METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO AND WORKING WITH ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS ON THE INTERNET

• US 20090100368A1
• Filed: 12/16/2008
• Published: 04/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Inventors: Felser, Lawrence D., Wallace, John R., Look, Douglas G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,402,392 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/775
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/02 CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/12 Symbolic schematics
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/13 Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture provide access to architectural documents in a network based on-line web based system. Servers that are accessible from the Internet maintain persistent multiple architectural documents of different media types. An online user is provided, from the servers via the Internet, a set of basic virtual design tools that have persistent properties and may be copied. The virtual design tools may also be utilized to work with the architectural documents. A workspace is also provided for viewing, accessing, and modifying the architectural documents.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing access to architectural documents comprising:

maintaining, on one or more servers accessible from the Internet, persistent multiple architectural documents of different media types;

providing, to an online user from the one or more servers via the Internet, a set of basic virtual design tools that have persistent properties and may be copied, wherein the virtual design tools may be utilized to work with the architectural documents; and

providing a workspace for viewing, accessing, and modifying the architectural documents.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises virtual tracing paper that provides the ability to overlay several independent documents while maintaining transparent capabilities of the documents.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a virtual graphical scaling tool that provides for setting an internal scale representation of an existing document by:

identifying a distance using an input device; and

specifying a unit of measurement represented by the distance.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a graphical scaling element that provides the ability to modify an internal scale representation of a document without modifying a size of the document.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a ruler tool that:

assists a user in drawing a line; and

displays a unit of measure.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a resize document tool that enlarges a document size without scaling an image in the document.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the architectural documents is a container document that provides for graphically associating multiple documents of various document types and wherein the container document can be moved between two or more workspaces as a unit using a graphical user interface.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a new virtual design tool may be provided to the online user by copying the new virtual design tool from an Internet-based catalog.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 wherein the virtual design tool is copied by dragging and dropping the virtual design tool from the Internet-based catalog to the workspace.

10. A computer-implemented apparatus comprising:

a web based server accessible from the Internet configured to maintain persistent multiple architectural documents of different media types;

a set of basic virtual design tools, available to a user on the Internet through the server, wherein the virtual design tools have persistent properties, may be copied, may be utilized to work with the architectural documents; and

a virtual workspace, available to a user on the Internet through the server, for viewing, accessing, and modifying the architectural documents.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises tracing paper that provides the ability to overlay several independent documents while maintaining transparent capabilities of the documents.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a graphical scaling tool that provides for setting an internal scale representation of an existing document by:

identifying a distance using an input device; and

specifying a unit of measurement represented by the distance.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a graphical scaling element that provides an ability to modify an internal scale representation of a document without modifying a size of the document.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a basic design tool comprises a ruler tool that:

assists a user in drawing a line; and

displays a unit of measure.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a basic design tool comprises a resize document tool that enlarges a document size without scaling an image in the document.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein at least one of the architectural documents is a container document that provides for graphically associating multiple documents of various document types and wherein the container document can be moved between two or more workspaces as a unit using a graphical user interface.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a new virtual design tool may be available to the user by copying the new virtual design tool from an Internet-based catalog.

18. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the virtual design tool is copied by dragging and dropping the virtual design tool from the Internet-based catalog to the virtual workspace.

19. An article of manufacture for providing access to architectural documents comprising:

an interactive web site hosted on a web server wherein the interactive web site is configured to;

maintain, on the web server, persistent multiple architectural documents of different media types;

provide a set of basic virtual design tools that have persistent properties and may be copied, wherein the virtual design tools may be utilized to work with the architectural documents; and

provide a workspace for viewing, accessing, and modifying the architectural documents.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises virtual tracing paper that provides the ability to overlay several independent documents while maintaining transparent capabilities of the documents.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a virtual graphical scaling tool that provides for setting an internal scale representation of an existing document by:

identifying a distance using an input device; and

specifying a unit of measurement represented by the distance.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a graphical scaling element that provides the ability to modify an internal scale representation of a document without modifying a size of the document.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a ruler tool that:

assists a user in drawing a line; and

displays a unit of measure.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein a basic virtual design tool comprises a resize document tool that enlarges a document size without scaling an image in the document.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein at least one of the architectural documents is a container document that graphically associates multiple documents of various document types and wherein the container document can be moved between two or more workspaces as a unit using a graphical user interface.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein the interactive website is further configured to provide a new virtual design tool by copying the new virtual design tool from an Internet-based catalog.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein the virtual design tool is provided by dragging and dropping the virtual design tool from the Internet-based catalog to the workspace.