Virtual components for CAD models

1. A method for generating a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing comprising:

receiving a selection of a non-modeled component, the non-modeled component defining an element of a model in the CAD drawing, wherein the non modeled component does not include a display representation;

adding, by operation of one or more computer processors, one or more instances of the non-modeled component to the model; and

generating a browse view display of the model, wherein the browse view display includes a list of instances of modeled and non-modeled components of the model, and wherein the browse view display indicates which instances in the list correspond to the one or more instances of the non-modeled component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first display representation of the model is a three-dimensional (3D) representation.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a bill of materials from the CAD drawing, wherein the bill of materials identifies the modeled components and the non-modeled components included in the CAD drawing.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the bill of materials identifies parts, sub-assemblies and raw materials required to build a real-world object represented by the model.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-modeled component is associated with a modeled element which includes a display representation, and wherein an instance of the non-modeled component is added to the model whenever an instance of the modeled element is added to the model.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a catalog of pre-modeled components, wherein the catalog includes at least one non-modeled component.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-modeled component includes one or more attributes describing physical characteristics of a real-world object represented by the non-modeled component.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for generating a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing, including instructions for performing the steps of:

receiving a selection of a non-modeled component, the non-modeled component defining an element of a model in the CAD drawing, wherein the non modeled component does not include a display representation;

adding, by operation of one or more computer processors, one or more instances of the non-modeled component to the model; and

generating a browse view display of the model, wherein the browse view display includes a list of instances of modeled and non-modeled components of the model, and wherein the browse view display indicates which instances in the list correspond to the one or more instances of the non-modeled component.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein a first display representation of the model is a three-dimensional (3D) representation.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions for generating a bill of materials from the CAD drawing, wherein the bill of materials includes modeled components and non-modeled components included in the CAD drawing.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the bill of materials identifies parts, sub-assemblies and raw materials required to build a real-world object represented by the model.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the non-modeled component is associated with a modeled element which includes a display representation, and wherein an instance of the non-modeled component is added to the model whenever an instance of the modeled element is added to the model.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions for providing a catalog of pre-modeled components, wherein the catalog includes at least one non-modeled component.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the non-modeled component includes one or more attributes describing physical characteristics of a real-world object represented by the non-modeled component.

15. A method for composing a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing comprising:

selecting a non-modeled component, the non-modeled component defining an element of a model in the CAD drawing, wherein the non modeled component does not include a display representation and

invoking a tool configured to:

add, by operation of one or more computer processors, one or more instances of the non-modeled component to the model, and

generate a browse view display of the model, wherein the browse view display includes a list of instances of modeled and non-modeled components of the model, and wherein the browse view display indicates which instances in the list correspond to the one or more instances of the non-modeled component.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein a first display representation of the object is a three-dimensional (3D) representation.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising invoking a bill of materials tool configured to generate a bill of materials from the CAD drawing, wherein the bill of materials identifies the modeled components and the non-modeled components included in the CAD drawing.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the bill of materials identifies parts, sub-assemblies and raw materials required to build a real-world object represented by the model.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the non-modeled component is associated with a modeled element which includes a display representation, and wherein an instance of the non-modeled component is added to the model whenever an instance of the modeled element is added to the model.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising selecting a component to include in the CAD drawing from a catalog of pre-modeled components, wherein the catalog includes at least one non-modeled component.