Process for selecting objects in a PLM database and apparatus implementing this process

• US 20070159480A1
• Filed: 12/28/2006
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dassault Systemes SA
• Original Assignee: Dassault Systemes SA
• Inventors: Nonclercq, Arnaud, Delarue, Guillaume
• Granted Patent: US 9,135,372 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/427
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/56 having vectorial format
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/005 General purpose rendering architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/005 Tree description, e.g. octree, quadtree
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]

Abstract

The invention is directed to a process, an apparatus and a program for selecting objects in a PLM database containing modeled objects. The invention allows a user to rapidly display a view of the set of objects while allowing for selecting objects in the view, without the need for loading the complete and exact representations of all the objects of the view when the user is looking for particular objects to work on.

Claims

1. A process for selecting objects in a PLM database containing modeled objects, the process comprising:

providing a graphical user interface;

displaying on the graphical user interface a view of a set (20) of objects (21, 22, 23, 24) of the database, said view being a non-associative view;

defining a volume (500) in the displayed view;

searching the database and identifying to the user objects (23f, 24lf) of the view intersecting said defined volume.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying objects comprises:

retrieving from the database the exact representation of said identified objects (23f, 24lf).

3. The process of claim 2, wherein the step of identifying further comprises:

applying to non-identified objects of the non-associative view rendering parameters that are different from the rendering parameters of the identified object.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein the rendering parameters applied to the non-identified objects of the non-associative view comprise rendering translucent all non-identified objects of the non-associative view.

5. The process of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the step of displaying:

aggregating representations of respective objects of the set of objects to form the non-associative displayed view.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of searching and identifying further comprises:

identifying one or more bounding volume (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) of respective objects of the set (20), intersecting the defined volume.

7. The process of claim 6, further comprising, prior to the step of displaying the non-associative view:

computing and storing in the PLM database the bounding volumes (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) of respective objects (21, 22, 23, 24).

8. The process of claim 7, wherein at the step of computing and storing bounding volumes, only one bounding volume (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) is stored for multi-instantiated objects of the set of objects.

9. The process of claim 6, wherein the step of identifying one or more intersecting bounding volume (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) is carried out recursively, based on relations stored in the database between the respective objects.

10. The process of claim 6, further comprising, prior to the step of displaying:

computing and storing in the PLM database subdivided bounding volumes of respective bounding volumes (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b).

11. The process of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying one or more subdivided bounding volume intersecting the defined volume.

12. The process of any one of claims 1, wherein the non-associative displayed view is a view of a set of three-dimensional objects.

13. The process of claim 1, wherein upon activation of a user-selectable area, said identified objects are loaded on an authoring tool in order to be edited.

14. The process of claim 1, wherein the objects in contact with the identified objects (23f, 24lf) are also identified.

15. The process of claim 1, wherein the volume is defined through a drag and drop movement of a pointer (32) in the displayed non-associative view.

16. The process of claim 1, wherein the volume is defined by an offset of the volume of an identified object of the view, said object being identified through the computation of the intersection between the set (20) of objects in the view and a computed ray passing through the viewpoint of the view and a location of a pointer (32) in the view.

17. The process of claim 1, wherein the identification of the identified objects is updated upon movement of the defined volume in the non-associative view.

18. Apparatus for selecting an object in a PLM database containing modeled objects, the apparatus comprising:

means for providing a graphical user interface on a display;

means for displaying on the graphical user interface a view of a set (20) of objects (21, 22, 23, 24) of the database, said view being a non-associative view;

means for defining a volume in the view; and

means for searching the database and for identifying to the user objects intersecting the defined volume.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the means for identifying objects (23f, 241f) comprise means for retrieving from the database the exact representation of said identified objects.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising means for loading said identified object (23f, 24lf) on an authoring tool in order to be edited, upon activation of user-selectable area.

21. A computer program, stored on a computer readable medium, for selecting an object in a PLM database containing modeled objects, comprising code means for causing a computer onto which said computer program is loaded to take the steps of:

providing a graphical user interface;

displaying on the graphical user interface a view of a set (20) of objects (21, 22, 23, 24) of the database, said view being a non-associative view;

defining a volume in the view; and

searching the database and identifying to the user objects intersecting said defined volume.

22. The computer program of claim 21, wherein the code means causing the computer to take the step of identifying objects comprise code means for causing the computer to take the step of retrieving from the database the exact representation of said identified objects.

23. The computer program of claim 21 comprising code means for causing the computer, upon activation of user-selectable area, to take the step of loading said identified objects on an authoring tool in order to be edited

24. A process for selecting objects in a PLM database containing modeled objects, the process comprising:

providing a graphical user interface;

displaying on the graphical user interface a view of a set (20) of objects (21, 22, 23, 24) of the database, said view being a non-associative view;

defining a volume (500) in the displayed view; and

searching the database and identifying to the user objects (23f, 24lf) of the view intersecting said defined volume, wherein the step of searching and identifying further comprises identifying one or more bounding volume (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) of respective objects of the set (20), intersecting the defined volume.

25. A process for selecting objects in a PLM database containing modeled objects, the process comprising:

providing a graphical user interface;

displaying on the graphical user interface a view of a set (20) of objects (21, 22, 23, 24) of the database, said view being a non-associative view;

defining a volume (500) in the displayed view;

searching the database and identifying to the user objects (23f, 24lf) of the view intersecting said defined volume; and

identifying one or more bounding volume (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) of respective objects of the set (20), intersecting the defined volume, wherein the step of identifying one or more intersecting bounding volume (21b, 22b, 23b, 24b) is carried out recursively, based on relations stored in the database between the respective objects.