Constraint Enforcement in a Structural Design Data Base

Abstract

During the design of a commercial structure large amounts of information pertaining to all aspects of the project must be stored, accessed, and operated upon. A data base management system (DBMS), composed of a central repository of data and the associated software for controlling access to it, provides one way to generate, represent, manage, and use this information. This paper uses the relational database model to represent structural design data and constraints. Data integrity is defined and its enforcement through the use of engineering design constraints is described. A model that enables the engineer to incorporate design constraints into a relational database is presented. The use of constraints in both passive checking and active design modes is explored. An example is presented that demonstrates the concepts discussed using a commercially available DBMS designed for use by the engineering community.