Ebook: Electronic CAD Frameworks

When it comes to frameworks, the familiar story of the elephant and the six blind philosophers seems to apply. As each philoso­ pher encountered a separate part of the elephant, each pronounced his considered, but flawed judgement. One blind philosopher felt a leg and thought it a tree. Another felt the tail and thought he held a rope. Another felt the elephant's flank and thought he stood before a wall. We're supposed to learn about snap judgements from this alle­ gory, but its author might well have been describing design automation frameworks. For in the reality of today's product development requirements, a framework must be many things to many people. xiv CAD Frameworks: Integration Technology for CAD As the authors of this book note, framework design is an optimi­ zation problem. Somehow, it has to be both a superior rope for one and a tremendous tree for another. Somehow it needs to provide a standard environment for exploiting the full potential of computer-aided engineering tools. And, somehow, it has to make real such abstractions as interoperability and interchangeability. For years, we've talked about a framework as something that provides application-oriented services, just as an operating system provides system-level support. And for years, that simple statement has hid the tremendous complexity of actually providing those services.

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The term CAD Framework has come to mean all of the underlying facilities provided to the CAD tool developer, the CAD system integrator and the end user (IC or system designer) which are necessary to facilitate their tasks.
Broadly speaking, these three groups of people represent the users of the CAD Framework, each with their own needs and particular emphasis. Electronic CAD Frameworks presents a general discussion of the major components of a CAD Framework and their relationships to one another. Each area is then presented in more detail. A brief review of the state-of-the-art and current directions for research is presented. Since the approach taken to the development and enhancement of CAD frameworks has had more impact on their success or failure than any particular design decision, some observations on this topic are included in Chapter 9: Implementing a CAD Framework. Finally, the influence of related disciplines and the ongoing software standards efforts on the area of CAD environments is reviewed.

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The term CAD Framework has come to mean all of the underlying facilities provided to the CAD tool developer, the CAD system integrator and the end user (IC or system designer) which are necessary to facilitate their tasks.
Broadly speaking, these three groups of people represent the users of the CAD Framework, each with their own needs and particular emphasis. Electronic CAD Frameworks presents a general discussion of the major components of a CAD Framework and their relationships to one another. Each area is then presented in more detail. A brief review of the state-of-the-art and current directions for research is presented. Since the approach taken to the development and enhancement of CAD frameworks has had more impact on their success or failure than any particular design decision, some observations on this topic are included in Chapter 9: Implementing a CAD Framework. Finally, the influence of related disciplines and the ongoing software standards efforts on the area of CAD environments is reviewed.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Introduction....Pages 1-15
Major Components of an Engineering Framework....Pages 17-27
Data Representation....Pages 29-50
Data Management....Pages 51-75
Tool Management....Pages 77-86
Design Flow Management....Pages 87-100
User Interfaces....Pages 101-120
Extension Languages....Pages 121-137
Implementing a CAD Framework....Pages 139-145
The CAD Framework Initiative....Pages 147-162
Summary....Pages 163-165
Back Matter....Pages 167-195

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The term CAD Framework has come to mean all of the underlying facilities provided to the CAD tool developer, the CAD system integrator and the end user (IC or system designer) which are necessary to facilitate their tasks.
Broadly speaking, these three groups of people represent the users of the CAD Framework, each with their own needs and particular emphasis. Electronic CAD Frameworks presents a general discussion of the major components of a CAD Framework and their relationships to one another. Each area is then presented in more detail. A brief review of the state-of-the-art and current directions for research is presented. Since the approach taken to the development and enhancement of CAD frameworks has had more impact on their success or failure than any particular design decision, some observations on this topic are included in Chapter 9: Implementing a CAD Framework. Finally, the influence of related disciplines and the ongoing software standards efforts on the area of CAD environments is reviewed.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Introduction....Pages 1-15
Major Components of an Engineering Framework....Pages 17-27
Data Representation....Pages 29-50
Data Management....Pages 51-75
Tool Management....Pages 77-86
Design Flow Management....Pages 87-100
User Interfaces....Pages 101-120
Extension Languages....Pages 121-137
Implementing a CAD Framework....Pages 139-145
The CAD Framework Initiative....Pages 147-162
Summary....Pages 163-165
Back Matter....Pages 167-195
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