APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING AND EDITING SHEET METAL PART DATA

An apparatus and method are disclosed for transferring part data, such as sheet metal part data, between computer-based application or CAD environments and for editing such part data. The application environments may include a 2-D CAD program environment and an object oriented bend model program environment. An interface is provided through which a 2-D CAD system may access data from the object oriented bend model system and by which data may be transferred between the systems to permit editing and updating of the part model within and from both applications. The interface may be implemented through a library or set of application program interface (API) functions and a message-based protocol (such as dynamic data exchange (DDE)) to facilitate the exchange of sheet metal part data. Various editing capabilities or tools may also be provided to enable, for example, the attachment of faces of the part or the shifting of one face relative to another face of the part.