Method of defining a computer-generated intelligent symbol

Abstract

In a computer aided design system, an intelligent symbol is made up of graphical entities. Connectors join the entities to other entities at connection points. When the symbol is moved, the connectivity between entities must be maintained. A connection point positioning symbol is generated, forming part of a definition of the intelligent symbol. The connection point positioning symbol has a position and an angle which describe the connection point. The connection point positioning symbol can be displayed and then hidden from view. The connection point positioning symbol allows the user to edit a connection to the intelligent symbol.

I claim:  
     
         1 . For use in a computer aided design system, a method of defining an intelligent symbol, comprising the steps of: 
 defining a computer-generated symbol comprising a graphical entity and a connection point having a position in relation to a reference point;    defining a connection point positioning symbol associated with the computer-generated symbol, the connection point positioning symbol having a location and an angle;    generating coordinates of the location of the connection point positioning symbol, the coordinates describing the position of the connection point in relation to a reference point;    generating the angle of the connection point positioning symbol, the angle describing a direction of the connection point in relation to a reference angle;    building a symbol definition for the computer-generated symbol, the symbol definition comprising the coordinates of the location of the connection point positioning symbol and the angle of the connection point positioning symbol.    
     
     
         2 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the step of generating a connector, the connector joining the computer-generated symbol at the angle and the location of the connection point positioning symbol.  
     
     
         3 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the steps of: 
 displaying the connection point positioning symbol;  
 editing the connection point positioning symbol; and  
 hiding the connection point positioning symbol.  
 
     
     
         4 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the steps of: 
 displaying the connection point positioning symbol;  
 hiding the connection point positioning symbol after the step of generating coordinates of the location of the connection point positioning symbol.  
 
     
     
         5 . The method of    claim 1    wherein the reference angle is a reference angle within the computer-generated symbol.  
     
     
         6 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising displaying the connection point positioning symbol at the connection point.  
     
     
         7 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the step of displaying the connection point positioning symbol at a postion displaced from the connection point.  
     
     
         8 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the step of displaying the connection point positioning symbol in a graphic panel displaced from the connection point.  
     
     
         9 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the steps of: 
 editing the symbol definition for the computer-generated symbol by changing the coordinates of the location of the connection point positioning symbol and the angle of the connection point positioning symbol.  
 
     
     
         10 . The method of    claim 9    wherein the step of editing comprises the step of displaying the connection point positioning symbol.  
     
     
         11 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising step of deleting the connection point by deleting the connection point positioning symbol.  
     
     
         12 . The method of    claim 1    further comprising the steps of: 
 specifying a new connection point by defining a new connection point positioning symbol;  
 placing a new connector at a point on the computer-generated symbol, the new connector comprising a new position and a new angle determined by the new connection point positioning symbol.  
 
     
     
         13 . The method of    claim 12    further comprising the steps of adding the new connection point positioning symbol to the symbol definition for the computer-generated symbol by adding the new position and the new angle to the symbol definition.  
     
     
         14 . The method of    claim 1    wherein the connection point positioning symbol comprises a first end and a second end, the second end comprising a dot.  
     
     
         15 . The method of    claim 1    wherein the connection point positioning symbol comprises a line and a dot.  
     
     
         16 . For use in a computer aided design system, a method of defining an intelligent symbol, comprising the steps of: 
 defining a computer-generated symbol comprising a graphical entity and a plurality of connection points, each of the connection points having a position in relation to a reference point;    for each of the plurality of connection points, defining a connection point positioning symbol associated with the computer-generated symbol, the connection point positioning symbol having a location and an angle, thereby defining a plurality of connection point positioning symbols;    for each one of the plurality of connection point positioning symbols, generating coordinates of the location of that one connection point positioning symbol, the coordinates describing the position of the connection point of that connection point positioning symbol in relation to a reference point;    for each one of the plurality of connection point positioning symbols, generating an angle describing a direction of that one connection point positioning symbol in relation to a reference angle;    building a symbol definition for the computer-generated symbol, the symbol definition comprising the coordinates of the locations of each of the plurality of connection point positioning symbols and the angles of the plurality of connection point positioning symbols.    
     
     
         17 . The method of    claim 16    further comprising the step of displaying the plurality of connection point positioning symbols simultaneously.  
     
     
         18 . The method of    claim 16    further comprising the step of displaying the plurality of connection point positioning symbols one connection point positioning symbol at a time.  
     
     
         19 . For use in a computer aided design system, a method of editing an intelligent symbol, comprising the steps of: 
 defining a computer-generated symbol comprising a graphical entity and a connection point having a position in relation to a reference point;    defining a connection point positioning symbol associated with the computer-generated symbol, the connection point positioning symbol having a location and an angle, wherein the location and the angle are indicative of the location and angle of a connector connected to the connection point;    displaying the connection point positioning symbol;    editing the connection point positioning symbol by changing the location or the angle.    
     
     
         20 . The method of    claim 19    further comprising the step of hiding the connection point positioning symbol following the step of editing.  
     
     
         21 . The method of    claim 19    further comprising the steps of generating a connector for connecting the computer-generated symbol to an entity, the connector joining the computer-generated symbol at the location and the angle of the connection point positioning symbol.