence in plain technical English that could replace the term in a sentence. It names no product and doesn't use the term to define itself, in the way ISO 704 and ISO 10241-1 describe for terminology. A note follows, with the context:

• In SolidCraft: the command ids, parameter keys and design-file keys that use the term.
• Don't use: the other words for the same idea.
• Elsewhere: general names that people coming from other CAD software may know.
• For translators: what the term must not be confused with.

Some of the ids and labels below still use a word this page says not to use. They change in later pull requests, one topic at a time, each pointing at its entry here.

Terms

appearance

How a body, face or component looks on screen and in renders.

An appearance sets colour and surface finish only. It has no effect on mass or strength. Compare material.

• In SolidCraft: appearance.assign, appearance.library, appearance.list; the appearances design-file key.
• Don't use: look, colour (for the whole appearance), render material.
• Elsewhere: appearance, visual material, colour.
• For translators: not the physical material.

bill of materials

The list of the components placed in a design or in one component, with the quantity of each.

It lists every part at any depth, or only the direct children. Each component's bill of materials type decides whether it has a row and whether what it holds is counted.

• In SolidCraft: assembly.bom ("Bill of Materials") and its window on the INSPECT panel; each row's item, part_number and count; a component's metadata and properties design-file keys, which component.metadata.set changes.
• Don't use: BOM in labels; parts list (for the bill of materials itself).
• Elsewhere: bill of materials, BOM, parts list.
• For translators: not a parts list on a drawing, which is one table that shows it.

bill of materials type

The rule that decides whether a component has a row in a bill of materials, and whether what it holds is counted there.

There are five:

• normal, something you make: a row; each occurrence adds one to its quantity.

• phantom, something just to group: no row; what it holds counts where it is placed.

• reference, something to use as a reference: no row, and nothing inside it counts.

• purchased, something you buy: one row; nothing inside it is counted or listed.

• inseparable, something made as one piece (welded, glued, riveted and so on): one row; of what it holds, only the purchased components are listed, and only in a list of every part.

• In SolidCraft: the bom_type part property, which component.metadata.set changes and component.metadata reads; the bom_type of each assembly.bom row.

• Don't use: BOM structure, item type, kind; made (for normal: it reads as "already made").

• Elsewhere: BOM structure, BOM type.

• For translators: normal here is not the sketch line type, a direction or the display quality (see Words with more than one meaning); reference is not a construction plane; phantom is not a hidden or see-through display.

body

One connected solid or surface shape that features create and change.

A design can hold many bodies. A component groups bodies; an occurrence places them.

• In SolidCraft: body.rename; the bodies browser folder; body_name parameters.
• Don't use: part, solid (for a surface body too), object.
• Elsewhere: body, solid body, surface body.
• For translators: not a component and not a design.

browser

The panel that lists the design's components, bodies, sketches, construction planes and joints as a tree.

• In SolidCraft: browser.group, browser.move, browser.order, browser.visibility, and the other browser.* commands.
• Don't use: model tree, scene browser, parts browser.
• Elsewhere: browser, model tree, feature tree, design tree.
• For translators: not the web browser. A language with its own CAD word for the tree may use it (in French, arborescence), so that "browser" and "web browser" don't share a word. See web browser.

component

A named container of bodies, sketches, construction geometry and other components that can be placed one or more times.

Each placement of a component is an occurrence. Editing a component changes every occurrence of it.

• In SolidCraft: component.create, component.activate, and the other component.* commands; the components design-file key.
• Don't use: part, assembly, sub-assembly (for the component itself).
• Elsewhere: component, part, sub-assembly.
• For translators: not an occurrence.

constraint

A rule that fixes the relation between sketch entities, such as coincident, parallel or tangent.

A constraint with a value is a dimension.

• In SolidCraft: sketch.constraint.coincident, sketch.constraint.parallel, and the other sketch.constraint.* commands; the constraint parameter key; the sketch's constraints design-file key.
• Don't use: relation, condition.
• Elsewhere: constraint, geometric constraint, relation.
• For translators: a joint between occurrences is not a constraint.

construction entity

A sketch entity that guides the drawing but isn't part of any profile.

A construction entity can be a line, an arc, a circle or any other curve, and it can carry constraints and dimensions like any sketch entity.

• In SolidCraft: the construction parameter of the sketch drawing commands; the construction field of a sketch curve; the ui.construction catalogue entry.
• Don't use: "construction" on its own where it could mean a construction plane.
• Elsewhere: construction line, construction geometry, reference line.
• For translators: not a construction plane, axis or point. The browser's Construction folder and this line type still share the Construction catalogue entry, so German, Korean and Turkish show the folder as "construction line".

construction plane, construction axis, construction point

A plane, axis or point that a feature creates to place other features, and that is not part of any body.

They are listed together in the browser's Construction folder.

• In SolidCraft: construct.plane.offset, construct.axis.two_points, construct.point.vertex, and the other construct.* commands; the CONSTRUCT toolbar panel.
• Don't use: "construction" on its own where it could mean a construction entity; work plane.
• Elsewhere: construction plane, reference plane, datum plane (and axis, point).
• For translators: not a sketch's construction entity.

curve

A sketch entity that is not a point: a line, an arc, a circle, an ellipse, a spline or a conic.

• In SolidCraft: the sketch's curves design-file key; curve ids in parameters such as path.
• Don't use: geometry, edge (for a sketch curve).
• Elsewhere: curve, sketch curve, segment.
• For translators: not an edge of a body.

design

The model that is open in SolidCraft: its timeline, components, bodies, sketches, parameters and settings.

A design is saved as a design file.

• In SolidCraft: file.new ("New Design"), document.units ("Change Design Units"), document.metadata ("Design Properties"), doc.open, doc.recover.
• Don't use: document, doc, project, file (for the model itself), part.
• Elsewhere: design, document, model, part file, assembly file.
• For translators: not the Project design property and not the sketch Project command.

design file

A file in which SolidCraft saves one design, with the .sc extension (.solidcraft in earlier releases; those files still open).

• In SolidCraft: file.save, file.save_as, doc.open; the solidcraft/N format tag.
• Don't use: document, project file.
• Elsewhere: design file, model file.
• For translators: "file" is only for what is on disk: opening, saving, importing and exporting.

dimension

A constraint that sets a size, such as a length, a distance, an angle or a radius, by its value.

A dimension can drive the sketch, or be driven by it and only show the value.

• In SolidCraft: sketch.dimension, sketch.dimension_text, sketch.toggle_driven; a dimension's id is a constraint id.
• Don't use: measurement (for a dimension), size.
• Elsewhere: dimension, dimensional constraint, driving dimension.
• For translators: not a drawing dimension and not a measured value.

equation curve

A sketch curve whose shape comes from formulas over a range of one variable.

It is a fit point spline through fixed points that the formulas place, and they place them again when the design's parameters change. Compare spline, whose points are placed by hand.

• In SolidCraft: sketch.equation_curve, sketch.equation_curve.edit; the equations design-file key of a sketch; variable_unit says whether the variable is a plain number or a length like its range.
• Don't use: formula curve, function curve, parametric curve (for the command).
• Elsewhere: equation-driven curve, curve from equation, function plot.
• For translators: "equation" is a mathematical formula, not a balance or an equality constraint.

feature

One step in the timeline that creates or changes geometry, such as an extrude, a fillet or a construction plane.

• In SolidCraft: timeline.edit, timeline.suppress, timeline.reorder, and the other timeline.* commands; the features design-file key.
• Don't use: operation, step (in labels); feature (for something SolidCraft can do in general: say tool or capability).
• Elsewhere: feature, operation.
• For translators: French uses fonction for a timeline feature, so "AI features" had to become fonctionnalités IA. Translate "feature" only in the timeline sense.

folder

One of the browser's fixed sections of a component: Bodies, Sketches, Construction, Joints.

A folder is part of every component and can't be renamed or removed. A container that someone makes is a group.

• In SolidCraft: the folder parameter of browser.group, browser.order and browser.visibility (bodies, sketches, construction).
• Don't use: folder for a group.
• Elsewhere: folder, node.
• For translators: not a group and not a folder on disk.

group

A named container that someone makes, in the browser or in the timeline, to keep items together.

A group changes only how items are listed. It has no effect on the geometry or the order in which features are computed.

• In SolidCraft: browser.group, browser.ungroup, browser.rename_group; timeline.group, timeline.ungroup, timeline.rename_group, timeline.move_to_group; the group parameter key; the groups parameter of timeline.delete and timeline.suppress (a group with all its features); the browser_groups and timeline_groups design-file keys.
• Don't use: feature folder, folder (for a group).
• Elsewhere: folder, group.
• For translators: not a rigid group (a joint) and not a fixed browser folder.

material

The physical substance of a body, which sets its density and mechanical properties.

A material sets mass, centre of gravity and strength values. How the body looks is its appearance.

• In SolidCraft: material.assign ("Physical Material"), material.list, material.create, and the other material.* commands; the materials and user_materials design-file keys.
• Don't use: material for a render or visual material.
• Elsewhere: material, physical material.
• For translators: not an appearance.

moment of inertia

How a body's mass resists turning about an axis: the mass times the square of its distance from that axis, summed over the body.

SolidCraft reports the whole inertia tensor about the centre of mass in world axes, with its principal moments and principal axes: the three axes with no products of inertia between them. The first moments are the mass times the centre of mass.

• In SolidCraft: inertia_g_mm2, principal_moments_g_mm2, principal_axes, first_moment_g_mm and about in component.properties and occurrence.properties; the Properties window's Moment of inertia section.
• Don't use: rotational inertia, second moment of mass, mass moment.
• Elsewhere: moment of inertia, inertia tensor, mass moment of inertia.
• For translators: not the second moment of area of a cross-section, a different quantity.

occurrence

One placed copy of a component inside its parent component.

A component can have several occurrences. Moving an occurrence moves only that copy; editing the component changes every copy. The browser names occurrences with a number, such as Bolt M20:3.

• In SolidCraft: occurrence.copy, occurrence.move, occurrence.drag, occurrence.ground, occurrence.properties; the occurrences design-file key; the path of occurrence ids.
• Don't use: instance, placement.
• Elsewhere: occurrence, instance, component instance.
• For translators: not a pattern instance.

opaque path lighting

Indirect diffuse and specular illumination computed by tracing finite light paths between opaque surfaces. Shown as Indirect lighting (opaque surfaces) in Sampling.

• In SolidCraft: optional CPU job.options.path / runtime raytrace.path, enabled explicitly in Sampling.
• Don't use: ambient occlusion, glass, full optical parity.
• For translators: this describes light transport; it is unrelated to a modelling path or physical material density.

part number

A design property that holds the identifier an organisation gives a design.

• In SolidCraft: the part_number design property, shown in Design Properties and set with document.metadata.set.
• Don't use: part number for a standard part's size.
• For translators: see Words with more than one meaning, "part".

path depth

The maximum number of shaded surfaces in a rendering path, starting with the first visible surface. A depth of 1 uses direct lighting only; higher values allow more light bounces. This does not count CAD mesh vertices.

• In SolidCraft: CPU path.max_depth is 1–16; longer paths are truncated.
• For translators: a count, not a geometric depth in millimetres or timeline depth.

pattern instance

One copy that a pattern makes of its features, bodies or sketch entities.

The first instance is the original.

• In SolidCraft: solid.pattern.rectangular, solid.pattern.circular, solid.pattern.path, sketch.pattern.rectangular, sketch.pattern.circular; the count and spacing parameters ("between instances").
• Don't use: instance for an occurrence; element, item.
• Elsewhere: instance, element, occurrence.
• For translators: not an occurrence of a component.

personal sheet metal rule

A sheet metal rule kept in the user's preferences instead of a design, ready to add to any design.

Picking one in Sheet Metal Rules fills the rule manager, and its OK copies the rule into the design, which then keeps a copy of its own. It is an app setting, not part of a design.

• In SolidCraft: Sheet Metal Rules › Personal rules (sheet.manage_rules); the personal_sheet_rules key of the stored preferences.
• Don't use: preset, template, library rule.
• Elsewhere: rule library, sheet metal style library.
• For translators: "personal" as in the user's own, not private or confidential.

print face

The flat face of a body that lies on the print bed when the body is sent to a slicer.

A body has one print face at most. The export turns a copy of the body so this face points down at Z = 0, with the centre of mass over the origin; the design itself does not move.

• In SolidCraft: body.print_face; the print_faces of a design; the print_faces and warnings of a file.send_to_slicer reply.
• Don't use: bottom face, base face (both say where a face is now, not where it is printed).
• Elsewhere: place on face, lay flat, bed face.
• For translators: the face the part stands on while it prints, not the printer's bed.

reference edge

A straight edge of a flat face that a Single hole's centre or a cylinder's base centre keeps a set distance from, measured in that face's plane.

Up to two reference edges place one hole or cylinder. Each distance is a parameter, and the feature follows its edges when the part changes.

• In SolidCraft: the references parameter of solid.hole and solid.cylinder (each {edge, distance}); the windows' Reference 1, Reference 2 and Distance 1, Distance 2 rows; the "Reference distance" input (ui.reference_1, ui.reference_2, ui.reference_distance).
• Don't use: datum edge, anchor edge.
• Elsewhere: reference edge, edge offset, distance from edge.
• For translators: an edge of a body, not a construction axis or a reference plane; the distance is a length, not a reference value for light or material.

rollback marker

The marker in the timeline after which no feature is computed.

Moving the rollback marker back shows the design as it was at that step. Features after the marker are kept, not deleted.

• In SolidCraft: timeline.rollback, timeline.roll_to; the marker design-file key.
• Don't use: timeline marker, history marker, rollback bar.
• Elsewhere: rollback bar, rollback marker, end-of-part marker.
• For translators: "history" is the undo history, not the timeline. French had three names for this marker while English did.

settings profile

A named set of input and interface preferences that can be switched, exported and imported as one.

A settings profile holds the Interface, Navigation and Sketch preferences, the interface language, keyboard shortcuts, the toolbar and the S box favourites. Settings that belong to one computer (the 3D mouse, graphics, units) stay out. It is an app setting, not part of a design.

• In SolidCraft: settings.profile.list, settings.profile.save, settings.profile.apply, settings.profile.rename, settings.profile.delete, settings.profile.export, settings.profile.import; the settings_profiles key of the stored preferences; the solidcraft-profile/1 file format.
• Don't use: preset, configuration, workspace (for the set of settings).
• Elsewhere: settings profile, user profile, preferences set.
• For translators: not a sketch profile and not a frame profile (see Words with more than one meaning, "Profile"), and not a design configuration.

sketch

A set of points and curves, with their constraints, on one plane, that features use as profiles, paths and guides.

• In SolidCraft: sketch.create, sketch.finish, and the other sketch.* commands; the sketches browser folder.
• Don't use: drawing, profile (for the whole sketch).
• Elsewhere: sketch, 2D sketch.
• For translators: not a drawing (a sheet with views and dimensions).

sketch entity

A point or a curve in a sketch.

• In SolidCraft: the entities parameter of the sketch commands (it takes point and curve ids); the sketch's points and curves design-file keys.
• Don't use: geometry (for sketch content), element, object.
• Elsewhere: sketch entity, sketch geometry, sketch element.
• For translators: "entity" names both points and curves.

standard part

A ready-made component, such as a screw, nut, washer, pin or bearing, that SolidCraft builds from a standard size.

• In SolidCraft: parts.library ("Standard Parts"), parts.insert, parts.fastener, parts.resize; the parts design-file key.
• Don't use: library part, part (on its own), content.
• Elsewhere: standard part, library part, fastener, catalogue part.
• For translators: see Words with more than one meaning, "part".

timeline

The ordered list of a design's features, which SolidCraft computes from first to last.

• In SolidCraft: the timeline.* commands; the features design-file key, in timeline order.
• Don't use: feature history, history (for the timeline).
• Elsewhere: timeline, history, feature tree.
• For translators: not the undo history.

turn (of two rounds)

How two rounds of a fillet continue where they turn round a sharp corner edge between them, such as the rounds along a boss's base at its upright edges: in a mitre, or swept round the corner edge as a torus.

• In SolidCraft: the turn parameter of solid.fillet and its design-file key, mitre (the default) or swept; the Fillet dialog's Turns row.
• Don't use: corner (that is what fills a corner where three rounded edges meet, corner).
• Elsewhere: mitred corner, swept corner, corner sweep.
• For translators: "Mitre" and "Swept" name the two shapes, not a direction of travel.

view angles

The yaw, pitch and roll, in degrees, that give the direction a view looks along and how its picture is turned.

Yaw is the heading of the line of sight about the up axis (Front view 0°, Left 90°, Right −90°, Back 180°); pitch is how far the eye is above the ground plane (Top view 90°, Bottom −90°); a positive roll turns the picture clockwise. They are the camera's own angles, which view.apply and the MCP camera take in radians.

• In SolidCraft: view.angle_readout and the View angles readout under the orientation gizmo; the yaw, pitch and roll of view.apply's camera.
• Don't use: camera angles, view rotation.
• Elsewhere: view orientation, azimuth and elevation.
• For translators: the view's pitch is a tilt, not a thread's or a pattern's pitch.

web browser

A program that shows web pages, such as the one that runs SolidCraft's web build.

• In SolidCraft: the web build; the home.in_this_browser catalogue entry.
• Don't use: browser on its own.
• For translators: not the browser panel. Where a language uses one word for both, use the CAD word for the panel.

Words with more than one meaning

An English word that means two things can be translated correctly for only one of them while both share a catalogue entry. Each meaning below gets its own term and, in time, its own entry.

Word	Meaning	Use	Where
Construction	a sketch entity that isn't part of a profile	construction entity	sketch drawing commands, ui.construction
	the browser folder of construction planes, axes and points	construction plane, axis, point	the Construction folder, construct.*
Instance	one copy a pattern makes	pattern instance	pattern commands
	one placed copy of a component	occurrence	"Paste (Instance)" on occurrence.copy
History	the undo and redo history	history	Undo, Redo
	the list of features	timeline	"Feature history" (ui.feature_history), "Roll History Marker"
Part	a standard part	standard part	parts.*
	a body, an occurrence or the design	body, occurrence, design	catalogue texts that say "part"
	a design property	part number	Design Properties
Profile	a closed region of a sketch that a feature uses	profile	solid.extrude, solid.revolve
	the cross-section a frame member follows	frame profile	frame.profile.*
	a named set of preferences	settings profile	settings.profile.*, Preferences › General
Gap	the space a hem leaves	hem gap	the Hem dialog's Gap row
	an open end in the sketch continuity legend	open end	the sketch continuity legend
Clearance	the Clearance command	clearance check	inspect.clearance
	a minimum distance field	clearance	the Interference and plastic rules dialogs
Flat	a hole's flat bottom	flat bottom	the Hole dialog's tip
	a hem that lies flat on the sheet	flat hem	the Hem dialog's type
Round	a round relief or corner shape	round (shape)	relief shapes, plastic rests, ruled surface corners
	a fillet	fillet	solid.fillet
Normal	a sketch entity that isn't a construction entity	normal (line type)	the sketch palette's line type
	the direction perpendicular to a surface	normal (direction)	the ruled surface's Normal mode
	the middle display quality	normal (quality)	ui.display_quality_normal
	a component with a row of its own in a bill of materials	normal (bill of materials type)	bom_type
Quantity	the number of pattern instances	count	the pattern dialogs' Quantity rows, ui.quantity
	what the motion plot shows: value, velocity or acceleration	plotted quantity	the motion study's Quantity row, motion.plot_quantity
Reference	an edge a hole or cylinder keeps its distance from	reference edge	references of solid.hole and solid.cylinder, ui.reference_1
	the measured values a material is checked against	reference (material)	material.editor.reference
	the distance a light's intensity is given for	reference distance (light)	render.cpu_light_reference

Some translations show the clash today: Japanese and Chinese show a hole's flat bottom with the word for "unfold" or "plane", Chinese shows "Round" as "fillet", and Chinese and Russian show the Normal line type as "normal vector".

Two commands, one label

A label names one command. Today two pairs share one:

• "Edit Feature": timeline.redefine and timeline.edit.
• "Break Link": component.break_link (an occurrence's link to another design) and sketch.break_link (a projected sketch entity's link to its source).

Search lists both under the same name, and the label lookup gives both the same translation.

A feature's type

A feature type has one name: its design-file key, such as sheet_flange. The label (Flange) is its display name. Replies and scripts use the design-file key (timeline.inspect reports both type: "sheet_flange" and type_name: "EdgeFlangeFeature").

Open questions for the maintainer

• British or American spelling in the docs. The labels are settled: en.json is American English, and English (UK) (en-GB.json, #2501) holds the British spelling. The docs still use both (colour and color, centre and center); ids and keys use American spelling.