JPH0616288B2 - How to convert shape data - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a data conversion method for converting drawing or product data created in a graphic creation system of a certain processing method into the data processing format of another graphic creation system of a different processing method using an intermediate file, in order to use the drawing or product data in the latter system.

Background Art CA brought about by the development of personal computers
With the spread of D/CAM systems and computer communications,
Graphic data processing system with different data processing methods (C
There is an increasing need to exchange data between graphic data processing systems (AD/CAM). The processing methods of graphic data processing systems are diverse, and in order to widely promote data exchange, the efficiency of data conversion must be increased.

In conventional methods of converting graphic data, an intermediate format is generally set between the two formats to be converted, and the conversion is carried out indirectly via an intermediate file written in this format.

This conversion method includes IGES (International Geometry Standards for Graphics Engineering) defined by the American ANSI standard.
There are two ways to convert CAD/CAM data: to use an intermediate file of the IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification), or to use other intermediate files. The IGES file format was designed with flexibility as a system file as a priority, so the records and data sequences that are connected in a series as CAD/CAM data are divided into sections. In other words, the series of connections as CAD/CAM data can only be expressed via pointers. Therefore, when creating a converter,
On the reading side, a series of meaningful records and data sequences must be broken down into meaningless sequences with pointers. For this reason, on the writing side, conversion is not possible without first analyzing the pointers and reinterpreting the meaning of the series of records and data sequences. This is not a particular problem when the meaning of the records and data sequences in CAD/CAM data is simple, but it becomes a major problem when they are complexly hierarchical, making accurate conversion extremely difficult. Moreover, even in simple cases, the intermediate file description becomes redundant and there are a large number of pointers, making processing efficiency extremely poor. In addition, this IGES file contains CAD
There are problems such as the fact that it does not cover all the elements essential for D/CAM graphic data, and that the definitions of the formats and rules are vague, which can easily lead to misinterpretation.

Generally, the standard practice for converting data between different CAD/CAM systems is to create a translator via an IGES file, but in reality, for the reasons mentioned above, the functionality and quality of translators vary greatly.
For this reason, IGES cannot be a single, common intermediate file between different CAD/CAM systems, but is merely a formal standard. Rather, translators are often created by narrowing down the conversion functions to suit each conversion purpose and setting up individual intermediate files.

In any case, with conventional conversion methods, the formats and rules for describing intermediate files are not very versatile or flexible, and are not simple and clear, making it extremely difficult to create a perfect translator. As a result, the scope of conversion is limited,
The more heterogeneous processing systems that need to be converted, the greater the variety of conversions that must be performed. Another problem is that data sets that associate shapes with their attributes cannot be freely exchanged between a series of CAD/CAM applications, such as those for automatic design, material estimation, and production design, and general-purpose CAD/CAM systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method for converting graphic data that is versatile, flexible, simple, clear, and allows free and flexible conversion of graphic data including the relationship between a group of graphics and their attributes.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a data conversion method for converting a group of graphic data in a first format of a drawing or a product created by a first graphic data processing system into a group of graphic data in a second format different from the first format, the method comprising:
classifying the graphic data group in the first format into basic graphic elements, dimension line elements and text elements according to the meaning of each data of the graphic data group on the drawing or product, and converting the group into basic element records representing these; classifying the basic element records into the drawing or product, element drawings constituting the drawing or product, general composite figures constituting the element drawings, and registered composite figures predefined for constituting the element drawings, and editing division records representing these; graphic insertion for editing the registered composite figures on each element drawing; attribute assignment for assigning attributes to the registered composite figures, the general composite figures and basic graphic elements; and attribute values.
This is a method for converting graphic data, in which editing records representing text insertion for editing dimension values and note contents on a drawing are inserted as appropriate, the converted data is stored in an intermediate file, and then the data in the intermediate file is converted into a drawing or product data group in a second format.

Although the representation of the graphic data required to describe the relationship between the specifications of parts and products and the graphics differs depending on the system, person, or field, the essential components and their structure are common, and the differences appear to be due to the variety of combinations. The description format of the intermediate file and its rules are as follows:
The intermediate file format is composed of basic element records necessary and sufficient to represent the smallest structural elements of a drawing, as well as necessary and sufficient edit division records and edit records that are inserted into the basic element records as needed to freely divide and edit the basic element records according to the drawing's expression and structure, and to clearly represent the drawing's structure. This allows for flexible description of various drawings from various graphic data processing systems. Even hierarchical data and attribute-attached data are freely configurable. In particular, data from batch-type applications such as automated design, material estimating, and production design, which originally consist of graphic data with a set of meaningful formats and rules and associated attribute data, can be converted into this intermediate file format. In other words, data from any type of graphic data processing system can be converted into an intermediate file.

In other words, the drawing data stored in the intermediate file is converted into elements and structures by appropriately inserting edit classification records into which the data groups constituting the source drawing are classified into basic element records, which are classified into basic graphic elements, dimension line elements and text elements, and edit records representing drawing insertion, attribute assignment for placing registered composite figures on the drawing, and text insertion for placing attribute values, dimension values and notes on the drawing, into the basic element records, which are classified into basic graphic elements, dimension line elements and text elements according to the meaning of the drawings that each of the basic element records has, and so a person can easily understand the details and composition of the drawing data just by reading the list of these records.
In other words, the data in the intermediate file has an easily interpretable expression and structure that can be considered a detailed specification of the drawing.

As described above, the intermediate file description format and its rules are versatile, flexible, and simple and clear. This not only simplifies the process of converting drawings from a source system into an intermediate file, but also eliminates the need for complex reinterpretation of the intermediate file contents when converting to a destination system. This facilitates improving the functionality and quality of the translator, while also eliminating the need for pointers, significantly improving conversion efficiency. In this invention, the versatile, flexible, and clear intermediate file description format and its rules make it possible to create a translator common to various graphic data processing systems via this intermediate file. By simply creating one bidirectional translator for each system, data conversion can be freely performed between various graphic data processing systems, dramatically increasing the flexibility and efficiency of data conversion. As a result, data from business-specific graphic data processing application systems can be kept independent of general-purpose graphic data processing systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the contents of drawing data formed in an intermediate file in a drawing data conversion method according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sample drawing showing the contents and structure of the drawing data formed in the intermediate file; FIG. 3 is a registered composite figure relating to the sample drawing;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the drawing data conversion of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 shows the conversion method of the present invention.
BM's CADAM and AUTODESK's AUTOC
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the system configuration when two-way data conversion between AD is performed, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration for converting drawing data and meaningful data of three-dimensional products and parts between each general-purpose CAD/CAM system and each business application via intermediate files, and for performing the reverse conversion, FIG. 8 is a flowchart for writing three-dimensional product and part graphic data into an intermediate file, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart for writing data written in a three-dimensional intermediate file to another system.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The data formed in the intermediate file is composed of element records, which are the smallest units essentially necessary and sufficient to describe the contents of the drawing, without being bound by the individual functions of the CAD/CAM system, and these are expressed in a structured manner.

That is, it is composed of basic element records, edit division records, and standard records. These element record groups are:
Each element consists of a single record or multiple consecutive records depending on the amount of data related to each element.

As shown in Table 1, the basic element record consists of records for basic geometric elements, dimension line elements, and text elements. Display control data related to these, such as layer, color, line type, line quality, line width, and line scale, are stored in each element record. All geometric data in the basic geometric element record is handled as real images independent of functions, avoiding the hassle of conversion caused by handling virtual images dependent on functions and ensuring flexibility. Furthermore, for basic geometric elements, ellipses, free curves, and other multi-dimensional curves, as well as free curves, can be converted without using functions. By providing curve fit data for the straight lines and arcs between the vertices of polyline shapes,
It has been made possible to improve the accuracy of approximate conversion.

As shown in Table 1, seven types of records are prepared according to the characteristics of essential geometric elements, from simple points to free polylines that connect any number of points with any curve fit information, in order to cover all shapes. Furthermore, each basic element record contains data on the thickness or height of each element graphic, making it possible to recognize so-called 2.5-dimensional real graphics.

The dimension line element record is designed so that one type of record can accommodate various types of dimension line element figures as shown in Table 1.

The text element record is a record having character string data as notes, attribute values, and dimension values, all of which are recognized as font data and are all managed as 2-byte (full-width) data.

The edit division record and edit record are record groups for editing the basic element record groups that have been broken down into individual elements into meaningful forms as drawing data.

As shown in Table 2, the edit division record is divided into drawing division,
It consists of records for registered complex figure classification, element diagram classification, and general complex figure classification.

An edit division record has records that indicate the start and end of a division, and is used to recognize the group of records between them as a single piece of data. This makes the hierarchy or structure of the data easy to understand. A drawing is made up of multiple registered composite figures and multiple element diagrams. However, only the element diagram data is considered to be the actual drawing data, and each registered composite figure merely indicates that it is a group of figures that is repeated within the group of element diagrams; it does not constitute an actual drawing until it is placed within an element diagram by inserting a figure, as described below. And a general composite figure indicates that it is a group of figures that is defined each time within each element diagram.

Next, the edit record consists of shape insertion, attribute assignment, and text insertion, as shown in Table 2. These indicate the edit content of the drawing, and as mentioned above, shape insertion contains data for placing any group of shapes that have been previously defined and registered as registered composite shapes at a specified position in a specified element diagram. By freely inserting other registered composite shapes that have already been defined within one registered composite shape, it is possible to create a hierarchical representation as needed. These registered composite shapes and shape insertion are a means of compressing the amount of data when the same group of shapes is repeated during data conversion, and of efficiently converting the data of a series of related groups of shapes.

On the other hand, for data such as notes, dimension values, and attribute values,
Placing a text element record immediately after a text insertion record represents the placement of any text string group on a drawing. Placing an attribute assignment record immediately after any record or record group, and placing a text element record immediately after that, represents the attribute value for any shape group. Incidentally, placing a text insertion record immediately after an attribute assignment record also means that the attribute value will be placed on the drawing.

Finally, for dimension data, a text insertion record and a text element record group are placed immediately after a dimension line element record or a dimension line element record group, a basic graphic element record or a basic graphic element record group, a graphic insertion record or a graphic insertion record group, etc., to represent the graphic element and dimension value, respectively.

Using these basic element records, edit division records, and edit records, various combinations of figures and figure data such as notes, dimensions, and attributes can be freely hierarchically described efficiently and clearly while maintaining relationships with the figure group. This allows you to freely describe the relationships between the figures of parts and products and their characteristics. The records and their structure that make up the intermediate file have been designed to the utmost so that all content written on a drawing can be structured and expressed.

An example of the structure and composition of a record for creating the intermediate file described above is shown in Table 3. This structure and composition are also shown in a schematic form in Figure 1.

The intermediate file shown in FIG. 1 consists of drawing 1 and drawing 2, each of which is made up of four element drawings.

Element diagram 1a in drawing 1 shows a general composite figure 11 with a registered composite figure 21 inserted therein. Element diagram 2a shows a combination of general composite figures 12 and 13, and element diagram 3a shows a combination of general composite figures 14 and 15. Element diagram 4a shows a general composite figure 11 with a registered composite figure 21 drawn with a dotted line inserted therein.

Element diagram 1b in drawing 2 is the registered composite figure 22 rotated by the figure insertion record. Similarly, element diagram 2b
is the registered complex figure 23, and element diagram: 3b is the registered complex figure 2
Element diagram: 4b is a rotated version of 4. Element diagram: 4b consists of 16 general composite figures.

Next, the composition and structure of the records for creating the intermediate file will be described in detail with reference to Figures 2, 3 and Table 4. Figure 2 shows sample drawings for specifically illustrating the contents and composition of the drawing data to be created in the intermediate file.
Figure 3 shows three registered composite figures related to the sample drawing, where (a) is a diagram of the registered composite figure, (b) is a diagram of the registered composite figure, and (c) is a diagram of the registered composite figure. Table 4 shows the data of the sample drawing stored in the intermediate file.

The data between SDWG on the first line and EDWG on the 67th line of Table 4 is the entire database related to the sample drawings shown in Figure 2, and is the data for the three drawings shown in Figures 3(a), (b), and (c).
Three registered composite shapes and three VIEW:A, VIEW:B, and VIEW:C
The second and third lines are basic element records.

The data between the SBLOCK on the second line and the EBLOCK on the ninth line, 1
The data between SBLOCK on the 3rd line and EBLOCK on the 15th line,
The data between SBLOCK on line 16 and EBLOCK on line 24 indicates the data of the registered composite figure related to the sample drawing. The data on lines 3 to 8 indicates that the registered composite figure shown in Figure 3(a) is a drawing frame consisting of six line segments. The data on lines 10 to 12 indicates that the drawing frame of this registered composite figure has an attribute for displaying the title of the drawing, and the data on line 10 indicates the type of that attribute.
The data on the 11th line shows the layout data of the attribute characters, and the data on the 12th line shows the specific attribute values.
The registered composite figure shown in Figure 3(b) is a circle. This registered composite figure is inserted into element drawing B (VIEW:B) by the record (INSERT record) on the 37th line of Table 4.
The record on the sixth line (INSERT record) creates element diagram C (VIE
W:C), and specifically, it indicates that it is a circle in the original drawing and the rotated drawing of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2. The data on lines 17 to 23 indicate that the registered composite figure shown in Figure 3(c) is a free curve consisting of six vertices, and line 17 indicates the figure information such as the number of vertices of the free curve,
Lines 18 to 23 show specific vertex data. This registered composite figure is inserted into element drawing B (VIEW:B) by the record (INSERT record) on line 38 of Table 4.
The record in the 1st row (INSERT record) creates element diagram C (VIEW:
C), and specifically, the S-shaped figure in the original and rotated view of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2.

The data between "SVIEW" on the 25th line and "EVIEW" on the 32nd line of Table 4 is the element drawing A (V
The entire figure of element drawing A (VIEW:A) is shown. The TEXT data shown in the 26th and 27th lines of Table 4,
The data of the drawing frame with attributes shown in lines 8 to 31 exists. The TEXT data in line 26 is the "VIE" data in FIG.
The data on the 28th line indicates that the registered composite figure is embodied in element drawing A (VIEW:A), and the data on the 29th to 31st lines indicate that the attribute value is "N
SCFF: Nippon Steel Corporation.

The data between SVIEW on the 33rd line and EVIEW on the 51st line of Table 4 is the element diagram B (VIE) of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2.
The entire shape of element B (VIEW:B) is shown.
The text data shown in lines 34-35 of Table 4,
General composite figure data with attributes shown on line 44, 45
There are dimension data shown on lines 34 to 35, and TEXT data shown on lines 49 to 50. The TEXT data on lines 34 to 35 indicates data such as the position and size of the characters "VIEW: B" in Figure 2. The data sandwiched between SGROUP on line 36 and EGROUP on line 41 indicates a general composite figure showing the entire ball figure of element drawing B (VIEW: B) of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2, and the data on line 37 indicates the registered composite figure in element drawing B.
The data embodied in (VIEW:B) and the data embodied in element diagram B (VIEW:B) on line 38, and the data embodied in element diagram B (VIEW:B) on line 39,4
It consists of the data of two arcs on the 0th row.
The first line contains information such as the type of attribute of this general composite figure.
The 44th line shows the layout data of the attribute character, and the 45th line shows that the specific attribute value is "BALL". In reality, "BALL" is written in element drawing B (VIEW: B) of the sample drawing in FIG.
The character "L" is written as an attribute of this general composite figure. Lines 45 to 48 show the data of the dimension figure of the sample drawing. The data on line 45 shows the type, standard, unit, etc. of the dimension figure, and the data on line 46 shows the data of the dimension figure.
The data on line 47 shows specific dimension figure data, line 48 shows the specific dimension value. Lines 49 and 50 show specific data for the character "original drawing" in element drawing B (VIEW:B) of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2.

The data between SVIEW on line 52 and EVIEW on line 66 of Table 4 is the element drawing C (VIE) of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2.
The whole shape of element drawing C (VIEW:C) is shown.
The text data shown in lines 53-54 of Table 4,
General composite figure data with attributes shown on line 63, 64
The text data shown in lines 53 to 65 exists.
The TEXT data on the 4th line specifically indicates the position, size, etc. of the characters of "VIEW: C" in Figure 2. The data sandwiched between SGROUP on the 55th line and EGROUP on the 60th line is the element drawing C of the sample drawing shown in Figure 2.
(VIEW:C) shows the general composite figure showing the whole ball figure,
The data on lines 61 to 63 is "BAL" for the general composite figure.
This means that the attribute "L" is given to
Actually, "BALL" is shown on element drawing C (VIEW:C) of the sample drawing.
This general composite figure is shown in the state where the registered composite figure is displayed in the element diagram C (VIEW:
The data in line 57 shows that the registered composite figure is embodied in element drawing C (VIEW:C), and the data in lines 58 and 59 shows that the registered composite figure is embodied in element drawing C (VIEW:C).
Lines 64 and 65 specifically show the data for the characters "rotated view" in element view C (VIEW:C) of the sample drawing.

For example, the data of the line segment in the 8th row of Table 4 is shown, but the type of figure is written in columns 1 to 10, the geometric data in columns 11 to 140, the layer in columns 141 to 150, and the color in columns 151 to 160. In this way, the intermediate file of this embodiment generally contains the type of figure, the geometric data, the layer,
In contrast, in the international standard IGES, the geometric data of a figure, the figure layer, and figure attributes such as color are written separately in a figure file, making the representation of data for one figure extremely complex. Also, in lines 26-27 of Table 4,
TEXT record and TEXT record of lines 30-31 and 47-
Even if the record format is the same, such as the TEXT record on line 48, it is possible to represent purely characters, characters for attributes, or characters for dimension values, making it possible to express a variety of things with a small number of record types.

Next, the unit records described above are arbitrarily combined to interpret the diagrams of various systems and write them in intermediate files, and on the other hand, these are interpreted and converted into diagrams of the other system. The rules for writing and interpreting intermediate files, i.e., the record arrangement rules, are also defined.
To summarise, it is simple and clear:

According to the interpretation of the meaning of each data group as CAD/CAM drawing data, edit division records and edit records are arranged vertically between each basic element record group. Record groups that are interpreted as one registered composite figure or general composite figure are each assigned an edit division record SBLOCK/EB
The registered complex figures are enclosed in LOCK or SGROUP/EGROUP. The registered complex figures are described together at the beginning, and can be freely referenced in each element diagram using the figure insertion record INSERT whenever necessary. In some cases, multiple references can be made by using the figure insertion of a registered complex figure previously defined within the complex figure group itself.

When converting drawing data (hereinafter referred to as original drawing data) from a certain type of CAD/CAM system (original system) into the above-mentioned intermediate file data (hereinafter referred to as common data), first, each record of the original drawing data is classified and hierarchically organized according to the construction method of the intermediate file, and each piece of data in the record is decomposed or assembled in accordance with the record specifications of the above-mentioned intermediate file, and the results are sequentially written into the common intermediate file as common data.

As shown in Figure 4, this decomposition and assembly translates various records and data of the original drawing data by arbitrarily combining each record in the intermediate file. Even in cases where simple translation does not improve accuracy, such as for details of free-form shapes or detailed text placement, each record group has parameters that allow for sufficient approximation accuracy by simply adjusting subtle differences in data expression.

Next, when converting (reverse converting) the intermediate file data (common data) configured in this way into drawing data (hereinafter referred to as destination drawing data) for a certain CAD/CAM system (destination system), the data already classified and
The hierarchical common data is directly interpreted according to its description rules, and is disassembled, assembled, or adjusted according to the records and data specifications of the destination system, and the results are written sequentially as drawing data for the destination system. The conversion method is the same as the conversion to common data described above.

The graphic data (common data) stored in the intermediate file is
Since the records are kept in their categorized and hierarchical order, the data of each record can be read in order without having to take the trouble of reinterpreting it, and can be converted into graphic data for the destination system one by one by disassembling and assembling.

Examples of individual functions of the translator that adjust subtle differences in function between the intermediate file and the database of each graphic data processing system are: 1) Linear or circular interpolation of free curves.

2) Store dimension lines and text in specific layers.

3) Specify the layer and color for each line type.

4) Restrict the base element records to which the attribute is attached.

These function adjustment programs are divided into subroutines for each individual function, and by making them shareable among translators of various graphic data processing systems, polygonal conversion can be performed efficiently using intermediate files as a common core.

Furthermore, since the intermediate files have a format and arrangement that can be easily read and understood, it is also easy to check for so-called debugging when creating various translators and adjustment subroutines.

In any case, the intermediate files contain common and essential data for the databases of various graphic data processing systems. Therefore, simply by preparing a group of common subroutines for adjusting these data, it becomes easy to create a translator that can efficiently perform high-conversion conversion between any systems.

Using the conversion method of the present invention, IBM and CADAM
We performed bidirectional data conversion between AUTOCAD and AUTODESK Co., Ltd. The system configuration for conversion is shown in Figure 5.

The correspondence of graphic elements from CADAM to AUTOCAD is shown in Table 5, and the correspondence from AUTOCAD to CADAM is shown in Table 6. However, simple correspondences are omitted, and
In Table 6, only the reverse of Table 5 is shown.

In the common data of the intermediate file, the order of records itself has a structural meaning in terms of the drawing, so by simply reading it in order, you can understand the specific content structure of the drawing. Therefore, it can be said to be a specification of the drawing.

By applying this concept of intermediate files, the following three-dimensional real figure data can also be expanded into a common intermediate file.

Plate-shaped materials or materials assembled from these,
The processed shape data for parts and products manufactured by assembling parts obtained by processing with low-degree-of-freedom equipment such as cutting, drilling, and bending is a collection of data in which shapes obtained by adding thickness to arbitrary two-dimensional shapes are arbitrarily combined in three-dimensional space. Therefore, if the three-dimensional coordinates of the placement reference point of each processed shape element and the three-dimensional normal vector of each processed element surface are added as data items in the basic element record of the intermediate file and used as a record representing the material shape and layout, as well as the processed shape and layout, it can be expanded as a means of describing or interpreting the details of the three-dimensional processed and assembled shapes of products, parts, and materials and their characteristics (attributes), i.e., detailed specifications for their design and processing.

In this way, not only drawing data but also product and part shapes,
It can also be expanded to a common intermediate file for exchanging characteristics or graphic data for processing between various business applications for design and processing in batch processing or interactive processing.

Figure 6 shows the conversion of drawing data and meaningful data of 3D products and parts between each general-purpose CAD/CAM system and each business application via intermediate files.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration for performing the reverse conversion.

7 is a flowchart for writing three-dimensional product/part graphic data into an intermediate file.
It reads the parts database, classifies and hierarchizes the products and parts, and converts the data of each product and part while disassembling and assembling it.
The results are written sequentially to an intermediate file.

Table 7 shows the three-dimensional intermediate files written according to the flowchart shown in Figure 7.
The data between Epackage and Sassemble is all the data for the 3D product. Parts is a basic part record and is the coordinate system data for each part. If no 3D data is entered, it will be the original part data in the part coordinate system. Assemble and Block are part assembly records, and the data between Sassemble and Eassemble is part data in the assembly part coordinate system. Sb
The data between lock and Eblock is the assembly block product data in the block product coordinate system where each part is assembled. Also, the data between Slayout and Elayout is the 3D part/
This is product placement data. The Insert record is used when reusing already defined parts, Assemble, and Block data.

Although not shown in the table, when parts are processed, the Cut, Hole, and Bend processing records are placed immediately after Parts as part processing data records. Also, attribute values such as the names of parts and products are stored in Parts・As.
Define ATTR/TEXT immediately after semble/insert.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for writing data written in a three-dimensional intermediate file to another system.

First, after initial setting (step _S1 ), step _S2
In step _S3 , the data group that has been read is converted in terms of coordinates and format into product and part data for the second three-dimensional graphic data processing system.
The converted data is then written to the database of the second three-dimensional graphic data processing system (step _S4 ). Thereafter, steps _S2 to _S4 are repeated to sequentially read, convert, and write data from the intermediate file to the second three-dimensional graphic data processing system.

In this way, data conversion between different CAD/CAM systems or between different business applications in the same industry can be performed freely, regardless of whether it is drawing or product data.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the graphic data conversion method according to the present invention includes the following steps:
Graphic data processing system with different data processing methods (C
Freely exchange drawings and product graphic data between AD/CAM systems.
Moreover, it is suitable for efficient conversion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A data conversion method for converting a group of graphic data in a first format for a drawing or product created by a first graphic data processing system into a group of graphic data in a second format different from the first format for a second graphic data processing system, the method comprising: classifying the group of graphic data in the first format into basic graphic elements, dimension line elements, and text elements in accordance with the meaning of each data of the group of graphic data in the first format and converting the group of graphic data into a group of basic element records representing these; converting the group of basic element records into the drawing or product, the group of element figures constituting the drawing or product, the general composite figures constituting the element figures, and the registered composite figures predefined for constituting the element figures, while appropriately inserting edit classification records representing these; and edit records representing shape insertion for editing the registered composite figures on each element figure, attribute assignment for assigning attributes to the registered composite figures, the general composite figures, and basic graphic elements, and text insertion for editing attribute values, dimension values, and note contents on the drawing; storing each converted data in an intermediate file, and then converting the data in the intermediate file into a group of drawing or product data in the second format.