JPH05128179A - Graphic file management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve throughput and to extend capability without requiring excessive operation and attention of an operator when a drawing file is utilized by storing the history of drawing file, extracting and storing modified/added graphic elements and automatically calculating the correlation between those before and after the modification/addition of the drawing file. CONSTITUTION:A storage part 11 storing the history of the drawing file, extraction means 13, 15 and 17 storing and displaying the graphic elements modified/ added by the modification/addition to the drawing file, and a calculation means 15 calculating the correlation between those before and after the modification/ addition to the drawing file are provided. By means of them, the management of the history of the drawing file is executed. Accordignly, the management of the drawing files can be facilitated, that was conventionally performed depending on the memory of a designer. Furthermore, since the attribute values including the modification of the shape of the graphic element, modification of size, modification and addition of a position and reason for modification are added, the history of design modification can be kept even for the graphic element and thus, the judgment of the designer can be facilitated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a graphic file management device for managing a change history of drawing files and a history of changed graphic elements in a computer-aided design system (hereinafter referred to as CAD).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the improvement of functions of computer systems, a design system centering on figures such as CAD has been put into practical use, and further improvement of its operability has been promoted. FIG. 13 shows a schematic structure of a conventional CAD. 1
Is a mouse which is a pointing device as an input / output device of CAD. The mouse 1 is used for selecting a command and designating a coordinate position of a graphic element. A joystick, a trackball, a digitizer, etc. are also used as a pointing device other than the mouse 1. A display device 2 displays the data of the graphic file on the screen of the display device 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a central processing unit, which is a main body of a computer-aided design system for operating CAD including a memory for drawing files and the like. Reference numeral 4 denotes a keyboard for writing a character in the display device 2 at an arbitrary position that can be designated by the mouse 1 of the pointing device or for inputting numerical data of a figure.

In fact, when a drawing is created using CAD, a figure is created interactively by pointing a command group 5 appearing on the display screen with a mouse 1 of a pointing device. The following are examples of main CAD commands appearing in the command group 5 on the display device 2. (1) It is a drawing function of a graphic element and shows a function of drawing a straight line, a circle, and a free curve. (2) A trimming function for adjusting the length of a line segment of the graphic element, a function for copying and moving the graphic element, which is an editing function for the graphic element. (3) A function of inputting a dimension value, which is a function of inputting a dimension number or a graphic symbol according to the purpose of the drawn graphic in the drawn drawing. (4) Dimension value editing function, which moves the display position of the dimension values and graphic symbols entered by the dimension value input command.
The function to change the contents is shown. (5) It is an operation function of a drawing file, and shows a function of calling a drawing file from a recording medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a tape, or conversely, storing it in a recording medium such as the floppy disk, a hard disk, or a tape. (6) It is a screen control function, and shows a function of enlarging / reducing / moving the display screen.

The above commands are displayed on the display screen of the display device 2, and the drawing work is continuously performed by combining the above commands. When the drawing file is stored in the CAD, the designer inputs the name of the drawing file for the drawing to be stored and stores it. Further, as shown in FIG. 14, a list is displayed on the screen of the display device 2 to facilitate the identification of the drawing file. This is done by adding attributes such as design date, person in charge of design, identification of the designed one (classification of shaft, bearing, gear, etc.), material, etc. to the drawing file in addition to the name of the drawing. It assists in file management that relies on memory. Next, when changing or adding a graphic element to the drawing file designed previously, the display as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 2 and the designer selects the drawing file required. , Change or add graphic elements to the selected drawing file.

[0005]

However, in the conventional CAD as described above, the designer needs to make corrections and additions using the attribute values such as the name of the drawing file, the design date, and the designer name. However, if many similar drawing files derived from one drawing file increase in the CAD when design is examined, it is necessary for the designer to use only the above attribute values. It is not possible to immediately select the drawing file to be used.

Also, with the passage of time after designing, the designer's memory of the contents of the drawing file is weakened,
When an attempt is made to change the design after a lapse of a certain time, it takes time to remember how the design has been performed before, and an effective CAD work cannot be realized. Especially when another designer changes the design,
If you try to use the added drawing file,
If the designer in charge of the drawing file is absent because the contents of the changed or added graphic element cannot be understood by a third party, a situation occurs in which the design work is delayed.

Further, when the same drawing is copied and examined, a large number of similar drawing files exist in the CAD, but it is difficult to distinguish which drawing file should be discarded. As the number of drawing files increases because the number of drawing files cannot be erased, it becomes unmanageable beyond the ability of the operator to manage drawing files. There is a problem that it takes time and cannot realize efficient work.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a graphic file management apparatus capable of improving throughput and expanding capability without requiring excessive operation and attention by an operator when using a drawing file. Is.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the graphic file management device of the present invention selects and displays a drawing file from a graphic file on a display device, and creates and corrects a drawing by using a pointing device. In a graphic file management device for performing the above, a storage means for storing a history of a drawing file based on a correction of a drawing, an extraction means for extracting and storing a graphic element modified and added when the drawing is modified, and a drawing file It has a calculation means for automatically calculating the correlation before and after correction and addition of.

[0010]

The graphic file management device of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration is
Using the pointing device, the drawing file to be changed is copied on the display device, and after the change, the same drawing file with a different file name is created. Then, the drawing file before being changed by the extracting means and the drawing file after being changed are overlapped with each other to extract the element in which the graphic element is changed. Then, by adding an attribute indicating the reason for the change to the changed graphic element, the changed portion of the graphic shape and the change reason are added to the data of the graphic element, and the change history of the graphic element is stored by the storage means. To do. In addition, the drawing file from which the changed drawing file is copied is stored, and the change history of the file is displayed so that the designer can easily understand it.

Further, the correlation (similarity) between the drawing file before the graphic element is changed and the drawing file after the change is automatically calculated by the calculating means by the fuzzy theory or the like. As a result, the required correlation with the drawing is expressed by a numerical value, so it has the function of suggesting to the designer that there is no problem even if a drawing with a low correlation is erased. You can prevent the increase of files. In addition, file management for clearly displaying the change history of the drawing file and the changed graphic element in CAD is performed, and the designer grasps the change history and the changed portion of the drawing,
The previous design changes can be quickly understood, and the CAD work can be performed quickly. Further, since the designer other than the person in charge of the drawing file can immediately grasp the drawing element whose design has been changed, the drawing file can be utilized even when the person in charge of designing is absent.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The function of a graphic file management apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, and a flow chart showing its operation is shown in FIG. Note that the CAD system to be applied is the same as the conventional one, and therefore the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 1, as a component, 10 is a main storage unit in which drawing files and the like are stored, and is configured by a plurality of storage units of storage units 11 to 14. Reference numeral 15 is a central processing unit that performs various controls such as retrieval of drawing files stored in the main storage unit 10, and 16 is a mouse or the like as a pointing device for an operator such as a designer to perform a desired operation. An input device 17 is an output device configured by a display device or the like that allows an operator such as a designer to operate the input device 16 and confirm the contents of the drawing file in the main storage unit 10. Next, the operation related to each other will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a drawing file for which the designer changes the design (here, file A)
Similarly to the conventional configuration, the mouse 1 (corresponding to the input device 16 in FIG. 1) as a pointing device in FIG. 13 is used to indicate the command group 5 displayed on the display screen, and the command group 5 in the storage unit 12 in FIG. Input, then select the command to register a new drawing file, set a new drawing file name (here, file B), change the file name of the same drawing file, and create a new file in the storage unit 11. To create. Here, the fact that the file B is a drawing file copied from the file A is added to the drawing data of the file B. At the same time, the date and time when the file B was copied is also added, and the data input to the storage unit 12 is deleted from the main storage unit 10.

Next, the designer changes the design of the drawing file B read in the storage unit 11. Then, when the design change is completed, a command for causing the storage unit 12 to simultaneously read the drawing file A and collating the file A read into the storage unit 12 with the file B read into the storage unit 11 is used as a pointing device. Mouse 1
Is selected from the command group 5 displayed on the display screen. Then, the central processing unit 15 searches for a graphic element that exists in the storage unit 11 but does not exist in the storage unit 12, and stores the graphic element in the storage unit 13. For example, when the file A and the file B as shown in FIG. 3 are selected, when the file collation command is selected, the file B shown in FIG. 3B exists but the file A in FIG. 3A exists. 4 are extracted and displayed on the display device 2 as the output device 17, as shown in FIG.

For the extracted graphic element, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the designer designates the graphic element by the pointing device according to the following classification, and assigns the attribute to the changed or added graphic element. Add. (1) Change of shape of graphic element (2) Change of size of graphic element (3) Change of position of graphic element (4) Addition of graphic element The graphic element stored in the storage unit 13 is changed by the above procedure. An attribute value is added to it. Then, the attribute value of the graphic element stored in the storage unit 13 is stored as the attribute value of the change history of the graphic element with respect to the data of the graphic element in the storage unit 11.

A case where it is desired to confirm the change history of the drawing file and the change history of the changed graphic element will be described.

A command for confirming the history of the drawing is instructed from the command group 5, and the drawing file to be confirmed is selected.
Then, the history of the drawing file is displayed in a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 6, and the history of the drawing can be clearly confirmed by the above-mentioned hierarchical structure display of the drawing file. In addition, when a plurality of drawing files are derived from the same drawing, the drawing files are sequentially created according to the transition of time when the above drawing files are created.
Is displayed. If the drawing of the file A is deleted when it is unnecessary, the name of the file A remains in the history of the drawing file, but the shaded part of the name of the file A is shaded as shown in FIG. , CAD indicates that the drawing data file does not exist. With this function, the designer can understand that the file B and the file C are drawing files derived from the file A even if the file A does not exist.

Further, a plurality of designers create a new drawing file for one drawing file, and each of them makes a detailed examination, and the drawing file for which a detailed design is made again,
Data may be moved to the original drawing. For example, a file B, a file C, and a file D are newly created from a drawing file called a file A, each designer performs detailed design of the above file, and the resulting files B, C, and D are file A. Often copied to and proceed with the design. At that time, the name of the file copied to the data of the file A is added to the drawing data of the file A, and the copied drawing file is displayed in the hierarchical structure display showing the derivation of the drawing file as shown in FIG. By displaying the name of, the designer can know in which drawing file the detailed examination was performed.

Here, when there is a history of drawing files as shown in FIG. 9, (1) changing the shape of the graphic element,
(2) Change of figure size, (3) Change of position of figure element, (4) Ratio of number of changes of addition of figure element, for example,
The above-mentioned statistics of the drawing file A and the drawing file B are obtained, and the correlation between the drawing file A and the drawing file B (hereinafter referred to as similarity) is calculated. In the present invention, in order to obtain this degree of similarity, the central processing unit 15 uses an inference method in fuzzy theory as a calculation means. First, two drawing files are collated, and the number of graphic elements shared by these two drawing files is set to N1. Then, the number of graphic elements in which the graphic elements do not match, that is, the graphic element is changed is set to N2, and the designer specifies from among the graphic elements in which the graphic element is changed. The number of graphic elements in which the shape of the graphic element in (1) is changed is N3, (2)
The number of graphic elements whose graphic size has changed is N4, (3)
The number of graphic elements whose position is changed is N5,
(4) Let N6 be the number of graphic elements in the addition of graphic elements, and
Let N be the sum of 1, N2 (N3, N4, N5, N6).
Then, the rate P3 (N3) of changing the shape of the graphic element described above.
/ N), the proportion P4 (N4 / N) of changing the graphic size, the proportion P5 (N5 / N) of changing the position of the graphic element, and the proportion P6 (N6 / N) of adding the graphic element are centrally calculated. This is performed by the device 15.

Here, the designer arbitrarily defines (1) a membership function representing the degree of change of the figure shape of the file with respect to the rate of change of the figure element shape, as shown in FIG. To memorize. In the meaning of the membership function, the horizontal axis represents the rate of change P3 in the shape of the graphic element, and as the P3 increases, the difference between the drawing file G and the drawing file H increases. .. That is, when the value on the vertical axis is 0, there is no difference between the two drawing files, and when the value is 1, it means that the two drawing files are completely different.

Similarly, for (2) change of figure size, (3) change of figure element position, and (4) rate of addition of figure element, membership function as shown in FIG. 12 is arbitrarily defined. , In the storage unit 14. Then, the two drawing files are actually collated to calculate P3, P4, P5, and P6, and are applied to the membership functions shown in FIGS. Calculate the difference between two drawing files and set the value to Q3.
Let them be Q4, Q5, and Q6. Then, finally, the degree of difference between the two drawing files is set to the maximum value R of Q3, Q4, Q5 and Q6 by using the currently known inference method of fuzzy theory. As this R approaches 1, it means that the difference between the two drawing files is large, and as R approaches 0, it means that the two drawing files are similar. Then, the designer uses the degree of similarity R as an index, and deletes a drawing file that is judged to have a low degree of similarity (low correlation) with a drawing that is considered to be necessary at present, from the CAD, and is unnecessary in the CAD. It is possible to prevent the drawing files from being accumulated.

[0021]

As is clear from the above description, the graphic file management apparatus of the present invention stores and displays the graphic means modified by the storage means for storing the history of the drawing file and the modification and addition of the drawing file. By providing the extracting means for calculating the drawing file and the calculating means for calculating the correlation before and after the correction and addition of the drawing file, the history of the drawing file is managed for use in CAD etc. It facilitates management. In addition, since the attribute value indicating the reason for changing or correcting the graphic element is added to the graphic element for which the design change has been made, the design change history can be retained for the graphic element as well. You can easily recall past design procedures.
Further, since the correlation between the drawing file designed in the past and the drawing file currently required can be automatically calculated, the designer determines the unnecessary drawing file and deletes the unnecessary drawing file from the CAD to perform CAD. It is possible to prevent unnecessary drawing files from being stored in the file.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a graphic file management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the graphic file management apparatus of the same embodiment.

3A and 3B are pattern diagrams of a display device of the graphic file management device of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a pattern diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a pattern diagram for explaining the operation content of the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a pattern diagram showing a history of drawing files of the graphic file device of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a pattern diagram in which a history of drawing files of the graphic file device of the embodiment is displayed.

FIG. 8 is a pattern diagram showing a state in which a part is deleted from the drawing file of the graphic file device of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a pattern diagram showing a history of drawing files of the graphic file device of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing a membership function used for fuzzy control of the graphic file device of the embodiment.

11 (a) to 11 (c) are graphs showing membership functions relating to the change of the graphic size, the change of the position of the graphic element, and the position of the graphic element in the embodiment.

12 (a) to (d) are graphs showing membership functions for explaining the fuzzy control operation of the graphic file device of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a conventional CAD system.

FIG. 14 is a pattern diagram of a display device of a graphic file device used in the conventional CAD system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 main storage unit 11, 12, 13, 14 storage unit 15 central processing unit 16 input device 17 output device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A display device for displaying characters and graphics, a pointing device for instructing a position on a screen on the display device, and a drawing correction and addition on the display device by an instruction from the pointing device. Storage means for storing the history of the drawing file based on the above, and extraction means for storing and displaying the graphic element added and modified in the drawing file, and the correction of this graphic element, added drawing file and correction, before addition A graphic file management device having a calculation means for comparing the drawing file of FIG.