Release notes 26.3/cs

• Solver messages (overconstraint reports) were added to the Assembly task panel. Pull request #24623
• A new command has been added to select all joints associated with a chosen component. Pull request #27530
• A button was added to rotate joint offsets by 90 degrees. Pull request #29717
• Editing sketches from assemblies no longer briefly activates the sketch's source document or crashes when leaving the Assembly context. Pull request #29271
• Simulations now offer export to video format. Pull request #25307
• Exploded View can now be created temporarily. Pull request #25456
• Simulation export formats were improved. OpenCV was replaced by PyAV. WebM video format was added for cases when codec is available. The Save File dialog now also automatically appends the extension based on the selected file type. Pull request #30333
• The Edit Joint command was added to the context menu for joints. Pull request #30991
• A Snapshot feature was added making it possible to save and restore the current assembly state (placement and visibility). Pull request #25384
• Rigid Group joint type was added fixing all the selected components relatively to each other. Pull request #29605

• A Report command has been added. It uses an SQL-like query language to select, filter, and aggregate data. Pull request #24078
• Removing a wall base now preserves the wall's placement and parametric dimensions for supported straight Draft or Sketch bases, and warns before removing unsupported complex bases. Pull request #24550
• Walls can now be created without a base object by default, with the selected wall baseline mode remembered in preferences. Pull request #24595
• The BIM toolbar layout was decluttered by grouping related commands, removing the Shape from Text and BIM Views entries from the default toolbar, and rearranging common drafting and copy tools. Pull request #25147
• A BIM Covering command has been added. It can apply finishes like flooring, wall cladding, ceiling tiles, or façade panels to existing geometry. Pull request #27222.
• BIM Windows now include a Sliding Door preset whose opening follows the Opening property, and the Tree View context menu can invert the sliding direction. Pull request #27375
• BIM Windows now provide a task-panel options box for editing common window properties with expression-aware fields and a cancel action. Pull request #27381
• BIM Window types can now use LinkGroups, avoiding out-of-scope subvolume warnings while preserving unset base-object properties. Pull request #27420
• Walls now provide task-panel options for common wall properties, and the same quick-access task-box framework was extended to other BIM objects. Pull request #26758 and Pull request #27746
• BIM link handling was refactored, and the new Make Link command creates an App::Link and immediately starts a move operation for BIM workflows. Pull request #28104
• Sites now provide task-panel options for several site properties. Pull request #28504
• Status Bar input hints were added for BIM tools. Pull request #30511

• Native IFC projects now also support a relative path to the IFC file. Pull request #24190
• The BIM Project command was removed from the toolbar, moved to the Utils menu, renamed to IFC Project for clarity, and the Setup Project dialog now defaults to non-IFC-native projects. Pull request #25086
• BIM Nudge shortcuts now use Alt combinations to avoid conflicts with existing shortcuts. Pull request #28036
• Native IFC objects now expose the full active-schema class list for their object type in the IfcClass property, including IFC2X3 type families. Pull request #28994
• Stair railings now follow stair visibility changes, including visibility inherited from parent objects such as levels. Pull request #29173
• The branch of a pipe T-connector can now have a different profile than the main pipes. Pull request #29504
• The endpoints of walls without a base have been made editable with the Draft Edit command. Pull request #29860
• DrawingView cut lines now use the default line width and cut areas line thickness ratio preferences for thicker cut-line output. Pull request #30149
• IFC import now treats a multicore preference value of 0 as disabled before creating the IfcOpenShell geometry iterator, avoiding invalid worker counts when multicore processing is turned off. Pull request #30201
• The classification systems download URL was updated. Pull request #30247
• In the top part of the BIM Views Manager a Height column has been added. The Level column has been relabeled to Elevation. Pull request #30420
• 2D drawings receive a label that matches the label of the section they are based on, with the - Drawing suffix, but only if the section has a non-default label. Pull request #30716
• The task panel of the Arch Axis command now shows units. Pull request #31156
• The Draft Edit command was added to the Modify menu and toolbar in BIM. Pull request #31538
• The BIM Unclone command was moved to the Modify → Cloning Tools menu, and the Arch Survey command to the Manage → Report Tools menu. Pull request #31547
• Working plane proxies can now be activated from the BIM Views task panel, and their Visibility Map updated from the context menu of the task panel with the Save Visibility of Objects option. Pull request #31791

• The G-code export dialog now shows line numbers. Pull request #23862
• The MillFace operation was reimplemented with significant improvements as MillFacing. Pull request #24367
• SimpleCopy now allows multiple selection of operations. Pull request #24297
• OCL Adaptive Algorithm was added to the Waterline operation. Pull request #23149
• The Sorting Mode property was added to Profile and Pocket operations, allowing optional shape processing following the order of shape selection. Pull request #27410
• Support for rest machining was added to the Adaptive operation. Pull request #27908
• Hidden Approximation property was added to the DressupTag operation. It may significantly reduce the number of commands if the path contains non-horizontal arc moves (e.g., helix path). Pull request #28502
• Tapping was removed as an experimental feature and consolidated into Drilling as a new strategy. Pull request #27506
• Circular Hole operation was significantly improved, including a new C++ 2-Opt TSP solver with Python bindings for improved hole sorting performance as well as new sorting modes and manual reordering in the GUI. Pull request #23093
• New style LineZFollow was added to the LeadInOut operation. It can be used as a replacement for ArcZFollow, as simpler and requiring less computation. Pull request #27986
• The RampEntry dressup can now be applied to operations that already use a LeadInOut dressup. Pull request #28496
• It is now possible to manually set RetractThreshold in Profile and Pocket operations. Pull request #21738
• Manual selection of faces or edges for Drilling or Helix Drilling operations is now possible. Pull request #27494
• The helix and spiral generators of the Helix operation were improved to provide better results and allow more control. Pull request #21971
• Auto-select for drillable faces was optimized and can now find cylinder faces that have more than 3 edges. Pull request #27585
• The Optimize Linear Paths option was added to the Waterline OCL Adaptive Algorithm to remove unnecessary co-linear points from G-code output. Pull request #27040
• The new CAM simulator was integrated as an MDI widget into the main window. Pull request #22204
• The Copy operation tool can now copy all operations and do it recursively. Pull request #24819
• The Toggle operation now supports Job and Operations groups. Pull request #24872
• It is now possible to cancel G-code export. Pull request #25273
• Tolerance can now be set for Tag Dressup, Engrave, and Deburr operations to change the precision of segmentation of complex shapes while creating a path. Pull request #26127 and Pull request #26128
• The Engrave operation can now use arc approximation for complex curves, reducing G-code command count and producing smoother G2/G3 output where applicable. Pull request #29528
• Adaptive operation now automatically picks the diameter of the helix entrance. Pull request #23980
• The Adaptive operation now rejects invalid lead-in start points more reliably, preventing short slotting moves near inside corners that could violate the configured step-over. Pull request #29971
• CAM task panels now support selecting shapes from different objects. Pull request #22304
• Vcarve routing is now improved using "virtual edge backtracking". Pull request #25049
• It is now possible to postprocess only selected Operations from the Job and select operations inside Dressup. Pull request #22764
• The loop selection tool was improved and now returns the wire if edge(s) selected and other methods failed. Pull request #24185
• The loop selection tool can now find several horizontal wires when two or more selected edges do not belong to the same wire. Pull request #27497
• The loop selection tool can now select all edges from a selected shape when no subelements are selected. Pull request #29523
• A cooling feature was added to the Kinetic postprocessor. Pull request #25022
• The Units (Metric/Imperial) property was added to ToolBits. Pull request #25783
• The new CAM simulator now uses the same ortho/perspective view mode and navigation style as the 3D View. Pull request #23073
• The Pocket operation can now handle horizontal edges in addition to faces. Pull request #27750
• The Op Final Depth property of the Engrave operation now has a better default value depending on stock and engraving shape. Pull request #26543
• Start Point can now be set from the task panel for Profile and Pocket operations. Pull request #29502
• The Circular Hole Base feature used to select Base Geometry for some operations now shows position and blind state (for cylinder faces) in addition to face name and diameter. Pull request #27869
• CAM operations now recover more gracefully when linked Base Geometry becomes invalid: the path is cleared, the operation is marked with an error state, and invalid Base entries can be removed from the task panel. Pull request #27559
• The Helix operation now has the Helix Max Ramp Angle property while Helix Pitch was renamed to Helix Max Pitch. Pull request #29286
• The Zig Zag Angle property of the Pocket operation was renamed to Angle. It is now hidden if the selected pattern is Offset. Pull request #26842
• A new dressup tool was added to allow mirroring paths. Pull request #21820
• A rapid move from Clearance Height to Safe Height was added at the beginning of the Slot operation's G-code. Pull request #25845
• The Slot operation now handles perpendicular and start-to-end paths for multiple edges or faces more reliably, supports straight edges and non-horizontal arcs, and clears invalid paths when a slot cannot be created. Pull request #25090
• The Slot operation task panel now includes the CutPattern option, whose values were renamed to Bidirectional and Directional; the removed LayerMode behavior now matches other operations' step-down handling. Pull request #25867
• The CAM context menu was improved. Pull request #26492
• Engraving has two new properties: Pattern (allows swapping the direction after step down to exclude retraction) and Reverse (forces direction change). Pull request #22226
• Linking now considers the tool shape. Pull request #28180
• The Array tool's Jitter feature was improved. Pull request #26326
• The HandleMultipleFeatures feature can now process more cases for the Area operation. Pull request #26867
• The DressupTag tool can now automatically place tags for several closed paths. Pull request #22468
• The DressupTag tool now scales better with many edges. Pull request #29094
• The Z Depth Correction Dressup now shows a warning instead of an error when the path is outside the probe area. Pull request #28582
• The Adaptive operation now uses helix generator to create a helix entry. Helix properties were moved to the Adaptive Helix Entry group. There are also new property names Helix Max Ramp Angle and Helix Max Pitch. Pull request #22357
• A new Rotary Surface operation was added for 4th axis surfacing. Pull request #29751
• Toolpath rendering for multi-revolution rotary moves now uses the full angular travel, avoiding coarse display segments on long G0/G1, G2/G3, and drilling-cycle rotations. Pull request #29707
• The job creation and editing dialogs were improved. Job creation now includes a unit schema selector, template description was added to the json and there is a machine selector, as well as a button to create new machines on the General tab. Several other widgets within those panels were also enhanced. Pull request #29861
• MachineState.G0F, and .ReturnMode were added for Drilling commands. Pull request #29892
• CAM drilling cycle expansion now uses MachineState for more accurate machine state tracking while expanding drilling cycles. Pull request #30112
• The Drilling, Helix and MillFacing linking options now include collision-avoidance strategies for using retract height, clearance height, line-of-sight checks, tool diameter, or tool shape. Pull request #29983
• The Linking generator was added to the Engrave and Deburr operations to use the safe height instead of clearance height for linking moves. The Linking Mode and Safety Margin options were added to the task panels, also for Drilling and Helix operations. Pull request #29959
• The loop selection tool can now handle horizontal faces. Pull request #26786
• A Points pattern type option was added to the Array operation. With this type the position and direction of array elements is taken from selected shapes. Pull request #23606
• Support for expressions in custom G-code was added. Expressions must be enclosed in @ characters. Pull request #30737

• Draft snapping now supports B-spline knots. Pull request #26571
• Draft in-command shortcut preferences can now contain multiple characters, making localized single-character shortcuts possible. Pull request #26950
• The Working Plane command now moves the working plane origin to a pre-selected vertex without changing its orientation. Pull request #27979
• Draft angular dimensions now create extension lines. Pull request #27987
• Polar Array and Circular Array are now aware of the active working plane. Pull request #28324
• SVG import can now approximate suitable curves to arcs and lines. Pull request #29142
• SVG import now supports UTF-16 encoded files, such as SVG files generated by some Windows applications. Pull request #29244
• Draft angular dimensions now honor overshoot settings. Pull request #29298
• Draft Annotation and Modification tools now use input hints. Pull request #29649, Pull request #30436 and Pull request #30437
• A Draft Hatch can now be applied to multiple objects and/or individual faces belonging to one or more objects. Pull request #30578

• A check to prevent consecutive identical points has been added to the Draft Line, Draft Wire, Draft BSpline and Draft BezCurve commands. Pull request #29372
• Draft Trimex now reports unsupported sketch selections before opening the task panel, avoiding a misleading no-op workflow. Pull request #29845
• For closed wires and B-splines Draft Edit offers the new Set Point as First option in the node context menu. Pull request #30830
• Draft Grid settings are now also stored in the document settings, not only in the preferences. Pull request #30696

• The Electric Charge Density load now has a Concentrated checkbox in the Total Source mode to use concentrated instead of distributed load (making it also applicable to edges and vertices) with CalculiX. Pull request #25237
• The FEM results objects now support the animation of half cycles in addition to reversed full cycles. Pull request #24129
• The Section Print feature now supports 2D models and electric flux in electrostatic analyses. Pull request #25081
• The Neumann mode of the Electrostatic potential boundary condition can now be used to apply a magnetic flux density boundary condition. Pull request #25897
• In Z88 exports, materials and elements without references can now be used as default values for mesh elements that do not have explicit references. Pull request #29185
• The Displace Mesh property was added to the refactored CalculiX solver, making it possible to view true scale deformation of the mesh without having to use the Warp filter. Pull request #27786
• The addArrayFromFunction Python function was added, making it possible to create custom arrays based on the pipeline fields. Pull request #26076
• A context menu command to clear mesh groups was added. Pull request #27945
• A log verbosity preference was added for Elmer. Pull request #28058
• The None Field Color property was added to the results pipeline and filters to set the color when the displayed field is None (can be helpful e.g. when using the Glyph filter). Pull request #28028
• All solver commands are now always shown (even if a given solver is not installed) and are grouped in the toolbar as well as in the menu. The default icon in the toolbar depends on the default solver selected in the Preferences. Pull request #28144
• Material assignments are now read from the CalculiX's .frd results files. They can't be accessed in FreeCAD yet, but they can be visualized in ParaView upon conversion to .vtm format. Pull request #27847
• The Non-linear mechanical material objects are now grouped under the Solid Material objects. The Geometrical Nonlinearity and Material Nonlinearity properties are now Boolean. The latter is enabled by default and only applied if any material in the analysis has a non-linear mechanical material object assigned to it. Otherwise, it is ignored. Pull request #27862
• The Z-refinement algorithm of Netgen, allowing the creation of extruded meshes, now also supports shells. Pull request #28204
• It is now possible to edit the input files for the meshers to add some custom commands for mesh generation, similar to what could already be done for the solvers. Some general preferences of the FEM Workbench were improved too. Pull request #27942
• The Electrostatic potential boundary condition is now named Electromagnetic boundary condition. Some smaller renames were are done. Pull request #27614
• The Z88 solver was refactored. It can be used with both open-source versions of Z88 - Z88OS and Z88Adria. It supports several element types and basic features for linear analyses. Pull request #28944
• The Iterations Control Parameter Field property was added to the CalculiX solver to allow adjusting the convergence criteria. Pull request #29227
• The Beam Reduced Integration property of the CalculiX solver was replaced by the generalized Reduced Integration property that replaces standard solid, face (shell, 2D) and beam elements with their reduced integration counterparts. Pull request #29223
• The refactored CalculiX solver is now used by default. Pull request #29220
• The Section print feature can now be used with the Z88 solver. Pull request #29188
• Materials now have the Material Name property, making it easier to identify the actual materials represented by the material objects in the Analysis container. Pull request #29609
• Three new FEM examples were added for CalculiX: basic 1D fluid network, axisymmetric shaft and plane stress plate with a hole. Pull request #29697 and Pull request #29711
• Several CalculiX preference labels were changed for clarity, including geometrical nonlinearity, advanced solver controls, eigenmode count, and frequency bounds. Pull request #30099
• The Data and extractions widget no longer raises an exception if the pipeline is empty. Pull request #29739
• Displacement boundary condition now correctly writes the rotations in radians for the CalculiX solver. Pull request #29689
• Node indexing was improved for the Z88 solver. Pull request #29606
• The Groups of Nodes property was removed to better handle groups in meshers. Pull request #29440
• Force load now uses the global placement of the reference geometry for the force direction (for example, if the reference is inside a Part container). Pull request #29513
• The dependence of FEM examples on workbenches other than Part was removed. Pull request #29488 and Pull request #29438
• For the Mesh refinement command, the expected mesh property was changed to Mesh Refinement List. Pull request #29554
• The Z88 solver can now use different cross sections assigned to different truss elements. Pull request #29379
• Pressure load now takes into account the shell thickness for plane stress models solved with the Z88 solver. Pull request #29377
• The Z88 solver now uses materials and elements without references as default. Pull request #29185
• The legacy SolverCalculiX object created with old FreeCAD versions is now updated to the new solver object. Pull request #29102
• Fixed boundary condition now works properly (constrains only the available DOFs) for plane stress, plane strain, axisymmetric, membrane and truss elements. Pull request #28986
• Some redundant log messages generated during the mesh element search stage for the CalculiX solver were removed. Pull request #28049
• The legacy get_ccx_version check searching for a very old version of CalculiX was removed. Pull request #28194
• Transparency was removed from equation icons to make their non-grayed-out state clearer. Pull request #28193
• The results pipeline no longer crashes if its data is a mutiblock with a null block. Pull request #28171
• The pipeline frames now include time/frequency units for the refactored CalculiX solver. Pull request #27845
• The clipping plane command can now be enabled in feature edit mode. Pull request #25145
• Mesh error handling was improved for the solvers, including proper error messages when there's no mesh or multiple meshes are present. Pull request #29186
• The names of objects were improved, mainly by removing the redundant word "constraint". Pull request #30665
• A new electrostatic spark gap FEM example was added for CalculiX and Elmer. Pull request #30928
• The default pressure value was changed to 1 MPa. Pull request #31036
• The getNodeColor() and getElementColor() methods were implemented. Pull request #30726
• Two new FEM examples were added for CalculiX involving radiation heat flux - one for radiation to ambient and one for surface-to-surface (cavity) radiation. Pull request #31171 and Pull request #31175
• Contact and Tie constraint now include options to change the side of a shell surface. Moreover, tie constraint now has separate selectors for master and slave sides. Pull request #31055
• Elmer's mechanical equations now properly handle 2D coordinate systems. The axisymmetric shaft example from CalculiX is now also available with Elmer. Pull request #31610
• Eigenvalues (natural frequencies and buckling factors) obtained with Elmer's Elasticity equation are now saved to the text document generated with the analysis. Pull request #31667
• Elmer's Heat equation now supports radiation heat flux including cavity (surface-to-surface) radiation. Pull request #31641
• Magnetodynamic 2D equation now properly supports Joule heating calculations with Heat equation. There is also a new example for eddy currents heating, and the frequency for the harmonic equation can be entered directly in Hertz instead of being specified as an angular frequency. Pull request #31690
• A new 3D magnetization FEM example was added for Elmer's Magnetodynamic equation. Pull request #31856
• Eigen analyses (modal and buckling) performed with Elmer's Elasticity equation now use multiframe result pipelines. Pull request #31851
• The Scale Factor of the Glyph filter was improved, including the support for expressions. Pull request #31862
• The Apply button in the task panels of meshers and solvers was renamed to Run to make it clear that it starts meshing or calculations. Pull request #31954

Further Inspection improvements

• The Material-Metals database has been extended with additional copper and copper-alloy materials. Pull request #25832
• Material assignment via Std SetMaterial now wraps changes in a transaction, replacing the "Close" button with "OK" and "Cancel" to enable proper undo support. Pull request #27910
• Material library paths using symbolic links are now handled correctly by the Materials Editor and material-loading API calls. Pull request #28500

• Smooth edges in TechDraw are now rendered with a thin line as required by ISO drawing standards. Pull request #27747
• Section line font, font size, and arrow size in TechDraw Section Views are now configurable per view via view properties. Pull request #27521
• TechDraw angle dimensions now support displaying the supplementary angle (180° minus the measured angle) via a view property. Pull request #27055
• Scene drawing is now significantly faster. Pull request #25898 and Pull request #28702
• Rendered scene views now exclude viewer decorations such as the NaviCube from TechDraw scene captures. Pull request #28943
• Manual changes to TechDraw view and dimension X/Y position properties now take priority over snapping, and dimension snapping parameters are configurable in the preferences. Pull request #30154
• The Insert Active View task panel has been redesigned with improved spacing, a combobox for background style selection, and grouped crop settings that disable automatically when not in use. Pull request #28085
• There is now a context menu option to toggle grid for the active page. Pull request #29083
• Projected views of tori and similar concentric-arc shapes now preserve legitimate outline arcs instead of deleting them during duplicate-edge cleanup. Pull request #29637
• The default TechDraw page color in the FreeCAD Light preference pack is now white, avoiding gray page backgrounds when printing. Pull request #30129
• The task panel of the Balloon Annotation tool was polished. Pull request #28101
• The ASME ANSIB TechDraw template now has a transparent background, matching the other drawing templates. Pull request #30025
• Expressions can now be attached to any TechDraw template fields. Pull request #27117
• UI improvements were applied to 8 task panels as part of an ongoing effort to improve TechDraw's UI. Pull request #29807 and Pull request #29362
• It is now possible to set the section line color. Pull request #31386
• Double-clicking on a view on the page now opens its editor. Pull request #30797
• Selection of Leader Lines now uses the actual geometry of the line instead of the group's bounding box. Pull request #30986
• Surface finish symbols do not automatically snap to positions within the view anymore. Pull request #31635
• Selection-dependent right-click context menus were added to TechDraw. Pull request #30892
• A preference was added to set the color of break lines in broken views. Setting the highlight color for detail views is now also possible. Pull request #29430
• Handling of empty template fields was improved. Pull request #30862