Control of design data in the integrated ship design system

The Navy's Integrated Ship Design System (ISDS) is being designed as a collection of application program modules (for preliminary design) which communicate with a centralized set of data files. These files use the existing COMRADE Data Management System which was designed specifically for integrated systems. Apart from providing an environment in which to operate the engineering application modules, ISDS's main role is to manage the creation, flow and archiving of the ship design data and to control access to this data. Consequently, a major concern during the lengthy and complex ship design process is assuring the integrity of the design data as it grows and is revised over time. Planning for control of the design data requires a clear understanding of the design process and the interrelationships between the design tasks. Requirements are stated, problem areas are identified, and possible approaches for implementation are suggested.