Global Operations: Operations of this type can affect the entire model. Usually this happens when creating features that perform Boolean Operations. For example, when you create an Extrude feature to add material to the model, that new material is merged with the active bodies present in the model, which may result in one or more bodies combining together. Extrude, Revolve, Sweep, and Skin/Loft are all examples of features that apply global operations. To limit the effect of these global operations, sometimes features offer a Target Bodies property, which allows you to choose specific bodies in the model on which the Boolean Operations will be applied.

Local Operations: These operations modify specific topology in the model and do not attempt Boolean Operations between bodies. Examples of these types of operations are Blend, Chamfer, and Surface Extension. Even though these types of features do not perform Boolean Operations, you should be careful not to create non-manifold topology or else subsequent global operations may fail. An example of this could be a Surface Extension which extends one Surface body to another. If the two bodies meet in a T-intersection, then any attempt to merge the two bodies together in a subsequent operation would fail. See Manifold Geometry for more information.

Reference Operations: Some features do not modify the model at all, but rather create objects that reference model entities. Examples of these features are Plane, Point, and Named Selections.