When you model in Shapr3D, each step that gets recorded in History forms a dependency or connection. If a step – such as an edge, sketch, or complete body – is missing, then the subsequent steps can’t properly proceed, eventually breaking the history.
Common causes
If you have missing modeling elements or broken design history, it could be due to any of the following reasons:
- A reference geometry or step was lost or removed
- A reference or step was deleted
Symptoms
Your design history may have broken dependencies or connections if you experience any of the following:
- Missing modeling elements
- Entire model completely gone or missing
- Several error messages in History
Troubleshooting
In most cases, you can fix broken connections or dependencies in your model by following these steps:
- From the History sidebar, locate the first step with the first error message and then open the expandable card.
- Select Fix… to see what reference is missing. Missing references are shown as an orange hatch in the modeling space.
- Proceed with any of the following steps:
- Recreate the missing reference:
- Create the missing reference in the same place as where the orange hatch was shown.
-
Optional: If your newly created reference generates a new step in the History sidebar, move the newly created step above the step you’re currently fixing.
- Select a different reference:
- Choose a different reference for the broken step.
- To finish, select Done.
- Recreate the missing reference:
Tip
When encountering multiple error messages in Design History, start fixing the first step with the first error message.
Example #1: Missing model due to a deleted reference step
In the example below, we have a model with a properly working Design History.
Scenario
In this scenario, we will delete the Base Sketch step at the very beginning of the History sidebar.
By removing the Base Sketch step, we eliminate the reference of all the succeeding steps, causing each step in the design history to break, and the model to disappear as shown by the yellow warning labels.
Troubleshooting
To fix this issue:
- Open the expandable card for the first step with the first error message. In this case, we expanded Extrusion 01.
- In the card, check the description of the error message to see what's causing the problem. In this case, it states that we have 1 missing reference.
- To view the missing reference, click the Fix... button. Selecting Fix...highlights the missing cross-section in the modeling space with an orange hatch, which was from where the deleted Base Sketch step was originally created.
- We can then either use the orange highlight to recreate the cross section, or select another sketch that will be used as the new reference.
Tip
Design History maintains a connection between bodies and sketches. If a sketch is in the way, you can use the Items Manager to hide it instead of deleting it. Hidden sketches will not be visible in the modeling space and will not affect the performance of Shapr3D.
Example #2: Missing model parts due to a deleted sketch item
In the example below, we have the same model with a properly working Design History.
Scenario
In this scenario, we will delete a sketch item that is part of the Handle Sketch step.
By deleting a sketch item that is part of the Handle Sketch step, the sketch handle is no longer a closed cross-section that can be used as a reference, causing the succeeding relevant steps to break, and the handle of the model to disappear as shown by the yellow warning labels.
Note: The steps Shell 02 and Fillet 09 did not break because they were steps for the main container so they were not affected by the change.
Troubleshooting
To fix this issue:
- Open the expandable card for the first step with the first error message. In this case, we expanded Extrusion 02.
- In the card, check the description of the error message to see what's causing the problem. In this case, it states that we have 1 missing profile reference.
- To view the location of the missing reference, click the Fix... button. Selecting Fix... highlights the missing cross-section in the modeling space with an orange hatch, in this case, due to the deleted sketch item.
- We can then either use the orange highlight as a reference so we know where to recreate the incomplete cross-section.
- Optional: If the sketch is automatically hidden, we can go to the Items Manager to show the recreated sketch for the Sketch Handle step.
- To finish the fix, we can now go back to the Extrusion 02 step to add the missing profile.
- After selecting Done, all the broken steps are now repaired and the full model now appears again in the modeling space.