Feature Finder — ENCY CAM IPC

This document describes the IPC (out-of-process) variant of the feature-recognition interfaces. The IPC layer mirrors the CAMAPI feature finder but is designed for standalone .exe applications talking to a running ENCY instance over the IPC channel.

Read the CAMAPI feature-finder reference first: ../api/feature-finder.md. This document covers only the differences between the IPC and API layers.

1. Overview of IPC differences

Every IPC interface differs from its CAMAPI counterpart in the same two systematic ways (see geometry.md §1 for the full explanation):

GetInstanceId()

Every feature interface (ICamIpcFeatureFinder, ICamIpcFeatureList, ICamIpcFeature, and all specialised feature interfaces) exposes GetInstanceId(): string. It identifies the COM proxy for IPC routing; extension code does not normally call it.

TExecuteContext parameter

Methods that perform a blocking or stateful host operation carry an extra [in, out] TExecuteContext* parameter in place of the CAMAPI out TResultStatus. Read-only properties do not. Always pass the context obtained from your connection.

Naming convention

CAMAPI interface	CAMIPC interface
`ICamApiFeatureFinder`	`ICamIpcFeatureFinder`
`ICamApiFeatureList`	`ICamIpcFeatureList`
`ICamApiFeature`	`ICamIpcFeature`
`ICamApiHoleFeature`	`ICamIpcHoleFeature`
`ICamApiComplexHoleFeature`	`ICamIpcComplexHoleFeature`
`ICamApiHoleGrooveFeature`	`ICamIpcHoleGrooveFeature`
`ICamApiPocketFeature`	`ICamIpcPocketFeature`
`ICamApiFilletFeature`	`ICamIpcFilletFeature`
`ICamApiChamferFeature`	`ICamIpcChamferFeature`
`ICamApiPlaneFeature`	`ICamIpcPlaneFeature`
`ICamApiEdgeFeature`	`ICamIpcEdgeFeature`
`ICamApiTangentEdgeFeature`	`ICamIpcTangentEdgeFeature`
`ICamApiHandlerFeatureFinderUpdated`	`ICamIpcHandlerFeatureFinderUpdated`

The enums (TCamApiFeatureType, TCamApiFeatureStatus, TCamApiPocketType, TCamApiEdgeGeomType, TCamApiHoleGrooveShapeType) are shared with the CAMAPI layer — the IPC interfaces import and reuse them unchanged. See ../api/feature-finder.md §10.

2. Obtaining the feature finder

ICamIpcProject.FeatureFinder is a read-only property returning ICamIpcFeatureFinder (same access path as CAMAPI, just on the IPC project object).

using var projectCom = appCom.GetActiveProject();
using var finderCom  = projectCom.FeatureFinder();   // ComWrapper<ICamIpcFeatureFinder>

3. ICamIpcFeatureFinder — method signature differences

Properties IsUpdating, RecognitionProgress, UpdateStamp are unchanged (read-only, no context). All retrieval and recognition methods take ref TExecuteContext:

CAMAPI	CAMIPC
`GetFeatures(includeDeleted, out status)`	`GetFeatures(includeDeleted, ref ctx)`
`GetAllFeatures(includeDeleted, out status)`	`GetAllFeatures(includeDeleted, ref ctx)`
`GetSelectedFeatures(out status)`	`GetSelectedFeatures(ref ctx)`
`GetFeatureById(id, out status)`	`GetFeatureById(id, ref ctx)`
`RunRecognition(waitForCompletion, out status)`	`RunRecognition(waitForCompletion, ref ctx)`
`GetFeaturesForNode(name, useRef, refMatrix, out status)`	`GetFeaturesForNode(name, useRef, refMatrix, ref ctx)`
`GetFeaturesForSelected(out status)`	`GetFeaturesForSelected(ref ctx)`
`SelectFeatureByBaseEntities(names, type, out status)`	`SelectFeatureByBaseEntities(names, type, ref ctx)`
`CancelRecognition(out status)`	`CancelRecognition(ref ctx)`

CancelRecognition aborts an in-progress background recognition (no-op if nothing is running), mirroring the CAMAPI addition.

ICamIpcFeatureList (Count, Feature[i]) and ICamIpcFeature (all base properties, SubFeature[i], BaseEntityName[i]) carry the same members as their CAMAPI counterparts with no context parameter — they are pure property reads — plus GetInstanceId(). ICamIpcFeature also adds the Highlighted (RW) property — a transient viewport highlight that does not change the actual selection (see ../api/feature-finder.md).

The specialised feature interfaces (ICamIpcHoleFeature, ICamIpcComplexHoleFeature, ICamIpcHoleGrooveFeature, ICamIpcPocketFeature, ICamIpcFilletFeature, ICamIpcChamferFeature, ICamIpcPlaneFeature, ICamIpcEdgeFeature, ICamIpcTangentEdgeFeature) expose the identical measurement properties documented in ../api/feature-finder.md §7, each with an added GetInstanceId() and no context parameter.

Typical flow

using var finderCom = projectCom.FeatureFinder();
finderCom.RunRecognition(waitForCompletion: true, ref ctx);

using var listCom = finderCom.GetFeatures(includeDeleted: false, ref ctx);
int count = listCom.Count();
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
    using var featureCom = listCom.Feature(i);
    // read Caption / FeatureType / measurements exactly as in the CAMAPI doc
}

4. The FeatureFinderUpdated event

ICamIpcHandlerFeatureFinderUpdated.FeatureFinderUpdated(handlerIdent) mirrors the CAMAPI handler. Register it through the IPC event mechanism (RegisterHandler / ICamIpcEventHandler) rather than the in-process ICamApiApplication.RegisterHandler; see connection.md and project.md for the IPC event-listener pattern. Listener callbacks arrive on a background thread — marshal to your UI thread if needed.