Method and system for checking reference change of CAD drawing in editable environment

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for viewing reference change of a CAD drawing in an editable environment, which is characterized by comprising the following steps: S101, acquiring a first file and a second file; s102, quoting a second file by the first file, and superposing a first element on the second file into the first file; s103, acquiring a third file; s104, acquiring a first change element of the third file and comparing the first change element with the second file; and S105, the first change element is also superposed into the first file. According to the method and the device, the CAD drawing user can check the updating condition of the quoted drawing under the condition that the CAD drawing user can continue to edit the current CAD drawing, so that the technical problem that in an existing CAD system, after the change of the quoted drawing is displayed and checked outside the current CAD drawing, the current CAD drawing needs to be returned to continue to edit is solved, and the convenience and the efficiency of CAD collaborative design are improved.

Description

Priority application

[0001] The present application claims the priority of Chinese invention patent applications (i) CN201810778814.6 “A method and system for timeline management of 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 references in a CAD graphic system”, and (iv) CN201810777826.7 “A method for viewing reference changes in a CAD graphic in an editable drawing environment” filed on July 16, 2018, and these four priority invention patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and system for checking reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) collaborative design system. Background Art

[0003] There are three characteristics of CAD collaborative design projects: first, there are many disciplines, many graphic files, and the reference relationship between graphic files is intricate; second, the format of the drawing files is complex, and most of them are binary data, and the data is relatively random; third, the file size of the drawing 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 in the process of promoting collaborative design projects, engineers of various disciplines need to constantly refer to each other's CAD drawings to draw their own drawings (for example, water supply and drainage engineers need to refer to the architectural drawings that are being drawn and not yet completed by architectural engineers when drawing water supply and drainage CAD drawings). The references between the collaborative parties 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 also refer to architectural drawings). In addition, the drawing process often requires repeated modifications and repeated selections between different versions.

[0004] Traditional CAD systems have many drawbacks in terms of file management, transmission and storage, as well as file reference functions (e.g., external references). For example, CAD file storage and transmission data overhead is high and inefficient, and it is often inconvenient for CAD users to view CAD file versions created and edited at different times. In addition, due to the limitations of the external reference reference method, a series of problems have arisen: (i) the current CAD drawing has a single filtering method when referencing external files, making it difficult to accurately focus on the elements that the current user is most concerned about; (ii) it is difficult to conveniently handle nested relationships, and it is cumbersome to switch between the nesting modes of "overlay" and "attachment"; and (iii) it is impossible to view changes in the content of the referenced drawing while editing the current CAD drawing, and it is very troublesome to switch between the editing interface and the viewing change interface. These all negatively affect the efficiency of CAD collaborative design work, and even have the risk of causing confusion in collaborative design projects. Summary of the invention

[0005] In response to the above technical problems, the present invention provides a novel 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.

[0006] The present invention first discloses a timeline management system (and method, computer storage medium, computer terminal) for CAD files, which includes: 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 first data detailed information corresponding to the first data summary information in the incremental database; and the data summary file is set to be associated with a first restore point. The present invention uses a data summary file and an incremental database to manage CAD files, which can reduce the amount of data transmission 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.

[0007] In another aspect, the present invention also discloses a method for referencing external files in a CAD system, a referencing device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer terminal. The reference method comprises the following steps: creating at least one first universal reference rule file independent of the referenced file according to at least one reference condition, and independently storing it in an extensible file format; and referencing at least one of the referenced files according to at least one selected first universal reference rule file. The present invention adopts a reference rule file independent of the referenced file, which can not only be reused by users, but also avoids repeated setting of reference conditions, and improves the efficiency and accuracy of users' collaborative drawing operations.

[0008] 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, including at least one first element; a second file, including 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 additional 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.

[0009] On the other hand, the present invention also discloses a method (and system, computer storage medium, computer terminal) for viewing reference changes in a CAD drawing in an editable environment, which includes 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 on the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains a third file; DS104 obtains the first change element of the third file compared with the second file; and DS105 superimposes the first change element into the first file. The present invention allows CAD drawing users to view the update status of referenced drawings while continuing to edit the current CAD drawing, thereby solving the technical problem in existing CAD systems that it is necessary to display and view the changes of referenced drawings outside the current CAD drawing, and then return to the current CAD drawing to continue editing, thereby improving the convenience and efficiency of CAD collaborative design.

[0010] Compared with traditional CAD systems, the CAD collaborative design system provided by the present invention allows CAD files to be stored according to a timeline, and versions created, modified, and updated at different times can be restored and consulted 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.

[0011] The new reference method not only allows CAD drawing engineers to easily filter the contents of referenced files, but also allows them to share the reference rules they set with other collaborators; the multi-level display method avoids many problems caused by nesting in existing external references, and increases the flexibility when referencing 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 simultaneous 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

[0012] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the prior art descriptions. In all the drawings, similar elements or parts are generally identified by similar reference numerals. In the drawings, each element or part is not necessarily drawn according to the actual proportion. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the sub-inventions A, B, C and D of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0013] Figure 1 A flow chart of an embodiment of a method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable drawing environment of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a CAD graphic drawn by B in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 3 A is a schematic diagram of a CAD graphic drawn by A with reference to B in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a CAD graphic after modification by B in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 5 This is an interface diagram of A viewing and editing B modifying a graphic in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 6 A is a schematic diagram of a graphic drawn by A with reference to the modified CAD graphic of B in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 7a A flow chart of an embodiment of a method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable drawing environment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 7b A flow chart of an embodiment of a method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable drawing environment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a system embodiment for viewing reference changes of CAD graphics in an editable drawing environment of the present invention;

[0022] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the CAD collaborative design system of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are 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 creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0024] Herein, suffixes such as "module", "component" or "unit" used to represent elements are only used to facilitate the description of the present invention, and have no specific meanings by themselves. Therefore, "module", "component" or "unit" can be used mixedly.

[0025] It should be noted that the various sub-inventions in the present invention (A invention, B invention, C invention and D invention) can be combined to derive other technical solutions, solve more technical problems and produce more technical effects. Therefore, the descriptions of each sub-invention in this article can be mutually verified, explained, illustrated, combined, combined and integrated. For example, some embodiments of the inventions B, C and D can be combined to form a more efficient and convenient technical solution for referencing external files. The combination of the invention A and other sub-inventions allows the edited and modified CAD files to be more efficiently stored and shared with the collaborative parties.

[0026] However, the description of each sub-invention in this article may involve some identical or similar terms. If these identical or similar terms conflict or contradict in understanding and meaning, the understanding and meaning of these terms in the description of the sub-invention to which they belong shall prevail. For example, the terms "first document", "second document", "referenced document" and so on may appear in different sub-inventions. In this case, the "first document" in invention B shall prevail in terms of its understanding and meaning in invention B, and the "first document" in invention C shall prevail in terms of its understanding and meaning in invention C.

[0027] Definition of noun:

[0028] "Entity": In this article, an entity refers to the graphic data on a CAD file that is displayed on the CAD drawing interface. An entity has attributes, which are data values ​​that control specific visual characteristics of an entity or element (such as visibility, color, and line style). In different embodiments, an entity may also be referred to as a "pixel" or "element".

[0029] "Object": In this article, objects refer to information on CAD files that will not be 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).

[0030] "Element": In this article, element refers to all possible information on a CAD file, including "entities" and "objects", and can also be blocks, groups, and unit definitions based on "entities" and / or "objects".

[0031] "File": In this article, file refers to various files that can be run in the CAD system and are used to draw, 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, etc.

[0032] "Collaborators": In this article, collaborators refer to users who participate in a drawing project and work together. The collaborators may have the same expertise (for example, multiple engineers from the architectural profession drawing together) or different expertise (for example, architectural engineers, water supply and drainage engineers, electrical engineers, and HVAC engineers drawing together). The collaborators refer to each other's drawings.

[0033] "Control point": In this article (especially for the C invention), a control point refers to an abstract description of a group of operating elements (including entities, objects, blocks, groups), which is similar to the concept of a handle. Through the control point, this set can be quickly located, and then a series of operations on the elements in the set can be performed. Of course, in some special cases, a group / set may contain only 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.

[0034] D invention: Method, system, computer-readable storage medium and computer terminal for viewing reference changes in CAD drawings in an editable environment

[0035] D invention relates to a method, system, computer-readable storage medium and computer terminal for viewing reference changes in a CAD drawing in an editable environment.

[0036] When multiple people work together to complete a project, they are not completely independent of each other. There will be reference relationships between them. They will do their own work based on the work results of others, and also provide references for the work of others. And a meaningful design result will not be formed in one go, but will be gradually improved after many modifications. The above situation will lead to an important step in collaborative work, which is to update the modifications of other people's CAD drawings (that is, reference files or reference files) to synchronize the latest results and ensure that the subsequent design work will not deviate. However, after the update, you will often find that a lot of content has been changed. If it affects your own work content, you need to accurately locate the corresponding modifications and modify your work to adapt to the current status, which will take a lot of energy and time.

[0037] Although the current traditional CAD drawing platforms are equipped with drawing comparison tools, users are required to save the old and new versions of CAD drawings, use the comparison tool to load the two versions of files, and then the differences between the two versions of CAD drawings will be displayed in the drawing area. Such drawing comparison tools have the following technical problems. In the process of collaborative drawing on the existing CAD drawing platform, reference to other people's CAD drawings is always made using external references (XREF for short). For example, A refers to B, and B is modified and saved as a new version B'. After A updates the reference to B, he can directly see the content of the latest version of B, that is, B', and the old version of B is no longer displayed; therefore, if A wants to see what changes have been made from B to B', he can only manually save an old version of B file for comparison every time he is prompted to update. The comparison process is to use a comparison tool to compare the old version of B and the new version of file B' (for example, the "DWG Compare" tool provided in AUTOCAD), but this comparison process is performed outside of A's own CAD drawing: for example, a new drawing will be formed in AUTOCAD, which contains the comparison results, and the name of the comparison image is a combination of the comparison drawing file names, that is, Compare_filename1 and filename2.dwg. Therefore, A cannot see the contents of his own CAD drawing at this time. Even if A finds that B's modification affects his own design, he can only write down the modification and then open his own CAD drawing to make the corresponding modification.

[0038] This traditional method of comparing referenced files to view modifications to referenced files makes it difficult to quickly find and locate the modified and updated content when updating the content of the referenced files. Each version of the referenced file needs to be maintained by itself, and when viewing changes in external referenced files, the content of the current CAD drawing cannot be seen, which is not conducive to the efficient development of collaborative work.

[0039] The purpose of the invention is to provide a new method for editing and viewing changes in a CAD system, attempting to overcome or alleviate to a certain extent the technical problem that editing and viewing changes cannot be performed simultaneously in the existing CAD system.

[0040] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, D invention discloses a method for viewing reference changes in a CAD drawing in an editable environment, which includes 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 on 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.

[0041] Further, on the first file, the superimposed first element is displayed in a first display mode; and the superimposed first changed element is displayed in a second display mode.

[0042] Further, on the first file, 1) elements common to the second file and the third file are displayed in a first style; 2) elements existing only in the second file are displayed in a second style; and 3) elements existing only in the third file are displayed in a third style.

[0043] Furthermore, the D invention also includes: editing the first file, and drawing a second element on the first file.

[0044] Furthermore, the D invention also includes: DS106 obtains a fourth file; DS107 obtains a second change element of the fourth file compared with the third file; DS108 superimposes the second change element into the first file.

[0045] Furthermore, the superimposed second change element is displayed on the first file in a third display mode.

[0046] Furthermore, the first change element includes one or more of an added element, a deleted element, and a modified element.

[0047] Furthermore, the first change element is based on incremental data of the third file compared to the second file.

[0048] Furthermore, the second file and the third file are different versions of the same CAD drawing.

[0049] Furthermore, the invention also includes storing the first file, the second file, and the third file.

[0050] In order to overcome or alleviate the technical problem that editing and viewing changes cannot be performed simultaneously in the existing CAD system, the D invention also discloses a system D500 for viewing reference changes in a CAD drawing in an editable environment, which includes: a file acquisition module D501, an element acquisition module D502, a copy and overlay module D504, and an update monitoring module D507; the file acquisition module D501 is configured to acquire a first file and a second file; the element acquisition module D502 is connected to the file acquisition module D501 and is configured to acquire a first element on the second file; the copy and overlay module D504 is connected to the element acquisition module D502 and is configured to overlay the first element into the first file; the update monitoring module D507 is connected to the file acquisition module D501 and is configured to prompt the file acquisition module D501 to acquire a third file, and compare the second file and the third file to find a first changed element; the element acquisition module D501 is connected to the update monitoring module D507 to acquire the first changed element, and overlay the first changed element into the first file through the copy and overlay module D504.

[0051] Furthermore, the D invention also includes a display control module D508, which displays the superimposed first element in a first display mode; and displays the superimposed first changing element in a second display mode.

[0052] Furthermore, the D invention also includes a display control module D508, which, on the first file, 1) displays the elements common to the second file and the third file in a first style; 2) displays the elements that only exist in the second file in a second style; and 3) displays the elements that only exist in the third file in a third style.

[0053] Furthermore, the D invention also includes a file editing module D509, which is used to edit the first file and draw a second element on the first file.

[0054] Furthermore, the file acquisition module D501 is configured to acquire a fourth file; the update monitoring module D507 is configured to compare the third file and the fourth file, find a second change element, and overlay the second change element onto the first file through the copy and overlay module D504.

[0055] Further, on the first file, the display control module D508 displays the superimposed second changing element in a third display mode.

[0056] Furthermore, the first change element includes one or more of an added element, a deleted element, and a modified element.

[0057] Furthermore, the first change element is based on incremental data of the third file compared to the second file.

[0058] Furthermore, the second file and the third file are different versions of the same CAD drawing.

[0059] Furthermore, the D invention also includes a file storage module, which is configured to store the first file, the second file, and the third file.

[0060] In order to overcome or alleviate the technical problem that editing and viewing changes cannot be performed simultaneously in the existing CAD system, the D invention also discloses a computer-readable storage medium for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment, and the computer-readable storage medium includes a set of instructions, which, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations including the following: DS101 obtains a first file and a second file; DS102 The first file references the second file and superimposes the first element on the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains a third file; DS104 obtains the first change element of the third file compared with the second file; and DS105 also superimposes the first change element into the first file.

[0061] In order to overcome or alleviate the technical problem that editing and viewing changes cannot be performed simultaneously in the existing CAD system, the D invention also discloses a computer terminal for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment, 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 at least one processor executes the instructions, it causes at least one processor to perform the following operations: DS101 obtains a first file and a second file; DS102 the first file references the second file, and superimposes the first element on the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains a third file; DS104 obtains the first change element of the third file compared with the second file; and DS105 also superimposes the first change element into the first file.

[0062] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiment of the invention D clearer, the technical solution in the embodiment of the invention D will be described clearly and completely in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiment of the invention D. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiment of the invention D, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiment of the invention D, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the invention D.

[0063] D. Invention Example 1

[0064] like Figure 1 As shown, the method for viewing reference changes of CAD graphics in an editable drawing environment includes the following steps:

[0065] For the convenience of description, the current draftsman is set as A and the referenced party is set as B;

[0066] B draws his own drawing (DS01) and submits it to the server (DS02). The server records a version B1 (DS03).

[0067] A draws his own drawings and refers to B's work. The reference process will copy B's content and overlay it on A's drawings. A can refer to B's content when drawing his own drawings (DS04);

[0068] B modifies his own drawing and submits it to the server again (DS05). The server records the second version B2 (DS06).

[0069] A updates the referenced drawing. At this time, A will see the latest status of B's ​​drawing (DS07);

[0070] When A checks the changes, the system will compare the first and second versions (i.e. B1 vs. B2), analyze and obtain the incremental data of the two versions, and these added, deleted and modified objects will be superimposed in different colors in the drawing interface of A (DS08); A can see and modify his own content while checking these differences (DS09).

[0071] D. Invention Example 2

[0072] Simulate an application scenario of D's invention, two CAD users A and B work together. A draws file a.dwx, B draws file b.dwx, A quotes / refers to B's work results, and draws a frame to surround B's content. Figure 3 As shown, the current status of b.dwx is as follows Figure 2As shown. The circle D202 and the square wireframe D204 are the contents of b.dwx, and A draws a surrounding wireframe D302 around them. It should be noted that A cannot modify the referenced content of b.dwx at this time, that is, the circle D202 and the square frame D204 in the frame D302 cannot be modified, and they belong to the referenced reference file content - for example, the downstream water supply and drainage engineer can only draw his own water supply and drainage drawings by referring to the architectural CAD drawings drawn by the upstream construction engineer, and usually has no authority to modify and adjust the drawings of the construction engineer.

[0073] At this time, B modifies the b.dwx file in his CAD operation terminal, draws a new line D406, and moves the position of circle D202 (the circle in the new position is marked as D202a). Then B submits the modification and stores it on the server. At this time, the b.dwx file is as follows: Figure 4 As shown. At this time, A is prompted by the system that an update is required (for example, A receives a prompt message on his CAD operating terminal). After the update, A hopes to check what content B has modified in this update and whether it will have any impact on the drawing that A is drawing. In the embodiment of D's invention, A does not need to find the previous version of b.dwx at this time. When A uses a graphical interface to request to view the changes, the system will compare the incremental data of the new and old versions, and then superimpose the added, deleted and modified content in different colors (or other different forms, for example, using dotted lines or bold) on the current drawing area. A can continue to edit and modify the content of his own drawing while viewing the changes in b.dwx.

[0074] The system displays the comparison Figure 5 As shown, in an actual operating system, different colors can be used to mark newly added content (for example, newly added lines D406) and modified content (for example, moved circle D202a), and a specific interface can be used to provide a list of all modified content (for example, the list on the left). Clicking on an item in the list can accurately locate the graphic position, which is convenient for viewing when the amount of change is large. In the process of viewing these changes, the wireframe D302 drawn by A himself is perfectly displayed on the CAD drawing that A is currently drawing, and can be modified directly, thus providing the current drawing in an editable environment, and at the same time, changes in the drawings of others that are referenced can be viewed. In this simulated scenario, A enlarges the wireframe D302 drawn by himself to frame the newly added line D406 and the moved circle D202a. The modification effect is as follows: Figure 6 shown.

[0075] D. Invention Example 3

[0076] D invention discloses a method for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment, which comprises the following steps: Figure 7a): DS101 obtains a first file and a second file; DS102 the first file references the second file and superimposes the first element on 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.

[0077] In some embodiments, the first element superimposed on the first file is displayed in a first display mode; and the first changing element superimposed on the first file is displayed in a second display mode. According to different application scenarios, the first display and the second display modes can use different colors, different line styles (for example, virtual and real, thick and thin), and different highlighting methods (for example, the changing element can be made semi-transparent or in watermark mode).

[0078] In some embodiments, on the first file, elements common to the second file and the third file are displayed in a first style; elements existing only in the second file are displayed in a second style; and elements existing only in the third file are displayed in a third style.

[0079] Please note that different terms are used here for display modes, such as "Xth display mode" and "Xth style display", which is mainly to facilitate the distinction of different display systems in different embodiments. In the embodiment of the D invention, the selection of the display mode is mainly to facilitate the user to clearly view the changes in the content of the referenced file. As long as the display mode can achieve this purpose in the CAD system, it can be applied to the D invention and should also be within the protection scope of the D invention.

[0080] In some embodiments, the D invention further includes: editing the first file, and drawing a second element on the first file.

[0081] In some embodiments, the D invention further comprises the following steps: Figure 7b ): DS106 obtains a fourth file; DS107 obtains a second change element of the fourth file compared with the third file; DS108 superimposes the second change element into the first file.

[0082] In some embodiments, D invention displays the second changing element superimposed on the first file in a third display mode.

[0083] In some embodiments, the first change element includes one or more of adding elements (for example, adding a new CAD entity line on the referenced drawing), deleting elements (for example, deleting a CAD entity line on the referenced drawing), and modifying elements (for example, moving, lengthening, shortening, rotating, or drawing a CAD entity line on the referenced CAD drawing).

[0084] In some embodiments, the first change element is based on the incremental data of the third file compared to the second file. In some embodiments, the second file and the third file are different versions of the same CAD drawing. In some embodiments, the D invention also includes storing the first file, the second file, and the third file.

[0085] D. Invention Example 4

[0086] D invention also discloses a system D500 for viewing reference changes in CAD drawings in an editable environment, see Figure 8 , which includes a file acquisition module D501, an element acquisition module D502, a copy and overlay module D504, and an update monitoring module D507; the file acquisition module D501 is configured to acquire a first file and a second file; the element acquisition module D502 is connected to the file acquisition module D501 and is configured to acquire a first element on the second file; the copy and overlay module D504 is connected to the element acquisition module D502 and is configured to overlay the first element onto the first file; the update monitoring module D507 is connected to the file acquisition module D501 and is configured to prompt the file acquisition module D501 to acquire a third file, and compare the second file with the third file to find a first changed element; the element acquisition module D502 is connected to the update monitoring module D507 to acquire the first changed element, and overlay the first changed element onto the first file through the copy and overlay module D504.

[0087] In some embodiments, the various modules described above may be implemented by computer hardware and software in the user's local computer terminal; or some modules may be in the local computer and some in a remote server; or all modules may be located in a remote server and their operating results may be displayed on a local display via the network.

[0088] Compared with traditional CAD systems, it is obvious that the D invention superimposes the changed elements and updated contents into the CAD drawing currently being edited, allowing the current CAD user to see the changes without closing or moving the current CAD drawing, so that the current CAD drawing can continue to be edited, making collaborative design more convenient and working more efficient.

[0089] In some embodiments, the file acquisition module D501 may be acquired from a local computer terminal (i.e., files that can be used in the CAD system and are originally stored in the local computer of the drawing engineer), or may be a newly created CAD file in the local CAD drawing software, or may be a CAD file acquired through network transmission from a remote server or the cloud. When acquiring a CAD file from a remote server, it may be that all relevant files of a large CAD drawing project are transmitted together in the form of a file package, or it may be based on the existing CAD drawings locally, and the required CAD file is formed by superimposing and absorbing incremental data.

[0090] In some embodiments, the operating mechanism of the element acquisition module D502 is to acquire elements that meet the requirements by analyzing and parsing the properties of elements (e.g., entities, objects, blocks, groups, etc.), or in some embodiment systems, identify and search for certain marks / identifications / tags to acquire the required CAD elements.

[0091] In some embodiments, the copying and superimposing is to copy the required elements and then add them to the CAD drawing currently being drawn. However, these superimposed introduced elements are only used as references for the current CAD drawing and cannot be modified by the current CAD user. For example, when electrical engineers and HVAC engineers quote architectural CAD drawings, even if they have suggestions for the wall arrangement of the drawings provided by the architectural engineer, they must also feedback to the architectural engineer through, for example, adding comments to the collaborative system, and cannot modify it by themselves, otherwise confusion may occur in the collaborative design project. In different application scenarios, the D invention can be implemented in different ways. For example, in some embodiments, the referenced content is only displayed on different layers and can be modified. When downstream electrical engineers and HVAC engineers store CAD drawings, only the electrical and HVAC contents are saved respectively, and the architectural content is not saved (i.e., the electrical and HVAC CAD drawings only have electrical and HVAC CAD elements respectively). Of course, if it is necessary to store the referenced content such as architecture together, it is also possible. In other embodiments, the modification permission can be locked by setting an identification / mark / tag for the referenced content so that it cannot be modified. Of course, in some application scenarios and embodiments, there may be a "chief designer" or a "chief design team" who can be given the authority to modify the referenced content - for example, the chief designer can adjust the architectural, water supply and drainage, electrical and HVAC elements at the end of the project.

[0092] In some embodiments, the D invention further includes a display control module D508, which displays the superimposed first element in a first display mode; and displays the superimposed first changing element in a second display mode.

[0093] In some embodiments, the D invention also includes a display control module D508, which displays, on the first file, elements common to the second file and the third file in a first style; displays elements that only exist in the second file in a second style; and displays elements that only exist in the third file in a third style.

[0094] In some embodiments, the D invention further includes: a file editing module D509, for editing the first file and drawing a second element on the first file.

[0095] In some embodiments, the file acquisition module D501 is configured to acquire a fourth file; the update monitoring module D507 is configured to compare the third file and the fourth file, find a second change element, and overlay the second change element onto the first file through the copy and overlay module D504.

[0096] In some embodiments, on the first file, the display control module D508 displays the superimposed second change element in a third display mode. In some embodiments, the first change element includes one or more of an added element, a deleted element, and a modified element. In some embodiments, the first change element is based on the incremental data of the third file compared to the second file. In some embodiments, the second file and the third file are different versions of the same CAD drawing. In some embodiments, the D invention also includes a file storage module, which is configured to store the first file, the second file, and the third file. The file storage module can be either in a local computer terminal or in a cloud server.

[0097] D. Invention Example 5

[0098] D invention also discloses a computer-readable storage medium for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment, the computer-readable storage medium includes a set of instructions, when the instructions are executed, it causes at least one processor to perform the following operations: DS101 obtains a first file and a second file; DS102 the first file references the second file, and superimposes the first element on the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains a third file; DS104 obtains the first change element of the third file compared with the second file; and DS105 superimposes the first change element into the first file.

[0099] D. Embodiment 6 of the invention

[0100] D invention also discloses a computer terminal for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment, 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 at least one processor executes the instructions, it causes at least one processor to perform the following operations: DS101 obtains a first file and a second file; DS102 the first file references the second file, and superimposes the first element on the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains a third file; DS104 obtains the first change element of the third file compared with the second file; and DS105 superimposes the first change element into the first file.

[0101] Please note that the purpose of D's invention is to view changes in the referenced or referenced content, not to view changes in the CAD drawing currently being edited. That is, when A references B, A can see the content of B for reference only when drawing, but cannot modify B. A can only draw and modify A's own things. At this time, if B has been modified, A can use the system and method provided by D's invention to view what changes have been made to the current B relative to the old B, and thus modify A's own drawing content accordingly.

[0102] Through the above embodiments, it can be seen that the technical problems solved and the technical effects achieved by the D invention are as follows: The D invention provides a method for viewing reference changes in a CAD graphic in an editable drawing environment, so that CAD users can easily view and confirm the reference modified content, and the modified content is graphically displayed in the editing interface, which very intuitively shows the addition, deletion, and modification of various modifications, which is clear at a glance. It is convenient to edit the graphics content that you are drawing according to the modifications to the reference content, which greatly saves the communication cost between CAD collaborative users and improves work efficiency. It also allows CAD users to edit the content they are drawing while viewing the reference content modifications, which is convenient and quick.

[0103] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the D invention, not to limit it; although the D invention is described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that it is still possible to modify the technical solutions recorded in the aforementioned embodiments, or to replace some or all of the technical features therein by equivalents; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solution deviate from the scope of the technical solution of each embodiment of the D invention, and they should all be included in the scope of the claims and specification of the D invention. For example, the application scenario of the D invention can be carried out in a local computer (i.e., in local software, PC version), or it can be carried out completely in the cloud, and the local is just a display (i.e., the D invention is applied to network software). In addition, in some embodiments and application scenarios, the display mode of certain content can be the same, for example, the first display mode in the third embodiment of the D invention is set to be the same as the second display mode, but different from the third display mode (i.e., in this scenario, the first change does not need to be paid attention to).

[0104] It should be noted that the four sub-inventions (901, 906, 907, 908) of the present invention are all part of the collaborative design system 900 of the present invention, are technically connected, 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 ( Fig. 9 ).

[0105] 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 and selected by the first general reference rule file is copied and superimposed on the current file, and the first element is associated with a first control point, and independent operations on the first element can be achieved through the first control point.

[0106] Now let's explain it in conjunction with an actual application scenario: an electrical engineer sets up a general reference rule file (referred to as "electrical reference rule.XML") for electrical drawings 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 the 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, electrical engineers can not only filter out CAD elements that are not related to electrical design when referencing (through electrical reference rule files), but can also flexibly control the display and hiding of the referenced content.

[0107] 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 selected by the filter 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.

[0108] Similarly, combined with the scenario description: In addition to referencing the water supply and drainage drawing 913, electrical engineers may also need to refer to the HVAC drawing (i.e., the second referenced file). Because the electrical reference rule file is independently stored and 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 on 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).

[0109] Because different control points are set, operations on water supply and drainage elements and on HVAC elements can be performed independently.

[0110] In some embodiments, the first referenced file contains a third element copied and superimposed from a third referenced file; the third element is filtered and selected from the third referenced file through the first general reference rule file, copied and superimposed to 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.

[0111] Similarly, in combination with the scenario explanation: the electrical engineer references the water supply and drainage drawing 913 and 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 and references the architectural drawing 912, the reference rules used are actually the same. The filtered and selected 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).

[0112] 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 selected 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 respectively presented in the current file in different display modes.

[0113] Similarly, the scenario description is combined with the following: the water supply and drainage drawings cited by the electrical engineer were modified by the water supply and drainage engineer on his own computer terminal 910, and a new version of the water supply and drainage drawings was generated. 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 (i.e., the fourth referenced file) from the server. 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 its attributes), and then the relevant changed elements are copied and superimposed on the electrical drawings. These changed elements are displayed in an easily identifiable manner (for example, different colors and 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.

[0114] In some embodiments, the current file is edited while referring to the related change elements. Because the related change elements are copied and superimposed on the current electrical drawings, 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 operation interface.

[0115] In some embodiments, a data summary file is generated based on the current file after editing, and detailed information of incremental data generated after editing of the current file is saved in an incremental database. The data summary file includes the saving path of the incremental data detailed information in the incremental database.

[0116] Similarly, in combination with the scenario description: after the electrical engineer has edited 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 therein in the form of incremental data into the incremental database, and forms a new data summary file and the associated restore point 904.

[0117] The restore point 904 is located on the timeline 903, which is 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 time point), and the base restore point is 905, which contains the electrical drawings drawn by the electrical engineer at the earliest time. If the electrical engineer needs to view the drawings drawn at the earliest time, he only needs to obtain the data summary file from the restore point, and the detailed information of the CAD elements recorded in the data summary file can be obtained from the incremental database, so as to quickly and accurately restore and generate the electrical CAD drawings drawn by him at the earliest time.

[0118] 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 detailed information on the incremental data corresponding to the differences to the incremental database in the server, reducing the pressure of data transmission.

[0119] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." does not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0120] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, 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, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk), and includes a number of instructions for a computer terminal (which can be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present invention.

[0121] 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 modes, which are merely illustrative rather than 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 within the protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for viewing reference changes in a CAD drawing in an editable environment, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: DS101 obtains the first file and the second file; DS102: the first file references the second file, and superimposes the first element in the second file into the first file; DS103 obtains the third file; DS104 obtains a first changed element between the third file and the second file; and DS105 also adds the first change element to the first file.

2. The method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable environment as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: On the first file, 1) displaying the first superimposed element in a first display mode; and 2) displaying the superimposed first changing element in a second display mode; Or, on the first file, 1) displaying the elements common to the second file and the third file in a first style; 2) displaying elements that exist only in the second file in a second style; and 3) displaying elements that exist only in the third file in a third style; Alternatively, the method further comprises the steps of: DS106 obtains the fourth file; DS107 obtains a second changed element of the fourth file compared with the third file; DS108 superimposes the second change element into the first file.

3. The method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable environment as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: Editing the first file, and drawing a second element on the first file; Alternatively, the second changed element is displayed superimposed on the first file in a third display mode.

4. The method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable environment as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The first change element includes one or more of an added element, a deleted element, and a modified element; Alternatively, the first change element is based on incremental data of the third file compared to the second file; Alternatively, the second file and the third file are different versions of the same CAD drawing.

5. The method for viewing reference changes of a CAD drawing in an editable environment as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: The first file, the second file, and the third file are stored.

6. A system for viewing reference changes in CAD drawings in an editable environment, characterized in that: It includes a file acquisition module, an element acquisition module, a copy and overlay module, and an update monitoring module; the file acquisition module is configured to acquire a first file and a second file; The element acquisition module is connected to the file acquisition module and is configured to acquire the first element on the second file; The copy and overlay module is connected to the element acquisition module and is configured to overlay the first element into the first file; The update monitoring module is connected to the file acquisition module and is configured to prompt the file acquisition module to acquire a third file, and compare the second file with the third file to find a first changed element; The element acquisition module is connected to the update monitoring module to acquire the first changed element, and superimposes the first changed element into the first file through the copy and superimpose module.

7. The system for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: a display control module, which displays the superimposed first element in a first display mode; and displays the superimposed first changed element in a second display mode; or, on the first file, 1) displays the elements common to the second file and the third file in a first style; 2) displays the elements existing only in the second file in a second style; and 3) displays the elements existing only in the third file in a third style; Alternatively, the file acquisition module is configured to acquire a fourth file; the update monitoring module is configured to compare the third file and the fourth file, find a second change element, and overlay the second change element into the first file through the copy and overlay module.

8. The system for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment as claimed in claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: Also includes: The file editing module is used to edit the first file and draw a second element on the first file.

9. The system for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The display control module displays the superimposed second change element on the first file in a third display mode.

10. The system for viewing reference changes of CAD drawings in an editable environment as claimed in claim 6 or 9, characterized in that: The first change element includes one or more of an added element, a deleted element, and a modified element; or, the first change element is based on incremental data of the third file compared with the second file; or, the second file and the third file are different versions of the same CAD drawing; Alternatively, it further includes a file storage module, which is configured to store the first file, the second file, and the third file.

Images