{"id":1050,"date":"2022-08-02T09:31:54","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T13:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/plm-components\/?p=1050"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:03:54","slug":"geometric-constraint-solving-1-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/plm-components\/geometric-constraint-solving-1-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Geometric Constraint Solving: introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Organizing shapes in 2D designs and 3D models<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Geometric Constraint Solving<\/strong> has been a hugely successful approach for organizing shapes and structures in space in the digital world. It\u2019s fundamental to modern design applications and is widely used to make 2D sketching and 3D modeling more intuitive and practical for designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geometric Constraint Solving is, however, very difficult<\/em> \u2013 we\u2019re still making enhancements to our own technology after 30 years. Fortunately for users of design software, all of the complex math problems are solved under the hood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll introduce the fundamental concepts for organizing shapes and structures in design applications, and review where geometric constraint solving is used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s begin by defining a few terms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Term<\/strong><\/th>Description<\/strong><\/th>Examples<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
geometric entity<\/strong><\/td>Basic building block in a 2D sketch, or a 3D model<\/td>point, line, circle, ellipse, cylinder, sphere, torus, \u2026<\/td><\/tr>
dimension<\/strong><\/td>Measured quantity assigned to a geometric entity, or between geometric entities<\/td>radius, distance, angle, \u2026<\/td><\/tr>
constraint<\/strong><\/td>Logical rule (yes\/no) that is assigned between geometric entities<\/td>tangent, perpendicular, symmetric, pattern, …<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

What is geometric constraint solving?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Following from the definitions above, Geometric constraint solving enables designers to create and modify a 2D sketch, or a 3D model, in such a way that it should satisfy any dimensions<\/strong> and constraints<\/strong> that the user has assigned to the constituent geometric entities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, geometric constraint solving offers the following key benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n