Patent ID: 7085776

Claim:
A non-redundant, product data model system stored in a memory associated with a computer for organizing and defining relationships for components and subassemblies being modeled, said product data-model system including product information about at least one component definition, an instance of which is a constituent of one parent assembly definition, the system comprising: at least one component-usage for holding information relating to an instance of a component definition; one or more logical component-usages for non-redundantly holding information relating to logical elements of their parent assembly definition, said logical component-usages being operatively connected to one or more of said component-usages as children, each of which implements one of said logical elements; said component-usages being operatively connected to either the parent assembly definition or one said logical component-usage; each configuration of said parent assembly definition containing all said child component-usages that connect directly to it, whose applicability object evaluates to true, and must also contain one and only one said child component-usage of each said logical component-usage whose applicability expression evaluates to true.