Abstract
Two main approaches to solid modeling have been taken by developers of CAD systems. One is to rely on a set of primitives and to use regularized set operations (i.e. Constructive Solid Geometry), the other is to rely on a set of Euler operators that combine faces, edges, and vertices (i.e. Boundary Representation). Investigating both approaches, we discuss difficulties and draw solutions when storing geometric objects in a relational database. First, a surrogate concept is introduced which allows the user to define structural relationships among semantically related data. Based on surrogate values, two constructs PART-OF and IS-A are defined in order to retrieve and manipulate geometric objects efficiently. Second, a structured type for handling vectors, matrices, and tensors as attribute values is proposed by dropping the First Normal Form.
This work was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation, under grant number 2.533-0.82.
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Meier, A. (1985). Applying Relational Database Techniques to Solid Modeling. In: Blaser, A., Pistor, P. (eds) Datenbank-Systeme für Büro, Technik und Wissenschaft. Informatik-Fachberichte, vol 94. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70284-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70284-6_3
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