Patent ID: 7973788

Claim:
A method of navigating a database, the method comprising the steps of: accessing a database using a computer, said database comprising a set of data and a plurality of relations between the data of the set, wherein the set of data in the database comprises data representative of modeled objects and the plurality of relations between the data of the set are determined based on relational properties of the database; and graphically navigating said database by: selecting, based on a first user selection, a first data and selecting, based on a second user selection, a first relation among a plurality of relations; finding in the database second data related to the first data according to the selected first relation; displaying a three-dimensional representation of modeled objects represented by the second data; selecting, based on a third user selection, one of the displayed three-dimensional representation of objects and, based on a fourth user selection, a second relation among the plurality of relations, the selection of said one of the displayed three-dimensional representation of objects being carried out directly on the three-dimensional representation displayed; identifying, among the second data, data representative of the selected one of the displayed three-dimensional representation of objects and finding in the database third data related to the identified second data according to the selected second relation; and displaying a three-dimensional representation of modeled objects represented by the third data.