Role assignment and cooperation of ontology and object-oriented principle in construction of digital product model

Powerful expressive ability of semantic information, to be easily computed and flexibility are basic features of digital product model (DPM). Using ontology and object-oriented principle (OOP) together to cope with problems in modeling is brought forward in this paper. The two are widely used and do well in modeling, but they each alone cannot cope with all issues and new challenges. Three basic requests are pointed out in DPM modeling. Status, problems, and root of current non-semantic and semantic models are introduced. Ontology, OOP, and their difference are introduced. It is found that the two are entirely complementary with each other. How to assign the roles and to cooperate for the two in coping with the three basic issues in DPM modeling are explained in detail.