Basic question: Part vs Body

[tlanglois]

Hi,
New user here. First of all, a big thank you to those who are involved in the development of this application !
I am using this version:
OS: Ubuntu 15.10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.17.8020 (Git)
Build type: None
Branch: master
Hash: 62a8828dc8603a9387a5fa1d9eb41bc4cf12cb62
Python version: 2.7.10
Qt version: 4.8.6
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17

I have a very simple question: When I start the part design workbench I have two option in the task bar : 1) create body and 2) create part. What is the purpose of a part vs a body ?
It seems to me that a part is a top level container that can contain several bodies. Is that right ?
Should I always include a body into a part ?
The purpose of a body is to contain one solid or more than one solids (I think solids are called features in the doc) ?
I search the doc and other resources (youtube) in order to clarify these concepts without much success.
Tutorials explain how to make sketches and solids, i understood that part.
What I am looking for is advices for the organization (structure) of the document.
Some use-cases would be very useful.

Thibault

[r-frank]

Hello Thibault.

Welcome to FreeCAD and the forum.

I didn't have time to look at the 0.17 development snapshot myself but i did bookmark these sources for first steps:

PartDesign workflow
Usecases and best practice
Sandbox:Part Design Next
User Showcase: Designing an electric motor with PartDesign Next

Hope that get's you started.

Roland

[tlanglois]

Hi Roland, thanks a lot for your quick answer. I have something to read now

[sgrogan]

Sandbox:Part Design Next

Hope that get's you started.

@r-frank, thanks for this link!
Thanks Renatorivo! Very useful already

[TomJClark]

Like the OP I too want to thank the developers and volunteers, FreeCAD is amazing! But I had this same question and so just a quick suggestion here. It would be nice to have have an information icon next to these workflow tasks. I think an "i" enclosed by a circle would be nice --> (i). But yeah if you have the information option turned on and you click on the information icon, you get served up a wiki page on the command/selection (possibly tied to your version number).

One of the things that hobbyists have to contend with is that they use software like this intermittently. In fact, a couple weeks ago I read/watched something that explained the difference between a body or a part, but I forgot what that difference was. Because hobbyistgs don't use software like this all the time we would really benefit from reminders and the developers and support staff would benefit from not having to revisit basic questions all the time. Just my thoughts on the subject.

[sgrogan]

All good points.

click on the information icon, you get served up a wiki page on the command/selection

If you install the freecad-doc package for the 0.16.6710 release or the freecad-daily-doc package for the 0.17.xxxxx dev version if you click on the "What's This" icon then a toolbar icon you will get the wiki for that command. The problem is that both packages are built from the wiki and it hasn't been updated for 0.17 yet. One of FreeCAD's developers, kkremitzki, has done some preliminary investigation into using namespaces on the wiki, which might allow version dependent links. He's presently busy as a member of FreeCAD's GSoC project focusing on improving PDN.

[TomJClark]

Ah yes, much better overall, THANK YOU! And now that I have the "What This" feature working it points me to very well done expansion information albeit it may be for the wrong version.

Anyway just a heads up if the responsible party is unaware of it, the "What's This" wiki entry information about "Create Sketch" "Create Body" and "Create Part" apparently has not been written yet.

I missed out on installing the documentation because when I went to the download page I quickly diverted to the official Ubuntu installer link and did not read further on down the initial download page. Thereafter, on Launchpad, I did not encounter any directions on documentation. So I could have been more thorough or eventually I would have come across something that pointed me towards installing the documentation.

[sgrogan]

o I could have been more thorough or eventually I would have come across something that pointed me towards installing the documentation.

Is this better? https://launchpad.net/~freecad-maintain ... cad-stable

[mrkozmic1977]

I have the same question as TS tlanglois. I can create several bodies without creating a part. I can then create a part and add several bodies to it at the same time keeping the initial bodies.

Is a part supposed to be equivalent to an assembly? I can use a part with a single body or a body whitout parent part in an assembly. But once I create a part with two bodies the part cannot be used in an assembly.

What exactly is the relation between Part Design and Assembly2?

[DeepSOIC]

What exactly is the relation between Part Design and Assembly2?

PartDesign + assembly2 --> assembly3 (catalyzed by realthunder)
In regular FC v0.17, assembly2 and partdesign are not super compatible, but I think quite a lot can be done nontheless.