Patent ID: 9613168
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: G06F

Claim:
1. A method comprising: obtaining, by a computer-aided modeling application, from a shared memory to a local memory, a copy of a model comprising a plurality of objects, each object representing a real-world article and having a unique object identifier, the shared memory comprising the model in a form of shared data; processing, by the computer-aided modeling application, the copy of the model in the local memory; performing, by the computer-aided modeling application, a grouping operation in the copy of the model, during which an object included in the model, which has object data that comprises an object identifier and one or more object definitions defining at least one physical property of the object, is assigned to a group having a group identifier and at least one group definition defining at least a label unique to the group within the model and shared by all objects assigned to the group, wherein, after the grouping operation, the model comprises exactly the same one or more objects as before the grouping operation, mapping information and one or more groups, wherein an object in the model is assigned to only one group, and wherein objects assigned to the same group are each replaceable with any other object assigned to the same group, wherein the mapping information comprises both a time of grouping, which indicates the time the grouping operation was performed to the object and a link between the object and the group; storing the mapping information at least to the copy of the model in the local memory; reading in changes to the model from the shared memory comprising the model in a form of shared data; in response to a read-in change being a change to an object that has been assigned to a group and exists also in the local copy, checking whether the object has been changed also locally after a previous read-in, and in response to the object having been changed locally after the previous read-in, updating the link of the object to be out-of-date; performing, in response to a request for identifying information for a transportation related real-world article, manufacturing related real-world article, or construction site related real-world article, the grouping process to objects having a link indicated as out-of-date and to objects that have not yet undergone the grouping process, and then using the mapping information to retrieve the at least one group definition defining at least the label unique to the group that includes the object; creating shared identifying information for the related real-world article by adding at least the label to the created shared identifying information; and outputting the created shared identifying information for the transportation, manufacturing or construction site-related real-world article.