Patent Document ID: 9153072
Application ID: 14040216
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for creating a data structure of a computer-aided design model, the method comprising: accessing a computer-aided design model comprised of a plurality of modeling elements, the accessed computer-aided design model having one or more geometric entities that define each of the plurality of modeling elements of the computer-aided design model, the geometric entities having corresponding graphical entities configured to display the computer-aided design model; for each modeling element, determining visibility of the modeling element; and producing a data structure in a computer memory, the data structure storing: i) graphic data representing all graphical entities corresponding to the geometric entities defining each of the plurality of modeling elements; and ii) a limited amount of geometric data, the limited amount being geometric data of a subset of the geometric entities determined as a function of the determined visibility of corresponding modeling elements defined by said subset of geometric entities, such that for a modeling element with certain determined visibility, the produced data structure stores graphic data absent corresponding geometric data of geometric entities defining the modeling element with the certain determined visibility, wherein the produced data structure is stored and loaded in the computer memory in a manner that enables rendering of the entire computer-aided design model while only comprising the limited amount of geometric data that are likely to be needed to perform a modeling operation on the computer-aided design model.