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Opening downloaded sldprt file prompts for Feature recognition

Question asked by Ravi N. on Jun 1, 2020
Latest reply on Jun 2, 2020 by J. Mather

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I have downloaded an SLDPRT file for the RSP1-T product from Newport Corporation.

I open it in SW 2017 SP0.0 and am prompted whether to do Feature Recognition or not.

If I say yes, the progress bar stalls out at ~10% Recognizing Chamfers and Fillets.

If I say no, I get a single "Imported Feature." I can mouseover the object and see various edges and faces highlight, but there is no parts tree that I can find. If I hide one thing, I hide everything.

Still finding my way around modern SolidWorks but shouldn't an SLDPRT file come up as a native part with the feature tree?

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Craig Girvan Jun 2, 2020 8:54 AM

The part would have a native tree if the user that created it added SW features. It sounds like the user has just opened a non SW file (such as an STEP or IGES file) then saved that out as a 'SW file' without actually adding any features.

Not sure why the feature recognition would 'stall'. It could just be busy running if the part is complex.

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Josh Brady Jun 2, 2020 10:06 AM

Downloaded parts from online vendors are frequently dumb solids, even when you download them in "native" format.

This is indeed a complex part. There is no reason to attempt feature recognition.

Feature recognition uses algorithms to attempt to analyze the geometry and re-create the feature tree based on its best guess. It is almost useless because it cannot determine design intent. Any part that it can do a good job on is so simple that you could re-create the features yourself in nearly the same time.

What is your need for having features? It's not like you can modify the part. As-is, it represents what you can purchase.

If you want it to be an assembly, examine where it would come apart normally. This model is very close to being multiple bodies. Add a couple of cut features and you can separate the bodies. Then you can even save each body and create an assembly if you so desire.

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Ravi N. Jun 2, 2020 10:52 AM

Thanks for the explanations.

Josh Brady: I can do without the features for the most part. I was trying to hide one or two elements but can live without it. I was trying to figure out whether to let Feature Recognition run or not. I'll just hit cancel since, as Craig Girvan points out, it isn't a native SW part despite the SLDPRT extension.

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J. Mather @ Ravi N. on Jun 2, 2020 10:42 AM

I almost never run Feature Recognition in automatic mode - I run in manual mode and only attempt to recognize the features that I actually need to edit.

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Craig Girvan Jun 2, 2020 8:54 AM
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The part would have a native tree if the user that created it added SW features. It sounds like the user has just opened a non SW file (such as an STEP or IGES file) then saved that out as a 'SW file' without actually adding any features.

Not sure why the feature recognition would 'stall'. It could just be busy running if the part is complex.
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Josh Brady Jun 2, 2020 10:06 AM
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Downloaded parts from online vendors are frequently dumb solids, even when you download them in "native" format.

This is indeed a complex part. There is no reason to attempt feature recognition.

Feature recognition uses algorithms to attempt to analyze the geometry and re-create the feature tree based on its best guess. It is almost useless because it cannot determine design intent. Any part that it can do a good job on is so simple that you could re-create the features yourself in nearly the same time.

What is your need for having features? It's not like you can modify the part. As-is, it represents what you can purchase.

If you want it to be an assembly, examine where it would come apart normally. This model is very close to being multiple bodies. Add a couple of cut features and you can separate the bodies. Then you can even save each body and create an assembly if you so desire.
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Ravi N. Jun 2, 2020 10:52 AM
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Thanks for the explanations.
Josh Brady: I can do without the features for the most part. I was trying to hide one or two elements but can live without it. I was trying to figure out whether to let Feature Recognition run or not. I'll just hit cancel since, as Craig Girvan points out, it isn't a native SW part despite the SLDPRT extension.
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- J. Mather @ Ravi N. on Jun 2, 2020 10:42 AM
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  I almost never run Feature Recognition in automatic mode - I run in manual mode and only attempt to recognize the features that I actually need to edit.
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Opening downloaded sldprt file prompts for Feature recognition

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