One implementation provides a method to provide information associated
with a previously designed component having a geometry that is similar to
a geometry of a source component. In this implementation, the method
includes obtaining a first set of coefficients for a non-invertible
representation of the geometry of the source component, and comparing the
first set of coefficients to a second set of coefficients for a
non-invertible representation of the geometry of the previously designed
component. If the first set of coefficients matches the second set of
coefficients according to a threshold of similarity, the method further
includes providing a search result associated with the previously
designed component.