Patent ID: 8725763

Claim:
A method for massive-model visualization, comprising: storing a hierarchical product data structure for a product assembly using a product data management (PDM) system, wherein the hierarchical product data structure includes a plurality of occurrence nodes and component nodes, and wherein the component nodes include a cell index value for a corresponding product component that identifies the corresponding product component's spatial location according to defined cells of a three-dimensional model of the product assembly; identifying, in the hierarchical produce data structure, at least one anchor occurrence node and identifying at least one equivalent occurrence node that connects a same parent component node and a same child component node as the anchor occurrence node; using the PDM system to create an occurrence equivalency table from the hierarchical product data structure according to the identified anchor occurrence node and equivalent occurrence node, wherein a product component corresponding to the equivalent occurrence node is spatially located within a specified distance threshold of a product component corresponding to the anchor occurrence node; using the PDM system to create an anchor occurrence table corresponding to the hierarchical product data structure, wherein the anchor occurrence table lists a plurality of unique occurrence chains represented by the hierarchical product data structure, where each equivalent occurrence node is replaced by its corresponding anchor occurrence node, and the anchor occurrence table associates each listed unique occurrence chain with an associated cell index value; and storing the occurrence equivalency table and anchor occurrence table in the PDM system.