A High Level Graphic Database for CAD

Abstract

Efficient CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software development and maintenance relies heavily on a convenient and versatile graphic database manager. Such a management system does not replace the CAD program, but is driven by the host CAD program to perform a number of database management and editing functions common to all applications. A protocol for such a data management system is proposed in this paper. The main characteristics of this system lie in the object organization, the ability to edit graphic data conveniently, the overall object-tree data structure, and the implementation of a number of high-level interactive functions. Overall, this new generation of software represents a step toward the direction of distributed processing while allowing the host CAD program the maximum flexibility possible in data management.