Why wouldn’t we just merge it in and be done with it?

We have a working branch of FreeCAD that isn’t plagued by the topological naming problem. That is why the problem is so frustrating-it bites you when you’ve already invested a lot of time learning the tool and building the design. This requires experience that many new and casual users don’t have. As models get more complicated, only a very disciplined approach to design will keep models intact. For simple models, the problem is fairly easy to avoid and a broken model is easy to repair. The current state of FreeCAD is weak in this regard. It can only be mitigated and most applications do a good job of avoiding the problem by either limiting the user’s actions or algorithmically tracking changes to the named features. The problem cannot be solved in the traditional sense. All applications suffer from it to some extent. If the computer is unable to maintain correct persistence of the naming-even when the underlying topology changes-the model breaks and recovery is difficult. Edges may be chamfered, turning into multiple edges. Modern parametric designs are built up through a series of modifications which change the elements in the model. The hard part of topological naming is making the names persistent even if the model is modified. By naming these elements, we can attach features, dimensions, and other attributes to them. Topological naming is the process of giving persistent names to elements of a solid model, such as faces, edges, and vertices. What is topological naming, and why is it a problem in FreeCAD?

It's frequently cited as the number one reason holding back widespread adoption of FreeCAD for commercial use.ĭeveloper RealThunder introduced a fix to the problem years ago, but it has never been fully incorporated into the core product. FreeCAD's ' topological naming problem' is legendary.

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