Engineering components allow users to build fully associative models that can quickly be modified and that can have multiple representations. The definition of the expression is stored separately from the design file so that it can be changed easily and be applied to different models either manually or in batch mode. One such schema will be the DWG schema that will incorporate native support for DWG entities. That means that we will use the native vocabulary of AutoCAD entities such as blocks, layers, polylines and donuts. A cell is a static graphical element with a single representation.
Components can configure themselves automatically and can display themselves in various ways.
For example, a truss between two poles can resize itself if one of the poles has moved. It can also display itself as a detailed 3D solid model or a symbolic line representation. Components increase design productivity because they can reconfigure themselves automatically after a design change somewhere in the model. Design quality is enhanced because engineers can quickly evaluate various design alternatives to find an optimum solution. Productivity and quality are further enhanced because derived engineering representations such as drawings are automatically generated and kept up to date.