ABSTRACT

The introduction of object-orientation has had a tremendous impact on the foundation and software architectures for computer aided design (CAD) systems. Such systems are today mostly object-oriented and founded on built-in class hierarchies for the kinds of objects that can be added to a design. Class-based CAD systems make the majority of systems for building design. The chapter suggests that a new software architecture which offers the two kinds of dynamics. In building design, the objects often represent potential artefacts. That is, man-made physical things which may come into presence in future. Most mechanical and architectural designing concerns artefacts. In object-oriented CAD systems, certain methods represent different kinds of semantic information. One method could be a paint method which encodes a wall object and directs the graphical framework on how to display such objects. The core information is the conceptual data, and each method puts on its own perspective by interpreting these conceptual data.