geom/doc/salome/gui/GEOM/input/partition_explanation.doc

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\page partition_explanation Fuse, Partition and Compound usage

\tableofcontents

It is frequently asked about the difference between the above mentioned operations. It's indeed simple. Lets take the example of a cylinder and a box that you want to join together.

\section sec1 Fuse

The \b fuse operation will make a <b>single solid</b> from the two given solids. It allows you to build complex models by putting simple shapes together.
\image html fuse.png

\section sec2 Partition
The \b partition operation will also connect the two solids but it will <b>keep a face at the frontier</b> (in brown on the picture below). The resulting shape will consist in <b>two connected solids</b> that share 
a face at their frontier. It means that this face is present only one time in the resulting shape and is a sub-shape of both the box and the cylinder.

\n This operation allows you to identify different areas in a shape (e.g. different materials) and to ensure a <b>conformal mesh</b> when meshing it later. Indeed the face at the frontier is meshed only once. 

\image html partition.png


\section sec3 Compound
When you build a \b compound by using the build -> compound operation you just make <b>an object that contains the two separate solids</b> like in a "bag".
The two solids remain unconnected. The compound is just a set of shapes, no more.

\n The compound Allows applying operations to a collection of shapes.

\image html compound2.png


\section sec4 Summary

In the frame of this example we can summarize the following differences:

<ul>
<li> \b Fuse 
<ul>
<li> \a Result : A <b>single solid</b>. </li>
<li> \a Purpose : Allows building complex models by putting simple shapes together.</li>
</ul>
<li> \b Partition
<ul>
<li>\a Result : Two <b>connected solids</b> sharing faces.</li>
<li>\a Purpose : Useful to ensure a conformal mesh of separated areas of your model (fluid / solid , concrete / steel ...)</li>
</ul>
<li> \b Compound
<ul>
<li>\a Result : Two <b>unconnected solids</b>.</li>
<li>\a Purpose : Allows applying operations to a collection of shapes.</li>
</ul>
</ul>


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