JPH09269953A - Cad supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cancel the competition of drawing data access caused at the time of designing a product, etc., while using a CAD system by plural desiners by providing a storing area for managing inter-drawing relation data as a drawing object and a means, etc., for monitoring the drawing data storing area. SOLUTION: When the editing of drawing data 8 is tried by the CAD system in a work station 1, a CAD system monitoring means 10 refers to editing flag data of the drawing object which indicates drawing data 8 in the drawing object storing area 14. At the time of an editing possible state, the CAD system monitoring means 10 permits the CAD system to execute editing and reports the start of editing by the CAD system as against the drawing object. In the drawing object, editing flag data is turned on till the report of editing completion in drawing data 8 by the CAD system in the work station is received from the CAD system monitoring means 10 and the editing of drawing data 8 by another CAD system is inhibited.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a CAD support device,
More specifically, it eliminates conflicts in drawing data access that occurs when a plurality of designers use CAD to design products and production facilities, and requires sufficient design change information.
The present invention relates to a CAD support device that constructs a mechanism for efficiently notifying other designers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, CAD for product design and production equipment design
By using (Computer Aided Design), design time has been shortened and drawing quality has been improved. But C
As a function of AD itself, the function of managing drawing data is regarded as a relatively secondary function, and is not currently substantial.

Therefore, even when a plurality of designers perform product design and production facility design using CAD, the designers themselves manage the logical meaning of the drawing data and the organic coupling relationship between the drawing data. There is a need. In addition, the designer needs to communicate with other designers to obtain design change information and to maintain consistency with other drawing data.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-17186
There is a CAD system including a drawing database means and a CAD means for systematically defining the structural relationship of a plurality of parts as the structural relationship of a plurality of drawings, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0-CAD system.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned CAD
In the system, it is only the designer himself to instruct the confirmation of the structural relationship between the drawing data and the prohibition of the design change, and in the case where the product design also affects the production facility design, There is a limit to the management depending on the scale.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and a plurality of designers use a CAD system to
To provide a CAD support device that eliminates the conflict of drawing data access that occurs when designing products and production facilities and constructs a mechanism for notifying other designers of design change information in a necessary and efficient manner. It was made for the purpose.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, drawing data, designer data, designer group data in a plurality of drawing data storage areas referred to and edited by a plurality of CAD systems connected to a network, Drawing data update date data, edit flag data and drawing relation data with other drawing objects are managed as drawing objects, a drawing object storage area and drawing data monitoring means for monitoring the drawing data storage area, and drawing data is updated to the designer. It is characterized in that it is provided with notifying means for notifying information regarding the above, a CAD system monitoring means for monitoring the access state to the drawing data in the plurality of CAD systems, and a drawing object creating means.

The invention of claim 2 is the CAD according to claim 1.
In the support device, the drawing relation data between the drawing object and another drawing object is created by creating an object model drawing.

The invention of claim 3 is the CA according to claim 1.
In the D support device, when the drawing data managed by the drawing object is edited by a CAD system, the drawing object itself controls data access from another CAD system.

The invention according to claim 4 is the CAD according to claim 1.
In the support device, when the drawing data managed by the drawing object is edited by the CAD system,
According to the inter-drawing relationship data managed by the drawing object itself, the drawing object related to the drawing data being edited is notified of the editing information, and the related drawing object itself controls the data access from another CAD system. It is a feature.

The invention of claim 5 is the CAD according to claim 1.
In the support device, the drawing data monitoring means detects the update of the drawing data by comparing the update date of the drawing data with the update date of the drawing object, and notifies the drawing object of the detection result. It is a feature.

The invention of claim 6 is the CAD according to claim 1.
In the support device, due to the relationship between the drawing data managed by the drawing object itself notified of the update of the drawing data,
The drawing data update is notified to another drawing object, and the updating of the drawing data is notified to the designer and the designer group based on the notified designer and designer group data of the drawing object. It was done.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the change notification according to the sixth aspect, it is possible to control the content of the notification information according to the type of inter-drawing relation data in the drawing object with another drawing object. It is a feature.

[0014]

1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, workstations 1, 2, 3 communicate with drawing data storage areas 4, 5, 6. Connected by line 7, workstation 1,
By the CAD system mounted on the second and third drawings, the drawing data 8 in the drawing data storage areas 4, 5, and 6 can be stored, modified, and referenced. The drawing data 8 is managed in the drawing data storage area by a file system provided by the UNIX system.

The CAD support device 9 notifies the drawing object storage area 14, the drawing data monitoring means 11 for monitoring the drawing object storage area 14 and the drawing data storage areas 4, 5 and 6, and notifies the designer of information relating to the drawing data update. There is provided a notification means 12, a drawing object creation means 13, and a CAD system monitoring means 10 for monitoring the access state to the drawing data 8 in the plurality of CAD systems.

FIG. 2 shows a drawing object 15 in the drawing object storage area 14, and the drawing object 15 is a tag 16 for specifying the drawing data 8 in the drawing data storage areas 4, 5 and 6 as data. , Designer data 17 of the corresponding drawing data 8, designer group data 18 related to the design of the corresponding drawing data 8, drawing update date data 19, edit flag data 2
0, the inter-drawing relationship data 21 showing the relationship with other drawing objects. However, in the designer data 17 and the designer group data 18, contact data to each designer is described as an email address as an attribute value. Further, the inter-drawing relationship data 21 indicating the relationship with other drawing objects is interactively created by the drawing object creating means 13, and there are upper, lower, and parallel relationships as the types of this relationship. It represents the parts composition of the object.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a relationship between drawing objects represented by the drawing relationship data 21, that is, an example of a component structure of a design object. For example, the drawing object 15c is a drawing having a superordinate relationship. The drawing object 15b is provided as an object, the drawing objects 15e and 15f are provided as subordinate drawing objects, and the drawing objects 15d, 15h, and 15i are provided as parallel drawing objects.

The operation of the present invention will be described below. First, the CAD system on workstation 1
When an attempt is made to edit the drawing data 8b (the drawing object 15b is not shown but corresponds to the drawing data 8b), the CAD system monitoring means 10 causes the drawing object 15b pointing to the drawing data 8b in the drawing object storage area 14. Refer to the edit flag data 20b. Then, when it is in the editable state (when the edit flag data is OFF), the CAD system monitoring means 10
Gives editing permission to the CAD system, and notifies the drawing object 15b that editing by the CAD system has started. The notified drawing object 15b is the drawing data 8b by the CAD system on the workstation 1 from the CAD system monitoring means 10.
The edit flag data 20b is turned on until the end of editing is notified, and the editing of the drawing data 8b by another CAD system is prohibited.

Further, the drawing object 15b with the edit flag data 20b turned on is the inter-drawing relationship data 21b.
By referring to the edit flag data 20 of the drawing object 15b with respect to the drawing objects 15c and 15d having a lower relationship with the drawing object 15b.
Notify that b has been turned on. The notified drawing objects 15c and 15d are edited flag data 20c and
20d is turned ON, and the drawing object 15c further refers to the inter-drawing relationship data 21c to edit the drawing flag data 20 for the drawing objects 15e and 15f.
Notify that c is turned on. Then, the notified drawing objects 15e and 15f turn on the edit flag data 20e and 20f. As a result, the editing of the drawing data 8b by the CAD system is performed by the drawing data 8c,
Editing by the CAD system for 8d, 8e, and 8f is automatically prohibited. This prohibits simultaneous editing by a plurality of designers, which may cause inconsistency between drawing data.

The change of the drawing data 8b is detected by the drawing data monitoring means 11. First, the CAD system monitoring means 10 detects the end of editing the drawing data 8b by the CAD system and notifies the drawing data monitoring means 11 of the end of editing the drawing data 8b. When the drawing data monitoring means 11 receives the edit end notification of the drawing data 8b, the drawing update date data 19 of the drawing object 15b is received.
b and the file creation date of the drawing data 8b (managed by the file system provided by the UNIX system) are compared to detect a change in the drawing data 8b. If the drawing data 8b has been changed, the corresponding drawing object 15b is notified of the change of the drawing data 8b.

The drawing object 15b notified of the change of the drawing data 8b has a lower relationship with the drawing objects 15c and 15d and a higher relationship by referring to the inter-drawing relationship data 21b. The change of the drawing object 8b is notified to the drawing object 15a and the drawing object 15g having a parallel relationship. Each drawing object 15 that has received the change notification from the drawing object 15b determines whether the drawing object 8b is a high-order, low-order, or parallel relationship by referring to the inter-drawing relationship data 21, and
By referring to the designer data (A) and the designer group data (C), each designer and the designer are informed by e-mail that there is a change in the drawing data 8b having any one of upper, lower and parallel relationships. Notify the communication means 12 to contact the group. The communication means 12 is for each object 1
According to the contents notified from 5, the designers and designer groups are notified by means such as electronic mail. For example, in the drawing object 15c, since the drawing object 15b has a higher-level relationship, the drawing data 8c
Drawing data 8c for the designers and designer groups of
The change of the drawing data 8b, which is in a superordinate relationship with, is notified by e-mail.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the drawing data, the designer data, the designer group data, and the drawing data update in the plurality of drawing data storage areas referred to and edited by the plurality of CAD systems connected to the network. A drawing object storage area for managing date data, edit flag data, and inter-drawing relation data with other drawing objects as a drawing object, a drawing data monitoring means for monitoring the drawing data storage area, and a designer for information on updating the drawing data. Notifying means for notifying, C for monitoring the access state to the drawing data in the plurality of CAD systems
Since it has an AD system monitoring means and a drawing object creating means, it eliminates the conflict of drawing data access that occurs when a plurality of designers use the CAD system to design products and production facilities, and changes the design. It is possible to notify other designers of information in a necessary and sufficient manner.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in the CAD support apparatus according to the first aspect, since the drawing relation data with other drawing objects in the drawing object can be created by creating the object model drawing, the relation between the drawing objects Can be visually expressed, and it is possible to efficiently create inter-drawing relationship data between drawing objects.

According to the invention of claim 3, in the CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, when the drawing data managed by the drawing object is edited by a CAD system, the drawing object itself is from another CAD system. Since the data access can be controlled, it is possible to eliminate the conflict of drawing data access that occurs when a plurality of designers use the CAD system to design products and production facilities.

According to the invention of claim 4, in the CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, when the drawing data managed by the drawing object is edited by a CAD system, the inter-drawing relation data managed by the drawing object itself. Allows the designer to notify the drawing object related to the drawing data being edited of the editing information, and the related drawing object itself can control the data access from another CAD system.
By using the D system, it is possible to prohibit simultaneous editing, which is inconsistent between drawing data when designing products and production facilities.

According to the invention of claim 5, in the CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, the drawing data monitoring means comprises:
By comparing the update date of the drawing data with the update date of the drawing object, the update of the drawing data is detected, and the detection result is notified to the drawing object. Since the drawing data update information is notified, the control of the update information notification destination can be simplified.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD support apparatus according to the first aspect, the update of the drawing data is updated by another drawing object by the inter-drawing relation data managed by the drawing object itself notified of the update of the drawing data. The designer and the designer group can be notified of the update of the drawing data based on the notified designer and designer group data of the drawing object that is notified. It is often possible to notify other designers and groups of designers.

According to the invention of claim 7, in the change notification according to claim 6, depending on the type of inter-drawing relation data in the drawing object with another drawing object,
Since the content of the notification information can be controlled, the design change information can be notified to other designers in a necessary and sufficient manner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing drawing objects in a drawing object storage area.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between drawing objects represented by drawing relationship data.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 to 3 ... Workstations, 4 to 6 ... Drawing data storage area, 7 ... Communication line, 8 ... Drawing data, 9 ... CAD support device, 15 ... Drawing object.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of CADs connected to a network
Drawing data, designer data, designer group data, drawing data update date data, edit flag data, and relationship data between drawings with other drawing objects in a plurality of drawing data storage areas referenced and edited by the system are used as drawing objects. A drawing object storage area to be managed and a drawing data monitoring means for monitoring the drawing data storage area, a notifying means for notifying a designer of information about drawing data update, and a CAD for monitoring the access status to the drawing data in the plurality of CAD systems. A CAD support device comprising a system monitoring means and a drawing object creating means. 2. The CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein drawing relationship data between the drawing object and another drawing object is created by creating an object model drawing. 3. The CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing data managed by the drawing object is CA.
A CAD support device, wherein the drawing object itself controls data access from another CAD system when edited by the D system. 4. The CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing data managed by the drawing object is CA.
When being edited by the D system, the drawing object related to the drawing data being edited is notified of the editing information by the inter-drawing relation data managed by the drawing object itself, and the related drawing object itself is another CAD system. CAD support device characterized by controlling data access from a computer. 5. The CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing data monitoring unit detects an update of the drawing data by comparing an update date of the drawing data with an update date of the drawing object, and CAD that notifies the drawing object of the detection result
Support device. 6. The CAD support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing data update is notified to another drawing object by the inter-drawing relationship data managed by the drawing object itself notified of the update of the drawing data. A CAD support device characterized by notifying the designer and the designer group of the update of the drawing data based on the designer and the designer group data managed by the drawing object. 7. The CAD support according to claim 6, wherein the content of the notification information can be controlled according to the type of inter-drawing relationship data in the drawing object with another drawing object. apparatus.