How can i 'union' a helix and a cylinder, so that they both disappear when hidden from view?

dave_cowden

Suppose that I create a cylinder, and then create a helix on it.  something like this:

var cylinderId= id + "cylinder";
fCylinder(context, cylinderId... );
var helixId = id + "helix";
opHelix(context, helixId , { ... } )

In the OS viewer, I see "Part1", and all is well.  But when I hide Part1 from display, the helix still appears.

I tried unioning the two, but that gives invalid Input from opBoolean:

opBoolean ( context, myId +"joined", {
   "operationType" : BooleanOperationType.UNION
   "tools" qUnion( qCreatedBy(helixId), qCreatedBy(cylinderId ) )
});

How i achieve the desired result, that the helix I've created in the second operation is hidden when the part it was attached to is hidden? 
  

ilya_baran

Something like that, or maybe a shader.  We don't have a concrete plan for it yet.

ilya_baran

What is the use case you are after?

I don't believe that is currently possible and I am not sure it will be in the future.  As far as unions go, the cylinder is a solid and the helix is a curve ("wire") and two things of different dimensionality cannot be unioned in a manifold modeler.  As far as controlling visibility, if the feature creates two separate bodies, I would argue that the feature's user should be able to control their visibility separately.

All of that said, with the update that is coming Real Soon Now (tm) it will be possible to show/hide all of the sketches, planes, and curves constructed by a feature at once (but not parts) because the feature will have an eye icon next to it.  Perhaps the same should apply for parts, but I would like that type of thing uniform across features, rather than every feature having to think about this...

dave_cowden

The use case is a cosmetic thread. The helix is a cosmetic thread. The cylinder is the screw body.

When you hide the part, the helix stays.

I could actually cut the tap, but then performance is an issue with lots of  fasteners...

ilya_baran

Ah, ok.  I think we'll build real cosmetic thread support for this use case.

dave_cowden

How, out of curiosity will you do that? with a surface texture or something? ( IE, you'l handle it at as a display-only thing? )

ilya_baran

Something like that, or maybe a shader.  We don't have a concrete plan for it yet.