System and method for radial component scattering

1. A computer-implemented method for radial component scattering, comprising:

calculating a bounding box for each of a plurality of parts of an assembly by a computer system;

calculating a centroid corresponding to each of said bounding boxes by the computer system;

calculating a scatter circle for placement of said plurality of parts by the computer system; and

calculating, by the computer system, a number of locations to place said plurality of parts on said scatter circle;

whereby said plurality of parts of the assembly are added to an assembly view in a single operation such that a largest of said plurality of parts is at a start point.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said scatter circle is calculated from a sum of a maximum forward offset and a maximum backward offset.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said number of locations is determined by a length calculated from a bounding box radius.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said length is a chord length.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said number of locations is determined by dividing 360 degrees by an angle subtended from a center position by a chord length that is a value times a maximum bounding box radius.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said value is two.

7. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a machine readable medium to perform a method for component scattering, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to:

calculating a bounding box for each of a plurality of parts of an assembly;

calculating a centroid corresponding to each of said bounding boxes;

calculating a scatter circle for placement of said plurality of parts; and

calculating a number of locations to place said plurality of parts on said scatter circle;

whereby said plurality of parts of the assembly are added to an assembly view in a single operation such that a largest of said plurality of parts is at a start point.

8. The computer-program product of claim 7 , wherein said scatter circle is calculated from a sum of a maximum forward offset and a maximum backward offset.

9. The computer-program product of claim 7 , wherein said number of locations is determined by a length calculated from a bounding box radius.

10. The computer-program product of claim 7 , wherein said length is a chord length.

11. The computer-program product of claim 7 , wherein said number of locations is determined by dividing 360 degrees by an angle subtended from a center position by a chord length that is a value times a maximum bounding box radius.

12. The computer-program product of claim 11 , wherein said value is two.

13. A data processing system comprising:

a processor; and

an accessible memory, the data processing configured to implement a method for component scattering by performing the actions of

calculating a bounding box for each of a plurality of parts of an assembly;

calculating a centroid corresponding to each of said bounding boxes;

calculating a scatter circle for placement of said plurality of parts;

calculating a number of locations to place said plurality of parts of the assembly on said scatter circle; and

placing the plurality of parts of the assembly at the calculated locations in a single operation such that a largest of said plurality of parts is at a start point.

14. A computer implemented method for component scattering from a bill of material, comprising:

selecting a plurality of components of a product from a list by a computer system;

calculating a bounding box for each of said plurality of components by the computer system;

calculating a centroid corresponding to each of said bounding boxes by the computer system;

calculating a scatter circle for placement of said plurality of components by the computer system;

calculating a number of locations to place said plurality of components of the product on said scatter circle; and

displaying the plurality of components of the product by the computer system in an assembly view wherein a largest of said plurality of components of the product is displayed at a start point and the remaining components of the plurality of components of the product are displayed at the calculated locations on the scatter circle.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said list is a bill of material.

16. A non-transitory machine readable medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed, are operable to cause a computer to:

select a plurality of components of a product from a list;

calculate a bounding box for each of said plurality of components;

calculate a centroid corresponding to each of said bounding boxes;

calculate a scatter circle for placement of said plurality of components;

calculate a number of locations to place said plurality of components of the product on said scatter circle; and

display the plurality of components by the computer system in an assembly view wherein a largest of said plurality of components of the product is displayed at a start point and the remaining components of the plurality of components of the product are displayed at the calculated locations on the scatter circle.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 16 , wherein said list is a bill of material.

18. A data processing system comprising:

a processor; and

an accessible memory, the data processing system configured to implement a method for component scattering from a bill of material by selecting a plurality of components of a product from a list;

calculating a bounding box for each of said plurality of components;

calculating a centroid corresponding to each of said bounding boxes;

calculating a scatter circle for placement of said plurality of components;

calculating a number of locations to place said plurality of components of the product on said scatter circle; and

placing the plurality of components of the product at the calculated locations in a single operation such that a largest of said plurality of components is at a start point.