Computer method and system providing design of an assembly modeled by a graph

A computer-aided design system comprising:

• a database storing objects;
• a processor communicatively coupled to the database;
• and
• a graphical user interface executed by the processor for designing a mechanical assembly of a plurality of physical objects wherein the mechanical assembly is modeled by a directed acyclic modeling graph having nodes and arcs, the directed acyclic modeling graph capturing design characteristics of the mechanical assembly, the mechanical assembly formed of a plurality of physical objects, the directed acyclic modeling graph representing a hierarchy between physical objects of the mechanical assembly, each physical object being a part or a set of parts of the mechanical assembly, the directed acyclic modeling graph serving as a model representation of mechanical links and relative positionings of different parts of the mechanical assembly;
• and:
• each node represents a respective physical object of the mechanical assembly;
• each arc represents a use of a physical object by another physical object in the mechanical assembly, for a given arc, the given arc representing a respective physical object represented by an origin node using a respective physical object represented by an end node, wherein a chain of identifiers corresponds to a path of arcs, at least one arc being uniquely identified by an identifier;
• the mechanical assembly being further modeled using tuples in the graph, by representing at least one design relation of the physical objects using a tuple containing a first chain of identifiers corresponding to a path of arcs between nodes representing a first physical object and a second physical object, said tuple representing a use sequence of the physical objects where the first physical object uses the second physical object in the mechanical assembly;
• where the processor executing the graphical user interface and designing the assembly includes:
• determining at least one mapping between the first chain and a second chain of identifiers, the second chain having an identifier in common with the first chain;
• and
• substituting at least one occurrence of the first chain with the second chain in the tuple used by the at least one design relation, said determining and substituting automatically reflecting an update of the design characteristics of the mechanical assembly.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having recorded thereon a computer program comprising instructions for execution by a computer, the instructions when executed causing a computer-aided design system comprising a database storing objects to design a mechanical assembly of a plurality of physical objects by:

• providing a directed acyclic modeling graph having nodes and arcs that model a mechanical assembly, the directed acyclic modeling graph capturing design characteristics of the mechanical assembly, the mechanical assembly being formed of a plurality of physical objects, the directed acyclic modeling graph representing a hierarchy between physical objects of the mechanical assembly, each physical object being a part or a set of parts of the mechanical assembly, the directed acyclic modeling graph serving as a model representation of mechanical links and relative positionings of different parts of the mechanical assembly, each node representing a respective physical object of the mechanical assembly, and each arc representing a use of a physical object by another physical object in the mechanical assembly, for a given arc, the given arc representing a respective physical object represented by an origin node using a respective physical object represented by an end node, wherein a chain of identifiers corresponds to a path of arcs, at least one arc being uniquely identified by an identifier, the mechanical assembly being further modeled using tuples in the graph, by representing at least one design relation of the physical objects using a tuple containing a first chain of identifiers corresponding to a path of arcs between nodes representing a first physical object and a second physical object, said tuple representing a use sequence of the physical objects where the first physical object uses the second physical object in the mechanical assembly;
• determining at least one mapping between the first chain and a second chain of identifiers, the second chain having an identifier in common with the first chain and
• substituting at least one occurrence of the first chain with the second chain in the tuple used by the at least one design relation, said determining and substituting automatically reflecting an update of the design characteristics of the mechanical assembly.