Patent ID: 7930625

Claim:
A method for maintaining a master shape inventory in a software drawing module, comprising: providing a plurality of behavior specifications, wherein a provided behavior specification indicates how appearance or function of a master shape can be manipulated by a user when added to a drawing, a behavior specification defined by creating a computer executable function conforming to a prescribed set of rules; after the plurality of behavior specifications are provided, creating a plurality of master shapes by, for each master shape, receiving an association of the master shape to a shape, the shape representing geometry of the master shape; receiving an association of the master shape to a provided behavior specification; and storing the association to the shape and the association to the provided behavior specification as the master shape in the master shape inventory for use by the user to generate drawings by manipulating the master shape in accordance with the associated behavior specification, the master shapes being grouped in the master shape inventory based on master shapes commonly used in a particular field; after creating the plurality of master shapes, receiving a modification to a provided behavior specification, the modification indicating a change to the computer executable function conforming to the prescribed set of rules defined for the provided behavior specification; and applying the modified behavior specification to a stored master shape associated with that behavior specification for use by the user to generate drawings by manipulating the master shape in accordance with the modified behavior specification wherein the software drawing module, upon receiving from the user a selection of a master shape from the master shape inventory, allows the user to manipulate the shape associated with the master shape in accordance with the behavior specification associated with the master shape by executing the computer executable function conforming to the prescribed set of rules and adds the manipulated shape to a drawing.