Project Planning System, Control Program and Method for Checking Consistent Recording of Pipelines in a Project Planning System

Abstract

A method for checking consistent recording of pipelines recorded two-dimensionally in a first plan and three-dimensionally in a second plan, wherein a main path within each plan is determined for pipelines recorded in both plans, within both plans, objects having sequences of line components, branches and/or connections are determined for the recorded main paths, where objects without mutual correspondence that are recorded only in one of the two plans or only in a main path of one of the two plans are each eliminated from sequences to be compared, where within the sequences to be compared, objects having a different order which, with regard to their order within the sequences to be compared, have a maximum order difference, are subsequently determined and classified iteratively, where this is continued until the objects remaining after classification have no order difference with regard to their order within the sequences to be compared.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. A method for checking the consistent recording of pipelines in a project planning system, the method comprising: recording pipelines two-dimensionally in a first plan and three-dimensionally in a second plan; determining at least one main path within each plan for each of the pipelines recorded in the first and second plans; determining sequences of objects comprising at least one of (i) line components, (ii) branches and (iii) connections for the main paths recorded within both plans which are each to be compared with one another; eliminating from sequences to be compared each object without a mutual correspondence which is at least one of (i) only recorded in one of the first and second plans and (ii) only recorded in one main path of one of the first and second plans; determining and classifying iteratively, after elimination of the objects without mutual correspondence, objects with different ordering within the sequences to be compared which have a maximum order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared; continuing determining the objects with different ordering until all objects remaining after classification have no order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared; creating a correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and second plans; and displaying the correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and second plans on a graphical user interface.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the main path is determined as a path that does not meet any other path within the respective pipeline as at least one of (i) a branch and (ii) connection of another path in a tributary direction; and wherein each branch has exactly one incoming connection in a main direction of flow, exactly one outgoing connection in the main direction of flow, and at least one incoming or outgoing connection in the tributary direction.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the main path is determined by eliminating paths leading to at least one of (i) loops and (ii) parallel branches within a pipeline.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the main path is determined by eliminating paths leading to at least one of (i) loops and (ii) parallel branches within a pipeline.

20. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the objects containing at least one of (i) line components, (ii) branches and (iii) connections are identified via at least one of (i) markings, (ii) component type, (iii) nominal diameter and (iv) nominal diameter combination.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein a mutual correspondence of the objects from the sequences to be compared is determined via at least one of (i) identifications and (ii) markings of the objects; and wherein objects with at least one of (i) identical or assigned identifications and (ii) markings are linked together.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein, within the sequences to be compared, after linking of the objects with at least one of (i) identical or assigned identifications and (ii) markings, among unlinked objects, respective objects of matching object type that are to be linked to one another are determined iteratively, which have a minimum difference measure with respect to their order difference from at least one of (i) one another and (ii) their distance from neighbors of the same type within the sequences to be compared; and wherein the determined objects to be linked to one another are treated as objects with mutual correspondence.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising: determining respective objects with matching object type to be linked to one another, said respective objects having a minimum difference measure with respect to their order difference to one another and to their weighted distance from first- and second-degree neighbors of the same type within the sequences to be compared.

24. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein objects without mutual correspondence which are recorded in a main path of the first or second plan and in a secondary path of the respective other plan are classified as foreign objects; and wherein objects without mutual correspondence which are recorded in only one of the first and second plans are classified as missing objects.

25. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein objects with different ordering are classified as incorrectly ordered objects; and wherein the objects remaining after classification of the objects with different ordering are classified as correctly ordered objects.

26. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein a classification of the objects is displayed on a graphical user interface as a result of a consistency check between two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally recorded pipelines.

27. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein a classification of the objects is displayed on a graphical user interface as a result of a consistency check between two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally recorded pipelines.

28. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in addition to the determined main paths, which represent first-order main paths, secondary paths that are disjunct to these are determined; and wherein at least one of (i) second-order and (ii) higher-order main paths, which are treated in the same way as first-order main paths, are determined within the secondary paths.

29. The method as claimed in claim 28, wherein a treatment of at least one of (i) the second- and (ii) higher-order main paths comprises a determination of sequences of objects that are each to be compared with one another, an elimination of objects without mutual correspondence, and an iterative determination and elimination of objects with different ordering within the sequences to be compared.

30. A project planning system, comprising: a processor; and memory; wherein the project planning system is configured to: record pipelines two-dimensionally in a first plan and three-dimensionally in a second plan; identify at least one main path within each plan for pipelines recorded in first and second plans; identify sequences of objects comprising at least one of (i) line components, (ii) branches and (iii) connections, which are each to be compared with one another for the main paths recorded within both plans; eliminate from the sequences to be compared objects without a mutual correspondence which are at least one of (i) only recorded in one of the first and second plans and (ii) only recorded in one main path of one of the first and second plans; iteratively identify and classify, within the sequences to be compared, objects with different ordering which have a maximum order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared after elimination of the objects without mutual correspondence; continue determination of the objects with different ordering until all objects remaining after classification have no order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared; create a correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and second plan; and display said correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and second plan on a graphical user interface.

31. A control program which is loadable into a working memory of a computer and which comprises at least one code section which, upon execution, causes checking of consistent recording of pipelines in a project planning system, the code section comprising: program code for recording pipelines two-dimensionally in a first plan and three-dimensionally in a second plan; program code for determining at least one main path within each plan for each of the pipelines recorded in the first and second plans; program code for determining sequences of objects comprising at least one of (i) line components, (ii) branches and (iii) connections for the main paths recorded within both plans which are each to be compared with one another; program code for eliminating from sequences to be compared each object without a mutual correspondence which is at least one of (i) only recorded in one of the first and second plans and (ii) only recorded in one main path of one of the first and second plans; program code for determining and classifying iteratively, after elimination of the objects without mutual correspondence, objects with different ordering within the sequences to be compared which have a maximum order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared; program code for continuing determining the objects with different ordering until all objects remaining after classification have no order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared; program code for creating a correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and second plans; and program code for displaying the correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and second plans on a graphical user interface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The present invention will be described in more detail below by reference to an exemplary embodiment based on the drawing, in which:

[0023] FIG. 1 shows an illustration of a first plan with two-dimensionally recorded pipelines and an associated second plan with three-dimensionally recorded pipelines;

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a method sequence for identifying foreign and missing objects within paths to be compared with one another; and

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of a method sequence for the subsequent determination of incorrectly ordered objects and correctly ordered objects in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, in a computer-based project planning system that comprises at least one computer 100 and a control program, pipelines 10, 20 are recorded two-dimensionally in a first plan 1 and three-dimensionally in a second plan 2. The control program is persistently stored in a non-volatile memory 103 of the computer 100 and can be loaded into its working memory 102 and comprises at least one code section, which when processed by a processor 101 of the computer 100 executes the following steps when the control program is running on the computer 100.

[0027] For pipelines 10, 20 recorded in both plans 1, 2, in accordance with step 201 of the method sequence described in FIG. 2, at least one main path is determined within each plan 1, 2. In this process, the main path is determined as a path that does not meet any other path within the respective pipeline 10, 20 as a branch or connection of the other path in the tributary direction. Each branch 12, 22 has exactly one incoming connection in the main flow direction, exactly one outgoing connection in the main flow direction, and at least one incoming or outgoing connection in the tributary direction. Essentially, the main path can be determined by eliminating paths that lead to loops or parallel branches within a pipeline 10, 20.

[0028] In addition, according to step 202 for the main paths recorded within both plans 1, 2, sequences of objects comprising line components 11, 21, branches 12, 22 and/or connections are determined, which are each to be compared with one another. In this process, the objects containing line components 11, 21, branches 12, 22 or connections are identified preferably via markings, component type, nominal diameter or nominal diameter combination. Then, in step 203, a mutual correspondence of the objects from the sequences to be compared is determined via identifications or markings of the objects. Objects with identical or assigned identifiers or markings are linked together.

[0029] From the sequences to be compared, any objects without a mutual correspondence that are only recorded in one of the two plans 1, 2 or only in a main path of one of the two plans are eliminated (step 204). Objects without mutual correspondence that are recorded in a main path of the first 1 or second plan 2 and in a secondary path of the respective other plan are classified as foreign objects. On the other hand, objects that a priori have no mutual correspondence and are only recorded in one of the two plans are classified as missing objects.

[0030] After linking the objects with identical or assigned identifications or markings and elimination of the objects according to step 204, within the sequences to be compared, among unlinked objects, respective objects of matching object type that are to be linked to one another are iteratively determined, which have a minimum distance or difference measure with respect to their order difference from one another and/or to their distance from neighbors of the same type within the sequences to be compared. For this purpose, according to step 205 a check is performed to determine whether previously unlinked objects exist. If unlinked objects exist, according to step 206, a check is then performed to determine whether at least one object of the same type or object of identical type is present for a selected object. If at least one object of the same type is present, the object to be linked having the minimum distance or difference measure is determined for the selected object within the sequence to be compared (step 207). The selected object is then linked to the determined object (step 208) and processing returns to step 205. The determined objects to be linked to each other are treated as objects with mutual correspondence.

[0031] If there are no more unlinked objects present according to step 205, a transition is made to a determination of correctly ordered objects with mutual correspondence within the sequences to be compared (step 301, see FIG. 3). If there is no object of the same type for the selected object according to step 206, then the selected object is eliminated according to step 209 and classified as a missing object. Processing then returns to step 205.

[0032] Preferably, according to steps 205-208, respective objects with matching object type to be linked to one another are determined that have a minimum distance or difference measure with respect to their order difference from one another and to their weighted distance from first- and second-degree neighbors of the same type within the sequences to be compared. For example, the weighting factor for first-degree neighbors can have a value of two, while the weighting factor for second-degree neighbors is set to one.

[0033] After elimination of the objects without mutual correspondence within the sequences to be compared, according to FIG. 3, objects with different ordering are iteratively determined and classified that have a maximum order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared. The determination of the objects with different ordering is continued until all objects remaining after classification have no order difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared. To this end, after starting the determination of correctly ordered objects with mutual correspondence (step 301), according to step 302 a check is made as to whether only objects with mutual correspondence are present that have no order difference within the sequences to be compared. If objects with an order difference are present, according to step 303 the objects with mutual correspondence are determined that have a maximum ordering difference with respect to their ordering within the sequences to be compared. According to step 304, these objects are classified as incorrectly ordered objects. Processing then returns to step 302.

[0034] If, according to the check in step 302, there are no objects with different ordering present, the objects remaining after classification of the objects with different ordering are classified as correctly ordered objects. Finally, a correctly ordered assignment between corresponding objects recorded in the first plan and the second plan is created (step 305) and displayed on a graphical user interface 104 of the computer (step 306). In addition, the foreign objects, the missing objects or the incorrectly ordered objects with their respective classification can also be displayed selectively on the graphical user interface 104 as the result of a consistency check between two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally recorded pipelines.

[0035] In addition to the determined main paths that represent first-order main paths, secondary paths disjunct to them are determined. Within the secondary paths, where necessary, second-order or higher-order main paths are determined, which are treated in the same way as first-order main paths. In particular, a treatment of the second- or higher-order main paths comprises a determination of sequences of objects that are each to be compared with one another, an elimination of objects without mutual correspondence, and an iterative determination and elimination of objects with different ordering within the sequences to be compared.

[0036] Thus, while there have been shown, described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the methods described and the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.