For functional properties such as gliding, sealing, assembling, adhering etc. the outer layer
of the surface is the functional related surface. For the functional assessment of the surface this outer
layer should be used as the reference for any functional characteristic. With the existing mean line
system for the assessment of roughness and waviness, the standardized characteristics do not follow
this logic. However there are valid historical reasons for the acceptance of the shortcomings of the
mean line system. They are e.g. the alignment of the profile, the removal of form, the assumption of a
sinusoidal structure of the waviness on the surface, and the distortion of the surface by the application
of the mean line filtering process. To overcome these shortcomings morphological operations have
been used to establish a new developed envelope system. In order to define new parameters to
characterize and specify functional properties of surfaces, a common datum is necessary. The
presented method for the alignment of datums is consistent with the algorithms used to establish
datums and datum systems for workpieces, where the datum is established by the location of a tangent
geometrical element such as a line, plane, cylinder etc. The orientation is usually derived by the
application of the minimum zone algorithm. The benefit of the assessment of the functional properties
of surfaces with morphological operations will be presented for two examples.