Debug Mode

The only read-only mode that forces a rebuild. It reports the cause and the smallest safe repair, and changes nothing.

What it does on every turn

  1. 01

    Reads the document

    Type, units, title and active configuration, so the report is anchored to the file you are actually looking at.

  2. 02

    Walks the feature tree

    The whole FeatureManager design tree, not a sample of it.

  3. 03

    Forces a rebuild and collects diagnostics

    Feature warnings on a part, and component warnings as well on an assembly. This is the one action a read-only mode takes that you will see happen in the SOLIDWORKS window.

  4. 04

    Checks external references

    Broken and missing references are reported by name.

What it does with what it found

Where the diagnostics or the tree show a warning, it opens the affected feature and quotes the specific code or message rather than describing it. On a sketch or profile problem it reads the parent sketch. On an assembly it validates the mates, finds the mates on any component carrying a warning, and runs an interference or distance check when clearance is the suspected fault.

It separates confirmed facts from hypotheses.

The shape of the answer

Every Debug reply comes back as a health report under five fixed headings, in this order:

  1. Document. What was inspected.
  2. Feature health. The failing and warning features, with the quoted diagnostics.
  3. External references. Broken, missing, or clean.
  4. Root cause. The symptom, the affected feature, the cause, and the blast radius.
  5. Recommended next steps. The smallest safe repair.

The recommended step points you to Agent Mode only when a fix is genuinely needed.

Worked examples

Why does this part rebuild with errors?
Rebuilds, collects the diagnostics, and reports each failing feature with its quoted message, the cause, and what depends on it.
What broke in this assembly after the last change?
Rebuilds, reads the component warnings, validates the mates, and names the components and mates carrying the failure.
This sketch will not close. What is wrong with it?
Reads the parent sketch and reports the specific relation, gap or over-definition, not a general list of reasons sketches fail.
Are any references in this part broken?
The external reference check on its own, naming each broken or missing reference.

What it cannot do

  • Fix anything. Debug never receives a mutating tool or the VBA tool.
  • Change geometry, features, mates or properties. The forced rebuild is the only thing it does to the document, and it adds and removes nothing.
  • Write the repair plan. That is Plan Mode, which will produce a repair plan when you ask for one.

Where to go next

  • You have the cause and want it fixed now: Agent Mode.
  • You want the repair written down and approved first: Plan Mode.
  • The error is a SOLIDWORKS one you have seen before: SOLIDWORKS errors.
  • CADABRA itself is the problem, not the model: CADABRA issues.