Hello, I understand how to use the boolean operations in NX, and they work reliably. What I want to understand is, why do the boolean operations in NX (and Solidworks among others) work in a specific way, and Proe/Creo in another? With NX you can define which bodies to operate on, wheras with Creo, it will only operate on ALL bodies in the part at once. So with Creo, you don't have the ability to specify which bodies to operate on, but on the other hand, with NX you MUST define a body to operate on, you don't have the ability to define for example an Extrude feature which will subtract any body in it's way (which is very convenient, will save many features, and prevent lots of work redefining all the features if the number of bodies change later on). As I vaguely understand, these two philosophies have to do with how CAD technology evolved from non-history based to history based modeling.
What annoys me is, every time I'm forced to deal with the aforementioned limitations of boolean operations in NX, I think to myself, why can't this be solved? Afterall, it's all just code and algorithms. Why is it not possible to have for example an Extrude feature which combines the best of both worlds? That way when the user selects Unite, Subtract or Intersect from the dropdown, in addition to the Select Body prompt, there appers a checkbox which says "All Bodies". When the user checks this checkbox, the previosly chosen boolean operation will act upon any and all bodies which happen to interfere with the Extrude body. The Extrude feature will then update when the number or type of bodies change later on.