Case-based reasoning is an area of artificial intelligence which deals
with using past cases for solving new problems. Representation of des
ign cases is an important issue in the development of case based desig
n systems. The requirements of a representation scheme for design case
s are discussed in this paper. A representation scheme has been propos
ed that enables not only browsing through past design cases, but also
enables reasoning about the designs. The representation is based on an
object oriented approach, upon which a reasoning mechanism called com
plementary view model is built. The components of the case base are de
scribed in order to bring out the use of the above mechanisms in their
representation. (C) 1997 Civil-Comp Ltd and Elsevier Science Ltd.