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Re: Improvements to Onshape - July 18th, 2025
Yes! One of the things I really miss in Onshape (as a prior Creo user) is the ability to give sketch dimensions variable names and then base other sketch dimensions off of those variables within the sketch. It allows for really powerful parametric sketching within the context of the sketch itself without clogging up the rest of the model with defined variables.
Custom Features Collection
I joined the Onshape design team in January of this year, having previously worked in NX for 11 years. At first, I was hesitant to get to know the software, but it quickly became apparent that beyond the built-in functions, there are also many custom solutions for different tasks. These are nice, but it is almost impossible to find them intentionally, you tend to stumble upon them randomly or the command remains incognito “forever”. Talking to others has also revealed that I am not alone in this.
According to a Hungarian saying:
“If you buy something and want to pass it on to future generations, then two basic principles must be met:
• The first is that you know where you put it!
• The second is that it does not get damaged during storage!
The absence of either of these two conditions calls into question what it was bought for?!?”
Well, this came to my mind because if we create a series of better than good “Custom Features”, but users barely know about their existence, or if they become obsolete during storage, and Onshape has not yet implemented them in its own interface, then how much is that worth?
There should be an interface where these can be found in a bunch and where the operating principles of these commands are described, preferably by their creators.
I have already started to write this down along my own logic and I would like to make it public for the community. The “Custom Features” I found are in the order of 300. The document that has just been published contains about 200 commands, it would be good if a third of them were processed, but even so, it is now ready for publication. After all, the links to the commands are already live, they are available for searchers.
This is a thought-provoking initiative on my part, where I look forward to the comments and contributions of active players. I imagine that I would fill in the missing descriptions of existing commands with the text of their creators, or perhaps with details of the model I want to show.
There are many creators whose commands have not yet been included in this document, I apologize to them, but you see, it has become too long. There are preferred commands and their creators, but those who have, some of which are noteworthy works. I don't know where my initiative will end, how much I will be able to fulfill the requests (I don't count the time anymore), but I will try to finish what I started.
Unfortunately, my English is not the best, so I apologize for the mistakes in the "translated" text.
Original Text. (Hungarian)
Idén januárban csatlakoztam az Onshape-ben tervezők csapatához, korábban NX-eztem 11 évig. Eleinte kétkedve ismerkedtem a szoftverrel, de hamar feltűnt, hogy a beépített funkciókon túl van számos egyéni megoldás is, a különböző feladatokra. Ezek tetszetősek ugyan, de ezeket megtalálni szándékosan, szinte lehetetlen, inkább botlik bele az ember véletlenszerűen vagy marad inkognitóban a parancs „mindörökre”. Másokkal való beszélgetés során is az derült ki, nem vagyok ezzel egyedül.
Egy Magyar mondás szerint:
„Ha az ember vásárol valamit és azt el szeretné tenni a jövő nemzedéknek, akkor két alapvetésnek kell, megfeleljen:
- Az első, hogy tudja hova rakta el azt!
- A második, hogy a tárolás ideje során,ne menjen az tönkre!
Ezen két feltétel, bármelyikének a hiánya, megkérdőjelezi azt, hogy minek lett az megvéve?!?”
Nos, ez azért jutott eszembe, mert amennyiben sorra készítjük, a jobbnál jobb „Custom Feature”-öket, de azok létezéséről alig tudnak a felhasználók, ill. a tárolás ideje alatt az elavul, az Onshape meg még nem implementálta azt a saját felületébe, akkor az mennyit ér?
Kellene lennie egy olyan felületnek, ahol ezek egy csokorban megtalálhatóak és ahol ezen parancsok működési elvei le vannak írva, lehetőleg az alkotóik által.
Én a saját logikám mentén ezt már el is kezdtem összeírni és szeretném is közkinccsé tenni a közösség számára. Az általam megtalált „Custom Feature”-ök, 300-as nagyságrendben vannak. A most közzé tett dokumentumban kb. 200 parancs található, ennek jó, ha a harmada lett feldolgozva, de ezzel együtt is, most már közreadható állapotra került. Végül is a parancsok linkjei már élnek, azok elérhetőek a keresők számára.
Ez egy gondolatébresztő kezdeményezés a részemről, ahol várom az aktív szereplők észrevételeit és a közreműködésüket is. Elképzelésem szerint, feltölteném a meglévő parancsok hiányzó leírásait az alkotóik szövegével, esetleg a megmutatni kívánt modell részleteivel.
Sok olyan alkotó van, akinek a parancsai még nem kerültek bele ebbe a dokumentumba, tőlük elnézést kérek, de látjátok, így is terjedelmesre sikerült. Vannak preferált parancsok és alkotóik, akik viszont igen, egy némelyik figyelemre méltó alkotás. Nem tudom hova fut ki a kezdeményezésem, mennyire fogom tudni teljesíteni a kéréseket (az időt már nem számolom), de igyekszem az elkezdetteket befejezni.
Sajnos az angoltudásom nem a legjobb, ezért a „fordított” szöveg hibáiért elnézést kérek tőletek.
Re: Fill a hollow object
Lets say your part is called Part1
1) Generate a cube around your part (Part2)
2) Use Transform/copy to make an identical cube (Part3)
3) Boolean subtract Part1 from Part2 (keeping tools)
4) Hide Part1 Part2 Part3
5) Delete all other bodies (these are the voids)
6) Show Part1 Part2 Part3
7) Boolean subtract Part2 from Part3 (you now have an exact copy of the original part (minus the voids)
8) Optional - this step preserves the original body ID - use this step if Part1 has been derived somewhere else or used in an assembly. Boolean union Part1 and Part2 (make sure you select Part1 first).
This process is very repeatable and works for any number of voids. Because the steps are always the same, it would lend itself very well to a custom feature (FeatureScript).
I hope this helps


Re: Improvements to Onshape - July 18th, 2025
I'm guessing some of this stuff is part of the required groundwork for MBD as well (like the tolerancing in the hole feature, I would expect this to eventually show up in other places, including sketch dimensions…)
Re: Improvements to Onshape - July 18th, 2025
I wasn't thinking that far, more about documenting design intent…
That said I do sometimes miss the ability to relate dimensions to each other withing a sketch so a "local variable" would be useful for this…
For anything that will be referenced downstream in a different feature it seems like a better idea to use an explicit variable though so I wouldn't mind if it was just accessible within the one sketch!
Re: Improvements to Onshape - July 18th, 2025
Drag and drop in configuration will really come in handy!
Naming sketch dimensions as well, and having the name also show up in the constraint manager is a nice touch. I basically never configured dimension directly because of that (always used a variable). It just seems unfortunate that this can only be accessed for configured dimensions. Naming dimensions directly from a sketch (so that it would show up correctly named already when adding to a config) would be helpful and has been requested a number of times… I hope that can be implemented at some point!
Having the folders in render studio is very much welcome! Getting better with every release, can get better handling of composite parts soon (pretty please?)?
Re: Help with sheet metal flanges.
Oops, sorry I mis-read the initial post…
I don't think there's an "automatic" way of doing this currently unfortunately… The various conditions are computed to the "virtual sharp". i.e. changing the bend radius doesn't change where the "face" of the flange is.
The best way is to draw the flange at 90 with the "outer" condition, then use a move face/rotate around the bend radius center to set the desired bend angle:
You can also use some reference sketch and translate the flange to where you want it after but it takes more planning and you really want to have variables for thickness and radius for it to be properly parametric…
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/ec7c90893bd97bfc6d8b6152/w/6c8ee8bb48923930500e3857/e/0d4d59df841fbe6fc7fffdc4
Re: Improvements to Onshape - July 18th, 2025
@Derek_Van_Allen_BD the new Curve/Surface analysis shows the additional diagnostics only for SPLINE
type surfaces and curves. There are a number of other surface types (and they are listed here
) for which we do not currently show the diagnostic.
In your case above you have likely used evApproximateBSplineSurface
in order to return a true (and approximated) SPLINE
surface. We are not doing that approximation in the analysis tool, hence there is nothing to show for the Degree, CPs, Spans.
This is similarly the case with curves. We only show the diagnostics for SPLINE
curves. Somewhat confusingly there are some curve types that look like splines, but are not exactly splines (examples are Intersection curves
, Projected curves
, to name a couple of examples). In order to "see" their underlying math it is necessary to convert them/reapproximate them. You can do this interactvely with and Edit curve
feature, for example, and of course do it programmatically inside a custom feature.
Let me know if there is more info required!
NEW tutorial: Surfacing Deep Dive
Hey folks. I finally got around to making a video I've had on my mind for a while to demo a whole ton of surfacing techniques in one go. If you do (or aspire to) surfacing in Onshape I hope you'll give it a watch. Buckle up though… it's hefty.