The Wireframe in IDD represents topological connections between surfaces in the active component or an active subset of surfaces of the component of the import feature. It consists of wireframe pieces that correspond to the physical edges of the geometry. These wireframe pieces are displayed over their corresponding physical edges when the Wireframe display is enabled. The Wireframe itself is not physical geometry but a graphical method of displaying the surfaces connections.

The topological connections may either be satisfied or unsatisfied. If the geometric edge corresponding to the wireframe piece is two-sided, that is, shared by the two adjacent surfaces and displayed in purple when shaded display is disabled, the topological connection is satisfied. Wireframe pieces representing satisfied topological connections are displayed in green.

If the adjacent surfaces each have their own edge at the location of the wireframe piece, that is, a pair of one-sided edges displayed in pink when shading is disabled, then the topological connection is unsatisfied. These wireframe segments are displayed in black. If the gap between the two one-sided edges is large enough, it appears as two pieces of black wireframe, that is, one corresponding to each of the one-side edges. However, this pair of black wireframe pieces is actually still a single selectable item.

Both satisfied and unsatisfied topological connections may be generated during import. When you enter the IDD environment you see a combination of green and black wireframe pieces displayed. Boundaries may be present between surfaces where no topological connection exists. No wireframe pieces are displayed at the boundary between the surfaces. You may define a connection at this boundary and add it to the Wireframe.

The topological connections defined by the Wireframe are used as the input to the Repair tool in IDD. Once the wireframe and its associated constraints have been defined as required, you can use the Repair or the Match tool to attempt to satisfy all unsatisfied topological connections automatically.

To view wireframes and select them, you must activate the relevant component node or the surface set. When you activate the component node or a surface set, you can set the selection filter to pick the following wireframe types for repair:

You can right-click selected wireframes and click Select parent surfaces on the shortcut menu to select the parent surfaces of the wireframe selected for repair or match.

Another type of wireframe represents a surface split. You can create it manually using UV-curves. This type of wireframe is used to help fix other topological problems by breaking up surfaces with more complicated boundaries.