Patent ID: 8478572

Claim:
In a method for the numerical simulation of sheet-metal-forming processes, performed by a processor of a computing system by means of a simulation program wherein the numerical simulation and further aspects of the operation of the simulation program are controlled by a set of sheet-metal-forming simulation parameters, a method for displaying the sheet-metal-forming simulation parameters, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining in computer storage a set of active values of the parameters, controlling the operation of the simulation program; maintaining in computer storage a data set defining standard values of the parameters, used as a reference; maintaining in computer storage a set of type flags indicating, for each of the parameters, whether the parameter is of type “standard” or “nonstandard”; maintaining in computer storage data representative of one or more display groups, wherein each display group has assigned to it one or more parameters or other display groups; by the processor, determining, for each of the parameters, a status of the parameter, wherein the status is either “compliant” or “noncompliant”, the status being “noncompliant” if and only if the parameter is of type “standard” and if and only if the active value of the parameter is not equal to a standard value of the parameter, as defined by the data set defining standard values for the parameter; by the processor, determining for each of one or more display groups the status of the display group, wherein the status is “noncompliant” if and only if the status of at least one of the parameters or other display groups assigned to the display group is “noncompliant”; displaying, on a display device of the computing system, in a graphical user interface (GUI), at least one of graphical user interface elements showing the active values of the parameters, and graphical user interface elements associated with a display group; and displaying, on the display device of the computing system, in the graphical user interface, for each of the graphical user interface elements, a visual indication of the status of the corresponding parameter or display group.