computer science

ShapeManager

ShapeManager is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand ShapeManager rather than just read about it. In short: Autodesk ShapeManager is a 3D geometric modeling kernel used by Autodesk Inventor and other Autodesk products that is developed inside the company. It was originally forked from ACIS 7.0 in November 2001, and the first version became available in Inventor 5.3 in February 2002.

Key takeaways

ShapeManager belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect ShapeManager to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of ShapeManager from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Autodesk ShapeManager is a 3D geometric modeling kernel used by Autodesk Inventor and other Autodesk products that is developed inside the company. It was originally forked from ACIS 7.0 in November 2001, and the first version became available in Inventor 5.3 in February 2002. On the day of the announcement, VP of Autodesk, Robert Cross, denied that the genesis of ShapeManager was the purchase by Dassault Systèmes of Spatial Corp, producers of ACIS in July the previous year, though industry experts commented on Autodesk's exposure to dependence on technology controlled by its main competitor (Dassault owns SolidWorks). The move was enabled by a clause in the 1990 contract between Autodesk and Spatial that made Autodesk a joint developer (with some restrictions) of the software with Spatial and provided an option to buy out of the contract to continue development of the source code on their own at a later date for $6.4 million. Following this move, Dassault filed an injunction on 27 December 2001 for breach of contract against Autodesk and D-Cubed, the contractors who were then working on the kernel, on the technicality that these contractors had been allowed to access the source code. The lawsuit eventually came to an end on 2 October 2003 in favour of Autodesk after the jury had deliberated for under two hours and basically agreed with the videotaped testimony from Spatial's co-founder, Richard Sowar, who confirmed that D-Cubed had been contracted to work on various parts of the code by both companies throughout the decade without any suggestion of a breach of contract. Dassault's appeal that this evidence should not have been admitted to the court was also lost in 2006.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with ShapeManager

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what ShapeManager claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to ShapeManager before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about ShapeManager ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of ShapeManager

In research: ShapeManager appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses ShapeManager in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: ShapeManager is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 3D graphics software, Computer-aided design, Software type stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for ShapeManager outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study ShapeManager in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what ShapeManager means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain ShapeManager out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is ShapeManager in simple terms?

Why does ShapeManager matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study ShapeManager?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on ShapeManager.