Dynamic geometry systems are tools for geometric visualization. They allow the user to define geometric elements, establish relationships between them and explore the dynamic behavior of the remaining geometric elements when one of them is moved. The main problem in dynamic geometry systems is the ambiguity that arises from operations which lead to more than one possible solution. Most dynamic geometry systems deal with this problem in such a way that the solution selection method leads to a fixed dynamic behavior of the system. This is specially annoying when the behavior observed is not the one the user intended.

We develop a framework to support geometric constraint-based design systems with multiple views for concurrent engineering. The framework is based on a conceptual architecture with a master view and several client views with a two-way flow information between the master and client views. The tools in the framework are used to open a new application's view or when one of the applications changes its view by editing it and the master view and the other views must be updated to maintain consistency. A case study illustrates how the tools in the framework work.

In the past few years, there has been a strong trend towards developing parametric, computer-aided design systems based on geometric constraint solving. An effective way to capture the design intent in these systems is to define relationships between geometric and technological variables. In general, geometric constraint solving including functional relationships requires a general approach and appropriate techniques to achieve the expected functional capabilities. This work reports on a hybrid method that combines two geometric constraint solving techniques: constructive and equational. The hybrid solver has the capability of managing functional relationships between dimension variables and variables representing conditions external to the geometric problem. The hybrid solver is described as a rewriting system and is shown to be correct.