Interactive Slicer

The Interactive Slicer panel (the "Interactive Slicing" column under the Viewer) lets you preview a candidate facet, inspect the exact meetpoints it would hit, and then paste the generated FSL command into the editor with one click. It is powered by the same Renderer and meetpoint pipeline that the studio uses during normal execution, so the preview reflects the current geometry, symmetry, and girdle settings.

Panel layout

• Side – choose Up (crown) or Down (pavilion). The side to cut.
• Symmetry / Mirror – set the repeat count (xN) and whether to emit mirrored pairs (xxN). The slicer syncs the starting value from the current machine snapshot; it only appends x/xx to the preview command when you change it.
• Target – selects what the facet should touch:
  • None (hide preview) disables all overlays and buttons.
  • Center point uses cp (the center axis) and asks ProFacet for the exact center when context is available.
  • Girdle returns the girdle contact at the current index/angle using the gp helper.
  • Proper meetpoint pulls clustered meetpoints from listMeetpoints; use ◀/▶ to cycle through candidates.
  • Depth exposes a depth slider (0–1.00) for classic angle + depth cuts. Check Optimizable to append +/- 5%, marking the depth for optimization.
• Angle / Index – slider + number pairs that map directly to the machine angle (0–90°) and index (0–gear). Drag the slider for coarse changes, or type numbers for precise edits. While the pointer is over the angle slider, hold Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) to activate fine-grained mode. Use the Optimizable checkbox to append +/- 5% to the generated FSL, marking the angle for later optimization.
• Girdle offset – when the target is cp, gp, or Proper meetpoint, adds + girdle on the crown or -girdle on the pavilion automatically.

Below the controls you will see:

• A meetpoint navigator (visible only for Proper meetpoint). Each candidate shows its label, order, and whether it is a fallback. When the selected point lies on the girdle, the preview command switches to gp.
• A live preview string that mirrors the facet command that would be added to the editor.
• The floating Preview badge, plus Cancel and Commit buttons.

Preview behavior

• Dragging the angle or index slider, hovering the Preview badge, or holding Ctrl/Cmd keeps the preview active.
• The Viewer shows:
  • A plane overlay and cap polygon sliced through the current mesh.
• Markers for the selected meetpoint (and neighbouring candidates), the current cp or gp, and any girdle candidate provided by ProFacet.
  • The angle guide if it is enabled in the Viewer.
• When you release the slider or let go of the modifier key, the preview snaps back to the base mesh.

Committing or cancelling

• Commit (Shift+Enter) appends the preview line to the editor, choosing the next sequential tier name (P, C, or G based on side/angle), and reruns the interpreter so the Viewer stays in sync.
• Cancel clears the preview state and resets the target to None.

Meetpoints

• Proper meetpoint filters out fallback candidates and anything that falls on the opposite side of the plane. The panel remembers your selection as you change the angle or index.

Symmetry and warnings

• The symmetry count must divide the machine gear. If it does not (or if the index exceeds gear / symmetry), the input fields highlight in red and a warning appears above the preview string.
• Mirroring uses xx and produces left/right pairs, matching the way the runtime interprets xxN.

Editing existing facets

The slicer panel includes an Edit mode for adjusting the angle or depth of facets that are already part of your design. There are two ways to select a facet for editing:

Dropdown selection

Click the Edit button at the top of the slicer panel to enter Edit mode. A dropdown appears listing every editable facet in the current design (e.g. C1 @ 42.00, P2 @ 37.50). Select a facet from the list and its current angle and depth values populate the sliders. Drag the sliders to adjust the values — the FSL source is patched live and the 3D viewer updates in real time.

Mouse selection (Shift + Click)

For a faster workflow, hold Shift and click directly on a facet in the 3D viewer. The facet nearest to your click is selected: its label lights up with a cyan highlight, and the slicer enters Edit mode automatically. Once a facet is selected, you can adjust its angle with these controls:

To deselect the facet and leave edit mode:

• Press Escape, or
• Click anywhere on the 3D viewer without holding Shift.

Undo behavior in Edit mode

Consecutive edits to the same facet — whether from the sliders, mouse wheel, or arrow keys — are batched into a single undo step. This means you can scroll the wheel 20 times to dial in an angle and then undo the entire change in one step with Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on macOS). The undo base resets each time you select a different facet.

Tips

• Precision mode (Ctrl/Cmd while the pointer is over the Angle or Depth slider) lets you make fine-grained adjustments without typing numbers.
• Hold Ctrl/Cmd while tapping arrow keys in the numeric boxes to keep the preview active.
• The preview command already includes any + girdle, symmetry, or meetpoint specifier adjustments, so the inserted line is ready to run as-is. You can still edit it manually in the editor after committing if you need to tweak the tier name or add notes.