Method and device for quoting external files in CAD system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer terminal for referencing external files in a CAD system. The method comprises the following steps: creating at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition, and storing the file independently in an extensible file format; and referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected first universal reference rule file. The present invention utilizes a reference rule file independent of the referenced file, making it reusable by users and avoiding the need to repeatedly set reference conditions, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of user collaborative drawing tasks.

Description

[0001] Priority application

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese invention patent applications (i) CN201810778814.6 “A timeline management method and system for CAD graphic data”, (ii) CN201810779355.3 “A method for referencing external files in a CAD graphic system”, (iii) CN201810779485.7 “A hierarchical display system for CAD graphic system references”, and (iv) CN201810777826.7 “A method for viewing reference changes of CAD graphics in an editable drawing environment” filed on July 16, 2018, and these four priority invention patent applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to a method and device for a CAD system to reference external files in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) collaborative design system. Background Art

[0004] CAD collaborative design projects have three characteristics: First, there are many disciplines, many graphic files, and the reference relationships between graphic files are intricate. Second, the format of the drawing files is complex, and most of the data is binary data, which is also relatively random. Third, the file size of the drawings is large, ranging from a few MB to hundreds of MB. With the improvement of computer hardware technology, the size of the drawing files may be even larger in the future. Especially during the progress of collaborative design projects, engineers of different disciplines need to constantly refer to each other's CAD drawings to draw their own drawings (for example, when drawing water supply and drainage CAD drawings, engineers need to refer to the architectural drawings that the architectural engineer is currently drawing and has not yet completed). The references between the collaborators may also be multi-level (for example, HVAC drawings refer to electrical drawings, electrical drawings refer to water supply and drainage drawings, and water supply and drainage drawings refer to architectural drawings). In addition, the drawing process often requires repeated revisions and repeated selection between different versions.

[0005] Traditional CAD systems suffer from numerous drawbacks in terms of file management, transmission, and storage, as well as file reference functionality (e.g., external references). For example, CAD file storage and transmission are expensive and inefficient, making it inconvenient for CAD users to view versions of CAD files created and edited at different times. Furthermore, the limitations of external references lead to a series of problems: (i) Filtering methods for referencing external files in current CAD drawings are limited, making it difficult to accurately focus on the elements of the user's primary interest; (ii) Nesting relationships are difficult to conveniently handle, and switching between "overlay" and "attachment" nesting modes is cumbersome; and (iii) It is impossible to view changes to referenced drawings while editing the current CAD drawing, requiring a cumbersome switch between the editing interface and the view-changes interface. These issues negatively impact the efficiency of CAD collaborative design and even risk causing confusion within collaborative design projects. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In response to the above technical problems, the present invention provides a new CAD collaborative design system, which includes four sub-inventions (i.e., invention A, invention B, invention C and invention D) and various variations and extensions based on these four sub-inventions.

[0007] The present invention first discloses a timeline management system for CAD files (and its method, computer storage medium, and computer terminal), comprising: a first data summary file and an incremental database; the first data summary file includes a first data item index table and first data summary information; the incremental database stores first data detailed information corresponding to the first data summary information; the first data item index table is used to search the incremental database for the first data detailed information corresponding to the first data summary information; and the data summary file is associated with a first restore point. The present invention employs a data summary file and incremental database approach to manage CAD files, which can reduce the amount of data transmitted during file restoration by transmitting incremental data, and can also quickly and accurately restore CAD files by preserving the integrity of the information in the data summary file.

[0008] In another aspect, the present invention also discloses a method, device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer terminal for referencing external files in a CAD system. The method comprises the following steps: creating at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition, and independently storing the file in an extensible file format; and referencing at least one referenced file based on the selected first universal reference rule file. The present invention utilizes a reference rule file independent of the referenced file, making it reusable by users and avoiding the need to repeatedly set reference conditions, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of collaborative drawing tasks.

[0009] On the other hand, the present invention also discloses a hierarchical operating system (and method, computer storage medium, computer terminal) referenced by a CAD system, comprising: a first file containing at least one first element; a second file containing at least one second element; the at least one first element is copied and superimposed into the second file; the at least one first element is associated with a first control point, and the at least one first element can be independently operated through the first control point. The present invention solves the problem that the external reference method in the existing CAD system is difficult to convert the nested content display mode (i.e., between the overlay type and the appended type), allowing CAD users to easily and quickly choose to display or hide the nested content, making multi-level drawing reference / reference more convenient and quick, and improving the work efficiency during CAD drawing collaborative design.

[0010] On the other hand, the present invention also discloses a method (and system, computer storage medium, and computer terminal) for viewing reference changes in a CAD drawing in an editable environment, comprising the following steps: DS101 obtains a first file and a second file; DS102 the first file references the second file and superimposes the first element of the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains a third file; DS104 obtains the first changed element of the third file compared with the second file; and DS105 superimposes the first changed element into the first file. The present invention allows CAD drawing users to view updates to referenced drawings while continuing to edit the current CAD drawing, thereby resolving the technical problem in existing CAD systems of having to display and view changes to referenced drawings outside the current CAD drawing before returning to the current CAD drawing to continue editing, thereby improving the convenience and efficiency of CAD collaborative design.

[0011] Compared with traditional CAD systems, the CAD collaborative design system provided by the present invention allows CAD files to be stored according to the timeline, and versions created, modified, and updated at different times can be restored and viewed conveniently and quickly; and the use of summary files and incremental databases reduces the amount of data transmission and ensures the accuracy of file restoration, thereby improving the efficiency of the entire CAD system in file management.

[0012] The new citation method not only allows CAD drawing engineers to easily filter the contents of the referenced files, but also allows them to share the citation rules they set with other collaborators; the multi-level display method avoids many problems caused by the nesting of existing external references, and increases the flexibility when citing external files; finally, the present invention copies and overlays the referenced content (which can be filtered and selectively displayed) into the currently edited CAD file, thereby achieving synchronous editing of the current file and viewing changes in the referenced content through the same interface, making collaborative work more convenient and efficient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be given below. In all the drawings, similar elements or parts are generally identified by similar reference numerals. In the drawings, the elements or parts are not necessarily drawn according to the actual scale. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the sub-inventions B and C of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without expending creative labor.

[0014] Figure 1a A flowchart of an embodiment of a method for referencing external files in a CAD system invented by B;

[0015] Figure 1b A flowchart of another embodiment of a method for referencing external files in a CAD system invented by B;

[0016] Figure 2 An example of a standard floor plan in a CAD system invented by B;

[0017] Figure 3 An example of creating a new drawing in a CAD system invented by B;

[0018] Figure 4 An example of introducing drawings into a CAD system invented by B;

[0019] Figure 5 An example of drawing entities in a CAD system invented by B;

[0020] Figure 6 An example of drawing entities in a CAD system invented by B;

[0021] Figure 7 An example of a new citation rule in a CAD system invented by B;

[0022] Figure 8 An example of setting and saving a reference rule file in a CAD system invented by B;

[0023] Figure 9 An example of importing reference files and reference rule files into a CAD system invented by B;

[0024] Figure 10 An example of a new filtering rule in a CAD system invented by B;

[0025] Figure 11 This is a functional module diagram of an embodiment of a device for referencing external files in a CAD system invented by B;

[0026] Figure 12 A flowchart of another embodiment of a method for referencing external files in a CAD system invented by B;

[0027] Figure 13 This is a functional module diagram of another embodiment of a device for referencing external files in a CAD system invented by B;

[0028] Figure 14 A schematic diagram of a partial hardware structure of an embodiment of a computer terminal invented by B;

[0029] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of a partial hardware structure of another embodiment of a computer terminal invented by B;

[0030] Figure 16 A schematic diagram of an embodiment of a user-defined reference condition in a method for referencing an external file in a CAD system according to invention B;

[0031] Figure 17a and Figure 17b A flowchart of a hierarchical display embodiment method cited by the C invention CAD graphics system;

[0032] Figure 18 A schematic diagram of the entity figure in Figure c of the embodiment of the invention C;

[0033] Figure 19 A schematic diagram of the entity figure in Figure b of the embodiment of the invention C;

[0034] Figure 20 A schematic diagram of the entity figure in Figure a of the embodiment of the invention C;

[0035] Figure 21 A hierarchical tree relationship diagram is cited in the embodiment of the invention C;

[0036] Figure 22 A schematic diagram of the embodiment of invention C is shown in FIGURE a with one reference to FIGURE c removed;

[0037] Figure 23A schematic diagram of the embodiment of the invention C is obtained by removing the referenced drawings b and c from the drawing a;

[0038] Figure 24 A flowchart of an embodiment of a hierarchical operation method cited by the CAD system of the invention C;

[0039] Figure 25 A flowchart of an embodiment of a hierarchical operation method cited by the CAD system of the invention C;

[0040] Figure 26 A schematic diagram of an embodiment of a hierarchical operating system referenced by the CAD system of the invention C;

[0041] Figure 27 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of the CAD collaborative design system of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] To make the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0043] Herein, suffixes such as "module," "component," or "unit" used to represent elements are only used to facilitate description of the present invention and have no specific meaning. Therefore, "module," "component," or "unit" may be used interchangeably.

[0044] It should be noted that the various sub-inventions in the present invention (invention A, invention B, invention C and invention D) can be combined to derive other technical solutions, solve more technical problems and produce more technical effects. Therefore, the descriptions of the various sub-inventions in this article can verify, explain, illustrate, combine, combine and integrate each other. For example, some embodiments of invention B, invention C and invention D can be combined to form a more efficient and convenient technical solution for referencing external files. The combination of invention A and other sub-inventions can make the edited and modified CAD files more efficiently stored and shared with all collaborating parties.

[0045] However, the descriptions of various sub-inventions herein may involve some identical or similar terms. If there is a conflict or contradiction in the understanding or meaning of these identical or similar terms, the understanding and meaning of these terms in the descriptions of the sub-inventions to which they belong shall prevail. For example, if the terms "first document," "second document," or "referenced document" may appear in different sub-inventions, then the understanding and meaning of "first document" in invention B shall prevail, while the understanding and meaning of "first document" in invention C shall prevail.

[0046] "Entity": In this context, an entity refers to the graphical data in a CAD file, displayed in the CAD drawing interface. An entity has attributes, which are data values ​​that control specific visual characteristics of the entity or element, such as visibility, color, and line style. In various embodiments, an entity may also be referred to as a "pixel" or "element."

[0047] "Object": In this article, an object refers to information on a CAD file that is not displayed in the CAD drawing interface, such as layers, text styles, dimension styles, etc. In this article, "style" refers to a named collection of attributes used to classify and define specific geometric and text elements (such as line styles or text styles).

[0048] "Element": In this article, element refers to all possible information on a CAD file, including "entities" and "objects", and can also be block, group, and unit definitions based on "entities" and / or "objects".

[0049] "File": In this article, "file" refers to any file that can be used in a CAD system to create, edit, modify, store, and view CAD drawings. Common CAD file formats include, but are not limited to, DWG, DXF, DWT, DWF, DWL, DWS, DWX, MNU, MNC, MNL, MNS, CUI, CUIX, SHX, PAT, LIN, CTB, STB, PLT, PC3, and others.

[0050] "Collaborators": In this context, collaborators are users who collaborate on a drawing project. Collaborators may have the same expertise (e.g., multiple architectural engineers working together) or different expertise (e.g., architectural engineers, plumbing engineers, electrical engineers, and HVAC engineers working together). Collaborators reference each other's drawings.

[0051] "Control point": In this article (especially for the C invention), a control point refers to an abstract description of a set of operating elements (including entities, objects, blocks, groups), which is similar to the concept of a handle. Through the control point, you can quickly locate this set and then perform a series of operations on the elements in the set. Of course, in some special cases, a group / set may only contain one operating element. In addition, in this article, "associated with" a control point means accepting the control of the control point, and the operating object associated with it can be operated through the control point.

[0052] Invention B: Method and device for referencing external files in a CAD system, computer-readable storage medium, and computer terminal

[0053] Invention B relates to a method, a device, a computer-readable storage medium and a computer terminal for referencing external files in a CAD system.

[0054] In traditional CAD drafting, each discipline relies on drawings or other external files provided by other disciplines. Typically, these drawings are imported into their own drawings using external references, referencing elements such as floors, rooms, and walls. Because individual disciplines often specialize in a specific area, drawings from other disciplines may appear too complex due to the inclusion of other elements. Therefore, filtering rules are required when importing drawings from other disciplines.

[0055] In the prior art, CAD systems typically use only two types of filtering rules for external reference (XREF) files: (i) setting a clipping region and (ii) setting hidden layers. These filtering rules are too limited to perform complex and flexible operations on imported CAD drawings. Even though the referenced (or imported) CAD drawings vary widely, CAD software users are limited to choosing between these two common filtering rules (setting a clipping region or setting hidden layers).

[0056] In addition, in existing CAD systems, the external reference file and the filtering rules for the external reference file are a piece of binary data stored in the dwg file. Therefore, the filtering rules are closely integrated with the CAD drawing data (that is, the filtering rules and the CAD drawing data are stored together in a strongly coupled manner), resulting in this specific set of filtering rules not being conveniently used for other external reference files. In addition, each referenced external reference file may be referenced multiple times by different users. If specific filtering rules are set separately for each reference, the reference work will become very tedious and prone to errors. In other words, this strongly coupled storage method makes the reuse rate of filtering rules low, and the cost of modification and maintenance is also high.

[0057] In addition, since the filtering rules are stored in the DWG drawings, adding any new functions will lead to changes in the CAD drawing file format. However, files such as DWG drawings are widely circulated and will not be easily modified. Therefore, it is difficult to expand these existing functions. In other words, the filtering method is solidified and has poor scalability.

[0058] The purpose of invention B is to provide a new CAD system reference method, which can overcome or alleviate the above-mentioned defects of the external reference method in the existing CAD system to a certain extent.

[0059] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, invention B discloses a method for referencing external files in a CAD system, which includes the following steps: creating at least one first general reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition, and storing it independently in an extensible file format; referencing at least one of the referenced files based on at least one selected first general reference rule file.

[0060] Furthermore, the first general reference rule file is obtained by expanding the second general reference rule file sent by the collaborative party, and the second general rule file is created according to at least one reference condition selected by the collaborative party.

[0061] Furthermore, the reference rule file is stored in XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. Furthermore, the reference conditions include layer filtering instructions, clipping region filtering instructions, and / or drawing filtering instructions. Furthermore, the drawing filtering instructions are custom reference conditions added based on the object types and properties of the referenced file.

[0062] Invention B also discloses a method for referencing external files in a CAD system, which includes the following steps: obtaining at least one third general reference rule file sent by a collaborating party; referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected third general reference rule file; wherein the third general reference rule file is created in advance based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party, and is independently stored in an extensible file format.

[0063] Furthermore, the reference rule file is stored in XML format. Furthermore, the reference conditions include layer filtering operation instructions, clipping region filtering operation instructions, and / or drawing filtering operation instructions. Furthermore, the drawing filtering operation instructions are custom reference conditions added based on the types and characteristics of each object in the referenced file.

[0064] Invention B also discloses an external file reference device for use in a CAD system, comprising: a reference rule file creation module, configured to create at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition, and store the file independently in an extensible file format; a first storage module, configured to store the at least one first universal reference rule file created by the reference rule file creation module; and a first reference module, configured to reference at least one referenced file based on the selected at least one first universal reference rule file. Furthermore, the first universal reference rule file is obtained by the reference rule file creation module by expanding a second universal reference rule file sent by a collaborating party, the second universal rule file being created based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party. Furthermore, the reference rule file is stored in XML format. Furthermore, the reference conditions include layer hiding instructions, cropping region hiding instructions, and / or drawing filtering instructions. Furthermore, the drawing filtering instructions are custom reference conditions added based on the object types and characteristics of the referenced file.

[0065] Invention B also discloses an external file reference device applied to a CAD system, which includes: an acquisition module for acquiring at least one second general rule file sent by a collaborating party; a second reference module for referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected second general reference rule file; wherein, the second general reference rule file is pre-created based on at least one reference condition added by the collaborating party, and is independently stored in an extensible file format. Furthermore, the reference rule file is stored in XML format. Furthermore, the reference conditions include hidden layer operation instructions, cropping area operation instructions, and drawing filter operation instructions. Furthermore, the drawing filter operation instructions are custom reference conditions added based on the various element types and their characteristics in the referenced file.

[0066] Invention B also discloses a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a set of instructions. When the instructions are executed, at least one processor is caused to perform the following operations: creating at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition, and independently storing it in an extensible format; referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected first universal reference rule file; or, when the instructions are executed, at least one processor is caused to perform the following operations: obtaining at least one third universal reference rule file sent by a collaborating party; referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected third universal reference rule file; wherein the third universal reference rule file is created in advance based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party, and independently stored in an extensible file format. Furthermore, the first universal reference rule file is obtained by expanding the second universal reference rule file sent by the collaborating party, and the second universal rule file is created based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party.

[0067] Invention B also discloses a computer terminal comprising at least one processor and a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor, wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises a set of instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations including: creating at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition and independently storing the file in an extensible format; referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected first universal reference rule file; or, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations including: obtaining at least one third universal reference rule file sent by a collaborating party; referencing at least one referenced file based on at least one selected third universal reference rule file; wherein the third universal reference rule file is pre-created based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party and independently stored in an extensible file format. Furthermore, the first universal reference rule file is obtained by expanding the second universal reference rule file sent by the collaborating party, and the second universal rule file is created based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party.

[0068] Beneficial technical effects of invention B: Invention B generates at least one reference rule file independent of the referenced file according to the reference conditions, so that when the referenced file is introduced, any reference rule file that meets the actual needs can be specified (which can be created by the CAD drawing engineer himself or obtained from other collaborative parties) without repeatedly setting the reference conditions, thereby greatly improving work efficiency and better ensuring the correctness of the reference (for example, avoiding mistakes when repeatedly setting the reference conditions); in addition, invention B uses an extensible file format to store the reference rule file, such as the XML format, so that it is independent of the referenced file and extensible, so that new reference conditions can be created according to actual needs.

[0069] To further clarify the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of Invention B, the technical solutions in the embodiments of Invention B will be clearly and completely described below, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments represent only a portion of the embodiments of Invention B, not all of them. All other embodiments derived by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of Invention B without inventive effort are also within the scope of protection for Invention B.

[0070] B. Invention Example 1: In some embodiments of B. Invention, a method for referencing an external file in a CAD system includes the following steps: Figure 1a) Step BS01: Generate at least one citation rule file based on at least one citation condition added to a referenced file. The at least one citation rule file is independent of the referenced file and stored in an extensible file format. Step BS02: Import the referenced file into a master file based on the selected at least one citation rule file.

[0071] In some embodiments of the invention B, a method for referencing an external file in a CAD system includes the following steps: Figure 1b ): Step BS11, adding at least one reference condition to the referenced file; Step BS12, generating a reference rule file based on the at least one reference condition, wherein the reference rule file is in XML format; Step BS13, specifying the reference rule file to filter the referenced file when referencing the referenced file. Step BS14, adding the filtered referenced file to the master file.

[0072] The method of referencing external files disclosed in the above embodiment is of great significance for collaborative CAD drawing: more and more CAD drawing projects are completed by engineers from multiple disciplines in collaboration. Therefore, the process of mutual collaboration often involves mutual reference / mutual reference of CAD files between different disciplines (in this article, the referenced and referenced files are referred to as "referenced files"; the CAD drawings that receive and incorporate "referenced files" are referred to as "master files"). When the master file references / references the referenced file, the user can add reference conditions related to the referenced file (filtering the elements in the referenced file). The reference condition can be a reference condition that has already been associated with the referenced file (for example, the current user or other users have previously set one or more reference conditions for the referenced file), or it can be a newly added reference condition, or it can be a modification of the previously set reference condition.

[0073] In some embodiments, the reference conditions are stored separately to form a reference rule file, which is independent of the referenced files and the master file. In some embodiments, "independent" means that the reference rule file can be independently created, saved, modified, updated, and transferred - for example, a water supply and drainage engineer can share the reference rule file he created with another water supply and drainage engineer without having to share the referenced CAD files.

[0074] The reference file can adopt an extensible file format. For example, the reference rule file can be stored in XML format. XML is a simple, platform-independent and widely adopted standard language, and is a "metalanguage" used to define other languages. Simply put, XML provides a method for describing structured data. XML is also a meta-markup language, which defines a syntactic language for defining other domain-specific, semantic, and structured markup languages. Users can define the tags they need, which is the extensibility of the language. In an XML file, content and expression are separated, so that different users can define different reference conditions according to their own needs.

[0075] In addition to XML, other extensible file formats and markup languages ​​are also applicable to the invention B to store reference rule files, such as GML (Generalized Markup Language), SGML (The Standard Generalized Markup Language), HTML (HyperText Markup Language), XHTML (ExtensibleHyperText Markup Language), XAML (ExtensibleApplicationMarkupLanguage), JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), etc.

[0076] Therefore, compared to traditional CAD software systems, the prior art external reference only records the path name of an external DWG file. In contrast, in addition to recording the DWG file, the B invention also records a reference rule file independent of the external DWG file. When referencing an external DWG file, the reference rule file is opened and, based on the reference conditions recorded in the reference rule file, the entities (also known as primitives, pixels), objects, blocks, groups, and / or layers in the DWG file that meet the rules are loaded.

[0077] In some embodiments of invention B, the reference rule file can adopt three reference rule methods: layer display, region clipping, and graphic filtering. Each method records corresponding feature information based on its own characteristics. In other embodiments of invention B, the reference rule methods include, but are not limited to, filtering, replacement, and addition.

[0078] Taking region clipping as an example, this reference rule specifies that only entities within a certain region can be displayed. Therefore, this reference rule records a series of 2D points and a coordinate transformation matrix. After the CAD drawing system software reads this reference rule, it determines whether the entity's enclosing area falls within this region. Entities not within this region will not be displayed.

[0079] The following is an example of a reference rule file, in XML format, showing three reference rule methods: layer display, region clipping, and graphic filtering:

[0080]

[0081] First, in the node Layers, the name of the filtered layer "Section Line" is recorded. If the referenced drawing contains a layer named "Section Line", the entities on this layer will not be introduced. Secondly, the point position information of the reserved area is recorded in the node ReservedArea. All entities outside the reserved area in the referenced drawing will not be introduced. Thirdly, the conditions used when filtering graphics are recorded under the node Filters, and each condition is a Filter node. There is a specific Filter here, which means that the entity (circle) of type AcDbCircle will not be introduced if the value of its attribute (color) numbered 1302 is equal to (Operator is 0) -1073741824; (that is, BYLAYER).

[0082] In traditional CAD, data such as crop regions and hidden layers set for external references (Xrefs) is stored within the DWG drawing. Any addition of new functionality requires changes to the drawing file format, and widely distributed files like DWG drawings are not easily modified. Therefore, expanding these inherent features is difficult. Furthermore, the management and dissemination of traditional CAD drawings heavily relies on the individual skills of personnel. Splitting a single drawing into multiple files can easily lead to file loss or confusion. Therefore, traditional CAD stores Xref settings data within the DWG drawing.

[0083] However, Invention B stores all DWG drawing files and XML reference rule files within the same collaborative CAD software system and archives them within that system. Because the collaborative CAD software system regulates the use of DWG drawing files and XML reference rule files, file management can be tracked through historical records, and file dissemination can be expanded through project management. Therefore, Invention B's technical solution of using independent reference rule files is not affected by human errors in file management.

[0084] Example 2 of Invention B: Take an example to illustrate the working method of Invention B. In this engineering project B200, the upstream specialty is architecture, and the downstream specialty is water supply and drainage. Engineers specializing in water supply and drainage need to make a water supply and drainage design for the bathroom and kitchen in the drawings provided by the architecture specialty (for the convenience of demonstration, the pipeline design is not shown in the following example, and a washing machine, sink and stove are used instead). There is a drawing "Standard Floor.dwx" B202 in the building. This drawing only contains architectural information, including room layout, room functions, etc. (for example, dining room, kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, stairwell, etc.). Figure 2 shown.

[0085] When the water supply and drainage engineer draws the water supply and drainage diagram, he first creates a drawing B204 of "Bathroom.dwx" under the first-level directory (electrical, water supply and drainage, architecture, HVAC and reference rules are all in the first-level directory). Figure 3 、 Figure 4 "New drawing"), and import drawing "Standard layer.dwx" B202 (as shown in Figure 4 As shown – For easy distinction, the standard floor numbered B202a under the building and B202b under the bathroom drawing). Find the bathroom location B206 and draw entity B208 there (as shown in the figure). Figure 5 and save and close.

[0086] In the water supply and drainage drawing directory, create a drawing named "Kitchen.dwx" B210 and import the drawing "Standard Layer.dwx" B202. Find the location of the kitchen B212 and draw entity B214 in it, such as Figure 6 as shown, and save and close.

[0087] The next step is to make the general drawing. Because the annotation information is already in the "Standard Layer.dwx" B202, it is necessary to remove the annotation information from the "Standard Layer.dwx" B202 in the water supply and drainage drawing.

[0088] First, create a general reference rule file B216 to filter the annotation information from the "Standard Layer.dwx" B202 in the water supply and drainage drawings, and only retain the useful entities (such as sinks, toilets, etc.) B208 and B214. For example, with "Bathroom.dwx" B204 as the base map, select the file, right-click, and select "New Reference Rule" B216 in the pop-up menu (such as Figure 7 Click "Filter Graphics" and set reasonable parameters in the "Exclude Object Selection" dialog box to remove all annotations, leaving only the water supply and drainage entities (for example, sinks, toilets, etc.), and save the file "Water Supply and Drainage.drf" B218 (as shown in the following example). Figure 8 、 Figure 9 shown).

[0089] Create "General Plan.dwx" B220, import "Standard Floor.dwx" B202, and then import "Bathroom.dwx" B204 and "Kitchen.dwx" B210. When referencing the latter two files, specify the reference rule file as "Water Supply and Drainage.drf" B218, such as Figure 9 shown. Figure 10 It shows that according to the reference rule file "Water Supply and Drainage.drf" B218, "General Drawing.dwx" B220 only retains useful water supply and drainage entities (for example, sinks, toilets, etc.) when introducing "Bathroom.dwx" B204 and "Kitchen.dwx" B210, and removes other annotation information in the water supply and drainage drawings brought from "Standard Floor.dwx" B202.

[0090] In some embodiments of the method for referencing external files in the CAD graphics system of the invention of B, the reference rule file is an XML file, which is extensible, easy to save and disseminate, and independent of the drawing file. When referencing a drawing, any reference rule file can be specified without repeatedly setting the reference rules, which greatly improves work efficiency and ensures correctness. It is no longer limited to the limitations of the external reference function of CAD and will not affect the original drawing file.

[0091] The XML format is used for the reference rule file primarily due to its inherent reliability and scalability. Furthermore, the technology for parsing and generating XML files is highly mature, resulting in low maintenance costs. However, because the rule file in Invention B is independent, it can also be formatted in any other format, not just XML.

[0092] B Invention Example 3: Based on the method for referencing external files in the CAD system of the above-mentioned Example 1, B Invention also provides an external file referencing device B300 applied to the CAD system, which will be described below with reference to specific figures and embodiments. Figure 11 , which is a functional module diagram of an embodiment of an external file reference device for a CAD system according to invention B. Specifically, the external file reference device B300 of this embodiment includes:

[0093] The reference rule file generation module B301 is used to generate at least one reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition added to the referenced file, and store it independently of the referenced file in an extensible format; the first storage module B302 is used to store the reference rule file generated by the above-mentioned reference rule file generation module B301; the first reference module B303 is used to reference the corresponding referenced file based on the selected reference rule file.

[0094] Since a CAD drawing project is usually completed by multiple disciplines in collaboration, and each discipline needs to view different objects in the referenced file, once the current user introduces a referenced file (specifically, introduces other CAD drawings as external references, or introduces external files such as blocks, Excel tables or pictures by insertion or other means), the current user may add at least one reference condition to the referenced file according to his or her actual needs (specifically, the reference condition includes a hide layer operation instruction, a crop area operation instruction, and / or a filter drawing operation instruction) to complete the reference to the referenced file, such as hiding certain objects in the referenced file (for example, hiding the annotation information related to the basic building), or changing the properties of certain objects (such as color changes or line width adjustments, etc.).

[0095] However, in order to avoid storing the at least one reference condition added by the current user together with the referenced file, in this embodiment, the at least one reference condition added to the referenced file is stored separately to make it independent of the referenced file. That is, the reference rule file generation module B301 obtains the at least one reference condition added by the current user for the referenced file, and generates at least one reference rule file based on the at least one reference condition, and stores it in the above-mentioned first storage module B302 in an extensible file format to make it independent of the referenced file.

[0096] In a specific embodiment, the drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on the element types and characteristics in the referenced file (see Figure 16 ), that is, users can select objects in the referenced file that need to be hidden (i.e., filtered) or the reference method needs to be changed according to actual needs, and then select the corresponding reference method. For example, select an entity and then choose to change the color of the entity to red; or select an entity and then choose to hide the entity; or select an entity and then hide all elements outside the entity and only display the entity. Specifically, the objects include various elements contained in the referenced file, and their types are diverse, such as the walls, stoves, sinks, company logos, and tabulation instructions in a CAD drawing "Kitchen.dwx", as well as annotations such as dimensions, models, or functions; of course, other types can also be included.

[0097] In a specific embodiment, the storage module B302 is only used to store the reference rule file generated by the reference rule file generation module B301, and the reference rule file is stored in XML format.

[0098] In this embodiment, the referenced file may be pre-associated with at least one reference rule file, or may not be pre-associated with any reference rule file. Therefore, in another specific embodiment, the storage module B302 is used not only to store the reference rule file generated by the reference rule file generation module B301, but also to store at least one reference rule file previously associated with the referenced file set by other users when the referenced file is imported. Furthermore, the storage module B302 may also be used to store the referenced file simultaneously, but the referenced file and the reference rule file are partitioned for storage, thereby ensuring independent storage between the two.

[0099] In a specific embodiment, once the current user selects a reference rule file, the reference module B303 references the corresponding referenced file according to the selected reference rule file. The selected reference rule file may be generated by the reference rule file generation module B301 according to the reference conditions added by the current user, or may be pre-generated by a reference rule file generation module of another user's corresponding device according to the reference conditions added by another user, and then imported by the current user together with the referenced file through the CAD system.

[0100] The reference device of this embodiment can also be integrated into a CAD system, that is, as a sub-functional application of the CAD system.

[0101] B. Invention Example 4: B. Invention also provides another method for referencing external files in a CAD system, which is described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments and drawings.

[0102] See also Figure 12 , which is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for referencing an external file in a CAD system invented by B. Specifically, the referencing method of this embodiment includes the steps of:

[0103] BS41: Obtain at least one citation rule file pre-associated with the referenced file. Since a project is typically completed collaboratively by multiple disciplines, in practice, the current user typically imports a referenced file that is pre-associated with at least one citation rule file. Therefore, when the current user imports the referenced file, the citation rule file associated with it is also imported.

[0104] In a specific embodiment, at least one reference rule file pre-associated with the referenced file is generated in advance based on at least one reference condition added to the referenced file by other users, and is stored independently of the referenced file in an extensible file format. Specifically, the reference rule file is stored in XML format, and when the current user introduces the referenced file, the reference rule file associated with the referenced file will also be introduced at the same time.

[0105] In a specific embodiment, the referenced file may be another CAD drawing introduced as an external reference, or an external file such as a block, Excel spreadsheet, or picture introduced by inserting or other means, and the reference condition includes a hiding layer operation instruction, a cropping region operation instruction, and a drawing filtering operation instruction, wherein the drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on the element types and characteristics in the referenced file ( Figure 16 ).

[0106] In a specific embodiment, the reference condition includes a hidden layer operation instruction, a crop region operation instruction, and / or a drawing filter operation instruction. The drawing filter operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on the object types and characteristics in the referenced file. Figure 16 ), that is, users can select objects in the referenced file that need to be hidden (i.e., filtered) or the reference method needs to be changed according to actual needs, and then select the corresponding reference method. For example, select an entity and then choose to change the color of the entity to red, etc., or select an entity and then choose to hide the entity; or select an entity and then hide all elements outside the entity and only display the entity. Specifically, the objects include various elements contained in the referenced file, and their types are diverse, such as the walls, stoves, sinks, company logos, and tabulation instructions in a CAD drawing "Kitchen.dwx", as well as annotations such as dimensions, models, or functions; of course, other types can also be included.

[0107] BS42 references the corresponding referenced file based on the selected at least one reference rule file. Generally, unless otherwise required, the current user can directly apply the at least one reference rule file pre-associated with the referenced file, without adding new reference conditions to form a new reference rule file. Therefore, in this embodiment, once the current user selects the at least one reference rule file pre-associated with the referenced file, the referenced file can be directly referenced based on the selected reference rule file.

[0108] B Invention Example 5: Based on the reference method of Example 4, B Invention also provides an external file reference device for use in a CAD system, which will be described below with reference to specific figures and embodiments. Figure 13 , invention B is a functional module diagram of another embodiment of an external file referencing device applied to a CAD system. Specifically, the external file referencing device B500 in this embodiment includes: a reference rule file acquisition module B501, used to obtain at least one reference rule file associated with the referenced file; and a second reference module B502, used to reference the referenced file according to the selected at least one reference rule file.

[0109] Since a project is usually completed by collaboration among multiple disciplines, that is, in the actual process, the current user usually introduces a referenced file through the CAD system, and the referenced file is pre-associated with at least one reference rule file, that is, when the current user introduces the referenced file, the reference rule file that has been pre-associated with the referenced file is also introduced at the same time and stored in the CAD system; therefore, when the current user introduces the referenced file, the reference rule file that has been pre-associated with the referenced file is obtained through the reference rule file acquisition module B501; and when the current user selects the corresponding reference rule file through the corresponding operation, the second reference module B502 references the referenced file according to the selected reference rule file.

[0110] In a specific embodiment, the reference rule file is generated in advance based on at least one reference condition added to the referenced file by other users, and is stored independently of the referenced file in an extensible file format. Specifically, the reference rule file is stored in XML format.

[0111] In a specific embodiment, the referenced file may be another CAD drawing introduced as an external reference, or an external file such as a block, Excel spreadsheet, or picture introduced by inserting or other means, and the reference condition includes a hiding layer operation instruction, a cropping region operation instruction, and a drawing filtering operation instruction, wherein the drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on the element types and characteristics in the referenced file ( Figure 16 ).

[0112] In a specific embodiment, the reference condition includes a hidden layer operation instruction, a crop region operation instruction, and / or a drawing filter operation instruction. The drawing filter operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on the object types and characteristics in the referenced file. Figure 16), that is, users can select objects in the referenced file that need to be hidden (i.e., filtered) or the reference method needs to be changed according to actual needs, and then select the corresponding reference method. For example, select an entity and then choose to change the color of the entity to red; or select an entity and then choose to hide the entity; or select an entity and then hide all elements outside the entity and only display the entity. Specifically, the objects include various elements contained in the referenced file, and their types are diverse, such as the walls, stoves, sinks, company logos, and tabulation instructions in a CAD drawing "Kitchen.dwx", as well as annotations such as dimensions, models, or functions; of course, other types can also be included.

[0113] In this embodiment, the storage module and the storage module in the third embodiment can be the same storage medium or different storage media; accordingly, the reference module in this embodiment is the same as the reference module in the third embodiment. Of course, the reference device in this embodiment can also be integrated into the CAD system, that is, as a sub-function application of the CAD system.

[0114] Invention B Example 6: Invention B also provides a computer-readable storage medium. In this embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium can be a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art.

[0115] The computer-readable storage medium stores one or more programs, which can be executed by one or more processors to implement some or all of the steps in the above-mentioned embodiment 1 or embodiment 3.

[0116] In this embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium stores one or more external file reference programs to generate at least one reference rule file based on the reference rule file added to the referenced file, and stores the reference rule file in an extensible file format independently of the referenced file. Compared with the traditional method of storing the reference rule in the form of binary data in the dwg drawing file, which is closely integrated with the drawing data, in this embodiment, when introducing the referenced file, any reference rule file can be specified according to actual needs, without repeatedly setting the reference conditions, which greatly improves work efficiency and ensures correctness. Furthermore, since the reference rule file is independent of the referenced file, in addition to the traditional layer filtering and clipping area filtering methods, a new graphic filtering reference method can be added, so that the objects to be filtered and the filtering method can be quickly selected according to the object type and characteristics in the drawing.

[0117] Embodiment 7 of Invention B: The implementation of each of the above-described embodiments of Invention B is based on a computer terminal B600. This computer terminal B600 can be implemented in various forms. For example, mobile computer terminals such as mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, and PDAs, as well as stationary computer terminals such as digital TVs and desktop computers, are also implemented. While this embodiment will be described using a desktop computer as an example, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configurations of the embodiments of Invention B can also be applied to mobile computer terminals.

[0118] See also Figure 14 , is a hardware structure diagram of a computer terminal invented by B. The computer terminal B600 may include: a display unit B601, a user input unit B602, a memory B603, a processor B604, a computer-readable storage medium B605 and other components. Those skilled in the art will understand that Figure 14 The computer terminal structure shown in the figure does not constitute a limitation to the computer terminal. The computer terminal may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0119] The following combination Figure 14 and Figure 15 The various components of the computer terminal B700 are described in detail: the display unit B701 is used to display information input by the user or information provided to the user. The display unit B701 may include a display panel, which may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), or the like.

[0120] The user input unit B702 may be used to receive input digital or character information, and to generate key signal input related to user settings and function control of the electronic device. Specifically, the user input unit B702 may include a keyboard, a mouse, and other input devices, such as a touch panel. The user input unit B702 may also include other input devices, such as one or more function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, an operating stick, etc., which are not specifically limited here.

[0121] Furthermore, if a touch panel is used as an input unit, it can cover the display panel. When the touch panel detects a touch operation on or near it, it transmits it to the processor B704 to determine the type of touch event. Then the processor B704 provides corresponding visual output on the display panel B701 according to the type of touch event. Figure 15In the figure, the touch panel and the display panel B701 are two independent components to realize the input and output functions of the mobile computer terminal B700, but in some embodiments, the touch panel and the display panel B701 can be integrated to realize the input and output functions of a desktop computer, which is not limited here.

[0122] Memory B703 is used to store software programs and various data. Memory B703 may primarily include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system and at least one application required for a function (e.g., a CAD application); the data storage area may store data created based on the use of the computer device (e.g., audio data, drawing data, reference rule files). Furthermore, memory B703 may include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

[0123] See also Figure 14 and Figure 15 In a specific embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium is a part of the memory, such as a program storage area. Of course, it can also be used as a storage unit alone, and the computer-readable storage medium includes a set of instructions. When at least one processor executes the set of instructions, it causes at least one processor to perform the following operations: generating at least one reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition added to the referenced file, and storing it in an extensible format independent of the referenced file; and referencing the referenced file based on at least one selected reference rule file.

[0124] Processor B704 is the control center of the electronic device. It connects the various parts of the entire electronic device using various interfaces and lines. By running or executing software programs and / or modules stored in memory B704 and accessing data stored in memory B703, it performs various computer functions and processes data, thereby monitoring the computer as a whole. Processor B704 may include one or more processing units; preferably, processor B704 may integrate an application processor, which primarily processes the operating system, user interface, and application programs.

[0125] although Figure 14 and Figure 15 Not shown, the computer terminal B700 may further include a communication module, etc., which will not be described in detail here.

[0126] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above embodiment methods can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary general hardware platform, and of course can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better embodiment. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of invention B, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), and includes several instructions for enabling a computer terminal (which can be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of invention B. The embodiments of invention B are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but invention B is not limited to the above specific embodiments. The above specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the inspiration of invention B, those skilled in the art can also make many forms without departing from the scope of protection of invention B and the claims, all of which fall within the protection of invention B.

[0127] C invention: hierarchical operating system, method, computer-readable storage medium and computer terminal referenced by a CAD system.

[0128] C invention relates to a hierarchical operation method referenced by a computer-aided design (CAD) system, and its system, computer-readable storage medium, and terminal.

[0129] An external reference (XREF) is a method in which a user uses an external reference to see any other drawing in his current drawing file in a CAD environment. For example, when designer A is drawing drawing a, he introduces a drawing b (or other formats, such as PDF or pictures, etc.) drawn by another designer into drawing a as a base reference in the form of an external reference. Among them, drawing b is the external file referenced by drawing a, which is also an external reference.

[0130] Collaborative design leverages a shared server platform and the CAD system's external reference functionality to split design files into modular files based on the design requirements of different disciplines, and then reassemble them. This allows multiple people from multiple locations to collaborate on a single project. During the collaborative design process, designers from different disciplines reference CAD drawings created by other designers, leading to various reference relationships. For example, when designer A draws drawing a, they use designer B's drawing b as a base reference. Designer B's drawing b also references designer C's drawing c, creating a nested reference relationship.

[0131] However, designers from different disciplines often focus on different areas. Therefore, when there are complex reference relationships, the reference type can be specified as "overlay reference" or "attachment reference".

[0132] If the user selects "Overlay", then the other xrefs nested in the xref referenced in the current drawing will not be displayed in the current drawing. For example, when designer A draws drawing a, references drawing b, and selects "Overlay Reference", then the xref c nested in drawing b will not be displayed in the current drawing a.

[0133] If the user selects "Attached Reference", then any external references nested within the reference referenced in the current drawing will also be displayed in the current drawing. For example, if designer A is drawing drawing a, and references drawing b, and selects "Attached Reference", drawing c, the external reference nested within drawing b, will also be displayed in drawing a.

[0134] In actual engineering applications, once the type of external reference is specified, it is difficult to subsequently change the external reference and the reference relationship between the external reference and other nested references. For example, drawing B uses the "overlay" reference method to reference drawing C and the "attachment" reference method to reference drawing D, and drawing A specifies the reference type of drawing B as "attachment". At this time, drawing A will display both drawings B and D, but will not display drawing C. If you want to display drawing C later, you have to start over, that is, first change the reference method of drawing B to reference drawing C (that is, change it to "attachment"), and then reintroduce external reference B into drawing A.

[0135] Similarly, if you later decide not to display Drawing d, you'll have to start over again, first changing the reference type of Drawing b (to "overlay"), and then reintroducing the external reference b into Drawing a. Therefore, in traditional CAD systems, changing the reference type is cumbersome and inflexible. Furthermore, the user of the current drawing may not have the necessary permissions to change how their selected drawing references other drawings—for example, when an HVAC engineer references a plumbing drawing, they may not have permission to change how the plumbing drawing references the architectural drawing (this permission belongs to the plumbing engineer).

[0136] On the other hand, in reference relationships with multiple levels of nested references, a file often repeatedly references an external reference. For example, drawing a repeatedly references drawing b, which in turn references drawing c. Once drawing b is detached or uninstalled, the two duplicate references to drawing b and drawing c within drawing a disappear. This means that each external reference cannot be independently manipulated, resulting in poor flexibility, inconvenience, and reduced work efficiency.

[0137] The purpose of the invention C is to provide a new CAD system reference method, which can overcome or alleviate the above-mentioned defects of the external reference method in the existing CAD system to a certain extent.

[0138] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, invention C discloses a hierarchical operation system referenced by a CAD system, which includes: a first file containing at least one first element; a second file containing at least one second element; the at least one first element is copied and superimposed into the second file; the at least one first element is associated with a first control point, and independent operations on the at least one first element can be achieved through the first control point. Further, the at least one second element is associated with a second control point, and independent operations on the at least one second element can be achieved through the second control point. Further, the at least one first element and the at least one second element are both copied and superimposed into a third file. Further, the first control point is set as a sub-control point of the second control point, and the second control point can be used to achieve simultaneous operations on (i) the at least one second element and (ii) the at least one first element associated with the first control point. Further, the at least one first element and the at least one second element are both copied and superimposed into the third file.

[0139] Furthermore, a fourth file is included, the fourth file containing at least one fourth element, the at least one fourth element being copied and superimposed on the second file, the at least one fourth element being associated with a fourth control point, and the at least one fourth element being independently operable through the fourth control point. Furthermore, the first file and the fourth file are the same CAD drawing.

[0140] Furthermore, the at least one first element is also directly associated with the second control point, and the at least one first element and the at least one second element can be operated simultaneously through the second control point. Furthermore, the operations are display, hide, bind, detach, reload, or unload. Furthermore, the at least one first element and the at least one second element are entities, objects, blocks, and / or groups on a CAD drawing.

[0141] In order to overcome and alleviate the defects of the external reference method in the existing CAD system, the C invention also discloses a hierarchical operation method referenced by the CAD system, which includes the following steps: obtaining at least one first element from a first file; creating a first control point and associating it with the at least one first element; copying and superimposing the at least one first element into a second file; and independently operating the at least one first element through the first control point.

[0142] Furthermore, the method further includes the following steps: obtaining at least one second element from a second file; creating a second control point and associating it with the at least one second element; copying and superimposing the at least one first element and the at least one second element into a third file; and independently operating the at least one second element through the second control point.

[0143] Furthermore, the method further includes the following steps: setting the first control point as a sub-control point of the second control point, and simultaneously operating (i) the at least one second element and (ii) the at least one first element associated with the first control point through the second control point.

[0144] Furthermore, the method further includes the following steps: obtaining at least one fourth element from a fourth file; creating a fourth control point and associating it with the at least one fourth element; copying and superimposing the at least one fourth element into the second file; and independently operating the at least one fourth element through the fourth control point.

[0145] Furthermore, the first file and the fourth file are the same CAD drawing.

[0146] Furthermore, the method further includes the following steps: directly associating the at least one first element with the second control point; and simultaneously manipulating the at least one first element and the at least one second element via the second control point. Furthermore, the manipulation is performed by displaying, hiding, binding, detaching, reloading, or unloading. Furthermore, the at least one first element is an entity, object, block, and / or group on a CAD drawing.

[0147] In order to overcome and alleviate the defects of the external reference method in the existing CAD system, the invention C also discloses a hierarchical operating system referenced by the CAD system, see Figure 26 , which includes: a file storage module for storing a first file and a second file; an element acquisition module for acquiring at least one first element from the first file; a control point creation module for creating a first control point and associating it with the at least one first element; a copy and overlay module for copying and overlaying the at least one first element into the second file; and a control point operation module for independently operating the at least one first element associated with the first control point.

[0148] Furthermore, the element acquisition module acquires at least one second element from the second file; the control point creation module creates a second control point and associates it with the at least one second element; the copy and overlay module copies and overlays the at least one first element and the at least one second element into a third file, and the third file is stored in the file storage module; the control point operation module independently operates the at least one second element associated with the second control point.

[0149] Furthermore, the C invention also includes: a control point hierarchy construction module, used to set the first control point as a sub-control point of the second control point; the control point operation module realizes simultaneous operation of (i) the at least one second element and (ii) the at least one first element associated with the first control point by operating the second control point.

[0150] Furthermore, the element acquisition module acquires at least one fourth element from a fourth file, and the fourth file is stored in the file storage module; the control point creation module creates a fourth control point, which is associated with the at least one fourth element; the copy and overlay module copies and overlays the at least one fourth element into the second file; and the control point operation module independently operates the at least one fourth element by operating the fourth control point.

[0151] Furthermore, the first file and the fourth file are the same CAD drawing. Furthermore, invention C also includes: the control point creation module directly associates the at least one first element with the second control point; and the control point operation module simultaneously operates the at least one first element and the at least one second element by operating the second control point. Furthermore, the control point operation module can display, hide, bind, detach, reload, and / or unload. Furthermore, the at least one first element is an entity, object, block, and / or group on the CAD drawing.

[0152] In order to overcome and alleviate the defects of the external reference method in the existing CAD system, the C invention also discloses a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a set of instructions. When the instructions are executed, at least one processor is caused to perform the following operations: obtaining at least one first element from a first file; creating a first control point and associating it with the at least one first element; copying and overlaying the at least one first element into a second file; and independently operating the at least one first element through the first control point.

[0153] In order to overcome and alleviate the defects of the external reference method in the existing CAD system, the C invention also discloses a computer-readable storage medium, which includes at least one processor and a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor, wherein the computer-readable storage medium includes a set of instructions, and when the at least one processor executes the instructions, it causes the at least one processor to perform the following operations: obtaining at least one first element from a first file; creating a first control point; associating with the at least one first element, copying and superimposing the at least one first element into a second file; and independently operating the at least one first element through the first control point.

[0154] To further clarify the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of invention C, the technical solutions in the embodiments of invention C are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments represent only a portion of the embodiments of invention C, not all of them. All other embodiments derived by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of invention C without inventive effort are also within the scope of protection for invention C.

[0155] Example 1 of the invention C: The steps of the invention C are described as follows: A, B, and C work together to draw the drawings for their respective divisions. A needs to refer to B's content when drawing, and B needs to refer to C's content. A may not need to see C's content. The steps are as follows:

[0156] C draws the graphics (C106) and submits it to the server;

[0157] B downloads C's drawing (C106) and references C when drawing his own drawing (C104). The content of C (C106) will be copied and superimposed on B (C104).

[0158] A downloads B's drawing (C104), and when drawing his own drawing (C102), he references B (C104). The content of B (C104) will be copied and superimposed on A (C102).

[0159] At this point there is a nested relationship from A to B and then to C ( Figure 17a );

[0160] If A needs to see the content of C (C106), he can choose to expand the sub-reference of B. C will copy the content of C (C106) and overlay it on A (C102). In this way, A (C102) can see the content of B (C104) and C (C106) at the same time.

[0161] If A does not need to see C (C106), he chooses to close B's sub-references, and C will delete C's copy, so that A only sees B's content (C104).

[0162] A(C108) can cite multiple copies of B( Figure 17b ), set to B1 (C110) and B2 (C114), closing B1 (C110)'s child C1 (C112) or closing B1 (C110) itself will not affect the content display of B2 (C114) and / or its child C2 (C116), thus achieving a flexible display effect of multiple reference contents without interfering with each other.

[0163] C Invention Example 2: Simulate a usage scenario, the current working drawing is a.dwx (C400), we refer to two b.dwx (C300a and C300b) at different locations, and the b.dwx file also refers to c.dwx (C200). The content of c is as follows Figure 18 The figure shown is a graph c (C202); the content of b is as follows Figure 19 The content of c is shown with the addition of figure b (C302); the content of a is as follows Figure 20 The contents of two b are added to the figure a (C402), forming Figure 21 As shown in the tree relationship C500, when the CAD user does not want to see the contents of one of the copies c (C202b) temporarily, he can issue a command to the collaborative system to close the reference. Then the specified copy c (C202b) will disappear, and the contents of a will become as follows: Figure 22 The content of b can also be closed. Each level can be controlled, and each reference can be controlled independently. The effect of closing b (C300a) after closing c (C202b) is as follows: Figure 23 shown.

[0164] In some embodiments, independent control is achieved through control points – for example, c(C202b) is associated with a control point. This control point can achieve independent control of the set of elements in c.dwx(C200) by adding a unique tag to the elements in this set of elements, or by extracting the common attributes of the elements in c.dwx(C200) (for example, all from the drawing c.dwx(C200)). In addition to the above two methods, other common control methods in CAD systems can also be applied to the C invention and fall within the scope of the C invention.

[0165] C Invention Example 3: In some embodiments, C Invention discloses a hierarchical display system for CAD graphics system references, including: a first CAD drawing (e.g., HVAC drawing); a second CAD drawing (e.g., electrical drawing), the second CAD drawing is referenced by the first CAD drawing, the content of the second CAD drawing is copied and superimposed on the first CAD drawing, and can be displayed or hidden; a third CAD drawing (e.g., architectural drawing), the third CAD drawing is referenced by the second CAD drawing, the content of the third CAD drawing is copied and superimposed on the second CAD drawing, and can be displayed or hidden; the first CAD drawing references the second CAD drawing, which indirectly references the third CAD drawing (i.e., forming a so-called nested relationship), the content of the third CAD drawing is also copied and superimposed on the first CAD drawing, and can also be displayed or hidden. In these embodiments, C Invention does not require reinserting references, and can display and close references by simply clicking on the operation interface. There is no restriction on operating the top-level reference. Each reference operation is independent, and references to the same source reference can be controlled separately.

[0166] C invention embodiment 4: In some embodiments, C invention discloses a hierarchical operating system referenced by a CAD system, which includes: a first file, containing at least one first element; a second file, containing at least one second element; the at least one first element is copied and superimposed on the second file; the at least one first element is associated with a first control point, and independent operation of the at least one first element can be achieved through the first control point.

[0167] The difference between the C invention and the existing CAD drawing platform is that the content of the referenced CAD drawing (i.e., the "first file") (i.e., various CAD elements, such as entities, objects, blocks, and groups) is copied and superimposed on the current CAD drawing (i.e., the "second file"), and the copied and superimposed content is associated with the first control point, so it can be directly controlled by the user editing the current CAD drawing - for example, one or more first elements extracted from the first file (for example, the drawing drawn by the construction engineer is the first file, and there are building walls on the drawing) can be displayed on the drawing drawn by the water supply and drainage engineer (the second file) through the first control point, or the building walls can be completely hidden.

[0168] Furthermore, in some embodiments, one or more second elements (e.g., pipes, sinks) on the second file (e.g., water supply and drainage drawings) are associated with a second control point, and the water supply and drainage engineer can also control the one or more second elements (display or hide water supply and drainage entities such as pipes and sinks) through the second control point. In this embodiment, because the first element (e.g., building entity) and the second element (e.g., water supply and drainage entity) on the second file are controlled by different control points, when the water supply and drainage engineer controls the display or hiding of the first element through the first control point, the second element on the second file is not affected. Similarly, when the water supply and drainage engineer controls the display or hiding of the second element through the second control point, the first element copied and superimposed on the second file is also unaffected. In other words, through the control point, the water supply and drainage engineer who draws the current CAD drawing can independently control and operate the water supply and drainage entities and / or objects he draws, and can also independently control and operate the building entities and / or objects copied and superimposed from the building CAD drawing.

[0169] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the first element (eg, architectural entity and / or object) and the second element (eg, water supply and drainage entity and / or object) are both copied and superimposed into a third file (eg, electrical CAD drawing).

[0170] As previously mentioned, in the prior art, when CAD drawings are stacked and nested, it is very troublesome to switch between displaying the first element (i.e., selecting an additional reference between the first file and the second file) and hiding the first element (i.e., selecting an overlay reference between the first file and the second file). The reference type between the first file and the second file must be reset, and downstream engineers (e.g., electrical engineers in this embodiment) often do not have the authority to modify the reference type set by the water supply and drainage engineer. This type of problem is particularly difficult in collaborative drawing engineering projects because the layers of CAD drawings may be very numerous, far more than the three-level stacking described in this embodiment.

[0171] However, in the embodiment of invention C, because the first element is associated with the first control point, it can be independently displayed or hidden by manipulating the first control point. Therefore, when an electrical engineer wants to view the building wall, they can simply display the first element using the first control point. However, when the electrical engineer only wants to see elements such as plumbing pipes and sinks, they can completely hide the first element using the second control point. This avoids the need to re-establish the reference relationship between the architectural and plumbing drawings, as is done in the prior art, and improves collaborative work efficiency.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first control point can be set as a sub-control point of the second control point, so that the second control point can be used to simultaneously operate (i) the at least one second element, and (ii) the at least one first element associated with the first control point. In these embodiments, when the downstream electrical engineer copies and overlays the second element in the second file into the third file through the second control point, the first element is also copied and overlaid into the third file at the same time; and the downstream electrical engineer can simultaneously operate the first element (e.g., building entity) and the second element (e.g., water supply and drainage entity) through the second control point to achieve the simultaneous display or hiding of the first element and the second element. Of course, if the downstream electrical engineer only wants to hide the building entity, this can also be achieved by operating the first control point alone without causing any impact on the display of the water supply and drainage entity.

[0173] In some embodiments, the hierarchical operating system referenced by the CAD system of the invention of C also includes a fourth file (e.g., HVAC CAD drawing), the fourth file contains at least one fourth element (e.g., HVAC entity and object), the at least one fourth element is copied and superimposed into the second file, the at least one fourth element is associated with a fourth control point, and the at least one fourth element can be independently operated through the fourth control point. In these embodiments, the water supply and drainage engineer can control and operate the building elements and HVAC elements respectively through the first control point and the fourth control point. In other embodiments, the fourth file and the first file are a CAD drawing file, then the water supply and drainage engineer can also display or hide the building elements in different positions through the first control point and the fourth control point. In other words, the same CAD drawing can be repeatedly copied and superimposed into the upper-level CAD drawing, and their separate operation and control can also be achieved.

[0174] In some embodiments, rather than setting a first control point as a sub-control point of a second control point, the first element in the first file can be directly associated with the second control point, thus enabling simultaneous manipulation of both the first and second elements. In other words, in these embodiments, the second control point is associated with both the first and second elements. When downstream electrical engineers need to simultaneously display or hide both architectural elements and plumbing elements, they only need to manipulate the second control point. Of course, if downstream electrical engineers only need to hide architectural elements, they can do so by manipulating the first control point alone. In this case, only the architectural elements are hidden, while the plumbing elements remain unaffected.

[0175] In some embodiments, the operations may include, in addition to display and hide, binding, detaching, reloading, or unloading.

[0176] In some embodiments, the at least one first element and the at least one second element are entities, objects, blocks and / or groups on a CAD drawing.

[0177] Invention Example 5: In some embodiments, invention C discloses a hierarchical operation method referenced by a CAD system, which includes the following steps: Figure 24 ):

[0178] CS101 obtains at least one first element from a first file,

[0179] CS102 creates a first control point associated with the at least one first element,

[0180] CS103 copies and overlays the at least one first element into the second file,

[0181] CS104 independently operates the at least one first element through the first control point.

[0182] The difference between the C invention and existing CAD drawing external reference methods is that the content (i.e., various CAD elements, such as entities, objects, blocks, and groups) of the referenced CAD drawing (i.e., the "first file," such as an architectural CAD drawing) is copied and superimposed on the current CAD drawing (i.e., the "second file," such as a water supply and drainage CAD drawing). Furthermore, the copied and superimposed content is associated with a first control point and can therefore be directly controlled by the user editing the current CAD drawing. In other words, one or more first elements extracted from the first file (e.g., a drawing drawn by a construction engineer is the first file, and the drawing contains building walls) can be displayed on the drawing drawn by the water supply and drainage engineer (the second file) using the first control point, or the building walls can be completely hidden.

[0183] In some embodiments, the operating method of the invention further comprises the following steps: Figure 25 ): CS105 obtains at least one second element from the second file; CS106 creates a second control point and associates it with the at least one second element; CS107 copies and overlays the at least one first element and the at least one second element into the third file; CS108 independently operates the at least one second element through the second control point.

[0184] In some embodiments, the operating method of the invention of C also includes the following steps: setting the first control point as a sub-control point of the second control point, and simultaneously operating (i) the at least one second element and (ii) the at least one first element associated with the first control point through the second control point.

[0185] In some embodiments, the operating method of the invention of C also includes the following steps: obtaining at least one fourth element from a fourth file; creating a fourth control point associated with the at least one fourth element; copying and superimposing the at least one fourth element into the second file; and independently operating the at least one fourth element through the fourth control point.

[0186] In some embodiments, the first file and the fourth file are the same CAD drawing. These embodiments actually reflect that a CAD file can be repeatedly referenced by another CAD file, but the CAD user can still independently control these multiple references by setting different control points.

[0187] In some embodiments, the operating method of the invention of C further includes the following steps: directly associating the at least one first element with the second control point; and simultaneously operating the at least one first element and the at least one second element through the second control point. One of the applicable scenarios of these embodiments is that downstream HVAC engineers need to refer to both the architectural and electrical conditions when drawing, and do not need to look at the architectural or electrical layout separately. Therefore, the elements of the architectural drawings and the electrical drawings are associated with the same control point, that is, multiple levels of elements can be switched on and off simultaneously through one control, which can improve the efficiency of CAD users drawing in such scenarios. In some embodiments, the operation is display, hiding, binding, detaching, reloading or unloading. In some embodiments, the at least one first element is an entity, object, block and / or group on a CAD drawing.

[0188] Invention Example 6: In some embodiments, Invention C discloses a hierarchical operating system C500 referenced by a CAD system, comprising: a file storage module C501 for storing a first file and a second file; an element acquisition module C502 for acquiring at least one first element from the first file; a control point creation module C503 for creating a first control point and associating it with the at least one first element; a copy and overlay module C504 for copying and overlaying the at least one first element into the second file; and a control point operation module C505 for independently operating the at least one first element associated with the first control point. In some embodiments, these modules may be independently located or integrated.

[0189] In some embodiments, the element acquisition module C502 acquires at least one second element from the second file; the control point creation module C503 creates a second control point and associates it with the at least one second element; the copy and overlay module C504 copies and overlays the at least one first element and the at least one second element into a third file, and the third file is stored in the file storage module C501; the control point operation module C505 independently operates the at least one second element associated with the second control point.

[0190] In some embodiments, the operating system invented by C also includes: a control point hierarchy construction module C506, used to set the first control point as a sub-control point of the second control point; the control point operation module C505 realizes simultaneous operation of (i) the at least one second element and (ii) the at least one first element associated with the first control point by operating the second control point.

[0191] In some embodiments, the element acquisition module C502 acquires at least one fourth element from a fourth file, and the fourth file is stored in the file storage module C501; the control point creation module C503 creates a fourth control point, which is associated with the at least one fourth element; the copy and overlay module C504 copies and overlays the at least one fourth element into the second file; and the control point operation module C505 independently operates the at least one fourth element by operating the fourth control point.

[0192] In some embodiments, the first file and the fourth file are the same CAD drawing. In some embodiments, the control point creation module C503 directly associates the at least one first element with the second control point, and the control point operation module C505 simultaneously operates the at least one first element and the at least one second element by operating the second control point. In some embodiments, the control point operation module C505 can display, hide, bind, detach, reload, and / or unload. In some embodiments, the at least one first element is an entity, object, block, and / or group on the CAD drawing.

[0193] C Invention Example 6: In some embodiments, C Invention discloses a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a set of instructions, which, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations including: obtaining at least one first element from a first file; creating a first control point associated with the at least one first element; copying and superimposing the at least one first element into a second file; and independently operating the at least one first element through the first control point.

[0194] C Invention Example 7: In some embodiments, C Invention discloses a computer terminal, comprising at least one processor, and a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor, wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises a set of instructions, which, when the at least one processor executes the instructions, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: obtaining at least one first element from a first file; creating a first control point associated with the at least one first element; copying and superimposing the at least one first element into a second file; and independently operating the at least one first element through the first control point.

[0195] Through the above embodiments, it can be seen that invention C has at least the following technical advantages:

[0196] 1. Convenient and fast: When it is necessary to display or hide externally referenced CAD elements due to actual needs, engineers do not need to reinsert the reference (for example, convert between overlay and append types). Instead, they can simply click the corresponding control point in the CAD collaboration system operation interface to display or close the referenced content.

[0197] Existing CAD drawing platforms typically use external references. Therefore, nested reference types (overlay or attached) cannot be easily modified after they are added. Whether you want to hide a nested reference (i.e., switch from attached to overlay) or show it (i.e., switch from overlay to attached), you must open the referenced drawing and adjust the nested reference's reference type.

[0198] The difference between Invention C and existing CAD drawing platforms is that the content of the referenced CAD drawing is copied and overlaid onto the current CAD drawing, and this copying and overlaying can be directly controlled by the user editing the current CAD drawing. Therefore, when CAD drawings are nested, the user editing the current CAD drawing can control whether to display or hide the nested content by deciding whether to copy and overlay between CAD drawings.

[0199] 2. Hierarchical operation: You can still operate on nested references at any level. You are not restricted to operating on the top-level references, nor do you need to operate on the end node of the path (i.e. Figure 25 C2 (C200, C200a, C200b), also known as "leaf nodes"), starts to close layer by layer upwards.

[0200] 3. Each reference operation is independent, and references to the same source reference can be controlled separately, solving the problem of external reference mode that all can be turned on or off at once.

[0201] 4. Invention C allows collaborative design to avoid the problem of circular references to a certain extent - a graphic that contains nested references pointing to itself is called a circular reference. For example, graphic A is attached to graphic B, graphic B is attached to graphic C, and graphic C is attached to graphic A. The reference sequence A>B>C>A is a circular reference. The external reference method in existing CAD systems cannot handle the problem of circular references well - the "overlay type" directly avoids the circular situation (because C will not be displayed), and the cycle will be interrupted in the "attachment type". In invention C, because the drawings at each level are controlled independently, for example, A referenced by C can be closed independently, so even if C circularly references A, there will be no problem - for example, when the HVAC drawing references the water supply and drainage drawing, and the water supply and drainage drawing references the architectural drawing, if the architectural drawing circularly references the HVAC drawing, it is only necessary to set a sub-control point that controls the HVAC drawing under the control point of the architectural drawing. Therefore, invention C can accept circular reference relationships.

[0202] The embodiments of the invention C are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the invention C is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of the invention C, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms without departing from the scope of protection of the invention C and the claims, all of which are protected by the invention C.

[0203] It should be noted that the four sub-inventions (901, 906, 907, and 908) of the present invention are all part of the collaborative design system 900 of the present invention, are technically interconnected, and can be combined, combined, and integrated with each other according to actual needs, and can be adjusted and modified according to actual conditions during the combination, combination, and integration process ( Figure 27 ).

[0204] For example, in some embodiments, the present invention provides a method for referencing external files in a CAD system, which includes the following steps: creating at least one first general reference rule file independent of a first referenced file based on at least one first reference condition, and independently storing it in an extensible file format; a first element of the first referenced file filtered out by the first general reference rule file is copied and superimposed into the current file, and the first element is associated with a first control point, and independent operation of the first element can be achieved through the first control point.

[0205] Now let's illustrate this with an actual application scenario: an electrical engineer sets up a general reference rule file (referred to as "electrical reference rule.XML") for the electrical drawing 914 on the terminal 911 of his CAD collaborative design system. When referencing the water supply and drainage reference drawing 913, the electrical engineer filters out the water supply and drainage CAD elements related to electrical design, copies and overlays them into the electrical drawing 914 he is editing, and associates the water supply and drainage CAD elements with the water supply and drainage element control points, that is, the copied and overlaid water supply and drainage CAD elements can be independently operated through the water supply and drainage element control points (operation methods include, but are not limited to, display, hide, bind, detach, overload or unload). In these embodiments, the electrical engineer can not only filter out CAD elements that are not related to electrical design when referencing (through the electrical reference rule file), but can also flexibly control the display and hiding of the referenced content.

[0206] In some embodiments, the present invention also includes: using the first general reference rule file to filter the content of the second referenced file, copying and superimposing the second element filtered out into the current file, and associating the second element with a second control point, so that independent operation of the second element can be achieved through the second control point.

[0207] Also combined with the scenario explanation: In addition to referencing the water supply and drainage drawing 913, electrical engineers may also need to reference the HVAC drawing (i.e., the second referenced file). Because the electrical reference rule file is stored independently and is expandable in the present invention, electrical engineers can apply the same electrical reference rule file (or modify it) to the HVAC drawing, filter out the HVAC CAD elements related to the electrical design, and copy and overlay them into the current electrical CAD drawing. The filtered HVAC CAD elements are set to be associated with the HVAC control point, that is, the copied and overlaid HVAC CAD elements can be independently operated through the HVAC element control point (operation methods include, but are not limited to, display, hide, bind, detach, overload or unload).

[0208] Because different control points are set up, operations on water supply and drainage elements and HVAC elements can be performed independently.

[0209] In some embodiments, the first referenced file contains a third element copied and superimposed from a third referenced file; the third element is filtered out from the third referenced file through the first general reference rule file and copied and superimposed into the first referenced file; the third element is associated with a third control point, and independent operation of the third element can be achieved through the third control point.

[0210] Similarly, the scenario is explained as follows: when the electrical engineer references the water supply and drainage drawing 913, he actually also references the architectural drawing 912 (i.e., a nested relationship is created). The electrical reference rule file designed by the electrical engineer is actually shared with him by the water supply and drainage engineer. When the water supply and drainage engineer draws the water supply and drainage drawing 913 on his terminal 910, he actually uses the same reference rules when referencing the architectural drawing 912. The filtered architectural elements are set to be associated with the architectural element control points, that is, the architectural CAD elements copied and superimposed on the electrical drawings can be independently operated through the architectural element control points (operation methods include, but are not limited to, display, hide, bind, detach, overload or unload).

[0211] In some embodiments, the present invention also includes the following steps: obtaining a fourth referenced file, wherein the fourth referenced file is modified based on the first referenced file, and the changes between the fourth referenced file and the first referenced file are filtered and screened by the first general reference rule file to obtain relevant change elements, and the relevant change elements are copied and superimposed on the current file, and the relevant change elements and the first element are respectively presented in the current file in different display modes.

[0212] Also combined with the scenario description: the water supply and drainage drawings referenced by the electrical engineer were modified by the water supply and drainage engineer on his own computer terminal 910, resulting in a new version of the water supply and drainage drawings. The collaborative design system prompted the electrical engineer that the water supply and drainage drawings had changed, so the electrical engineer downloaded the new version of the water supply and drainage drawings from the server (i.e., the fourth referenced file). The collaborative design system discovered the changed CAD elements by comparing the old and new versions of the water supply and drainage drawings. Some of these changed CAD elements are related to the electrical engineer's design, while some are not. Therefore, these changed elements can also be filtered through the electrical reference rule file (for example, filtering according to the information in their attributes), and then the relevant changed elements can be copied and superimposed on the electrical drawings. These changed elements are displayed in an easily identifiable manner (for example, different colors, styles), so that the electrical engineer can clearly see the changes in the water supply and drainage drawings and can continue to edit his own electrical drawings accordingly.

[0213] In some embodiments, the current file can be edited while referencing the relevant changed elements. Because the relevant changed elements are copied and superimposed on the current electrical drawing, electrical engineers can continue to modify their own electrical drawings while referring to the changes in the water supply and drainage drawings on the same operating interface.

[0214] In some embodiments, a data summary file is generated based on the current file after editing is completed, and detailed information of the incremental data generated after editing of the current file is completed is saved in an incremental database. The data summary file includes the saving path of the detailed information of the incremental data in the incremental database.

[0215] Similarly, the scenario is described as follows: After the electrical engineer finishes editing his own electrical drawing 914, he can submit his own electrical drawing 914 to the timeline storage device in the server. The timeline storage device compares the electrical drawings before and after the electrical engineer's modification, saves the changes in the incremental data in the incremental database, and forms a new data summary file and the associated restore point 904.

[0216] Restore point 904 is located on timeline 903, which represents the global timeline of the collaborative design project in which the electrical engineer participates (i.e., each restore point contains all CAD files related to the project at that point in time). The baseline restore point is 905, which contains the electrical engineer's earliest electrical drawing. To view the earliest drawing, the electrical engineer only needs to obtain the data summary file from the restore point. The detailed information of the CAD elements recorded in the data summary file can be retrieved from the incremental database, allowing the engineer to quickly and accurately restore the earliest electrical CAD drawing.

[0217] Of course, in different embodiments, the specific implementation may vary - for example, the computer terminal where an electrical engineer works can identify the differences between the old and new versions of electrical drawings, and upload the detailed information of the incremental data corresponding to the differences to the incremental database in the server, reducing the pressure of data transmission.

[0218] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising the element.

[0219] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary general hardware platform, and of course can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better embodiment. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), including a number of instructions for enabling a computer terminal (which can be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present invention.

[0220] The embodiments of the present invention are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of the present invention, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention and the claims, all of which are protected by the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for referencing external files in a CAD system, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: At least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file is created based on at least one reference condition added by the current user, and is independently stored in an extensible file format; at least one referenced file is filtered based on at least one first universal reference rule file selected by the current user, and the filtered referenced file is added to the main file; the reference condition includes a drawing filtering operation instruction; The at least one reference condition added by the current user is a reference condition that is already associated with the referenced file and set by the current user or another user, or is a newly added reference condition, or is obtained by modifying a previously set reference condition.

2. The citation method according to claim 1, wherein: The first universal citation rule file is obtained by expanding the second universal citation rule file sent by the collaborating party, and the second universal citation rule file is created according to at least one citation condition selected by the collaborating party; And / or, the reference rule file is stored in XML format.

3. The citation method according to claim 2, wherein: The drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on each object type and characteristics in the referenced file.

4. A method for referencing external files in a CAD system, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Obtain at least one third universal reference rule file sent by the collaborating party; citing at least one cited file according to the selected at least one third universal citing rule file; The third universal reference rule file is created in advance based on at least one reference condition selected by the collaborating party and is independently stored in an extensible file format; the reference condition includes a drawing filtering operation instruction; The at least one citation condition selected by the collaborating party is a citation condition that is already associated with the referenced file and set by the collaborating party or other users, or is a newly added citation condition, or is obtained by modifying a previously set citation condition.

5. The citation method according to claim 4, wherein: The reference rule file is stored in XML format.

6. The citation method according to claim 5, wherein: The drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on each object type and characteristics in the referenced file.

7. An external file reference device used in a CAD system, characterized in that: include: a reference rule file creation module, configured to create at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file based on at least one reference condition added by the current user, and store the file independently in an extensible file format; the reference condition includes a drawing filtering operation instruction; wherein the at least one reference condition added by the current user is a reference condition already associated with the referenced file and set by the current user or another user, or is a newly added reference condition, or is obtained by modifying a previously set reference condition; a first storage module, configured to store at least one first universal reference rule file created by the reference rule file creation module; The first quoting module is configured to filter at least one of the referenced files according to at least one of the first general quoting rule files selected by the current user, and add the filtered referenced file to the main file.

8. The external file referencing device according to claim 7, wherein: The first universal citation rule file is obtained by the citation rule file creation module by expanding a second universal citation rule file sent by the collaborating party, and the second universal citation rule file is created according to at least one citation condition selected by the collaborating party; And / or, the reference rule file is stored in XML format.

9. The external file referencing device according to claim 8, wherein: The drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on each object type and characteristics in the referenced file.

10. An external file reference device used in a CAD system, characterized in that: include: an acquisition module, configured to acquire at least one second universal reference rule file sent by a collaborating party; A second quoting module, configured to quote at least one cited file according to at least one second general quoting rule file selected by the current user; The second general reference rule file is created in advance based on at least one reference condition added by the collaborating party and is independently stored in an extensible file format; the reference condition includes: filtering drawing operation instructions; The at least one reference condition added by the collaborating party is a reference condition that is already associated with the referenced file and set by the collaborating party or other users, or is a newly added reference condition, or is obtained by modifying a previously set reference condition.

11. The external file referencing device according to claim 10, wherein: The reference rule file is stored in XML format.

12. The external file referencing device according to claim 11, wherein: The drawing filtering operation instruction is a custom reference condition added based on the types of elements and their characteristics in the referenced file.

13. A method for referencing external files in a CAD system, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Creating at least one first universal citation rule file independent of the first cited file according to at least one first citation condition, and storing the file independently in an extensible file format; The first element filtered out of the first referenced file by the first general reference rule file is copied and superimposed into the current file, and the first element is associated with the first control point, and independent operation of the first element can be achieved through the first control point.

14. The method for referencing external files in a CAD system according to claim 13, wherein: Also includes: Using the first universal reference rule file to filter the content of the second referenced file, copying and overlaying the second element filtered out into the current file, and associating the second element with a second control point, so that independent operations on the second element can be implemented through the second control point; Alternatively, the first referenced file includes a third element copied and superimposed from a third referenced file; the third element is filtered from the third referenced file through the first general reference rule file and copied and superimposed into the first referenced file; the third element is associated with a third control point, and independent operation of the third element can be achieved through the third control point; Alternatively, a fourth referenced file is obtained, wherein the fourth referenced file is modified based on the first referenced file, and the changes between the fourth referenced file and the first referenced file are filtered and screened by the first general reference rule file to obtain relevant change elements, and the relevant change elements are copied and superimposed on the current file, and the relevant change elements and the first elements are presented in the current file in different display modes.

15. The method for referencing external files in a CAD system according to claim 14, wherein: The current file is edited while referring to the related changed elements.

16. The method for referencing external files in a CAD system according to claim 15, wherein: A data summary file is generated based on the current file after editing, and detailed information of incremental data generated after editing the current file is saved in an incremental database. The data summary file includes a saving path of the detailed information of incremental data in the incremental database.

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