Skip to main content

Introduction

FluidCAD is a parametric CAD program whose native file format is JavaScript. You model in a 3D viewport with sketch tools, feature dialogs and mates, and every action is written into a .part.js or .assembly.js file as a statement you can read. You can also open that file and type the statements yourself. Both directions stay in sync: a dialog edits the statement it wrote, and a hand edit re-renders the model.

What a model is made of​

  • Sketches are drawn on a plane or on a face. Geometry is drawn at rough positions and constraints pin it down: this line is horizontal, these two points touch, this distance is 30. A solver keeps the sketch consistent when a value changes.
  • 3D features turn sketches into solids and reshape them: extrude, revolve, sweep, loft, shell, fillet, chamfer, wrap, rib, helix. Each one is a row in the timeline and a statement in the file.
  • Parts wrap a body of features in a part() container. A part can declare parameters (values the user of the part can override) and connectors (mate frames attached to its geometry).
  • Assemblies insert parts, ground one of them, and connect the rest with joints: fastened, revolute, slider, cylindrical, planar and tangent. Joints solve live in the viewport and can be animated.

Where to start​

  1. Installation creates a project and explains the files in it.
  2. Getting started builds a butt hinge from a blank part to an animated assembly, one concept per step.
  3. The reference sections (Sketching, 3D Operations, Part, Assembly) cover each tool in depth, and the User Interface page maps the workspace.
  4. The API tab lists every function and type for code-first work.