Extracting Feature Information From Mesh

A computer program product tangibly embodied in a tangible computer-readable medium and comprising instructions that when executed by a processor perform a method relating to measuring a mesh, the method comprising:

• receiving, in a viewer application executed by a processor, information that corresponds to a mesh of polygons representing a three-dimensional shape having at least one face, the information generated by a computer-aided design application that is configured for three-dimensional modeling, wherein the viewer application is not configured to perform the three-dimensional modeling;
• displaying, on a display device controlled by the processor, a view generated by the viewer application that includes the three-dimensional shape having the at least one face and defined by the mesh of polygons, wherein the received mesh of polygons does not include any semantic information identifying the face and defining where any visible transition feature is located in the three-dimensional shape;
• receiving, using the processor and while the three-dimensional shape is displayed and before the semantic information is obtained, a first input generated by a user selecting a point in the view generated by the viewer application;
• searching polygons of the mesh near the selected point using the processor, in response to the first input, to determine whether the visible transition feature of the displayed three-dimensional shape is located near the selected point;
• and
• generating an output by the viewer application on the display device that indicates an outcome of the search.

A system comprising:

• a user interface device;
• a computer program product containing instructions that when executed generate a viewer application, wherein the viewer application receives information that corresponds to a mesh of polygons representing a three-dimensional shape having at least one face, the information generated by a computer-aided design application that is configured for three-dimensional modeling, wherein the viewer application is not configured to perform the three-dimensional modeling;
• and
• one or more computers operable to interact with the computer program product and the user interface device and to cause the user interface device to present a view that includes the three-dimensional shape having the at least one face and defined by the mesh of polygons, wherein the received mesh of polygons does not include any semantic information identifying the face and defining where any visible transition feature is located in the three- dimensional shape, the one or more computers also being operable to search polygons of the mesh near a point in the view, in response to user selection of the point in the view, to determine whether the visible transition feature of the displayed three-dimensional shape is located near the selected point, and generate an output by the viewer application that indicates an outcome of the search for presentation on the user interface device.