About Bodies

Bodies are the components of a part made of a combination of several features. The topic provides additional information about bodies.

The following topics are discussed:

Related Topics
Adding Bodies
Intersecting Bodies
Assembling Bodies
Removing Bodies

Bodies You Can Use

There are certain things you need to know when adding a body to another body.


  • Performing a Boolean operation using a set of bodies (multi-selected via the Ctrl key) is possible unless the bodies are located in ordered geometrical sets. This capability will increase your productivity.
  • Adding a body to a solid body (a body created with application versions prior to Version 5 Release 14) and vice versa is possible. In that case, the second body you select remains at the same location in the specification tree once the Boolean operation is done. For reference information, see About Boolean Operations.
  • You can add a body set in an ordered geometrical set (OGS) to another body set in the same ordered geometrical set or in a distinct one. Note that the different Boolean operations can be performed using dedicated contextual commands. Depending on whether the Boolean operation interrupts the sequential construction of the geometry or not, the application behaves differently.

No interruption of the sequential construction of the geometry

If there is no interruption of the sequential construction of the geometry, two cases are to be considered:

  • if the bodies are set in the same OGS, the operation is performed and the second body selected is located below the Boolean operation node.


  • if the bodies are set in distinct OGS, the operation is performed and the second body selected is moved below the Boolean operation node.

Interruption of the sequential construction of the geometry

If there is an interruption of the sequential construction of the geometry, two cases are to be considered:


  • if the bodies are set in the same OGS, a warning message is issued informing you that the operation is going to be canceled: breaking the sequential construction of the geometry is not allowed when the operands belong the the same OGS.


  • if the bodies are set in distinct OGS, a warning message is issued letting you choose between canceling the operation or going on. If you decide to continue, the second body you selected remains at its initial location in the tree.

Empty Bodies and Polarity

The topic describes about empty bodies and polarity.

By default, assemble operations have a positive polarity (plus sign in front of the body icon in the specification tree). If the assemble operation is the first feature of the body and if the assembled body is empty, the body has a positive polarity.