Patent ID: 7313504

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of modeling a three-dimensional object, comprising: storing data in a computer-readable data storage medium representing a computer model of the three-dimensional object, the data comprising a plurality of feature objects, wherein each feature object defines a feature of the computer model; forming a first grouping of features comprising at least one of the plurality of feature objects, wherein the first grouping of features has a design effect limited in scope such that an operation for removing material operates to affect a plurality of features of the computer model defined by ones of the plurality of feature objects in the first grouping of features and does not affect the plurality of features of the computer model defined by ones of the plurality of feature objects not in the first grouping of features; forming a second grouping of features comprising at least one of the plurality of feature objects, wherein the second grouping of features has a limited scope such that only the plurality of features of the computer model defined by ones of the plurality of feature objects in the second grouping of features are affected by a process that removes material; and combining the first grouping of features and the second grouping of features to form a combination of groupings of features that represents a hierarchical interrelationship among the plurality of feature objects; wherein: the hierarchical interrelationship defines on which ones of the plurality of feature objects one or more operations are performed; constructing the computer model using the hierarchical interrelationship independent of the user's order of creation of each one of the plurality of feature objects; and displaying the constructed computer model for a user to evaluate or manipulate the model.