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Integrate a geometric modeling engine through a defined adapter between the kernel and the CAD application. Let the kernel handle geometry and topology; keep documents, feature intent, assemblies, commands, and undo/redo in the application. Before distributing kernel calls across the codebase, define object ownership, topology-reference behavior, validation points, and how failures affect application state.
What belongs in the kernel, and what belongs in the CAD application?
A modeling kernel is an architectural dependency, not just a collection of geometry functions. Its representations, numerical behavior, APIs, and failure modes shape how the application builds features, handles selections, exchanges files, and rebuilds models.
Use a narrow adapter as the boundary. It should translate between application concepts and kernel objects, centralize API-specific conventions, and return useful operation status and diagnostics. It should not obscure concepts the application needs to reason about, such as bodies, faces, curves, and operation results.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →| Responsibility | Primary owner | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Precise geometry and topology | Kernel | Curve and surface construction, intersections, Boolean operations, transformations |
| Design intent and document state | Application | Feature parameters and dependencies, documents, assemblies, domain-specific engineering information |
| Interaction and workflow | Application | Commands, selection, undo/redo, user-facing error handling |
| Integration conventions | Adapter and modeling layer | Entity conversion, ownership rules, status mapping, diagnostics, calls into the selected kernel |
This division keeps user-interface code from depending directly on low-level kernel details and gives the application a place to preserve design intent even when the resulting geometry changes.
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How should a CAD model pass through the kernel?
Represent each feature as an explicit operation pipeline rather than scattering geometry work among UI event handlers. The application supplies parameters and inputs; the modeling layer invokes the kernel; validation runs at appropriate boundaries; and the application updates its model state only after it has a result it can handle.
- Read feature parameters and dependencies. Identify the upstream geometry and the feature’s intended operation.
- Prepare input geometry. Convert or construct the kernel inputs required by the feature.
- Run kernel operations. Build the result from a sequence of operations, such as constructing and positioning a cylindrical tool body before subtracting it for a hole.
- Validate the result where appropriate. Check operation status and shape validity at important boundaries.
- Update application state. Associate the resulting body with the feature and update dependent model and display data.
A feature that needs more than a single Boolean may involve sketch processing, surface generation, trimming, classification, and B-Rep reconstruction. Keep these steps in the modeling layer, where they can return structured outcomes rather than leaving a partially updated document when an operation fails.
How should ownership, mutation, and failures be handled?
Write down the kernel’s object-lifetime contract before direct calls spread through selection, import, analysis, and UI code. The exact rules depend on the selected SDK and must be checked against its documentation and adopted release.
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- Identify who owns every persistent kernel object and who owns temporary operation geometry.
- Specify when temporary objects are released and whether an operation copies, shares, mutates, or replaces its input entities.
- Define how the application learns that a body or its sub-shapes have been replaced or invalidated.
- Translate kernel status and diagnostic information into outcomes the application can use.
- Make updates transactional where possible: if an operation fails, do not leave the document with a mixture of old feature state and partially changed geometry.
Do not assume that a failed fillet, offset, or parametric rebuild is exceptional enough to ignore. Treat failure as a normal operation result. Preserve the previous coherent model state when a new result cannot be accepted, and present useful diagnostics rather than silently discarding the reason.
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How can references to faces and edges survive model edits?
Kernel topology is not a permanent naming system. A Boolean, fillet, or rebuild may replace faces and edges, so an application object that stores only a low-level face or edge handle can point to obsolete topology after an edit.
Store the application’s semantic intent and resolve it against the updated model. For example, a feature should retain the meaning of its selected edge, not merely rely on the identity of one kernel edge from an earlier B-Rep. After an upstream change, the application can attempt to resolve that intent against the new result and handle an unresolved reference explicitly.
This matters wherever other work depends on topology: dimensions may depend on edges, machining operations on faces, and downstream features on earlier bodies. The application should determine what to do when a reference cannot be resolved, rather than allowing stale kernel identities to propagate unnoticed.
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How should parametric rebuilds preserve design intent?
Keep feature definitions, parameters, and dependencies as application data. The B-Rep is the computed result, not a substitute for the feature history that explains how the result was made.
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When an upstream parameter changes, rebuild affected geometry in dependency order. A fillet, for example, should retain its radius and semantic edge references so the application can attempt to reconstruct it after an earlier feature changes. If reconstruction fails, report the failed feature and retain a coherent prior state or mark the model as needing attention; do not imply that the stored old B-Rep represents the newly requested design.
How should exact geometry and display meshes work together?
Keep the precise kernel B-Rep separate from the tessellated geometry used for display. A display mesh is a derived visual representation, not the authoritative engineering model.
- After a body changes, regenerate the required tessellation and update the affected visual objects.
- When a user selects a rendered triangle, map the selection back to the corresponding model face or edge.
- Allow display tessellation to be discarded and recreated without losing the B-Rep or feature intent.
This separation lets the graphics layer serve interactive display needs while downstream modeling continues to use the kernel’s geometric and topological representation.
How should import, translation, and validation fit together?
File exchange is a workflow, not simply a choice of extension. A robust path inspects input, translates it, checks the result, preserves required attributes, and applies healing only when appropriate. The available formats and capabilities vary by kernel, release, and installed components.
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Open CASCADE Technology (OCCT) describes its data-exchange system as modular. Its project overview lists STEP AP203, AP214, and AP242; IGES; glTF 2.0; OBJ; VRML; and STL. It describes XDE as carrying additional attributes such as colors, layers, names, and materials. The overview also lists optional advanced data-exchange components for ACIS SAT, Parasolid, DXF, IFC, and JT, and describes Shape Healing for imported geometry and topology. These are OCCT-specific capabilities, and format support or component availability can change between releases.
Parasolid-to-OCCT translation
OCCT-Components’ Parasolid Interface User’s Guide describes reading X_T and X_B files and translating matching geometry and topology into OCCT B-Rep shapes. Its documented workflow is staged:
- Load the file.
- Optionally check consistency.
- Set translation parameters.
- Perform translation.
- Retrieve the results.
The guide also describes file analysis, partial or total transfer, transfer checks, and healing. With XDE, translation can include names, colors, and assembly structures. Do not assume every source attribute is translated merely because it was loaded: verify which attributes the application requires and confirm that they survive the selected translation path.
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Where to validate and heal
Place validity checks at boundaries where a bad shape could corrupt later work: after external import, after major Boolean operations, after topology-heavy feature reconstruction, and before downstream CAM or CAE use or persistent storage when suitable.
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Healing is not a neutral inspection step. A fixing operation may modify the shape or change sub-shapes, so retain its diagnostics and make the consequences visible to the application. If later features depend on topology, account for the possibility that healing changes the entities those features reference.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should you choose a kernel for a CAD product?
There is no universal winner established by the available technical evidence. Compare candidate kernels against the operations, representation, deployment model, and workflows your product actually needs.
| Decision area | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Modeling operations and representation | Does the product need solids, surfaces, B-Rep, mesh processing, specialized geometry, or particular construction and editing operations? |
| Robustness and numerical behavior | How are tolerances handled? Where is computation exact or inexact, when relevant? What happens with degenerate or nearly coincident geometry, and how are failures reported? |
| Interoperability | Which formats and versions are supported? Are partial transfer, assemblies, metadata, validation, and healing available in the needed configuration? |
| API and build fit | Does the language and runtime fit the application? How do packaging, CMake or other build integration, memory ownership, multithreading, portability, and debugging work? |
| Application architecture fit | Can the application support the kernel’s topology behavior, feature reconstruction, rendering bridge, selection mapping, and error propagation? |
| License and commercial terms | Do the terms for the exact release and intended distribution or use meet the product’s requirements? |
CGAL’s 6.2.1 Developer Manual outline includes kernel concepts, geometric traits, handles and reference counting, memory management, multithreading, robustness, portability, debugging, and CMake setup. Those topics are useful prompts for technical evaluation, not proof that a particular integration will meet a product’s requirements. Confirm details against the release being considered. License and commercial terms likewise need direct verification for the selected kernel and any exchange components; the cited technical materials do not establish complete current terms for every option.
What should an integration test before release?
Test the boundary and its failure paths, not only the simplest successful solid creation. A useful regression suite exercises the model’s operation sequences and checks both kernel output and application state.
- Representative construction, transformation, Boolean, and topology-heavy operations required by the product.
- Invalid or difficult inputs, including cases that produce a kernel failure or an invalid shape.
- Edits that replace topology, followed by resolution of dimensions, feature references, and selections.
- Upstream parameter changes that trigger dependent feature rebuilds, including a feature that cannot be reconstructed.
- Import and translation with the attributes and assembly information the application relies on.
- Healing and validity checks, with inspection of diagnostics and any changed sub-shapes.
- Display-mesh regeneration and mapping of rendered selections back to model entities.
- Undo/redo and recovery after an operation fails, to confirm that the document remains coherent.
Run these tests against the actual SDK version and configuration intended for deployment. A kernel’s general documentation cannot substitute for confirming its concrete ownership, mutation, exception or status, threading, and licensing contracts in the adopted integration.
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