This research addresses computer-aided design (CAD) data modeling and view construction, as well as updating both materialized views and the underlying database in support of design activities. Database support provides a means to share data between CAD tools and multiple designers; however, only a small portion of the contents of a database may be germane to a particular design application. A copy of the relevant data (a materialized view) may be stored and modified locally during a design step. Maintaining consistency between a database and views of it entails ensuring that changes to the database are reflected in the view data, and vice versa. Database view technology to efficiently and correctly support extraction and manipulation of relevant views of design objects will be developed, including a formal CAD data model and an extended object-oriented query algebra for view specification. Algorithms for view maintenance will be derived from the formal semantics. Database support for CAD offers opportunities for concurrent design by simplifying the maintenance and sharing of technology-related data. View processing provides a conceptual framework for unifying a CAD software environment; both the input and output of a tool are views of a design. This research seeks to facilitate interoperability of tools and cooperation between designers via CAD database view technology.
