Towards an integrated feature frame in an open CAD environment

It is a common goal in the development of feature-based design systems to find a mechanism for supporting flexible product definitions useful for different applications. This paper introduces an opinion to achieve this goal, presented by two issues of main interest. The first issue is focused on the definition of feature resources, intended to enclose different feature data, which are needed for product part definitions. The feature resources are composed of formal feature specifications, feature data types, and feature models. The feature models are partitioned into generic and application feature models. The second issue is related to the development of a feature mechanism for creating and manipulating such resources. This mechanism is expressed on the basis of three main building blocks with specific functions, called feature converter, feature modeler, and application modeler. In order to work in the area of the product modeling, the development of this mechanism is immediately rel ated to the STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data) methodology.