Methoden, Werkzeuge und Systeme der Informatik haben nach einer Phase stur mischer Entwicklung dieser Wissenschaft, aber auch begunstigt durch die technisch-wirtschaftlichen Fortschritte der Mikroelektronik, Einzug in nahezu alle Berufsgebiete einer modemen Industriegesellschaft gehalten. Eine besondere Be deutung hat dabei fur die hochindustrialisierten Staaten die Verbindung von Informatik- und Ingenieurwissen zur Steigerung der volkswirtschaftlichen Leistungs- und Wettbewerbsfahigkeit. Besonderes Gewicht hat dabei fur das Inge nieurwesen die schnelle, aber wirtschaftlich sinnvoll und...

Interest in product data exchange and interfaces in the CAD/CAM area is steadi ly growing. The rapidly increasing graphics applications in engineering and sci ence has led to a great variety of heterogeneous hardware and software products. This has become a major obstacle in the progress of systems integration. To improve this situation CAD/CAM users have called for specification and imple mentation of standardized product data interfaces. These needs resulted in the definition of preliminary standards in this area. Since 1975 activities have been concentrated on developing standards for...

4 lation and optimization. These are essential constituents of the iterative process, leading to a feasible and, one hopes, optimal design. 1.3 Content of the Book In Chapter 2 we present briefly the history of CAD. The main components of CAD systems are identified, and their principal functions described. Economi cal and interdisciplinary aspects are discussed. Chapter 3 starts with a systems analysis of the design process. The notion of a process is introduced as a fundamental tool to describe activities like design as a whole, computer-aided design, program executions, terminal sessions...