Employing the Import DataDoctor Tool in Pro/ENGINEER
by Romeo Ridel
After you have imported a part model (or a part from an imported assembly model) into Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0, you can use Import DataDoctor to correct geometry, ensure surface consistency, add constraints, close unwanted gaps, and adjust tangencies in the imported parts.
Import DataDoctor is only available when a previously imported Pro/ENGINEER part is in session and is the active model. In order to access the IDD environment:
- Select the import feature in the model tree and choose Edit Definition from the shortcut menu.
- Click >Geometry >Import DataDoctor to enter the IDD environment.
There are three IDD modes (Figure 1).
 Figure 1
Each mode is essentially a set of tools that perform increasingly complex analysis, conversion and manipulation processes on imported external data. The modes are:
- Repair Mode. Finds and removes gaps and sliver surfaces, adds UV curves, allows wireframe editing as well automatic repairs based on user-defined wireframe models.
Tip: Carefully examine the wireframe display. Pay special attention to areas with black wireframe curves with many vertices. Sometimes the gaps are not correctly defined (only a portion of the one-sided edge may appear in the gap, when the whole edge should be, for instance). Select the incorrect wireframe curves, click >Remove from Wireframe, and then select the Define Gaps tool to define new correct gaps.
- Modify Mode. Modifies individual curves and surfaces, and replaces one-sided edges.
Tip: Wherever possible, the system creates two-sided edges when you modify the edges of a component surface. To prevent this, detach the surface, perform all necessary operations on its edges, and drop it back into the component.
- Featurize Mode. Converts static geometry to explicit procedural geometries with modifiable properties (pseudo-features such as Cylinder, Plane, Extrude or Revolve). This tool also allows you to trim, merge and intersect, close or remove surfaces.
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[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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