Collaborative design

8) A CAD/CAM device comprising:

• an input device;
• a central processing unit;
• and
• a display device;
• wherein the central processing unit is configured by stored program instructions to enable execution of an application program comprising code to configure the device to:
• display a representation of a model, said representation being generated based on first data associated with said workstation;
• receive input from a user specifying a modification of the model;
• upon receipt of the input specifying the modification, translate said input into a model modification command specifying the portion of the first data to be modified, and the modification to be made to the first data;
• modify the first data in accordance with said command to effect a change to the model;
• and
• substantially concurrent with modification of said first data, automatically transmit said command via a network to other CAD/CAM devices connected to said network to instruct the other CAD/CAM devices to effect changes to duplicate copies of said first data stored at the other CAD/CAM devices;
• and
• wherein the first data and the duplicate copies are separate copies of model data and modifications to the first data and to the duplicate copies of said first data are performed without reliance on a central server configuration for the processing of model changes affecting the first data and duplicate copies' data representations of the model.

14) A CAD system comprised of a plurality of workstations linked together via a communications network, each workstation equipped with stored program code comprising a distributor component, and a feature modeler, and further comprising program code to configure said workstation to:

• store a first data representing a model;
• receive input from a user specifying a modification of said model;
• translate said input into a model modification command specifying the portion of the first data to be modified, and the modification to be made;
• modify said first data in accordance with said command;
• and
• substantially concurrent with modification of said first data, transmit said command via said network to other workstations in the system to instruct said other workstations to modify duplicate copies of said first data so as to maintain a consistent representation of the model by the first data and by the duplicate copies of said first data;
• and
• wherein the first data and the duplicate copies are separate copies of model data and modifications to the first data and to the duplicate copies of said first data are performed without reliance on a central server configuration for the processing of model changes affecting the first data and duplicate copies' data representations of the model.

19) Computer executable code stored on a computer readable medium, the code comprising instructions to configure a computer to:

• display a representation of a model, said representation being generated from first data comprising a stored representation of the model;
• receive input from a user specifying a modification of the model;
• translate said input into a model modification command specifying the portion of the model to be modified, and the modification to be made;
• modify said first data in accordance with said command to effect said model modification;
• and
• transmit said command via a network to other CAD/CAM devices for receipt by a peer CAD system program at said other CAD/CAM device to instruct the peer CAD system program to alter a copy of said first data comprising a duplicated stored representation of the model such that real-time synchronization of the model as represented by the first data and as represented by the copy of said first data is maintained;
• and
• wherein the first data and the copy of said first data are separate copies of model data and modifications to the first data and to the copy of said first data are performed without reliance on a central server configuration for the processing of model changes affecting the first data and copy of first data representations of the model.

23) A computer data signal embodied in a digital data stream comprising data representing the physical representation of a model of a three-dimensional object, wherein said data signal is generated by execution by a system of stored program instructions that configure the system to:

• receive at an application program at a first workstation input from a user specifying a modification of the model of the three-dimensional object;
• translate said input into a model modification command specifying the portion of the model to be modified by the application program, and the modification to be made;
• modify by the application program first data storing a representation of said model in accordance with said command;
• and
• transmit said command via a network to other workstations on the network to instruct peer application programs at said other workstations to each alter a copy of said first data comprising a duplicated stored representation of the model such that real-time synchronization of the model as represented by the first data and as represented by the copies of said first data is maintained;
• and
• wherein the first data and second data are separate copies of model data and modifications to the first data and to the second data are performed without reliance on a central server configuration for the processing of model changes affecting the first data and second data representations of the model.