GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINT SOLVER

The paper reports on the development of a 2D geometric constraint solv er. The solver is a major component of a new generation of CAD systems based on a high-level geometry representation. The solver uses a grap h-reduction directed algebraic approach, and achieves interactive spee d. The paper describes the architecture of the solver and its basic ca pabilities. Then, it discusses in detail how to extend the scope of th e solver, with particular emphasis on the theoretical and human factor s involved in finding a solution, in an exponentially large search spa ce, so that the solution is appropriate to the application, and so tha t the way of finding it is intuitive for an untrained user.