Patent ID: 8600706

Claim:
A method for processing a batch of computer aided design (CAD) drawings, the method comprising: opening a first session of a CAD application on a computing device; storing an identification of a first CAD drawing in a first data structure; during the first session of the CAD application, initiating a second session of the CAD application to process the first CAD drawing, wherein the first CAD drawing comprises a plurality of external references to a plurality of external drawings associated with and external to the first CAD drawing; and processing the plurality of external references to the plurality of external drawings of the first CAD drawing, wherein said processing comprises, selecting one of the plurality of external references, storing in the first data structure an identification of the external drawing corresponding to the selected external reference, attempting with the second session to link the corresponding external drawing to the first CAD drawing, monitoring with the computing device said attempting to link by the second session, when said attempting to link by the second session is successful, clearing the first data structure of at least the identification of the external drawing corresponding to the selected external reference and continuing to process, with the second session, another one of the plurality of external references if all the plurality of external references have not been processed, when said attempting to link by the second session is not successful, storing in a second data structure, with the first session, the identification of the first CAD drawing and the identification of the external drawing corresponding to the selected external reference, and closing the second session of the CAD application.