From 11b81418bc7f28f4e91e99320335a246099df033 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: flex-Alec <139144665+alec-flexcompute@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 15:30:02 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Update mesh.py's zero triangle area error message

The current error message suggests using a function in Trimesh that will be deprecated in March 2024, and using it now results in some weird errors. The alternative suggestion I'm works.
---
 tidy3d/components/geometry/mesh.py | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tidy3d/components/geometry/mesh.py b/tidy3d/components/geometry/mesh.py
index 3ec4c5486..fff9f8d4a 100644
--- a/tidy3d/components/geometry/mesh.py
+++ b/tidy3d/components/geometry/mesh.py
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ def _check_mesh(cls, val: TriangleMeshDataset) -> TriangleMeshDataset:
         if not all(np.array(mesh.area_faces) > fp_eps):
             raise ValidationError(
                 "The provided mesh has triangles with zero area. "
-                "Consider using 'trimesh.Trimesh.remove_degenerate_faces' to fix this."
+                "Consider using numpy-stl's 'from_file' import with 'remove_empty_areas' set "
+                "to True and a suitable 'AREA_SIZE_THRESHOLD' to remove them."
             )
         if not mesh.is_winding_consistent:
             log.warning(