Patent ID: 7739080

Claim:
A method of using a computer system to consolidate multiple configuration models of a product, the method comprising: performing with the computer system: identifying a conflict between at least two of the configuration models, wherein the configuration models are organized in accordance with respective directed acyclic graphs, each configuration model includes at least one ancestor configuration model family space and a child configuration model family space below the ancestor configuration model family space, a first of the conflicting configuration models comprises an ancestor configuration model family space that is different than an ancestor configuration model family space of a second of the conflicting configuration model, and each child configuration model family space constrains the ancestor configuration model family space above the child in accordance with configuration rules of the configuration model to which the child belongs; extending at least one of the ancestor configuration model family spaces of the conflicting configuration models so that the ancestor configuration model family spaces of the first and second conflicting configuration models represent the same ancestor configuration model family space; removing from the child configuration model family space any configuration space extended in the ancestor of the child configuration family space; and combining the first and second configuration models into a single, consolidated model that maintains a non-cyclic chain of dependencies among families and features of families for use in answering configuration questions related to the product.