JP4410595B2 - CAD data conversion apparatus and method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a CAD data conversion apparatus, method, and program for converting each CAD data having a different data structure bidirectionally using a computer.

For example, in the manufacturing industry related to power plants such as nuclear power and thermal power, we use design support systems (data processing tools) that are easy to use for the entire plant life cycle at each stage, including design, operation / maintenance, and disposal. Stores design results and maintenance results.
By the way, the structure of the database (DB) used by each and the data items to be used are usually very different. For example, data in the design stage is not reused in the operation / maintenance stage. Specifically, even if it is limited to the design stage, design is carried out using different CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools for system design, piping design, structural design, equipment design, etc. It was quite difficult to organically combine the results of the stage design with meaningful structures.

  In order to solve this problem, a standard model of product structure related to design data called STEP (standard for the exchange of product model data) internationally, such as ISO, is created, and data from multiple design support systems is integrated. And data exchange between different design support systems is going to be done. Attempts have also been made to integrate design data of heterogeneous design support systems by constructing a translator using a PDM (product data management) system (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, there is a method for associating (mapping) drawing element data between different CAD formats (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
According to this method, as shown in FIG. 21, if a different data conversion system 70 is required for each heterogeneous CAD system 70 and bidirectional conversion must be performed between the CAD systems, the CAD data conversion apparatus 10 If the number of CAD systems 70 is five and the number of CAD data is n, n (n-1) CAD data conversion devices are required. Furthermore, when CAD data is converted only by mapping, it is necessary to realize association of CAD data after conversion by some processing.

There is also a method of simultaneously linking a plurality of types of CAD systems and PDM systems in parallel (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Here, a plurality of types of CAD data having different expression formats are integrated and managed by cooperation of the information management table associated with the CAD / PDM interface unit. That is, CAD data with different expression formats is managed in the product configuration tree.
Therefore, each CAD system, including the shape, does not have a process for converting CAD data in a unique expression format into another expression format. Therefore, CAD data partially created by multiple types of CAD systems is synthesized. Therefore, it cannot be visually integrated and displayed. Originally, since the PDM system realizes product configuration management and file management, it does not have a function to synthesize, integrate, and visualize partial CAD data for the shape data later.

Further, by associating a tree-type product configuration table with CAD data, and associating a manageable range with a pre-created product configuration table for CAD data that can usually be managed only in file units from other systems, There are also technologies that aim to improve the efficiency of searching and managing parts that meet the required specifications.
Also in this regard, since CAD data can only be managed in the product configuration table in the range described in advance, it is usually difficult to manage shape data and visualize its integrated image.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-31167 (paragraphs “0008” and “0009”, FIG. 1) JP 2000-113007 (paragraph “0009”, FIG. 1) JP 2003-316634 A (paragraphs “0009” to “0022”, FIG. 1) Magazine `` Computer-Aided Design '' vol33 (2001) pp521-529 `` Mapping product structures between CAD and PDM systems using UML ''

  Regarding the use of the above-mentioned standard model of product structure based on ISO and the standard model of its kind, a program called a translator for associating the structure of design data in each of different design support systems with this standard model is used for each design. Data integration between support systems needs to be implemented. The translator program is created for each of the forward conversion from the design data of each design support system to the standard model and the reverse conversion from the standard model to the design data of each design support system.

  According to the method for converting the structure between the design data of each design support system and the standard model using the translator program described above, conventionally, information for data structure conversion is embedded in the program language description, and the structure conversion is performed. It has become a black box for information. For this reason, for example, when a group B is newly added to the data integration performed in the group A to create a translator program for the group B, the structural conversion information used in the group A is also used in the group B. There is a problem that it is difficult to reuse the structure conversion information in such a case.

In addition, according to the method of preparing a data conversion apparatus for each CAD type, there is a problem that the number of data conversion apparatuses to be constructed is extremely large, and mapping alone is not sufficient as the structure conversion information. There was a problem.
Furthermore, according to the method linked to the PDM system, the product configuration information over the part shape data and all the attribute data performed in the CAD data is not extracted and integrated. There was a problem of staying in the integration of information.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and facilitates the reuse of the CAD data structure conversion information, and minimizes the program description part of the CAD data conversion process. The object is to provide a method and program.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a CAD data conversion apparatus, method, and program that facilitate the confirmation of the data integration status and can perform editing, correction, and additional processing for a specific CAD by performing bidirectional conversion. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention extracts a component of data unique to a CAD system (first CAD system), visually displays it, and a CAD standard format for integrating CAD data. The components of the data (second CAD system) are extracted and visually displayed. Then, by visually associating them with a straight line or the like, and visually arranging the conversion function on the straight line, the correspondence between the data component in the CAD-specific format and the data component in the standard format The conversion function is visually displayed as a correspondence rule between data components. Also, a conversion result binding rule for associating the converted standard format data is visually displayed. These CAD-specific format data components, standard format data components, association rules between data elements, and conversion result binding rules are recorded in the integrated database, for example, as CAD utilization data for each CAD type as a file. It is used as reusable data for processing at the time of CAD data conversion.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily reuse the structure conversion information of CAD data and to minimize the program description portion of the CAD data conversion process. In addition, confirmation of the data integration status is facilitated, and bi-directional conversion facilitates editing, correction, and addition processing for a specific CAD.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration including a CAD data conversion apparatus according to the present invention.
Here, CAD data input by a plurality of types of CAD systems 7, 8, 9 is converted into a standard format and shared and registered in the integrated DB 40, or each CAD system 7, 8, 9 can be extracted by inversely converting the data into unique CAD data. For this reason, the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 of the present invention, the uploader 2 that stores the CAD data converted into the standard format in the integrated DB 40, and the downloader 3 that extracts the CAD data stored in the integrated DB 40 are added.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a data integration server that performs input / output processing and graphic display processing of data stored in various databases in addition to the integrated DB 40, and reference numeral 5 denotes a graphical data integration status and data download. It is a data integration status visualization monitor that instructs upload.
Reference numerals 7 to 9 denote respective CAD systems used for work related to the plant such as design, operation, and maintenance. Here, they are referred to as an A-CAD system, a B-CAD system, and a C-CAD system, respectively. .

  For example, if the CAD system 7 (8, 9) has five types, the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 according to the present invention has ten types and the CAD data has n types as shown in FIG. 2n are required (2n instead of n (n-1)). This is realized by constructing the integrated DB 40. With the system configuration described above, the number of rules required for conversion is reduced, and the labor required for the development of a data conversion apparatus is reduced. Details will be described below.

FIG. 3 shows a functional development of the internal configuration of the CAD data conversion apparatus of the present invention. The CAD data conversion apparatus 1 of the present invention functionally includes a GUI (Graphical User Interface) providing unit A (11), a GUI providing unit B (12), a GUI providing unit C (13), and a conversion function editing unit. 14, a rule registration unit 15, a rule reference unit 16, and a bidirectional data conversion unit 17.
The GUI providing unit A (11) has a function of extracting a data structure and an expression form unique to the first CAD system and the second CAD system for each element and visually displaying them on a display monitor (not shown). Holding (first GUI providing unit), GUI providing unit B (12) is activated by GUI providing unit A (11), and has a correspondence relationship for each element of the first CAD system and the second CAD system. It has a function of taking in the input shown, generating (registering) an element correspondence rule, and displaying it visually (second GUI providing unit).
Here, the first CAD system is a CAD system having data components unique to the system, such as CAD systems A, B, and C, and the second CAD system is a standard for integration. A CAD system having data components of the form Hereinafter, the former data format is referred to as a CAD-specific format, and the latter data format is referred to as a standard format, and the description will be continued.

The GUI providing unit C (13) is activated by the GUI providing unit B (12), and converts the data structure from the CAD specific format to the standard format or from the standard format to the CAD specific format and the conversion result of the representation format. It has a function of registering (generating) conversion result binding rules to be related and displaying them visually (third GUI providing unit).
Note that the GUI providing unit B (12) also has a function of visually displaying a conversion function on a straight line indicating a correspondence relationship for each element when generating an element correspondence rule. At this time, the conversion function editing unit 14 can edit and add the conversion function. Also, the rule registration unit 15 associates the generated or registered inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule with the CAD system type and stores them in the integrated DB 40 of the data integration server 4 connected via the network. Has function.

  On the other hand, when the CAD system type is designated from the outside, the rule reference unit 16 refers to the integrated DB 40 via the data integration server 4 to extract the corresponding inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule, and In the designated CAD system type, the data conversion unit 17 specifies the terms stored in the dictionary of the CAD system, and thereby follows the inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule extracted by the rule reference unit 16. And a function of converting and outputting the data structure according to the designated CAD system type and its expression format.

FIG. 4 is a diagram cited for explaining the mapping tool 120 that associates the data structure of the CAD specific format and the standard format.
Specifically, it is an example visualized for associating the data structure between the CAD data of the A-CAD system 7 and the integrated DB 40. The GUI providing unit A (11) and the GUI providing unit shown in FIG. This is realized by the mapping tool 120 configured by B (12).

Here, a data structure and components in a CAD-specific format (hereinafter referred to as A-CAD format 121) and a data structure and component in a predetermined standard format (hereinafter referred to as standard format 122) are shown as examples. The user visually connects the relationship between the data structure and the constituent elements (A-CAD format 121 and standard format 122) using lines. The A-CAD format 121 is a hierarchical display of the components of CAD data of the A-CAD system 7. Also, on the display screen, □ indicates an element and ○ indicates an attribute. The standard format 122 is also a hierarchical display of data components related to the plant.
For example, when an element called a piping group corresponds to an element called plant_system, the user can create a correspondence line (mapping line) by dragging and dropping from the piping group to plant_system with a mouse. Alternatively, as another method, a mapping line can be created by selecting two elements of a piping group and plant_system and clicking the “connect” button 125.

In addition, there are a “disconnect” button 126, a “function” button 127, a “conversion” button 128, and a “binding” button 130 as buttons related to the mapping conversion operation.
The “cut” button 126 is a button for deleting the mapping line selected by the user. The “function” button 127 is a button for adding a function to the mapping line selected by the user. The “Convert” button 128 is a button for starting a tool for converting data in the A-CAD format 121 to data in the standard format 122 in the forward direction or in the reverse direction based on the created mapping data. is there. Details of each will be described later.

FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional graphic display example of the piping part elbow. The illustrated elbow uses a torus as a geometric element and is used as a connection joint for changing the flow direction of fluid between pipes by 90 degrees as a plant part.
In terms of component representation, the + Z direction is the top, the −X direction is the first pipe connection direction, and the + Y direction is the second pipe connection direction. Depending on the CAD system, 121E1-1 that is the intersection of the central axes of the pipes may be used as the component coordinate origin, or 121E1-2 that is the center of the elbow arc may be used as the component coordinate origin. Also, the coordinate system itself may be different. For example, in some CAD systems, the Y axis may indicate the upward direction. In such a case, the mapping tool 120 shown in FIG. 4 not only associates the geometric shapes but also uses them as an embedded function for correcting the component coordinate origin and the coordinate system.

  The distance from the point 121E1-1 to the point 121E1-3 is used to calculate a value for determining the size of the torus. Further, the distance 121E1-5 represents the diameter of the torus tube. Some CAD systems also define the shape with the radius of the tube, which requires the calculation of the radius from the diameter. The angle formed by the torus, that is, the angle formed by 121E1-1 to 121E1-3 and 121E1-1 to 121E1-4 as vectors is obtained by calculation. However, since this angle may be directly described, it is obtained by calculation using a function.

FIG. 6 shows an example of visualization of a conversion result binding rule relating a conversion result from a CAD specific format to a standard format. This is a screen generated by the binding rule builder 130 activated by the “binding button” 130 of the mapping tool 120 shown in FIG. 4, and specifically, realized by the GUI providing unit C (13) shown in FIG. Is done.
In order to constrain the conversion result to the standard format, the elements (131 to 139) are copied from the data components of the standard format, and they are related by a straight line (1301 to 1303) called an association. In addition, ● of the connection destination indicates that there are a plurality of connection partners, and if there is no ●, it indicates that there is one connection partner.

Here, for example, the solid line of the association 1301 represents a relationship called “is_assembled_from” and represents that the upper element includes the lower element as a part. That is, the element called plant 131 includes the element called plant_system 132. Further, system_unit 133, unit_segment 134 and plant_item 136, plant_item_shape 137, shape_representation_item 138, and geometric_representaion_item 139 are connected by a relationship of a straight line is_assembled_from association 1301, and have an upper-lower relationship. Plant_item 136 is a class representing individual plant parts, and is also the minimum unit of the logical configuration in the plant. The plant_item 136 is related to the port 135 representing a connection point by a dashed-position association 1303, and is connected to a plant_item_shape 137 representing a graphic representation of the plant part by a one-dot chain line is_represented_by association 1302.
The geometric_representation_item 139 corresponds to a minimum constituent unit or primitive of a three-dimensional geometric shape such as a cylinder or a torus. Further, shape_representation_item 138 represents a set of the primitives, and plant_item_shape 137 further represents a set of shape_representation_item 138. The types of association shown here are shown as association items in the standard format data description grammar shown in FIG.
For example, when the CAD data corresponding to plant_item 136 is converted using the rules shown in FIG. 6, the CAD data conversion results corresponding to unit_segment 134, port 135, and plant_item_shape 137 related to the converted data are expressed in association with each other. . If the conversion destination element is not expressed as an element of the CAD data before conversion, the data conversion processing module makes sure that the data related to the missing element is consistent with this conversion result binding rule. To generate.

FIG. 7 shows an example of visualization of a function arranged on a correspondence line between a data component in a CAD specific format and a data component in a standard format.
This screen generation is realized by the function builder 140 (function creation tool), specifically, by the function of the conversion function editing unit 14 shown in FIG. The example which creates the function which calculates the fluid flow direction change angle of the elbow which consists of a torus shown in FIG. 5 is shown. In the mapping tool shown in FIG. 4, the torus of the graphic element in the A-CAD format 121 is associated with the torus in the standard format 122. The attribute angle is associated with the connection point and direction elements P1 and P2. In order to add a function on the mapping line, when the user presses the function button 127 after selecting the mapping line, a symbol called function (fn) is added on the mapping line, and the function builder 140 is activated.

Here, a library function 145, a constant 146, a correspondence source element 147 and a correspondence destination element 148 selected by the mapping tool 12 are displayed as selection items. The function number 141 is a number for uniquely identifying the created function, and is automatically generated by the function builder. The comment 142 is created as a memorandum by the user, and can be input arbitrarily. The function is created in the area 143. Here, CALCULATEANGLE 145-1 is selected from the library function 145, and P1147-1 and P2147-2 are selected from the corresponding element 147 with the mouse, and a function character string is created in the area 143 by drag and drop.
Then, by clicking the “Confirm” button 144, it is confirmed whether or not this function is effective for data conversion, and then the function is officially stored by the “Save” button 144. With this function builder, it is possible to perform data conversion processing without inputting a character string by the user. For this reason, mistakes in function creation can be reduced. Here, as an option, a function can be freely created by a character string input by the user.

Hereinafter, specific data description examples will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a description example of association data between a data component in a CAD specific format and a data component in a standard format. Here, this description data is referred to as a mapping schema 1230. The mapping schema 1230 is a file generated by the mapping tool 120 shown in FIG. 4 and refers to the corresponding source data component file name and the corresponding destination data component file name as the data component file name. Further, the association between the data components between them will be described as mapping data below.
In mapping data, mapping numbers are uniquely assigned as a series of numbers corresponding to mapping lines, mapping between elements, mapping results between attributes, and the names of corresponding elements and attributes of corresponding sources and destinations are described. create. In the many-to-many mapping, element or attribute mapping results are described in parallel under a certain mapping number. When a function is added, the function consistent number described in another file is described as a reference. By applying this mapping schema 1230 to the data conversion module, conversion processing corresponding to different types of CAD can be realized without coding. That is, the data conversion processing modules are common, and the change of the mapping schema corresponds to the change of the type of the conversion source CAD.

FIG. 9 is a description example of a conversion result binding rule. Here, reference numeral 1310 is referred to as a conversion result binding rule. 1310 is created by the binding rule builder 130 shown in FIG. The contents of the description follow the standard format data description grammar shown in FIG.
The conversion result binding rule 1310 is also an excerpt of the class library 1220 shown in FIG. This data is used to execute processing for re-associating the conversion result of CAD data. Here, seven rules are prepared to generate standard format data. Conversely, such a rule is also prepared for conversion to a CAD-specific format. For example, the rule 1310-1 describes that data corresponding to a plant is related to data corresponding to a plurality of plant_systems via an is_assembled_from association (* means that a plurality of data can be connected). Among the data corresponding to the generated plant_system, the plant_system data corresponding to a specific plant is identified by an identifier (id) added to the data. Specific examples of data and id generated as a standard format are shown in FIGS. The rules 1310-2 to 1310-7 are also used to relate the conversion results in the data conversion processing module in the same way as described above.

FIG. 10 is a description example of the conversion function. This is generated by the function builder 140 shown in FIG. 7, and is referred to as a conversion function list 1400 here.
For example, what is indicated by the function number 15 is a formula for calculating the real radius of the torus required for the data in the standard format. The actual outer diameter attribute of the graphic element is specified as the conversion source parameter s1, the minor_radius attribute of the torus element is specified as the conversion destination parameter d1, and d1 is calculated by the function expression s1 / 2. Also, what is indicated by the function number 16 is a formula for calculating the torus angle from two axes required for the data in the standard format. As the conversion source parameters s1 and s2, the P1 and P2 attributes of the connection point and the direction element are specified, and the angle attribute of the torus element is specified as the conversion destination parameter d1 and d1 is calculated by the function expression CALCULATEANGLE (s1, s2). . Since this calculation cannot be performed by simple four arithmetic operations, the function for angle calculation is registered in advance as a function library in the data conversion module and used in the function builder, so that the parameters related to the data conversion process can be calculated. The relationship is clearly displayed.

FIG. 11 is a description grammar of data in a standard format. This is called a standard format data description grammar 1200.
First, as a high-level expression, data in a standard format has a structure in which an object and a plurality of objects are combined by association. An object is expressed as a class or an instance. The class expresses the abstract meaning of plant components, and is used as a dictionary or an expression model when constructing plant data. An instance expresses a specific description of plant data. The content is determined by the user or the system, and can be associated with a class to understand the relationship, meaning, and expression structure with other instances. As an association, is_classified_as that expresses upper and lower as class classifications, is_assembled_from that expresses the relationship between the whole and part of the object, possesses that expresses the relationship between ownership and ownership of the object, and is_represented_by that expresses the relationship between the graphic representation of the object There is has_property_of that represents an attribute belonging to an object. In addition, associations can be defined as necessary.

FIG. 12 shows an example of dictionary data description of data in the standard format. This is called a class library 1220.
The description of the class library 1220 follows the standard format data description grammar 1200 shown in FIG. 11. For example, piping_component as a piping component has attributes of nominal diameter nominal_size, design pressure design_pressure, design temperature design_temperature, etc., and is_classified_as association, It is classified into subconcepts such as elbow, valve, and pipe. Further, there is a class geometric_primitive as a geometric shape primitive, which is classified into a class called wire frame wire_frame, boundary expression boundary_representation, solid solid expression constructive_solid_geometry (CSG), and CSG is classified into a cylindrical cylinder or a torus torus. Furthermore, the torus has a large radius major_radius, a tube radius minor_radius, a defined angle angle, and the like as attributes. This class library is used not only as original data constituting the right side of the mapping tool shown in FIG. 4, but also for checking instance expressions and reconstructing three-dimensional information as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 to be described later. It provides lexical information.

FIG. 13 is a first description example of data in the standard format. Here, an example is shown in which an example 1221-1 of piping element expression in a plant is expressed in XML (Extensible Markup Language) defined by the World Wide Web Organization (W3C).
An instance indicated by AA-PG-108-p-001 as an identifier id indicates a pipe pipe by an is_classified_as association. There is always at least one is_classified_as association for each instance. This is because an instance may belong to multiple classes. Here, the attributes are (X, Y, Z) (90337.4, 171013, 11214) as the three-dimensional arrangement coordinates location, (X, Y, Z) (1,0, 0) (that is, + 200A is expressed as the nominal diameter. In addition, it is related to the instance AA-PG-108-p-001-pis as a graphic representation and is_represented_by association, and it is related to the cylindrical cylinder instance AA-PG-108-p-001-gri-001 as a geometric shape primitive. It is attached. AA-PG-108-p-001-gri-001 has height height and radius radius as attributes. In this way, not only one instance is converted by the conversion process to the standard format, but also the relationship between other instances is obtained by using the conversion result binding rule and the instance id numbering rule as shown in FIG. Realize at the same time.

FIG. 14 is a second description example of data in the standard format (reference numeral 1221-2). Here, as in FIG. 13, data is described in XML, and examples of geometric primitives related to elbow elbow instances are shown as samples.
An instance indicated by AA-PG-108-e-002 as an identifier id indicates a pipe joint elbow by an is_classified_as association. Here, the same attributes as those in FIG. 13 are expressed, and the geometric primitives are similarly related as a torus torus as AA-PG-108-e-002-gri-001. As described above, the CAD-specific format data is converted as the standard format three-dimensional data.

  FIG. 15 is an example of components of data in a CAD specific format. This will be referred to as a CAD-A format data component 1210. The CAD-A format data component 1210 is used as original data constituting the left side of the mapping tool of FIG. 4, as well as checking the data representation of the A-CAD specific format and the A-CAD specific format as shown in FIG. 16. It provides lexicographic information used for reconstruction of the three-dimensional information.

  FIG. 16 is a description example of data in a CAD specific format. This description example indicated by reference numeral 1211 is data that can be read by the A-CAD system 7 in accordance with the definition of the CAD-A format data component 1210 shown in FIG. This is three-dimensional data designed using the A-CAD system 7, and is also data before conversion into a standard format.

Next, the mapping operation procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 17 shows an operation procedure for associating a CAD-specific format data component with a standard format data component using the mapping tool shown in FIG.
First, a CAD-specific data component file as shown in FIG. 15 and a class library file (reference numeral 1220) as shown in FIG. 12 are read (S171). Next, until the number of components to be mapped reaches the required number of mappings (S172), a data line in the CAD-specific format and a data component in the standard format are connected to create a mapping line (S173). Further, when the creation of the mapping line is completed, a conversion function is created by the function builder shown in FIG. 7 (S174).
Finally, the mapping result is saved as a mapping schema file as shown in FIG. 8 (S175).

Next, the data conversion module will be described with reference to FIGS. The data conversion module is executed by the rule reference unit 16 and the bidirectional data conversion unit 17 shown in FIG. FIG. 18 is an example of a startup screen of the data conversion module 1280.
The data conversion module 1280 is activated by clicking the “conversion” button 128 of the mapping tool shown in FIG. 4 and has a function of performing bidirectional conversion of CAD data using the mapping schema set by using the mapping tool. Have. Here, the data conversion content and the conversion direction are determined by designating the conversion direction of the CAD specific format file name 1281, the standard format file name 1282, and the forward direction 1283 or the reverse direction 1284.
By clicking the “OK” button 1285, forward conversion or reverse conversion is started. A “Cancel” button 1286 cancels the above-described operation. This operation screen can easily cope with conversion of different CAD data only by changing the mapping schema.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the data conversion module. The startup screen of the data conversion module is as shown in FIG. 18, and the CAD specific format file name 1281, the standard format file name 1282, and the mapping schema file are designated and read using the screen (S191).
Next, when the number of conversion source data elements is smaller than the actual conversion number of data (S192), the conversion process is performed in accordance with the data description element, conversion direction, mapping rule, and conversion function instructions described in the mapping schema. (S193).
After this one-to-one conversion processing is completed, the conversion result is searched, and when the number of converted data elements is smaller than the number of bound data (S194), related description elements are connected according to the conversion result binding rule. (S195). After these processes are completed, the obtained conversion result is saved as a file (S196).

Finally, one method of downloading for data integration and data reuse will be described with reference to the conceptual diagram shown in FIG.
FIG. 20 shows the relationship between processing modules related to the display example of the CAD data integration result browser, and an interface screen for extracting partial CAD data from the integrated database. This is also an example of the display screen (reference numeral 50) of the data integration status visualization monitor 5 shown in FIG.
Select unit_segment as class and AA-PG-180 / L1 as class from class display part 51 and class corresponding instance display part 52, and when 3D information display instruction is given, select on 3D display dialog 53 A three-dimensional display of the part is made. This is performed by referring to data in a standard format stored in the integrated DB 40. The data to be integrated is data 21 created by the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 of the present invention and stored using the uploader 2.
When retrieving the data from the integrated DB 40, for example, a three-dimensional rectangular parallelepiped (bounding box) 56 is designated on the three-dimensional display dialog 53 of the data integration status visualization monitor 5, and a download (reference numeral 55) is selected from a pop-up menu. By issuing the instruction, the standard format data included in the rectangular parallelepiped 56 is taken out by the downloader 3 as the file 31. The extracted file 31 is used as input data for the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 and is used as data for reverse conversion to data in a CAD-specific format.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, first, a CAD system-specific data structure and expression format are extracted and visually displayed, and a CAD standard format data structure and expression format to be integrated are extracted. And display it visually. Then, the correspondence between the CAD-specific format data component and the standard format data component and the conversion relationship between the data component in the CAD format and the data component in the standard format can be obtained by visually associating them with a straight line and visually arranging the conversion function on the line. It is displayed visually as an element correspondence rule. Further, the conversion result binding rules for associating the data components in the standard format after the conversion are visually displayed, the data structure in the CAD-specific format, the data structure in the standard format, the association rule between the data elements, and The conversion result binding rules are recorded as computer-readable recording media (integrated DB 40) as, for example, CAD type conversion data, a CAD data creation department, a creator, or a file as CAD conversion usage data. To do.

Further, with regard to the above-mentioned knowledge used at the time of CAD conversion, at least a CAD type is specified, and specific CAD data, that is, data whose value is associated with a data structure is specified, whereby specific CAD conversion is performed. Read the time use knowledge, convert the data to the standard format based on the CAD data and the read CAD conversion time use knowledge, or convert the data converted to the standard format to the dictionary data related to the integrated information representation format of the plant The CAD data integration status is visualized together with the data already stored in the integrated DB 40 in association with each other.
In addition, by specifying a part type or a dictionary term from data in a standard format stored in the integrated DB 40, partial CAD data is specified, and a specific CAD specific format is specified by specifying a CAD type. Is converted back to the data.

As described above, a rule for associating a plurality of types of CAD-specific data formats with data in a standard format and a rule for providing a correspondence between converted data are visually coded in a specific programming language. By saving the file as a reusable file that can be realized without being accompanied, it is possible to easily construct and modify a translator used for CAD data conversion. Further, since the rules for CAD data conversion created by others are stored in an easily understandable manner, the translator can be continuously corrected.
Furthermore, it can be used as a conversion mechanism between different CADs. However, by using a standard term dictionary centered on the standard integrated DB 40, for example, as shown in FIG. With the CAD data conversion apparatus 1, if there are 5 types of CAD systems, the number can be 10 and if the number of CAD types is n, the number can be 2n. This is realized by arranging an integrated DB 40 for CAD data integration in the center. With such a system, the number of rules required for conversion can be reduced, and the labor required for data conversion apparatus development can be reduced.

According to the present invention, it can be used for integration, exchange, and reuse of partial CAD data created by a heterogeneous CAD system. Here, only the design data of the plant has been described as an example, but the present invention can be similarly applied to other fields such as semiconductor design. Further, the mapping data between the CAD system and the integrated DB 40 can be reused in the CAD data conversion apparatus 1, and the program of the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 is corrected even if one of the data components is changed. Without mapping, the mapping data can be corrected by the GUI described above.
Further, the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a GUI providing unit A (11), a GUI providing unit B (12), a GUI providing unit C (13), a conversion function editing unit 14, a rule generation / registration shown in FIG. The computer program for functioning as the unit 15, rule reference unit 16, and bidirectional data conversion unit 17 is recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and stored in a magnetic disk or the like, and then loaded into a memory and executed. Shall. The recording medium for recording the program may be a recording medium other than the CD-ROM. Further, the program may be used by being installed in the CAD data conversion apparatus 1 from the recording medium, or the program may be used by accessing the recording medium through a network.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure in which this invention is used. It is a figure which shows an example of a system configuration at the time of using integrated DB concerning this embodiment. It is the block diagram which expanded and showed the internal structure concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the mapping tool concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a three-dimensional figure display of the piping component elbow concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the binding rule builder concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the function builder concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the description of the data concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the conversion result binding rule description concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the conversion function concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the description grammar of the data of the standard format concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of description of the dictionary data of the standard format concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 1st description example of the standard format data concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 2nd description example of the standard format data concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the data component of the CAD intrinsic | native format concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a data description of the CAD intrinsic | native format concerning this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the operation procedure concerning this embodiment with the flowchart. It is a figure which shows an example of the starting screen of the data conversion module concerning this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the operation | movement of the data conversion module concerning this embodiment with the flowchart. It is a figure which shows an example of the interface screen concerning this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the case where a data converter is required for every heterogeneous CAD system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CAD data converter 2 Uploader 3 Downloader 4 Data integration server 5 Data integration status visualization monitor 7-9 CAD system 11 GUI provision part A (mapping tool 120)
12 GUI provider B (mapping tool 120)
13 GUI provider C (binding rule builder 130)
14 Conversion Function Editor (Function Builder 140)
15 Rule registration part 16 Rule reference part (data conversion module)
17 Bidirectional data converter (data conversion module)

Claims (8)

A CAD data conversion device for converting each CAD data having a different data structure bidirectionally using a computer,
A first GUI system that extracts the data structure and its expression format specific to the first CAD system and the second CAD system for each element and visually displays them;
Activated by the first GUI providing unit, an input indicating the correspondence between each element of the first and second CAD systems is taken from outside, and an element correspondence rule is generated based on the input to visually A second GUI providing unit to be displayed on
The data structure and its expression format, which is activated by the second GUI providing unit, from the first CAD system to the second CAD system or from the second CAD system to the first CAD system. A third GUI providing unit that generates and visually displays a conversion result binding rule that relates conversion results;
A CAD data conversion device comprising: The second GUI providing unit includes:
2. The CAD data conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the element correspondence rule is generated, a conversion function is visually displayed on a straight line indicating a correspondence relation for each element. A rule registration unit for registering the generated inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule in the integrated database in association with the CAD system type;
The CAD data conversion apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A CAD data conversion device for converting each CAD data having a different data structure bidirectionally using a computer,
An input indicating an element-to-element correspondence of the first CAD system and the second CAD system is taken to generate an element correspondence rule, and the first CAD system to the second CAD system Or a rule registration unit for registering a conversion result binding rule relating a data structure from the second CAD system to the first CAD system and a conversion result of its expression format;
An integrated database in which the generated inter-element correspondence rules and conversion result binding rules are stored;
A rule reference unit for retrieving a corresponding inter-element correspondence rule and a conversion result binding rule by referring to the integrated database by designating a CAD system type from the outside;
In the designated CAD system type, the term stored in the dictionary of the CAD system is designated, so that the designated CAD system type is assigned to the designated CAD system type according to the extracted inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule. A bidirectional data converter that converts and outputs the data structure and its representation format
A CAD data conversion device comprising: A CAD data conversion method for converting each CAD data having a different data structure bidirectionally using a computer,
The arithmetic unit constituting the computer is:
A process of extracting the data structure specific to the first CAD system and the second CAD system and the expression form thereof for each element and visually displaying them;
A process of taking in an input indicating the correspondence of each element of the first CAD system and the second CAD system from outside, generating an inter-element correspondence rule based on the input, and visually displaying it;
Registers a conversion result binding rule that relates a conversion result of a data structure and its expression format from the first CAD system to the second CAD system or from the second CAD system to the first CAD system. Visual display process,
The CAD data conversion method characterized by performing these. A method of bidirectionally converting CAD data having different data structures using a computer,
The arithmetic unit constituting the computer is:
An input indicating an element-to-element correspondence of the first CAD system and the second CAD system is taken to generate an element correspondence rule, and the first CAD system to the second CAD system Or registering a conversion result binding rule that associates a data structure from the second CAD system to the first CAD system and a conversion result of its expression format;
Storing the generated inter-element correspondence rules and conversion result binding rules in an integrated database;
A process of taking out the corresponding inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule by referring to the integrated database by designating the CAD system type from the outside;
In the designated CAD system type, the term stored in the dictionary of the CAD system is designated, so that the designated CAD system type is assigned to the designated CAD system type according to the extracted inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule. A process of converting to a regular data structure and its representation format,
The CAD data conversion method characterized by performing these. A program used in a CAD data conversion device that converts each CAD data having a different data structure bidirectionally using a computer,
A process of extracting the data structure specific to the first CAD system and the second CAD system and the expression format thereof for each element and visually displaying them;
A process of taking in an input indicating the correspondence between each element of the first CAD system and the second CAD system from outside, generating an inter-element correspondence rule based on the input, and visually displaying it;
Registers a conversion result binding rule that relates a conversion result of a data structure and its expression format from the first CAD system to the second CAD system or from the second CAD system to the first CAD system. And visually displaying
A program for causing the computer to execute. A program used in a CAD data conversion device that converts each CAD data having a different data structure bidirectionally using a computer,
An input indicating an element-to-element correspondence of the first CAD system and the second CAD system is taken to generate an element correspondence rule, and the first CAD system to the second CAD system Or a process of registering conversion result binding rules relating the data structure from the second CAD system to the first CAD system and the conversion result of the expression format, and storing them in the integrated database,
By specifying a CAD system type from the outside, a process for retrieving the corresponding inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule with reference to the integrated database;
In the designated CAD system type, the term stored in the dictionary of the CAD system is designated, so that the designated CAD system type is assigned to the designated CAD system type according to the extracted inter-element correspondence rule and the conversion result binding rule. A process of converting and outputting the data structure and its representation format
A program for causing the computer to execute.

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