Abstract: A mechanical design reuse method includes having a CAD tool replicates a subset of a first modeling representation of a first mechanical design, in response to having received instructions that identify a subpart of the first mechanical design. The reuse method further includes having the CAD tool merges the replicated subset into a second modeling representation of a second mechanical design to effectuate the reuse of the identified subpart of the first mechanical design in the second mechanical design. In one embodiment, the modeling representations are dependent graphs, and the subsets being replicated and merged are sub-graphs of the dependent graphs. The dependent graphs and sub-graphs include nodes directly associated with the subparts of the designs, nodes on which the directly associated nodes are dependent, and arcs linking the nodes together in accordance with their dependency on each other.

Abstract: A mechanical design viewing method includes a viewer selecting a first subpart of a mechanical design, and in response, highlighting one or more graphical elements of a dependent graph of the mechanical design for the viewer. The highlighted graphical elements are associated with the selected subpart of the mechanical design. The viewing method also include the viewer selecting graphical elements of the dependent graph, and in response, highlighting a subpart of the mechanical design for the viewer. The highlighted subpart is associated with the selected graphical elements. The viewer may alternate back and forth between the two aspects to explore the mechanical design.