JP4770444B2 - Design support system, design support method, and design support program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique suitable for use in a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers.

Conventionally, when designing a product composed of a large number of parts, such as a car design, a CAD (Computer Aided Design) system (design support system) in which a plurality of designers can design together is used. ing. In such a CAD system, each designer needs to perform design work with reference to parts designed by others in addition to the parts designed by the designer. Therefore, it is desired to keep the design data of the parts being designed by other people as up-to-date as possible so that there is no contradiction in the design. In addition, since it is necessary to perform design work with reference to a large number of parts, it is a heavy burden to let the designer specify the parts to be referenced every time the design work is performed.

  From such a viewpoint, a CAD system is known in which a combination of design data referred to during a design work is stored, and the work is continued by referring to the same combination of design data at the next work. Thus, since the combination of the design data to refer is memorize | stored, it becomes possible to work by automatically acquiring the newest data from the database when continuing.

  Such a CAD system will be described with reference to FIG. The CAD data management apparatus 101 stores the latest design data of a part in association with the part number (identifier) of the part. The designer acquires the parts to be referenced from the CAD data management apparatus 101 to the CAD terminal 102. In FIG. 13, parts with product numbers “10”, “20”, and “30” are acquired. It is necessary for the designer to manually specify which part of the design data to acquire in the case of the first design work. The designer performs design work on the CAD terminal 102, and stores information (session information) indicating which part is being referred to when the work is interrupted in the session information management apparatus 103. Here, information that the parts of the product numbers “10”, “20”, and “30” have been acquired is stored in the session information management apparatus 103.

  The lower part of the drawing is a diagram showing when work is resumed. When the work is resumed, the parts with the product numbers “10” and “20” are updated in the CAD data management apparatus 101. When the work is resumed, the CAD terminal 102 refers to the session information management device 103 and acquires session information indicating that the parts of the product numbers “10”, “20”, and “30” were referred to in the previous work. Therefore, when the work is resumed, the design data of the part numbers “10”, “20”, and “30” is automatically acquired from the CAD data management apparatus 101, so that the latest data can be acquired without imposing a burden on the designer. Is possible.

  Also, a technique is known in which a designer who refers to the design data for each part is registered in the database, and when the data of the corresponding part is updated, the designer registered in this database is notified. (Patent Document 1).

In addition, there is known a technique for automatically assigning a drawing number of a new drawing and a revised drawing number of a changed drawing to reduce the burden of numbering work (Patent Document 2). Also, a technology related to processing of part information of a three-dimensional placement adjustment CAD that realizes a design support system adapted to both parts placement adjustment and part editing work and improves the diversion of part elements is known (patent) Reference 3). Also, a drawing and parts table creation method is known in which a drawing and a parts table can be created by various procedures even before the part number is registered (Patent Document 4). Further, there is known a component configuration information change management apparatus that performs history management by design change of hierarchically configured components (Patent Document 5).
JP-A-5-242174 JP-A-5-242173 JP 2005-108023 A JP 2003-196321 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-66139

  However, in the case of the prior art as described above, the following problems have occurred. That is, it is necessary to create and design an auxiliary diagram (offset surface, examination cross section, etc.) during the design work. Such an auxiliary diagram is essentially unnecessary. If the auxiliary diagram is included in the design data, it will be difficult for those who only see it. Therefore, each designer had to perform preparatory work such as deleting unnecessary auxiliary diagrams from the acquired design data (in this way, deleting unnecessary auxiliary diagrams from design data is referred to as “organizing design data” below. To do "). Such organized design data is saved and used by each designer in their CAD terminal. However, when the latest design data is acquired from the database as in the above-described prior art, the design data before arrangement is acquired. Therefore, the designer must organize the design data every time it is updated to the latest state, which is a heavy burden on the designer. For this reason, the update to the latest state tends to be neglected, and work is performed based on old design data. In this case, there may be a contradiction in the design.

  In addition, it may be considered that the rule is to organize the design data before the part designer registers the design data in the database. However, also in this case, the design data must be organized every time the design data is stored in the database, which is a heavy burden on the designer. For this reason, the designer tends to neglect to store data in the work only locally and store it in the database. As a result, other designers cannot refer to the latest design data, and work is performed based on old design data.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to increase the work load of each designer in a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers. It is to provide a technology that can share the latest data.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration. The present invention is a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers, and includes design data management means, design means, and editing information storage means. The present invention can be applied to a design support system that supports design work in the entire manufacturing industry where there is a request for joint design by a plurality of designers.

  The design data management means stores design data of parts designed by the designer. The design data includes at least part shape data. Further, the design data is stored in association with the product number which is the identifier of the part. Therefore, the design data can be searched using the product number as a search key.

Furthermore, the design data also stores information as to which designer has editing authority for the design data (information as to which designer is responsible for designing the part). Only the designer having the editing authority can store the design data after editing the part in the design data management means. A designer who does not have editing authority can refer to and edit design data, but cannot store the edited design data in the design data management means.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the design data of each part is stored by version management (version management). That is, it is preferable that version information is added to design data every time design data is newly saved. Thus, when design data is acquired from the design data management means, the designer can determine which version of the design data is acquired. As version information, it is preferable to use a value that is incremented at each update, but any data that can distinguish the version, such as a time stamp indicating the date and time when the design data was saved, is used. May be used.

  In accordance with input from the designer, the design means is responsible design data (first design data) that is design data of a part for which the designer is in charge of design, and a part for which a designer other than the designer is in charge of the design. Design data for reference (second design data) is acquired from the design data management means, and the acquired assigned design data and reference design data are edited. In this way, the designer can edit the assigned design data while referring to the reference design data so that interference or the like does not occur between a plurality of parts.

  The edit information storage means stores a combination of the assigned design data and the reference design data acquired by the design means. The design information storage means also stores the edited reference design data edited by the design means. Here, the editing information storage means and the design data management means have different storage areas. The editing information storage means stores a combination of design data and edited reference design data for each designer. In other words, the work status such as which design data each designer refers to on the design means and how the reference design data is edited is stored in the edit information storage means.

  The design means described above has a restoring means, an editing means, a saving means, and an updating means. The restoration unit acquires the combination of the assigned design data and the reference design data acquired by the design unit and the edited reference design data stored in the edit information storage unit from the edit information storage unit to the design unit. . By doing so, it is possible to restore the work state that each designer was performing on the design means. The editing unit causes the designer to edit the assigned design data and the reference design data acquired by the design unit. The storage means stores the assigned design data edited on the design means in the design data storage means. The storage unit also stores the combination of the assigned design data and the reference design data acquired by the design unit and the reference design data edited on the design unit in the editing information storage unit. Here, each designer can edit the design data (reference design data) that he / she does not have the editing authority in the editing means. However, design data that can be stored in the design data management means is only design data for which the user has an editing authority (design data in charge). The edited reference design data is stored in the edit information storage means. The editing information storage means may be configured to save reference design data that has been acquired by the design means but not edited. The assigned design data may be stored in the editing information storage means.

  In general, the design data stored in the design data management means may include data related to auxiliary diagrams. The designer of the part needs this auxiliary drawing at the time of designing, but the auxiliary drawing is unnecessary for the designer who only refers to this part, and the design data is rather difficult to see. Therefore, the reference design data is generally used after being acquired by the editing means and then edited (organized) so that it can be used easily.

Further, when designing a certain part, it is necessary to design with reference to design data of a large number of parts. At this time, it is a heavy burden on the designer to manually designate the design data to be referred to every time the design work is restarted. Therefore, for example, when the work is completed, the reference design data that has been referred to is saved in the edit information storage means, and when the work is resumed, the restoration means obtains the information, thereby automatically editing the design data to be referred to. It becomes possible to make the means obtain.

  When the restoring means causes the editing means to acquire the reference design data, the edited reference design data stored in the editing information storage means is acquired instead of acquiring the design data from the design data management means. To do. As described above, the design data stored in the design data management means is not always easy to see for a designer who only refers. The design data arranged on the editing means by the designer who refers to the design data is easier for the designer to use. Therefore, the restoring means causes the editing means to acquire the organized reference design data from the editing information storage means.

  By such restoration means and edit information storage means, it is possible to automatically acquire design data to be referred to, and it is possible to resume the work in a state that is easy to see for each designer. That is, it becomes possible to perform daily work continuously.

  The updating means checks whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the reference design data being edited by the editing means has been updated. In other words, the updating means compares the version of the reference design data obtained by the editing means with the version of the design data currently stored in the design data management means. Then, when the design data is updated, the updating unit can replace the reference design data in the editing unit with the latest design data.

  This update process by the update means may be automatically executed at a timing such as when work is resumed or every predetermined time, or may be executed in accordance with an instruction from the designer. In addition, when the design data for reference is updated, information such as the difference between the design data being edited and the latest design data is displayed without replacing it with the latest design data immediately. It is also preferable to determine whether or not to do so. In this case, the design data being edited is replaced with the latest design data only when the designer instructs replacement.

  By using the restoration means and the edit information storage means, it is possible to automatically acquire a combination of reference design data after organization used at the previous work. Therefore, it is possible to restore a work environment using design data that is easy to see without placing a burden on the designer.

  In addition, by using the update unit, it is possible to easily collect the latest data at an appropriate timing. Therefore, it is possible to achieve consistency between design data being designed by other designers and design data acquired by the editing means (for reference), and an appropriate collaborative design environment can be obtained.

  Further, the combination of the restoring means and the updating means makes it easy for the designer to save the edited design data in the design data management means, and also makes it easy to update the design data for reference. That is, the latest design data can be easily shared among all designers. This is because the designer who refers to the design data can continue to use his / her work environment and can perform the update work easily because it can be updated at a desired timing. In addition, since the design data does not place a burden on the reference person without organizing and saving the design data, the latest design data can be saved without organizing the data. It is. In this way, it is possible to construct an environment in which the latest design data can be shared without increasing the amount of work for the designer.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform design work using design data that is easy to see without placing a burden on the designer, and to achieve consistency with the latest design data. A design environment can be realized.

  It is also preferable that the design means in the present invention further has a notification means. The notifying means checks whether the design data corresponding to the reference design data (second design data) being edited by the editing means has been updated by the design data managing means. When the design data of the design data management unit is updated, the notification unit notifies the designer to that effect.

  By such notification means, it is notified that the designer has automatically updated without checking whether the design data has been updated by himself / herself. Even when the update is notified by the notification means, it is preferable that the designer can determine whether to replace the design data with the latest version. If the design data update has a major impact on the designer's work, it can be replaced with the latest design data. If the design data update does not have a major impact on the designer's work, the design data is not updated. This is because it is preferable that the design work can be performed using the designed data.

  The design data managing means preferably stores the design data in association with the notification flag. In other words, when the designer edits the design data that he / she has the editing authority (design data in charge) and stores the design data in the design data management means, information indicating whether or not to notify the update is set in the notification flag It is preferable to adopt a configuration that can be stored. In this case, the notification means has the design data updated in the design data management means, and information indicating that the update is notified is set in the notification flag of the updated design data (the notification flag is set). When stored, it is preferable to notify other designers that the design data has been updated.

  When the designer makes a big change to the assigned design data and affects other designers, a notification flag is set and the assigned design data is stored. Conversely, if there is little influence on other designers, the assigned design data is stored without setting a notification flag. By doing so, designers working together can receive an update notification from the notification means when it is necessary to update to the latest version. Therefore, it is possible to perform design work while maintaining consistency with the entire designer.

  Furthermore, according to such a configuration, when the designer stores the design data in charge in the design data management means, the operation of storing the design data after arranging the design data in advance without increasing the workload of the designer. Can be adopted. That is, only when the design data is stored with the notification flag set, it is possible to prevent an increase in the work load on the designer by the operation of storing the design data after organizing it. According to this operation, the designer who obtains the design data for reference from the design data management means does not need to organize the design data, so that the work load is reduced when viewed by all the designers working together. The

  The present invention can also be understood as a design support method including at least a part of the above processing, or a program for realizing the method. Each of the above means and processes can be combined with each other as much as possible to constitute the present invention.

For example, a design support method as one aspect of the present invention is a design support method in a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers. Here, the design support system is design data management means for storing design data of a part to be designed, and first design data of a part for which the designer is responsible for designing according to an input from the designer. Design that acquires design data and second design data that is design data of a part for which a designer other than the designer is in charge of design from the design data management means, and edits the acquired first design data and second design data And editing information storage means for storing a combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data. In the design support method according to this aspect, the design means stores the combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second information stored in the edit information storage means. The design data is acquired from the editing information storage unit to the design unit, and the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design unit are edited and edited according to the input from the designer. Design data is stored in the design data management means, a combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data are stored in the edit information storage means, and the design It is checked whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the second design data acquired by the means is updated, and if it is updated, the design data is acquired by the design means. The second design data replaced with latest design data, characterized in that.

A design support program as one aspect of the present invention is a design support program in a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers. Here, the design support system is design data management means for storing design data of a part to be designed, and first design data of a part for which the designer is responsible for designing according to an input from the designer. Design that acquires design data and second design data that is design data of a part for which a designer other than the designer is in charge of design from the design data management means, and edits the acquired first design data and second design data And editing information storage means for storing a combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data. The design support program according to the present embodiment, the design unit, the editing information stored stored in the means, the combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired in said design means and second edited The design data is acquired from the editing information storage means by the design means, and the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means are edited and edited according to the input from the designer. Design data is stored in the design data management means, a combination of first design data and second design data acquired by the design means and edited second design data are stored in the edit information storage means, and the design It is checked whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the second design data acquired by the means is updated. Causing replace second design data obtained in step to the latest design data, characterized in that.

  According to the present invention, in a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers, it is possible to share the latest data without increasing the work burden of each designer.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
A design support system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a design support system according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, a DB (database) server 10 and a plurality of CAD terminals 20 are communicably connected via a communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. Each designer designs each component stored in the DB server 10 by operating the CAD terminal 20.

  The DB server 10 includes a design data DB 11 that stores and manages design data and the like of each part to be designed, and a session information DB 12 that stores and manages a state in which each designer is working in the CAD terminal 20.

  In this embodiment, one DB server 10 has the design data DB 11 and the session information DB 12. However, different servers may be used for the respective databases. One database may be configured using a plurality of servers. In other words, the database may be constructed using any existing technique.

[Design data DB]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of the design data DB 11. The design data DB 11 is a table for managing design data of parts to be designed. Here, in the design data DB 11, the part number as the part identifier, the person who has the editing authority (owner), the version information, and the part shape data (design data) are managed as data.

  The product number is an identifier for uniquely identifying each component, and is a main key in the design data DB 11. The owner represents a designer who can update the design data stored in the design data DB 11. Designers other than the owner can refer to the design data and edit the data with each CAD terminal, but cannot store the edited design data in the design data DB 11. In FIG. 2, each component has one owner, but a plurality of owners may be the owner. The version information is information indicating the version (version) of the design data currently stored in the design data DB 11. In the present embodiment, a numerical value that increases by 1 each time design data is updated is used. However, any type of data may be used as long as the information can uniquely identify the version of each component. For example, a combination of main version information (“2”) and sub version information (“3”) such as “2.3” may be used, or a time stamp of the date and time when the design data is stored may be used. good. The design data is CAD data in which the shape and dimensions of parts are stored.

  In the version management of the design data described above, it is also preferable to store the old version design data so that it can be referred to. As a result, it is possible to track the change history of design data and to refer to a specific version of design data.

  In addition, information other than the information shown in FIG. 2 may be managed in the design data DB 11. For example, information indicating a component configuration may be managed. That is, the information is “part X is composed of parts A, B, and C”. Such component configuration information is preferably managed in a tree structure, but may be managed in any format.

[Session Information DB]
Next, the data structure of the session information DB 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The session information DB 12 stores session information when each designer is working on the CAD terminal 20. Here, the session information includes information on which parts each designer has acquired from the design data DB 11 which design data. The design data acquired from the design data DB 11 includes responsible design data for which the designer himself has editing authority and is a design target, and reference design data that is referred to for designing the responsible design data. is there. The session information also includes information on how the reference design data acquired from the design data DB 11 has been edited. In the session information DB 12, information indicating which designer's session information is included, the part number of the design data acquired from the design data DB 11, the version information of the acquired design data, and the reference design after editing with the CAD terminal 20 Data is managed as data. For reference design data that has only been acquired from the design data DB 11 and has not been edited, the acquired design data may be stored as edited design data, or nothing may be stored (NULL). May be saved). In addition, the edited design data may be saved for the edited assigned design data, or nothing may be saved. In the present embodiment, both the reference design data and the assigned design data that have not been edited are stored in the session information DB 12.

  In this manner, the session information DB 12 stores, for each designer, the part number of the part referred to and the design data edited locally by each designer. Therefore, it is possible to easily restore the work state at the previous work by referring to the session information DB 12 when the work is resumed. Note that how to use the version information stored in the session information DB 12 will be described later.

  In the present embodiment, the session information DB 12 exists in the DB server 10 as shown in FIG. That is, the session information DB 12 is arranged at a position accessible from each CAD terminal 20. However, the session information DB 12 may be arranged in each CAD terminal 20. In this case, the session information DB 12 in the own terminal can be accessed from the CAD terminal 20, but the session information DB 12 existing in the other CAD terminal 20 cannot be accessed. However, in an environment where it is normal for a designer to use the same CAD terminal 20, the session information DB 12 does not need to be on the center side, and may exist in each local machine.

[CAD terminal]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of the CAD terminal 20. The CAD terminal 20 includes a CPU (central processing unit), a main storage device (RAM), an auxiliary storage device, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, etc. connected via a bus in terms of hardware. The CAD terminal 20 loads various programs (OS, applications, etc.) stored in the auxiliary storage device into the main storage device and is executed by the CPU, whereby the editing unit 21, the storage unit 22, the restoration unit 23, and the update unit It functions as a device including 24 and the like. Below, each function part is demonstrated.

[[Editorial department]]
The editing unit 21 edits design data in accordance with an input from the designer. The editing unit 21 loads (acquires) design data from the design data DB 11 and the session information DB 12. Here, there are two types of design data to be acquired: responsible design data, which is the design data for which the designer himself has editing authority and is in charge of design, and reference design data to be referenced for designing the responsible design data. There is. The editing unit 21 can edit both the assigned design data and the reference design data. The acquired assigned design data and reference design data are stored in a storage device (a main storage device such as a RAM or an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk) on the CAD terminal 20.

  The acquired assigned design data and reference design data are edited based on input from the input unit such as a keyboard or a mouse by the designer. Here, the designer can edit the reference design data for which the designer does not have editing authority on the CAD terminal 20. In general, the design data stored in the design data DB 11 stores auxiliary drawings that are unnecessary for a designer who performs only reference, and is difficult to see. Therefore, a designer who refers to the design data obtains the reference design data from the design data DB 11 and then organizes (processes) the reference design data for easy viewing. Then, while referring to the organized reference design data, the design work of the parts to be designed is performed.

[[Storage]]
The storage unit 22 stores the edited assigned design data in the design data DB 11. The storage unit 22 also stores all the acquired designs including session information (a combination of design data loaded in the CAD terminal 20 and reference design data after editing) so that the current work state can be easily restored. Data) is stored in the session information DB 12. The above processing by the storage unit 22 is executed when the designer activates a session information storage command. Alternatively, the storage unit 22 may perform a session information storage process at the end of the work (at the end of the program).

[[Restore]]
The restoration unit 23 is a functional unit that restores the work state used during the previous work when the designer resumes the design work. When the designer resumes the design work on the CAD terminal 20, the restoration unit 23 acquires session information at the previous work from the session information DB 12. More specifically, the restoration unit 23 stores information on which assigned design data and reference design data were loaded by the designer who resumes work, and reference design data on the CAD terminal 20 (local). Get information about how you were editing. Then, the restoration unit 23 loads the design data used at the previous work onto the CAD terminal 20. In the present embodiment, not only the reference design data edited at the previous work, but also all design data acquired in the CAD terminal 20 is loaded from the session information DB 12 to the CAD terminal 20. Thus, since the restoration unit 23 automatically restores the work state at the previous work, the work load on the designer is reduced. In addition, since design data obtained by editing reference design data is stored in the session information DB 12, each designer's own work environment can be restored.

  If reference design data that has not been edited is not stored in the session information DB 12, it may be acquired from the design data DB 11. Similarly, the assigned design data may be obtained from any one of the design data DBs 11.

  In the above description, the timing at which the restoration unit 23 restores the work state is described as when the design work is resumed, but the timing at which the restoration process is performed is not limited to this. For example, the work state at the previous work may be restored at any timing desired by the designer.

[[Update section]]
The update unit 24 compares the version of the reference design data loaded in the CAD terminal 20 with the version of the design data stored in the design data DB 11. Then, when a new version of design data is stored in the design data DB 11, the update unit 24 updates the design data loaded on the CAD terminal 20 to the latest design data.

  The version information at the time of loading the reference design data loaded on the CAD terminal 20 by the designer is stored in the session information DB 12 as session information. The design data DB 11 stores version information of design data stored therein. Therefore, the update unit 24 can determine whether or not a new version of design data is stored in the design data DB 11 by comparing the version information.

  When a new version of design data is stored in the design data DB 11, the update unit 24 replaces corresponding design data loaded in the CAD terminal 20 with the latest design data. At this time, if the latest version exists, the replacement may be performed unconditionally, or the replacement may be performed after the designer is asked for confirmation. When confirming whether or not to replace with the designer, the difference (difference) between the reference design data currently loaded in the CAD terminal 20 and the latest design data is presented to the designer. It is preferred to ask for confirmation. As a result, it is possible to compare the demerit of discarding the organized design data with the advantage of replacing it with the latest design data, and update to the latest version at a desired timing.

<Operation example>
5 to 7 are flowcharts showing an operation example of the design support system according to the present embodiment. 8 and 9 are diagrams for supplementarily explaining the processing illustrated in the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 7. More specifically, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process flow at the time of the first work, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process flow when the work is resumed, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process flow for updating to the latest reference design data. It is. 8 corresponds to the processing of FIGS. 5 and 6, and FIG. 9 corresponds to the processing of FIG.

  First, the flow of processing during the first work will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a designer (whose user ID is A) loads design data from the design data DB 11 into the editing unit 21 of the CAD terminal 20 (S101). As shown in FIG. 8, here, design data of product numbers “10”, “20”, and “30” are loaded into the CAD terminal 20. For example, data indicated by white circles is loaded as design data for the product number “10”. Here, the design data of the product number “10” is assigned design data designed by the designer A, and the design data of the product numbers “20” and “30” is reference design data to be referred to during the design work. Next, the acquired design data is edited on the editing unit 21 of the CAD terminal 20 (S102). For example, the design data of product number “10” is edited from white circles to star data. At the end of the work or at an arbitrary timing, the storage unit 22 stores design data (design data in charge) of the part number “10” for which the designer A has editing authority in the design data DB 11 (S103, not shown in FIG. 8). ). Here, when the assigned design data is stored in the design data, the version of the design data of the product number “10” is incremented from “3” to “4”. Next, the storage unit 22 stores the session information in the session information DB 12 including design data for which the designer A has no editing authority (S104). Specifically, the product number of the design data loaded on the CAD terminal 20, the information indicating which version of the design data was acquired (product numbers “10” “20” “30”), and editing The later reference design data (data indicated by black triangles, etc.) is stored in the session information DB 12. Thus, after storing the session information in the session information DB 12, the designer A interrupts the work. The edited design data after editing may also be stored in the session information DB 12.

  Next, the flow of processing when resuming the design work will be described with reference to FIGS. When the work is resumed, the restoration unit 23 acquires session information from the session information DB 12 (S201). By acquiring the session information, the work state at the time of the previous work can be known. Then, the restoration unit 23 loads the reference design data (data indicated by black triangles) edited by the designer A from the session information DB 12 onto the editing unit 21 of the CAD terminal 20. By doing so, the designer A can resume the work in the state of the previous work without any work load.

  In the description of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the designer A has edited all the acquired reference design data, and the reference design data after editing for all the acquired design data is the session information DB 12. Stored in However, not all of the acquired reference design data is edited. In such a case, information indicating that reference design data that has not been edited is simply referred to but not edited may be stored in the session information DB 12 (for example, NULL may be stored). In this case, the restoration unit 23 acquires the design data of the part from the design data DB 11. Further, a method of storing reference design data that has not been edited in the session information DB 12 is also conceivable, as is the case with reference design data after editing. In this case, the restoration unit 23 acquires reference design data from the session information DB 12.

Next, a flow of processing in which the update unit 24 updates the reference design data loaded in the editing unit 21 of the CAD terminal 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9. The update process by the update unit 24 is executed at a timing designated by the designer, a predetermined time interval, or the like. When the update process is started, first, a comparison is made between the version of the reference design data referenced by the CAD terminal 20 with reference to the session information DB 12 and the version of the design data stored in the design data DB 11. Is called. For example, it can be determined from the session information DB 12 that the design data of the product number “20” has been acquired and edited in the CAD terminal 20 from the version “4”. The design data DB 11 stores version “6” data as design data of the product number “20”. By comparing these version information, it can be confirmed whether or not the latest design data exists in the design data DB 11 (S301). If the latest version exists in the design data DB 11 (S302-YES), the designer is confirmed whether or not to perform replacement (S303). At this time, it is preferable to confirm whether or not the replacement is performed while presenting the difference between the loaded design data and the latest design data to the designer. If the designer chooses to replace (S303-YES), the updating unit 24 replaces the design data loaded in the editing unit 21 of the CAD terminal 20 with the latest design data (S304). When the latest version does not exist in the design data DB 11 (S302-NO), or when the designer does not select replacement (S303-NO), the process is terminated without replacement. Note that the update confirmation process is not performed on the design data of the product number “10”, which is the design data for which the designer A himself has editing authority. This is because the design data on the CAD terminal 20 is always the latest for the assigned design data and does not need to be updated.

  As a specific example, the replacement process in the case of FIG. 9 will be described. For the design data of the product number “20”, the work was performed based on the design data of the version “4” at the previous work, but the version “6” exists in the design data DB 11 at present. Therefore, the design data of the product number “20” is replaced (from the upward black triangle to the downward white triangle). For the product number “30”, since the version has not been changed from “3”, the design data (black square) is not replaced. For the product number “10”, since it is responsible design data, update confirmation is not performed.

  Note that in the process of determining whether or not the latest version exists (S301), the design data DB 11 and the session information DB 12 are compared. However, information indicating which version of the component data the designer is working on is also stored in the CAD terminal 20. Therefore, the update unit 24 compares the version information of the design data referred to stored in the CAD terminal 20 with the version information stored in the design data DB 11 to determine whether the latest version exists. You may judge. Further, the process of storing the assigned design data in the design data DB 11 (S103) may be omitted.

<Operation / Effect of Embodiment>
The session information DB 12 stores all the design data including the work state at the time of the previous work, that is, the combination of the reference design data (in-charge design data and reference design data) and the reference design data after being edited locally. Thus, the restoration unit 23 can automatically restore the work state at the previous work at the next work. Therefore, since the designer can work from the state where it was interrupted last time without manually performing work, work efficiency is improved. At this time, since the session information is saved for each designer and the reference design data after being edited locally is stored in the session information, the design data after being edited (organized) locally is CAD. It will be restored on the terminal 20. Therefore, even if the design data stored in the design data DB 11 is not organized, it is possible to work using the organized design data when the work is resumed. That is, it is not necessary for the designer to process (organize) the reference design data for which another person has the ownership authority so that it is easy to see each time work is resumed.

  In addition, since the update unit 24 checks whether the latest version of the design data is stored in the design data DB 11 and performs update processing, each designer can easily update to the latest version. At this time, since the design data being referred to by the designer is managed as session information, the designer can automatically confirm the update without specifying which design data to check for.

  With such a configuration, each designer can easily restore the organized data used during the previous work. This makes it possible to perform daily work continuously. In addition, updating to the latest design data can be easily performed at any time by each designer's own ideas. As a result, the designer can store the design data for which he / she has the editing authority in the design data DB 11 without being observable. This is because other designers who refer to the parts can continue working while referring to the design data organized by themselves, so that the designer storing the data in the design data DB 11 does not need to be aware of the ease of viewing. It is. As a result, even if the change to the assigned design data is small, the design data can be stored in the design data DB 11 without being organized. As described above, even if a slight change is made, the change is reflected in the design data DB 11, and it can be expected that the latest design data is always stored in the design data DB 11.

(Second Embodiment)
10 to 12 show a second embodiment. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a notification unit 25 is provided in the CAD terminal 20. Along with this, there is a change in the data structure of the design data DB 11. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the CAD terminal 20 in the present embodiment. If the version of the design data currently stored in the design data DB 11 is newer than the version of the design data when the CAD data is acquired from the design data DB 11 to the CAD terminal 20, the notification unit 25 notifies the designer to that effect. It is a function to notify. At this time, the notification unit 25 does not always notify when the latest version of the design data exists in the design data DB 11, but when the owner of the updated design data wants to notify another designer. It is desirable that the notification unit 25 is configured to perform notification.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, the data structure of the design data DB 11 is as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the design data DB 11 is composed of two tables. FIG. 11A is a table for managing the correspondence between the part number and its owner (designer having editing authority). In FIG. 11B, design data and a notification flag are stored for each part for each version. Thus, in this embodiment, each design data is version-controlled and a notification flag is set for each version. In FIG. 11B, only the part having the product number “10” is shown, but actually, data of other product numbers is also stored in this table.

  The notification flag stores information indicating that when the owner of the part desires to notify other designers that the design data of the part has been updated. Information that the update notification is desired is stored in the notification flag and the design data is saved, and the design data is saved by setting the notification flag. That is, when the owner of a part edits design data and stores it in the design data DB 11, if it is desired to notify other designers that the part has been updated, a notification flag is set and stored in the design data DB 11. To do. Conversely, if it is not necessary to notify other designers that this part has been updated, the part is stored in the design data DB 11 without setting a notification flag.

Next, the flow of notification processing performed by the notification unit 25 will be described with reference to FIG. The notification process performed by the notification unit 25 is executed at the timing of starting the design work or at a predetermined time interval. When the notification process is started, the notification unit 25 checks whether there is a new version of reference design data in the design data DB 11 (S401). That is, the design data version acquired at the CAD terminal 20 and the design data version currently stored in the design data DB 11 are compared, and the design data updated after being acquired at the CAD terminal 20 is the design data DB 11. Check if it exists. When new design data exists in the design data DB 11 (S401-YES), it is confirmed whether there is design data stored with a notification flag set in the new design data (S402). If there is new design data with a notification flag set (S402-YES), the notification unit 25 notifies the designer that there is new design data (S403). If new design data does not exist in the design data DB 11 (S401-NO), or if a notification flag is not set even if new design data exists (S402-NO), the process is terminated without notification. To do.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when the owner of a part wants to notify other designers of a design change, a notification flag is added and stored in the design data DB 11. When the notification flag is set and the design data is updated, the notification unit 25 notifies the designer who refers to the design data. In this way, when the owner of a part makes a large design change that affects other designers, it is possible to prompt other designers to update to the latest state. Therefore, even when a plurality of designers work, the latest design data can always be referred to and the work can be performed in a consistent state.

  According to such a configuration, when the designer sets a notification flag and updates the design data, the design data is organized and then updated, thereby reducing the work load on the entire designer. can do. That is, only one owner of the part organizes the design data, and other designers do not have to organize the design data. Moreover, the owner does not need to organize the design data every time, and the design data need only be organized when the designer who references this design data wants to refer to the latest data. Less. Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to further improve the work efficiency.

  In the data structure of the design data DB 11 (FIG. 11B), all versions of design data are stored, but this is not always necessary. If the latest design data and the latest design data for which the notification flag is set can be referred to, the notification processing according to the present embodiment can be performed.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the design support system in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the data structure of design data DB in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the data structure of session information DB in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the functional block of the CAD terminal in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of the first work in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of work resumption in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of the design data update in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the process at the time of the first work in the 1st embodiment, and work resumption. It is a figure explaining the process at the time of the design data update in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the functional block of the CAD terminal in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the data structure of design data DB in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of the design data update notification in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the process at the time of work resumption by a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

10 DB server 11 Design data DB
12 Session information DB
20 CAD terminal 21 Editing unit 22 Storage unit 23 Restoration unit 24 Update unit 25 Notification unit

Claims (5)

A design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers,
Design data management means for storing design data of parts to be designed;
In response to an input from the designer, first design data which is design data of a part for which the designer is in charge of design and second design data which is design data of a part for which a designer other than the designer is in charge of design From the design data management means, and a design means for editing the obtained first design data and second design data;
Edit information storage means for storing a combination of first design data and second design data acquired by the design means and edited second design data;
Have
The design means includes
Restoration of the combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data stored in the edit information storage means from the edit information storage means to the design means Means,
Editing means for editing the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means;
The edited first design data is stored in the design data management means, and the combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data are stored in the editing information. Storage means for storing in the means;
It is checked whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the second design data acquired by the design means is updated. If updated, the second design data acquired by the design means is Update means that can be replaced with the latest design data,
A design support system characterized by comprising:   The design means further checks whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the second design data acquired by the design means has been updated, and if so, informs the designer of that fact. The design support system according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for notifying. The design data management means stores design data in association with a notification flag,
When the design data has been updated in the design data management means and the information to notify the update is set in the notification flag of the updated design data, the notification means The design support system according to claim 2, wherein the notification is performed. A design support method in a design support system for supporting design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers,
The design support system includes:
Design data management means for storing design data of parts to be designed;
In response to an input from the designer, first design data which is design data of a part for which the designer is in charge of design and second design data which is design data of a part for which a designer other than the designer is in charge of design From the design data management means, and a design means for editing the obtained first design data and second design data;
Edit information storage means for storing a combination of first design data and second design data acquired by the design means and edited second design data;
Have
The design means comprises:
A combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data stored in the edit information storage means and acquired from the edit information storage means to the design means;
In response to an input from the designer, the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means are edited,
The edited first design data is stored in the design data management means,
A combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data are stored in the edit information storage means;
It is checked whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the second design data acquired by the design means is updated. If updated, the second design data acquired by the design means is Replace with the latest design data,
A design support method characterized by that. A design support program in a design support system that supports design work performed jointly by a plurality of designers,
The design support system includes:
Design data management means for storing design data of parts to be designed;
In response to an input from the designer, first design data which is design data of a part for which the designer is in charge of design and second design data which is design data of a part for which a designer other than the designer is in charge of design From the design data management means, and a design means for editing the obtained first design data and second design data;
Edit information storage means for storing a combination of first design data and second design data acquired by the design means and edited second design data;
Have
In the design means ,
A combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data stored in the edit information storage means, and causing the design means to acquire from the edit information storage means;
In response to an input from the designer, the design means edits the first design data and the second design data acquired,
The edited first design data is stored in the design data management means,
A combination of the first design data and the second design data acquired by the design means and the edited second design data are stored in the edit information storage means;
It is checked whether the design data in the design data management means corresponding to the second design data acquired by the design means is updated. If updated, the second design data acquired by the design means is Replace with the latest design data,
Design support program characterized by that.

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