Empty space reduction for auto-generated drawings

• US 20060055704A1
• Filed: 03/17/2005
• Published: 03/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Siemens Building Technologies Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Building Technologies Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Gillespie, Brian, Lambert, R. Scott, Whitehead, Joseph, Kruk, James L., Lange, Toby W., Johanson, Thomas E., Pecoraro, James K.
• Application Number:
  US11/082,569
• Publication Number:
  US 20060055704A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/581
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/12 Symbolic schematics
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]

Abstract

During the dynamic generation of an auto-generated schematic, an arrangement of groupings on a page is controlled to minimize white space between on a page. The white space is compressed to minimize the number of pages for a schematic drawing having multiple pages. The compression process ensures that the coordinates generated by a compression process fall on the snap grid of an auto-generated drawing.

Claims

1. A method for generating a schematic drawing, the method comprising:

(a) obtaining a data set associated with a configured system, the data set associated with components of the configured system;

(b) filtering the data set to identify groupings of associated components of the configured system;

(c) determining a size of a rendering of each grouping relative to a schematic drawing page;

(d) arranging the rendering of each grouping according to the determined size of each grouping so that adjacent groupings on the schematic drawing page are separated by a predetermined maximum spacing; and

(e) rendering the schematic drawing page having a plurality of groupings separated by the predetermined spacing.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising rendering the schematic drawing page on a graphic user interface.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising printing the schematic drawing page.

4. The method of claim 1 where the predetermined spacing is defined to minimize a total number of schematic drawing pages for the configured system.

5. The method of claim 4 where the predetermined spacing is defined to minimize the total number of schematic drawing pages to a maximum of two schematic drawing pages.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the schematic drawing page of the configured building automation system comprises an electrical schematic diagram.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the configured system comprises a building automation system.

8. A method for compressing an auto-generated drawing comprising:

identifying groupings of associated components of a configured system;

configuring a layout for each grouping according to a relationship of associated components;

determining a linear span of the layout for each grouping relative to a length-wise dimension of a page of schematic drawing; and

plotting the schematic drawing according to the determined linear span for each grouping, where adjacent groupings are spaced a predetermined distance on the page of a schematic drawing.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising arranging the components of each grouping on the page of the schematic drawing according to parameters defining a relative arrangement of the components.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising ordering the groupings on the page of the schematic drawing according to parameters defining a relative order of the groupings of components on the schematic drawing.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising limiting a number of groupings for the page of the schematic drawing according to the linear span of each ordered grouping and predetermined spacing between adjacent ordered groupings.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising rendering a new page of the schematic drawing in response to a determination that a span for an ordered grouping is greater than a remaining length-wise dimension of the page of the schematic drawing.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein the configured system is a building automation system.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the schematic drawing is an electrical schematic associated with electrical components of the building automation system.

15. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions thereon which, when executed on one or more processors of a digital computing device, direct the device to execute a method comprising:

determining a size of a rendering of each of a plurality of groupings of a system relative to a schematic drawing page;

arranging the rendering of each grouping according to the determined size of each grouping so that adjacent groupings on the schematic drawing page are separated by a predetermined spacing; and

rendering the schematic drawing page having a plurality of groupings separated by the predetermined spacing.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 where the executed method further comprises rendering the schematic drawing page on a graphic user interface.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 where the schematic drawing page of the configured building automation system comprises an electrical schematic diagram.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the configured system comprises a building automation system.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the an electrical schematic diagram comprises two pages.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 further comprising rendering a new page of the schematic drawing in response to a determination that the size for a rendering of a grouping is greater than a remaining a remaining space of the page of the schematic drawing.

21. A method for rendering a schematic representation for a building automation system, the method comprising:

(a) selecting a building automation system to configure using a configuration engine;

(c) designing the system using the configuration engine, the configuration engine being driven according to engineering parameters for the selected building automation system; and

(c) generating a mechanical representation of the designed building automation system using the configuration engine, the mechanical representation including an electrical schematic diagram illustrating electrical components of the configured system being laid out according ordered groupings of associated components where adjacent groupings are spaced a predetermined distance, where the groupings and arrangement the groupings is determined according to the engeering parameters of the selected building automation system.