Patent ID: 8806319

Claim:
A method of linking non-geometric data to a geometric element, the geometric element having a geometric element type, in a computer aided design (CAD) drawing file, comprising: determining whether the geometric element type is a linkable element type selected from the group consisting of an edge, an arc, a vertex, a face, and a shell; creating a unique identifier for the geometric element to be linked only if the geometric element's geometric element type is in the group of linkable element types and refraining from creating the unique identifier for the geometric element to be linked if the geometric element's geometric element type is not in the group of linkable element types, associating the unique identifier with the non-geometric data if the geometric element's geometric element type is in the group of linkable element types, and storing the non-geometric data using a file type that is independent of a CAD program associated with the CAD drawing file.