Patent ID: 7765505

Claim:
A design rule management method implemented in a rule management apparatus, including a processing unit for processing information; an input unit for inputting information; and a storage unit for storing information; the method allowing the processing unit, which manages design rules for specifying a part shape, to perform steps comprising: acquiring a plurality of the design rules via the input unit; converting each of the acquired design rules into data having a hierarchical node format; calculating, for each design rule converted into data having the hierarchical node format, relationship strength indicating strength of a relationship to another node; converting into a predetermined value the relationship strength between a first design rule and a second design rule, and storing in the storage unit the relationship strength, the first design rule and the second design rule in association with one another, wherein the first design rule is arbitrary chosen from the plurality of the design rules and the second design rule is substantially the same as the first design rule but described in a manner different from that of the first design rule.