Troubleshooting Sketch Geometry
The status of constraint is indicated by the color of the sketch entities, and you can use the Profile inspector tool to easily identify issues with your sketch constraints.
Troublehsooting sketch geometry: Desktop
Video example
Video transcript
This video will go through the ways to troubleshoot sketch geometries. Onshape uses colors to indicate if a sketch is under-constrained, over-constrained, or fully constrained. Entities of an over-constrained sketch will be red. Entities of an under-constrained sketch will be blue and entities of a fully constrained sketch will be black. In this example, we have an under-constrained, over-constrained, and fully constrained sketch.
To fix the under-constrained sketch we can go ahead and add Dimensions, apply a Horizontal constraint on the top edge, and lastly, apply Fixed constraints on each side. To fix the over-constrained sketch we will delete the Fixed constraints, make the lines on each side vertical, and the top and bottom lines horizontal and now we can add new Fixed constraints. Now, the rectangles are fully defined.
Troubleshooting is important. When you want to make a Sketch into a part by using features such as Extrude, like in the example shown, you might notice that one of the parts did not extrude properly. So we can go back to our sketch and use troubleshooting to realize that it was because our sketch was under-defined.
Constraint status and colors
The color of sketch entities indicate its constrained status:
- Blue means under-constrained.
- Black means fully constrained.
- Red means a constraint problem (over-constrained).
The color of a constraint icon indicates its constrained status:
- Black on gray means well-defined.
- White on red indicates a problem.
- When selecting, non-fully constrained sketch points (blue and red) are prioritized over any overlapping, fully constrained sketch points (black).
Adding more dimensions or constraints will further constrain the sketch. Dragging entities may help you understand what constraints or dimensions you may want to add.
See also: Constraints.
Using the Profile inspector
The sketch Profile inspector can help identify gaps in sketches, enabling you to close loops as needed. To open the Profile inspector:
- In the Sketch dialog, click the Show sketch diagnostic tools icon
.
- Select Profile inspector from the menu.
- In the Profile inspector, click each issue to highlight it in the sketch. You can also use the Previous and Next buttons to cycle through issues. The issue will disappear from the Profile inspector dialog once it is resolved.
Troubleshooting sketch geometry: Mobile
Constraint status and colors
The color of sketch entities indicate its constrained status:
- Blue means under-constrained.
- Black means fully constrained.
- Red means a constraint problem (over-constrained).
The color of a constraint icon indicates its constrained status:
- Black on gray means well-defined.
- White on red indicates a problem.
- When selecting, non-fully constrained sketch points (blue and red) are prioritized over any overlapping, fully constrained sketch points (black).
Adding more dimensions or constraints will further constrain the sketch. Dragging entities may help you understand what constraints or dimensions you may want to add.
See also: Constraints.